A scarlet door was pushed open, revealing a grand theatre. The door led straight toward the large stage with a bright red floor, but when he entered, Anderson avoided the stage.
"H-Hello?"
The crimson seats in the auditorium were filled with mannequins, each one clothed differently than the last. However, all of them wore masks over their heads, with a pink smiling face painted on its surface.
"Is anyone…" His voice died inside his throat. He turned his gaze back at the stage. It was illuminated brightly by stage lights that hung from the ceiling, and at the very center was a red microphone suspended by a tall, pitch-black stand.
'I can't breathe,' quickly, he averted his gaze from the stage and gasped for air. He walked into the auditorium and squeezed his way into the rows of chairs.
Unlike the stage, the auditorium was void of light. If he wasn't careful, he'd easily trip.
"Oh?" He paused. His hand brushed against one of the mannequins, making its mask fall off.
He stared at the mannequin's blank face, then at the mask. 'Can I disguise myself?'
He grabbed the mask and fitted it over his face. With his complexion, he could easily pass for another mannequin among the audience.
"Sorry," he whispered and grabbed the mask-less mannequin and placed it on the floor. He knelt and took off its jacket and draped it over himself, before he sat down, his spine straight.
He closed his eyes, and his neck went limp. "Sleepy…"
.
.
.
Three figures walked into the Garden of Eden, and on their waists were belt bags holding metallic wrenches. It was Jeffrey and the two girls, having just looted the warehouse for anything valuable.
'Unfortunately, there's no special item in the warehouse,' Jeffrey rested a hand on his side where the bag was strapped to.
'But at least, we now have weapons to defend ourselves.'
As they neared the gigantic tree at the center, all of them couldn't help but look at the digital board.
{13:20: Hide and Seek | Number of Eliminated: 3}
"No one got eliminated?" Jeffrey squinted.
Michelle's brows were furrowed, while Cel couldn't care less. She looked at Jeffrey, who had a hand over his chin.
"Why are you so bothered?" She rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to act slick. Are you the Seeker? You'd only be anxious if you were the seeker."
Jeffrey barely suppressed a scowl from forming on his face. He didn't even look at Cel. "Why is your heart so bitter? Oh wait," he scoffed. "You don't have one."
"What did you—"
"Alright! Alright!" Michelled rubbed her brows and stepped in between the two. "Calm down, you two!"
Cel glared a hole through Jeffrey's skull, while the latter refused to give her any more attention. Michelle could only take a deep breath to lower her cortisol.
"Let's not fight now. Class pres, let's try to find the special item you're talking about. But if we see someone else, we don't let them come close to us," Michelle saw Jeffrey nod.
"It should be a book," Jeffrey straightened his back. "There's an empty lectern under the tree, so if it's not a book, then I don't know what else you put in a lectern."
Michelle shrugged. She looked at her waist and pulled out a rolled piece of paper from her belt bag. She handed it to Jeffrey.
"Have you been in the theatre?" Michelle raised an eyebrow and looked toward the west.
"There's a theatre?" Jeffrey took the piece of paper and unrolled it. It was a map.
On the map were five symbols connected by lines that branched out from the centermost symbol. One symbol was a tree, which was at the very middle.
North of it was a symbol of a book. West of the tree was a ticket, and east was labeled with a wrench. Lastly, the symbol on the south was a bunch of lines that spread out like an irregular spider web.
"Let's go there. You said you were at the Classrooms with Anderson, and now he's missing," Michelle locked eyes with the purple-haired boy.
"He's not in the Warehouse, and if my guess is right, then the southern area should be a maze. I doubt Anderson would go there, so the only other place he could go to is the theatre."
Anderson nodded, although he had his doubts. "How could you be so sure that the western area is a theatre?" He asked, though Michelle didn't get to open her mouth.
"Hello?" Cel waved her hands. "Why the hell are we all out and about, anyway? Have y'all forgotten? The game is hide and seek; we're supposed to hide, not seek! Why are we trying to find someone who could very well be the Seeker?!"
"Firstly, I already confirmed that he's not the seeker. But, so what if he's the seeker?" Jeffrey sneered. "It's not like you're the watcher, right?"
"How would I even know if I was the watcher?" Cel crossed her arms, her eyes doing a backflip. "If I was, then Michelle would've been the first person to go. I've been with her for the entire time. What about you? Mister-totally-not-the-seeker?"
She grinned and pointed at the digital board. "We've been together all the time, and would you look at that? The seeker didn't eliminate anyone! What a coincidence, don't you think?"
Jeffrey shook his head and nursed his throbbing forehead. "All I know is that I'm innocent. Either way, with you or without, I'm going to the theatre. I need to find Anderson."
He turned around and walked toward the western entrance, a map in hand.
"Do what you want! I'm not going!" Cel scoffed.
Michelle facepalmed.
"What the heck, I'm going with Jeff. Cel, come on," she followed behind Jeffrey. Behind her, Cel stared at her back absent eyes.
"Really? You're siding with him, of all people?!"
Michelle clenched her eyes shut and forced herself not to turn around. Otherwise, someone would've gotten yelled at.