White, bright and blinding.
I was hit with everything at once.
Suddenly, the white began to evaporate in thin air, revealing something through the fissures in the glare.
I blinked hard and found a wooden counter glistening against the warm light, while the rest of the white disappeared, revealing a woman standing behind the counter, which was in the center of a small room of wood everywhere. Calm, composed, and smiling at me.
Her skin was pale white, her lips dark red. She was dressed in flowing red silk, her hair draping down in waves, decorated with a red rose in the right side of her ear.
She had the polished grace of a dangerous woman and the smile of a maiden, making my skin crawl.
"Welcome!" She spoke, her voice enticingly sweet.
Numb.
"We've been waiting for you." She continued as she rounded the counter and stood an inch away from me.
"What?" I breathed out and stumbled a step back, a fever igniting in my chest.
"He's waiting for you, ma'am. Don't make him wait or he might lose his mind." She spoke as she took my hand and placed a keycard in my palm.
"What?" I yanked my hand from her, and the keycard fell on the floor. I could not understand anything that was happening there.
"What is happening here?" My words cracked through my throat; I could not breathe properly.
She said nothing, just smiled at me before she bent down and calmly picked up the card. "You'll understand."
"What will I understand? What the fuck are you talking about? Why am I here? And how– how am I here? What is this place?"
"The place where you can get what you've longed for a long time." She smiled.
"What are you talking about?"
She grasped my hand and once again placed the keycard in my hand. "You found a rose on the ground. It has chosen you." She caressed my curled fingers around the keycard and added, "It's our duty to serve the chosen one. You've got all your answers. Now hurry, or else the man you've always wanted will start crying for you."
END OF THE PREVIEW
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