The door hisses shut in my face. I try the intercom, but there’s no response.
What the hell?
I grip the handle and pull. Nothing. It’s like it’s made of steel.
“Come on, open—”
The lights go out. The entire room gets swallowed in punishing darkness.
My heartbeat picks up as I lose an essential sense—sight.
“Hello?” I hate how my voice trembles on the word. “This isn’t funny.”
I thrust my hand into my bag, fishing for my phone.
A bang sounds on the wall.
I flinch and my phone drops to the ground. The unmistakable crack of the screen echoes in the air.
“Shit.” I crouch, my hands feeling around blindly.
Light bursts into the projector like an old movie. It shines onto the opposite wall.
I gasp, freezing in my crouched position.
Black words in a bloody font flash on the white walls. They pass so fast as if planning to give me epilepsy. I’m about to close my eyes when the words start registering.
I. Am. Coming. For. You. I. Know. What. You. Did. Blood. On. Your. Hands. Murderer. Murderer. MURDERER.
I cover my mouth with both of my hands as the words repeat on a loop.
No.
This is some sort of a sick joke.
I stumble backward, my heel catching on the ground. I nearly fall, but I pull myself together and slam my palms on the door.
“Help!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Someone help!”
I hit the door harder and faster until my palms sting and tears well in my eyes.
A ping sounds from near the projector.
I jerk, my hands turning sweaty. Perspiration slides down my temples and my neck and all the way underneath my clothes.
The lights continue flashing and flashing and fucking flashing.
I place both hands on my ears and slide to the floor.
“No, Mommy, no…don’t go…” A sob tears from my throat. “Mom…Rei…”
Darkness grips me by the throat before they can come for me.
There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing her fall.
You know that moment when human beings lose all hope? When doors slam in their face and they just…drop?
That’s what Reina does. Even her fall is graceful. She fought, I give her that. She screamed and wailed. She cried and kicked.