The morning bell rang at dawn. The ringing sounded from the speakers as it echoed through the empty corridors and halls of this imprisonment. This monstrous alarm forced everyone out of their slumber and out of bed to begin the day. Aylo sloppily got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. The strands of hair, entangled within his fingers as his head swung around in distortion from the snooze. He reached his hand over to his bedtime stand, where his beanie rested every night. He seized the accessory before pulling it over his messy hair, which still stuck out from under the fabric. He let out a yawn before stumbling over to the door, the same door that has separated him from the cruel world outside every single night. As soon as his hand met the door handle, he realised how freezing the door handle was. He retracted his hand swiftly before shaking it.
"Does this place even have any heating or anything?" Aylo muttered through his gritted teeth as he pulled down the sleeve before placing his now protected hand on the door to open it. The cold air slammed against Aylo as he stepped out of his dorm. He took a moment to take a deep breath before closing the door and starting his journey to the dorm next door. As he strode, he looked up at the roof to see rays of sunlight breaking through the barricades, reminding everyone of this prison. Aylo turned to the next door upon arriving and knocked rather loudly, compared to his other mornings. A moment passed as silence filled the air. Impatiently, Aylo knocked again with a sigh. Silence. Aylo groaned before kneeling to the keyhole to take a peek. As soon as he placed his eye at the keyhole, the door swung open, knocking Aylo back as the door handle slammed into his forehead. Aylo let out a yelp as he fell back, he then rubbed the wounded skin with the tips of his fingers.
"Oh, apologies Aylo," a figure was standing at the door as he peered down at Aylo. The figure brushed through the long hair using his fingers as if it were a brush. Aylo just glanced up and let out a chuckle.
"It's fine! It's actually my bad Ajax!" Aylo exclaimed as he got back to his feet swiftly. "We have to wake up Riku and they always sleep in and when I went to their room last time, well..." Aylo started giggling nervously.
"I know, Riku's always grumpy in the mornings, a bit too harsh sometimes.." Ajax spoke as he wrapped his hair into a low ponytail and then reached his hand out to help Aylo up. Without hesitations, Aylo caught onto Ajax's hand as he was pulled up. Ajax then let go of Aylo's hand as soon as he was up and then closed his dorm door. Ajax began walking and Aylo immediately followed along.
"I'm still thinking about the trail from two days ago," Aylo started up a conversation, "You know, the one of Vitali and Nex?"
"Oh, that one," Ajax nodded.
"To think that someone would kill their partner just to get out of here, that's so heartless if you ask me," Aylo mumbled as the two walked down the stairs.
"But it does interest me how Vitali managed to make it so convincing that it was an accident and not a murder at all, I mean the way he set everything up with the drinks, at first everyone thought Nex got a bit sick for drinking too much but he got actually poisoned" Ajax added to the conversation as the two finally made it over to Riku's door. As soon as they stopped, Ajax noticed something unusual as he furrowed his eyebrows. Aylo glanced at Ajax's face and then to the door, noticing it wasn't closed but slightly opened. Ajax exchanged a very hesitant glance with Aylo before knocking gently on the door.
"Riku?" Ajax loudly questioned, awaiting a response for a brief moment. With no response, he allowed himself to barge in and hurrying into the room, Aylo dragged along as he observed the room. The two were met with a hollow space. Ajax glared onto the bed. Undone, messy. The two words that would never be used to describe Riku. The emptiness made both of their stomachs twist in a cold sweat. Aylo turned around and walked over to the bathroom. He gave a knock and one more, to announce his presence before pressing his ear against the door. Tranquillity. He pushed down on the handle and opened the bathroom, deserted.
