Doors: The Hotel

Kikidori's body still ached from the bite, but he pushed through it. Every step felt like a test of his will, but he had no choice. As he made his way into Room 6, the atmosphere seemed different—off, in a way he couldn't quite place. The walls appeared to close in slightly, the air heavy, as though something ancient and unseen watched him from the corners of the room.

He shuffled forward cautiously, his flashlight beam dancing across the room's corners. It wasn't until his foot caught something on the ground that he noticed it. A small object, glinting faintly in the dim light.

"What's this?" he mumbled, crouching down to pick it up. His fingers brushed against the cool metal, and as he held it up to the light, he saw that it was a crucifix. The delicate figure seemed to pulse with a strange energy, its surface worn but still strong.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Kikidori whispered, studying the crucifix closely. Without thinking, he slipped it into his pocket.

Just as he did, a chilling sound filled the air. It wasn't loud at first, but it grew, rising like a low hum that vibrated through the very walls. Kikidori's heart rate spiked, his eyes scanning the room. Then, the lights flickered violently before turning an eerie shade of green. The once warm glow from the chandelier now cast the room in an unnatural light.

The sound grew louder, and that's when he saw it.

A distorted, green face appeared at the far end of the room, its features flickering like a broken screen. It was twisted and contorted in a perpetual scream, yet its eyes were hollow, empty sockets staring at him with an intensity that made Kikidori's blood run cold.

It wasn't just the face—its entire form was an entity, shifting and warping as it moved toward him with alarming speed. It was coming straight for him, the noise it made a horrendous, guttural sound.

Kikidori's breath hitched. He couldn't even make sense of what he was seeing. His instinct told him to run, but there was nowhere to hide. No closets. No vents. Just the walls that seemed to press in closer with each passing second.

His heart pounded. "What the heck is that thing?" he gasped, his mind racing for a solution.

In his panic, he clutched the crucifix he had found earlier, holding it tightly in his trembling hand. It was all he had, and he prayed, *hoping it would do something*. His fingers dug into the edges of the cross, and for a moment, everything seemed to slow—just enough for him to feel a sense of quiet power.

The entity—Ambush—was closing in, its screams growing louder and more distorted. Kikidori didn't have time to think, only to act. With his heart pounding in his chest, he raised the crucifix in front of him, as though it could ward off the creature.

The entity was nearly on him when something strange happened. A blue ring suddenly appeared around it, a crackling energy swirling around the entity's body. The entity paused, its scream turning to a distorted wail as if it, too, was confused by this sudden shift.

Then, with a force Kikidori couldn't comprehend, the crucifix lifted from his hand. It floated in the air, glowing with an ethereal light, before chains of energy shot out from the blue ring and wrapped around the struggling entity. The chains tightened, pulling the entity into the ring. Ambush let out a final, agonizing scream as it was dragged toward the center of the circle.

Kikidori stepped back, wide-eyed and in awe. He could hardly believe what he had just witnessed. The crucifix had done something—*something impossible*—to protect him.

The entity—Ambush—was now gone, pulled into the blue circle that remained for a few moments longer before vanishing completely. The room's green lights flickered and then returned to normal, leaving Kikidori standing there, his heart still racing. He was alive.

He took a moment to catch his breath, his hands shaking. "I... I survived that," he whispered, blinking in disbelief.

As he backed away from the spot where the entity had vanished, Kikidori accidentally bumped into something cold—*the window*.

He glanced outside, his mind still reeling from the encounter. What he saw made his breath catch once more, but this time, it was different.

In the distance, standing just outside the hotel, was another figure. This one was far away, but its face was smiling, and though it looked strange—almost *otherworldly*—there was something almost... *cute* about it. It didn't seem threatening, only distant, watching from afar.

Kikidori stared at it for a moment longer, still trying to make sense of everything that had happened. What *was* this place? What *were* these things?

But he didn't have time to dwell on it. He needed to keep moving.

The end of Chapter 6.