Escape from Paradise

Chapter 8: The Message

Larry climbed up a stairway wondering why not a single person hard rushed down to check the origin of the loud noises. The absence of plants, smell, sound and overall lack of life bothered him. This place, it seemed, belonged to a world different than Paradise, a world untouched by man. Back in his apartment building, through closed windows, and walls Larry could sense the presence of life outside by dim sounds, the glowing light, and flow of air. Here existed nothing but the echoes of his steps and vibrations of his calming breath. The Paradise had become a distant past.

An eerie silence followed Larry as he entered one room after another and saw only naked walls and empty floor. Not a single room had any object inside it, no chairs, no plants, no dusty corners, not a single taint on a window. Either everything had evaporated, or this building was only an imitation of a real thing. Whatever the case, someone must have gone through great trouble to create this creepiness. Larry touched the walls. They were made of the same matter as all city buildings. Through the closed windows that had no obvious ways to be opened, he glimpsed at a silent, surreal, almost recorded movie of life outside.

The silence became an uncomfortable, almost living character. It surrounded Larry wherever he went. He could sense its touch, anticipate its transformation into a threatening creature such as an ugly short man or a mad robot. Every now and then Larry turned around expecting to see someone peeking at him through a door gap or around a corner but there was nothing.

When he reached the third floor, he shouted, "Jessie, are you here?"

"Jessie, are you here? Jessie are you here?" the building replied and then repeated the same words over and over again until they turned into a silent mocking.

Shivers ran through Larry's back when he opened an ordinary door hoping once again to so see nothing. A single chair standing by a window instilled him with fear. It placed a subconscious idea in his mind that it must have belonged to someone who was not here, to someone who must have roamed the building or perhaps even followed him.

Larry felt compelled to sit in the chair. At first, he thoroughly inspected it and upon finding nothing odd sat on it. No matter how he twisted his back or adjusted his buttocks it hurt and itched but he ignored the inconvenience and allowed himself to rest nevertheless. His mind worked on different theories on what might have been going on here while his unfocused eyes stared through a window. Little by little, the image in front of him brought him back to the room for he realized that it was no ordinary window. It was not hazed, nor was it cracked or damaged in any way. On its left side palm-sized, almost invisible change in transparency had formed, similar to a greasy mark of a human touch that could easily be cleaned with a bit of water. Larry got up and checked it from up close, almost touching the window with his nose. Then, he blew at the spot. His warm breath revealed a letter "B"

He blew at the window once, twice, thrice and revealed a note written in scrappy handwriting:

"Do not trust your eyes

for they deceive.

Believe nothing. All things

in Paradise are not as they seem.

This world is twisted by four monsters

who now sleep. Wake up!"

Larry fell back to the chain. He mused about the author. This mess of disjointed handwriting must have belonged to a person who rarely used a pen, most likely to someone like Jessie because in her ordinary, common form she had appeared as a simple-minded woman who would never have a reason to pick up a pen except to sign a paper. Had she put a test downstairs and left this note as a prize? If so, why would she do that?