"Hey, are you awake?" a voice whispered from the darkness. 

"Ugh..." Malinda groaned. "I am now". She opened her eyes, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. After a few seconds, she looked at her surroundings. She was in a small room that resembled a holding cell at a police station, something you might see on a cop drama. There was no windows and a wall to the left of her was actually all bars. Outside of the cell was a hallway starting (or ending depending on your way of thinking) with a large metal door just outside of the cell. The only source of light was a dim light-bulb from the hall that flickered ever few minutes. 

Malinda got up to see if the hallway expanded farther down the opposite direction of the metal door, but immediately felt dizzy and slid down the bars onto the floor.

"Whoa, easy there" the voice from earlier said, a little closer than last time. Malinda turned toward the voice to see a pair of red eyes looking back at her. "What the hell?!" Malinda yelled, half crawling half tumbling away. 

"Calm down before you hurt yourself" the voice said. A figure came out one of the dark corners of the cell and stood in the light. The figure was a girl roughly around Malindas age. She had long black hair and a broken mask that only covered the right side of her face. Her pale complexion made her red eyes glow even brighter, the same ones that had been studying Malinda from the shadows. 

"I'm Phan" She says with a cheerful smile. The girl offers a handshake, but Malinda only stares at her. 

"Hey come on, I don't bite" Phan says. Still a bit reluctant, Malinda extends her hand and they shake. 

"So where are we?" Malinda asks, gazing around the room. "No idea" Phan said. "I thought you or the other guy might know since you were her before me" 

"Other guy?" Malinda said. 

"He was here earlier, but he got taken away by the fat chef before he could tell me anything" Phan explained. "You've lost me" Malinda told her. 

Phan sighed. "Let me start from the beginning". She sat down next to Malinda with her legs crossed. "Before I was locked up in here, I was staying at a hotel, but it was run more like a Bed 'n' Breakfast when it came to meals. No ordering food to your room" 

"You mean the Labbinac?" Malinda chimed in. "Indeed I do" Phan replied. "I had stayed for a night and was heading back to my room after dinner when someone grabbed me. A bag was pulled over my head and I was taken down a few flights of stairs before the bag was taken off. I got shoved in here with you in the fat chef" Phan paused to take a breathe and looked over at Malinda. She was staring back at Phan intently, taken in by the story. 

"That guy who was in here was also a guest from the hotel, he went missing earlier that day" Phan continued. "Before I could ask him anything, the fat chef pulled out a gun and forced him down the hallway. That's it." Phan looks to Malinda "So what's your story?" 

"Not much to tell, after I checked in with my three friends late in the evening, I got knocked out when I went to take a shower" Malinda told her. "Lucky he didn't catch ya with your panties at your ankles, eh?" Phan giggled. Malinda cracked a smile, liking Phans sick sense of humor. 

"So you said you checked in with friends?" Phan asked. "Yeah, what about them?" A sly smile spreads across Phans face. "Any hot guys among them?" 

Malinda thought of Ever fitting into that category, but she didn't want competition from this girl. Grim could barely qualify as attractive, especially with his 'tendencies'. "Nah, just a grump and a goofball" 

"Damnit..." Phan sighed with dissapointment. "What about girls?" 

Malinda was pretty sure that Annie wasn't into girls, and she was pretty sure she had her eyes on the pervy goof. "Sorry, shes taken"

"Come on!" Phan mutters angrily. "I'd ask you, but we just met so..." That's when she gasps. 

"What's wrong?" Malinda asks. "I forgot to ask your name..."

"Oh, it's Malinda" 

Phan whipped her head toward Malinda in surprise. "Your Malinda?" 

"Uh huh" She replied. Phan adjusted her body so she could face Malinda properly, leaning toward her while sitting cross-legged. "I met your friends earlier"  

Malindas eyes widened in surprise. "For real?" 

Phan nodded. "The grump is Ever, Annie was the girl... So that leaves Grim as the goof." 

"That's them!" Malinda exclaimed. 

"So why is the goofy one called Grim?" Phan asked. "His parents didn't like him. Apparently when he was born he had a depressing look on his face when he looked at him mother and father, so they wrote 'Grim' on his birth certificate." Malinda explained. 

Phan burst out laughing, surprising Malinda. This isn't the usual reaction from people who here why Grim has his name. 

"Your boyfriend should be the one named Grim" Phan giggled. "B-boyfriend?!" Malinda stuttered. "Yeah, he's Ever, right?" Phan said. "No! I don't have a boyfriend!" Malinda said defensively. 

"Then why'd that girl Annie say she had a photo of you guys making out at a library?" 

"ANNIE I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!" Malinda shouted. Suddenly, they both heard a door slam, and footsteps come from down the hall.