—No luck? —said a young man.
—Dammit! I don't understand what's happening. What is this?! —The same man, exuding courage a moment ago, now seemed ready to break.
This was the result of the fruitless fourth exploration into the mysterious fog. None of the present could explain it, but felt the same frustration. Once in the fog, you could not see anything, it was like walking between a myriad of white sheets, without a hint of the horizon. People who ventured inside walked, according to them, in a straight line. Instead of reaching society, after about five minutes, each one emerged from the same spot where they had first entered.
—It makes no sense. None of this makes sense. It must be a dream. Yes. Definitely that. Hey, guys, don't worry, we're dreaming. Haha. I'm dreaming…
—What is supposed to mean that! —Said a woman in her thirties, on the brink of tears—. Someone, do something. Something like this, how can this be possible?
—Calm down. Let's all calm down.
—Hey, look. Someone is coming back from the fog again.
The group was on the lookout, some had not lost hope. This person was returning, yes, but perhaps they brought good news with them. But to their surprise, or horror, it was someone they did not recognize. A high school student, still in uniform, with black and disheveled hair.
—Agh. What is it with fog today? —Said Aiden, grabbed his arms and shuddered, as if trying to get something out of his mind.
Seeing that it was someone so young, most of them sighed with relief, but they were still tense and expectant. There had been a murder, after all. The first to speak was the friendly faced manager.
—Student! Yes, you, student! —He said, taking the unwanted position of leader—. Student, what are you doing here? Or more importantly, how did you get here? Do you know how we can get out?
Aiden did not know how to respond to the barrage of questions, and it didn't end there. Seeing him hesitant, the entire group joined in. The cacophony of voices was starting to dizzy him. The only thing he could say was, "No, I don't know. I was just taking a walk and ended up here." Of course, that did not help to appease the group.
The tension was increasing, and the doubts, doubts that would put him in possible danger, too. It was then that, among the voices, he managed to distinguish a question that would help distract the attention from him for a second.
—Do you have signal?
—Signal? —Aiden proceeded to take out his mobile from the pants pocket and after a quick check, continued—. Of course. I'm sorry, I don't have signal. Now I have a question, what happened that you are all gathered at the entrance?
—I see… I don't have it very clear either, you see, apparently… Oh, shit! —The sentence was abruptly cut off by a loud noise, like construction work, coming from the condo.
—What was that?! —said Aiden.
Before the administrator could call for calm and for everyone to stay together, which was the most rational course of action, the wild-haired boy was already running towards the source of the noise. The group had no choice but to follow in his footsteps when their leader, in name at least, the administrator, went after him.
Soon they were all back in the lobby. They gathered around each other, as some felt more secure that way. The explosion earlier had not repeated and there was no indication of it happening again, when suddenly the lights in the lobby went out. The sound of glass breaking, one after the other, with minimal delay between them, reached Aiden's ears and the next thing he knew was that darkness had engulfed them.
Men and women, adults or teenagers, it did not matter, everyone felt the terror equally; including Aiden. A few voices screamed in horror and bodies huddled together, almost as if they wanted to burrow under each other's skin.
Rapid footsteps became distinguishable, and the cacophony of screams resumed where it had left off a few moments ago. It's hard to say who was first, but someone had the brilliant idea to use the flash of their cell phone. Others followed suit, including Aiden.
There they were, in the middle of the darkness; the lobby wasn't huge, but submerged in darkness, it seemed to extend endlessly. The tenants were desperately shining their lights in all directions, when another set of hurried footsteps came in their direction, and instinctively most of them aimed their flashlights at the source.
Like a spear tearing through the forces of darkness, the light from the phones revealed the silhouette of a young girl wearing a floral one-piece, completely stained with darkened red. She would have looked like a chupacabra if not for her beautiful features and long hair.
There she was, huddled and sniffing at something. When she was discovered, she shook her head from side to side, as if she was dazed. And with a near-silent jump, disappeared into the dark hallway. The flashlights tried to follow her, but it was to no avail.
—Stop! —Shouted Aiden, but was thoroughly ignored.
—Let's go to the office, this way, quick, quick —said the administrator, signaling despite not being sure if they could see him, as his flashlight was pointing the way.
The group followed behind the small wooden reception desk, which doubled as a guard's booth, which was currently manned by the administrator himself. They crossed a door and found themselves in a modest office. Then, barricaded the entrance with a small pieces of furniture and the pair of chairs.
—What the hell was that? —Said a woman.
—Hey… Don't you think someone is missing? —Said another concerned voice.
They all looked at each other for a few seconds. One after the other, the tenants realized the missing member. It was that impulsive, sometimes aggressive, but physically strong man, who was the first to leave and venture into the mist. And this time, before the frenzy could take hold of the group, the peaceful administrator, for the first time, with a booming voice, intervened.
—Calm down! Everyone, calm down, please!
—Are you still saying that? Shove your calm where it fits! What are we going to do now, and what was that thing that took Mr. Andrey?
—Please calm down. He might have decided to go hide somewhere else.
—Or he might already be dead.
The sudden loss of a member had unleashed discord in the group, it seemed like they didn't care about being discovered anymore, and just raised their voices one after the other, without proposing any real solution.
That was when Aiden cleared his throat firmly. He was ignored the first and second time, so he simply decided to move the sofa blocking the door. When one of the tenants noticed, as expected, he caused a commotion. He cursed, tried to stop him, but was in turn stopped by two other members of the group.
—Student, wait —the administrator intervened—. What are you doing?
—If he wants to go, let him! —Another tenant jumped—. But he shouldn't put us in danger. As far as we know, he could be the killer or an accomplice.
—Don't say nonsense —said the administrator—. But it is true that you must explain yourself, student, could you not see danger out there? We don't even know what we are facing.
—Precisely, because of that. Does that answer satisfy you all? For a while now, I have felt nothing but doubtful gazes on my back. Nonetheless, it's not only that. I feel it's better to try to find out what's going on. Besides, I might be able to find the missing member and help him. I'm not asking nor expecting any of you to come with, naturally, it's best for you to stay here protected and prepare weapons to defend yourselves if the worst-case scenario arises.
The administrator tried to reason a little more with Aiden, but received the same type of answer again. He emphasized that he was obsessed with it, so, reluctantly, the administrator agreed by staying silent. He already had his hands full attempting to maintain order in the group. Furthermore, he could not understand where the confidence, or the obstinacy bordering on madness, came from; so, he felt that it didn't matter what he said, his words wouldn't reach that boy.
—With that sorted out, I wish you good luck. —said, Aiden.
He was about to leave when he was interrupted by a voice, notably younger than the rest.
—Wait. It's dangerous to go alone. I'm going with you.
A young man of about 17 or 18 appeared from among the group of tenants, took a step forward with his head held high.
—What's your name? Mine's Acke.