34 Victim (1/2)
A suffocated scream echoed throughout the empty hotel corridors, its tone conveying a dreadful terror as the lamps on the walls slightly faded before returning to stillness.
The sounds of rapid footsteps created a unique symphony amidst the darkness; an oppressive atmosphere soon spread, leaving the whole hotel in a state of panic.
…
”F**K! My head…” Garett felt his head throb in piercing pain as if someone had stabbed him with a thin shiv ”That freak!?”
Garett rose with a jump, his thoughts instantly racing to the dreadful situation from before. He reflexively materialized a firearm in front of him and controlled it to hover as he rummaged his vests for ammunition.
”It worked?” Doubt clouded his mind as the lingering sensation of the vivid reality he encountered himself before reminded him of the creature's abilities. ”No… I can't be certain…”
He guessed that the Whistler had dragged him to something akin to an illusion, and every sense of his was fooled into believing the surroundings were real during the previous encounter!
”That was dangerous…” A drop of cold sweat surfaced on his forehead as he noticed the power difference between them ”He was too strong, even those strange dogs that originated from the plush toy couldn't compare…”
He had a strong inkling that the Whistler wasn't an apparition like those dogs, instead, his actions seemed more like those of a living being!
'But the intersection between real and illusion was very abrupt, I don't see the need for him to emulate the arrival of a hotel attendant…' Garett reflected inwardly about what had transpired, everything was still fresh on his mind, even if a little foggy for some reason.
Right after the beginning of the encounter, Garett was able to hear the familiar voice of a hotel attendant. Recalling the series of occurrences, he was almost certain that the intersection between real and illusory happened somewhere after that!
”But I remember calling for Alice's help before that…” Garett shook his head, he felt that it was futile to keep making empty guesses at the abilities of the entity.
'That's right! Alice!' Finally remembering about the huntress presence, Garett forcefully snapped in himself back to his senses and extended his Perception into analyzing the corridor outside to confirm that the Whistler was already gone.
Heaving a sigh of relief, he took his time to take in the surroundings and assure that he was alone in the room and formulate a plan.
'Hell… There's no plan! I just need to get Alice and let her deal with the rest!' He nodded to himself, there was no plan that could be formulated with such haste that could let him deal with the Whistler! The two of them were in entirely different categories of power!
He grabbed the floating revolver and carefully loaded it before hastily heading towards the door with unwavering conviction, just to stop right before putting his hand on the handle.
The door suddenly burst open, bringing with it a spurt of cold wind as Garett was forced to reflexively step backward in order to avoid being hit by the hardwood.
”Could you please give a warning before kicking the door open!?” He yelled in a reproaching manner while inwardly relieved that his Perception ability warned him of the incoming threat!
”Garett! Are you okay!?” Alice rapidly barged in, her eyes frantically scanning the surroundings. Her whole body radiating a fierce aura as she prepared to battle.
”Yeah! I'm okay now.” Garett responded as he scanned the huntress in front of him, still half-suspicious of the veracity of what his eyes conveyed him. ”The hotel is not going to like what you did to the door.”
”And that's what you're worried about!?” She spat fiercely, her face portraying vivid disbelief. ”Something that was mimicking your voice! And then I heard a gunshot before blacking out, does that seem normal to you?”
”Mimicking my voice?” Garett's brows perked up with a frown. ”Wait, did you say you heard a gunshot before blacking out?”
”Yeah, why are you repeating what I just said?” She answered with a grumble.
Garett ignored Alice's words and started with his habit to deduce things based on the new information it had.
'Just like I've heard the Whistler mimicking the voice of the hotel employee, it also mimicked my voice to keep Alice from coming? No, she would have heard the commotion… Did it bring her into that illusion first to keep her from hearing me? Wouldn't it be easier to drag me first? That doesn't make sense…' Like usual, a dozen different scenarios surfaced on his mind as he assessed the facts.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask for more information, the sounds of frantic footsteps came from the hallway. Only giving Garett enough time to hide the firearm that he firmly gripped on the insides of his vests.
Alice on the other hand just stood there nonchalantly with both her gauntlets into plain view, as if it was the most common thing in the world.
'Is that okay? I know normal people would only think that she is weird but…' Garett murmured to himself as he took a step forward and looked at the corridor, his eyes glued to the source of the noise.