Addy hummed softly as she wandered back into the staff break room, counting up her tip from the customer that had just left. A cut and color with an oil slick dye job. She had always enjoyed the challenge those provided and her customer had been so happy she went out practically skipping and left a huge tip to boot. Tucking the cash away into her wallet, she plopped down into a chair and let out a deep sigh. Work had been the one normal part of her life since she returned to Destiny City and it felt like a safe haven away from all the craziness she had already encountered. Monsters and senshi and aliens and cursed dice and leaf-based teleportation all seemed to fade away when she was working. It felt good to have something normal. Sure, she was actively seeking all these things out, but that didn't mean it wasn't taking a toll on her as she tried to map out all the strange occurrences...Not to mention nothing had come up about her aunt's death other than a million supernatural things that could have caused it. Not a single lead and of course he police considered it a closed case. She was on her own with this one.
The door to the break room opened and Madeline, one of Addy's new co-workers, popped her head in, shaking her from her rumination.
"Hey!" she called out, "When you're done from your break, can you bring us some fresh clean towels from the closet? Thank yoooou!"
The door closed before Addy could respond, but that was fine. Mads was busy and had overbooked herself on accident, so she wouldn't have a chance to grab them herself or even eat lunch for that matter.
Addy flicked her wrist upward and looked at the time. 3:00 PM. She only had a couple minutes before her next appointment. With a sigh, she pushed herself up from the chair and trudged over to the storage closet. It was where they kept cleaning supplies, clean towels, extra receipt paper, and everything in between. The fluorescent light above her began to buzz and flicker as her fingers wrapped around the door knob, but it didn't register in her mind.
Her hand reached in to flick on the closet light, but what it illuminated was not shelves full of towels and supplies, but a long hallway. It stretched on and on so far that it was difficult for her eyes to process and if she focused on it too hard, it made her head hurt. The walls were lined with identical doors equally spaced apart. Before she knew what she was doing, her feet moved her forward into the hallway.
Was she seeing things?
The lights above her flickered and buzzed as she stood. A sudden burst of wind rushed down the long, lonely hallway and before she could stop it, the door slammed shut behind her. Cussing under her breath, she ran to the door and rattled the handle, but it wouldn't budge. It was just her and the hallway now. Addy pulled out her phone to call for help, but no signal seemed to make it into the cursed closet. Her camera app refused to open as well. <********. YOU!" she shrieked, glaring at the flickering lights above. This HAD to be the same thing as the game board, right? What else could it be? How many supernatural trickster entities could there be running around all at once? It found her twice with the dice, and now this.
Well. The only way out of the gameboard was to play so maybe...down the hall she would go. She paused occasionally to listen at a door or try a knob, but they were just as stuck as the one that had trapped her here. Sometimes she ran, sometimes she walked, sometimes she sat with her back to the wall and cried. No matter how long she went, the hallway never ended. The doors never opened. The lights even flickered in the same pattern over and over again like she was on a loop. Every now and then she would pull out her phone and look at the time. The battery was steadily going down, the time ticking away, yet there she still was. According to the phone she had been there for the last two hours. Work was going to be so pissed at her.
Eventually her phone died and though her watch still dutifully ticked away the time, it brought her no comfort. Her eye started to flutter closed as she fell asleep where she stood and she let her back slide down a door as she sunk to the floor. She had to take a break. Yes. Rest her eyes for just a little bit. Then she could start her long walk again. She let her eyes slowly shut until the door behind her opened with a creak.
Addy shrieked and fall backwards, landing on the hard linoleum of her work break room. Madeline stood above her confused and laughing as she watched her scramble to her feet.
"What were you doing in there?" she questioned, brows knit together in confusion.
Addy stared at her, a dumbfounded look on her face, and she looked at her watch. 3:03 PM.
( Word count 888 )
In the Name of the Moon!
A Sailor Moon based B/C shop! Come join us!
