Death Ride

Prologue - Part 2

"Hey, are you okay?" a male voice asked. I could feel a pair of hands on my shoulders as he spoke. And in response, I slowly opened my eyes.

Kneeling in front of me, holding me by the shoulders, was an incredibly handsome redhead in a denim jacket. Which my nervous self could not handle. I could feel my cheeks flushing pink. He smiled brightly when I opened my eyes.

"Hey! You're okay! You are okay, aren't ya?" the redhead cocked his head to the side as he scanned me over, I'm going to assume for injuries. I simply nodded in reply and looked around the room.

A...bedroom? A rather... creepy bedroom. The room seemed to be rather run down, decorated in gothic decor. An ominous feeling hung in the air as I glanced around. "W-W-Where a-are w-w-we?" I managed to stutter out as I faced the redhead again.

He let go of my shoulders and helped me up off the floor. "Well, honestly, I have no idea. I really couldn't tell ya where we are. But... the state of this buildin'... the architecture is horrible!" he suddenly shouted. Then he seemed to be rather embarrassed. "Sorry about that. I tend to get pretty fired up about poor construction..." he chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

I cracked a small smile. He was as passionate about architecture as I was about cosplaying. "U-Uhm...w-what's y-your n-name, b-by t-the w-way...?" I finally managed to ask.

He grinned in response. "Sean Beasley! Ultimate Architect! I'm sure ya seen some of my buildings around Japan. But that doesn't matter. What's your name?" he asked happily.

I swallowed loudly as I searched around the room for my bag. My emergency costume should be in there... but I couldn't seem to find it. So I took a deep breath and looked at Sean. "A-A-Asuka T-T-Tomita...U-U-Ultimate C-C-Cosplayer... h-have y-you s-seen m-my b-bag...?" I asked very nervously. But all he did was shake his head.

"Sorry, I haven't seen it. If I do, I'll let ya know! Now, do ya think there are others here?" he cocked his head to the side once again as he asked. I simply shrugged. I will admit, socializing with guys is not my forte. Nervously, I stuck my hand into my pocket to try and fidget with something.

And there was something all right. I felt some sort of folded paper in my pocket, one that definitely wasn't there before. Swallowing hard, I pulled it out of my pocket and unfolded it.

"Meet in the dining room." was all that it said. I just stared at it, my hands shaking. Sean must have noticed my reaction, because he came over to peer at it over my shoulder before starting to pat down his pockets. He slipped his hand into the pocket on the chest of his denim jacket and pulled out an identical note.

"Should we go to this dining room then? I guess we gotta find it first." Sean said, worry in his voice for the first time.

"W-W-Where d-did y-y-you w-wake u-up...?" I managed to stutter out. God I hate this nervous stutter. If only I had my bag, I could put one of my costumes on and be someone else. Someone who could speak like a normal human.

"Oh, actually right over there on the floor! When I woke up, I saw ya layin' here on the floor and immediately rushed over. Ya weren't answerin' me so I started to worry, but then ya woke up!" Sean smiled widely again, acting far to nonchalant about whatever this situation is.

I took one last look around the rather eerie room as I clutched the note in my hand. Something just... didn't feel right about where we were. I could almost feel the expression of fear on my face. And he must have noticed because he took my hand in his and smiled at me, trying to calm my nerves. And it kind of did. With a deep breath, I finally mustered the courage to step out into the hallway.