Chapter 36- Room of Pain

Lanie's POV:

I crawled, walked, and even run just to follow Rona's decision. Even if I want to go back there, I know I can only be a burden to them. I don't know a thing. I don't know how to fight. I can't even hold a gun properly because my hands were still trembling.

I gasped as I looked in front of me. I no longer knew which direction I'm heading to. All I know is I need to get out from here.

I am in pain. I'm coughing and I can feel that my muscle was still trembling from the cold I've been earlier. Apart from the fact that my body is really weak from what happened. 

It's just annoying that all of them came at me altogether. I am really unlucky!

I looked around, it was still dark because it was night but somehow the abandoned building where we were has a bit light on.

I do not know which part of Hespheria this place is or if we are still in Hespheria. I also did not expect the end of this semester to be a nightmare. 

I blinked my eyes when suddenly something rattled. I wiped the tears from my cheeks. Even though I didn't like it, I felt angry with the thought of Rhosean, and the fact that she's my friend.

I walked again, slowly. I became more careful of my steps, trying not to make any noise. 

I do not know where I am in this building but I do not have time to think about it. I could still hear some gunfire from afar. I walked towards the dark hallway, praying that those gun shots will be gone. 

"Shit!" I was able to control my voice when I saw what was in front of me. Except for the narrow door to my left I have nowhere to go.

Dead End.

I looked again at where I came from, at the same time I heard something rattles. 

I can not go back there. Apart from the fact that the driveway was not that wide, there's no place to hide there. It's too risky and dangerous.

I quickly approached the door. I was not surprised that I could open it quickly. There are no private place here.

I locked the door. The room was dark and only a small amount of light from the flickering ceiling lamp provided the room's light. 

The room is spacious and well-equipped. There are several cabinets in each side and a long table in the middle.

The room is dark and... Creepy.

I unconsciously touched my neck when I saw what items were on a table beside the door. Hammer, sword, shotgun, jigsaw, various sizes of butcher's knives and many other tools I saw for the first time. But all of those things are dangerous weapons I only saw in the movie Saw and any other thriller movies.

With trembling hands I took the baseball bat before averting my eyes from there. I also do not want to accept what I think of my possible location is though it's quite obvious.

I looked at the door behind me when I heard the footsteps stopped there. 

I immediately looked for a place to hide. I carefully ran to the far side of the room and fit myself in the back of the large cabinet. It was only a matter of time before I heard the door knob click and someone entered.

I covered my mouth when I heard the loud bang of something that was hammered with another thing. I heard the metals clasps, prolonged and severe earache. 

It was a torturing moment hearing those sound. I suppressed my gasp.

"Maelanie..."

I closed my eyes when I heard that familiar voice.

Soft and shallow. Rhosean's!

"Maelanie..." She called my name again.

I squeezed myself harder into my position as her footsteps began to approach my direction. 

"Come out, bitch!" Rhosean's lose her patience. She fired her gun. 

I trembled in fear again. I was shivering with the combined emotions. Anger, fear, and wonder. 

She fired again. She aimed for the ceiling lamp, leaving the room darker than before.

I heard her hammered her gun on something. And before I could guess what she was holding now, the surface of the cabinet where I was hiding exploded. 

I could no longer control myself. I screamed in shock and fear. 

Covering my head, I quickly got out of my hiding place when I heard a small explosion in the cabinet again, closer to my head. 

The room was dark so I was almost dazzled by the sudden burst of light.

It was like in a movie, the successive opening of square lights on each side of the ceiling throughout the room before the larger one in the middle lit up.

"Welcome Maelanie, in our own Red Room, the room of pain." Rhosean laughed grimly, pointing a gun to my direction.

I got chills when I saw her holding the shotgun I saw earlier in one hand. I would not be surprised if that was what she used in the cabinet where I was hiding.

"Rhosean..." I tried to talk to her.

She just raised an eyebrow at me. "Don't tell me that after knowing all of these, you will tell me that we should talk about this? That we can fix this and start again? Oh, you're not that stupid, Maelanie," she mocked me. 

Her glare was a horror to me, her pure black attire made her more scary. This is the first time I saw her this mad. 

"You should not be involved in this." She said, putting down the shotgun. "Here, in the trouble of our family and the Aronzagas. But you're too nosy! Her voice echoed.

I just kept looking at her, wondering how I can talk to her without her hating me.

Her lips formed a creepy smile. "But it's also a blessing, the fact that you are a curious woman! I can eliminate you. So that you will not be too close to Primo!" 

My eyes widened with what I heard.

Her lips formed a thin line before looking at me with disgust. "Are you surprised? Yes, I like Page, more that what you can imagine. But he's too busy to know that. All he can see is you. Always you, always Maelanie, you are always his priority." 

She paused then smiled bitterly. "I was so happy when I found out you were going to a remote and distant town. Atlast, I can have a chance with Page, I said to myself. But hell, I'm wrong. He never look at me even once, but when it comes to you? He even manages to be absent just to get here with you!"

Gradually, her tears welled up in the corner of her eyes while I still couldn't believe what she had said.

She violently wiped the tears from her cheeks. 

"And worst, he chose to get hurt just to save you! You bitch, he almost died and he didn't care even though I was so scared when I saw him unconscious and covered with blood! The first thing he did when he woke up was looking for you! Imagine, I'm in front of him, crying like crazy but you!" I was startled by her voice. 

She's jealous and mad. I know I can do nothing to calm her down now. 

"Rhosean... Please," I tried to approach her.

"Shut up, damn you!" Her voice was furious. She pointed the gun at me again and before I could even move, she fired it. 

I got chills. But that was only for a moment because I immediately felt a pang of pain in my right shoulder. 

I lost my balance when I saw the fresh blood rushing from my shoulder.

"It's really good seeing you like that." Rhosean's not sane anymore. 

Smiling, she looked around. When I followed what she was looking at, I saw some surveillance cameras on the ceiling. 

This is indeed a Red Room. I can no longer deny that fact in my mind. My right shoulder starts to feel numb. 

"I don't want to hurt you but I really hate the sight of you, it's disgusting." Rhosean pointed the gun at me again, this time she was closer.

I don't wait for her to shoot me again. With all of my strength, I slapped her hand with baseball. 

She cried out in pain at the same time as the gun was thrown on the other side of the room.

I quickly took my chance, "You, evil creature! You're nothing but a jealous witch!" I shouted as I grabbed her hair.

She tried to reach for her gun but it was far from her. I don't know anything about fighting so all I could do was tweak her and pull her hair. 

And she's fighting back. She was able to change our position. I am now almost lying on the table and she's almost all over me. 

"Ah!" I cried as she pinched my shoulder. Rhosean pressed even harder and squeezed my wound there.

I endured the pain and kicked her stomach with all my might. She stumbled on the floor and tried to walked away from me. 

I leaned back against the table, looking at her intently. "L-look at you," I said breathlessly. "This. Is this what you want? You're killing me, Rhose! We're friends yet you want to kill me!" I cried.

This is really the Room of Pain. But not physical pain. It's emotional. My heart aches so much that I just want to faint from the pain I'm feeling

"You're my friend!" I cried in pain, both from my wound and my heart. "We are f-friends! Did you even l-love me? Because I do and even though I'm starting to h-hate you, I don't want to hurt you!"

❤