2 Introduction

I felt surrounded by everyone, but I was alone in the room. Mentally; exhausted. Physically; gone. Everyone was talking and talking and they wouldn't let me focus on anything specific. I needed answers, but I had no one who could give them to me. He was alone in some way but accompanied by a totally different one.

"Hey bro, why don't you try to start at the beginning of everything? I mean, we're your friends, normal, you get it?" said Tomas.

"That's what I mean. It has no beginning!" My face was drenched in sweat, my breath hitched with the cold air emanating from the room. "Can you turn that off, please?" I asked. Noelia got up from her bed and with only two steps reached the air conditioning control.

"Let's see, Benja, calm down and try to explain what's going on. It's okay, seriously. Here we are all open mind, no one is going to judge you or think badly of you, seriously brother." Ramcés advised.

"How do I explain that I know what's going to happen? That I know exactly when, where and to whom it will happen. This is repeated and repeated over and over again in my mind. It seems like a dream, but it's not, I'm aware of it." My hands were still shaking despite the stable temperature for now.

"Okay, but get your ideas in order and try to tell us at least what you were doing in that building, I mean, it's closed I think, right?" Camilo was leaning against the ochre wood cabin that was farthest from the door, the one where Noelia and Camila shared spaces and their ideas rested until the next dawn.

"Well, in a couple of hours it will be full" I replied.

"Bro, have you smoked anything?" Asked Tomas.

"No, no-no-no. I am perfectly sane and sober but, no matter how many times I try to explain to you guys, you just never believe me, nor do you listen to me. You think I'm joking or that Ramcés and I are playing a joke on you, but that's not the case. Just let me go, I need to get it before it goes to the lobby."

"We can't let you go in that state" Wendy warned. "Ramcés, have you given him something? Are they playing a joke on us? Because this is not funny."

"Lying to them is an option, but think carefully about the consequences." The voice in my head woke up just when I least needed it. " If they don't play along, you won't lose anything, you're sure of it. You know where you need to be for this to repeat itself... and next time, don't get caught so easily. "

"I don't have enough time to tell you the details of everything..." I started "but I can give you a little summary of what has been happening to me lately..." I swallowed hard, cooling my dry throat. I licked my lips, touching each other, and fixed my gaze on the ground. Their confused faces always end up discouraging me in the middle of everything.

"At least it's a start" Camilo commented. "But make us clear what you were doing in building four first... that makes me curious."

"I was chasing someone" I answered carefully.

"Uhhh! A skinny one?" Said Ramcés. <Tin>. His phone rang.

"No, a guy."

"Who?" Noelia wrinkled her nose, confused.

"In forty-two minutes, more or less." I glanced at the clock on my phone, and put it back, waiting for the message. "A man in a plum t-shirt, khaki pants, and white sneakers will walk through the lobby and kill everyone at the party. Then, he will go to this building and do the same with each person in his way." They all pursed their lips, they glued them so much that there was only one iron line left on each face, straight.

"How are you sure about it?" Camilo asked me. <Tin. Tin.> Ramcés's phone rang again.

"Do you remember the time I told you about how I can, like… interpret dreams?" I lowered my gaze again.

"Yes, in the laundry. What does it have to do with this?" Now Wendy was standing between Ramcés and Tomas, with her arms crossed, somewhat annoyed, while the latter lay down on the bed where Wendy was sleeping, and listened attentively, with eyes on the ceiling. "Did you dream what... what you say is going to happen?" Ramcés took his cell phone out of his left pocket and began reading his messages.

"Not quite. I was there too."

"No, stop... Benja, this is going too far. Stop it, it's not funny." Noelia took off the bedspread she was wearing as a cape and folded it three times before placing it at the foot of her bed and perching on it, to rest and check her cell phone.

"No, on the contrary, let him continue," Ramcés encouraged. "Tell me brother, what the hell happened to make you go there?"

"I don't know, I'm not sure. And the worst thing is that it hasn't happened just once, it happens continuously and I can't stop it. I'm living it all over again, but backward."

"What...? How is that, brother?" Ramcés frowned so much that I thought his face would break.

"The first time it happened, I dreamed it. It was a day before, that is, yesterday. But it didn't happen yesterday, it happened a couple of days ago... but in theory, yes, it happened yesterday."

"No bro, I'm lost already. Repeat it, cause I didn't understand a word." Tomas laughed. He sat up on the bed, leaning on his left arm as he spoke. "Was it yesterday or was it not yesterday?" He said with a hesitant smile on his cheeks. <Tin. Tin. Tin.> Ramcés's phone rang once more.

"It wasn't yesterday, it was a week ago, I guess. I don't know how to count the days now if, for every waking hour or hours, I just don't know."

"But you said you dreamed it the day before it happened. And according to you, today is going to happen." Tomas moved both palms from one side to the other in parallel, while he explained what I had already said. "So, it happened yesterday then." and laughed again.

I covered my face with both hands and took a deep breath. He didn't know if continuing was a good idea, he was wasting time. And the message had not yet arrived. Why is it taking so long?

"But let him explain himself..." Ramcés intervened while putting his cell phone in the same pocket where he had it previously. "Benja, what happened? Nor do I understand what you say."

"I dreamed about what was going to happen but didn't care. I didn't think it was actually gonna happen. I rode through the day like I usually do, but strange things started to take place. I received messages on the phone from an unknown number, which does not answer when I call. Then there were the letters; that, along with the messages, came with directions where to go, and what to do. What was written on them was fulfilled in a short time, and they were always right. I was following the rules and little by little I became entangled with everything that I had to avoid. There were also the gifts, the accidents, the clothes. I noticed many things along the way, and try as I could, I couldn't stop it. Guys, try as I may, I can't get you all safe."

"Benjamin, seriously, nothing's gonna happen." Wendy tried to calm me down. He came over to me and knelt beside my legs. "It was just a bad dream. Everything'll be fine."

"How about this time, just this once, you all do what I ask, okay? Like a game, play along with me."

They looked at each other's faces. Each one already had plans for that night, and each one had decided which path they would choose and what they would like to do to satisfy their needs. Obviously, none of them seemed to want to play my game, except for one, who was amused by everything that hit.

"Okay... I do sign up." Tomas raised his arm. "I have nothing better to do, so... tell me where and I'll follow you brother."

"Yeah, great, I'm going too," Ramcés said. "No sweat, let's go and get the shit out of that asshole." <Tin. Tin.> Once again. This time, he answered hastily.

"The best thing would be to hide..." I proposed. "The guy will be armed, and a confrontation would be uneven."

"I don't think so, really guys? If you know where he's gonna be and how he's dressed, let's see him and stop him before anything happens." Ramcés urged me, giving a higher and more deliberate tone to the last expression.

"Hey, by the way, Benja, If you say this has happened to you more than once, have you never been able to see the subject's face?" Tomas put his hand to his chin, using his right hand as the base for the one he had raised.

"He wears a mask to keep his face warm" I replied.

"Like mine or like yours?" Asked Ramcés.

"Mine."

"The same?" He frowned again. He read his messages for a few seconds and then put them back in his pocket. This time he was slightly confused.

"No, literally, mine," I explained. "I lost it the day after I bought it. I haven't seen it again and I don't think there is another like that one. I've been through that store a couple more times and they're still the same as they were the time we went."

"I don't understand, what's yours like?" Asked Tomas.

"Isn't it made of fabric, like all of them?" Said Noelia.

"No, it's not... I don't know what the material is called, it's hard to recall, but it looks like latex, like those?" Wendy said.

"Yes, like those, but his mask has a wolf" Ramcés clarified. "I mean, it has the face of a wolf all over the face." He looked at me again. "And how did that guy get it?"

"I don't know" I lied. "But it is identical."

"Okay, where do you want to put us then?" Tomas smiled, a little groggy.

"Downstairs next to the men's room, just on the first floor, there's a cleaning store. The walls are concrete, unlike the rooms, and it can be closed on the inside" I explained.

"Yeah, but... how the hell do we get in?" Ramcés turned his eyes, from Tomas to me, and back to Tomas. "Benja, I'm getting messages from your phone, what happened?

"Oh, sure." I feigned surprise. "I sent you a couple of messages before leaving, but since I didn't have internet, they didn't reach you. Probably now it has taken WiFi and sent them to you at once, or one by one, I don't really know how it works."

" Ya bro, let him talk, " Tomas protested. "How do we enter the warehouse you have?"

"I have Freddy's key," I confessed. I took it out of the left pocket of the jogger I was wearing and showed it to him.

"What?" Noelia exclaimed. "How did you get his key?"

"I found Freddy dead..." I stopped to watch their reactions and then added. "He was laying in the kitchen of four."

The eyes can dilate in an exaggerated way when light enters the pupil directly, and your brain is not processing the information as it usually would. It happens in cases of consumption of hallucinogenic substances as well as with alcohol or even in a drastic rise in hormones. The latter occurred in them. The surprise was palpable in the atmosphere. They were tense, confused, scared. I could see the doubt in each of their looks. They were already beginning to believe me. Now it was only necessary to continue with the monologue and take them downstairs at the right time. My pocket with the phone inside vibrated. That was the precise moment.

"Who killed him?" Camilo approached from where he was standing and spoke, breaking the tedious silence that caused my earlier comment.

"That's how I found him," I lied. "I didn't see what really happened."

"Benjamin, stop kidding. I'm gonna be mad at you. I'm serious. Stop it now," Wendy warned me. "How did you get the key?"

"I'm not kidding. If building four wasn't a potential butcher shop in a few minutes, I'd take you there and show you the corpse."

"No... Now, this already scared me. Benjamin, stop, I don't get the point of all this, but it's not funny." Noelia had covered herself with the bedspread, and now you could see how annoyed she was.

"Benja..." said Ramcés, as he tried to beckon me with his eyes. "Seriously... is everything you're saying real?"

"Please just follow me downstairs so nothing happens to you all. Leave the intruder in my hands. I know what to do, and you can't help me with this."

"Ok, bro... I don't know if it's the pot, or if you scared me enough, but I'm starting to believe you," Tomas said, still with a smile on his face. "Let's go to that room now, I don't wanna die in this state."

"Fifi was talking to me. He's asking me if we won't watch anything today. What do I answer? Shall I bring her?" Ramcés looked worried, nervous, much more than before.

"No need, I'll tell her," I lied again and took my cell phone from my right pocket, where a few seconds ago it had vibrated. I read the message:

"Leave the guard there, he'll be fine. Take his key. It's stuck in the oven closest to the kitchen portico. Go to the maintenance room I mentioned before eleven-thirty and hide until I knock on the door."

Seen 2/13/19 11:24 pm

"It's eleven twenty-eight. The longer we delay, the worse it will get and the more difficult it will be to get to the first floor. People will begin to leave their chambers at the sound of the first shot."

"And what time do you say it's going to happen?" Tomas asked.

"Eleven and a half," I replied.

"On the dot?" Said Ramcés.

"So," Wendy recalled, "it'll all start in two minutes, right?"

"Yes." He looked at Noelia, accomplice, and then back to me.

"Let's wait," she proposed. "If we hear something, we run wherever you want to go, but if not..."

"Do whatever you want," I said, no longer in the mood. "You didn't listen to me before, and you won't do it now. In a minute the yelling, the tantrums, the building-to-building races will begin, and everybody will begin to despair."

"We're just going then... what are we waiting for?" Tomas stood up and open the front door.

Benjamin got up too from the uncomfortable red chair that every room in the residence brings with him, took his heavy black backpack, carried it on his back, and held it firmly to his chest and abdomen. He said goodbye to the friends left behind and hastened his pace, with Tomas and Ramcés following close enough.

"Wait for us!" They heard halfway. They turned around, and there they were: Camilo, without a glove and still looking for his hat, Wendy warmly dressed in a black coat and a cream scarf, and Noelia with her bedspread that covered her from the neck to the carpet on the floor.

That's when it happened. It seemed that the day was a holiday, since, after the first shot, it sounded as if numerous pyrotechnics had been launched into the night sky. One explosion after another. One hit after another.

They ran what was left of the corridor to the last room of the floor. That wall had a window on top with a gloomy view of the local cemetery, which, at the time, gave the impression of being more welcoming than the residence itself. They took one last look back. All, dressed appropriately for the party that night, had left the warmth of their rooms and were now perching in the twin window to this one that was at the other end of the corridor, on the wall that faces the entrance of the residence, whose lobby keeps it company very closely.

We hurried down the stairs, the two floors that we had on our feet, and in both, we noticed the same thing. The people gathered curiously at each window overlooking the lobby, far away from us, to look for signs of what was happening.

Going down to the first floor they took the corridor again and turned right. By then, the groans of pain, anguish, and panic had already begun, and the crowd that made up the residence; the majority lying in the lobby celebration; was beginning to lose its temper.

The men's room is almost attached to the stairs, so it didn't take them long to get there. As they all advanced, Benjamin lagged behind the group, searching desperately among the many pockets his coat possessed. Ramcés covered the rest with his bulky meter eighty height, then took the head and went ahead to try to open the knob of the warehouse.

"It's closed," he said, after trying to force it to work.

"Benja has the key," Camilo replied.

"And where is Benjamin?" Wendy asked.

Suddenly, the door handle began to move, up and down. The door opened and it let the light shine on the person lying inside.

They all stared at him, stunned, more confused than before. Benjamin was leaving the warehouse in a totally different outfit. A brown leather jacket and black pants with bleach stains.

"Ramcés, Tomas... why are you looking at me like that ?! Come in!" Shouted Benjamin, who, surprisingly and without logical explanation, had just left the warehouse.

"Hey, how did you do that?" Camilo said, turning his head exaggeratedly, looking from front to back. He was in shock. They all were.

"How did I what?"

I saw through the window, outside the building, how my friends were executed. How their bodies shook violently with each shot they received. They all fell almost in unison to the ground. I saw myself panic and hide in the warehouse. Then I just had to wait. I leaned against the metal door that faces the cemetery, there was no need to lock it since I knew that no one would take that exit, everyone would go through the main one or would be stranded in their rooms.

My plan had worked quite well. Although I already knew it would, but had no idea how I had accomplished it. I put on headphones to clear my mind and, above all, to ward off the screams that were leftover from barbarism.

The window was smashed into a thousand pieces by consecutive bullets, and snowflakes danced on top of the broken glass. The gentle breeze caressed the empty lifeless bodies from which they could not escape. It moved undulating between them. Above them. It gave wings to the blood that gushed from the fallen and made it run quickly across the carpet until it lost shape and volume, and then soaked in it for the few minutes that were left to that day.

I sat on the frozen granite floor, took a deep breath of minus four degrees Celsius, and gazed up at the sky, searching for some divine forgiveness, if it was deserved.

At least now I know what that letter was referring to.