5
21. 5. 22, Saturday, 13:35
Freddie hadn’t seen much of the mansion and she was already a big fan of it.
An explanation with one word: food.
The Phobia Club had been escorted to the dining hall immediately after they entered, since it was already lunch time. The hall’s ceiling was high and magnificent, with a diamond-encrusted chandelier. The white and pale gold walls were panelled, the occasional suit of armour standing in front of it. Sometimes, on the wall there was a hung portrait of delectable painted food.
There were white table-clothed counters in between the suits, all laden with covered with silver trays holding delicious-looking food of all manners (main courses, desserts and pastries) and pitchers full of colourful liquids, all arranged buffet-style. The ceramic plates, engraved utensils and crystal-clear glasses were all stacked on a single, wooden table.
In the centre of the room was a long, rectangular and refectory-like table also covered with a gold tablecloth. The chairs were gilded wood and white cushions, providing your bottom a comfortable seat. In the middle of the table, aligned neatly, were candlestick holders, all lit.
It was clear, while the table wasn’t divided, that the contestants and crew ate at opposite ends. There were already plenty of people eating there, plates filled with sumptuous edibles, cups half-filled drinks.
After wandering p and down the platters of food and selecting their favourites – seriously, name any food and they had it – the seven chose the empty seats and sat down, although not next to each other, unfortunately.
Emma had always been shy eating in public, especially since she had to jet her seat with bug spray, so her plate was filled with the least. She did her best to eat as inconspicuously as possible. Although Leo had taken more than her, he ate the same way, hiding his mouth behind his hand while chewing, unlike Denver.
Freddie and Lana were the ones who took the most, the food threatening to fall off their plates. But Freddie being Freddie, the food fell off anyway; she was usually a messy eater, due to her lame fine motor skills. Lana being the more neater, she somehow managed to text Mavis while spooning potatoes into her mouth.
Julian and Adonis had scored places next to each other, luckily. In a sea of so many unfamiliar people, it was rather overwhelming. Julian, like his sister, didn’t really eat much, but definitely took a lot of rice.
“This place is so fancy,” Emma commented, taking a tentative sip of the apple juice Lana had gotten her.
“Even the food is fancy,” Freddie replied, her left cheek bulging from the food she had pushed there to talk. “Just how rich are these people?”
“I wonder if the toilets would be made of gold,” Lana joined in, inhaling her food. She had been happy to see there were also vegetarian options.
“Y’all, this room’s fancy as heck, but I bet the Rooms we’re going to be in aren’t,” Freddie remarked.
“Of course they wouldn’t be,” Adonis snorted. “They would be suited to make you feel as afraid as possible.”
“Like putting as many bugs as possible in the Room,” Denver said slyly, lifting his glass of warm juice, declining the ice.
Lana grabbed Emma’s hand suddenly, startling her. “Emma! Look! There’s a bug in your curry!”
“WHAT?!”
“I see it too!” Freddie exclaimed. “Right there! You nearly ate it!”
Emma was about to scream right there and then had she not realized that her friends were spoofing her. She hit them with the handle of her spoon. “I hate you guys.”
“We love you too.”
“Did you know that the last time the Room you’re going to be in hasn’t been used since Megan Moore was booted out?” Adonis sniggered. “I bet during that time more bugs would’ve entered it.”
“Ew, ew, ew.”
“She was booted out months ago,” Leo mused. “I remember watching the show when Megan and three other contestants nearly made it to the second level before being booted out.”
“Along with Lisa Perry, Tyler Barton and Gerard Fox,” Freddie added.
“Why did they get booted out?” Julian asked – he didn’t follow the show as closely as Emma or the others.
“No idea,” Denver shrugged.
“No one actually knows,” Lana said surprisingly. “According to a new report, there was speculation that they had some disagreement with the director, so they left and weren’t actually kicked out.”
“Oooh, I remember now,” Emma interrupted. “Since there wasn’t an episode that they didn’t make it out of the Rooms, there was no actual reason provided to why they left the show. Although I remember during an interview Damon Ashwood said that they no longer wanted to continue it for personal reasons.”
“Not only that,” Adonis picked up the story. “Megan, Lisa, Tyler and Gerard have actually disappeared from the public eye. Currently, there isn’t anyone who can actually say where they are now.”
“Weird,” Julian decided.
“Hey guys,” a new voice interrupted. “You’re the other contestants?”
“No, we’re just bunch of people eating here,” Freddie said sarcastically.
“Right where Room of Fear is being shot,” Lana finished.
“Smartass,” the short boy who had cut in. “I’m Alex Chang, and you?”
Alex looked younger than he actually was, with his lack of height. He had a buzz cut, a grey shadow on his scalp. His face displayed his mischievous thoughts, eyes full of (as they would later find out, inappropriate) humour. He was dressed in a dark blue gaming shirt and shorts.
“I’m Adonis.”
“Emma.”
“Lana.”
“Julian.”
“Denver.”
“Leo.”
“Freddie.”
“Why’s your name a boy’s? Freddy Fazbear?” Alex asked, parking himself in between Adonis and Julian, forcing them both to scoot over a bit to make room for him.
“It’s short for Winifred,” was the exasperated response. She’d fielded this question a million times, if not more.
“Nice,” the girl sitting next to her suddenly joined in. She had shoulder-length brown hair, black eyes and a friendly smile. She was also wearing a bright red shirt and spotted tights. “I’m Jordan, by the way. Jordan King. I so get you: it’s annoying when people think your name’s a boy – I mean, Jordan is also a girl’s name, for heaven’s sake!”
“I know, right?”
Jordan and Freddie then fell into a chat, comparing the times when people mistook their names for a dude’s. Alex had started hanging out with Adonis and stealing Julian’s food under his nose, much to Lana and Emma’s amusement.
“Time for us to socialize,” Lana whispered to Emma, turning to the girls next to her. “Hi, I’m Lana Jensen. What’s you guys’ name?
“Hi, I’m Tanya,” the bespectacled girl said cheerfully. “She’s Queenie.”
Queenie waved to them. “Hello.”
The crew on the other side of the table raised their eyebrows and nudges each other. Some had small smiles on their faces. Internally, they were all thinking the same thing:
Hey, maybe this batch of contestants might survive.
Then again, they always thought that…
…and haven’t been proven right before…
“And here are your rooms, Misses.” the maid opened the door.
“Dang, this is fancy,” Freddie immediately said.
The room was about the size of a really big master bedroom, with purple walls and white pillars, a ceiling with floral patterns and a soft, plush carpet underfoot. The enormous square window at the far wall was partially covered by a silk red curtain. The glittering chandelier on the ceiling gave off a pale glow. Altogether, the room gave off the aura of a royal’s.
At each side of the window there were canopied beds – the third being next to the one on the right – surrounded by a gauzy curtain. Behind it was a hazy view of white and gold pillows, blankets, comforter and bolster. In between the two beds was a dresser with a mirror, also purple and gold; another dresser was next to the other bed. Beside each bed was a white wooden chest of drawers.
In the middle of the room was three armchairs and a coffee table, matching the room’s colour scheme. Alongside the door was a short bookcase, with a mini TV on top. Close to it was a single desk – with a typewriter, much to the girls’ delight. At the end of the room, under the window, were their luggage, presumably brought up before they came in.
“Oh my god, this is so cool.” Emma ran to the left bed nearby the window and drew back the curtain. “This is definitely mine!”
“Bags I this one,” Freddie called out, flopping down on the bed on the right.
“I’m taking this, so no one come here!” Lana sat down on her bed, snapping photos on her phone to show her siblings and to query where they were.
“This is so much better than my bedroom at home,’ Freddie yelled exuberantly. “Like, I have to share it with my sister Cassandra, which kind of dampened the whole thing. Plus she liked to put her dolls in the room, which was HORRIBLE. The way Barbies just stare at you when you sleep–”
“I feel like if I unpack my stuff now, I’ll start wishing this was really where I lived,” Emma butted in dreamily.
“We even got our own TV!” Lana jumped up and went over to the bookcase. Finding the remote, she turned it on. “Wow, they even have Netflix?!”
“Dang, we’re living the rich life – wait, you’re joking, right?”
***
As Adonis and Julian found out, they would be sharing a room with Alex. Which was both a good and bad thing. Pro, Alex was sort of fun. Con, he might not be a great roommate. There was a bunch of what-ifs regarding that:
What if he didn’t get the whole ‘personal boundaries’ thing?
What if he had bad hygiene and was one of those people who left their laundry everywhere?
What if he was a kleptomaniac?
But when the butler showed them to their room, all the worries briefly vanished at the sight of such splendidly fancy bedrooms.
It was similar to the girls’ room (not that they knew that), except dark blue and silver, plus oak wood flooring. There wasn’t a chandelier either – Julian wasn’t entirely sure if having candles was such a good idea. For some weird reason there was an oil painting of a dog dressed in a tuxedo, which Adonis and Alex found hilarious. Stupid, but hilarious.
There were three poster beds, complete with fat pillows and thick duvet, resembling some posh hotel. There were wooden closets painted porcelain by each bed, making everyone glad they weren’t going to share one cupboard. Along with those, there also a trio of nightstands, a silver-and-sapphire lamp on them.
In replacement of a bookcase there were cubbies, rather like the lockers at school. The TV got all of them hyped up; the inkpot and quill pens didn’t interest them as much. The recliners in the centre were at once claimed by Alex, who was putting his feet up.
Adonis was on his knees, peering underneath the beds, pushing away drawers, looking up at the ceiling and investigating any other potential spider habitats. To his satisfaction, there were no webs nor their creators.
“I feel like this is a hotel room, not our bedroom,” Julian remarked.
“The difference is that we get to trash it whenever we want,” Alex said, grinning like an idiot.
“Except no one’s going to clean it up,” Julian reminded.
“Nah bro, the maids will.” Adonis threw himself on top of a bed after grabbing his backpack. Digging through its contents, he found his Gameboy and started playing. Alex was busy making himself at home, laying himself on top of all three recliners, his smelly socks at the bottom. Julian bagged one of the beds, pulling out his phone to play video games.
After all, they were doing what teens these days did best: chill and do nothing productive.
***
Denver and Leo were happy to see their room.
Just not happy with who they were sharing it with.
Ben Dover (oh, how much had they snickered at his name) was, to put it plainly, an obese seven-year-old. He had a ridiculous bowl cut –although Leo couldn’t argue since he too was sporting the same unfortunate hairstyle – and a reddish face. His clothes were dotted with crumbs leftover from lunch.
His voice too was a screechy, loud sound and nearly always had an undertone of anger. His temperament was something both of them found extremely unlikeable. And to think they were going to share a room with this bratty kid.
Well, at least the nice room made up for it.
It had green wallpaper, with black furniture, like the blinds of the window, the carpet under their feet, the worktable with the funny-looking paper, the sleigh bed’s frame and the round mini-couch around the table. The light bulbs hung in a spider web pattern from the ceiling also had black wires.
The bedclothes, cushions and sheets were emerald green, and comfy-looking. Armoires squatted next to the beds, a pattern of jade and onyx. On the other side were sable wardrobes; when opened there were several chartreuse hangers. Mirrors were hung above the beds – Denver and Leo contemplated waking up disoriented to see your own face staring at you. Spooky.
Underneath the TV were three coal-black shelves, standing out against the green desk chair in front of it. There were no portraits, but a solemn picture of the Ashwood ancestors painted in shades of – you guessed it – green and black. Seriously, whoever made this room must have been a fan of Slytherin.
Ben was taking a nap like little kids do, snoring on a bed he had already decided was his straight away when he came in. Denver tried to ignore the disgusting fact that his drool was mixed with leftover food.
“Hey, check this out,” Leo exclaimed, from next to his bed, which was the furthest from the high view provided by the window. Denver, who was sitting on the opposite bed, headed over to where Leo was kneeling, at the armoire next to his bed.
“What?”
Leo had opened the drawer before, and now he held up a bound, brown journal, peeling at the edges. “What do you think this is?”
“Probably some previous contestant’s diary they left here,” Denver said dismissively. “C’mon, let’s open it.”
Leo flipped it open to the first page, which was yellowed. There were ink splash marks on it, matching the darker age spots. “What the heck?”
“Check the whole book! No way is this for real!”
He speed-flipped the whole book, stopping randomly to check the page. Denver frowned at the book, while Leo, confused, continued to turn the pages.
It wasn’t empty.
Oh no. It was just full of gibberish.
“This isn’t even English,” Denver complained.
Leo squinted at the page. “Looks like a bunch of shapes to me.”
“Ugh, that person must’ve been writing in code.”
“This sucks.”
Leo chucked it back into the drawer, like an insignificant piece of trash into the can.
But insignificant things might turn out to be significant things.