Vile

The streets Xylvia and I walked through were completely desolate, like a ghost town. The only thing missing was the classic tumbleweed rolling across the roads. There was no noise to be heard, except for the eerie wind followed by the slow footsteps Xylvia and I took.

"Is everyone really gone?" I wondered.

"People disappearing for a short time has been pretty common, but it's never happened to this scale before," Xylvia answered. "They've all hit Stage 2. It's only gonna get worse from here on out. I hope that Zig is ok."

"Will he be able to handle them? If everyone in this city really is that badly Corrupt, then where can Zig even go?"

"As long as we don't trigger any sort of traumatizing memory from them, we should be fine. That goes for Zig as well. He'll still be at the pub, but with extra caution in how he operates there."

I never noticed it before, but the sun, which was slowly setting, was glowing white. It looked to be smaller, or farther away, than the sun back on Earth. The stars slowly started to become more visible as the sunlight began to grow more and more dim.

"So many stars…reminds me of my home village," I muttered. "Though there is more color in this one."

"Do you miss your home?" Xylvia asked me.

"I'm kind've one and off about it. Some days I do, but others I don't. The good memories seem to keep getting into battle with the bad ones, but I don't even really know much about the bad ones in the first place."

I couldn't even explain the things that i saw. I have no idea what that door was, who that man was, how I was able to stop those arrows, or that weird forrest. None of it made any sense to me.

"Maybe that's for the best," Xylvia said. "Not knowing those bad moments; just remain ignorant, pretend they aren't really there anymore."

"I feel like I'd be running away from who I really am if I chose to never embrace them."

"Sometimes it's better to run away."

I can only wonder what Xylvia had to go through in life. Losing friends. Losing a mother. Never having a father. I don't exactly know the details, but I knew it was really hard for her to talk about. Especially if she's saying that it's easier to just run away.

I hand instinctively moved on its own. I wanted to pet her head. Any way for me to be able to console or comfort her, I wanted to do it. However, I kept my hand from getting any higher than my waist. She'd probably not want that. It might've just made her feel uncomfortable if I did that.

"Hey, Hiro." She said after many paces forward.

"Hmm?"

"How come you stopped me back there?"

"…"

I gave my answer a bit of thinking.

"She was uncomfortable, so I didn't want anyone to pry any further."

"But…what if…she could be hurt really badly."

"All the more reason why we should be patient. Why do you think I told you that you didn't have to talk about your parents if you didn't want to? It's because I don't want you to feel too uncomfortable."

I know that people will feel uncomfortable regardless, but I'd rather they feel relief after telling me than fear.

Xylvia looked down at the ground, glints of sadness and guilt covered her sparkling red eyes.

"I'll have to apologize to Rosary when we meet again." She whispered somberly.

"For what?"

I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear her say it.

"For treating and looking at her like she was some sort of freak. And for being and ignorant fool."

I let a hint of a smile form on my lips.

"Sounds like a plan." I said.

I wrapped my hand around the door handle that led to the hotel lobby and gave it a pull. Usually, the sound of people chatting, walking about, asking and answering questions, enjoying the food, and glossing over the job posters would coming pouring out onto the visitors who walked it. Now, it was just complete silence. The lights were on, the tables were a bit of a mess, and there was not a single person in sight. Only the echo of our footsteps on the marble floors could be heard in this empty building.

"Well that's sucks," Xylvia groaned. "Was kind've hoping we could grab something to eat."

"Can't we just head in there and make some food ourselves?" I suggested.

"No. This place is registered under an official corporation. Which means that certain places are for staff only. You try to go in, the barrier will kick in and will keep you from entering. We'd need a tracker inside our orbs to get in."

Well that really sucks.

"Oh well, one of us can just head over to Zig and bring some food back," Xylvia mumbled as she walked over to the mirror with our room. "So, you keeping first watch, or is it me?"

"I'm not really tired," I said. "Besides, I need to think some things over. You can sleep first."

"How generous of you my knight in smelly clothes." Xylvia chuckled a little.

That bad huh?

"Guess I could take the time to shower as well, since we've got this place to ourselves for now."

I really did let a lot of common things slip my mind when I got here. I didn't have any clothes on me, nor did I even spend the time to find some. Then again, I kind've got no money on me and there's no way in hell I'm asking Xylvia to help me out. That's both rude and a little embarrassing.

Xylvia told me that there was a cleaning closet (laundry) for clothes inside the cleansing room (bathing room). It wasn't really a closet but more like a small hole where I guess you threw your clothes in. While I was a little hesitant, I chunked my clothes through the hole, hearing a *VWOOM!* sound along with seeing a bright light flash from inside the area.

I didn't see too much, but from the light there appeared to be a few other pairs of clothes that haven't been picked back up yet. Guess people forgot to pick them up.

The bathing room had a good amount of rooms lined up next to each other, separated by walls and doors. There was a door on the other side that looked to lead somewhere else, but I didn't bother looking over there. I just wanted to get clean.

There were also plenty of soaps and various cleaning materials for I guess different species of people. Though, they're were a ton of hair brushes and various tools all designed for hair. Guess that makes sense since this place is mostly populated by Felinians.

"…Hmm."

Once again, I couldn't read the Glyphs. There was a handle attached to a chain that was also attached to a small box engraved into the front wall with what looked like a timer on it inside the room I stepped in. On the timer there were numbers.

"Guess the numbers are still the same." I mumbled to myself.

Xylvia didn't really tell me how things worked, just where everything was. However, this seemed simple to figure out. There were buttons on the timer with a 0, a dash, then two more zeroes. When I clicked the button, the time went up by one. I'm guessing that when I pull the handle, water will come out from the pipe above me for however long I set the timer to.

"Alright, let's try this."

I set it to ten minutes and pulled the handle. Water came shooting straight out of the large pipe and onto my head.

"AAAUUUGH!!!"

Only then did I just realize that the pipe was just a long pipe with an opening and not a regular shower head, so the water came out at me full force and nearly knocked my down to the floor. I struggled to keep myself up, extending my arms out to touch the walls I'm order to keep myself balanced. I backed away from underneath the pipe and saw that there was a lever on the pipe. When I turned it, a plate with large holes shifted into it.

Oh now I get it. So you can choose how you want your water to come out. Wish I saw that first.

I turned it a two more times and was finally able to relax. I also found out that the pipe could be lowered down to about thirty centimeters above the ground. My legs were a little tired, so I lowered it down and sat myself down there to rest them. I decided to just clean myself while sitting down.

Refreshed, clean, and a little chilly, I exited the shower room and grabbed a towel from the other side of the room. I also noticed that the laundry thing was glowing, so I went over to see if my clothes were ready.

And sure enough, they were set neatly on a rack by some kind of magic. They were still warm to and smelled like cherry blossoms.

"Ok, so that's how it works," I said with a curious smile on my face. "My clothes were set out right after a left the shower room. I guess it's based on the timer you set. That's cool. I wonder if the door has anything to do with it as well."

My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go back into my room and set the timer to one minute after I soaked my shirt into some of the leftover water on the ground and threw it back into the laundry. I closed the door and waited. When the shower stopped, I could see the glowing light shine again, but the clothes didn't come out. I tried opening the door and this time they came out.

"That's a very interesting way of using magic," I praised. "Man, magic really does make everything more fun. Though, I'm probably the only one who thinks that since magic is kind've the norm in this world."

I grabbed my clothes and began putting my boxers on…

*VWOOM!*

I looked up and saw another pair of clothes on a rack. It was a black pair of woman's underwear that had laces and a regular grey shirt with what looked like white sweatpants.

"Weird… Did it malfunction? Or maybe…"

…

"…"

I couldn't move. I did a 180 after I acknowledged the pair of clothes on the rack and saw that a door was wide open. A faint track of purple sludge and blood was left that led to a wall. I took a peek inside the room and saw nothing in there.

"Xylvia?" I called out.

No response.

Is she pulling a prank on me?

*SNAP!*

What sounded like a twig snapping came from a different room, the one two rooms to the left of the one with the open door. I walked closer towards it, but kept myself at their other side of the room, practically hugging the wall tightly with my back. In all honestly, I just wanted to get out of there.

*CREAK!*

The door slightly opened.

There were no gaps underneath the doors for me to see. Whatever was in there was still moving.

*VWOOM!!

I reacted off of instinct to the noise from the laundry. Another pair of clothes were set on the rack. They also appeared to belong to a girl.

A stench suddenly filled my nose. It was strong and utterly putrid. And too familiar.

My heart began racing. Everything in my head was screaming for me to run. I knew I needed to get away. Away from whatever that was, but my legs refused to run. Instead, they drew me closer. I could feel the blood draining from my face and into my legs. I really wish my fight or flight responses were actually working.

So much blood suddenly began pouring out from the room. Since the gapless door was open, there was nothing stopping it. I knew that there was a drain in the middle of the shower room, so this told me two things.

If there is a dead body in there, then it's a fresh one. And the way this person died was definitely not natural.

I really wanted to puke.

My face was practically touching the door. I tried telling every limb in my body to stop. I begged and pleaded, even cried, everything. Just please, please do not open that door. But my hand refused to listen. Instead, my right hand was placed firmly onto the door. The wood was supposed to feel warm, but my hands were ice cold. From my skin, to my blood, to my flesh, to my bones.

All the way to my soul.

And with a slow push…

*CREEEEEEAK…*

"…"

Her eyes were gone. Just black voids with blood oozing from them. Her mouth was ripped open to the point where her cheeks were halfway torn. And her chest…all the way to her…was forcefully ripped open. Organs and bones were exposed. It was only after I opened the door when the stench of death forced its way into me.

I wanted to puke. I wanted to run. I just wanted to leave, but my legs were way to shaky for me to even move them properly. My fear reached to a level where I started to cry. A mix of sadness and fear filled my heart.

*VWOOM!*

My head reacted to the noise from the laundry once again. It was there when I noticed a very small splotch of that purple stuff on the floor. And I also noticed that the top parts of the walls on both sides of the shower room have a thirty centimeter gap…

I turned to get the hell out of there, but someone was blocking my way. Another woman, with the same cordless eyes, except this time there was a purple ooze dripping from them. Her face and skin were rotting and oozing out more of that vile liquid. Her entire body was practically just skin that outlined let bones and nothing else. Her mouth kept slightly opening and closing.

I stood incredibly still, hoping that she couldn't see me if I didn't move.

*SHLICK!*

What sounded like slimy tendrils suddenly emerged out of her fingertips like fleshy claws. She dragged her hand all the way back and then-

*WHOOOSHNK!*

I quickly ducked and rolled out of the shower room and bolted out back into the main lobby.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUWHHH!!!!"

I could hear a terrifying shriek from behind me. Then many things could be heard crashing and tearing apart. I knew she was chasing me and my adrenaline was doing everything to make sure she didn't catch up.

Suddenly-

"Huh?! AAUGH!"

Something locked my legs in place and yanked me down onto the ground. I hit my face a little and was bleeding from the nose. I turned to see that creature bolting straight at me on all fours, her bones breaking and changing every time she moved.

She pounced at me, holding me by the neck in the air. I tried tearing at her flesh, but it was surprisingly touch considering her entire body looked like it was rotting. She starting to open her mouth extremely wide the the point where he cheeks were getting torn apart. A slimy tendril emerged from her mouth. It looked like an extremely deformed tongue. I tried pushing it away, but I was also dealing with an insanely strong creature and two of its arms and legs.

That disgusting tendril ended up catching me off guard and sliding straight into my mouth. I reacted quickly and but down hard on it, keeping it from trying to go down any further. Some sort of liquid was shooting from it. It burned. It was vile. Rotten and sour, as if trying to mimic the taste of death.

I wanted to puke. I started growing light-headed from the vile taste, so I bit down as hard as I could on this creatures tongue. She squirmed and tried to claw at me, but I kept her arms back away with whatever strength I had left. Until finally.

*SQUELCH!*

I bit it off completely. The creature screeched and writhed in pain, holding its mouth while slashing at the ground and wall. I spat the thing out and suddenly found myself tumbling. I couldn't focus. Everything was spinning. Everything was burning. That awful taste wouldn't go away. Something kept trying to get into my head…take control.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!"

I struck my hand all the way to the back of my throat and retched out everything that I had in me. The burning finally stopped. The taste was still gross, but more preferable than whatever that creature's tendril was. Everything came back into focus. I was a little dizzy, but I could keep myself balanced.

The creature finally stopped screaming and focused it's attention back at me. I was about to pull out my room key and make a dash for it, but-

"Hey, over hear!"

I heard someone cry out to my from the front door of the hotel. A female voice was telling me to follow. Not left with much of a choice, I bolted straight to the front door with the creature right on my tail.