Musings in Manila: Paper Mask X Reader

Chapter 8-The Crash

The next level was a strange hotel. As soon as you stepped through the door, you were greeted with elegant reds and yellows decorating a large foyer. The reception desk was in the middle of the room, it's vacancy giving you an eerie feeling. There were two hallways on the left and two on the right, all four hosting rows of rooms.

"I don't suppose there's an entity lurking around these halls, is there?" You asked.

"No, he's not here. There's a bottom floor where he hangs out. We shouldn't need to go down there." Paper Mask replied.

"How do you know all of this stuff about the levels?" You questioned.

"Because many of the other entities are my friends. I like to visit them." Paper Mask told you.

"Oh." You said, a little surprised. You honestly thought it was kind of cute that Paper Mask was friends with the entities, despite them trying to kill you.

"So you know where the way out is, then?" You wondered.

"Sort of. I don't go to the exit often, because I've never been past this level. But I remember there's a room down one of these halls that has the exit door."

And so, the two of you went down hall after hall, trying out doors to see if any were the exit. All of them were locked. Down one hall you saw a light coming from a doorway. The door was open.

"I think I found it!" You called to Paper Mask, who was a bit further back than you.

He lumbered over to you as you neared the door. You peeked inside to make sure the coast was clear. Paper Mask caught up to you and did the same. Once you decided it was safe, you headed inside the room.

It wasn't much for a hotel room. To the right was a decent sized bed with a creepy entity pillow and a painting above it. Beside the bed on each side was a nightstand. There was a dresser on the other side of the room and a lampstand against the wall, but aside from that, the room was fairly empty.

"Look, the exit." Paper Mask said. He pointed you towards the left side of the room where the dresser was. In the middle of the wall was the exit door.

"Yes!" You exclaimed as you ran up to it. "No!" You said, realizing it wasn't going to be that easy. The door not only needed a key, but also some sort of color code.

"Now what?" You asked, turning to Paper Mask.

"I believe I saw a color code once in the cafe. As for the key, it is probably by the reception desk." He answered. "I know where the cafe is, just follow me."

You tried your best to follow the entity, but some of the hallways were quite dark. In order not to lose him, you gently grabbed one of his hands. He paused for a minute, surprised at the contact, but then realized what you were doing and kept moving. Although he knew your intentions, you still felt awkward, so you tried to make conversation.

"Thank you for helping me. I wouldn't have lasted this long without you." You said.

"Of course. It gets boring here, helping you is a nice change of pace." Paper Mask replied. "As of late, I've been wanting some sort of change."

"Hey, me too!" Your face lit up with surprise.

"Really?"

"For sure. My life is pretty boring too. Every day it's the same thing. Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep. Only on the weekends do I really get a chance to breath." You explained. "I just want some sort of change."

Paper Mask nodded as if he knew exactly what you meant. A few seconds later, you arrived at the cafe. You let go of his hand and ran up to the counter. Sure enough, there was a color code. You made sure to memorize it before turning to Paper Mask.

"So we get the key next?" You said.

"Correct. This way." He replied as he started heading back to the reception desk.

It didn't take long to arrive. The hotel was big at first glance, but it was smaller and easier to get around than the other levels. When you got there, Paper Mask immediately looked behind the desk. He rumaged through a few drawers before pausing.

"I... Don't see the key here. Maybe you should try looking?" He offered.

You nodded and stepped forward. You looked over the entire desk and all of it's crevices. Your vain attempts to find the key grew more frantic as time went on, but despite your best efforts, you still couldn't find it.

"It's not here." You said, dread filling your voice. "Now what?"

Paper Mask seemed to realize something. He put one hand to his mask in a sort of facepalm. When he got a hold of himself, he turned to you.

"I know where it is, but you're not going to like it." He told you.

"It's on the bottom floor, isn't it?" You guessed from his stance.

"Yes. It was a long time ago, maybe a year. The Demonic Fluff, the entity of this level, told me about it." Paper Mask started. You tried not to giggle at the newly mentioned entities' name. He didn't notice this, so he continued. "A man came down to the bottom floor to grab the keys. How they got there in the first place, I am not sure. But when my friend saw this, he took the keys back afterwards, thinking they had some sort of value. He found that one key on the ring unlocked a door down where he stays. But as for the other, he said it was useless. That must be the key to the exit. And he has it." Paper Mask finished.

"David Miller." You gasped. "So... how do we get to the bottom floor?"

"There's an elevator in a maintenance room. Come, I'll show you."

Once again, Paper Mask led you through the hotel. This time you came to a stop at a metal door. It opened up into a wide room, all of the walls were made of metal, matching the door. The elevator stood on the right side of the room. It looked pretty rickety.

"Are you sure that's safe?" You questioned.

"It should be." Paper Mask replied.

You hesitantly stepped inside. The elevator creaked at your weight. When Paper Mask joined you, it groaned even louder.

"I don't like this." You muttered.

"It's ok. I will keep you safe." The entity told you.

"If you say so..."

You reluctantly pressed a large red button on the wall and the elevator started to move. It began it's slow descent with a few more creaks, then it seemed to even out.

"See? Everything is alri-" Paper Mask started, but was interrupted by a loud screech. The contraption had stopped mid-journey.

"Uh, is it supposed to do that?" You asked.

He didn't get a chance to respond. The elevator started again, but faster. It's pace grew quicker by the millisecond, plummeting downwards at an alarming rate. You were lifted into the air by the momentum. With not much else to do, you screamed, your legs losing feeling from fear. Paper Mask tried to reach for you, but at that exact moment, the elevator met the basement. You were thrown down on the ground, slamming your head into the hard metal floor. Everything immediately went black.