Nova's nostrils were immediately assaulted by a putrid, musty odor that made him want to gag. He covered his nose with his fingers to block the noisome smell.
Through the opening of the door streamed a faint light, illuminating the toilet seat. Two arms and two legs hung in the air from the inside of the toilet seat. On the floor in front of it was an employee card with a blue ribbon. Blood was splattered on the card, barely showing some of the words on it.
A half-covered picture with the letters underneath it: G-ral- F-rd.
One could easily guess whose card it was if they knew the person and their name. One more step, and Nova's shoes' outsole would be met with the red, gooey juice that spilled from the toilet seat all the way down to the floor, like melted ice cream.
Nova wasted no time in getting out of there and closing the door, making sure nothing could come out from inside—whether it was something terrifying or disgusting. He regretted his decision of ever coming close to this monstrous restroom. He would rather die than use that toilet now.
The air in the living room had been infected with just the preview of that malodorous smell. Nova still had his fingers protecting him from it, but Kai, on the other couch which was just next to the restroom, was awakened by its evilness. He frowned upon lifting his eyelids.
"What were you doing in there? That's why you should have just used it from the beginning, instead of exploding all at once!" Kai threw cutting stares at Nova, standing next to the door. It was obvious he had used the restroom secretly. Maybe he was just waiting for the right moment to use it because he knew it would produce such results.
"I would advise you to not use the restroom moving onward," Nova simply had enough tonight. It was one thing after another. Even the superstar who could pull several all-nighters to film was exhausted—mentally and physically. He had really underestimated this dungeon. This was no fun place to entertain him anymore.
Kai became a little curious at that comment. He was debating whether he should steal a peek inside, but the intensity of the smell was no joke, making him retreat his plan when he remembered something more important.
"Did it work? Where's Xerxes?" Kai impatiently asked, bothering Nova, who had just sat his weight down on the couch.
"Xerxes is upstairs auditioning as the next Sleeping Beauty," Nova replied, closing his overworked eyes.
Kai was about to make his way upstairs when a clashing sound came from the bedroom right next to the living room. As more chaos resounded in the bedroom, Nova had no choice but to reawaken his tired eyes and look inside the bedroom to see what was causing it. The door to the bedroom wasn't locked like yesterday. Conscientiously, he threw wide the door.
The white bedsheet was barely on the bed, and both the pillows were placed in different places of the room. Lucas was towering on top of Savannah. She seemed to be struggling greatly, but Lucas was firmly holding her down. Savannah's arms were pressed to the headboard. The position was rather suggestive until Nova saw the knife in Savannah's hand.
"Control yourself, Savannah!" Lucas was having a hard time trying to keep her in position. Blood was slowly but surely dripping from the cut on his palm, which he had gotten when Savannah had attacked him out of nowhere. Just when his hold began to loosen due to the pain in his hand, a pair of arms extended from behind, pinning her to the bed again.
Nova had to help after seeing the knife so close to Lucas's neck. He hadn't even seen the slit on Lucas's hand until he came closer to assist him. Savannah had unbelievable strength. Nova didn't know how Lucas held up for so long. He was certain he wouldn't last more than a minute against her might.
"Tie her with something while I try to calm her down," Nova gritted through his teeth. "If we fail to overpower her, who knows what that knife will slice next?"
Lucas searched around the bedroom with his vision, but there was nothing that could be used to restrain Savannah except...
"The bedsheet! Lift your feet, you're standing on it!" Lucas tried to get it from under Nova's shoes while Nova tried to take the knife from Savannah's hand. The grip on it was as solid as a brick.
"I can't really move away right now, Lucas. Forget the sheet, just take the knife from her!"
Before Lucas had even changed his direction, Savannah suddenly went crazy, throwing Nova off with an elbow to his chin, which resulted in his lips being torn from the inside. Nova held his jaw in pain as the rusty iron scent filled his mouth.
Everything happened so quickly that no one in the room had any time to react. Before Savannah's knife in hand passed by Lucas's ear, it was a lucky coincidence he had moved his head to change his field of view on the target.
***
The noises from downstairs didn't take long to reach Xerxes's ears, jolting him from his sleep. The room was pin-drop silent, but the commotion coming from the bottom was hard to ignore. Xerxes was kind of uneasy by all the yelling. If he was in the real world, he would have just gone back to sleep, but he wasn't at his home right now.
Xerxes's whole body ached as he got up from the bed. He had a splitting headache. He was dehydrated, still sleepy, and it was cold after leaving his warm blanket. But other than that, he was fully aware of his surroundings. It took him one minute to descend the stairs.
Kai was standing in front of the open bedroom door, and Bailey was shedding tears silently while trying to keep Elise from wailing. Bailey looked ready to run away hiding behind the couch, but was also hesitant. Kai turned to his side when he saw Xerxes coming, but what Xerxes saw shook all his sleepiness away in a blink.
Savannah tossed Nova across the room with just a single hit of her arm, like he was made of paper and the knife in her hand was nearly about to enter Lucas's abdomen.