Page 159 of Phobia
Static
Marie Ann
Chapter 1
I never thought three people I barely know could convince me to go to the state’s most terrifying haunted house—if you can even call it that.
Mayhem Motel… animmersivehorror experience widely known for how absolutelyderangedit is.
Nothing is off-limits. Not even your psyche. No—that they want most of all.
What they put you through is so intense in every way imaginable, no one has ever made it through the entire two-hour experience. And even that time varies because, apparently, inside the motel is a labyrinth with trap doors and endless halls that abruptly stop—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of hell on Earth.
No one exactly knows what goes on because most people that make it out never talk about it. Those that do? No one believes them—at least, not entirely.
I think it’s because the act of something so brutal being a reality—beingallowed—is too much for most people to accept if they’ve never experienced it for themselves.
And I’m about to.
Because I’m a freaking idiot.
***
Twenty-four hours earlier
“Sup, Mads,” my new roommate, Kane, asks as I walk into the living room where everyone seems to be congregated. I nod my head as I plop down onto the worn couch, grunting slightly as the broken wires nearly poke my ass beneath the thin, fraying fabric.
“You get unpacked okay?” he asks as he scrolls through his phone.
“Yeah, thanks again for your help.” I try not to twist my fingers together in my lap—an old habit I’m trying to break—but my nerves are shot after a long day of moving and unpacking while being surrounded by people I don’t know for the entirety of it.
But that’s the point of all this: moving three hours away from home and starting college all on my own. No financial help, no support or backing of any kind. Because where my parents are concerned, support comes with expectations, and I never realized how detrimental theirs was until I actually had the freedom of being a legal adult. Or any freedom at all.
“Sure thing. Happy to help.” Kane nods his head, sending some of his dark hair flopping across his forehead. My throat bobs as I watch the tendrils brush his smooth skin before I force my eyes away, heat settling just beneath my skin. But no one seems to notice—or if they do, they don’t comment on it, which I appreciate.
Being around other people is still so new. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it.
After I spend a few minutes gathering myself, I finally glance around the room, finding everyone with either their phones or laptops out, each of them staring at their screens. “Is something going on?” I ask hesitantly.
“Yeah.” Lenny nods excitedly. I eye him curiously. His eyes are wide and glassy, the screen of his computer reflecting off of them. His dark fingers hammer over the keys with excitement, magnifying my curiosity. “Here—look at this, dude.”
I nearly jolt at his acknowledgment of me.
He flips around his laptop, and I wince as it scrapes across the wood, sending the worst, nail-scraping noise reverberating throughout the room. I lean forward, palms against the coffee table. When my eyes catch on his screen, I rear back. The website is dark with an ambiance of subtle colors that are nearly indistinguishable, but it’s the photo in the background that makes my skin prick with unease.
It's a picture of a motel, which appears to be abandoned. Run down and decrepit with peeling paint, doors hanging off the hinges, and a large, broken, neon sign with only the letter M glowing through the black and white, standing out like a beacon in the darkness.
I shudder, immediately hating the creepy vibes emitting from a photo alone.
“Um…” I clear my throat, resisting the urge to tug on my collar. My eyes track to the letters beneath the photo—bold and disfigured. Slightly creepy with the particular font they chose.
Welcome to Mayhem Motel. Beware…
I don’t make it further than that before I’m pushing back from the table, shaking my head subtly. A bead of water drips from a tendril of my hair that’s still wet from my shower onto my quivering bottom lip. My tongue swipes across it absentmindedly before I suck it into my mouth and sink my teeth into the flesh.
Collin peeks up from his phone. “Wanna come with us?”
“Me?” I balk, eyebrows sky high. My three new roommates jerk their heads up to meet my gaze, each set of eyes curious and surprised.
