Amy was then on an exchange program and was then in Toronto, Ontario. She was going to be staying in a hostel right next to the University and would be rooming with the students as well as going for lectures and tutorials with them. The stay would last for three weeks after which she would come back (with the three other students that came with her) and give a presentation to her fellow school mates about what the stay had been like. So far, she had only good things to say. She had gone at the beginning of the term (which was the middle of the term break in Singapore) and had been there for the past five days. Her roommates Trisha and Anna were both warm and friendly and she enjoyed exploring the university and its campus. As for the lessons, it had only been five days but she had already decided subconsciously which lessons she would actually be interested in. Old habits were hard to break. She realized this when she found herself falling asleep during calculus.
At the end of the fifth day, Amy found herself tired and longing to go back to her room. She was walking up the stairs when Trisha and Anna came bounding down. 'THERE you are!' exclaimed Trisha almost crashing into her.' Are you packed yet?' 'I've been here less then a week and already you want me to go home?' smiled Amy tiredly. The two girls looked at her, amazed, as she covered her mouth while she yawned. 'No silly, take out your program,' laughed Anna. 'Can this wait til I...' 'Now!' Amy groaned as she put her bag down ans unzipped it. These Canadians were too full of energy. She wished that some of it would wear off on her. She thought that if she were to close her eyes then and there, she would fall asleep, roll down the stairs, curl up in a foetus position and never wake up again.
She looked at the two week timetable that had been printed and laminated for her. Her eyes immediately popped open as she glanced at the appropriate day and time. 'Ah! The camp is this weekend?!' 'Apparently you did not know this...' 'Ah! Where are we supposed to be?' 'The third basketball court. Go up and change. We'll wait for you here.' Amy ran up and sped into their room. There was supposed to be a level wide camp at the beginning of each school year. The camps would go on for four weekends, one for each of the levels. Everyone had been divided out amongst their various subject combinations. This was hard because it was rare to find more than fifteen people with the exact same combination. So it was done roughly and since she was an exchange student, she was put with her roommates. There were four different groups and they were staying in the area nearest to the basketball courts. This was where they would be having their campfire.
She ran down in her track pants and nearly crashed into Anna. 'Remind yourself to get decaf at breakfast next time...' They were outside in the basketball court when the sun was just going down, singing campfire songs which everyone knows don't really have any meaning but were fun to sing anyway.Then, they were separated into six different groups where they set up their own little campfires and were supposed to have dinner. When they were getting everything ready, Trisha slapped herself on the head. 'I left the marshmallows in the gym,' she said, getting up. They had left all their overnight stuff there because that was where they would be sleeping. 'I am going to go get them.' 'I'll get them Trisha,' said Amy. 'I need to go get my sweater... It's getting cold.' 'Okay then, but don't die on the way.'
'Thanks a lot. If I do and you see a figure resembling me dripping in blood at your bedside one night, just go back to sleep; less painful.' She turned around and walked up the stairs to the gymnasium. The minute she got up, she had regretted not asking Trisha to come with her. She looked around the third floor and could not recognize anything. Yes, she had only been to that part of the university twice; today and three days ago. Not to mention that things looked much more different in the dark. She scanned the area and finally remembered which corridor she had walked down before, immediately following it. She came to the sports rooms. There were three rooms in a row; one small one and two huge ones. It was quite easy to identify the small one not only because of its size but also because of its windows. Looking through it she could see the various workout machines and a whole row of weights. She passed it and walked to the next two rooms. They were both gymnasiums. Their interior architecture was such they reflected each other perfectly and because of that, their doors were right next to each other. She stood in the middle of the two and tried to remember which one she went through before. One of them was supposed to be out of use and she was told never to go in there.
Something clicked as she remembered that. How could she have been so blur? If a place was out of use, people usually locked the door. She tried the first door and it opened easily. She smiled as she walked in. She did not reach the gymnasium straight away though. They both had double doors like many of the lecture theaters. No one was sure why. In the theaters, they were made to prevent noise from coming in. Someone would open the first door and before the second door was opened, the first door had closed. So there was a compartment where the person would be for the awhile before he or she actually went in. It was a good idea but why on earth would anyone put them in a gym? She opened the second door and felt around for the light switch. She found it and flicked it on. Light flooded the room and turned her blood cold. The place was completely empty. There were no gym poles or beams and no mats on the floor.
The whole gym had been covered with mats so they would be able to sleep on the floor. But all she saw was dusty cement. She had not really been scared, just shocked. The bareness of it all had just been shocking. She turned around, flicked the lights off and opened the inner door. She then put her hand on the outer doorknob and pushed it down. 'What the...' Even when she realized that it was locked, her mind had not registered it. By the time she spun around to prevent the inner door from closing, it had shut. She pushed it and then pushed the other one. They had both locked by themselves and she was stuck in between them. She was not claustrophobic but the panic that set it made her that way. She gripped at the knob and pushed it down as hard as she could. It would not budge. There had to be something wrong; doors did not just lock themselves. Suddenly she heard a scream. It had come from right behind her and had echoed in the space she was in. She spun around and saw nothing but darkness. For the first time in her life, she would have sworn that darkness had weight. She knew. She knew because it was weighing down on her and trying to suffocate her. She turned around and started banging on the door.
She heard the scream again. It was deafening. It was a female voice. She would not have been able to place the age of the person. It was high pitched and filled with panic and fear. This time, the scream did not stop. It carried on and on and filled the whole space. All Amy could think about was getting out. She banged and banged on the door. After awhile, she was crying when she realize she would not be able to get out unless someone opened the door from outside. She turned around, leaning on the door, slowly sinking to the ground. She covered her ears but the sound did not go away. Suddenly in front of her, she saw a face... but just for a second. It seemed to flash in front of her and disappear without a trace. It was the face of a girl. She was a strawberry blonde. Her eyes were bulging in a frozen scream of horror. It appeared and disappeared in front of her in less than a second.
The screaming continued and just when she thought that she was going to go crazy, she saw yet another face. It was the face of a man. His hair was mess and his mouth was twisted up in a snarl.He too flashed in front of her as the screaming went on. She did not know what to do. She yelled for help and shut her eyes. She did not want to see or hear anything more. She just wanted to get out. She was crouched up against the door when she suddenly fell out. A split second before she did however, the screaming had stopped. It took her awhile to realize this. She was still covering her ears when she opened her eyes to find Anna and Trisha staring down at her. 'You... you... said the room was out of use...' was all she could say. She was still slightly hysterical. 'Oh God Amy. It is. We heard you screaming and opened the door. Are you okay? What happened?' It was supposed to be out of use... out of use...' 'It is. It is always locked. How did you get in...'
'WHY WASN'T IT LOCKED?' yelled Amy. 'WHY IS IT OUT OF USE!' She was still breathing hard and had nowhere near recovered from her panic. In her head, the girl screamed on and all she could look at was the outer door. Her eyes stayed fixed on it as Anna's voice came from far away. 'That place has been closed off for so long time Amy. Some girl was raped and killed in the compartment one night during a camp six years ago when she had come up to get something. No one wanted to use the gym there anymore. The equipment was moved out into the multi-purpose room next door. It was already like that when we came in.' Amy's anxious eyes shifted towards Anna's concerned ones. 'Can you please tell us what happened now?'
She ran down in her track pants and nearly crashed into Anna. 'Remind yourself to get decaf at breakfast next time...' They were outside in the basketball court when the sun was just going down, singing campfire songs which everyone knows don't really have any meaning but were fun to sing anyway.Then, they were separated into six different groups where they set up their own little campfires and were supposed to have dinner. When they were getting everything ready, Trisha slapped herself on the head. 'I left the marshmallows in the gym,' she said, getting up. They had left all their overnight stuff there because that was where they would be sleeping. 'I am going to go get them.' 'I'll get them Trisha,' said Amy. 'I need to go get my sweater... It's getting cold.' 'Okay then, but don't die on the way.'
'Thanks a lot. If I do and you see a figure resembling me dripping in blood at your bedside one night, just go back to sleep; less painful.' She turned around and walked up the stairs to the gymnasium. The minute she got up, she had regretted not asking Trisha to come with her. She looked around the third floor and could not recognize anything. Yes, she had only been to that part of the university twice; today and three days ago. Not to mention that things looked much more different in the dark. She scanned the area and finally remembered which corridor she had walked down before, immediately following it. She came to the sports rooms. There were three rooms in a row; one small one and two huge ones. It was quite easy to identify the small one not only because of its size but also because of its windows. Looking through it she could see the various workout machines and a whole row of weights. She passed it and walked to the next two rooms. They were both gymnasiums. Their interior architecture was such they reflected each other perfectly and because of that, their doors were right next to each other. She stood in the middle of the two and tried to remember which one she went through before. One of them was supposed to be out of use and she was told never to go in there.
Something clicked as she remembered that. How could she have been so blur? If a place was out of use, people usually locked the door. She tried the first door and it opened easily. She smiled as she walked in. She did not reach the gymnasium straight away though. They both had double doors like many of the lecture theaters. No one was sure why. In the theaters, they were made to prevent noise from coming in. Someone would open the first door and before the second door was opened, the first door had closed. So there was a compartment where the person would be for the awhile before he or she actually went in. It was a good idea but why on earth would anyone put them in a gym? She opened the second door and felt around for the light switch. She found it and flicked it on. Light flooded the room and turned her blood cold. The place was completely empty. There were no gym poles or beams and no mats on the floor.
The whole gym had been covered with mats so they would be able to sleep on the floor. But all she saw was dusty cement. She had not really been scared, just shocked. The bareness of it all had just been shocking. She turned around, flicked the lights off and opened the inner door. She then put her hand on the outer doorknob and pushed it down. 'What the...' Even when she realized that it was locked, her mind had not registered it. By the time she spun around to prevent the inner door from closing, it had shut. She pushed it and then pushed the other one. They had both locked by themselves and she was stuck in between them. She was not claustrophobic but the panic that set it made her that way. She gripped at the knob and pushed it down as hard as she could. It would not budge. There had to be something wrong; doors did not just lock themselves. Suddenly she heard a scream. It had come from right behind her and had echoed in the space she was in. She spun around and saw nothing but darkness. For the first time in her life, she would have sworn that darkness had weight. She knew. She knew because it was weighing down on her and trying to suffocate her. She turned around and started banging on the door.
She heard the scream again. It was deafening. It was a female voice. She would not have been able to place the age of the person. It was high pitched and filled with panic and fear. This time, the scream did not stop. It carried on and on and filled the whole space. All Amy could think about was getting out. She banged and banged on the door. After awhile, she was crying when she realize she would not be able to get out unless someone opened the door from outside. She turned around, leaning on the door, slowly sinking to the ground. She covered her ears but the sound did not go away. Suddenly in front of her, she saw a face... but just for a second. It seemed to flash in front of her and disappear without a trace. It was the face of a girl. She was a strawberry blonde. Her eyes were bulging in a frozen scream of horror. It appeared and disappeared in front of her in less than a second.
The screaming continued and just when she thought that she was going to go crazy, she saw yet another face. It was the face of a man. His hair was mess and his mouth was twisted up in a snarl.He too flashed in front of her as the screaming went on. She did not know what to do. She yelled for help and shut her eyes. She did not want to see or hear anything more. She just wanted to get out. She was crouched up against the door when she suddenly fell out. A split second before she did however, the screaming had stopped. It took her awhile to realize this. She was still covering her ears when she opened her eyes to find Anna and Trisha staring down at her. 'You... you... said the room was out of use...' was all she could say. She was still slightly hysterical. 'Oh God Amy. It is. We heard you screaming and opened the door. Are you okay? What happened?' It was supposed to be out of use... out of use...' 'It is. It is always locked. How did you get in...'
'WHY WASN'T IT LOCKED?' yelled Amy. 'WHY IS IT OUT OF USE!' She was still breathing hard and had nowhere near recovered from her panic. In her head, the girl screamed on and all she could look at was the outer door. Her eyes stayed fixed on it as Anna's voice came from far away. 'That place has been closed off for so long time Amy. Some girl was raped and killed in the compartment one night during a camp six years ago when she had come up to get something. No one wanted to use the gym there anymore. The equipment was moved out into the multi-purpose room next door. It was already like that when we came in.' Amy's anxious eyes shifted towards Anna's concerned ones. 'Can you please tell us what happened now?'
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