The Conspiracy Theory of June 17

9.

Slowly regaining consciousness and strength, I lift myself up from the floor and see myself in the all too familiar room. The room of doors.

Wasting no time, I take the door in front of me, and seconds later I'm being shoved past as people run, kids trailing behind them, dragging giant suitcases and heavy handbags. Confused, I look up.

-> Arrival

                                                                                             ∞

He was walking with Jada to the bus stop when he felt his phone buzz against his thigh. Thinking nothing of it, he pulls it out, trying to listen to Jada's gossip at the same time.

'Got one'

He stops dead in his tracks, the fear rising, threatening to suffocate him. The crowd pushes past him, and it takes a while for Jada to notice his absence next to her too.

She's about to give some snarky remark before she notices the ghastly expression on his face, and her smile fades off hers.

Walking toward him, she breathes, "Is it...is it what we feared?"

"It's worse," he says, pocketing the phone, now walking away from the bus stop, cutting through the crowd. Jada follows him, not knowing what to think.

                                                                                           ∞

"Hello?"

In the middle of a sleepy town, Jessie clutches her phone with a sense of determination.

"Jessie! Are you ok? Oh my gosh, you're alive."

"Yeah. I mean, physically, yeah, I'm alive...but I'm all alone in an unknown place, and don't know what to do."

There's a silence at the end of the line. "Yeah, ok, we figured that might happen," Jada's voice comes in faintly through the other end. "Ok, Jessie, you've got to stay calm..."

"Yeah, yeah, of course I do."

"And you've got to go into the nearest pub."

"What? Pub?" Jessie shrieks.

"Just go. And then go to the men's bathroom, and..." She pauses for a little. "...ok, go into a cubicle, and flush the toilet three times."

"WHAT?!"

"Just do it, Jess. I dunno, but that's what Drew's telling me, and he says it's the only way out. Or...something."

Jessie scoffs. "Well, I guess stranger things have happened...ok, stay in line with me. I don't want to be completely alone."

She looks around to find herself surrounded by rows upon rows of old, rusty, seemingly abandoned buildings. It's dark, so she presumes everyone had gone home, everyone except...people at pubs. Who would've decided to go there first, have a drink or two, and then go home.

She begins to walk down the deserted street, hoping for some sort of sign of movement or light. And sure enough, she finds it.

A faint murmur of voices is what draws her in first. Then, she notices the little flickers of movement and the hanging lightbulb that dims every couple of seconds. But the people inside don't seem to care.

Before pushing the door open, she looks up, thinking it wouldn't hurt to find the name of the place. She notices a faded wooden sign, in the shape of an arrow. But since it's half hanging off, the arrow points to the ground, and not straight right, like it's supposed to.