A Room Full of Strangers

Door 5 - Door of Karma

Austin knelt down in front of a statue-like Rebecca, sobbing. He can hear Felicit calling him out but he can't comprehend. He was heavily occupied by the fact that he lost another valuable person. He's constantly asking; why does it need to be them? Why not just himself? He had suffered enough. But fate doesn't seem to know the word "enough".
Felicit marched towards Austin and grabbed his arm forcing him to stand. 'Austin we need to go.' She said with a sharp voice, so sharp it pierced Austin's heart upon hearing it.
'No!' Austin screamed on Felicit's face and vigorously shook her hand off his arm. Felicit immediately backed off.
Brett then took his turn. 'Bro, I'm just going to remind what you've said a while back.' He initiated, waiting for Austin to absorb his introduction. Fortunately, he showed a sign of comprehension. 'If we would stay, we would be so selfish. We would be depriving that one survivor's chance of continuing his or her life outside.' Brett continued and waited for his words to sink in. After some moments, Austin finally stood up and wiped his tears.
'Shall we?' asked Brett. Austin responded with a soft nod.
Felicit was guarding the door again but she miraculously gave way to the boys when she saw them approaching. Brett held the doorknob and pulled the door open. Felicit went inside first while Austin gave Rebecca a final glance before setting his feet on the fifth room's ground. When the three of them were already in, the door shut by itself followed by a loud noise that sounded like a gun shot. Austin turned back and ran to the door
'Rebecca!' He squealed as he pounded the door with both fist.
'Austin, she's gone okay?' said Felicit.
'You!' He said facing her. 'You are the reason for this! You poisoned her mind!' then he raised one fist in the air but Brett was able to hinder him from releasing it.
'Bro, you should never hit a woman.' said Brett.
'So you should let a woman hit you?' Austin replied. He put his fist down and tried to calm himself down. His heavy breathing could be heard.
'Bro, she's a victim. All of us are victims and putting the blame on anybody is pointless.' Brett advised. 'A famous singer once said that before you do finger-pointing, make sure your own hands are clean.' Austin slumped on the floor.
Silence conquered the place once again. Brett kept his eyes fixed on Austin. He knows he's carrying a bomb at this moment and he needs to defuse it before he explodes. Felicit also kept her mouth shut. She's not quite satisfied with the outcome. Austin still seeks for Rebecca and she gained hatred rather than gaining fondness from him.
Her plan was flawed. She didn't get exactly what she wants.

The room was totally empty; no tables, no chairs, nothing but four walls and corners. It was brightly lit despite of the absence of light source. The three remaining people rested for a while. They have to reset their minds. Brett roamed his eyes around the place and he's starting to think that the emptiness could mean isolation. He looked at Austin, checking if he had already retrieved his sanity. The other guy showed no sign. He glanced at Felicit but the lady rolled her eyes.

Brett leaned against the wall and slid down to sit. He let out a deep sigh; a sigh of exhaustion. But despite of being tired, he feels the need to continue. He remembered the quotation he had read on social media before entering the mansion that says, "Pause when you get tired, stop when you're done."
Pause.
The quest isn't done yet.

Moments later, he felt Austin stand. He looked at him and saw him staring at the wall behind him.
'Austin,' Brett summoned. Austin didn't respond. Brett turned around to see it himself. Some words could be vaguely read; karma, justice, war, revelation, tongue and weapon. Austin went closer to it and scrubbed the dust off the adjacent areas. Brett stood up as well and helped him. They revealed a familiar thing;
The warning.
The hiatus is over. It's now time to resume. This time, Brett was the one who read it aloud.

Sob no more, it's the hour to be cheery
For karma serves justice fairly
One might be physically hurt
By a hand full of malice and dirt
But in the war of revelation
Tongue is the deadliest weapon

'You said I should never hit a woman.' said Austin.
'Yes. When my grandfather was still alive, he once told me that I should never hit, not just women but anyone weaker than me. He said, if you want trouble, then beat someone whose strength is equal to yours.' Brett said as he shared the old piece of advice he heard from his late grandfather.
'Okay I understand.' Austin commented.

Austin was about to walk towards Felicit but Brett suddenly called him.
'What would you do?' he asked.
'I won't hit her.' Austin replied. Brett gave him an unsure nod.
He started remembering everything that had happened to Rebecca as he came closer to Felicit. It's like a fuel that's making his rage burn but he's trying to hold back his temper. He keeps on reminding himself; he should never hit a woman.

'Felicit,' Austin initiated, 'Why did you do that to her?'
'She's the antagonist.' Felcit answered indirectly.
'Let me tell you something. I won't mind if you'd care to listen or not but i want to tell you this.' Austin paused for a second before speaking again. 'Rebecca was my childhood best friend. We were once neighbors when she was still living in our village. We have so many memories together as kids. Whenever we were prohibited to play outside, we would go and escape our parents just to be together. We were like Romeo and Juliet back then. We didn't go to the playground unlike the other kids because we have our own and we wanted it to be just the two of us. The old tree house in our backyard, that was our playground before. When the sun is still up, we would go there and have chit-chats about our favorite cartoon series.' Felicit is not interested to listen but she feels like the words are forcing to enter her ears and mind.
'Then during the windy days, we would fly kites in the afternoon. However, everything had changed when her dad decided to move into a private subdivision. She was also transferred to another school so we had no chance to see each other anymore. Just recently I heard that she was supposed to be transferring to our academy. It made me very happy because I missed her so much.' Felicit looked at Austin with an intrigued look.
'But you just killed my chance. You just killed my hope. She's not the antagonist. You are the antagonist.' Austin continued.
'I want you Austin and I just took down the barrier.' Felicit blurted out.
'So are you happy now, huh? Don't you know that the one you're accusing of being an antagonist is the one that I love?' she was taken aback from what she had heard. Her jaw dropped on the floor.
'All this time...'
'Yes, I love Rebecca.' Austin admitted. 'Too bad I never had the chance to tell her that. And just like Romeo and Juliet, we didn't have a happy ending.'

Upon hearing those words from Austin, Felicit started feeling like something was dripping from her skin. Her skin also sores. She feels like being sliced by a million blades. She looked down at her arms. Long diagonal wounds appeared oozing with fresh blood. She screamed in panic.
Austin distanced himself. Brett moved a little closer to see what's happening.
'I didn't hit her.' Austin said to Brett.
'I know.' Brett replied.
Dark bruises started forming on her cheeks and around her eyes. Her fake blood-smeared white dress was now totally soaked in her own blood. She was already crying, but she's not crying tears. She's crying blood.
'You should've learned Felicit.' Brett said and the lady fell down on the floor motionless.
'Austin...' she said in a vague whisper before totally losing life.
'I feel guilty.' Austin confessed.
'You shouldn't.' Brett said. 'It's not your fault. Everything we do has a boomerang effect. What had happened to her is her own fault.' He paused, and then remembered something.
'An author once said, karma will always reap its revenge.'

They heard the door creak open. It's only the two of them remaining and the biggest mystery of their quest is about to unfold; who's going to be the last man standing?