Watchers

Chapter 30: We're on a mission from god.

Daniel and Sasha spend several weeks in the house. The thought of finding an escape route is all that keeps Daniel going - that, and making sure that Sasha stays safe.

They see six more contestants come into the house, and they make it through six grueling Elimination Challenges. Some of the new contestants seem well-suited to the house, and others just aren't able to grasp their new reality.

Like Alan.

On the Saturday that marks Daniel and Sasha's seventh week in the house, they wake up to some murmuring in the hallway. The lights in their room have already come up to indicate that it's daytime, and instead of going downstairs to start their days, the other contestants are congregating in the hallway.

"Come on," Daniel says as he pulls Sasha out to join them. She's reluctant, but if they're going to survive here, they can't be out of the loop when things happen.

"What's going on?" she asks Erica when they join the crowd in the hall. It's not all of the contestants - only about five or six of them - but they're all staring at Melody's door.

Or at least, what used to be Melody's door.

Where her plaque once hung on the center of the door, there is now a new laminated tag reading Alan.

"Here we go again," Taylor says as he comes out of his room further down the hall and sees all the fuss. "I don't know why you guys get worked up about it every week."

"There's a new contestant in the house," Francie says.

"Well, it is Saturday," Taylor says, rolling his eyes. He shoulders his way through the narrow hallway and goes downstairs to get his breakfast while the rest of them keep looking at the door.

"We have to make him feel welcome," she says.

Taylor scoffs. "Who wants to be welcome here?"

"You want to open the door?" Daniel asks Francie.

"No," she says. "We'll let him come out in his own time."

"And in that spirit, we should probably stop hanging around outside the door," Brody points out. "He might hear us and get scared."

"He'll be out cold until lunch," Dustin says. "They usually are."

The group heeds Brody's warning nevertheless, going downstairs and attempting to start their daily routines. Something's a bit off today, though, and despite their best efforts at pretending not to be affected by the name change on the door upstairs, they have all been reminded of the consequences of being in this house. It's easy to forget when there's nothing to do but attempt to establish a routine - even Daniel and Sasha have slipped into moments of ease in the past week.

But the new name on the door reminds them that comfort was only temporary.

Dustin ends up being right - it's around noon when they all finally hear some noises coming from upstairs, and everyone stops what they're doing to wait for the new arrival to announce himself. Daniel pulls Sasha into his arms on the couch and everyone is subconsciously glancing at the staircase more frequently than they ordinarily would.

Taylor says, "Get ready to roll out the welcome mat, Francie," and people chuckle.

Then the man behind the door marked Alan finally comes timidly down the stairs. He's short and thin, and these features are exaggerated by the shifty way his eyes dart around the room like a scared little mouse. Sasha wonders if she looked anything like that on her first day here.

He stays close to the bottom of the stairs, clutching the banister as if he's ready to sprint back up to his room at the slightest provocation, and Francie steps forward, gently introducing herself.

"I'm Alan," he says, and his voice is about as squeaky as Sasha expected. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Elimination Game house," she says.

"What's that?" Alan asks.

"It's a reality show," Francie says, and behind her, Taylor snorts.

"Seriously," he says. "Where do they keep getting these people who've never heard of the show? I figured they'd start getting street smart eventually but they must have a whole town of people without television sets to draw from."

"Or poor people," Sasha says, shooting a fierce look at Taylor.

"I'm on a reality show?" Alan asks. "I didn't sign up for that."

"Yeah," Taylor barks. "Join the club."