Yes

Mia stood up quickly, wiping her eyes. "Yeah, let’s go."

"Now?" Aaron asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, now," Mia replied firmly, heading toward the door without hesitation.

"All right, let’s go," Seth said, pushing himself off the couch and following her.

The group left the dorm and made their way toward Ashman Street, the air thick with tension. No one spoke, the silence only broken by Mia sniffling occasionally, wiping away stray tears.

As they reached the corner of Ashman Street, their hearts sank. In the distance, the lot was just as Seth had described—a large empty space with a sign reading, "For Sale."

"Fuck," Mia said, her voice a mixture of frustration and disbelief. "That can’t be."

"This isn’t right," Dakota murmured, looking around as if searching for an explanation.

"What do we do now?" Claire asked, her voice shaky.

"Fuck this shit," Aaron said, his hands in his pockets. "Let’s go back to Seth’s and regroup."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and they walked back in silence. Once they were back in the dorm, they slumped onto the couch, clearly exhausted.

"So," Seth said, trying to break the tension, "I think we should probably start by airing out all the details of what we know happened. If we work together, we can hopefully make sense of it all."

The others nodded, and Mia spoke first. "I guess I started feeling weird once we walked into the bathroom. Like, I was only present in my mind, not in control of my body. My thoughts were muddled like I was dazed. I didn’t feel bad, but my body was acting on its own."

"Same," Aaron and Claire said in unison, their voices soft.

"Not us," Seth said, gesturing toward Dakota. "We were still cracking jokes then. I noticed Dakota joined you guys in your state after the closet. I didn’t notice until we entered the bedroom."

"God, the fucking bedroom..." Mia said, her voice trembling as she fought back tears. "I wasn’t in control of anything I said or did."

"Me either," Aaron said, his hand reaching for Claire’s, squeezing it tightly. "It was like a haze, I could only do what I was told by the host, or whoever he was."

"And he had such a commanding voice, too," Claire added, her voice quiet with remembrance.

"Mia," Seth said gently, his voice softer, "Do you remember where they took you? After... um..."

Mia paused, her lips trembling. "After I was... fucked?" She let out a sad laugh, "I remember him taking me through a door, then to a small bedroom. I think I fell asleep or was knocked out or something, because the next thing I know, I'm waking up in my bed... like nothing happened. Like it was just a dream," Her voice cracked at the end.

"What about you guys? Similar stories?" Seth asked, his eyes scanning the group.

"Pretty much the same," Aaron replied, running a hand through his hair. "They led me through a door, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in my dorm."

"Same here," Claire added, nodding slowly, her eyes downcast.

"Me too," Dakota said softly, looking around the room as if trying to piece everything together.

"I never left the main bedroom," Seth informed them, his tone flat.

There was a heavy pause, as everyone tried to process the gravity of what they were hearing. Finally, Aaron broke the silence.

"Wait, so what did you end up doing? Your ultimate desire?" he asked, his voice tinged with curiosity and unease.