Nightmare Game
Copyright© 2025 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 19
This was a stark white corridor.
Everything in sight stretched out in unbroken white, endless as far as the eye could see.
Two women walked through it, the only splash of color in this bleached-out space.
Each pushed a small cart loaded with seven or eight black plastic bags.
These held the trash headed for the incineration station, and the pair moving them along were Daisy and Grace.
“Grace, why didn’t you just agree to let me come with you earlier?”
Daisy’s voice stayed low, but it carried a forceful edge, and Grace picked up on the hint of blame in it.
“I, I...”
Grace’s lips trembled slightly. “After all, she got it first, and I felt a bit awkward about it...”
Her words trailed off quieter, as if she couldn’t bear Daisy’s darkening stare.
“You and your ways.” Daisy shook her head in frustration, like someone disappointed in a raw piece of iron that wouldn’t shape up. “How can you be so shy? You’re still in college, but what about when you step into the real world? Being this honest will get you walked all over.”
“I’m sorry...” Grace hung her head, her mood sinking.
“Oh, forget it, I’m not trying to scold you.” Daisy’s tone softened, taking on a patient, almost maternal quality. “You have to understand, I’m only looking out for you.”
“You’re a college kid who hasn’t seen much of society, timid as can be, clueless about how dangerous people can get. Don’t think everyone in this creepy Castle is your friend, because they’re not. You never know what twisted ideas they might have, and in a pinch, they could use you as a shield without a second thought.”
“It’s just that I see how young and soft you are, and I worry you’ll get taken advantage of, so I watch over you like this. You need to know I’m the only one truly on your side, so when it counts, stick with me, got it?”
“Oh...” Grace murmured weakly.
Daisy frowned and fixed her with a glare. “Oh what? I asked if you got it.”
“Y-yes, I got it.”
“Good.”
Satisfied with Grace’s clear answer, Daisy nodded approvingly.
After that, they fell silent and kept walking.
The white expanse went on forever, with only their footsteps echoing through the vast, empty hall.
“How much farther?” Daisy’s legs started to ache from the effort, and since the whole corridor blended into one seamless white, she had no idea where they were or how long they’d been at it.
“Should be soon, I think...”
Grace wasn’t sure either. Ever since entering this corridor, something had felt off to her, like she’d forgotten a crucial detail.
They pressed on for a while longer. Even with the carts to help, they were just girls unused to heavy labor, and fatigue set in quickly.
“Why is the Garbage Incineration Room so far away? Feels like we’ve been walking forever.”
Daisy began to grumble. “This is annoying. Is the Castle really this huge?”
At those words, Grace shuddered all over, her eyes locking onto Daisy in shock.
“What’s wrong?” Daisy felt a chill from the intensity of that look.
“You forgot, we’re in the Castle!” Normally so timid, Grace now burst out in a loud cry, as if jolted by some massive realization. “Where did this white corridor even come from in the Castle?”
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