They could feel the wall blindly grabbing at them from where they sat in the hallway, groping at their shoulders, their hair, at their face trying to pull them in.
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Hunger tore and ravaged their stomach, and thirst had all but been baked into their tongue. Their mind swam with dizziness, to the point that each step had felt like going on an impossibly fast merry-go-round. It had gotten so bad that they had no choice but to stumble onto an empty section of the floor, where they sat and continued to sit until the feeling of the wall reaching back had become so pronounced that they couldn’t ignore it anymore.
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They knew what was happening.
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It took three days to die of a lack of water.
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It took ten days to die from a lack of food.
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And that wasn’t even counting how long they had gone without a peaceful night's rest, or just even the smallest nap.
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They could feel it, their mind trying to slip in and out of sleep. Their head jerked back up when their eyes started to close involuntarily and as their body had started to slump forward. Their body was trying to give into the very human needs that it required to survive on a day to day basis, it would only be a matter of time before they were forced to give in and either sleep… or die.
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What would happen when they died? Would they have flashes of their life before this, of the life that they had cherished before?
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Or would the hotel take that from them too, with the intense hunger and thirst being the only thing they could focus on before they died?
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Would they fall asleep here in the hall, and just slip away in a dream?
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That seemed far too peaceful for a place like this. But also… nice.
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Sleep sounded so good right now, naps had to have been one of their favorite past times right? With how much they wanted and craved it now, it must have been something that they really liked to do. To just forget the world for a little while, to have everything reset so that the worries of before could not trouble them in the same ways as before. Kind of like… death, but only temporary and eventually they would have to wake up.
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Their head slumped forward again, only this time they made no effort to correct the movement. “Just a few minutes…” They tried to reassure themselves. “Just a few minutes and I’ll get back up and keep looking for my room…”
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Even their sleep-deprived mind knew that this was a lie, but even so they did not care.
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Sleep was for the weak… and they were so very weak right now.
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At least they could admit that to themselves.
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If there was only one thing to be mourned from what could be considered their last sleep, it was that they had never gotten to see what the creature in the bottom of the pool looked like. While it was true that it had killed people, many people probably, that didn’t stop their intrigue and curiosity as to what such a thing looked like. If such a thing could even have a form, maybe it was a massive tail and impossibly sharp claws to drag people into the chlorine filled depths. Or maybe it was just a single really long arm that would reach up and up, coming from some unseen cavern under the water. Maybe it didn’t even have a mouth, and it just-
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A pathetic growl from their stomach silenced the curious thoughts that bubbled up like a pot of simmering water, a tired little exhale left them, nothing that could even be considered a proper sigh even.
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And with the smallest of movements, their hair slipped right in front of their eyes, obscuring the plain colors floor from their sight. Just the thought of moving their fingers, to even just move their hair out of the way felt like an impossible task. The mere idea of having to contract each muscle of their arm, and then their fingers to move just sounded so awful. They just wanted to curl up like a small wounded animal, and hide away from the world until they could rest and recuperate. To just sleep, and imagine that everything was okay, and that when they woke up it would be in a bed surrounded by dozens of yummy foods.
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Not this cold and scary hotel where things didn’t make sense.
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So with little effort as it took, their eyes slipped closed and the world around them sounded further and further away from reality. The movement of the wall behind them didn’t feel so real anymore, like nothing more than the gentle rocking of a boat on the ocean. The unbearable heat of the housekeepers room down the hall, felt like that of a warm blanket cocooning them in so that they would never want to leave ever again. The only thing that they could only lamant with the last shred of their consciousness, is the fact that they never really did find out what lived inside the pool. Even the fear they’d felt before was more gentle now. With the whole world falling away into a nice muffled silence where nothing could bother them, they felt safe and secure.
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They felt whole.
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“Hey!”
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A shout came from right in front of them, along with the vague sensation of tugging. A bleary groan left them, they just wanted to sleep… that was all. Just for everything to go away, so that they could sink back into their peaceful slumber. Once and for all.
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“Oh no the fuck you don’t! Wake up! Come on, wake up!”
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More tugging, and before they could let out another bothered groan, a sharp sting rang in their ears and burned their left cheek like a red hot iron.
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Now they were wide awake, and witness to the person in front of them still holding up a bright red palm clearly having just slapped them back into consciousness.
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As well as the moving writhing wall, pulling them in inch by inch.
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The feeling of it was almost crushing, with the grip so tight they were sure that it was bound to crunch up their bones any second now and turn them into a fine paste that would be absorbed by whatever the hell was in the wall. It was grabbing at anything and everything, a hard suction pulling and tearing at their shoulders and arms determined as hell to drag them in and never let them go.
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To make them one with it, forever.
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They hardly recognized the sound coming out of them once the realization of just what was happening had finally set in, the broken blood curdling sound that tore itself from their throat wasn’t anything that they could recognize as their own. For a moment they were certain that it couldn’t have been coming from them, they hadn’t had water in days and they had used their voice even less and less in those days. So the sound of their own scratchy caterwauling almost scared them more than the thing trying to consume them.
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It wasn’t the first time that they had screamed since coming here, they weren’t afraid to admit to that. They had seen so many horrific things, that it would have been concerning had they not screamed at some of it in the very least.
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But this…
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Being up close and in person to this thing.
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No... being a victim of it, was something so much worse than just seeing and witnessing it for the first time.
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The person in front of them tugged and pulled, her hands coarse and rough but also tight in the grip that they had on them. “Just hold on,” She grunted roughly, readjusting her grip to get even an inch back from the wall. “I got you, I got you okay. You’re going to be okay. I promise!” She looked at them, pointedly staring right into their eyes with a look that told them she went every word of it. “You’re not going to die here, I swear.”
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Looking into her warm determined brown eyes, they felt like sobbing from the sheer relief of another human touch. Let alone another human in general.
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The thing wrapping around them felt like freshly poured cement, in the way that it was malleable to the touch but also impossible to move through. It was warm and sticky, in the same way that a spider's cocoon was as well. No matter how much they struggled and writhed, it didn’t mean a single thing. They were still trapped in a thing made for keeping things trapped.
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They slid forward a fraction of an inch, and even with just the tiniest amount of movement the thing squeezed them tighter.
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“My arm,” They whimpered, having absolutely no shame about how close to tears they were. “It hurts! Please, it hurts! I think that it's going to crush it! It hurts! Please!”
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A ridiculous look of guilt washed over the girl’s face as if she felt personally responsible for the situation that they were in, as she doubled her efforts pulling even harder gasping and panting the entire time, sweat dripping from her face. She looked just as exhausted as they had been before they’d had their little power nap, and even then… adrenaline could only go so far to save someone.
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She looked like she was going to start crying as well.
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It didn’t stop her from pulling with all of her might though, as she used one of her feet to brace against the wall. They could see the straining muscles in her arms, and even more in her legs. How her teeth were gritted, determination written all over her face and in every action she took to get them free.
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And even more how there was a brief flash of victory in her eyes as she managed to get one of their arms loose enough to wrap around her shoulders giving her even more purchase to pull with.
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And just like that…
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They could feel the bones in their wrist and arm grinding together, causing a pain unlike anything that they thought was possible. Every bone in their hand screamed in protest against the insane pressure, and agony twisted the muscles of their arm pulling desperately and tearing the fibers apart bit by bit. It felt like someone had sewn barbed wire into every ligament in that side of their body, and was tugging on it like they intended on unraveling the strings of loose threads. As the girl pulled, they felt their wrist twist abruptly in one direction, with a resounding crack that they heard throughout their entire body. Their mouth fell open in a silent scream. Everything else fell away as liquid fire poured into the injury that remained firmly lodged in the wall, every movement and action paled in comparison to the sheer agony that was racing through them in that moment. Every little moment seemed to pour in new pain, to the point that crying and screaming just felt like it wasn’t enough anymore.
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It hurt so bad.
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Their silence did not last for long though, and the scream that they had thought was so horrible before was nothing compared to the wail that crawled out of their throat now. Tears flooded their eyes, and the person in front of them became nothing more than a blurry figure that they could only feel tugging on them. The liquid that dripped down their face was hot and acidic, they couldn’t help but to lurch forward, their face thumping against the shoulder of the person who was trying so very desperately to get them to relative safety.
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“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” They could only hear the voice of the girl in front of them, cracking with emotions as she readjusted her grip one final time. “You’re going to be okay! I’m not going to let you go, I won’t let you die!”
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Her voice warbled, as her fingers sank into their shoulders like the talons of a hawk sinking into a scrawny mouse trying to get away. Planting her feet firmly into the ground, she gave it her all as she threw herself back dragging her new acquaintance with her with a resounding pop as they were finally released from the all consuming grip of the thing in the wall. They both fell with a lurch, one landing on top of one another. She didn’t even have to think about it, as she secured her arms tightly around the person who had nearly been crushed and eaten alive. She hugged them close to her chest, brushing her fingers through their hair as they sobbed into her shoulder through all of the pain they were experiencing.
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“I’ve got you…” She mumbled, relief pouring through her like cold fresh rainwater. This person hadn’t died, she had saved this person from certain death and they would continue to live another day. “I’m not letting go…”
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If they could have, they would have cried harder at the first gentle embrace they had experienced since being trapped here. Through all of the horrors of the hotel, the thing in the pool, the housekeepers, the receptionists, and the wall that had just tried to swallow them whole… The woman under them felt soft and comforting, in such a different kind of way than the suction of the wall had. She felt sturdy with the muscles underlying in her blanket of softness. It felt genuine, no tricks or hidden secrets behind this person who had saved them, just good intentions and the want to do good by someone that they likely didn’t know. They had known her for literally less than a few minutes, and somehow they could just feel it, that goodness that the hotel would tear apart if it could.
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Finally, when they had no more tears to cry and the throbbing of their arm was just as painful as ever… “Thank you,” They managed to rasp out, feeling like a crushed and crumpled hornets nest. “I don’t even know you… but thank you. Thank you so much…”
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Those fingers came again, moving the hair out of their face that they had been too tired to do a few minutes ago.
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“My name is Mari.”
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