“You are a vault that cannot be cracked. Better luck next time, yeah?”
“Yeah... I mean, no. Wait!”
Dresses rustle as the girls fight to make it out of their admin booth. I blow them each a kiss and follow Marlin past the reception area and through the newly unlocked door.
A foghorn echoes through the building as we step over the threshold.
“You use physical touch.”
“What?”
“Physical touch.” Marlin pulls a leaver and the noise comes to a stop, “It’s how you disarm people. Intrude on their personal space and use it to your advantage.”
My chest feels tight as we step into a narrow hallway, one that has plain white doors running along each side. Bars seal off gaps and nonexistent windows, the metal slots sitting beneath the patient’s name acting as a peephole for the eyes watching us.
“Yeah, so what?”
“It’s interesting.” His dress shoes gleam against the dirty tiles, their sharp click an alarm in its own right, “There is only one other person I’ve witnessed use that technique and she is not with us tonight.”
The ache that hasn’t left my chest worsens at the mention of Calista. I keep my eyes focused on the open space ahead, opting not to think about the killer I found in the forest last night.
The mother who will never conceive a child.
My sullen silence grows and so do the curious looks Marlin sends my way.
“You are surprisingly popular with the ugly stepsisters. I assume this is not the first time your paths have crossed?”
“Why does everyone keep calling them that?”
He chuckles softly, “You would understand if you saw their sister.”
These people are fucking brutal.
The cells start to grow farther apart, the distance between each stagnant door slowly increasing in metres. Eyes follow our every step, different coloured orbs tracking our movement through Hollow House as though it were their own.
“Are you ready? I said, are you ready!”
Melodic singing drifts from the door at the end of the hall. A tangled dreadlock hangs from the metal tab, a sliver of the man’s identity weaving around a flimsy purple feather.
“And what do we have here? A man from acrossthe sea.”
A gap-toothed smile presses up against the open space, blackened teeth desperately hanging on to the gums holding them in place.
“He’s looking for green, my friends! Green to take home to the mother land.” His eyes catch mine and his smile widens, “But how will he be satisfied with green when there is so much gold to find?”
“How does he-
“Dr. Faciler. I heard you’ve been spending some time in Hollow House.” Marlin cuts in smoothly, his eyes dancing across the name plate, “Did the voodoo dolls finally catch up to you?”
“Do not disrespect me, young man.” An eyeball presses up against the slot, clumsy stitches holding the hideous thing together, “Your fate lies in my hands. Humble hands that can transform the most powerful man into a slimy, slippery creature no one could ever love.”
“How terrifying. Let’s go.”
A card slides out from beneath the door. Skitters through the grime and filth until it hits the sole of my boot.
“Take a look, foreigner. Take a look and show me what it tells you.”
A skull etches itself through the back of the card, purple hues melding together until it feels like I’m looking at a kaleidoscope.
