No news is good news ( TTW with room 8)

[Hannah van de Berg]

Hannah looked at the watch that she had gotten used to for some time now. It's been a day after Jessica and herself had talked to Geoff through the wall.  It was good to hear his voice and it was good to check up on some people. 

Even if people like Evan, David, Ethan and Sawyer had not been exactly spared Hannah could not be more glad to hear that they at least were alive. Her list with people to keep in touch with was only growing with every new person she met. Even Dean who had not exactly made a good impression on her by being so quick to point a finger, she was glad to hear that he was alive, as Jessica had been roomed with him. She could not exactly blame the man however given the situation. She wondered what she would have thought about it if she had not been roomed with Geoff right after. If she had not been roomed with someone she knew after the event happened.  She was sure that if Freya, Ethan and Huxley had not been around to listen to her, talk to her and comfort her, she would have been even more mentally hurt. 

She got to the other side of the wall. She was not sure what room she was in and if she had people on the other side but it would not hurt to try right?
She gently knocked on the wall as she hoped to hear a response. " hello? Is someone there? My name is Hannah" She said as she did not know who might say hi back.
The only thing she could do now was wait. 

[Mathias Berg]

Mathias looked questioningly at his wife when he heard the knock. He thought it would have been Maya at first, but quickly realized it wasn’t. Of course, it came from the wall!

"Hello? Is someone there? My name is Hannah," a faint voice came from the other side of the wall. Mathias slowly rose from the bed and walked beside the wall. He knocked on the wall, just as an answer, and tried to gather the courage to answer with words. Hannah - didn't sound familiar, he didn't know this person by name at least. The man wished his wife could have answered on his behalf, but of course Mathias could not force anyone to do anything for him. Besides, Mathias wouldn’t even had to answer to that stranger woman. Not only did he start knocking wall at the first place... Well, here goes nothing.

"H-Hi," he tried to get a speech out from his mouth despite his dry throat. "I'm Mathias, are you alone?" he decided to ask first. It was a little hard to start a small talk with an stranger, through a wall while you’re kidnapped and no longer have any teeth left.

[Hannah van de Berg]

The knock back made hannah jump a little. So she had neighbours at both sides. That was good news..! The voice that came through the wall did not sound familiar.

Mathias.. had she known a mathias? It did not matter if she was honest. Just hearing people reply was good it meant people were at least alive. " I would say nice to meet you mathias however I think you would agree the situation is anything but nice.." she said softly. "No I am roomed with a girl named Jessica. Are you alone?" she asked. She had no idea if Jessica and Mathias had met.

"I wanted to check up with the people next to us.. Have you .. been allright?" She asked softly. It was a scary question to ask. you never knew what could be coming.

[Mathias Berg]

The woman who introduced herself as Hannah said exactly what many others had said these days. Nice to meet you if it was even nice. She said her roommate was Jessica. Neither name actually sounded familiar to him. Maybe Maya might know her, or even both of them?

"Well, I'm together with my wife Maya," Mathias replied and answered to Hannah's question. The man thought it was nice that she wanted to create conversations with strangers, even in a situation like this.

"Am I alright? No. Alive? Yes." Mathias replied, in his mind he wanted to joke about it, but he remembered a horrible "game" that had just happened, and it wasn't really a matter of laughter.

"I was in this game. With the other six. At least one of us died," Mathias decided to start with the worst. He wasn't sure if it came as a surprise to Hannah or not. Mathias could no longer be so sure that the death he saw would be the first one in this house or during this kidnapping. He feared that there was already too many death cases that he didn't know about.

[Hannah van de Berg]

Hearing that the man was married made her wonder. Did the weird lady match them up with eachother just like she and Geoff were matched up or did they marry eachother before hand? Her friend Russel was married, hell her new friend nicholas was married too but they were not kidnapped as a couple. Nor did the lady seem to care. Mrs baker only thought about what she deemed important.

"Excuse me for asking but.. given the situation.. were you two married by choice or forced?" She asked softly. "I ehm.. It wouldnt be the first time" she said. "Either way I hope the both of you are safe now" the brunette added.

Hearing he was not okay made a shiver go down her spine. What had happened then..? The feeling of dread started to grow in her stomach hearing someone else had died. "I know this might not be something you want to talk about but.. can you tell me what happened.. who.. ehm.." she did not know if she wanted to know who died.. but she felt obligated to..

[Maya Dawson]

Once again making her rounds through the room, Maya at first didn´t even notice the knocking. Given she was across the room, it even was rather the look Mathias gave her than the sounds themselves that caught her interest. Something just happened, what it was she had yet to find out though. Making her way to his side, she listened to what he was talking about to get a picture about their topics. The moment she heard him offically call her his wife though, everything was thrown out of the window. It was such a simple word and she even had been the one to put a „ring“ on him. Yet hearing him putting such a strong description on their relationship meant so much to her.

As she sat down next to him, Maya immediately went for a hug and kissed him. „You have no idea how happy you just made me calling me your wife offically.“ Whispering softly into his ear, her attention stayed with her husband for a bit longer until she decided it was time to join the conversation as well. „Well if you count me popping the question in the heat of the moment as forced then yes.“ Giggling a bit to light up the mood for a second, she looked at her loved one and leaned against him. Definitely this had been a union both by choice and love and no matter what would happen, she still felt as the happiest woman knowing he loved her just as she did him. „I´m the wife in question by the way, Maya. I sadly didn´t catch to hear your or your roommates name. At least I assume you aren´t alone either?“

Sadly though her happy mood didn´t get to last for too long as the topic of the sick game was brought up again. It was an understandable question of the stranger but still it made her sad more than anything knowing what the outcomes had been. Nobody deserved such a cruel death just as the incredibly horrible „punishments“ for no reason at all to begin with.

[Hannah van de Berg]

An unknown voice joined in and hannah sat up a bit more. She had not heard this voice before but assumed this was the wife in question. At the womans little joke hannah could not help but smile weakly. They seemed happy. She added the couple to the list of people to 'pray for' as she just hoped this whole situation and the horrific games would not hurt them in any way. She was not sure what mrs baker would think about them matching themselves. It unintentionally made her think about Cassim and Della. "I am happy for you both" she said. And she meant it. If anything it must have been comforting. "Excuse me for asking. Its just that people here were forced to marry as well by these sick events, myself included" she explained. "But I am happy you two are genuinely in love."

"My name is Hannah" she repeated for Maya. "I am roomed with a girl named Jessica" she added.

She did not know if Mathias was going to tell her or if he was gathering his confidence to do so. However the thought of another death made her feel sick. " Do you both know many people in here..? Perhaps I've heard of their wellbeing and the other way around.." she offered.

[Mathias Berg]

"You have no idea how happy you just made me calling me your wife offically."

Upon hearing that, Mathias took his wife's hand and smiled at her gently. "I only know Maya and a few old customers of mine," Mathias admitted. He, on the other hand, felt that everyone else knew each other except him. Mathias felt sorry for Hannah, since she was one of victims of forced marriage. He had heard of them but never until now had a chance to meet someone woh had gone through it. He wanted to say 'I'm sorry', but I guess it wouldn't change a thing. Hannah was curious to know who had been killed in the game he mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, Mathias did not know that poor soul personally. It would be really sad if that poor guy was a friend of Hannah, or Jessica. This would be awful way to find out.

"We had to pick cards, and so we all lost something. But for him... That was his fate. I don't know his name, but he was stabbed in the stomach."  Mathias began. Perhaps this time he could try to be more useful and try to describe the appearance of the dead gentleman.

"A older man. Pale skin. Dark hair, he was very scared," Mathias began. "Mr. Dorian Blund, if you happen to know him - spoke to him, he wanted to help him. But we couldn't do anything." he sighed.

[Hannah van de Berg]

Hannah nodded slowly. "Right.. Uhm, do you have names of them by any chance. I might have heard of them. I've been trying to talk to as many people that I can. Maybe I have some good news to tell." She hoped so. She truly did. It felt as if she kind of owed him some good news in return for bringing up such a bad topic. Especially while the two of them, Maya and Mathias, were finally together. They might not want some random person next door asking personal questions.

Hannah tried to mentally prepare herself for the possibilities. In her head she was keeping a list of those who had died in this building. Sadly the list was growing slowly. It made her feel sick honestly. every name was one name too many. Hearing how all people who were there were tortured in some way made her go pale. " Do you remember who were at the event?" The words had left her mouth before she could stop them. She was going way too much into detail, this poor man must have been terrified, traumatized even and she was just trying to dig for information.
When mathias told her how the poor person had died hannah's jaw dropped. Stabbed to death..? That .. that was brutal. So it had been a man who died. In her mind she was going over all the men she knew in this building.

Hannah in some way felt responsible for keeping that list of people that had died. If she was ever to come out of this place she had to tell the police, talk to the family members. Someone had to do it. And she knew that most of them would be too mentally scarred to actually do so.

Lydia, She was so young and full of life. Brave till her last breath. What type of family would she have left behind. What future she could have had?

Della, She was a bit shy and to herself but beautiful and kind. The way Dorian told her about the freezer Della had been truly in love. What beautiful things could have come out of that relationship? What had that woman taken from her?

Cassim, from the stories she had heard about Katherine he had been popular but for a good reason. The man had a good heart and had not been corrupted by the stress and expectations of his carrier. She was sure he would have been such a good match to Della.

And then..
Huxley. "An older man. Pale skin. Dark hair, he was very scared,"
No.

Hannah stared in front of her, all thoughts left her head. she opened her mouth to talk but there was no sound. She did not even know how to form any words. The other people who had died at the events, she had not known on a personal level. She had heard of them. She had been there with Lydia. She would be able to share to others what happened to them so they would not be forgotten. But now for the first time she had a personal connection to someone who had died. Without noticing Hannah felt that she was already crying.
In her mind she was going through the people she knew that fit that description. Hearing that dorian had been trying to talk to the man only confirmed it. Hannah had asked him to talk to Huxley. It had to be Huxley.

" .. Huxley" She managed to speak out his name. She had to speak out his name. Huxley just like the others deserved to be remembered. The description Mathias had given him fit. When she had last seen him he had been just that. Scared, Angry, Guilty. He must have felt so horrible about the event with the cards. And she could not even do anything for him, yet he had been so eager to help put the person down who had forced her into her forced marriage. Hannah was pale as well. Scared too. Sobbing in silence actually. What would Jess think when she found her like that.

Lydia, Della, Cassim
Huxley, eccentric but with a kind heart. Willing to help a stranger and able to make this stranger a friend in mere seconds. Thats what Huxley had been. A friend. An Ally.

The brunette just stared at the ground leaning more against the wall as she needed the support. " His name was Huxley" She said softly. " I ehm.. Knew him.." She said softly. She tried to wipe her tears away with her sleeve when suddenly another reality hit her. Dorian had been in the event too. And like Mathias said they had all lost something. Her eyes widened. No, no, no they had JUST talked. They had JUST started to feel better. This poor man had been through so much. TOO much. Hannah felt another sting of pain in her chest. " Yes I know Dorian as well. Please.. what happened to him?" She spoke in a very small and soft spoken voice.

[Mathias Berg]

Mathias heard Hannah say the man's name: Huxley. It sounded familiar. It must have been his name, Dorian also called him by that name. Mathias was grateful to be able to honor his memory with a name. But when Hannah said she knew Huxley, Mathias felt bad. He was a messenger who had to tell news like this. He never wanted to be the messenger who tells someone such a horrible thing.

"I'm so sorry, Hannah." Mathias managed to say. There was a silence between the rooms that could have been cut with a knife. However, the woman on the other side asked if he knew what had happened to Dorian. "Dorian, his card was a hand," he began. "My own card was a tooth, and I lost each one of them, so..." Mathias created a picture for Hannah of what kind of "card game" it was. Mathias could not confirm whether gentleman Blund had lost one or both hands or whether it was just fingers. He only had one tooth on his own card and yet he lost everything. "Dorian, he wanted to help Huxley. We were tied up and thus forced to face our fate. After the stabbing, we were gassed, but I don't think Huxley could have survived. Sorry."

Realizing that finally someone actually knew these people better, Mathias wondered if he should have described the others too. Maybe Hannah, or even Maya would recognize one of them. Hannah's roommate Jessica had not taken part in the discussion.

"The other one I know by name was Daniel, his card was a tongue. A bald, dark-skinned older stout man, an ear." Mathias started the listing.

"Huxley ...," Mathias knew he wouldn't have needed to say this again. Hannah already knew he was dead. "His card was stomach."

"Light skin, dark hair, young boy. I didn't really figure out his card. Presumably he won the 'game' because the card looked the finest of all. And another dark-skinned but slightly younger man than the other one. Dark hair, wearing glasses. His card was eye." there it was.

He had already told about the remaining cards aka his and Dorian's. As he had said before, he knew little of any other victims of kidnapping. Instead, Maya seemed to know lot of people. "Maybe you'd like to ask Hannah something?" he looked at his wife.

[Maya Dawson]

So it was Hannah who was Jessicas roommate. That seemed fortunate enough given that the female seemed decently nice and knowledgeable enough to avoid boredom for quite some time. As then it was Maya to get a question, she had to think about it. She did know quite some people as well, but naming them all, as well as remembering all the information she knew about what happened to them ever since she last saw them took some time. So much in fact, that the conversation had continued without her for a time. There had been six men at the event where Mathias was part of, that much she already know. Someone even had died there, that much she already had known as well. However what she wasn´t aware of was that someone Hannah had known was the unfortunate one to die.

When it was her time to ask a question again, at last she had a list. „Do you happen to know anything about Cassim and Della, Aoi, Keiari, Freya, Kim, Ethan or Daniel? I know a bit about what happened to them but most of them I didn´t get to see or hear anything about since lately. Well I did a bit more about Ethan recently but maybe you can tell me a bit more? Do you know if they are alright or if they too had been in any strange eventefull situation like Daniel or Ethan?“

[Hannah van de Berg]

Hannah was silent for a bit as the only sounds in the room were her hushed sniffs as she did not want to disturb Jess or make The couple on the other side worry too much. They could not help it. It was not their fault. Like mathias had said there was nothing they could do.

Mathias was the one to break the silence as he gathered his courage and told him about dorian's fate and his own. And there she thought that mrs baker had reached her maximum potential by what she had done during the messed up "Simon says" event. She could not find her words to respond. She and Dorian had been talking when they were roomed together and things had slowly seemed to be a bit better. They had felt less alone, less sad. And then his mother in law had to mess it all up for him. Was it because he had talked to her?
hearing that the man lost all his teeth made her cover her mouth in shock. That was messed up how could she do that to someone. What had he done to deserve all of that? " No .. I am sorry" she said softly as she tried to get control over her emotions. " I was so shocked by what happened to huxley that I forgot to ask how you were holding up sir.." She said softly.

She went silent again as she heard how dorian had tried to help huxley. Knowing him a little better now after talking to him she was afraid that he would put this on the list of things he blamed himself for.
When Mathias began to describe the people present hannah crossed her fingers as she was silently praying that things would not be too bad. Daniel, she did not know who he was but the idea of a young man being robbed of the ability to talk was sickening. She could only imagine that was it since.. The man had lost his teeth and.. Dorian most likely lost his hand.. She felt her stomach turn. "A bald, dark-skinned older stout man, an ear." Hannah was snapped back to reality. Russel. that had to be Russel. Had he lost his ears?! no.. But music was his passion. The brunette felt her blood run cold. what if he could not hear anything anymore? Hannah felt a sting of pain when huxley was mentioned but she decided to stay silent. She tried to put a face to the "winner" but was unable to. However the next person who he described sadly did match up to someone. Nicholas. She bit her lip. The last thing her new made ally had seen was.. That hideous scarf he found in the wardrobe. They had fun with that before they were split up and he was put in the event.. Oh poor Nicholas. He would hate to not be able to actually look at his husband again.
" I .. know a few of them" She admitted finally finding some words.

As mathias asked maya if she had any people she wanted to check on hannah however felt the pit in her stomach grow. There they were.. Cassim and Della. Hannah did not know what to say. She was not in the same spot as mathias had been. She took a deep breath. "Aoi is in the room next to me.. I spoke to Geoff and she is doing okay" She said. "I think you heard about ethan and their simon says game.." She was stalling. how was she even going to tell her this. "Jessica told me that kim might be in some trouble.." she said softly. " I don't know the fine details but.." Would Jessica want her to tell maya this? She thought about it. Maybe it was not her place to tell her. " I think Jessica can tell you better.." she decided. Then there is was.. the big bomb.

"Miss maya.. I .. I am so sorry but. There has been an event and Cassim lost. Della did not want to leave his side since they were in love with each other.. Both of them were left in the freezer where the event took place.. They did not make it.." She said softly as she felt the tears roll down her cheek again.

[Maya Dawson]

Maya sighed in relief at the knowledge that Aoi was still fine. At least there was that and hopefully it would stay that way. Now that most people she remembered seeing all this time ago, in what she assumed was some sort of basement, had known statuses about their wellbeing, she just desperately hoped no further deaths will occur. „Indeed I already heard about Ethan. I was able to talk to Sawyer not too long ago and it appears she and Ethan get to enjoy each others calming company after all the hardship in their uhm … eventufull happening.“

As Kim was next up, Maya had to gulp. It was the one great unknown it appeared as Jessica as well wasn´t able to tell her too much about it and if someone knew about Kim it must be her best friends Jessica and Sawyer. Or at the very least they seemed to be an unbreakable trio Maya always admired from afar. „She basically told me that Kim has more or less gone missing, blackmailed by our captor to god knows what kind of dirty deeds.“ It was still hard to think about it. Why would they take Kim even in the first place? Was it something personal? Had something particular happened with or to Kim? Especially the part about being blackmailed worried her. What had been promised to her? What had she been warned about would happen if she didn´t obey?

Yet what still hurt the most was to relive the news about Cassims death. Bursting out into tears once again, she burried her face in Mathias shirt as she held on tight to him. It just pained so much to know she won´t ever be able to see them again, to have them smile, hear them laugh, feel the warmth of their hug. It almost felt like a cruel irony that since she had saved him from death by fire, the cold was his doom. Yet even in all this darkness it soothed her mind that they died together, willingly or at least Della had given her life along side Cassim even if she didn´t have to as it appeared. At the very least they were together in the bitter end. If it wouldn´t mean to have death as outcome, she almost envied them being able to die in each others embrace and not alone. If she had to choose for herself, she would do the same that much she knew.