Heartless (slender mansion)

11

Jade's pov:

I rise my guard, overwhelmed with terror, observing every panicked soul around me and heeding carefully for any slice of information that could escape their mouths, but the only thing I can comprehend is a ringing coming from inside of my head as a response to adrenaline. A door opens, followed by Jane mindlessly strolling into the hallway. Her gaze meets mine, then she turns it to the rest of the group; "What?" she asks through an unbothered tone.

"Zalgo." Jeff replies bluntly.

Jane's warm hand grasps mine and I grab Lea's hand as I wouldn't wish for her to be left alone in confusion and we get led to the bathroom, then Jane slams the door behind us.

"Zalgo is something that even the most psychopathic people who live in this mansion fear. He's the same way you would expect the devil to be, above your imagination, and I guess, he's our enemy," She says with a fast talking pace, taking her cigarette pack from the sink and placing it in the back pocket of her black flared jeans. "but he hasn't been here in a while. He must've heard we have new members."

The door bursts open before I even get to process the information I'd heard, and I almost get pushed to the ground as I've been leaning onto it, but I catch myself. "Fucking hide, he's here!" Jeff whispers aggressively, then Jack opens the door even wider, "Lea, you come with me, Jane you take Jade, quick!"

Me and Lea look at eachother worried, "Take care, okay?"

"You too..." she replies shakily as Jack grabs her hand.

"Come with me."

We go in the opposite direction and quietly walk down two sets of stairs, which lead us to a big dark basement-looking space, which was unsettingly empty except for two dusty boxes stacked on top of each other in a corner and a rusty brown clock above them. The place holds a demoralizing type of air and i attempt to stop at the entrance to catch my breath, but Jane walks me to a door that almost blends into the grey wall with a rusty handle and three different locks.

She bends down to her boot and takes a set of three keys out of it, proceeding to carefully unlock the door, revealing a room with no windows which yet didn't seem suffocating, two mattresses laid on the cold ground next to an old-looking fridge and a medkit threw on the ground. I shiver as I step into the room, leaning on the closest wall and I watch Jane lock the door, moving fast, with confidence, and realisation hits me for the fact that two people who's hearts have always been filled with hope had landed into a hopeless place, but being surrounded by people who lack ambition isn't anything new; if anything, this reminds me of being back home a lot, in the worst way possible and at the same time in an ironically positive way. As I have mentioned before, I don't have much to return to, nothing to fight for, nothing to run to with my arms open and a spark in my eyes if I ever make it out of this place; is this how someone hopeful would think, though? Would an aspired individual claim to see the full part of the glass when, through their eyes, the glass has a full lack of drops?

What is the truthful meaning of hope? I had always wondered, am I doing it correctly as I point out the obvious possibility of things going right and I hope for the best, or is that not enough? I had a lot of hope the night I decided to come here, unrealistically expecting my bad decisions to have a positive twist and somehow leave the forest unharmed, yet here I sit, hiding from a creature, along with an unknown roommate of psychopaths who I'd befriended mindlessly, crossing my cold, lifeless fingers that nothing will happen to Lea, that we'll get through this and reunite. I was wrong, once again. My unfeasible hope had failed us, I had failed her aswell, once again; if this is where the situation always lands, why would I not give up on it?

"Jade?"

"Hm?"

"Don't be scared, I'm here, we're safe here. Lea's safe too, and the attacks don't last too long." Jane says, sitting cross-legged on a matress. I join her, on the other matress.