They Are Watching

Chapter Five

They both walked the expanse of the lower level that made up the luxurious resort. 

There wasn’t a soul in sight. 

No matter the number of doors they knocked on, or the doors they went through that were already unlocked, no one was around.

They traveled each floor doing the same thing with the same results. By the time they reached the tenth floor, it was safe to confirm they were the only two within the entire building.

“Where do you think everyone went?” he asked, leaning against the wall before sliding into a squat.

Terrie mirrored him on the opposite side directly facing him, “How did they all just disappear is the question I want to be answered.”

“What makes you think they disappeared? Couldn’t they have just left?” He needed to know what she was thinking. He, too, thought they all disappeared but he didn’t have a logical reason for why he believed that other than that’s just what it seemed like. So, he refrained from sharing his own opinion first since he didn’t want to come across as stupid.

“It seems that way, doesn’t it?” She was earnest in her expression and her admittance to speculation without fact. Oddly, her comfort about it made Adam feel a small bit of shame.

“It does,” he decided to be honest about his own speculations. “I’ve been deeply sleeping a heinous amount, so I might have missed some things during that time.”

“So have I!” Her eyes stretched again as she straightened up. “I usually don’t sleep as much as I have since I’ve been here. Even with all of the noise from earlier, I still passed out after trying my hardest not to.”

“Do you think,” he sat up off the wall the same as her, the animation in her tone affecting him. “That somebody is playing a joke on us? They could have done so while we were sleeping.”

“That’s a possibility. It is. But,” she paused, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

“But what?” He questioned, wondering what else she could be thinking.

“How do you explain the elevator that led to the dining hall?”

Right, he forgot about that weird experience, “the elevator didn’t feel like it was moving when I got on it to arrive for dinner or when I left.”

“That’s my point,” she looked away from him as if in thought. “It didn’t feel like it moved when I was going to the dining hall or when I left to come back to my room.”

“We should use our keycards,” he suggested, moving to stand again. “That’s the only place that we haven’t gone to.”

Terrie didn’t look too excited to be going back to the dining room, watching as the tall stranger in front of her hopped to his feet, eager to explore. She wanted to be more cautious, take her time thinking it through, but she followed behind nonetheless, keycard already out and ready to be used. She didn’t want to be left wholly alone, “I’ll slide mine in, ok?”

Adam nodded in return, stepping back to give her space.

“Welcome, Teresa. We are happy to have you with us on this journey. WIC is happy to sponsor your vacation and we know your experiences will be something that will be remembered for a lifetime.”

Adam felt like he was holding his breath when he didn’t feel the elevator move, but as soon as the doors opened, they were still on the tenth floor. They truly hadn’t moved.

“Wait,” Terrie mumbled. “I didn’t have to press any buttons after I used my keycard, so why didn’t the elevator take us to the dining hall?”

“I don’t know,” he muttered, eyebrows knitted together. “Let me try mine and see what happens?” 

She gave him the go-ahead, watching as he slid his keycard into the slot.

“Welcome, Adam. We are happy to have you with us on this journey. WIC is happy to sponsor your vacation and we know your experiences will be something that will be remembered for a lifetime.”

Once again, the elevator did not move, but when the doors opened, they were still on the same floor. 

They both glanced at each other, holding eye contact until the doors shut and then reopened on their own. They quickly scurried off the elevator before the doors had a chance to close again, moving away from the elevator and its doors that refused to shut once they were off and back into the hallway.

“Can any of this get any weirder?” Adam breathed out, heart pounding irrationally fast as he eyed the elevator as if it were a sentient being.

“Wait!” Terrie smacked her hands together. “WIC paid for this vacation. Do you think they may know what’s going on?”

“Why would that company pay for such a strange trip? This makes no sense,” he argued.

“You’re right, it wouldn’t make sense, but only if they didn’t know it would be so strange,” she answered. “What if they did know? Somebody with a lot of power and pull is the only thing I know that can make a whole resort of people disappear like this.”

Adam began to pace, “Well why would they leave us behind? I don’t have anything they would want. I’m an addict for crying out loud!”

“Yeah,” she nearly whispered, looking down at his pacing feet. “So am I.”

He immediately stopped walking when he heard that. How could he forget? The rehabilitation institute is where he’d heard her name and first seen her after all, “What are the chances that two addicts who attend the same rehabilitation center in the same state and city, would end up here in this predicament? What’s the probability?”

She folded her arms over her chest as he asked the pertinent questions, “I’m not great with math, but I’m sure the answer is close to a slim to none percent chance.”

“Then how did we end up here-,”

“If not on purpose,” she finished his sentence. “What would WIC want with us?”

“Why would Donna try her hardest to get us to come here?”

Terrie looked at him, not wanting to believe the kind, if not impossibly nosy receptionist had anything to do with this situation. Granted, she was very pushy about making sure Terrie filled out her application but she seemed to do that with everyone who came to the desk who she felt needed a vacation. So Ms. Donna couldn’t be targeting them specifically. Could she?

“I don’t think she had anything to do with this other than believing we would get fourteen days of relaxation and fun,” Terrie responded.

“Fourteen days,” Adam groaned. “Please tell me we won’t be stuck here for fourteen whole days!”

“It’s only been two but it already feels like a week has passed,” she moved slightly closer to him. “Can you get back on the elevator with me? I want to listen to that automated message again.”

He wanted to say no. Something about the elevator was giving him the creeps, but he could tell Terrie was relying on his bravery for her own, “Sure.”

He led the way back to the elevator, walking inside cautiously as if something would pop out at any moment, “Go ahead and use your card again.”

She slid her card back into the slot and the door closed as soon as she did, “Welcome, Teresa. We are happy to have you with us on this journey. WIC is happy to sponsor your vacation, and we know your experiences will be something that will be remembered for a lifetime.”

Both Adam and Terrie jumped towards each other when they felt the elevator lurch, the numbers counting down as the elevator descended to the lobby once again. He could feel her hands gripping the front of his t-shirt before the door opened and she pulled away, “Sorry about that,” she looked spooked as she eyed the wrinkles she put in his shirt before putting more distance between them.

“It’s ok, neither of us was expecting this elevator to move,” he grimly smiled, extremely uncomfortable with everything that was going on. Cautiously, he peeked his head out, looking around the hall that led into the lobby to make sure it still looked the same. 

“Come on,” he waved his hand at her, allowing her to follow behind him. He was walking very slowly, looking around at everything though it all looked identical to the last time he saw it.

Except for one thing.

In the center of the lobby was a table that wasn’t there before, with a boiled egg at each end, “What is this?”

“Welcome Adam, Welcome Teresa,” an automated voice began to speak, the same voice from the elevator. They both looked up at the speakers, moving towards each other to be closer, to feel safer. “We are happy to have you on this journey with us. WIC is happy to sponsor your vacation, and we know your experiences will be remembered for a lifetime. There is a snack prepared for you at each end of the table. Please take a seat and prepare yourselves.”