Dreamlike

12.30 pm

“Finish this task by today. I want you submit it to me by email for this one and this one, put it on my desk before you go home.” Amy said in stern voice while pointing to the files that she harshly put on my table.

“Okay.” I nodded and slightly smile as a sign of respect.

I look at those files and face palm myself. Why am I here? Why am I working for this woman?

11.30 pm

Time flies and once again, I fell asleep on my table where no one dare to wake me up because I’m the trouble maker and the seducer of Amy’s boyfriend like the other girls claim. It is not my fault that her boyfriend wants to hit me up and oh, I forgot to mention that I work as a clerk in a fashion company and this company happened to be beside the most famous modelling company ever and Amy’s boyfriend is one of their models.

I heard a lot of weird things about the models and Amy. First, one by one of their model will went missing on day 3rd every 3 months. Second, Amy actually don’t have a boyfriend. She just claim that man as hers and she is the one that being obsessed with him.

Poor him.

“Damn it.” I quickly sit straight and wipe up my drool at the corner of my mouth. I look around and there is no one left. Only me. “Here I am again. Alone in this office, hungry, cold and the worst is, there is a blizzard happening outside. Why does it have to be today?” I sigh while packing up my things.

“Wait. How can I go back home in this situation? It is literally 11.30 pm and of course the guard already close the main door. Oh my god. Am I born to be this unlucky?” I slam my file on the table and forcefully sit down on my office chair which is sounds like my grandmother old chair.

I look around my table in case Ernie left a sticky note like she always does but there is none today. I guess she is tired of me already but whatever.

I decided to walk around the office and stretch my body a little bit since my body is so sore and cold because it is absolutely uncomfortable to sleep with your left cheek on your office desk for hours like back in your school days. My neck, my back and every single bone and muscles in my body are hurting. What can I expect? That is what I got for sleeping in here like I own this building.

I look outside and I must say that I barely can see anything since the snow is so thick and the sound of the wind that hitting this big mirror scares me a bit. I touch the mirror and damn it is freezing.

“Am I really been left alone here?” I sigh. Suddenly I heard a sound like a bunch of files falling down from a cabinet. I thought I was dreaming or hallucinating since I believe I am alone in this building and there is no way that sound can be made without someone knocking it down but after a few minutes, I heard something else. It sounds like a sound of glass shattered.

“Okay this is getting creepier.” I walk on a tiptoe and tried to be quiet as possible since only God knows who made that sound. A ghost? A serial killer? Amy?

It went quiet again. I stop on my track and slowly get under my office table and I almost got a heart attack when I saw Ernie under her table shaking like she has been chased by a ghost.

“What are you doing down there?! Why don’t you tell me that you are here this whole time?!” I silently screaming at her but she shushed me telling me to get under my table.

“Don’t be so loud. We might get caught.” She said.

“By what exactly? I have been sleeping here for a few times already and I am still alive.” I asked while crossing my arms at my chest.

“I don’t know by what since I am curious about that too but what you need to know that you” she points her index finger to me, “and me” and to herself, “are stuck in this building until tomorrow morning because both of us decided to be a sleepy head today.” She rolled her eyes. What a drama queen.

“And? Why are we hiding under our desk? Let’s find out. I want to explore this building. Start from our boss room. Both of us are curious about it, aren’t we?” She grabs my forearm when I’m trying to get out from under my desk. “What?” I frown my eyebrows.

“I think it is from that room. That forbidden room next to Amy’s office.” She pointed to the door but I cannot see clearly because of the dark.

“I don’t care. You and I together. Let’s go.” I pull her out from under the desk and walk slowly towards any door that my heart leads too.

Both of us walk like an old witch with our back bending forward at almost 90-degree angle and tip toing like we are sneaking into our parents’ room to steal some money. Well, we are doing some sneaking session here but not for our parents’ money.

We both ended up at the door besides Amy’s room. I touch the door and it is so cold. I wonder why and what is inside it.

We place our ear to the door hoping that we can hear something but there is nothing. Silence.

I slowly turn the door knob and push the door slightly. Ernie gets in first and followed by me.

“Wow…. This is so wrong.” Ernie said.

The room is filled with mannequins but the shapes of them are all different. Even the face feature. But only a few things are the same. Color of their skin, are white like a doll and all of them got a short hair.

“We should get out from here.” Ernie said to me while pulling my wrist.

“Wait. Don’t you want to explore this room since we are already in here?” I walk away from her and start roaming around the room like a kid.

“Are you sure about this?” Ernie asked in a scared tone. “We should just mind our own business. Specifically, you are the one that need to keep your nose out of Amy’s business. I don’t want to die this early.” When she tried to turn her body around, she accidently hit one of the mannequins beside her.

“Shh. Don’t be so loud.” I frown. “We might end up getting caught by her if you won’t stop being so loud.” I continue my steps and I accidentally bumped into something and I fell on my butt.

There is a bare leg stopped in front of me and I slowly look up and it is Amy in her short pants and a see-through shirt.

“We can explain Miss. Actually-“ Blank.

I don’t know what happened.

Everything is dark.

I think I passed out. I don’t know for how long but I woke up due to the stingy feelings from my forehead and wrist and my butt is cold like an ice because of the floor.

“Ugh. My head.” I tried to move but I can’t. My vision is blurry because of some liquid dripping off my forehead. Is it blood?

I look next to me and Ernie is beside me still unconscious. I look around the room and I see Am standing in front of someone. Who is that?

There is a lot of questions running in my mind and my head is hurting so bad.

“Hey, Ernie. Wake up.” I drag my body to her and touch her thigh lightly using my knee. She groans due to my sudden touch. When her hair falls to her side revealing her neck, I saw a small bruise like she just got injected. Her face is pale like a ghost and there is blood at the corner of her mouth.

“What happened Ernie?” I ask.

“Girl... That woman over there is sick.” She speaks in a low voice. “She hit you with a freaking thick book until you are bleeding like this,” she looks at me up and down slowly and said “but I bet I am worst. I think she put drugs in me. Oh god… I don’t think I can keep my eyes open.” Her eyes slowly shutting down. “That’s why I said, mind your own… business…” She collapses again. The drugs must be already in her body for too long and it must be a strong one.

“No, you can’t just leave me here like that! You, ugh! My head!” I did not realize that Amy is walking to us while we are having a ‘lovely conversation’. She harshly grabs my injured head with her left hand and turn my head to her direction. This is a deadly staring competition and the scariest one I have experience in my whole life.

“You should’ve listened to her. Don’t you think?” She slowly moves her left hand towards my head and she dig her nails into my injured forehead and I must say that there is a sudden waterfall of blood coming down because of it.

“Help! Somebody! There’s a-“ Slap.

Damn that is hurt like hell and my head is getting dizzier because of the sudden hit.

“There is no one here and nobody can hear you. This is a sound proof room honey. Look around you. All of them are dead,” She chuckles and say, “except for that one.” She turns her head around and look at the direction she was standing before.

There is a human being sitting in an electric chair, with cuffs around his neck, wrist and ankle, and also not to mention, half naked. Only god knows who that is.

“Are you crazy?! Who the heck is that?!” My eyes are getting bigger and bigger with every word that came out from my mouth.

“Well… That is what you get when you disobey me and I must say that I have a unique hobby. Do you want to know what it is?” She looks at me again in the eye and smile. Oh god, I hate this eye contact and that smile of hers is so creepy like Annabelle.

“Ho-hobby? Is torturing a hu-human considered a hobby?” This woman is crazy.

“No honey.” She slowly brings her right index finger to my temple and, “I just, I love beautiful things. Especially the one that shines and look like a doll” slowly move down to my chin like she is admiring my feature. “I ‘bought’ them from the model company and keep them in here. Isn’t it cool?” She giggles.

“What do you mean by you ‘bought’ them? You are sick!” I spit on her face. “And don’t touch me! You are crazy!” She wipes my saliva off her face and look at me with her deadly eyes.

“At first I thought that you are worth to keep, but I was wrong.” She took out a knife out and choke me with her free hand. “Now join my other collections baby.” She laugh hysterically and slowly raise up her hand that is holding a knife.

“No! No!”

…………

“No!” I jolted up from my chair. My chest rapidly went up and down due to my heavy breathing. Everyone is looking at me including Amy and Ernie.

Was that all just a dream? Or some sort of sign?

I look straight to Amy’s eyes and she looks so… Normal yet angry?

“I don’t want to know why you are screaming and I am not interested in knowing it. The only thing I know is, finish this task by today. I want you submit it to me by email for this one and this one, put it on my desk before you go home.” Amy said in stern voice while pointing to those files that she harshly put on my table.

“Yes miss.” I nodded.

“…. there will be a blizzard tonight around 9 pm and I hope everyone can stay at home and be safe. That is all for ....”

Blizzard? A snowstorm? Today?

Wait.

Oh my god.