Prologue

A short woman clad in a clean-cut-back suit walked down a hallway. Her black hair was tied up in a low ponytail. Away and out of her face. The walls she passed were intricately decorated with copious amounts of blood, its coppery scent permeated the hallway as she walked. The woman's heels clacked confidently with each step she took, easily avoiding the remnants of bodies and dismembered limbs on the floor, she made her way through the mess before stopping at an elevator.

As if it were perfectly planned, the elevator doors slid open, revealing a team of people dressed in stark white hazmat suits. As she watched the group file out of the elevator, her smile grew with satisfaction. The black-haired woman handed the last cleaner coming out of the elevator a plain key card, making eye contact with the stranger.

"You might want to put a little extra care into this place, things here got quite messy."

The cleaner nodded and proceeded to exit the elevator hurriedly as they got to work. The woman stepped into the elevator, pressing a glowing '1' on its panel, then closed her eyes along with the sliding doors. The trip was short, but once met with her desired floor she walked into an almost empty lobby. On one of three couches in the lobby sat a man in a similar suit to her own, holding onto a large folder. As their eyes met, he began to get up. He took his time when approaching the woman, clearly enjoying her smile growing tighter as each second passed.

"This is the newest guest list, make sure they enjoy their stay." He told her as he handed over the folder.

He broke into a smile as the woman opened the folder, carefully reviewing the list of names and faces marked within, pausing at some of them. After finishing she looked back up at the man. She frowned slightly at him in confusion.

"Are you sure this is alright? This could be a conflict of interest."

The man's smile turned vague as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's no matter. Besides, you of all people should want this 'little conflict of interest', Right?" He spoke lightly.

He looked straight into her eyes, his gaze lost the warmth it had prior. The woman didn't break eye contact and nodded silently before closing the folder.

The two were at a standstill, her black eyes focused on his blue ones.

It was a loud ringing that interrupted the two of them, as the man reached into his back pocket he pulled out his phone. As he answered the call, his expression brightened almost unnaturally when he began to talk to the person on the other end.

"Hey, it's great hearing from you!.... Ahh yes, of course, we're almost ready. Just a few more touch-ups and a quick cleaning before everything's ready.... No, of course not! You've already been given the briefing so nothing should feel too jarring when you get here. As promised, no surprises.... Naturally, we'll send a ride for you very shortly. Our cleaning crew is just finishing off some small things to make the space look nicer."

His gaze drifted past the woman and stretched down the expansive hallway.

"....You'll be staying with nineteen other people, they're quite the colorful bunch, I hand-picked them myself, you might find that you have a lot in common with them.... I'm sure you wouldn't know any of them, they aren't the kind of people who you tend to cross paths with, though I'm not sure that's a bad thing.... As long as you're confident in your abilities you should be successful!"

Like clockwork, he refocused his sights on the woman in front of him as he regained some temporary level of attention over their current interaction.

".... Yes, yes.... Anyways, I was speaking with someone before you called and I must get back to her, but seeing as this will be the last call between us for a while I should probably say goodbye and good luck.... Yes, bye-bye!"

After pulling the phone from his ear and hanging up the call he stared at his screen for a beat before breaking into a hearty laugh. It took him a moment to regain his composure and look back down at the woman standing in front of him.

"Sorry, I just think this time it's going to be so fun, don't you?"

"I'm not sure sir, I haven't looked at the files in depth so I can't gauge a proper response for you."

The man's face fell as he looked at her disappointedly before sighing. He reached back into another pocket and pulled out a set of keys, handing them to the woman before turning around and setting off down the opposite hallway. The woman, stunned by their interaction, shook her head to regain some clarity and called out to him.

"What am I supposed to do with these!"

The man turned around to her and his smile grew.

"You heard the call, didn't you?" he started easily, "Someone has to go collect our VIP!"

He turned back around and walked down the hallway, out of her sight. The woman blinked dumbly at the direction the other left, then at the keys in her hands. As she stared at the keys she heaved out a sigh, turning her head towards the elevator before finally walking in the same direction as the man before her.

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad this time around.