The Passion House

XI

It turns out that Stacey’s room is on 3059, Yohanne’s is on 3060, Steven’s is on 3068 and Melvin’s is on 3067. Harris is now carrying Stacey on his back as Steven and I walk beside them. She is the one who told the Harris about what had happened as I walk on their right with my head bowed. I feel like I don’t deserve to be with this group of radiant people. I look at them and feel a soft pang in my heart. Why am I reacting like this?

Stacey is hugging Harris on a piggyback ride and she rests her chin on Harris's left shoulder. She is beautiful. She is also kind, and quite bubbly. I know that she would even win the Miss Universe Pageant if she joins it. Her body is great. Her attitude is great. She is everything I am not.

I look at Harris, he maintains his straight face that I can’t seem to read him. What is he thinking? Where has he been? What does he feel about all of this mess? His best friend died. One of her lady friends has been killed. Why is he being calm? 

As if sensing my stare, Harris turns to look at me, and automatically, I avoid it and pretend that I have not been observing the two. She is pretty, and he is handsome, too. Both of their personalities are great. They would become a very lovely couple.

And as if he heard my thoughts, I feel his hands softly brush to mine while we are walking. I turn to look at his face and find him still looking at me. He smiles when our gazes meet as if he is waiting for it. His look seems as if he is assuring me that he is okay. How can he be okay? His brown eyes seep into my soul as if he will be more worried if the person who is one of the casualties is... me.

Stop assuming things, Amy! I tell myself and break our stare. I turn to look forward and he does it, too, while chuckling under his breath.

“Why are you laughing, Har?” I hear Stacey ask him in pure curiosity to which Harris replies while smiling.

“I’m just relieved.”

In a long long hallway of gold and bright lights, we have eventually reached the door to Stacey’s room. It is the one last in this hallway that leads to a curve where our rooms are situated. Harris puts her down in front of the door 3059 as her eyes go blank and she stares at the door in front of hers. She goes silent as her eyes go blank as I believe she remembers Yohanne.

3060

Steven walks up to her.

“Stace, my stupid but lovely sis, see you on the other side,” as he kisses her forehead. For the first time after that sudden outburst in Iodestone, I have seen Stacey and Steven smile at each other. Stacey pats Steven’s hands away from her.

“Yeah, whatever Stevie,” she turns her back to us after a smile and enters her room. We leave after we are sure that she is safe inside.

We turn around the corner and dash towards our rooms, the moment I hold on to the doorknob, I feel a hand holds on to my wrist. I look up and see Harris.

“What are you doing?”

“I hope you’ll recognize me in reality, Amy,” he gives a peck on my lips and he rushes to his room. I look around and find out that Steven has already entered his room so he might not have seen what Harris just did. I turn on my knob and enter my room.

The bright light inside my room greets me a welcome. It looks the same as how I have left this place earlier with Harris. The bed has been tidied up, it looks like he has fixed it before he has left.

Oh, right the vanity mirror. 

I grow excited. I feel my head get clearer and all my worries immediately are washed away as I see the vanity chair in front of the mirror. It feels like it has been ages since I last feel relaxed like this. Could it be that my mom has already awoken in reality before me?

I can finally go home.

I feel myself smile while rushing towards it.

But the mirror is broken.

The horror of my realization dawns on me as the little pieces of glass stay scattered on the floor.

No...

I pick up the pieces in hopes that I can still exit this horror. 

No...

But to no avail, I still cannot see myself in it.

No...

And I can no longer see myself sleeping on the bed with it. The mirror is gone like powder and ashes. How can I go home now?

A panicked knock on the door wakes me up from my reverie.

“Amy! Amy!”

Harris...

“Come out! We have to leave this place now!” He calls me frantically on the other side of the door. I immediately stand up, open up the door and rush to pin Harris on the wall in a choke-hold.

“You!” I can feel the menace in my voice. It must be him, I tell myself. He was the last person in my room.

“Amy?” I hear a woman’s voice. It is Stacey and I hear her sobbing. What are they doing here? Are they not leaving yet? “My mirror has been broken.” I turn to look at them and it turns out that Steven has gone to take his sister.

“What do you mean?” I ask in confusion.

“All our mirrors are shattered,” Steven answers me. I look at Harris and he is patting my hand as a giving up signal.

“You didn’t do it?” I ask him.

“Why would I?” He says while he’s trying to save his breath. He’s coughing hard, too.

“Woah, I didn’t know that you can be that strong, Amy,” I hear Steven tell me.

“This is no time to be sarcastic Steven,” I burst out. I can’t believe that this is happening. Who could be the one who will purposely trap us here?

“I’m sorry, Amy,” Steven says, “I know you’re stressed, we are too. I know it was not a good joke, to begin with,” He apologizes.

“So what should we do now?” I ask them.

“What’s that?” Harris asks with wide eyes. He raises his hands to point at the end of the hallway, the one that leads to Stacey’s room.

Confused, the three of us immediately turn our heads to look at what Steven sees.

It is the black matter from earlier. 

“Oh my god. We should find a safe place immediately,” Stacey interjects as we see the black matter creeping towards us and devouring everything it finds in the hallway. Harris immediately takes my wrist as he leads me to run to the other side of the hallway. Steven assists his sister as they walk at a much slower pace because if they stop to carry Stacey, the black matter might reach them. The hanging lights of gold and white start to fall from the ceiling like birds losing their lives as if the black matter melts everything it walks on to.

“What is that?” I hear Harris ask me.

“We also do not know,” I tell him in all honesty. I look back to see how the twins are doing and halts when I realize that we are now almost leaving them behind. It also makes Harris stop.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s help them out Harris,” I tell him and run towards the siblings. Harris follows me back because he has no other choice. “Stacey! Steven! Hold my hand!” I run as fast as I could until a sudden BANG! Is heard in the hallway. It was so loud that it seems like a gunshot has been fired towards sus.

“AHHHH!” we hear Stacey shout.

“Stacey!” Steven’s voice rings amidst the chaos as he holds on to his sister who has now lost all her balance and falls to the ground. “We are about to go home, dummy, why are you being like that?”

A loud evil laugh of a man is suddenly heard along the hallway. It is coming from the pitch black. Harris also halts when he sees what happened.

“You should leave,” Stacey tells her brother as the black matter almost reaches her feet. There is a gunshot wound on Stacey’s leg now, the one that still has the huge shard of glass is still buried beneath her skin. It is now bleeding endlessly. “I can’t walk now, Stevie.” She says with tears and hurt in her eyes. “I will only slow you guys down.”

“Shh~” he hushes her. “Your brother here will carry you.” Steven smiles as he assures her. He signals me to come and help him pull her upward so he can carry her on his back. Yet another BANG! is heard ringing in the hallway. Stacey’s body falls to the ground, her blue eyes lifeless and wide open, and we find a gunshot wound on her back.