Mary looked back and forth between Molly and the elevator, stunned. The small and compact room held about five to seven girls, all wearing the same white attire. They mostly looked to be around Mary's age or older. Mary focused her gaze on Molly and took a few steps back, noticing she did the same. The other girls looked at each other in confusion, whispering inaudible words.
"Who are you?" Molly asked, her voice holding a dominant tone.
"Who are you?" A girl with curly red hair asked.
"I'm Mary." Mary said, finally mustering up the courage to speak.
"Molly. Chose the name myself." Molly said, smacking her hands together and smiling as if to mock them.
"I'm Elizabeth." A girl with dark brown hair and glasses stepped forward. She was tan and even taller than Molly. She looked to be around 17 or 18, and her dimples showed as she smiled coolly at them.
"Um...how did you get here? Where did you find an elevator? Where did you come from?" Mary asked quickly.
Elizabeth chuckled but held a smile. "This is the first floor. We came from what I believe is the second floor."
"How did you find a second floor?"
"This is the way we came from. We found this elevator. We've been up there exploring for a few hours. From my knowledge and from what everyone else has told me, we've probably been here for around two days." Elizabeth explained, adjusting her glasses.
"How did you get your name, and where did you start from?" Molly squinted her eyes and looked the group up and down.
"There was a piece of paper that said it. I woke up in a bed in what seemed to be a room. How about you guys?"
"Uh...my name was written on the wall. I never really "woke up". I was just standing in front of double doors that wouldn't open." Mary informed her, nervously twisting her hair.
"I didn't have a name. I just woke up with no memory at all. I just felt like a Molly, you know?" Molly shrugged.
"Interesting. Most of the others woke up with names given to them, only a few didn't get one." Elizabeth said, glancing at the group behind her.
"Nice trash can!" A voice called from the back of the elevator.
Mary looked down, forgetting she was still rolling a garbage can. Her cheeks flushed and she ran a hand through her hair. Looking up again, she noticed that Sylvia was standing next to Elizabeth, smirking.
"Why are you here?!" Molly asked angrily.
"Why not?" Sylvia folded her arms.
"You randomly attacked us with a blade and accused us of keeping you trapped here." Mary said, glaring at her.
Elizabeth looked between the three curiously, as if it was her first time hearing this. Molly exhaled loudly and rolled her eyes at Sylvia.
"Speaking of that, can I have what's rightfully mine?" Sylvia grinned and held out her hand.
Mary shrugged innocently. Molly took her hands out from behind her back, revealing the shiny knife.
"Eh. It's mine now."
"I found it first. You just stole it from me." Sylvia rolled her eyes.
"Maybe it would still be yours if you hadn't tried to attack us." Molly said, her eyes shooting darts at Sylvia.
"You attacked them?" Elizabeth turned to Sylvia.
"Yeah. They were acting suspicious so I had to make sure they weren't the ones keeping us here. No harm done, I'm sure all is forgiven." Sylvia smiled. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turned back to face Mary and Molly.
"It's not forgiven, you just show up and try to accuse us of something we didn't do, and now you're demanding we give you the knife back." Mary said, annoyed.
"Just because I used it against you doesn't make it yours." Sylvia shifted her eyes to Molly. "Give it to me or I can take it."
"Come and take it." Molly smiled and twirled it around in her fingers.
Sylvia rushed toward her and shoved her. Molly threw her hands up and slapped her in the face. Mary watched as another fight unfolded before her eyes, too quickly for her to even react.
"Fight!" Someone called from the back of the elevator.
"Yeah!" Another cheered. The group emerged from the elevator and scattered around Sylvia and Molly, watching with curious intent.
"Guys! Stop. We're all friends here." Elizabeth jogged to them and held Sylvia back.
"I met you like ten minutes ago." Molly rolled her eyes at Elizabeth and regained her composure.
"Molly, give her the knife. She won't use it for bad again." Elizabeth reached out a hand.
"No, Elizabeth." Molly held the knife at her side.
"This could be solved if you just give her the knife." Elizabeth sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, a temporary solution until she decides to attack one of us attack. She's literally insane!" Molly yelled.
"Okay, fine. Molly keeps the knife. You guys aren't toddlers, stop acting like it. Actually, it's not like we know how old we are anyway." Elizabeth threw up her hands in defeat.
"Of course, thank you Elizabeth. You are the most helpful, giving this random girl you've known for fifteen minutes a knife that was mine." Sylvia huffed and crossed her arms.
"It's whatever, Sylvia. It's the least of our worries right now." Elizabeth retorted.
"So like...why do you guys think we're here? What is the purpose of all of this?" Mary finally spoke up, her throat suddenly feeling dry like sandpaper.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Elizabeth shrugged.
"What if we were kidnapped?" A girl with curly blonde hair and freckles stepped up and did a double take around the hallway.
"Probably, Katherine." Elizabeth squinted her eyes and rubbed her temples as if she were deep in thought.
"You guys have it all wrong, I'm sure we came here by our own free will. In fact, I bet it's a party of some kind! Fun, right?" Molly said in an overly happy voice.
"Dang, the sarcasm from you is insane." Elizabeth quietly chuckled.
A few others from the elevator giggled along with her while others just stared. Mary felt her stomach drop, realizing how uncomfortable it was suddenly having a bunch of new strangers with them. What if they betrayed them like Sylvia did?
"Come on guys, we have more floors to explore." Elizabeth said, gesturing inside the elevator.
"There's more floors?" Mary asked.
"Yep. Hopefully we find something helpful, because if we don't, it means we're definitely trapped."
Mary took a deep breath and looked to Molly. Molly looked back at her and slowly approached the elevator. Mary felt her face go red as she realized she was about to enter a small and compact elevator with a group of people she didn't know. She started jogging away from them, not looking back.
YOU ARE READING
Esoteric
Science FictionWaking up in a building with bland, white walls, Mary has no recollection of anything. All she knows is that she's trapped, but that she's there for a reason. She's left with a building, her mind, and her imagination. Exploring a supposedly abandone...
