The Only Way Out IS Death, page 17
I gasp and sit upright in bed. The pillow is to the side, and my bedclothes are twisted into pretzels around me. I blink to clear the visions from my eyes, but even after I do, the pounding sound continues. It’s coming from the door, I realise. Shaking, I tiptoe to the door.
I can hear urgent whispers on the other side. ‘Kiriaki!’ Preston’s clear voice calls out through the door. ‘If you don’t open the door, I’ll have to break it down.’
‘I’m here!’ I say, relief rushing through my body. I move the chairs out of the way, unlock the door, and open it. Preston and Jillian, torches in hand, can be seen in the light from my room, and their faces look as relieved as I feel.
‘Thank God, Kiri,’ Jillian sighs, as she enters the room. Preston follows her in. I shut and lock the door once more, and put the chairs into place. ‘Good move,’ Preston says, nodding at the chairs. ‘I did the same.’
‘That means you saw the lights?’ Jillian asks me.
I nod. ‘I was in bed when I heard—’
‘Knocking?’ Jillian says. On seeing my surprise, she says, ‘Preston and I also got that lovely wake-up call. We can assume the rest did as well. Someone wanted us to see the lights were out.’
‘But how could the lights have gone out? Were they tampered with like the clocks?’
‘We went down the sides of the hallway carefully,’ Preston replies. ‘Searching for broken glass or anything like that. But there was nothing. It’s like someone flipped a switch and shut them all off.’
‘But none of us found any switches, and I doubt the mastermind would leave that uncovered for us to find.’
‘Which means the mastermind did this,’ Jillian says grimly, echoing my fears.
‘Which means all bets are fucking off,’ I say through clenched teeth. ‘If there’s no semblance of non-interference anymore.’
‘Does that mean they did the clocks too?’ Preston asks.
‘Fuck, they might have,’ I groan. ‘That would explain why nobody was punished for breaking the rules and tampering with the hotel property. Fucking Sierra might have been right.’
‘What do we do now?’ Preston’s trying hard to hide his dismay. ‘How do we fight someone who can watch our every move without us knowing?’
‘We don’t have to fight them,’ I say firmly. ‘For now, all we need to do is survive until we come up with a plan.’
‘To do that, we need to stick together, like we decided,’ Jillian says.
‘First, get your clothes so you can camp out here. After that, we can go out to eat and drink, but when we plan to sleep, you both stay here, and we can take turns staying up and keeping watch,’ I say.
‘I’ll sleep on the ground,’ Preston says immediately as if we were about to accuse him of impropriety.
‘We can figure that out, but thanks for the offer, Pres,’ I say with a smile.
I could swear he reddened, but he quickly says, ‘But I don’t get it. What are we waiting for?’
‘We’re buying ourselves time, essentially,’ says Jillian tiredly.
‘Until what?’ Preston asks uncertainly.
‘Until we figure out who the mastermind is and how to beat them,’ I take a long, heavy pause. ‘Or until someone dies.’
29
IT IS HERE
Before we can settle in and decide what to do next, there’s a knock on the door. It’s a series of three quick raps, loud and firm. We look at each other and warily go to the door.
‘Who is it?’ I call.
‘Malik,’ comes the voice.
I look at the others. Preston shrugs and Jillian nods her head. I nod back and Preston moves the chairs out of the way. I open the door to reveal Malik holding a flashlight in his hand. His face is as impassive as usual and he doesn’t look surprised to see Jillian and Preston.
‘You three are together,’ he says, nodding. ‘I expected as much.’
‘Is there something we can do for you, Malik?’ I say, trying to match his impassive and polite tone. I don’t invite him in.
‘Well, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,’ he says, sweeping his hands around, ‘the mastermind has switched off the lights. Clearly, we are entering a dark new phase of this game, no pun intended. I just wanted to know if you all had any plans as to how you’re going to proceed, and whether you would be amenable to including me in those plans.’
I resist the urge to look back at the others, and try to fruitlessly examine Malik’s face. I can gauge nothing from it, as usual.
‘Malik,’ I say, ‘for once, why don’t you tell us first what your plan is?’
‘My plan?’ he says, as if surprised I would even ask. He shrugs urbanely and says, ‘It’s simple, really: Escape.’
‘You don’t say,’ I say drily. ‘Want to elaborate on that?’
‘I thought the plan was quite straightforward,’ he says, his brows furrowing.
I resist the urge to shake him. Instead, I ask, ‘Do you think it’s safe to be wandering like this all by yourself?’
‘It hasn’t been “safe” since the moment we were dropped into this place, Kiriaki,’ he chides me. ‘But I thought it was worth the risk because I believe there is something of value to be gained from combining our considerable intelligence together. I see now, however, that you are stumbling in the dark.’ He smiles a small smile. ‘Pun intended this time.’ He flicks his torch back on and turns to leave.
‘Malik,’ I say suddenly. ‘Why are you here?’
He turns back to me and raises his eyebrow. ‘On this earth, you mean?’
‘No, I mean, what did you do? Why are you included in this list of scum?’
He doesn’t say anything for a second and then gives a broad smile as if he’s heard an extremely funny thing.
‘Oh Kiriaki,’ he says with a small chuckle. ‘It doesn’t really matter now, does it? But let’s just say that of everyone here, I’m the scummiest of all.’ He turns his torch and moves away, soon swallowed by the darkness.
‘That dude says a lot of weird shit,’ Preston says from behind me, ‘but that was the weirdest of all, right?’
‘It definitely was,’ I say with a shudder and shut the door, stepping back so Preston can replace the chairs.
‘Well, I wasn’t sure about excluding him before, but I am now,’ Jillian says.
‘How is he walking out there alone without a care in the world?’ Preston asks.
‘Maybe he knows something we don’t,’ I say. Then my voice grows softer as I try to voice something that has been growing in my mind for a while, ‘Or maybe, he is something we’re not.’
‘Do you mean…?’ Preston asks, his eyes wide.
‘I don’t know. I just don’t know. But either way, one thing is for sure—we have to watch out for him.’
‘Agreed,’ Jillian says, nodding. She looks pale and worn out in the harsh light above her head, and her voice is tired and heavy. I want to ask her if she’s okay, but at this point, that’s a pretty redundant question.
We set about our day (or night). We only use the unopened supplies or cans we’re sure haven’t been tampered with. We eat quickly and take some cans back to the room. On the way back, we pick up some books from the library, clothes from Jillian’s and Preston’s room, then come back into my room, rest and read. Sleep…we decide we’ll sleep when we feel sleepy because, again, there’s no knowing when “bedtime” is. Jillian and I sleep first, while Preston keeps guard. I have to admit that I feel safer knowing both of them are in the room with me, and I sleep easier than I have since we arrived here. Eventually, Preston wakes me up, and I stay up, reading a book and killing time. I wake up Jillian in turn, and she keeps guard. We do a full rotation, and then it’s decided that we should eat and discuss our plans. We don’t come up with anything new or insightful, and the whole process is incredibly disorienting. We venture out of the room less and less, as lethargy and despair creep in. I’ve lost track of when we last ate, when we last slept, how many loops of this process we’ve done. A day could have passed since we started, or ten days, I wouldn’t know. I grow tired of seeing my companions’ faces, and we find ourselves getting irritated and snapping at each other over the smallest things. If things go on too long, a murderer might be born in that very room.
And then there’s the knocking.
Every once in a while there is a sharp, long, unmistakable knock on the door. Whoever is awake hears it, and whenever they go to the door and call out, there’s no answer from the other side. The knocking stops, and then it returns after a while. Preston told us of one moment when he got so frustrated, he pushed the chairs aside and opened the door, but there was no one there—no one that he could see. I chastised him for the unnecessary risk, but the thought was still chilling. Ghosts were the last thing we needed right now.
I have lost count of the number of times we have heard the knock, but it is clear someone, one of the others or the mastermind, is sending us a message—I’m still out here. You can hide as much as you want, but I’ll still be here, waiting for you.
The last few times I had to keep watch, I almost dozed off. I can’t account for this unnatural fatigue. Preston seems unchanged, and Jillian seems to get frailer by the day but she’s as energetic as can be. I could barely get up when Jillian woke me for my shift, and I am trying to hold out as long as I can before I wake Preston.
Then, there is a knock.
With a spring, I get up and go to the door, listening intently. I might get a clue as to who is—
Then, I hear another fucking knock. This is the first time any of us have heard that happen. I turn around to grab the weapon we keep on hand when I hear another knock, and then Malik’s voice, ‘Will one of you open the door?’
I quickly go to Preston and wake him up. Without explaining, I go to the door and indicate to him to push the chairs aside. He looks as tired and sleepy as I feel, but he does so. Then I open the door and find Malik standing there. For once, his face isn’t a blank mask, but instead, he looks irritable.
‘Finally!’ he snaps. I have never seen Malik this impatient before. ‘You need to come with me.’
‘We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what’s up,’ I say firmly.
He growls in annoyance but starts to speak rapidly, ‘I’ve been checking in on everyone, as usual—’
‘Have you been the one knocking on doors and staying silent?!’ Preston exclaims.
‘I always call out, and I’ve not been checking in on you three,’ Malik says in that same tone. ‘You are right opposite me, and it stood to reason that if something happened, at least one of you would be able to raise the alarm. So I’ve been checking on the people staying alone, to make sure no one has been harmed without us knowing. The mastermind doesn’t announce someone’s death until we’ve discovered the body, so valuable evidence could be rotting away without us noticing.’
Preston blanches, but I nod, expecting this from Malik. ‘Go on.’
‘I’ve knocked on every door after my last sleep. Ashwini and Albert told me to go away, as usual. Anders hasn’t replied in a while, but he often doesn’t. It’s Sierra that’s the problem at the moment. She hasn’t replied the last three times I knocked, and she always replied before that. I need your assistance to break the door.’
Preston looks at me askance. I nod at him, and Malik immediately sets off down the corridor with his flashlight. Preston grabs his, and we follow him. I can feel Preston alert beside me as we walk. He’s watching Malik for any untoward move, any stray action, but Malik seems to be focused on his goal. He finally stops at a door, room number 14, and Preston pounds on it.
‘Sierra, are you there?’ Preston calls. ‘If you don’t answer, I’ll have to break down the door. I don’t want to do that, so can you please respond?’
There’s no response, and Malik looks visibly irritated now, even in the dim light. ‘Can we get on with it now?’
I try the door. Unsurprisingly, locked. I nod at Preston, who lines himself against the door with Malik, and together they slam once, twice, then thrice, until the lock buckles under their weight, and the door flies open.
And there, in the room, right in the centre, Sierra hangs from the ceiling.
30
THE LAST ACT OF SERVICE
We stand there for a long moment, frozen in place by the sight before us. Then Preston gasps, ‘Sierra!’ and makes to move forward, but I put a hand on his chest to stop him. I shake my head at him. There is no place for compassion, not anymore.
‘We can’t risk tainting the evidence,’ I say.
Before we can say anything further, the familiar, horrible voice comes through the speakers once more.
‘A body has been discovered! You can investigate Sierra’s room, and once thirty minutes have passed, convene in the hotel lobby for the next act. Oh, you have no way of telling the time, do you? I’ll give you a five-minute warning buzzer. See you then!’
The voice cuts off. I can hear the slamming of doors and the cries in the corridor. Soon Albert, Ashwini, Jillian and Anders are there. The last seven left. They’re carrying torches, and, more than horrified, they look tired. Clearly, the last few days have taken a toll on them as well.
‘Can’t say I’m surprised,’ is Albert’s first comment on seeing the body. He says it like he’s been handed the report card of a particularly problematic child. ‘This nut was bound to crack.’
Ashwini and I throw him disgusted looks, but we’re too tired to engage with him. Preston scowls at him, and even Anders looks like he doesn’t have a barb left in his arsenal to throw at the moment. Jillian is staring, transfixed, at the body, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from it. Malik, as expected, is scanning the room.
‘Let’s get on with it, then,’ I say exhaustedly. ‘Ashwini—’
‘Yes,’ she says, already stepping forward before I can complete my sentence. She walks up to the body and her scowl returns with her examination. Malik steps forward as well, and I whisper to Preston, ‘Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t take anything without telling anyone.’
He nods at me and steps forward. I look back at the remaining three. Albert shrugs in response to my questioning glance. ‘Make sure you confirm it really is a suicide this time,’ he says to me dismissively and leaves the room. Anders nods at me and steps past me to help search the room. I shake Jillian gently, and she blinks and looks at me with startled, haunted eyes. She says softly, ‘I think I’ll sit this one out, Kiriaki.’
I nod at her and squeeze her shoulder. She leaves the room too, unsteadily.
I take a deep, fortifying breath. I can feel my eyes trying to close, and my body beginning to wobble. But other than that, I’m ready to begin.
Sierra’s room looks exactly like mine. Same bed, cupboards, opulent bathroom—all the same, down to a T. The lush bedclothes from the bed and from the cupboard have all been dumped in a pile, and have been cut up with a nearby kitchen knife and tied together to make a long rope. The one Sierra has hanged herself with. The room key is lying on the floor behind the door. Most likely it fell out of the lock when Preston and Malik broke the door down. Locked from the inside.
Across the room, Malik is staring at something on the desk while Preston surreptitiously looks around nearby. I don’t know if Malik noticed him or not, but he says, loud and clear, ‘I’ve found her—or rather—a suicide note.’
‘You have quite a knack for finding those, don’t you?’ Anders quips from the bedside.
‘Hopefully, this one is authentic,’ Malik says. ‘We shouldn’t waste time reading it now. I’ll read it for everyone when we get down.’
I make my way to Sierra. It’s a truly horrific sight. Her neck is broken, bent sideways like a snapped twig. Her face is completely blue and swollen, drained of oxygen. Her hands are clenched into fists. There is a chair lying on its side, kicked away.
‘Anything?’ I ask Ashwini.
She continues to stare at the body intently before she shrugs.
‘I can’t see anything, Kiriaki. No signs of a struggle, no defensive wounds, no signs that she changed her mind and tried to pull the rope off, and no, no signs of poisoning either. It looks very much like she killed herself.’
‘Any idea when?’ I ask, not feeling very optimistic.
She gives me a sour look. ‘It’s not like me giving you a time frame would even make much difference, would it?’
I sigh. ‘No, I suppose not.’ I look at the entire body carefully, and I spot a small glint of silver in her left fist. I point it out to Ashwini, and together, we pull the fist open with great difficulty. The rigor mortis has set in, and it is a good five minutes before we are able to extract our prize. It is an object we have all seen before: Gideon’s silver Natis pendant. My head reels. Hadn’t this been on his body? Had Sierra taken it? It would be no surprise if she had, considering how close she was to him, but it is still a little disorienting to see it there so suddenly. We check the other fist for good measure, but there is nothing in there.
For the rest of the time, we scour the room for other clues, but we find nothing untoward. I’m struggling to keep my eyes open, and I find movement stiff and unnatural. The five-minute buzzer sounds, and with grim looks, we make our way to the entrance. Nobody says anything. What’s there to say?
We make our way to our usual seats, the circle tighter now. The voice says, ‘You know the rules, and so do I. You may begin!’
I look around at the weary, suspicious faces, and decide I better start, if for nothing else than to end this quickly.
‘There’s not much to discuss, so let me sum up what little we discovered. From whatever we can see, this was either suicide or looks like suicide—’
‘Then it very well may be suicide!’ Albert interrupts. ‘Not everything is a grand conspiracy or mystery to solve.’
‘Right,’ I say wearily. ‘As I was saying, Dr. Ashwini confirms that there’s nothing suspicious about the body, nothing that indicates foul play. We did find Gideon’s pendant in her closed left fist, though I have no idea when she took it off the body. The door was locked from the inside, with the key found behind the door after we broke it down. It might have dropped there from the lock. Sierra used the bedclothes to serve as a makeshift rope. There was nothing else we could find except, of course,’ I pause, knowing what’s coming next, ‘the suicide note.’
