Facade

Chapter Five: True Self

Syxein Caper

The pair plunged into the darkness, stumbling forward. With the doors now shut behind them, their only source of light had been extinguished. Syx looked up, expecting the speaker to chime on, but no response came. All he could hear was Oliver's sporadic breathing right next to his ear. Syx whipped around, only now realizing how close Oliver was to him.

"... Oliver."

"E-Everything's fine," he blurted, his voice raising as if he was asking a question. Syx gave a heavy sigh, feeling around him and taking a seat on the carpeted floor. He took Oliver's wrist, guiding him to do the same.

"Tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering m—"

"We're not going to get past this room unless you tell me what's bothering you," Syx said, refusing to let Oliver get on his nerves again. Not knowing what else to say, he added,

"Take your time."

Oliver nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Would now be a bad time to tell you I'm, uh, afraid of the dark?"

Syx blinked at him.

'That's it?' He thought, then quickly dismissed it with a small shake of his head.

'No, there... There's more to what he's saying.'

"I— I know it sounds really stupid, but... I am. I've always been afraid— of the dark, I mean. I just..."

"It's not stupid."

For a long time, Oliver fell silent, staring at Syx despite how he couldn't see much else around him.

"You don't have to explain yourself for that," Syx reassured him, recalling how Eva, one of his closest friends, would comfort him after a draining day.

"Besides, it's..." Syx averted his gaze, searching for something to calm Oliver. "It's a common fear, so there's nothing to be ashamed of."

Syx craned his neck up, leaning to the side, finally catching a glimpse of the digital timer he'd grown accustomed to. They had ten minutes. He got to his feet, stumbling to the side as Oliver was still clinging onto his arm.

"Help me find a light switch."

"Wait, what?"

"There's a reason why this room is so dark."

"What do you m—"

Syx clamped a hand over Oliver's mouth.

"Be quiet."

Syx dropped his arm, blindly feeling for a wall. Once he was pressed up against it, he felt around until his fingers brushed over a hard surface. He pressed down, and a light flickered on from above. The timer started to count down, and the cramped yet neatly organized room came to light. Clothes bigger than Syx's body lined the walls, with miscellaneous boxes scattered about— one of which was about to fall onto Oliver's head. He quickly stood on his tiptoes and caught it. Oliver flashed an apologetic smile at Syx, who just gave a curt nod in response. He turned the brown, smooth box around in his hands, running his thumb over a label.

"Oliver"

Below Oliver's name was a padlock with numbers; four numbers were needed.

"I've got it."

"Got what?" Oliver turned around, hitting his head against the top of a clothing rack. He winced, holding his head and cursing under his breath. Syx didn't know whether to laugh at him or help him recover, so he just held a hand over his mouth to hide his expression. Oliver lowered his hand, looked at it, then breathed a sigh of relief as he saw he wasn't bleeding.