《Doors》 Wake-up BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP The sound of the alarm raised William suddenly. Upon opening his eyes he was greeted by a dark ceiling and a horrible headache. ¡°Where am I?¡± It took a second to recover from his headache and remember where he was, but nothing came to him. Everything was white, he couldn¡ät remember his full name nor age, not his parents or his friends. A second wasn¡ät enough, his shoulders ached and legs were shivering although he wasn¡ät cold. He raised his hand to touch the ceiling that was no more than twenty inches away from his nose then followed the touch of the ceiling to the rest of the walls with both hands, quickly realized he was in some sort of cubicle and it was small yet comfortable. He lifted his head just enough to see the bottom end of the cubicle. At his feet was a window where light shone through from the other side of the room. William, as swiftly as someone with an infernal headache could, got on his knees and maneuvered his way to the window at the bottom of the cubicle. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Pushing his head to the window he tried to see what was in the other room, but it was futile. As an act of muscular memory he tried to reach for his glasses on his neck but they weren¡ät there. ¡°Damn it¡± It took a second and a deep breath for him to finally decide. William put his hands on the window and swiftly applied force on it. The window slowly started to open as he moved his hands forward. The light that pierced through was now falling directly over his eyes, and it was much more than what William could take so he closed his eyes and sheltered in-between his arms. After a few moments he adapted to the powerful light of the room and could study it properly. At first, William didn¡ät know how he should feel about not seeing a single person on sight. ¡°For now it¡äs for the better¡± The place was a small white corridor with a single door. The light emanated from above in every direction. In the room, aside from his there were seven other windows like the one of his cubicle. "At least I¡¯m not alone" the thought made him feel a little sad. Black and White The distance between the window from his cubicle to the white floor of the hall was around twenty inches but considering the state of both his arms and his legs it looked rather dangerous and took a few seconds before he decided to set foot on the floor. He fell instantly, his legs were far worse than he though and so were his arms when he sought the wall. The hit to the floor made his headache wake up one more time. ¡°How long was I unconscious?¡± With a lot of effort he got himself on his feet one more time. Once again tried to remember where he was, but nothing came to his mind. A little annoyed, he decided not to think about his lack of memory, and focused on his current situation. With a lot of effort he drew close to one of the closed windows of and tried to see through it but didn¡ät spot anything. If it were a person or not in there he wouldn¡ät notice. Right under the cubicle there was a golden palette. ¡°I/C¡± he read out loud, maybe the serial number of the cubicle? Or the person?Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He walked to the next cubicle and read the palette for it. ¡°I/G¡± This time he tried to open the window, but couldn¡ät. He wasn¡ät be able to tell if it was due to his lack of strength on his arms, or the window just being unable to be open from outside. At a phase fast enough as it was possible for him he took a look at every single cubicle, making small pauses to avoid falling. His headache was gone for now, but his legs and arm were as if he hadn¡ät used them in a long time. After looking through every cubicle, he finally stopped at the door. ¡°Eight people in eight cubicles¡± The door, like the rest of the room seemed directly cut out from a film of Star Wars. It didn¡ät have a knob and was around ten feet long. He tried getting close to it in case it would open automatically, but it didn¡ät work. At that time, William noticed a golden inscription in the door. ¡°H-B-K-Q-P-P-P-P¡± And above the golden inscription, the painting of two cards facing backwards. Aside from it, at the right of the door, there was a white button, and next to it, a black one. He took a few seconds to think if he should press those buttons, and with eyes closed, took a deep breath, slowly swallowed, and then pressed the white button. He waited for a few seconds but to no avail. In a rush of bravery he pressed the black one two times in a row, seeing as nothing happened then proceeded to the press the white one again. Nothing. Took a few step back and looked above the door, there was what seemed to be numbers in red, but without his glasses he couldn¡ät tell much more than that. He was going to try to look at it on his fingertips but that thought quickly left his head. ¡°I might break my fingers¡± he thought looking at his weak self. Giving up on the door, William turned around thinking if he should or not try to wake up the other people in the cubicles if there were any. But one of them was already open and a girl picking out of the windows was staring at him fixedly. Black and White 2 The girl peeking out the window had her eyes dead set on William, and if he had to bet, he was more scared than her. ¡°H-h.ello¡± he muttered with a tone loud enough for her to hear, but not loud enough to scare her. He waited for a few seconds but the girl kept quiet. ¡°Hello¡± he repeated himself, but this time in a more secure and clear tone. The girl was probably scared, he needed to show security and confidence in his voice even if he didn¡ät have them himself. ¡°Hello¡± she replied instantly while shaking her head. Her voice wasn¡ät the one of a child, but the one of an adult. ¡°Where are we?¡± she followed before William could say anything. "I don¡ät know" William tried to remember but the pain went through his body like a needle penetrating the skin, his headache made a faint to come back, but disappeared shortly after.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "It¡äs ok"the girl answered seeing as William was making a painful face. The girl, now standing next to him wasn¡ät taller than five feet and appeared to be no older than eighteen. She had short black hair and black eyes, her face was beautiful as the one of a doll but she was a child nonetheless. She was wearing a simple but pretty one piece black dress with little to no ornamentation with a skirt that went as low as her ankles. Her skin was as white as the milk and seemed as soft as bread which made her look like she was twelve or so. The study of the girl¡äs clothes made a thought wake up in his mind. ¡°What am I wearing?¡± He had to look himself up to notice he was wearing a pretty classy bluish suit with a red tie beautifully ornamented. He hoped his outfit would bring back some of his memories but it didn¡ät happen. ¡°Do you know where ar..¡± William tried to ask. ¡°No¡± the girl interrupted him while thoroughly inspecting the hall. ¡°Are there people in the others¡­ cubicles?¡± ¡°I don¡ät know¡± William answered. The girl passed of him and stopped right in front of the door, then pressed her hand to it but to no avail. ¡°H-B-K-Q-P-P-P-P¡± she read out loud. She stood there for a few seconds, looking at the door and then raised her head up to see the clock. While doing so, William could tell she was left petrified, as if something suddenly and deeply scared her. ¡°What happens? Is there something weird with the clock?¡± asked William ¡°It¡äs not a clock, it¡äs a countdown.¡± Black and White 3 ¡°How much time is left?¡± ¡°Twenty-two minutes and eleven seconds, did you touch any of the buttons?¡± ¡°Yes, the white one twice and¡­ the black one once¡± The girl, as if she was ignoring what William was saying pressed both buttons. Act that triggered a familiar sound. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP ¡°What was that?¡± asked William. ¡°I don¡ät know¡± Suddenly one of the cubicles window opened, from it came out a woman with light brown hair that reached up to the throat and clear amber eyes. As soon as the woman came out of the cubicle she stared at him, and smiled. ¡°Only the two of you awake?¡± she asked. ¡°Where are we? Who are you? And why are where?¡± The black haired girl closed up the distance in a second and stood in front of her, asking more questions than what William could process. ¡°Well, well, my name is Ludmila and for now the important thing is that you guys aren¡ät in danger!¡± answered the girl with the amber eyes and the beautiful smile.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Where are we?¡± the black haired girl insisted. ¡°Can¡ät say, Victoria¡± answered Ludmila giving away the other girl¡äs name. From behind, another cubicle¡äs window opened. A tall man with blond hair and blue eyes joined the hall. ¡°Hello Adrian¡± greeted Ludmila. ¡°Where are we?¡± he asked but Ludmila didn¡ät even got the time to answer when another cubicle opened. Same as with Adrian, she helped the person to get out and greeted her gently. Another woman, black long hair and robust composition. William was surprised how calm everyone was. ¡°Don¡ät they realize that we have been kidnapped?¡± William turned back to the door just to find another person standing up, a boy, no older than seventeen, wearing old fashioned clothes. Eyes green like grass and hair white as snow. The face of the kid was the same as William, he was terrified. ¡°My name is William, it seems we are safe¡± William said trying to reassure him ¡°Ross¡± said the kid in a very low tone. ¡°Only two left¡± said Ludmila, glaring at everyone. ¡°Hey, sparkles, what about the countdown? The door won¡ät open¡± said Victoria. ¡°A lot of the doors where we are will require some minimum work to open, but don¡ät worry, they aren¡ät dangerous¡± replied Ludmila smiling at everyone. ¡°Are we safe? Where are we?¡± asked Adrian. ¡°I know you all must be worried, and I would love to answer your questions but I can¡ät for now, but it is a promise, passed twenty four hours from now, I¡äll tell you everything¡± The serious tone, combined with her radiant eyes and charismatic smile seemed to convince everyone but Victoria. ¡°Why?¡± asked Victoria. ¡°Your own safety¡± Ludmila step forward. If William had a knife he could the air as it was butter. ¡°It¡äs okay, we can wait right? Everyone?¡± Adrian glared at everyone with a smile. Lackluster, but it was enough to calm the waters. ¡°Whatever but I still would like to get out of here before that countdown reaches to zero¡±. Stated Victoria and everyone else agreed. When the clock marked fifteen minutes left a different, and much louder sound echoed through the room. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP Black and White 4 The headache came back, and with it, William was reduced to his knees. ¡°What the hell was that? Are you sure we are okay?¡± asked Adrian. ¡°Absolutely¡± answered Ludmila. ¡°Anyways I¡¯d rather get out of here before it reaches zero¡± interrupted Ross. ¡°To open the door we need to solve a puzzle right? Then our main clue would be these¡± he continued while pointing at the door. ¡°H-B-K-Q-P-P-P-P and the drawing of two cards? What does it mean?¡± asked Adrian. ¡°It must be some type of code¡± said Rose while toughly inspecting the door. ¡°To solve it me must first focus on how to, before analyzing the clues¡± stated Victoria. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Victoria pointed at the black and white buttons. ¡°They probably need to be pressed in certain order, and if it wrong it will make that noise¡± she stated. ¡°Then the code must be a sequence of white and black, and that code must be given by the sequence of letter printed on the door¡± deducted Ross. ¡°If it is about two cards then, it would make sense that the white button refers to the red cards, and the black button to the black cards¡± Adrian quickly noted.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°And the letters are a form of referring to the every single card¡± Victoria was on track. William was surprised how well everyone adapted to the situation, he was excluded completely. ¡°But¡­ what¡äs the link between the letters and the cards then?¡± asked Ludmila. Everyone was deep in thought. ¡°How much time left?¡± William couldn¡ät see the numbers. ¡°Eleven minutes, but there¡äs nothing to worry about¡± Ludmila smiled at him. ¡°Even if it is about checkers or chess, what¡äs the link between them and the cards?¡± asked Adrian. ¡°Chess¡± said Victoria. Ludmila lightened up, she seemed to follow her train of though. ¡°H-B-K-Q-P-P-P-P are initials for chess pieces, and even gives out the order!¡± followed Ludmila. ¡°What? How?¡± It took William a few seconds to figure it out. ¡°H for horse, B for bishop, K for Knight, Q for queen and for Pawn, it all makes sense¡± ¡°But, without knowing if they are white or black it¡äs meaningless¡± added Ross. ¡°No it¡äs not, even we don¡ät know that we can try every possible combination before the time runs out, there can¡ät be so many!¡± you could see Adrian was happy. ¡°Two hundred fifty six possible combinations¡± cut Victoria. ¡°If the initials are for every piece of chess then we need it¡äs coordinates¡± she added For a few seconds everyone remained silent. ¡°I¡äm at my limit, thinking any further won¡ät do any good, I¡äll try the combinations¡± said Ross while putting hand on the buttons. Quickly enough he inserted the first sequence and the wrong sound didn¡ät delay. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP As if he didn¡ät heard it Ross kept pushing the buttons one after the other, trying every possible combination of the eight buttons. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP Over and over and over, William collapsed, and he wasn¡ät the only one. The noise was insufferable. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP William, maybe thanks to the adrenalin of the moment finally could see the numbers on the countdown. ¡°Only three minutes left¡± Black and White 5 BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP William looked at everyone else, and at that moment, only Adrian remained on his feet. Ross kept swinging like a madman, combination after combination. The sound kept getting worse and worse, William thought he was about the faint, and maybe it was for the best. He closed his eyes. Then he remembered. ¡°THE PLATES¡± he yelled. ¡°THE FUCKING PLATES¡± he yelled again and this time catching Ross attention. The infernal sound stopped. ¡°The plates of the cubicles are chess coordinates¡± he said signaling the one closest to him. Adrian verified it and looked back at him.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Quickly, give me every single coordinate¡± demanded Ross. ¡°One minute¡± ¡°Hmmmm D/I is¡­.¡± Adrian stammered. ¡°D/I, white box, king¡± stated Victoria. ¡°Read me the others¡± she continued. ¡°Fifty seconds¡± ¡°G/I, E/I, C/II, A/II, C/I, D/II¡­ and H/VII¡± read Adrian traveling the small corridor as he could. ¡°Thirty seconds¡± ¡°I have the order of the first four¡± said Victoria. ¡°What about the last four?¡± asked Adrian in hoping for a good answer. ¡°It¡äs impossible to know the order of the pawns¡± concluded Victoria. ¡°Give me the first four!¡± exclaimed Ross. ¡°G/I Horse, Black. C/I Bishop, Black. D/I King, White. E/1 Queen, Black¡± ¡°Fifteen seconds¡± Ross quickly pressed the buttons and when was about to continue William interrupted him. ¡°Does the coordinate of the pawns match with the letters ¡°CARD¡±?¡± Victoria lightened up. ¡°Yes! All but one¡± replied. ¡°I¡äm losing it!¡± Ross hurried them. ¡°Five seconds¡± ¡°C/II Pawn, White. A/II Pawn, White. H/VII Pawn, White. D/II Pawn, Black.¡± As soon as Victoria finished reciting the colors, Ross finished pushing the buttons. ¡°Three Seconds¡± BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP Everybody knew what that sound meant. The air freeze for the remaining two seconds. William didn¡ät feel so much silence at any moment of his life. <<00:02>> <<00:01>> <<00:00>> Black and White final <<24:00>> <<23:59>> <<23:58>> Everyone breathed again.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. William knew he never felt so much relief in his entire life, even though he didn¡ät remember any of it. The first person to stand was Ludmila, who looked at everyone smiling. ¡°I told there wasn¡ät any danger!¡± she said. ¡°The clock going backwards probably means the order in which we push the bottoms goes backwards as well!¡± she continued. Ross, who had a face of someone who just survived death by a millimeter nodded and pressed the buttons in reverse order. The door opened. My own garden Virginia was doing her best to remain calm. The last twelve hours of her life had been surely the worst. Leaving out the headache and the frightful state of her body. She had no idea where she was or how did she get there to being in the first place, and they weren¡ät getting any answers from this girl called Ludmila either. One moment she was doing breakfast for his husband and sending off her daughter and the next she was in the airtight-dark cubicle, dragged out by the infuriating screech of the alarm. Was her husband in a similar position to hers? What about her daughter? Edward¡­ Camile¡­ Thinking about her about her daughter and husband only made her feel more miserable, so she had decided not to from very early on. Well, she did try asking Ludmila about her daughter, no, tried asking would be an understatement, she pleaded for answers but to no avail. ¡°After you sleep again and are more stable I¡¯ll tell everything¡± Were the words the young woman stated. Virginia wanted to believe it but a part of her just couldn¡ät, maybe two parts. ¡°Everything all right?¡± asked Adrian. ¡°Y-Yes, of course!¡± She answered, maybe with a little more of enthusiasm than necessary for the situation ¡°At least as much as it can be¡­¡± Adrian nodded as he finished the preparation for her to sleep in the hall-room. Virginia couldn¡ät go back to sleep in the cubicle, she wasn¡ät claustrophobic but something about it terrified her, and wasn¡ät it natural? The surprise was Ludmila convincing the others to do so. The hall-room was a relative medium sized but really stylish room that was just outside the corridor with the cubicles. It had the map for the complex as well as a table and a two black chesterfield sofas with thirty cm long footing and four cushions that were her bed and pillows for this night. ¡°Are you going to be alright? Do you really don¡ät want to sleep in the cubicles? They are so comfortable!!¡± mumbled Ludmila. ¡°I¡äll be just fine, I think¡± Virginia tried to sketch out a smile but it didn¡ät came out quite right. ¡°Okay, okay, but remember! If you need anything I¡äll be at the gym!¡± said Ludmila as she left the room. ¡°Anyways, I¡äll be on the bike to see if I can get a few kilometers off that mark before I go to sleep, feel free to drop by if you feel scared¡­ or need anything¡± said Adrian. ¡°Yes, I¡äll do that¡± Even though Adrian was at least 8 years younger than her, he gave this trustworthy feeling that was hard to come by and it was just what she needed to calm herself at a moment like this. As Adrian left to the gym Ross came through it, they exchanged a glare and a smile and went on their way. In the past hours those two came together nicely but Virginia wouldn¡ät call it a friendship, it was more the bond between two people with the same goal, a silent agreement of cooperation. Even though Ludmila warned them against overworking themselves those two were dead set on opening the doors and getting out of there as soon as possible. As for the way out, it was pretty straightforward, they just needed to open the big door at the end of the hallway on the other side of the complex as was explained for Ludmila while they were touring through the complex. The door was hexagon shaped and had four lights on its bottom half, three red ones and a green one for the doors they had yet to open and the one they already opened respectively. Straightforward but tricky The door already opened was the first one in the corridor with the cubicles. As for the doors yet to be opened, there was one in the cold chamber, one in the garden and one in the gym. The door at the gym was the first one the group came by while exploring the complex. This door was far the simplest, it had an exercise bike right in front of it and a counter on top with the number 4.000 and initials kms. Using the exercise bike would make the counter go down. Even though there was no riddle, this was the one that made the group the more hatred. There was only one bike and Adrian estimated that based on the speed of the average speed of it, 4 days was the bare minimum the group cold hope to clear this door in ?Are we going to be 4 days locked up in this place? The thought past through everyone¡äs head, followed up by the calming words of Ludmila that even though they already heard a thousand times until now, they didn¡ät fail to comfort everyone. Virginia thought that there was definitely something charming about her. And four days was nothing short. The second door they visited was the one in the cold chamber, right after the warehouse in the kitchen. The food supplies could last for at least three months if properly managed, and in that she was in charge. She had not only cooked breakfast but also lunch and dinner for the group, act that allowed to free her head, at least for a short while. Regarding the door, there wasn¡ät a lot to talk about, it was on the right corner of the chamber so the light from the door to the warehouse couldn¡ät quite fill it in which made it impossible to see the riddle, the door, or anything at all on that side of the room. They tried reflecting the light from the warehouse using a knife to light it up but it was fruitless, the knifes had a somewhat opaque edge which made the reflection too weak to distinguish anything on the cold dark of the chamber.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Before leaving the warehouse William found a pack of beer. A find he wanted to celebrate with Teodoro before Ludmila strongly advised against it. William was a strange fellow, he had an old fashion way to talk as well as a weird concept on technology. He got scared at the fact of the doors opening by themselves and repeatedly extended his hand to open them before they automatically opened. Every door in the complex was automated so this became a habit for him. Virginia found it weird he never saw one before, she knew they weren¡ät that common in some countries but still. The third and last of the small doors was the one in the garden. The garden was by far the biggest room in the complex. Every single inch of it was filled with green wiry grass and flamboyant flowers. Virginia loved flowers and could cross herself as knowledgeable on the matter but she couldn¡ät recognize half the flowers on the place, varying from strange color frames to weird shapes. ¡°Do you like flowers too?¡± asked Ludmila crossing her fingers behind her back and leaning her hips forward. ¡°Yes¡± she answered bashfully. A robust sycamore like tree stood beautifully in the middle of the room, surrounded by the beautiful color scheme of the flowers it caught everyone¡äs eyes the moment they entered the room. It was so beautiful Virginia thought she could stare at it forever, she wished her husband and daughter were with her to see it. Or in another thought, maybe not. Much like the big door at the end of the hallway this one had 3 lights, the difference being the red button and a card sized gap to the right. It didn¡ät take too long for Ross the button presser maniac, to press the button, and a yellow card came of the gap, the instructions were simple yet tiring. ¡°1.500 km on bike¡± read Ross. Everyone sighed. After that, they made a schedule to use the bike to open the door as fast as possible, despite Ludmila warning against it. First was Ross who just finished his shift on the bike and took a shower, second Adrian, followed by Teodoro and finally William. Herself and Victoria didn¡ät take shifts on the bike duty but had other tasks to fulfill as part of the group, her job was cleaning and Victoria had to work on opening the door in the cold chamber. As for Leonardo, he was the last person to wake up and get out of his cubicle, the man seemed dizzy and for good reason, the rest of the group was young and they were all in a frail sensitive state after getting out of the cubicle, Leonardo who seemed to be no younger than ninety years old had to be devastated so everyone decided it was for the better to just let him rest. ¡°Are you going to eat something before bed?¡± asked Virginia. ¡°No, I¡äm fine, where is the rest?¡± answered Ross. ¡°Teodoro is in the playroom and Virginia is still at the cold chamber. Leonardo went to sleep after talking to Ludmila¡­ ah, William already went to sleep as well¡± ¡°Huh? What did they talk about?¡± ¡°I don¡ät know, they did so in the cubicles¡± ¡°I see, well, I¡äm heading off, you should take a bath before going to sleep too, it was a hell of a day¡± mocked Ross doing a gesture with his fingers that she smelled while entering the room the cubicle¡äs room. ¡°Ahh..ah..h.. RR-Right, I¡äll do that!¡± She answered, trying to cover her red face as much as she could while heading off. Crossing through the gym she saw Adrian and Ludmila at the bike near the door, they seemed to be talking about something and when she was noticed, Ludmila smiled at her. Nodding, Virginia jumped into the bathroom, and started undressing. Starting with her sweater and skirt, followed by her shirt and socks she quickly noticed she didn¡ät grab the change of clothed she left prepared at the hall-room. Quickly, she dressed back and went out to the hall-room. She quickly pounced toward her bed-couch where she left the change of clothes and grabbed it. *CRACK* The sound of shattered glass quickly followed so she moved her right feat to find a pair of glasses just next to her bed-couch. She bent down and carefully picked them up. The right glass was completely shattered and in a useless state but the left one was untouched. She sighed in relief. Didn¡ät William say he couldn¡¯t see much without glasses? Maybe it could help him, Virginia pet the glasses over the table near the teddy bear Teodoro found in the hall-room and made a mental note to deliver them to William once he wakes up. Back on track, with her new change of clothes Virginia resumed her bath journey and quickly got over it. Back again to the hall-room she met Victoria and Teodoro who were going to sleep as well, Virginia followed them to the room and saw them off into their respective cubicles. Only the cubicles of Adrian and Ludmila remained open. Victoria then returned to the hall-room, shut down the lights, grabbed the teddy bear and laid down on the bed, sleeping in this kind of situation was hard, she was always restless, but this time it was justified. She hugged the teddy bear as strong as she would hug her daughter when she returned, if she returned¡­ No! If things were as Ludmila said maybe this was all a misunderstanding and she would be back at home with her family in no time. Yes, maybe that was it, the young woman didn¡ät feel like a liar, what¡äs more, she felt trustworthy, but didn¡ät overdo it, she knew they were scared and acted so according to the situation so they didn¡ät get overwhelmed. If she was in her place, she would probably make everyone else freak out and kill each other. The thought made her smile, it was good to have her. Virginia quickly opened her eyes, she didn¡ät know how much time she had slept or if she even sleep any to begin with but if she did then, she could hear from Ludmila where they were and why. The thought made her feel anxious and prone to get up but suddenly she heard footsteps and the sound of a door opening. Adrian? Ludmila? She swallowed, the sound of footsteps in the dark, an unknown place, taking all the factors into account of course she would freak out, and rightful so, even if there was no reason to freak out about since it was probably Adrian after finishing with the bike, he had to be. But if he wasn¡ät? Virginia warily, without moving a finger tried to examine the dark room, but to no avail. The sound of the steps grew closer and closer, she was now sure, they weren¡ät coming from the gym, but from the opposite direction, she swallowed again, her heartbeat doubled and the doubt invaded her mind. What if the person behind all this decided to show himself? What if Ludmila lied? The pressure was too much, and to make things worse, she had dropped the teddy bear in her sleep, that was the deterrent. In a heartbeat, gathering all her courage she stood up and ran as fast as she could to the gym¡äs door, Ludmila or Adrian had to be there. She ran as fast as possible and heard a brute move coming from behind which only made things worse. Adrian was still on the bike but Ludmila wasn¡ät anywhere to be seen, so she ran as fast as she could towards Adrian. ¡°Adrian!¡± she screamed. Adrian turned back to find the thirty one years old woman tearing up running as fast as she could towards him, so naturally he had to ask. ¡°Virginia? What happened?¡± He quickly got off the bike and grabbed her shoulders. It took a few seconds for her to swallow her tears enough so she could start talking. ¡°I-I heard footsteps and got scared, so, so I ran and¡­¡± she couldn¡ät help herself from tearing up but, the courage she had shown was plenty and Adrian comforted her. ¡°Go to the garden, Ludmila is there, I¡äll check out if the hall-room is safe¡± ¡°N-No! Don¡¯t leave me!¡± ¡°It¡äs ok, you will be fine, I promise¡± Adrian stood up and headed towards the hall-room. Virginia didn¡ät want to be alone, but didn¡ät want to go to the hall-room either. The moor between two evils, quickly Virginia decided going to the garden, cleaning her tears as much as she could on her way there. Took a few more sobs and a quick glare at Adrian before he headed into the hall-room for her to reach the garden¡äs door. The sycamore tree stood beautifully in the middle of the room as it had always, underneath, Ludmila¡äs corpse coldly stared at her with the head barely clinging to her bleeding neck. The colorful flowers that ornamented the beautiful garden were now mostly dyed red. Virginia fainted.