The Passion House

VII (Part II)

I still haven’t digested what just happened.

A black room.

A woman.

Did she die?

Whispers.

But what if my mom is still here?

It seems like cold water has been dropped on me. She might still be inside the Casino.

I run my fingers on my hair. But what if she has escaped?

I stand up, tap on my pants, and make up my mind. I’m going back there to make sure.

“Hey! There’s Amy!” I hear a voice behind me.

I am about to turn around to face the door of the casino when I hear a woman shout my name. I turn around and a drunk Stacey walks up to me.

"We have been looking all over the place for you," She says as she clings to my arm for support. "Let's go back there." She says as she drags me back to the crowd.

"Stacey," I face her and stand on my ground. We are now meters away from the door. "We have to leave now," I tell her with all the sincerity of my heart. I admit that I am afraid of what is happening. I am also afraid of what will happen to us if we stay here.

“But it is still early and the night is young!” Stacey said to me while staggering on her feet. “I feel really dizzy. Can you help me back to the table?” I hold her up and let out a sigh. I look at the closed door of the casino. I guess I should just go back to our seats and warn them about what I have seen so we can escape this place together.

“Okay,” I look at her and smile. I keep praying that my mother is just safe out there, somewhere. That somehow, she can leave.

We go back to the bar and the party is still going on. I make her sit down at our table and Yohanne approaches us.

“Where did you go?” She says.

“We should leave this place,” I tell Yohanne with my hands shaking. Surprisingly, I can’t seem to cry. “Something is going on with the casino. I am afraid it will happen here, too.”

“Our dear Ari- Amy is acting weird, Yohanne,” drunk Stacey butts in a barely understandable voice.

“No! Really, Yohanne,” I beg Yohanne. We have to leave this place. “I went to the casino and it’s now a black slate. I think whatever happened there will also happen here. I also felt that someone back there is dead-” I muttered so fast that I can barely understand what I have been saying.

“Woah, Chill, Amy,” Yohanne cuts me as she sits down beside Stacey to pat her head. “That’s impossible. We have been going in and out of here for some time already and that never happened.” She looks back at me again smiling as she holds my defeated hand. “We are safe here, Amy. Let’s just wait until it’s sunrise so we can wake up. I’ll prove to you then that we’re going to be fine.” She reassures me.

“Okay,” I breathe out as I try to believe her.

But honestly, that didn’t calm me down. I sit beside her as I try to cling on to the hope that my mom didn’t die, that she has just woken up in the real world.

But what if she didn’t?

“Oh! Hi there, Amy!” We turn our heads to the person who owns that voice, it’s Steven. Melvin stands beside him while his hands are on Steven’s shoulder. “Have you girls seen Harris?”

Oh right... Harris.

I have been too consumed with worrying about my mother when there is another person who I need to think about.

I left him in my room.

Of course, I can’t tell them that. I look away from them and drink the full glass of beer beside me. Their drinks here don’t seem to get empty.

“I haven’t but you know, Harris is the type who likes to explore around here,” Yohanne replies for me. That must be the reason why Harris seems to know so much about this place. I hope they did not notice that Harris and I have left this area earlier.

“Why are you looking for him?” I ask Steven and Melvin answers instead.

“I’m so tired of doing the beats. I would’ve requested for a song from him.” They sit in front of us.

I realize that I don’t know much about them... even Harris.

“What do you mean?” I ask. I realize that they know me, but I don’t know anything about them.

“Harris is a singer,” Stacey answers. “But not that mainstream singer, he has been doing gigs at night to release stress from his work.”

“Why? What does he do?”

“Oh, he’s a computer engineer at an IT company,” Yohanne says. I didn’t expect that.

“Really? Woah. I just realized that I do not know much about you guys. Can you tell me how you guys became friends?” I lean my elbows to the table as I imply that I want to know them more. I mean, Harris and Melvin are older than the three. I want to know their story.

“Sure, Amy!” Yohanne starts. “All of us are from The University of San Lozano. Melvin and Harris are 3 years our senior. They are best friends and share the same degree in Computer Engineering. Stacey and I have been childhood friends but she has taken Electrical Engineering while Steven and I took Fashion Design. When Melvin and Steven have started dating back in freshmen year, we have been hanging out together since.”

“I really like how diverse you are, guys, yet you all seem to harmonize each other,” I comment.

“We do,” Stacey laughs.

“Actually,” Melvin butts in, “Stace likes Harris for years now.”

I freeze to my seat. What?

“No, I don’t!” Stacey stands up to reach and hit Melvin in the shoulder. They are both laughing.

“It’s true. I can still remember how Harris keeps on rejecting you though,” Melvin keeps on protecting himself from being hit by Stacey.

I feel my smile grow faker and faker. f**k f**k fuck... what the f**k.

I notice that my hand begins to sweat as my stomach begins to churn. Memories of what Harris and I started to come flooding my mind. Oh my god, what have I done?

I’m so sorry, Stacey. I didn’t know anything.

“Apparently, it seems like Harris is into someone else,” Yohanne looks at me as she smiles. But her smile is genuine. It is not the type that implies that she knows something fishy. I know she does not know that Harris and I did something.

Damn.

“Harris is a very secretive person,” we hear Steven talk, “in our 4 years of friendship, we haven’t heard anything about him seeing someone.” 

WAIT

What if Harris is not into commitments?

Is he fond of one-night stands?

But the way he has reacted earlier back in our room seems like he has been hurt when I have acted like what has happened between us is nothing to me...

“Really? Interesting,” I tell them while feigning ignorance to the storm inside my head.

On my peripheral vision, on the ceiling of the room, I see a black matter creeping out from the corner of the hall. It starts small as it gets bigger and bigger at a paced rate. It looks familiar.

And it hit me. I stand up. It looks very familiar.

“We have to get out of here,” I tell them.

“Why?” They all ask me in unison. I reach my hand out and point at the black matter that slowly consumes the ceiling of the bar. 

Slowly, it gets wider.

Slowly, it expands.

Until it almost reaches the base of the chandelier in the center of the hall.

“Stacey, Yohanne, Do you remember what I said earlier about the casino?” I ask them.

They turn to look at the thing where my right-hand point at.

“That’s what I have been talking about.”

I notice Stacey gasps and Yohanne stands up.

“WE SHOULD LEAVE, NOW!”

“DUCK!” Melvin and I shout in unison as the huge crystal chandelier falls in the middle of the dance floor.

Run! Amy!

Leave this place!

I hope that, finally, she can hear us now!