Page 61 of Daemonium

Carol nodded, her tone turning serious. "Yes, which is why we need to keep moving. It won’t be long until we have company, and it’d be best if we’re out of here by then."

I couldn’t help but ask, "But if you’ve never been here before, how do you know where to go?"

Before Carol could respond, Brody cut in with a smirk, tapping the side of his head. "She doesn’t. I do." He looked far too pleased with himself, like he’d been waiting to drop that little bombshell. Casually, he spun a rounded marble statue back over the grate we’d just climbed out of, sealing our entrance. "This way."

As we followed him, certain displays caught my attention. Paradise Island. Spencer Estate—all names linked to the Devil’s Playground. What really unnerved me were the unfinished displays scattered about, shrouded in shadow. Some bore our surnames, a blatant reminder of how deep this twisted game ran. Others displayed names I’d never heard before, but the implication was clear: we weren’t the first, and we wouldn’t be the last.

We reached a grand staircase, its opulence making the situation feel even more surreal. Parts of the building were clearly still under construction, sections swallowed by darkness where the shadows seemed to stretch endlessly. The unfinished displays, the darkness—it all felt like a trap waiting to be sprung.

"Why are we going upstairs?" Hayven asked, from where she was walking beside Charon.

Brody didn’t even bother to turn around as he responded. "There’s an exit door up there. Found it earlier but didn’t want to risk going through alone."

Maverick gave a low whistle. "Smart move."

I still had my doubts. "Is an exit door ever really just an exit?"

"Not usually,” Ky replied.

Lana sighed, clearly trying to keep the mood light, even if only for herself. "So, we really have no idea what we’re walking into?"

Ciaran glanced back at her. "We know the place we need to be is just behind this building."

As we continued up the stairs, the tension coiled tighter in my chest. Half the building was shrouded in darkness, the other half in eerie construction, with tools and materials scattered around as if the workers had just vanished.

When we reached the top, we all paused in front of a large exit door. Brody, his hand on the handle, turned to look at us, his usual cockiness replaced by a flicker of uncertainty. With a deep breath, he pushed the door open. As we stepped into a long hallway, the door behind us clicked shut, the sound echoing ominously in the narrow passage. My heart skipped a beat, the telltale sound of a lock turning into place.

"What the fuck is this?" Lana looked up and down the hall.

It seemed to stretch on endlessly, not a single other door or window but one doorway at the opposite end.

"They know we're here," Ciaran said, his voice calm but firm. "Let's move."

We walked down the hallway, our footsteps echoing in the eerie silence, coming upon the doorway adorned with colorful balloons.

Passing through it, we entered a stark white room plastered with unsettling cartoonish eyes that seemed to follow our every move. The longer I looked at them, the more unnerving they became, the bright colors only adding to the surreal and disorienting atmosphere.

"Is it just me, or is this room seriously creepy?" Hayven said, her voice tinged with discomfort as she kept her gaze forward, clearly avoiding the walls.

“If this is here, then this building is larger than it was supposed to be on the map,” Mel pointed out.

I nodded in agreement, trying to suppress the growing unease gnawing at my insides. It felt like we had wandered into some twisted funhouse. When we reached the end of the room, we passed through another door, emerging into a much larger space.

This one was eerily serene, a vast chamber with smooth, tiled walls and a lazy river winding through it. The water reflected the soft, ambient light, casting an almost tranquil glow across the room.

"So, I'm not really feeling this as a museum," Dion commented, his attempt at humor doing little to ease the foreboding feeling in my chest.

"It's definitely more of a... surreal art installation, maybe," Brody replied, his tone carrying a mix of sarcasm as we took in the strange, almost calming scene.

“Or a really messed up dream,” Lana mumbled under her breath.

Ciaran glanced back at us; his expression unreadable. It wasn’t making me feel any better that the guys had never been here before. It was a to-be-discovered experience for all of us. We continued past the strange, winding pool, its gentle ripples lapping against the curved walls.

The faint sound of someone crying reached our ears—a haunting, hollow echo that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

“Are other people here?” Hayven asked.

“There isn’t supposed to be—that includes us—but they seemed to know we were coming,” Brody replied.

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