“Well, at least I know where he is now.” Seeing the lobby-man hanging upside down from his ankle, I lower my eyes. “Sorry man.” With that, I return to walking up the steps.

“Jesus…” The woman with icy hair remains close behind, her eyes locked on the bodies hanging. Those hooks, these stairs, how far up do they go? It seems unreal. Looking back down I count just how many layers of stairs we’ve climbed by now. Around 6 or so, and I couldn’t possibly tell how long it’s taken to climb that high. Maybe an hour? It could be more or less. The woman behind me doesn’t seem to have been keeping track either. Her time was sucked up by thinking, or I suppose so anyway. She seems really deep in it. I haven’t thought to ask her, it would probably be really annoying to be broken from such a focused train of thought.

“So, you gonna say anything?” She decides to break it herself.

“Huh?” Arriving at the end of another staircase, I look back at the woman, seeing an indecipherable face. I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t really have anything interesting to say.” I turn back to the stairs.

“Nothing…I mean, this is insane, right?”

“That seems like the right thing to call it.”

“You have nothing to say about that?”

“Is there more to say about it?” The woman lowers her gaze again.

“...you were saying something about variable movement on the roof. What’s that about?”

“Jumping around is pretty cool, don’t you think? It’s more fun than just running.”

“You could do that in other places besides off tall buildings. Some kind of adrenaline junkie?”

“Adrenaline is very exciting. I’d argue it’s more the reaction to the fun though. Fun is just fun.”

“I’m sure that makes sense in your head.”

“It does.” The silence returns between us as we finish another three staircases, the end no closer. Very uncomfortable. I feel my skin simmering. In dire need of escape from my body’s tormenting, I think of anything to say. “What’s your name?”

“Mina.”

“Oh. That’s pretty.” I say it without a second thought, only to wonder why right after. I hear a chuckle from behind.

“It is, isn’t it? About time you asked it. How about you, unless you think weirdo is a fair name.”

“I don’t really have a name.”

“Mysterious…oh, wait, you’re serious?” Catching up, she takes one look at my face and seems to believe me. “Wow. That’s interesting. Is there something you prefer to be called?”

“Mmm, I guess whatever you feel like. It doesn’t make much difference to me.” She puts a finger to her chin.

“David.”

“Uh, ok. Why?”

“Cause David is a cool name.”

“It is? Oh. Thank you.” She puts her hands on her hips and laughs after my thanks. I feel something like a smile creeping on my face. “I'm starting to feel like this is impossible.” Turning my gaze back out to the open expanse, I see hooks holding people I hadn't noticed originally from the ground floor. “Do you think all of these people were residents?”

“That would make sense. Still…that doesn’t feel right.” She points to someone hanging above someone else. They’re dressed in what looks like only a swimsuit. “What’s the likelihood someone living here would be wearing a swimsuit in their own apartment? There aren’t any beaches close enough to make dressing like that before even getting there reasonable.”

“Good point. You seem to know the area well.” My words seem to make her freeze, before she's catching back up with me.

“Not really. Just what you can see from the roof.”

“Mmm? You don’t leave the building?’

“No.” She hangs on that word, something strange moving across her face. “To be honest, I don’t even really know where I am.”

“Really? Didn’t you die here? I think that’s how ghosts work.”

“Died…where did I die?” She starts to rub her arm. That’s strange. Unlike any ghost story I’ve ever heard.

“Do you remember anything besides this place?” She stops, and so do I, watching as she struggles to search through her mind for whatever she can find.

“My name. I can see a powerline getting snowed on at night. Another, just faint, I see a cabin with a light in the window. That…diner. I remember that diner.”

“The one that was on the tv?” Remembering my photo, I take out my camera and try going to my saved photos, showing it to her once it’s on the screen.

“That one. But…that’s it.” Petering out at the end her words hang between us.

“That sucks.” What else can I say?

“Sucks…psht…pshhaha…” She let a little laugh slip through her lips. “Yeah, pretty succinct way of putting it. That fucking sucks.” I nod along with her, when she moves ahead of me. “Ugh, you almost put me in a bad mood. I hope you feel bad.” She looks back, sticking her tongue out at me. “You’re lucky I think you’re pretty cool, David, or I’d push you right back down to the first step. Now come on, we still have a lot of climbing to do.” She moves ahead, faster than before.

“What did I do?” I mumbled those words as I picked up the pace.

…

The sound of a ringing filled my ears. I opened my eyes, feeling a bit groggy, in time for it to slowly fade away, leaving me back in silence. Sometime during our climb, Mina insisted we take a break and, while sitting, It would appear I fell asleep. I look around to see if she’d gone ahead, only to notice a weight on my shoulder. Leaning against it, I saw her head. She was sleeping soundly. How queer. Shouldn’t a ghost pass right through me? Well, I guess if that were the case, would she also pass through the stairs? I’m not sure, but regardless, it is a bit annoying when I want to get back to getting a move on. Still, it would be rude to move, so I decided to turn my attention to something much more interesting.

The once bright light had dimmed, changed to a dark blue. Reflecting around and round the walls were the images of stars and clouds. No, not images, they were closer to paintings, moving softly and gently, as if alive. The hooks holding the countless dead were gone, to where I don’t know, leaving the view empty and, at the same time, peaceful. It's been a while since I've felt something like hat. I guess it's hard to feel like you can really relax when you're waiting to do a job or for the next job. I guess I can thank this place for this one moment of reprieve. I feel her head move a bit, some words escape her lips with a whimper. Too quiet to make out, but she looks upset. I carefully poke her cheek, causing her eyes to open a bit.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

'"W-whe...mmm...sorry." The words slowly came out as she became more and more aware, though not aware enough to really count as awake.

"You don't have to worry about it. I'm the one who fell asleep first."

"Yeah..."

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah..."

"You're still tired?"

"Mmhmm..." I nod, looking back out at the quiet expanse.

"That's fine. You can sleep then." I feel her cheek twitch a bit. I think she smiled.

"You're a good guy David." She spoke in the calm whisper that made me feel calm myself. I felt my head tilt, leaning against hers, letting the sight of the painterly stars lull my eyes back to being closed. Before I returned to sleep, I heard her whisper me good night. I whispered it back.

...

Another flight. Another flight. Another and another and another. We kept walking for who knows how long, past the point I believed we would ever reach the top. Ever since the hooks disappeared, they haven't returned, so I'd say that's been a nice change to the scenery, but I guess in their absence a part of me had grown to miss them. I'm pretty sure I thought this same thing over 7 times in this past hour. Right around me realizing this, I felt a tug on my sleeve. Turning back, Mina pointed to something in that grand expanse. Looking out, I noticed that something, in fact, was there. A chair, hanging from a single hook, at our level, with someone sitting in it, watching us.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Mina whispered. I squinted, trying to make out why they looked familiar. Oh, wait! I snap my fingers.

"That’s the guy I’d met in the hall. The guy who had somewhere to go."

"Uhm, alright?"

"The same guy who also definitely knew something about you." I could feel her widened gaze as I waved my hand out at him.

“Do you mind letting us out?” I yelled out to him. He cocked his head.

“You think I’m responsible?” He yelled back, placing his chin in his hand.

“Yeah!”

"Y-seriously?! You think some random did this?" I heard Mina whisper.

"Absolutely."

“Hmm…” He looks as though he's pondering, looks up, then begin reaching behind his back for something.

“What's happening?” Mina reaches out her head to get a good look.

The guy then proceeds to pull out a pistol

“Not good.” I grab Mina’s hand and pull her out of the way as a bang shouts out, a bullet hitting just where my head was. I wave my hand, turning my glove into a gun as I aim and fire, hitting the man’s chain. It breaks, sending the man’s chair falling down into the yawning abyss of staircases.

“What the hell was that?!” I don’t get the chance to answer, instead watching as staircase after staircase suddenly starts to crumble. Looking above, the stairs above us were doing the same. I feel my heart starting to race, looking around for anywhere to jump to, before realizing Mina has made a decision before I could even start considering, pulling me off the edge.

“What are you-” She covers my mouth.

“Shut up and look!” She points below us. The yawning abyss had formed itself into the same light we had been ascending towards this whole time. Ah, well, seems like we’re just gonna go wherever we were headed before anyway. Still, that didn’t stop me from screaming my lungs out. We reach our destination, only to realize something is very wrong.

The light burns, it’s excruciating, but I can tell I’m not gonna die. In that painful light, I can see countless writhing beings, their screams filling my brain. I try to move my hands to cover my ears, but it hurts too much to just think. In that pained sense of nonsense, something fills my brain. A memory. One of seeing a monster, it's eyes staring deep into mine.

“RAHHH!”

Something inside of me starts to scream in rage, and everything flashbangs into normalcy, my back slamming against the wooden floor of that building from so long ago.

“Agh…gah…” My teeth grit as my spine screams from the impact. It takes a good long minute before I can finally move slowly pushing myself into a sitting position. Around me is, instead of the white walls of that other world, the same hall I’d been in earlier today, same apartment numbers and everything. “Mina…” I mumble, hearing a groan nearby in response. I flip over onto my hands and knees, pushing onto my feet as the woman I’ve spent a good plenty of time with plays with a rip in her hoodie. The sight seems to knock the winds out of any questions of wellness I had for her. “How does one repair…a ghost hoodie?” I ask, with sincerity, as she looks up at me and sighs.

“Not a great question for right now.” With clear admonishment in her voice she stands herself up when, from several floors above, we hear someone yell. Okay, definitely don't wanna stay in the same building as that. I turn my attention to one of the windows. It's sunset. It would appear we really are back in the regular world. I grab the window and pull it open, looking out for anywhere o safely jump to. Just in luck, under me is a fire escape. Fantastic.

“Looks safe enough. You’re free to come along if you want.” I offer, looking back as I sit myself on the window sill. In response, she shakes her head. “Well, I’m not sure if he can hurt you now, but if he does that again, I’ve got a feeling you may not get back out of it.” Again, she shakes her head.

“I’ve tried. I…can’t leave.”

“You can’t?”

“This hotel, I…I can’t leave its perimeter.”

“Why? Isn't that why you were following me that whole time?”

“I don’t know, it’s just not possible. I’ve tried walking through the front, the window, jumping off the roof, nothing. I...wasn't following you because of that." I nod along as she explains, hearing the sound of a door opening above us. Most likely the stairway entrance. “It was...nevermind. It's okay.” She steps back. “You don’t have to stay. I’m sure you would prefer getting to safety than risk going back there. Besides, I’m already a ghost. Not like I can die again. Even If I do..." She stutters. "S-surely it would be better than living alone like this."

“I see.” Sitting there, I feel like I can’t stop looking at her. A part of my mind goes back to seeing her head on my shoulder. She's right. None of this is my problem. I have no reason to help her. I have no idea how I even would do that. I move closer to falling to the fire exit, but I can't stop staring at her, looking down at her feet. It’s probably not gonna be too long before that guy is back down here to try and finish whatever the hell he started, and I should not care in the slightest. Something is…bothering me though. “You’re scared.”

“...”

“Do you really not mind dying?”

“...”

“Mmm…” The sound of his footsteps are getting closer to our floor. Waving my hand, the pistol that had fallen away from me materializes back into my grasp. “Then, would you like me to kill him?” I don't know why I offered.

“W-wah…how did…want you-” From the corner hall, the sound of a slamming door echoes out.

“Do you want to risk dying again, maybe even disappearing forever, or do you want me to kill him?”

“I-I don’t-I-” I can see him turning round the corner, aiming a gun at either one of us, I can’t tell. As he tries to collect himself, get just the right shot, I hear the words leave her lips.

“I don’t wanna die!”

"Ok."

I take aim and fire, blowing his hand off.

“G-RAGHHH!” The gun and bits of flesh fall down to the floor as he holds his newly-born stump. I get off the windowsill, standing in front of Mina as I take aim and blow his other hand off next.

“We can work out a price later. I know you probably can't pay money, but we can probably work something out.” I tell her, taking aim for his head as he charges at me. “Huh?” Before I can get another shot off, he’s already gone.

“BULLSHIT! YOU DON’T KILL A KING IN HIS CASTLE! THAT’S BULLSHIT!” I hear his voice, booming through the hall as the walls begin to fall away. “NO, NOT JUST A KING! YOU STAND TO MOCK SOMETHING BEYOND ALL COMPREHENSION, WITH A TOOL MADE FOR PUTTING DOWN PESTS AND DOLLS!” The wooden floor begins to crack and splinter. I reach out and grab hold of Mina, trying to find somewhere safe to stand. Something grabs my collar, forcing my attention forward. Bone. Skull. A skull stares back at me, filled with eyes of countless different species, all melted together like paste. It opens its jaw, and roars.

"I am a god. I will not die in my reality."

It spins me and Mina round, and throws us through where there once was a wall, now only leading to a pit of black. We don’t fall for long, landing somewhere as reality recreates itself around us in just an instant. Panting, breathing. It hurts to do it. The air is tinged with an unmistakable scent of meat and rot. Wetness soaks into my clothes as I sit up, surrounded by so many pieces of the dead to make for a scene inconsolably hellish.

Hellish. Hell. Yeah, that’s exactly what this place is.

We’re in hell.