“How did everything get like this?” Noah asked to herself, something crunching beneath her feet. She stopped walking and looked up to see a shop that had been ransacked, the contents of the building strewn about the road. Noah looked all around her, taking in her surroundings. The lack of people made the place feel more dangerous. She was all alone in the ruined section of the village, and with assassins after her, she would be easy to attack. 

After ten more minutes of aimless walking and getting lost in the confusing maze of streets, Noah finally stumbled upon a building that was mysteriously unscathed. It was as empty as the rest of the village, but at least the door and window were intact. 

She rushed over to it, hoping it was the district office or security forces. Her hopes were dashed when he saw the sign by the door. 

“Harrell Worker Hotel. They have a hotel for workers? Do they bring in extra workers from the outside?” Noah traced her fingers over the sign, recoiling at the layer of oil that coated the wood. The building was in a similar state, with reddish-brown bricks covered inblack oil stains.

The lights weren’t  on, and she couldn’t feel the presence of any people around, let alone a group of assassins. The outer wall’s steel beams, which scaled the whole exterior of the building, looked like they were about to collapse at any moment. She also noticed how it seemed to dominate over the surrounding houses. They were all two stories maximum, but this hotel had at least six floors.

As she examined the building, a sudden wave of horror hit her. She reread the sign over and over, and each time it said that she was by the hotel. But back at the crossroads, she saw that the hotel was in the west portion of the village. So why, in the north section, was there a hotel?

Now realising her mistake, Noah set off running back to the crossroads before anything else could happen. She didn’t get very far before she felt the first droplets of rain on her face. Confused, she looked up to discover massive black clouds in the sky.

The sky above had been overcast, but there had been no indication that rain was coming. And yet, there were the dark clouds looming overhead, threatening to bring a storm. As the drops began to fall more frequently, Noah ducked into the doorway of a house and watched as the rain poured down. 

“What is the deal with this rain!?” She said, sticking her out of the doorway to catch the droplets in her hand. To her confusion, her hands were turning black as oil landed on her palm. Rubbing it with her fingers, she felt a faint flow of magic. 

It took less than a minute for the sunshower to turn into heavy rain, the sky turning as dark as night. In front of Noah, lights from the hotel began to light up one at a time — the sight rather spooky than fortunate. With her arms crossed, she stared at the brightly lit hotel. “It’s like they’re seducing me to go inside,” she murmured. 

“Hurry inside the hotel! The lake is going to overflow again!” 

Noah looked up from her hand and peered out of the doorway. The boys she saw kicking the ball around were racing towards the hotel. She was about to shout out that they should stay away, when she saw a glimpse of light from the corner of her eye. Bracing herself for the storm, she left the house and headed up back towards the hotel. Whilst it was previously deserted with no lights on, now it was fully illuminated with the population of the village hurrying into it. 

As Noah watched people run past her, she remembered what the boy said about the lake overflowing. There had been oil all over the entrance of the village. Was the lake flooding that often that it left permanent oil deposits everywhere? 

Noah ducked back into a doorway to get out of the rain, and glanced down at her hand. Normally, a spell of this magnitude didn’t exist in nature. She pressed her palm together and watched as more people ran to safety. 

“Raining oil, a lake that floods on a regular basis, and the civilians fleeing to that hotel.” She poked at a puddle of oil outside the door. “Not to mention the hotel itself mysteriously lit up as soon as the rain started. Something strange is going on here. Maybe a purification spell gone wrong? There has to be a way to properly purify this place.”

The wind and rain picked up, battering her with oil. The last remnants of the village were scurrying into the hotel, and Noah saw that she had no other choice but to follow them. She ran back out into the streets and followed them. As she got closer, the same thought kept crossing her mind. Even if the lake was to flood, why would an entire village have to evacuate to this hotel?