Hostel

Chapter 4
Chapter 4

---

Chapter Description: Irving discovers the truth behind the hostel, and is faced with the ultimate choice.

---

Night fell. Irving wanted to get into the office before midnight, in fear of what might happen. It was eleven thirty, which meant now as a good a time as any.

The Constable quietly exited his room. I moved silently down the hall. Colossus had a midnight curfew, but it appeared as if everyone was already asleep. Irving thought this place was getting stranger by the second.

He crept through the empty lobby. He didn’t see Bob the guard. He wondered if he too was an early sleeper. If so, he wasn’t a very good guard. Irving finally arrived at the door to Mr. Aver’s office.

Irving tried the knob, but found it locked. He took out a lock pick and carefully jimmied the lock open. The door opened obediently. Irving stepped through.

He closed the door and turned on the light. He opened the file cabinets and sifted through the files. He took out several and shuffled through them, looking for any sort of answer.

And he found it.

Irving held up a register from the months of April and May. All the names matched the names of the victims. Irving knew the other one was a fake!

The sound of several doors slamming open at once assaulted Irving’s ears. He heard screams, followed by the sounds of gagging. Irving shut off the light and quietly exited the office. He made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. He saw several figures in the lobby hauling bodies away. Irving hid, waiting for them to pass. Once they had, he followed them down the basement steps.

Irving could now see that his worst fears were at rest, the bodies were moving, struggling in fact. He saw that their captors were members of the work staff. He even saw Tiffany holding a teenage girl. They reached the end of the steps, prompting Irving to follow once more. He was skilled at remaining unseen, so this was no problem.

Irving found a hiding spot in the huge basement. He watched as the workers gagged and bound the residents, who were all teens. They were surrounded by advanced medicinal equipment, as well as computers and refrigerators. Irving had hidden behind one of these computers, far away from the main action.

Mr. Aver stepped out. He held a large glass syringe in his hand. He pointed at one of the residents, a boy, and Bob the guard and Dave the janitor stepped forward and lifted the boy. They removed the gag, causing the boy to inhale deeply. He fought against his restraints, but they were too strong for him. Mr. Aver approached him.

“Isaac Mars,” Mr. Aver began, “You are a drug addict, an abusive boyfriend, and completely disrespectful when it comes to speaking with your elders. For this, you must be punished.”

Isaac struggled more, whimpering out of fear. His eyes couldn’t leave that long needle.

“Relax,” Mr. Aver comforted, stroking Isaac’s fearful face, “You won’t remember any of this.”

With that, Mr. Aver stuck the syringe into Isaac’s neck. He gasped, unable to move. Once all the liquid had exited the syringe, Mr. Aver removed it. Bob and Dave released him.

Isaac coughed as he bent over. His clothes, to Irving’s amazement, seemed to get looser on him. Was he shrinking?

Isaac’s scars and face acne disappeared as he continued to grow shorter. His face grew rounder and more childlike. His hair thinned to child consistency and his muscles deflated. His pants finally fell, along with his underwear. Isaac’s shirt went down to his knees, and then to the middle of his calves. Finally, he stopped shrinking.

“You have atoned,” Mr. Aver muttered.

Isaac took a step forward, only to trip over his shoes and socks. He stood up again on bare feet, his shirt tickling his lower legs. Mr. Aver bent down and lifted Isaac. He looked at him.

“You are now four years old, ready to try again at life.”

Mr. Aver handed Isaac to Tiffany, who put him in a makeshift playpen near where the residents sat captive. Isaac laughed and played with some of the toys that were placed in the pen.

And so this repeated, with Mr. Aver telling each resident of their crimes and then forcing them to return to childhood. Depending on Mr. Aver’s judgment, they regressed to various ages. The oldest was seven, while the youngest was a mere six months old.

Irving watched all this. He knew he would have enough to convict the man, but he still needed to get out of there without being caught.

Mr. Aver looked to the sky once his work was finished. He smirked. “I hope you enjoyed my performance Detective.”

Irving was immediately grabbed from behind and forced up. The combined might of Bob and Dave was too much for him to escape from. He was brought before Mr. Aver, just as the teens had been.

Irving drew a .38 Special. He aimed it at Irving’s forehead. In the other hand, he held another full syringe. He smiled again.

“You have two choices Detective.”

“And what choices would those be?” Irving asked. He attempted to punch Bob, but to no avail.

“It is simple, Detective. I can either kill you now,” Mr. Aver began, cocking the revolver, “Or, you can join the children.” Mr. Aver indicated the kindergarteners and toddlers playing in the playpen. Irving looked from Mr. Aver, to them, and then back to him.

“Why do you do this?” Irving asked.

Mr. Aver snorted. “I suppose I can tell you, since you’re either going to forget it forever or not live long enough to tell. These teens, they are mistakes. I intend to correct them by starting over from scratch. Is it not a noble goal? A delinquent gets taken off the streets, and a happy family gets a new addition.”

“What about the actual parents?”

“They have failed of course, as parents. If they allow their child to run off to hostels such as this, they are not fit to raise one. I can’t let you stop this Detective. If you do, the crime rate will rise once again, and you’ll only have yourself to blame.”

“But enough of this talk! Make your choice Detective! Do you want to join the children?” Mr. Avers screamed.

Irving looked from the madman to the children once more. He sighed.

He said.....

No? Go to Ending A

Yes? Go to Ending B

 

---