6 Cards Pulled
Jack of Clubs, 6 of Spades, 5 of Clubs, 2 of Clubs, 3 of Hearts, Jack of Spades
I am noting this down from a hospital bed tonight, and I do have plenty of things to get off my chest. Today has not been a good day, and it only went from bad to worse.
When I entered the studio today I was all ready to ask my co-workers about what happened last night, to try and get a better picture of what is going on, but I never got that far. The moment I stepped into the office I noticed that all of the people inside had their eyes on me. And not in the friendly, good morning kind of way. They were all looking surprised, and a little suspicious, and I just couldn’t understand it. That was when Hadley approached me, a frown on his face and asked me if I was lost. I must have looked really confused, because he sighed heavily and turned me towards the doors. When I tried to open my mouth to ask what he was doing, he cut me off, telling me that outsiders weren’t allowed on that floor. Outsiders! I have been with the studio since the beginning, so what was he playing at? I was starting to get angry, but caught myself when I saw Aleks coming towards us. I am not sure why I thought that he would help me, because he definitely didn’t. He did explain their reaction to me though. He offered to bring me to the elevator, and on the way there he told me that the people in the studio were very careful with who they let into their office. They didn’t want people that they didn’t know around their work. All of this I knew of course. What didn’t make sense to me was why they were acting that way towards me. When I carefully asked this, he looked at me in surprise.
‘Because as far as I know, none of us have ever seen you before.’
That is what he said. I must have been in shock from the words because I didn’t protest as he ushered me into the elevator and pushed the down button. I don’t know what is going on, but for some reason no one at the studio recognized me. They all thought that I was a stranger walking into the office. But as I looked into the mirror in the elevator, all I could see was my own face. Not even the strange one from yesterday, just my own face. Something is very wrong, but then again, that is nothing new at this point.
Not knowing what I was supposed to do now that I couldn’t go into work, I walked back home slowly. There was something unpleasant churning in my stomach, an unease that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Not until I was standing outside my front door, staring at it with something between fascination and horror. The color purple caught my eye immediately, and the intricate design of a dragonfly held my gaze for several minutes before I could tear it away. I reached out a hand to touch it, with some trepidation, and it came away slightly stained. The paint that had been used was not yet completely dry. Somehow this surprised me. I had imagined that it would be as ingrained into the wood of the door as if it had always been there, but here it was, freshly painted and gleaming. Despite myself I found the design beautiful and intriguing. I have never truly considered before, why a dragonfly? I might need to do some research about that. I shook my head to clear it and opened the door slowly. I didn’t think that was going to be the only thing that They had done. Not considering our meeting yesterday.
I was right. A cursory glance told me that someone had been inside my apartment. Things were moved around, and a few cupboards were left open. They didn’t even try to hide their presence. I have long suspected that my home is bugged in some capacity, but I have never truly looked for any sign. Now I did, and was quietly impressed with how thorough they were. They seemed to have covered every inch of my apartment with their cameras. Even the bedroom. Even the bathroom. That one made me shiver a little. That was such a big breach of privacy, and it made me feel dirty. I didn’t know if They were always watching the feed, but just the thought was enough to make me feel disgusted. I needed to get out of the apartment.
I barely reached the street before I was stopped. I don’t know who the man was, but he looked frantic and terrified. He was standing just by the edge of the pavement, and he didn’t beat around the bush.
‘You are playing, aren’t you? You need to stop!’
His eyes were wide as he looked at me, and there was something pleading in his voice. I don’t know how he knew that I was a player, but he didn’t hesitate for a moment.
‘Please, believe me! You have to stop playing! If you don’t, you are going to die!’
I could do nothing by stand there and listen. As he paused in his warning, I opened my mouth to ask who he was, how he knew that I was playing, but I didn’t get a single word out. A sharp crack, like a whip, sounded in front of me, and he was gone. I stared with wide eyes at the big black car that has replaced him in front of me. Looking to my right, I could see him lying on the pavement, blood pooling on the ground. He was not moving. I know that I should have stayed and tried to help him. Or at least called the police. I did none of those things. Instead I found myself taking off running in the opposite direction. As I cleared the car I glanced back for a moment and caught the license plate. I was not in the least surprised to find that it read 11 9 20. I could feel my heart trying to beat out of my chest as I ran, aimlessly at first, but after a while with a destination in mind.
As I reached the shed I hesitated for a moment, before continuing past in and into the small grove of trees. I can only hope that whatever protection seems to be on the trunk inside will be enough to give me a moment of peace under the trees. There is something truly calming about being surrounded by nature, small as it might be, and I shrank to the ground with my breath coming hard after the run. I am not ashamed to say that I cried. I am not sure how long I sat there, curled in on myself with tears running down my face, but I did eventually calm down. As my nerves were starting to calm, I started to think over the events of the day. As strange as is might seem when someone got hit by a car right in front of you, I think that the thing affecting me the most is the incident at the studio. Walking in and seeing my co-workers, friends that I have known for years, look at me and seeing a complete stranger hurt something deep within me. The only thing I can hope for right now is that it was a temporary thing, and that it will be back to normal after the weekend. A girl can hope, right? And then a thought struck me. Maybe it was already over. I managed to get myself hyped enough to get up from the ground and go back to the studio. It was worth another try, if only so that I didn’t have to spend the whole weekend wondering.
Well… That was what led to my current predicament. The elevator had almost reached the studio floor when it stopped abruptly. And then it gave a great big shudder and started falling. It started out fairly slow, but the speed picked up until I felt my feet leave the floor and the roof made a painful acquaintance with my head. I don’t remember much after that. They tell me that I have a concussion, and a sprained wrist from when I tried to catch myself on top of that. But they also said that I am lucky to be alive, never mind so mildly hurt. Should I?
Anyway, they are releasing me tomorrow after doing another check on my head and wrist. I am really happy about that. I don’t wanna stay in this room any longer than I have to. I don’t feel safe. Because take a wild guess at what numbers are on the room I am in for the night…
11 9 20, signing off.
[[End Roll: 1; Tokens Left: 9]]