Five Fingers, One Game
Chapter 1
ARRIVAL AT CEDAR GROVE HOSTEL
The cold wind brushed against the trees like leaves rustling in spring. A streetlight flickered along the streets of Tromsø. The nightlife there felt like an abandoned railway station.
The cab pulled up in front of an old, haunted-looking building situated in the middle of a lonely forest. The worn-out signboard hung loosely:
Cedar Grove Hostel.
Theora scrunched up her eyebrows, exhaling an amused sigh.
“It looks weird,” she whispered.
Her twin, Flora, chuckled beside her.
“Exactly why I selected this place.”
Sophie Berger, wrapped in a red shawl, was already pushing the door open.
“Guys, we should’ve never let Flora choose it. But now that we have… let’s go inside. Check-in closes in three minutes,” she reminded.
The five girls rushed up the wooden stairs, bags in hand, the wood creaking with every step. A flickering lamp was the only source of light in the eerily dim building. A woman with waist-length hair and amber eyes stood at the reception desk.
“You must be the girls from California. I’m Martha, and this is Cedar Grove,” she said with a smile — but something about it felt off. She handed over a metal key attached to a cheap wooden tag that read: ‘203.’
She added,
“The rules are:
Don’t come out of the room after midnight.
Never fiddle with things kept on the reception desk.
Don’t speak to the people who come here unnecessarily.”
The girls exchanged a look.
“Guys, what are we waiting for? The staircase is right here—let’s go!” Flora said hastily.
“Impatient girl,” Theora muttered.
“Let us first ask where the room is!”
“Third floor, at the end of the hall,” Martha stated, her eyes hovering over Emilie for a bit too long.
Room 333 smelled faintly of cedar and something one couldn’t quite name. The walls were cracked, covered with a thin layer of rusted white paint. The mirror was slightly broken; there were two bunk beds.
“Seriously? This was the only place you could think of?” Aurora said, shifting her gaze toward Flora.
Flora gave an annoyed expression and began to unpack her luggage. The girls also pulled out a faded flyer from the drawer.
Missing since 2016. Clara Jensen.
Beneath was a grainy photo of a girl with a bob cut, russet eyes, and a lopsided smile.
“Creepy,” said Sophie.
Theora’s eyes narrowed.
“First this Martha, and now this flyer.”
Emilie shrugged.
“It adds to the vibe.”
The door creaked open, revealing Aurora with a guilty expression.
“Umm… I guess we have bad news. One of us will have to stay in another room.”
Aurora’s gaze flickered to Emilie for a second before traveling to the rest of the girls.
“Ahh, I don’t want any of us to leave,” Flora said.
“Neither do we,” all four of them shouted together. Sophie engulfed them in a hug.
“But one of us has to leave,” Aurora said in a quiet voice.
Theora started sniffing.
“Let’s decide it.”
“We’ll vote,” Flora suggested.
“We’ll write the name of the one we want to evict on a chit. And we won’t write our own names.”
The votes were out, and Sophie collected them all and read them aloud.
“Emilie – 2, Aurora – 2… and the last vote goes to Emilie.”
Emilie felt bile rise in her throat, but she kept quiet. The rest of the girls looked at her sympathetically. One by one, they each hugged her. Flora and Aurora shed silent tears — Flora, the usual sunshine of the group, and Aurora, the one who never cried.
Sophie whispered sweet nothings in an emotional voice while Theora packed Emilie’s belongings, since Emilie wasn’t in the state to do so.
Two hours later, the excited chattering began again, thanks to Flora and Sophie.
But the room missed the warmth of Emilie.
By Tanvi Bedi
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