Chapter:1
Chattering, yelling, and the constant sounds of people talking, screaming, and whispering all at once.
Pushing, shoving, fighting, and confusion drove the crowd insane, stuck in a waiting room of a strange hotel that they don't remember booking or going to.
So much energy yet one girl still slumped on a wall, near the frosted glass door, presumably, the entrance slept soundlessly until a rough shove of a person being thwarted towards her startled her awake with a scared jump.
Coraline jumped up, on her feet now, her eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the lights, and when they did her heart skipped a beat, unfortunately, the feeling was not that of love but fear.
She did not recognize this strange place, a few minutes, ago she was sleeping in her room, she immediately thought that she had been kidnapped only to realize how impossible it is to kidnap all these people, some seemingly way older than her.
Coraline calmed her racing heart and with a calmer gaze she observed the room, it looked like a very expensive lobby of a five-star hotel, Victorian but with a minimalistic twist, stinks of rich, especially with the big red carpet from the door that tripartite into stairways leading to the mezzanine.
She noticed a door on the other side of the enormous lobby, as well as too other doors that are on each side of the luxurious reception.
Coraline also observed the chaotic state of the others with her in the lobby, she deduced that they all are just as clueless about their whereabouts as her, they have no use then.
While scanning the room with her eyes she saw a man, dressed in a fancy tux with a clean white pair of gloves, holding a champagne flute and a fork, entering the room from an unseen door and standing in front of the middle stairway.
The man cleared his throat and with a quick tap on the glass flute came an unnatural piercing sound, that quickly caught the attention of the unruly crowd, and with that came an equally piercing silence.
"Good now that I have your attention, I formally welcome you to the infinity hotel!" He exclaimed.
"Before any of you ask you are nowhere near your home that's for sure and no you can't find your way back on your own moreover I don't recommend trying to find your way back." He explains.
With that, the crowd exploded in furry, some storming over to the man others to the nearest door which oh so happened to be the frosted class door Coraline was standing next to.
On the other hand, some stay still in their place, well as still as they could when being shoved by a stampede of people, maybe out of fear, or maybe they saw that the man was not done with his speech.
Coraline was part of the latter, not to brag, but she could read people pretty well, it was clear that this man knew the true nature of their whereabouts and most importantly how to get out.
Coraline crossed her arm, sharply eyeing the man up and down, his build was alright, but his face was not her type, she breathed out a sigh of disappointment.
She was let down by his looks and because he is watching the chaos with great enjoyment.
Something quickly caught Coraline's attention, from across the room, next to the clear class backdoor, leaned a young brunette who looked familiar to her she swears she can recognize from somewhere.
As soon as Coraline started to move toward the girl, the man cleared his throat again and with that, the raging crowd stopped like they were frozen in place even Coraline felt her body stiff up.
Coraline, now curious, tried to move but found herself unable to, Coraline theorized that magic was at play here of course they probably were not even in their original world so why should the rules be the same.
"My my rowdy bunch eh? But don't bang on the doors, we don't want the discomfort of the VIPs." He said shaking his head in a disproving manner.
" If you want to leave so badly you must find some clues first think of it as a treasure hunt." He said.
"Oh don't bother looking here the clues are outside but be sure to come back before the sunset or else." He informed, he turned around and left from the same unseen door.
The unmoving crowd gained the ability to move again, however, they have been disoriented some even collapsed on the ground, but Coraline didn't hesitate to sprint toward the familiar face pushing past the confused and angry crowd.
Coraline's eyes widen in surprise, of course, how could she forget her short-haired brunette, she was her friend, after all, she sprinted towards her with a greater intensity she was shaking with excitement.
"Lorraine!" Coraline shouted out happily, the fair-skinned girl then around her brown eyes widened a smile made its home on her brownish pink-tinted lips, her white and blue skirt swished around as she tackled Coraline.
As Coraline's braids swing around as she twirled with Lorraine they haven't seen each other in a long long time, the brown-skinned girl gave her friend one last squeeze her eyes brimming with tears and a smile etched on her round face.
"As much as I would love to catch up with you we have some clues to find." Lorraine started as she took Coraline's hand and sprinted out of the door.
They were surprised to see an underdeveloped-looking city and not a single person beside them.
The latter fact was quickly changed as people stormed out of the hotel.
Coraline shared an understanding look with Lorraine, the sun was high and they didn't have much time for disbelief.
Together they ran looking in trash cans as well as bushes leaving no stone unturned as they made their way further into the massive city.