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The elevator doors open, revealing yet another seemingly empty floor. The halls are as ominously quiet as always, the silence has never felt so loud.
She was warned before they descended that no matter who they find here, just keep going. Teagan didn't understand the warning, not until she heard a voice.
“H-Hello?”
A voice that was unmistakably his. He had been missing for a while, and she had torn down almost every wall in Gardenview trying to find him and—
“P-Please…! Is anyone out there?!”
—He's here. He's here and it could only mean one thing.
“...Son?”
Glisten gasps when he hears the nickname, whipping his head around to find the source of the voice.
“...T-Teagan…? I-Is that really…?”
“Oh… My boy!” She runs over, cupping his face in her hands. Their mascara is ruined, and his makeup is even worse, but all she knows is that Glisten, her son, has been twisted. A monster, a shell of his former self. She didn't really care about that, though.
“I'm so… I'm so sorry, my love.” She says, kissing his cheeks, “Oh dear, you must've been so frightened. I'm sorry…I'm sorry I took so long…”
He sobs, burying her face into her boa. She pushes aside the thought of her feathered boa being stained, making her son first priority.
“A-As long as you're here now…” He rasps out, “Mother.”
Teagan cries. She sobs and she mourns. He called her mother. He's never called her that until now. She's never forced him to, but now, as he's turning into a monster, he calls her that. As if he'll regret it if he doesn't…
“Oh.. I'm happy you're here too, love…”
She stays with him the whole floor. She stays until the elevators sound off the alarms, ripping her apart from her son again. She badly wanted to stay, but…
“Ms. Teagan!”
Toodles needed her. Rodger needed her. Everyone else…
It felt cruel. It was cruel. His sobs still echo in the chambers of her mind.
She can only hope he's on another floor. Waiting.