8th - Day
"Vivian's room"
7:04
It didn't take Vivian so long to doze off anymore. He could instantly tell when he woke up.
She could see her slightly light ceiling. Morning sunlight cast shadows on the blinds. She was scared to look beside her. She timidly felt around with her hands.
Vivian... She thought she heard a yearning voice calling out to her.
In a panic, Vivian looked over, but nothing was there.
There was no Cameron. Vivian let out a long sigh, facing upwards again and burying her face in her pillow.
"Whoa, I really feel rested... Slept pretty well..." Vivian hadn't felt like this in the morning for a while.
"I haven't felt like this in a long while... Wait... I didn't have any nightmares...," Vivian tried to remember what had happened while she was asleep but couldn't. She didn't even feel its unique sense of fear. "Does that mean... I'm saved?"
Vivian cheered as she got up to dance and squealed happily. Everything's back to normal...or so she thought.
"Yes, sun shining. Birds may or may not be singing. Just another typical normal day," Vivian screamed and cheered happily.
Vivian heard the doorbell ring, an irritating sound, "Now what could it be this time...?"
"Vivian? Are you home?" A voice appeared. It was Kameron's voice.
Vivian sighed as she relaxed. Her beloved had a key. It wasn't all that unusual for him to come in like this.
The nightmares of the past few days, as well as Stella's appearance, had apparently made her paranoid.
Vivian headed for the door on her bare feet. She was in the same crisp suit again today. "Yeah, I was asleep..."
"Oh... Sorry, but you weren't answering your phone... So, um, we got to talk, okay?"
"You called? Okay." Vivian opened the door, inviting him in. "Here, come on in."
Vivian smiled, relieved that everything is all fine. But then...
"Hello!" A voice suddenly said from behind her.
Vivian snapped as her smile faded. She knew that voice anywhere...
Her knees went weak as Vivian just managed to support herself using the wall. "Wh-who's there!?"
Kameron peered over Vivian's shoulder and looked around the room.
Vivian turned, too, praying that she was just hallucinating again, but she could clearly see Cameron inside the room. He was in his underwear, at least, and he wore a long t-shirt.
You've got to be kidding me... What are you doing here...!?, Vivian thought as Cameron grinned silently.
Kameron's face tensed as he sees him face-to-face. "Huh...!? Who is that...?"
Vivian was startled, looking at Cameron, "Wh-wh-wh-what're you doing here?! Oh god...this can't be happening...!"
"So, you need to have a chat with Vivian, right? Okay, come on in, make yourself at home."
Cameron put his hands together, tilting his head slightly. "How about a cup of coffee?" Humming, he headed toward the kitchen.
Kameron looked around, his movements were awkward and robotic, "...Yeah, I'm going inside, and you're going to tell me exactly what's going on here."
Walking awkwardly and slightly past Vivian, Kameron walked straight inside. All Vivian could do was watch in bewilderment.
First, she put on some clothes. She couldn't wander around in her panties and bra, and she wanted to make some time for herself to calm down.
Vivian knelt on the floor, facing Kameron across the low glass table. He sat on the side nearest the door, Vivian nearest to the bed. She felt the full-on acute pressure of the silence, balling her hands on her knees, too scared to look up.
She could hear absentminded humming from the kitchen. What was he thinking?
"So, uh...," Kameron said, looking at her, nervously with a tiny bit of suspicion. "If I'm not mistaken, it would appear you have another man in your life, yes?"
"N-no, no, no, it..." Vivian wanted to say it with conviction, but there was no way she could deny it. "He just... I..."
"...Look, if you're going to try to tell the truth, at least look at me in the eye?"
Vivian looked up at him. Kameron shot an icy gaze at her through his glasses, sending shivers down her spine and giving her goosebumps.
"Let me get this straight, then. You somehow got into this even though you knew that I knew you were pregnant? With my child?"
Aww, crap. I got to fix this mess right now! Vivian thought.
Vivian had accepted the destiny she'd been given, and on top of that, she had broken up with Cameron the day before. She thought things would back to normal, but they're not.
Vivian leaned forward, trying to think of an explanation, "N-No... That isn't it..."
"So, what is it then!?" Kameron slammed his hand down on the table with a bang. Startled, Vivian threw herself back, supporting herself on her hands. "I thought you were acting a little weird recently... But this..." Kameron looked at her like she was a slave.
"I-It's not what you think! So much has been going wrong... You've got to believe me here, okay!?"
"Okay, here you go!" A delicate white arm crossed in front of her, setting down cups on the table. "Oh - I made sure to put two sugars in yours, Vivian."
Kameron was the only one who knew about her habit of putting two sugars in her coffee. Or, at least, he used to be.
Cameron sat down beside Vivian, as though it were the completely natural thing to do. His hips touched Vivian's.
"Hey, Vivi? I think this is a good chance for you to tell it to him straight." Cameron looked over at Vivian, shooting a cold stare sideways at Kameron. "He's been dragging you down."
"Huh!?"
"Hey, I never said that...!"
"So, wh-what are you saying...!?" Kameron's face steadily grew red. His shoulders, arms and hands trembled. "And I don't want to hear any more of your bullcrap."
"Vivian, baby, you're not seriously gonna try and play dumb now, are you? Not after how you appreciated my body all those times..."
"Y-you little..." The lines on Kameron's forehead deepened, but Cameron ignored him.
Vivian wanted to shut him up, but her mind was blank, and she couldn't find the words.
"If you work hard enough to get something, you'll get it. Don't you think that's true? Well, she worked me hard, and now she's got me, simple as that. Besides..." Cameron wrapped his arm around Vivian's, resting his cheek on her shoulder. "I'm pretty sure you have nooo idea of this even, but this one's a wild woman in a sack. I don't think you can satisfy her anymore..."
"Wha...!" Kameron's eyes were wide. His mouth flapped open and shut, but he seemed to be too angry to speak. "What are you, sick in the head or something!?" he finally shouted.
Vivian felt herself growing faint.
"Listen, buddy. Vivian here needs one thing in this world, and it's sitting right next to her," Cameron said, still ignoring him with a calm face. "Now take a hint and skedaddle out of here."
"W-why the hell should I? You're the one who should be leaving, bastard!" Kameron leaned over, slamming his palm down on the table. The cups bounced up, spilling their contents.
Cameron watched the liquid spread, then looked back over at Kameron. "Careful, you keep making that face, you're gonna start getting wrinkles, you old gramp..."
"Wh-why you... You little devil...! Dammit, Vivian!" shouted Kameron, trembling all over, sounding as though he were about to explode.
Vivian could almost see him lit fuse. But now things had come this far, she couldn't pretend anymore as she shouted, "STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU! Look, just listen to me. I tried to break things off with him, but he just showed up, and-!"
"W... What? You expect to believe that and forgive you!? How can I!?"
"Kameron! Just let me explain-" Vivian tried to calm him down, but she lowered her head as it was enveloped in darkness from the other side.
"Hey, stop that. Don't you have any pity?" said Cameron. "It doesn't matter whether you forgive her or not. She just wants to be with the one she loves."
Vivian squirmed, but hardly put up any resistance. She finally looked up, and had expected Kameron to be mad with rage, but his face was expressionless. "Kameron?"
He stood giddily, in complete silence, walking backwards without looking away from them, as though sleepwalking.
"What are you...?"
Kameron's hips knocked against the kitchen counter. For some reason, he began fishing around in the sink.
"Hey, now. Looking for this?" Cameron asked with a slight lisp, suddenly raising his right arm. He gripped a kitchen knife in his hand.
"Hey... Stop it..." Vivian shouted at Cameron. Then, she turned to Kameron, her boyfriend, trying to smooth things over somehow. "Look, just listen to me! I-I've already called it off with him! He just snuck in here, okay? Please, you've got to believe me!"
"Because of you..." the blonde Cameron said from beside her with a sigh. The darkness in his voice was palpable, as though echoing from the depths of a deep well. "It's because of people like you that Vivian is so confused right now! If you'd just go away, she could finally be free!" he said, leaping to his feet.
Vivian hurried after him. Grabbing the staggering Kameron's arm, she used herself to shield him.
Cameron stabbed. The blade cut into Vivian's side. She collapsed onto the floor.
Cameron ignored her, attacking Kameron. He climbed on top of the fallen man. Kameron squirmed and struggled. His movements intensified, then ceased completely.
"Kameron!" Vivian screamed. She forgot all about the pain in her side. Getting up, she crawled over to the two boys. As she reached them, Cameron rolled over onto the floor. She stiffened. Something cylindrical poked out of his side. It was the knife's handle.
"No... way..." Vivian could tell what he was doing but couldn't take her eyes off the collapsed Cameron. "No, no, no, no, no... Is this really happening...? Aaaa... aaaaaaaah!"
Vivian screamed. Everything seemed to be going wrong for her, but she had never expected anything like this. Not bloodshed.
Vivian wanted to scream more. She wanted to shut it all out. But she couldn't. If she lost her cool now, it was all over.
"Vivian? Look at me... Calm down!" Kameron crawled over to Vivian. Leaning towards her, he slapped her hard on the cheek.
Vivian instantly grew calm, "Wh-wha..."
Kameron pressed his hand to her cheek. "Just calm down... Everything is gonna be fine!" he said, both to her and to himself.
Kameron saw something glinting out of the corner of his eye. It was his glasses. He unconsciously picked them up, opening them and putting them on. His eyes were finally focused.
"...Listen. I'll go home now, okay?" Kameron said slowly, looking at Vivian straight in the eye. "I'll leave the rest to you..."
Had the neighbors heard the commotion? They might already have called the police.
If Kameron stayed, he would be sent to prison. Vivian couldn't just stand by and watch that happen.
It was Cameron who had been carrying the knife, so it might count as self-defense, but that didn't mean he was totally innocent. In any case, he had tried to pick up the knife himself, intending to kill Cameron. He had plenty of a motive for murder.
People might not believe that it was self-defense.
"You'll do something about this." Kameron's words were baseless. Should she hide the body? Dispose of it? How? She had no idea and didn't know anyone who might.
"But..." Vivian glanced behind Kameron, quickly averting his eyes again.
"It's fine. We can think about this later!"
Vivian stood, grabbing Kameron's arm, and dragged him up with all her might. His body was like that of a lifeless doll.
Vivian put his arm around her shoulders, helping him over to the front door, taking both their weight on her knees. He felt something strange under her bare feet.
She looked down. The pool of blood had spread across the whole area, snaking across the floor with Cameron collapsed at its center. Some of it reached as far as the door.
"What's going on...?" Vivian asked.
It didn't seem real. There was no way this was normal.
She had to get out of there. Vivian dragged her stare away from the bloody floor, staring at the doorknob, moving towards it. She could feel the blood sticking to the bottoms of her feet splashing off, clinging to her.
Vivian felt like she had been walking forever, before she finally came to a stop in front of the doorknob. Gripping onto it, she pushed the door open, walking outside without pause.
"What's...?" Tremors ran through Kameron's body. Vivian clung tightly to him as he asked, "What's this!?"
A bizarre area spread before them, giant blocks piled up in front of their eyes.
One row was at roughly the height of a person. They were yellowish, with strange characters and images carved onto their faces.
Countless blocks were set into rows, piled up high, creating irregular stairs.
It looked like a temple from an ancient civilization but wasn't weathered enough to be. The faces of the cubes were smooth, looking as though they had only just been carved.
"This is..." The blocks were surrounded by total darkness. Vivian couldn't see anything.
No - it wasn't that Vivian couldn't see anything; it was that it didn't seem to exist. Did that mean that the blocks were suspended in empty space?
Her head hurt as Vivian felt like she remembered the scene in front of her.
That's right. It was what she'd seen in the dream. It looked just like it.
The moment their bodies were completely out in the open, Vivian sensed something eerie behind them.
The outlines of her room melted away, melding with the strange area.
Vivian sensed something... something she couldn't, shouldn't look at, approaching.
You can't get away... Vivian thought she heard a voice that said that, but it wasn't the voice she was familiar with. It was warped, twisted, amplified.
Beside her, Kameron looked behind her, scared. He didn't seem to have heard the voice, but he seemed to sense it, too.
"Vivian... Something's... coming...!" Kameron said as both he and Vivian noticed that the scenery was changing again.
A corridor, about three meters wide, stretched out behind them. It looked like blocks made of the same material were being set up on the other side of the corridor. Along both sides was, of course, an abyss. Walking into it looked like suicide.
Before them were the cube stairs. Behind them, an infinite corridor. Neither looked like a dead end, but she knew instinctively which seemed more dangerous.
"We've gotta get out of here..." Vivian tested to see if Kameron could stand by himself. Grabbing his wrist, the two fled for their lives.
But just as they finally reach all the way to the exit,...
"Kameron!" Vivian called out to him, "It's gonna be all right. We can make it back through here!"
"Make it back...?" Kameron asked, looking at her.
"Back to where we were! Let's go together!"
But then, Kameron looked down, disappointed, "I'm sorry, I just can't think of the future after all this...!"
"Calm down. You got a child to think about, too. It'll be okay."
"Wait, you mean you and me...? ...You still thought about us back then...?"
"Of course, I did!" Vivian answered as tears rolled in her eyes, "I didn't want to cheat on you! I was just confused... About our future, I guess. But I just snapped and I'm sorry...! I know I did something I can't undo. I won't make excuses. But I realized something... How dear you were to me... I understand that now! So, please, Kameron! Come with me now! I'm begging you!"
"But I... can't." Kameron replied, "I can't do it anymore, Vivian... You should just go..."
But when Kameron was about to fall, Vivian saved him as she said, holding him tightly, "You've just gotta believe in me... Please, Kameron... I can't lose you. Not like this!"
"Vivian, do you...really mean it? Do you trust me?"
But just as Vivian was gonna answer, a bright light flashed before her eyes...