EnderOni, Loop Four

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Best Friend

-...-

Setting: Fifth floor

Group: Tyler, Seto, Brice, Ian, Ty, Sky

Tick....tock...tick....tock.....

The group arrived to the fifth floor, only to find the sound of a clock echoing within the walls. In the large room, with hardly any furniture at all, something was painted out onto the floor. A giant clock, so it seemed, with numbers as well.

Ian's eyes could not look away from the floor presented to them "U-uh...what is that??"

"I'm not the only one here who thinks the texture to the medium is questionable?" Sky asked, finding an interesting smell coming from the air.

"It's not paint if that's what you're asking." Brice said. He was the expert in paint as long as Tyler could act, so it's best to believe him.

Seto stared down at the floor clock. Everyone knew it was probably blood, but nobody wanted to say it. But there was something else peculiar about the blood on the floor. Seto could sense something more then a scent arising from it. Seto could also smell the magic fused with it, as if a dog had peed on the carpet. The stench was that of someone afraid.

In conclusion, Seto felt odd about the circle. He couldn't tell exactly what the magic did, and he really didn't want to find out why it was there to begin with. Did it mask something else? Was there a consequence to stepping inside the clo- oh well no sense Tyler just proved that wrong. Seto shuddered at the thought that Tyler could've just cursed himself, but Seto had not noticed the magic do anything. It just sat there. Buttt it's not like a dog's pee would jump from the carpet and attack anyone who walked by. But then again, Magic is on a different level entirely.

Speaking of being on another plain of existence, Tyler had walked across the clock to stare up at the wall. Where the riddle and the broken clock used to be, and slightly, and somewhat intimidatingly larger clock was placed. And something else scared the nerd about it, as it wasn't a normal clock. This clock was a 24 hour clock.

"Is that the one ticking? Or could this floor clock be mysteriously ticking?" Ian asked, joining Tyler in the gazing of the 24 hour wall clock.

"I think it's the one on the wall, as it does...actually move. God forsake the floor clock moves." Seto said, turning his attention from the magic to the wall clock as well.

"It doesn't even have hands, so who'd be the one drawing them?" Sky asked.

"Nose goes." Brice shrugged, placing his index finger to his nose.

"No no, we're not doing that." Seto shook his head. He gets that Brice is trying to lighten the mood, but it's not like anyone jumped in to join either.

Back to the nerd, Tyler couldn't help but ponder if the added hours meant what he thought they did. This riddle wasn't any hard if Onity was trying to be funny. In fact, it only infuriated the boy that that fucking asshole would find joy in bringing more friends into his punishment. God, Onity made Tyler want to scream. Wait, no, stop. If Tyler could hear the words you typed, or were about to type, right now, he'd make a note to turn in his destined grave when the time comes. One thousand times over.

So let's rephrase that better: Onity's mere existence made Tyler want to stab a bitch.

Anyway, there was more to be discovered in the room. In fact, a door on the wall opposite to the one they entered in existed. In fact, Tyler has seen this very door since loop one, and has never once figured out it's contents. He couldn't deny that his curiosity scared him, but his determination to beat that fucker's ass and win at life was all the guy needed. (Certainly not sanity, right?)

The group took closer note of this door, only to find that it was locked. Locked with a four digit number pad. It needed a key code, one of which nobody had at the moment. The screen for the numbers lit up as they got closer, as if it were to have just woken up or said hello. Why was something so different in technology here on an old fucking door in an old fucking mansion? But then, wasn't there a TV on the first floor somewhere? Nevermind.

"How are we supposed to figure out the code?" Ty asked.

"You think that's a clue?" Brice asked, pointing to the word scribbled out on the door.

The lettering look familiar, and Seto almost questioned if it was his own, but yet the color of choice happened to be a blue. A blue crayon on a wooden door, medium and canvas of choice? The word in question was "UNITY". Unity, defined only as such, the state of being united or joined as a whole. Was this to be their clue? At first, the word had no obvious help. And at second, it provided nothing more either.

"How are we to be sure that's the clue?" Sky asked.

"Well, I mean it's right next to the code pad. It's obvious!" Ty defended himself.

"Okay, well how does the word unity translate to a four digit code?" Tyler asked.

"We don't, we can only assume." Seto answered.

The clue was no help at all. The group could not decipher the code with only one word, so were forced to move on with the code in mind. They took one last look around the bloody clock room before heading out. Seto found himself pleased to get away from that magic, as it just didn't rub him the right way. As they walked back down towards the safe room, Seto couldn't help but be taken over by thought.

So if there was magic, some sort of spell, placed on the blood on the floor, that had to mean that there was some other person in the mansion with magical capabilities. He didn't think it'd be one of his friends, obviously. Or maybe whoever placed the magic down used to live here and left. Seto shivered to the thought that he could be walking within the house of another sorcerer, or possibly the trap of another sorcerer. Creating a house just to trap people with puzzles and codes sounds like something someone like a sorcerer would do. A mad one, for sure.

The group made their way back to the safe room quickly, Tyler leading them with quick pace. They walked into the room, Seto closing the door behind them. What they found on their return was that all the other groups had gotten back already, and the looks they received proved that something was off.

"What's wrong?" Ty asked, not taking a like in the room's atmosphere.

"We've just been waiting for you guys to return. Oh, and there's the phone." Jerome replied.

Tyler and his group looked over to the wooden table to find his phone just sitting there. Tyler just couldn't fathom how the ever loving hell it got from the thief seto to the table. And honestly, he didn't really want to trust it. But, either way, the nerd walked over and picked the phone up. It wasn't completely cold, giving him the feeling that someone had used it recently. He turned it on to find some of the battery drained from the last time he saw it.

"Did you guys find it?" Brice asked the others whom were sitting around the room randomly.

"No, It was here when we got here." Bodil answered.

"Whhat? No! Tyler found it before, but then it got lost." Sky was confused.

"How'd you find it and lose it? Either way, i'm pretty sure it was sitting on the table when we got here." Mitch asked.

"This is so confusing." Bashur frowned.

"Exactly." Seto found both stories to be hard to believe. "Something is going on here."

"Doesn't matter right now. We need to decide what to do with the last of the battery of this thing." Tyler said, holding up the phone.

"That's true too." Jason nodded.

Tyler turned his attention back to the phone. If it had been used, maybe there was evidence on it. He flipped through it, turning the brightness down and everything to preserve power. Most of the phone wouldn't work without WIFI, so all he needed to check was notes, photos, and calls. Nothing in notes, and no new photos, but what Tyler did find odd was the phone numbers called in the call history. Ten calls all made to "(203)203-2032".

"You find anything in there?" Bashur asked, looking over Tyler's shoulders.

Tyler shut off the phone. "No, not really."

"Really? I thought those numbers were weird." Bashur asked.

"Nah, I made those before we got here, the other day." Tyler explained. "It's a long joke, really. Includs Kyle in multiple ways."

"Ohh, okay." Bashur backed off.

Tyler had lied again, and he wasn't sure why. He still felt a huge need of secrecy, and the fact this was his phone made that worse. He'd find out on his own what that number was. Tyler wanted to place the phone in his pocket, but knew that his friends all wanted the phone where everyone could see it. So Tyler placed it back on the table.

"What's the plan no-"

Then the phone began to ring.

-...-

The address lead them to a mansion hidden away upon a hill, hidden by forest from the surrounding area. Kyle, Alesa, and Shubble arrived, walking through the mini forest with fear riding on their backs. They wanted to find their friends, but everything about the location told them to turn back. The air was cold, but none the less they walked onwards.

"Look, there's the mansion!" Shubble pointed out ahead of them, the mansion finally within sight.

"It looks...much bigger then I had pictured in my head." Alesa frowned, intimidated by the five stories.

Kyle watched as the two girls with red hair walked in front of him. His eyes looked up from them to the mansion, finding himself wanting to return back the closer he got to it. But they were not giving up. Yet.

"Whose there!?"

The three suddenly stopped gazing up at the mansion to look in front of them. Standing around the front yard of the mansion, happened to be other people. Not just other people.

"W-What are you guys doing here!?" Shubble gasped, the three of them walking over to them.

"What are you doing here!?" Clara, the blue haired girl with a fondness for a particular watermelon, asked as they all looked at each other.

"You guys don't happen to be here because of the letters, right?" Speaking of watermelon, a boy with an orange shirt and a watermelon helmet on his head asked. He was Simon.

"The letters? Oh yeah!" Shubble replied.

"Yeah, If you mean the letters addressed to Sky and Tyler that talked of this place." Alesa answered.

"We thought that maybe we'd find Tyler and Sky here." Kyle said.

"Oh no, not them too." Husky, a fish man if thats how youd put it, frowned.

"We've got to find them too." Jordan, a man that oddly does not have any sparkles on himself, added in.

"See, Bodil got the letter too!" Simon told Alesa.

"So did Bashur." Clara added. "As well as Ty, Mitch, Jerome, and Ian."

"As you can see, we've all gathered as a sort of search party." Hwnt, a man with a unibrow, added. He crossed his arms. "We're not doing really good at the moment."

"What do you mean?" Alesa asked.

"The front door won't open, and none of us can get it to open." Jin explained. Okward, who stood beside Jin, nodded his head.

Kyle frowned, and walked passed the group to the door. He grabbed the door nob but found it to be locked. He thought of kicking it, but he looked down to see a few foot prints on the side of the door. It seemed they had already tried.

"Did you guys look around? How long have you been here?" Kyle asked.

"Not long. We did conclude there are no other backdoors, so the front door is our only bet." Jordan reported.

"What about windows?" Alesa asked.

"They're all boarded up tight." Clara shrugged.

"The fifth floor window doesn't have any boards covering it, but I don't think anyone is able to climb up there. There's no ridges in these walls." Husky noted.

"Hmmm..." Alesa didn't like to hear that. Nobody did, honestly.

Kyle watched as their group tried to come up with ideas on how to get into the house. They were not really getting anything even close to a good idea. Kyle sighed, pulling out his phone to check the time. His phone was fully charged, with a really odd wallpaper. He wasn't quite sure how to explain it other then a shitty ms paint drawing Tyler had sent him via skype like five days ago. And that's when he got an idea.

"Wait, Kyle, what are you doing?" Simon asked, noticing Kyle dial something and place the phone to his ear.

The group watched as Kyle paused, waiting for something. Some wondered who the hell he could be calling, but it clicked with others. After a few seconds, a smile appeared on Kyle face.

"Where the fuck have you been, brotha!?" Kyle said.

On the other end of the line, from inside the house, was Tyler.

"You wouldn't fucking believe!" Tyler replied, and his group, whom shall be titled the Insiders, gathered closer to him, getting up from their spots from around the safe room.

"Dude! You've been gone for days now! What's going on?" Kyle asked, as his group, for now to be known as the Outsiders, gathered closer to him.

"Well first things first, we're stuck in a mansion." Tyler answered.

"Ooh, this one right here? The five story one surrounded by forest?" Kyle asked, looking at the house to his side.

"Oh my god, how'd you find this place?" Tyler suddenly cut off Kyle. "oH and for the love of god please don't go inside."

"Well there doesn't seem to be a way inside yet. I wasn't the first to get here. This mansion's address was in some letter we found at your house..and well, the letters found at other peoples houses." Kyle answered.

"How many people are with you?"

Kyle counted heads, and then reported back. "Ten. Me, Alesa, Shubble, Simon, Hwnt, Jin, Okward, Husky, Jordan, and Clara."

Tyler wasn't sure if he liked hearing that or not. On one side, more friends were here to help them escape, but on the other hand, they could be in danger as well. But Kyle named ten people, and ten with the thirteen inside the house did not add up to the twenty-four hour clock theory. Was something or someone missing?

"Whos all on your side?" Kyle asked.

"Oh, uh, there's thirteen of us. Me, Sky, Ty, Bashur, Sub, Seto, Brice, Jason, Mitch, Jerome, Bodil, Ian, and Ant."

"That's a lot of you stuck in this mansion. You all got letters to this place? Wow." Kyle frowned.

"How many?" Alesa asked and since the woman was good a reading lips, Kyle repeated the thirteen without making a sound.

"Yep. And we can't get out of this place. Trust me, if I could get out, I would have a long time ago." Tyler replied.

"Yeah. From the outside, there isn't much. Husky said something about the fifth floor window being not blocked by boards. But I don't suppose you'd risk falling to your death to escape." Kyle said.

"Oh, I'm not gonna do it." Tyler twitched at an unpleasant memory.

"Yeah, didn't think so."

Tyler took a brief second to look at his battery life. "Look, my phone won't stay on forever, and we can't stay to chat, but please keep looking outside for clues or something to get us out."

"Don't worry about us! We'll do our best!" Kyle nodded his head.

"Alright. And, uh, give me a call if you guys find anything odd. Any little bit of information works." Tyler added.

"Does you phone not take texts?" Kyle asked.

"Oh! Yeah! Whatever, just let me know!" Tyler shook his head. He'd been so captivated by the loops he was forgetting things like texting. "And, vice versa."

"Got'cha!"

The phone call ended somewhat awkwardly, but the group outside had their mission. As for the insiders, well they had a bit more hope to back them up. Even if it really wouldn't do anything to aid them. Tyler placed his phone back on the table. He realized only then how much he missed talking to his best friend.

-...-