CHAPTER ONE - THE FOREST OF DEATH
In the middle of a forest in who knows where, A young man named Levi Haxton woke up, disoriented. He was striped of clothing except for underwere and he has a sharp pain on the left side of his neck. He found a post it note stuck to his body.
“If you wish to regain clothing, find the house that has been rotting.”
It was obviously suppose to be a riddle, but who ever wrote it must have thought that Clothing and Rotting rhymed. It was late at night, and Levi was freezing. He started moving to try and find a house that was rotting. After a long while of searching he finally found a house that seemed to be rotting. He walked inside and found a bag. Inside the bag was some clothes. A black T shirt and some jean shorts. He put them on and looked around some more. He found another note on a table.
“You might want to sleep, you’ll have plenty to do in the morning.” The note said.
Heeding the note’s advice, he looked for a bed to fall asleep, but he was unable to do so. He wanted to know where he was, why he was finding notes, and why they were telling him what to do. Eventually he nodded off and fell asleep.
The morning was bright, but it was instead the sound of yelling that woke him up.
“Hey! Is anyone there!” The sound of a feminine voice said.
Levi got up and poked his head out of the door. There was a girl standing outside of the door wearing the exact same clothes that Levi had. there was an IX marked on the her upper arm. She had short white hair, and was very pale and her eyes were red.
“Oh my god, there actually is someone here.” She said to herself.
“Who are you?” Levi asked.
“I could ask you the same question. The name’s Jewel, what’s your’s?”
“Levi.”
“Levi? Okay, I’ve got my eye on you.”
“What?”
“Oh… It’s nothing.”
“That’s an odd tattoo you have on your arm.”
“Oh this, it was there when I woke up. Looks like you’ve got one too.”
“Huh?”
“On your neck, you have a V tattooed there.”
“A V? What does that mean?”
“Well, It could be the letter V, or roman numeral for Five. I think the latter is more believable.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, there’s an IX tattooed on my arm, which is the roman numeral for Nine.”
“So does that mean there are Seven other people out there?”
“Could be… Or more than Nine.”
“Why would it be more than Nine?”
“Well, we won’t know for sure, unless we never find someone with an X tattooed on them somewhere, there could be more.”
“You have a point.”
“Yeah, and the number’s aren’t the only thing tattooed on us, There’s also a bar code under them.”
“What could that be for?”
“I don’t know, I guess only time will tell. I don’t think we should stay in one place for too long, we need to get moving. You never know what’s in these woods, plus we could find someone.”
“Yeah okay, and if you see any paper stuck to trees, it might be best not to take it.”
Jewel rolled her eyes.
“Slender Man isn’t real idiot.”
“I’m just saying.”
They both began walking through the woods together in hopes of finding something, anything even. As they were walking, Levi thought about the fact that he had dodged a bullet. There was one thing Levi wasn’t about to share with anybody. That was the fact that he was a murderer. He caught his wife cheating on him, and in a fit of rage, he killed her. Levi was on his way to prison when something hit the police car. There was a puff of white smoke, and he woke up in the woods. He then realized how much he wasn’t paying attention when he almost walked into a tree.
“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Jewel asked.
“Huh?”
“Well now I know you weren’t even listening to me!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, can you tell me again.”
“Yeah, I found something douchebag!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, what did you find.”
Jewel pointed over to a large cellar looking thing. There were two numbers on it, Three and under that was a Nine. Jewel held a piece of paper to Levi.
“Read it.” She said.
“Okay, You want the Numerator, to be the denominator, if this is not met, you will be revoked of your life. What does that mean?”
“Well, you’ve probably noticed that the majority of the notes have been riddles.”
“Yeah. But they aren’t really good ones.”
“You can say that again.”
“Yeah. But they-”
“I didn’t really mean it. Now, The numerator is always the number that’s on top of a fraction, and the denominator is the opposite. I think we’ll need the Three to equal Nine somehow.”
“Hmm… Well, if we multiply three by three, we can make nine.”
“Congratulations, you can do third grade math. I don’t think it’s as simple as that. It’s possible it could have something to do with our tattoos.”
“Maybe, but five and nine make-”
“I know what five and nine make! And plus, where would the three come from in that circumstance!?”
“Oh, you're right. So then what do we do?”
“Just… wait I guess.”
They waited for a while and no sign of anything. Night came around and they heard rustling in the bushes. Levi and Jewel looked over to the rustling and had looks of suspense on their faces. A hand came from the bush, followed by and arm. Two men came from the the bush and were confronted by Levi and Jewel. They all exchanged looks. They were both wearing the exact same clothes as Levi and Jewel.
“Um… Howdy.” One of the men said.
“Hi.” Levi and Jewel said simultaneously.
“Hi, did you guys perhaps wake up in the woods too?” The other man asked.
“Yeah. Who are you?” Levi asked.
“My name’s Robert, and this bucket of sunshine’s Dave.”
Robert’s hair was short and black, while Dave’s hair was short and red.
“Do you have any number’s on you?” Jewel asked.
“No, but we have letters.” Dave said.
Robert and Dave showed the tattoos on them. Dave had an I tattooed on his hand, and Robert had a III tattooed on his lower leg.
“Hmm. I see. so Dave is One, and Robert is Three.” Jewel said to herself.”
“What do you mean?” Dave asked.
“I think she means roman numerals.”
“Oh yeah, I know that.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Um, do you two happen to already know each other?” Levi asked.
“No, we just met recently. Do you know the pretty lady, she your girlfriend or something?” Robert answered.
“No, we just met too.”
“Oh, so your available then?”
“Shut up.” Jewel said.
“Um, guys, what do we do?” Dave asked.
Everyone looked at the door and saw a lever on the side of it.
“Do you think we go in there?” Levi asked.
“Probably, but there has to be something to have to do with the numbers.” Jewel said.
“Numbers? You mean the ones on our body?” Robert asked.
“No, but I think they will have something to do with it.”
“Like what?”
“Well, The Number’s are Three and Nine. I have a theory on how to get in, but It’ll wait till morning, we could all use a little rest.”
“So then we just sleep? Dave asked.
“Yes, go to bed, and don’t bother me.”
“Geez, Someone’s being a bi-” Robert started.
“If you finish that sentence, I will rip the lips off of your mouth.”
Robert did not speak after that. Everyone lied on the ground and fell asleep.
2: Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWO - THE FIRST TRIAL
It was morning and the sun was shining. Jewel woke everyone up by kicking them in the side. After everyone was awake, she began to everyone her plan.
“Now listen up, I’m only gonna say this once. If we want to get through the door, we need to have three people.”
“But we have four people.” Levi said.
“I know how many people we have. I mean, only three people can go through the door.”
“So not all of us can go through?” Robert asked.
“Yes. And it will have to be everyone except for me.”
“What!? Why don’t you have to go!?”
“Because my number is nine.”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything!?”
“Ugh, will you just listen. The number at the top, in this case is three, is the number of people that have to go through the door. Nine is the number that the people have to equal.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Oh my god. All of you, Dave’s number is one, Robert’s number is three, and Levi’s number is five. When you add those number’s up you get what?”
“Nine.” Dave said.
“Exactly, and there are three of you, so that means, we have three people whose numbers add up to nine, and that’s exactly what we need to go through the door.”
“I still don’t understand why you can’t go with us.” Robert said.
“because smart guy, If I go with you we’ll all die. Our number’s would equal eighteen, and there would be four of us. The number needs to equal nine, and there needs to be three people to walk through the door.”
“Okay, but how did you figure this out?”
“I’m… I’m just really smart is all.”
“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”
Jewel walked over to the lever and pulled it. A noise came from the structure that the door was on.
“The door has been opened. you have thirty seconds to meet the right requirements. If the requirements are not met in the given time, the door will shut forever and will never be able to be used again. Your time limit starts now.”
“Hurry, get in there!” Jewel shouted.
Everyone except for Jewel got into the room as the door closed. A red beam shined on them and a voice started to talk again.
“Requirements have been met. You may now move on with the course.”
A door on the other side of the room opened and they walked through it.
“Well what do you know, the bitch was right.” Robert said.
“I don’t think you should talk about her like that.” Levi said.
“So, what does it matter, It’s not like she’s gonna come in here and kill me or anything.”
“What ever, let’s just look around and find out what we need to do.”
They all looked around to find any clues. The room was a dark red color, and all of the furniture was black. There was also a lone potted plant setting in the corner of the room. There was only one other door than the one they came through, but when they checked it, it was locked. There was also a TV but no remote.
“Hey, well what do ya know, Let’s see what’s on.” Said Robert as he turned the TV on. “What the hell is this?”
The TV screen was completely red, but had a picture of a green rod on it.
“A green rod.” Dave said. “You think maybe we need to find one of those.”
“I’m sure we’d be able to spot a green rod in an all red room.” Robert questioned.
“Oh, right, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry Dave, it was a good Idea.” Levi said.
“And where would we find such an Item?” Robert asked.
“Maybe it’s hidden.”
“Yeah… Maybe!”
“Gosh! Could you just shut up for a bit!?”
Robert had a shocked look on his face and turned his attention back to the TV screen. His face changed to a sour look.
“Good. Dave, let’s get back to looking for that rod.”
“Okay.” Dave agreed.
Levi and Dave looked everywhere around the room while Robert lied around doing nothing. They practically turned the whole room upside down. After a while, they took a breather due to not finding anything.
“This would go a lot faster if you helped.” Levi said to Robert.
“I am helping, I’m giving off good vibes.”
“Why you!”
Levi jumped at Robert and put his hands around his neck. Robert was gasping for air and Dave was doing his best to pry Levi off of Robert.
“Stop it you two!” He shouted. “We’ll never get out of here with you both bickering!”
Levi sighed. “He’s right. Let’s just… Get to searching.”
“Yeah, did you check that plant over there?” Robert asked.
“Oh… No… we didn’t.”
Levi walked over to the plant and pulled it out of the pot. It didn’t have any roots, it was instead a straight stalk.
“Hey, you think maybe this is the rod we’re looking for?” Levi asked.
“It could be, stick that thing in the door and we’ll find out.”
Levi took the stalk and stuck it into the keyhole of the door. A small compartment near the door opened and it had a lever inside of it. A small hologram turned on on the door. It had two numbers on it.
“What’s this?” Levi said. “A two, and under that is a six.”
“Maybe it’s like the first door.” Dave said.
“Yeah, Looks like it needs two people whose number’s equal six. So I guess that means I’ll be stayin here.” Robert said.
“Looks like it just you and me Dave.” Levi said.
“Right.”
“Here, I’ll pull the lever for you guys.” Robert said.
“Alright, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Robert pulled on the lever and the door opened, the sound of the voice could be heard again, and it said the exact same thing as before. Levi and Dave walked into the room and the door closed, they were scanned and the second door opened. On the other side was a dark room that had some sort of machine at the end of it. Now they just need to figure out what it’s for.
3: Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE - JUST ONE
Levi and Dave walked closer to the machine. when they were about six feet away from it, lights turned on above them. A sound similar to the voice of the announcement person at the door started talking.
“Welcome Number… One… and Number… Five. You will participate in a little game called, The Pillars of Truth. You will have only two chances to beat this game and the door to leave will not open until the game has been finished.”
More lights turned on, and there was a chair sitting in front of them.
“The person with the smallest number. Sit on the chair and place your hand on the orb on the left armrest.”
Dave walked up to the chair and sat down. He put his arm on the orb. A steel brace closed on his wrist.
“Welcome number… One… Are you ready to begin?”
“Yes.” Dave said.
“When you are asked the following questions, answer to the best of your ability. First question, what is your full name?”
“David McCarthy.”
A noise that was like a ding sounded.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
Ding
“Do you have any siblings.”
“Yes. two to be exact.”
Ding.
“Moving on to round two. Have you ever kissed another human being?”
“Yes.”
Ding.
“Are you a virgin?”
“This is getting a little personal but No.”
Ding.
“Have you ever partook in a lewd movie or magazine.”
“Props for not using the real word, and No, I have not.”
Ding.
“Moving onto the final round… Round three. Have you ever murdered another Human Being?”
“No.”
Ding.
“Have you ever sold and Illegal substance?”
“Once, but I didn’t know I was doing it.”
Ding.
“Have you ever raped another human being?”
There was a small hesitation. “No.” He answered.
Instead of a ding, there was a buzzing noise. Dave shouted in pain. Needles shot up into his hand.
“What happened?” Levi asked.
“You have answered Untruthfully. The penalty is your life. You have been injected with an unknown poison. Because it is unknown, there is no cure. You will be dead in less than ten minutes.”
“Wh-What!? No! I can’t die! I CAN’T DIE!” Dave shouted. “LEVI, HELP ME!”
“I can’t, there’s no release!”
“Oh my god…”
“So, now that you're gonna die… You raped someone?”
Dave sighed. “Yes. But I didn’t know I would die if I lied.”
“Why? You seem like the nicest person I met here.”
“Levi, everyone has their secrets, and I was trying to keep that from everyone.”
“Will you tell me why if I tell you my secret.”
“I guess.”
“Okay… I’ve murdered someone before.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I caught my wife cheating on me, and I killed her.”
“Wow, I never would have guessed that.”
“I never would have guessed that you were a rapist.”
“I guess we’re both horrible people.”
“I don’t think I would say that. So, your story?”
“Right. Well, I’ll start with my childhood. I grew up in a small town in Texas. I had two loving parents and two awesome older brothers. At least I thought they were awesome, they actually got into a lot of trouble almost all the time, But I didn’t realize that until they were sent to jail for stealing from a store. After that, my parents sent me to a private school, and then I ended up going to a private college. I met this beautiful girl named Sevvi. We were friends for the whole four college years. Toward the end of college, I wanted to be more then just friends with her, but she didn’t. I don’t know what happened, I like snapped or something, and Well… You know what comes next. I was caught almost immediately, and I was being sent to deathrow. The bus I was in crashed and Then I woke up in these woods.”
Dave started to lose his focus, his eyes were getting really heavy. Within seconds he passed out and his heart stopped.
“Dave… DAVE!” Levi shouted at his lifeless body.
a small compartment came out of the machine. There was a large knife in the compartment. The cuff came off of Dave and he fell to the floor. The voice sounded again.
“Use the given knife, to cut the number off of the lost soul.”
“So… I have to cut off his hand?”
Levi walked over to his body and cut the hand off of his body. He put the hand in his pocket.
“You have one more chance. You may play the game again. Please sit in the chair.”
Levi did as the voice said. and answered every question. Since there was no other person, he had no problem telling the truth. The final bell dinged, and he was let go from the chair. A small card came out of a slit in the machine. on the back it said.
“If you wish to snack, head to the shack.”
“At least it rhymed this time. Oh great, now I’m doing it.”
Levi walked back to the door, and gave one last look at Dave. He got back to the red room with Robert, and they exchanged looks.
“Where’s Dave?” Robert asked.
“He was poisoned.” Levi Replied.
“Oh… How did that happen?”
“He lost a game.”
“I’m not gonna question that. We should probably head out. Jewel must still be waiting.”
They both walked through the other door and walked outside. They saw Jewel standing there with two other people. There was a small black boy with VI tattooed to the right side of his head. and a lady whose clothing was slightly different from everyone elses. Her’s was instead cut low to reveal cleavage. Her shorts were also shorter than the others. There was a IV tattooed on one of her breasts.
“These the guys you were talking about?” The lady said.
“Yes, but one of them is missing.” Jewel answered. “Where’s Robert?”
“I’m right here! I think you mean Dave.” Robert said.
“Oh yeah, what happened to him?”
“He died. But I was forced to take his hand for his number.”
“What!? You didn’t tell me that part! That’s sick man.” Robert said.
“Who’s everyone else?”
“My name’s Rhythm.” Said the girl. “The black boy doesn’t talk, so I don’t know what to call him. I’m gonna guess that you two are Levi and Robert, and then Dave is dead. Jewel told us about you.”
“So you two are Six and…” Robert started.
“I’m four.” Rhythm said covering up her chest.
“What should we call the kid?” Levi asked.
“Well, this is gonna be a stupid name.” Jewel said. “But we could call him Six, because that’s his number and all.”
“Better then anything I could come up with.” Levi said.
Jewel turned to the boy. “Are you okay with us calling you Six?”
The boy nodded his head.
“Alright, Six it is.”
“So what number was Dave?” Rhythm asked.
“He was One. His hand’s in my pocket. Oh, that reminds me. We got a card. It had a riddle on it like the others, But Unlike the others, this riddle isn’t stupid.” Levi said.
“What does it say?” Jewel asked.
“If you wish to snack, head to the shack.”
“Hmm, there must be some sort of mess hall around here.”
“I think me and Six might have seen one on our way up here.” Rhythm said.
“Do you think you could show us the way?”
“Six can, I’ll just walk in the back.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to risk them looking at my ass!”
“Ha ha, You know me so well.” Robert laughed.
“Six, do you remember where it is?” Jewel asked.
Six nodded his head and started walking off.
“Woah, hold on kid, Wait for us. Rhythm, I’ll walk in the back with you.”
“Okay, doesn’t really matter to me.”
4: Chapter FourCHAPTER FOUR - THE REST OF THEM
Six lead the group of five through the woods to find the mess hall. Levi walked with Robert, and Jewel walked with Rhythm. Six was focused on getting them to where they needed to be. Jewel had said something about sitting down and getting to know everyone. After hearing this Robert looked back at them.
“I know enough, I don’t want to have to know you any more.” He said.
“Well, we don’t know much about you, I’m just saying, if we do this, then we might be able to trust each other better.” Jewel said back. “Besides, I’ll wait until we know for a fact that we’ve met everybody. There’s still a two, seven, and eight, and maybe a ten, left to find.”
“Maybe we’ll find them in the mess hall.” Rhythm said.
“That would make things easy.” Levi said.
“So far, we’ve found everyone in pairs. Me and Levi, Robert and Dave, and now Rhythm and Six. If we find anyone, it will probably be a pair.” Jewel said. “This is all just speculation though.”
Robert had been walking backwards and tripped over a root. Rhythm started to laugh hysterically and Six chuckled a bit. This must have meant that Six isn’t mute, but is just really shy around others. Robert heard his chuckle and got up quickly and grabbed Six by the neck.
“SOMETHING FUNNY!?” He shouted at the boy.
Six shook his head with a scared look on his face. Robert pushed him away.
“That’s what I thought!”
“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Shouted Rhythm. “He’s just a little kid!”
“Yeah, I kid who's strong enough to survive a night in the woods alone! Everyone was alone on the first night! I didn’t meet Dave until morning!”
“That’s right, and I didn’t meet Levi until morning either.” Jewel said.
“Now that you mention it, I didn’t meet Six until morning either.” Rhythm said. “I guess he must be stronger than he looks.”
Six whipped some of the dirt off of him and continued walking. Out of nowhere a stick flew and hit Robert in the head. In the direction it came from was Six standing in front of a building. It was a nice looking building and it had some sort of locking mechanism on the outside. Six’s arms were crossed and he has an agitated look on his face.
“Good job Six!” Jewel said.
Levi walked up to the lock. It looked like it was what the key card went to, but before he could use it, the door opened. There was a man standing in the doorway. He had gray hair and looked fairly old.
“Well, Hi There!” He said.
As he opened his mouth, A II could be seen tattooed onto his tongue.
“Come on in! We’ve got plenty of room!”
The people walked in and saw three ladies sitting in various places. Two on a couch and one sitting at a table. One of the Ladies on the couch with long silver hair was giving Six a nasty look.
“Well I think we should get ourselves acquainted.” The man said. “My name’s Drew. These nice young ladies can introduce themselves.”
The lady sitting at the table spoke up. She had short blond hair. Her clothing was similar to everyone else's except the sleeves were cut off. There was an VII tattooed to her shoulder.
“I’m Nicki.”
The lady with silver hair on the couch stood up and spoke. There was a VIII tattooed to her stomach.
“My name is Silver.”
As she sat back down, the other girl on the couch stood up. She had short white hair like Jewel. But she had bright blue eyes. Tattooed on one of the eyes was an X. She spoke in a quiet shy voice.
“My name is Oracle.” She said and then sat back down.
“So who are ya’ll folks?” Drew asked.
“My name is Jewel, and this is Levi, Robert, Rhythm, and Six.” Jewel said.
“Nice to meet ya! So judging by your tattoos, I assume number One has still yet to be found?”
“No, we found him. He ended up dieing.”
“Oh, well ain’t that a shame.”
“Drew, I was wondering that now that we have everybody in one place. I would like us all to talk. Get to know each other so that we know who we’re working with. We might also be able to discuss why we’re here and how to get out.”
“Well that’s fine by me.”
5: Chapter FiveCHAPTER FIVE - BONDING SESSION
Everyone sat down in a circle and faced everyone. Jewel stood up and began to speak.
“Now we all must be here for a reason. I don’t know what that reason may be, but if we want to leave this place in one piece, We’ll need to work together. If we’re going to work together, we need to know about the people we’ll be working with so that we might be able to fully trust each other. So everyone will tell us about themselves. I’ll go first to make it fair. I was born in New York City. I had two parents and I was an only child, as you can probably tell, I’m albino. I usually have a parasol, but That was gone when I woke up in the woods. I was always one of the smartest in my class, and I ended up graduating high school early. I got a scholarship to go to a college that was about making computer programs. I guess I ended up learning it too well, because I soon taught myself how to create Viruses and Malware. I also taught myself how to hack into different types of systems. If we all had our phones, I could hack into them all in a matter of seconds. Now for the heavy stuff. In 2013, I developed a virus called The Hanenbow Virus.”
“I’ve heard of that.” Oracle said. “You made that!?”
“Yes… So, I ended up unleashing it one the entirety of New York City. It spread like a wild fire and in a matter of days, every computer in New York was infected with a devastation Virus. I was careless, and I was eventually caught. I was then on my way to jail, but before we even started moving, the car was filled with a gas, which I believe to be Methoxyflurane, I hope I’m wrong, because if it is Methoxyflurane, I take the risk of Kidney failure. Well, that’s about it. From this point forward, I want everyone to go in order from Two to Ten.”
“So I guess I’m up next then.” Drew said. “So, I grew up in Minnesota. I was never anything like an honor student or anything, but I wasn’t any moron either. I never really knew my parents, and My Sister was the one who took care of me really. My childhood was normal, but as I grew older. I learned of some new kind of game called Into The Dark. It’s a game where you make kid’s fight other kid’s to the death for money.”
“That sounds horrible.” Rhythm said.
“It… It was. So I had just suffered my second loss to that stupid Steve. I was desperate and careless. I ended up trying to kidnap the first kid I saw. It was kind of in plain daylight and I was arrested immediately. While I was awaiting my trial, a gas filled the room, and I woke up here.”
So far it seemed as if everyone had some sort of vicious secret. Perhaps Dave was right, everyone does have a secret of their own. Maybe everyone in the room was a criminal. The next one to talk would be Robert, when Drew finished, Robert started.
“Hey, So I guess It’s my turn.” Robert said. “So, I grew up in Los Angeles. My family was really poor, so My dad ended up having to work like, three different jobs. When I was sixteen, he died, and I had to start doing all of those jobs. Different ones though, I’m just making a point. Anyway, I eventually couldn’t take the pressure, and I met this guy named Hawk. He said he’d show me a way to make money. I was skeptical at first, and at first I thought he was talking about prostitution. Later, I found out he meant being a drug dealer, and It worked. I made some great money from doing that.”
“What kind of stuff did you sell?” Silver asked.
“Oh, Meth, Marijuana, Crack, you name it. If it had a name, I had it. I never touched the stuff myself, but It was money, and we needed money. About nine years later, I was found out by the cops, and I was being sent to jail. The car crashed and I woke up here.”
“Okay, my turn.” rhythm said. “So, I was born and raised in Seattle. I never knew my parents. I was raised in a foster home. Everything was going normally until…” Rhythm began to cry. “I’m sorry… This is just something I don’t normally talk about.”
“It’s fine, take your time.” Jewel said.
Rhythm took some deep breaths and calmed herself down. “Okay… So I met these guys… And… They… Did things to me… About a week later, I killed them, and I was tossed out of my home… I was desperate to survive on the streets. And I… I did things I’m not proud of. When I was twenty, I found this really nice man who took me in. As it turned out, He was actually some sort of wanted criminal. When he was killed, I almost went to jail for harboring a criminal. I was found innocent and was forced to go back to the streets. I was thinking of committing suicide, but every time, I couldn’t bring myself to actually do it. I then met another group of guys, who said they could give me a job. Being desperate for money. The job wasn’t what I thought it would be, I turned out they wanted me to go to DC and leave a bag full of highly toxic chemicals there and let them go out into the whole White house. The worst part was, I actually did it, well, at least I tried. I was caught with the stuff, and sent to Jail. The bus I was in was filled with a gas, and I woke up here.”
Here story left all of the other girls and Six with a jaw dropped face. It was a pretty tragic story, and It was clear that Rhythm had suffered the most out of all of them. Levi let the girls console her a bit a bit before talking. Rhythm was bawling her eyes out, but who wouldn’t if they were forced to relive a past like that. They finally finished and Levi began to speak.
“So… I grew up in Chicago, which is a pretty big city. I worked for a factory that I never really learned the name of. I had a nice wife, and one really good kid. One day I came home from work early, and I found her with another man. I got so angry, and without even knowing it, I killed her. I was horrified at it and I ran away. I was on the lamb for about five years. When I least expected it, I was caught. Apparently the guy who my wife was having an affair with had been helping the police to find me. He somehow knew where I was going to be, and they caught me. I was on my way to jail when the car crashed and I woke up here.”
“You murdered your own wife over something as petty as an affair?” Oracle asked.
“Yes, you don’t know how bad I feel about it.”
“I suppose.”
“It’s your turn Six.” Jewel said. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, I know you seem to be shy around us.”
“WHAT!” Silver shouted. “What gives the nigger all of these special rights!?”
Six had a hurt look on his face, he was wondering what he did wrong to upset her.
“Silver! That was uncalled for!” Jewel snapped. “Six doesn’t like to talk! So I was respecting his choice to stay silent! When he warms up to us, then He can talk.”
Silver crossed her arms. “Whatever.”
“Nicki, your turn to go.”
“Okay.” Nicki said. “I was born and raised in Montana. There’s like, nothing to do there, so I always got bored and was always looking for something to do. My parents were nice enough to let me play in the lake that was close to our house. One day when I was eighteen, we had a campfire. It was the first time I had seen a fire in my life, and I was just so fascinated by it. When I got my own place, It was In some sort of town, a small one, but it was a town. I ended buying this thing called a lighter. Because I learned that it could make fire. Then I started a fire on one of my neighbours house, And It turned out that that was something called Arson. I wasn’t caught until I did it three more times. I was going to jail, and a white gas filled the car and I woke up here.”
When she stopped talking there was a silence.
“Silver, it’s your turn.” Jewel said.
“I’m not talking.” Silver replied.
“You have to.”
“The Nigger didn’t have to talk, so why should I!?”
“STOP CALLING HIM THAT! He’s a human being just like you and me!”
“He’s no human, he’s a monster!”
Six began to cry. He had absolutely no idea why she was being so mean.
“What’s your problem!?” Jewel asked.
“My problem!? Fine! considering everyone here is a criminal, It’s not like it matters! I’m part of the KKK!”
“That makes a lot more sense.” Robert said.
“Maybe we should move on.” Levi suggested.
“Fine by me.” Jewel said. “Your turn Oracle.”
“What, but you’re number nine. Nine comes before Ten.” Oracle said.
“I know, but I already went, remember.”
“Oh… yeah. Okay then… I’ll go. I grew up in New York, but In Albany and not New York City like Jewel. I was always a shy child, and I still kind of am. I’m also quite sickly, and I go to the doctor at least three times a month. When I was twenty-one. I was at the doctor and he said that My Kidneys were failing, and that If I didn’t get a new one soon, I would die. But, my paperwork was invalid, and they denied me of getting my new kidneys. It’s too late now, I only have a month to live, not even a new kidney could save me, It’s already taken its course.”
“So you're not a felon?” Drew asked.
“I’m getting to that. When I found this out, I was struck with grief. I… I killed my doctor. I was sent to jail, and a white smoke filled the car… Then I woke up here.”
“So I guess we are criminals.” Levi said. “Well, I guess we don’t really know about Six.”
“Or Dave.” Jewel added.
“Well, actually, Dave told me his backstory before he died. Long story short, He is a criminal, he had raped someone.”
“What!? Dave doesn’t look like the type to rape!”
“That’s what I thought.”
“So now that we know about each other, What do we do now?” Nicki asked.
“I don’t know, I think we should probably take some time to think it over.” Jewel said.
“I think that can be arranged.” Drew said.
6: Chapter SixCHAPTER SIX - SEPARATION
The group sat and talked for a while, Oracle was off in a corner by herself. Levi was talking with Jewel about what to do next.
“We could probable stay here.” Levi suggested.
“No… I don’t think we would want to stay here for too long, in case we run out of food you know, then what are we going to do? We need to get out of this forest, It’s the only safe way out.” Jewel said.
“Yeah, I guess your right. But how would we get out?”
“I think we need to find other doors, After all, we went through one, and the others must have gone through one as well.”
“You're probably right… But how will we find another door?”
“We’ll just have to look.”
“Um…” A small quiet voice said behind them. “I think I can help.”
They looked back to see Oracle standing behind them.
“You can help?” Jewel asked.
“Yes, when I was on my own, I saw a door, It had the number then on it, but that was the only number on the door.”
“Maybe that means it needs all ten of us to open it.” Levi said.
“But there are only nine of us.”
“Levi has Dave’s hand, we can get through with that.” Jewel said.
“Oh… Okay… Well, I’m just glad to help for once.”
“You did more then help. I’m going to let everyone know.”
Jewel whistled and everyone looked. She told everyone that Oracle knew where one of the doors were and they nodded and followed.
Oracle walked out the door and the others followed. They talked to each other as they walked.
“Drew, I was wondering.” Jewel said. “Did you happen to find others in pairs, and were you in a pair?”
“Why yes indeed. I was with Oracle, and we found Nicki and Silver together.” Drew answered. “How about you?”
“I was with Levi, and we found Robert and Dave, then after that, We found Rhythm and Six.”
“Dave was the one that died right?”
“Yes, he was with Levi at the time.”
“With Levi? Do you think maybe he killed him?”
“No, he said he was poisoned.”
“Did he say how he was poisoned?”
“He… No… He didn’t.”
“Should we confront him about it?”
“No, we’ll just wait.”
Levi was walking with Six and Rhythm.
“So… I guess you’ve had it worse then all of us?” Levi asked Rhythm.
“I don’t know, I’m not sure if Oracle had it worse or not, but It’s not a competition.”
“I guess not, So Six, Are not talking because you're just shy?”
Six nodded his head.
“That’s what I thought, when I heard you laugh, I came to the conclusion that you weren’t Mute.”
Six shrugged his shoulders.
“So Levi, you think Oracle knows where we’re going?” Rhythm asked.
“I hope so.” Levi said.
They looked ahead to Oracle. She had stopped walking.
“Oracle, are you okay?” Nicki asked.
She fell to her knees, she was holding onto her body and was weeping in pain. Jewel, Rhythm and Nicki ran up to her with worried looks on their face.
“What’s wrong!?” Jewel asked.
“It… It hurts!” Oracle cried.
“Is it your kidneys?” Rhythm asked.
“Yes… They usually don’t hurt this bad… I must have been out longer then I thought. I… I’m going to die soon.”
“Come on sweetie.” Rhythm said. “You’ll make it out of here alive, I promise that.”
“I… I’ll try.”
Oracle brought herself back up to her feet. She got back to walking and Jewel, Rhythm, and Nicki helped her along the way. She was breathing heavily, but as they went on, she began to calm down. She lead them further and they came across a large door, with the number 10 printed on it.
“Looks like you were right Oracle.” Robert said.
“I… Knew it would be here.” Oracle replied.
“So this must be the door that we need to go through next.” Levi said.
“Yeah, and by the looks of it, I’d say we all need to go through.” Jewel said.
“But the door needs ten people, and we only have nine.” Drew said.
“I have Dave’s number in my pocket.” Levi said.
“How did you manage that?” Silver said.
“I cut off his hand.”
“Oh geez.”
Six pulled on the lever and the door opened. The voice sounded again and repeated it’s first speech. Everybody walked inside.
They were scanned and the second door opened. They walked through the door and ended up in another room with two other large doors in it.
The first door had a large 5 and under that a large 21. The second door also had a large 5 and a large 34 under that.
“Okay, I think I get it.” Jewel said. “Who ever is behind this wants us to split up.”
Six held a small slip of paper to Jewel.
“Let’s see… Ten will enter, eight will leave, Gather your thoughts, and gather your dreams.” She read.
“These are some really stupid riddles.” Levi said.
“That’s not even a riddle!” Robert said.
“So who’s going through each door?” Nicki asked.
“I’ve already figured that out.” Jewel said. “Dave’s hand, Robert, Drew, Levi, and Oracle will go through the first door. Rhythm, Six, Nicki, Silver, and I will go through the second door.”
“What!? You mean Six get’s to go with all the hotties!?” Robert asked.
“You… Don’t think I’m attractive?” Oracle asked.
“What? No, you're sexy as F***, I’m just saying…”
“I get it.” She said while blushing.
“Can we focus right now?” Jewel asked. “Oracle, don’t let Robert get too close to you.”
“Y-Yes Ma'am.”
“Good, Now, come on.” She said as she pulled the lever.
As Jewel pulled the lever, Oracle did the same for her door.
Both doors opened and the voice sounded again.
They walked through the doors and came to another scanning room.
When they were scanned the door on the other side opened leading to yet another room with two doors.
7: Chapter Seven
CHAPTER SEVEN - INTO THE DARK
There were two doors in front of them, just like the last doors, where were two numbers on each door. The first door had a large 2 and a large 7 under it, the other door, had a large 2 and a large 11 under that.
“I think I know how we can get through.” Drew said.
“How’s that?” Robert asked.
“Oh come on, you mean you haven’t figured it out for yourself yet!? It’s simple addition.”
“I think I get it.” Oracle said. “Levi and you, Drew, Have to go through the first door. And Me and Dave’s hand has to go through the second door.”
“I have to stay behind again!?” Robert asked.
“Yes. Now Levi, Are you ready to move on.”
“Yeah.” Levi replied.
“Good, let’s go.” He said as he pulled the lever.
Oracle pulled her lever as well. When both doors opened, the voice sounded again and gave it’s usual speech.
Both pairs were scanned and let into the next room.
The room that Levi and Drew walked into was cut off from the other room that Oracle was in.
Lights turned on and shined over a table with two collars on it.
“That…” Drew started.
“What is it?” Levi asked.
“These collars… They’re from Into the Dark.”
“That’s the game you were talking about right?”
“Yes.”
A voice started to talk from a speaker in the room, it was the same voice as the one at the door.
“Please take a collar, and put it on. When one or both collars are put on, the game will start.” The voice said.
“This isn’t good.” Drew said. “But we have no choice.”
“Why… Why isn’t this good?”
“These collars are full of poison, I fear that we’re going to be forced to fight against each other.”
They both put on their collars, after that a voice talked again.
“Your are about to participate in the game of Into the Dark. Your Collar will not unlock until the person standing in front of you is dead. You have a ten minute time limit to kill the one standing in front of you.”
“What!?” Live exclaimed.
“I’m sorry Levi, but I have no choice.” Drew said.
“What!?”
“Let the bloodbath begin.” The voice said.
Drew lunged at Levi and threw his hands over his neck.
Levi grabbed his arms and tried to pry him of of himself.
“I’m sorry Levi, I don’t want to die.”
“Can’t we just not fight?”
“No, When the timer hits zero, we will both be injected with poison unless we kill the other. I’m sorry Levi, but I’m not ready to die, not yet.”
With that, Drew ran at Levi once more. His eyes said that he didn’t want to kill Levi, but he didn’t want to die more than he didn’t want to kill. When he was in striking distance with Levi, he threw a punch that headed for his gut.
Levi grabbed his arm and threw him to the side.
Drew stumbled a bit and stabilized himself.
He ran at Levi again.
Since Levi saw this coming, He grabbed Drew by the head.
He got his thumbs in a position over Drew’s eyes.
He started to press down, Pushing harder and harder.
Eventually, Drew’s eyes were completely destroyed. It did not kill Drew, But He now knew that he was forsaken.
“Just… Do it.” Drew said.
Levi Quietly walked over to Drew.
He placed his hands on the side of his head.
He twisted his hands quickly and broke Drew’s neck. Killing him immediately.
8: Chapter EightCHAPTER EIGHT - THE ORACLE
The Collar detached itself from Levi’s neck, while Drew lied on the floor with a lack of life.
A slot popped out of the wall that had tools in it. Levi Knew what he had to do, It was the same thing he did to Dave.
He took one of the knifes and opened Drew’s mouth.
He cut Drew’s tongue out of his mouth and held it in his hand to his hand.
The voice began to speak again.
“Congratulations number… Five. Please proceed to the next room.”
He walked to the next door which had a one on it. He put Drew’s tongue down and pulled the lever.
We walked into the door and was scanned.
He then walked into a dark room with light only near the entrance. There was one other door to the side of the door that Levi walked through. As it opened, Oracle walk into the room. She looked more pale then she did before.
“Levi…” She said.
“Oracle? What are you doing here?” Levi asked.
“It’s okay, I understand, you did it so you could live.”
“What?”
“You killed Drew.”
“What!? How’d you know!?”
“I was forced to watch. If it was me, I don’t think I would have made it. But…”
“Oh… Yeah… That.”
“So… What do we do now?”
“I don’t know.”
More lights turned on. There was something like a conveyer belt. There were two objects, a large square and a large sphere.
Levi went up to investigate the contraption further. at the end of the conveyor belt, there were two holes in the floor, one was a circle shaped hole, and the other was square shaped. There was a fence blocking from Levi or Oracle from getting to the conveyer belt.
“What’s this?” Oracle asked.
“I don’t know.”
The voice began to speak once more.
“Welcome number… Five and number… Ten. You are about to participate in a game of matching. You must find a way to get the objects into their respective holes. Failure to do so will result in death. Do not overthink it.”
“What!? But the Sphere is closer to the square hole, how can we possibly get them into their holes!?” Levi asked.
“We just need to think about it.” Oracle said.
Levi paced around to think of how to do the puzzle. It was a lot more simple then he was making it out to be.
“How can we get that Cube over the circle hole!?”
“Um… Levi?” Oracle asked.
“Yes?”
“Did you have trouble with that one game when you were young?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, that one game where you have shapes, and you have to put the right shape in each hole, did you have trouble with that game?”
“I still don’t understand.”
Oracle sighed. “Did you try to put the square block in the circle hole.”
This made Levi stare off into nothing, Without warning he face palmed.
“I’m so stupid. We can just slide that block over the circle hole, and it’ll all be good.”
“There… You go.”
Oracle began to become a little woozy, and then collapsed to the ground.
“Oracle!”
Levi ran up to the feeble girl and took her into his arms. He body was almost completely limp. She looked wearily into Levi’s eyes.
“It’s… Time…” She said slowly.
“No… I don’t want anyone else to die!”
“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do about it. I was going to die in here from the very start.”
“there’s no way it’s too late! There has to be a way. We’ll get you a new kidney!”
“Oh… Levi… I’m so glad you think that… But…”
“But what?”
“I never had Kidney failure.”
“What!?”
“I… Suppose there’s no use… Lying about it now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll give you the full story… It’s true that I am dying, but I lied about why I was dying, and what I did. You see, I’m not a human.”
“What? How’s that possible.”
“I’m a Juric.”
“A Juric? I thought those only existed in fairy tales.”
“No… We’re a real thing. Now… You might recall… That I live in Albany.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay… Well, there was a Scientist there named Hank Harison. He knew that I was a Juric. He wanted my help to make a jewel called, a Jewel of Juric. It’s basically a stone that is full of Juric energy. Do you know what that is?”
“Not really, all I know about Juric’s is that they were in fairy tales.”
“Okay… I’ll… Tell you about us then… A Juric is a being that can control and produce Juric Energy. It comes from an organ inside of us called the Appendix.”
“There’s Appendixes in humans too, but it doesn’t do anything.”
“That’s how you know if your Juric or not, that and White Hair and blue eyes. If Jewel had blue eyes, I would think she would be a Juric.” For a while she didn’t say anything.
“Oracle!”
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“Okay, I should finish telling you about Jurics then huh? So… Juric energy is a universal energy, It can power anything. It can even be used to enhance a human’s performance. I think that’s about it. Now back to the main story then. Dr. Harison had me Put all of my power into a single gem, so that he use it for his experiments, I’m not for sure, but I think it was for his daughter. Anyways… We later found out, that putting that much Juric energy at once, is enough to corrupt the appendix. The effects were irreversible, and I was deemed forsaken. While I was in the hospital, I was overtaken with a white smoke, and I woke up here.”
“So then… You're the only one here who isn’t a criminal. Assuming Six is a criminal.”
Levi’s eyes were getting watery. He had grown to like Oracle. Seeing her die was like getting hit by a truck. Oracle wrapped her arms around Levi and tightened her grip.
“Levi… Since I’m going to die… I’m glad… That it could be in your arms…”
Oracle slowly closed her eyes. Her body began to relax, and within Minutes she stopped breathing. Levi gently set her down onto the ground.
He walked up to the machine which made him think even though it shouldn’t have. He pulled a lever and the conveyor belt started to move.
The cube slid right over the circle hole and fell into the square hole, and the sphere fell into the circle hole.
There wasn’t any slot that popped out of the wall. This meant that nobody was intended to die in this lack of a puzzle. Levi knew that he had to retrieve Oracle’s number, but that wouldn’t be all that fun for him.
Levi walked up to Oracle’s dead body and stuck his fingers into her eye socket. He grabbed a hold of her eye and pulled it out. He put the eye in his pocket and went to retrieve the body parts of Dave and Drew.
Already, three people have died. Or maybe more over on Jewel’s side. It became clear to Levi, that at most only seven people would be able to leave, or maybe even more, but one thing was for sure, Levi would not allow himself to die in this forest of nightmares.
9: Chapter NineCHAPTER NINE - He Can Talk
Levi walked through each door, to claim the body parts. He came back out and Robert was waiting for him. He has a bit of a confused look on his face.
“Where are the others?” Robert asked.
Levi threw Drew’s tongue at Robert and he caught it.
“II? That means?”
“Yes, Drew died in the last challenge.”
“And what about Oracle?”
“She died because of her sickness.”
“Oh… that… That Sucks.”
“Yeah. Let’s head out of here.”
Levi and Robert walked out of the door together. They came back to the room where Jewel, Six, Rhythm, and Silver were waiting for them.
“It’s about time.” Jewel said. “We’ve been waiting for like a half hour.”
“Where’s Nicki?” Robert asked.
“Where’s Drew and Oracle?”
“Touché.”
“I killed Drew.” Levi said. “Oracle died because of her illness.”
“Hmm, okay, Silver killed Nicki.” Jewel said.
“How could you know that?” Robert asked.
“Because Six and I watched it happen.”
“You just sat there and did nothing while Silver killed her!?”
“I had no choice! We were in different rooms!”
“The same happened with Oracle. She was forced to watch me kill Drew.” Levi said.
“Whatever.” Rhythm said. “Can we just find out what we’re suppose to do next?”
“First. Levi, do you have their numbers?” Jewel asked.
“Yes. Robert had Drew’s tongue.” Levi replied.
“Good, Silver, you have Nicki’s shoulder right?”
“Yes.” Silver replied.
“Alright, I think we should get going.”
“Wait!” Robert shouted.
Jewel rolled her eyes. “What, do you need me to dumb everything down again!?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just… A lot of people are dying. Shouldn’t we do something about that?”
“There’s nothing we can do!” Rhythm said.
“No… There is something we can do. and that’s to help anyone out that absolutely needs it. If someone is in trouble we help them.” Jewel said. “We need to trust each other.”
“Well that’s a little hard to do when you’re around a murderer, drug dealer, hacker, terrorist, and whatever Six is!” Silver shouted.
“You're not in the right either Silver! I will admit, what I did was wrong! But I don’t go around trying to make others feel bad for what they did!”
Silver’s face went red and she pounced on Jewel.
Silver was pulling at Jewel’s hair and trying to kick her.
Jewel was defending herself the best she could. Everyone else grabbed ahold of Silver and threw her onto the ground.
Jewel looked back at Silver and kicked her in the face.
She had the look of murder in her eyes.
“YOU BITCH!” Silver shouted.
At this point everyone was trying to keep Jewel away from Silver.
Silver got herself up and tried to throw a punch at Jewel’s abdomen.
Levi and Six held onto Jewel and Robert and Rhythm held onto Silver.
“CALM DOWN!” Rhythm shouted.
“This place is starting to tear us apart.” Levi said.
“We were never one in the first place!” Silver shouted. “You want us to trust each other, but that’s not going to happen, not with the kinds of crimes we’ve committed! Oracle was the only person here that I actually liked, with her gone, I have no one else to trust!”
“I hope you die in this forest!” Jewel shouted back.
“WOULD BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!” Shouted an unfamiliar voice.
“What the?” Levi and Robert said in unison.
“We are all in this together!” The voice said.
Everyone looked around. Their eyes fell upon Six who looked like he was losing patients.
“Six, was that you?” Rhythm asked.
“Yes…” Six replied. “I finally got tired of all of this.”
“Six, it’s awesome finally getting to hear you, but we need to find out what to do.” Rhythm said.
“Well, I have an idea.” Six said. “We just split up and take time to cool down.”
“I like that idea.” Jewel said.
“Okay, Rhythm and Rober, you can stay with Silver.” Levi said. “Six and I will be going with Jewel.”
“Fine.” Silver said.
“After we have calmed down, we’ll meet back here.” Robert said.
“Sounds good to me.” Levi said.
They all walked out of the room and outside. Silver, Rhythm and Robert walked off to the left path, an area the group had not yet explored. Levi, Six and Jewel headed off to the right path toward the cabin where everyone had met.
Jewel’s face was still a little red, but she was still beginning to calm down. She felt relieved that she got to go with Levi and Six, as they’re they’re really the only ones left along with Rhythm, that she can stand.
“Six, why didn’t you start talking till now?” Levi asked.
“It’s like Jewel said, I’m just shy. I started talking then because I knew we weren’t going to get anywhere anytime soon.”
“What’s your real name?” Jewel asked.
“Michael Truesdale.” Six replied.
“Can we still call you Six, I’ve kind of gotten used to it.” Levi asked.
“You can call me that if you want.” He replied.
“I’m going to call you Michael, mostly because I fond of that name.” Jewel said.
“Why?” Levi asked. “Did you use to have a crush on Michael Jordan?”
“NO! Why would I waste my time with sports!? It’s the name of my boyfriend.”
“I’ve got a random question.” Levi said. “Jewel, have you ever heard of Juric?”
“Yes, They're suppose to be beings that can control Juric Energy. It’s usually used to power weapons. There’s also a small class of Juric known as Juric Sentinel. There was only one of them and she’s dead now. It suppose to be classified information, but I got my hands on it. There’s also other types of species on this planet as well.”
“What are those?” Six asked.
“Dusk, Renoculous, and Channeler. A Dusk is a result of a genetic experiment, in fact, the first Dusk is what killed the Juric Sentinel. Dusk’s basically give the laws of physics a middle finger. When they Close their eyes they are in a state that nothing around them exists. They can use this to walk through walls, or seriously mess with your internal organs. A Renoculous is a being that can have strong optic or cerebral powers. There are a lot of rules with these things. They have to have four letter names, and there has to be a Y in there somewhere. This is because the first Renoculous’ name was Yyyy. Lastly, Channelers, While rare, are very dangerous. They’re incredibly smart and can control anything that has a flow to it. So basically water, electricity, energy, and even blood. That’s why they're so dangerous. Because they can stop your blood and suffocate you.”
“Why would stopping my blood suffocate me?”
“Because genius! Your blood carries oxygen throughout your body. If your blood stops, so does everything else.”
“Why haven’t those things taken over the world yet if their so strong?”
“Because they can only control one thing at a time. If you ever confront one, you have to make sure to have a buddy with you.”
“How do you know this stuff?” Six asked.
“I know where to find them… The files on them I mean.”
They walked further without saying anything until Jewel broke that silence.
“So Michael, What’s your story?”
10: Chapter TenCHAPTER TEN - TRUST
The group of three found a place to sit down. They found a small bench that was covered by the shade of some trees and sat down there.
“Okay Six, let’s hear it.” Levi said.
“Alright. So I was born in florida. but I was raised in Georgia. My family was really poor, and my father would get in debt for a lot of things, just because he needed the money. When I turned 16, I wanted to help us. so I went to the store and stole anything I could get to help. I kept that up for about 2 months, but then I got caught, and the cops arrested me. I was on my way to jail and the car was covered in white gas, then I woke up here. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, but I just wanted to help. I don’t know how my family is now, but I just hope that they’re okay.”
“I’m sure they’re fine.” Jewel said.
They all heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind them. When they turned around, they saw Robert running after them. His face had the look of terror on it.
“What happened?” Jewel asked.
“Silver and Rhythm got into a fist fight with each other!” He replied.
“What! That Bitch!” Jewel got up and started running in the direction that Robert came from. Robert, Levi, and Six came running directly after her.
They kept running for a bit and when they came across Silver and Rhythm, Jewel rammed her body into Silver and pinned her onto the ground.
“WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!?” Jewel shouted.
“Get off of me!” Silver shouted.
“We haven’t been away from each other for more then an hour and you just go on ahead and start fights anyways!”
“Can’t we just get along for once!?” Levi said.
Robert held down Silver as Levi grabbed Jewel off of her.
“Levi is right, we need to stop fighting.” Rhythm said.
“Shut up!” Silver snapped. “You’re the one who started it slut!”
“Hey!” She said with hurt in her eyes.
“What!? It’s true!”
“Guys, I see another door.” Six said.
“I see it too.” Levi said.
They ran over to the door. Robert was still holding onto Silver and Levi was still holding onto Jewel.
The door had a large Six and under that was a large Thirty Five.
“I see, looks like Levi, Silver, and Robert will have to go in, along with Oracle, Drew, and Nicki’s body parts.”
“Okay, then I guess we’ll have to leave some of the parts out here.” Levi said.
“That’s right.”
“Before we go. Did you notice that there wasn’t a prize at the end of that last one?”
“Yeah, actually.”
“Do you think that one only existed to kill some of us off?”
“No, I think the purpose of the last one was to get us to not trust each other. After all, It did try to get us to kill each other. So no, I think it would be a stretch to just say that it’s only to get us to die. Why else would the last puzzle be so easy?”
“Yeah, about that…”
“Did you seriously get stuck with that puzzle? It’s so easy that a baby could do it. Literally all you have to do is pull a lever.”
“Okay, I think we’ll go now.” Silver said impatiently.
Robert pulled the lever. The three of them walked into the next room.
“Levi!” Jewel shouted.
“What?”
“When you get out of there. I think we need to have a talk.”
“Okay…”
The door closed and they were scanned along with the body parts.
The second doors opened and they came into a room with six different doors that all said one.
“Great, even more splitting up.” Robert complained.
Silver went over to check one of the doors. When she pulled the lever nothing happened.
“I think they’re locked.” She said.
“Do you think we have to unlock the doors just like in the first challenge?” Robert asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t think it will be as easy, especially with Jewel gone.” Levi said.
“F*** her.” Silver said.
“Somebody needs to take a chill pill.” Robert said.
“You are being kind of irritable.” Levi said.
“Shut up or I’ll staple your mouths shut!” Silver said annoyed.
“Where are you going to get staples?” Robert teased.
“Guys, can we just get to the task at hand?” Levi asked.
The three of them looked around the room and came upon a fish tank with three piranhas in it.
11: Chapter ElevenCHAPTER ELEVEN - FINAL ROUND
The three of them looked at the tank of piranhas.
“What do we do with this?” Silver asked.
“We I’m not sure, but I think we’ll need to get something from it.” Levi said.
“Maybe we need to get something from that little treasure chest down there?” Robert said.
“Yeah, but there are piranhas, we can’t stick our hands in there.”
“You're right, there might be something we need to get in there with.”
“Let’s split up and take a look around.”
They all looked around the room in hopes of finding anything that could help. Levi found a little key, but that wasn’t long enough to grab the chest with.
“Did you guys find anything?” Levi asked.
“I found a small hole in the wall.” Silver said.
“I found a stick.” Robert said. “Hey do you think I’m suppose to put my stick in her hole?”
“No, I don’t think it’s that simple.” Levi answered. “I found a key. Maybe I need to put that in her hole.”
“You could try.”
Levi walked over to the hole.
He took the key and put it the hole and turned it.
A little hatch opened and there was a small hook inside it.
“I think I know what your stick is for.” Levi said.
“For reproduction?” Robert asked.
Silver smacked Robert on the side of the head really hard. “YOU MORON! That stick and hole thing was justifiable, But that was uncalled for!”
“Okay…” Robert said while holding his head.
“Can I have your stick?” Levi asked.
“Yeah, here you go.” He said as he handed Levi the stick.
Levi took the hook and attached it to the stick.
He walked over to the piranhas again.
Levi dipped the hooked stick into the water and lowered it to the treasure chest.
The hook attached itself to the chest and he lifted it up.
There was a rod that the chest was attached to. When it went up they heard a click.
“Do you think that unlocked the doors?” Levi asked.
“I’m sure of it.” Silver said as she ran over to the door and pulled the lever.
As she pulled the lever, the door opened.
Robert and Levi did the same with the other doors.
They were careful to leave the extra numbers back so they wouldn’t die.
When they were all in separate rooms, Levi was scanned. He assumed the others were scanned as well.
When the second door opened Levi walked into a room that was covered in white squares. The squares were in a grid of 5x5.
“What is this?” He asked himself.
A voice started to talk.
“Hello Number… Five. Welcome to the kinetic bombardment game. The squares in front of you will flash in a certain order. It is your job to step on only those squares. If you fail to comply, you will be shot with many Kinetic Bombardment Rods. After that, Death is sure to ensue.”
“Perfect.”
The squares in front of him lit up, they had a little music notes along with them. Each one getting higher in tone with each square.
The squares lit up one by one. First the one in the lowest left hand corner, then the one diagonal to it, then the one in the bottom middle, then the one directly above that, then the one to the upper left of that one, then the one directly to the right of that one, then the one directly above that one, and then the one to the upper right corner of that one. No more lit up after that.
Levi knew what he had to do, but he was very hesitant. One wrong move would result in death.
He walked steadily on the squares in order to reach the other side of the room. He was careful enough to walk on each square correctly. Before he knew it he was at the other side of the room.
As he was about to walked through the door, the ground shook but it wasn’t that big, and was likely nothing.
He walked through the door and saw nothing but a small podium sitting on the other side of the room.
A door opened from behind him. He looked back to see Silver walking out of the door.
She looked at Levi as if she wanted to kill him, but she was thinking that about everyone else too.
“I guess you made it out too then huh?”
“Yeah. Should we wait for Robert?”
“After we do whatever we’re suppose to do in here.”
“Okay, that sounds good.”
“So what’s that over there?”
“It’s like a podium I think.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, let’s just check it out.”
The two of them walked closer. There was a Key card sitting on the podium. The words “This is your ticket out of here.” Written on it.
“Oh my god!” Levi exclaimed. “This is the key out of here! We can escape!”
“Really!?” Silver asked excitedly.
“YES!” There was joy in Levi’s voice. It was the only time he had really been happy here.
“We should head back, let’s take Robert’s door so we can get him.” Silver said.
“Alright.” Levi agreed.
The two of them walked through the door that would lead to Robert’s room. When they walked in, the first thing they noticed was blood splattered on the walls and floor. When they looked closer, Robert was pinned to the ground. Metal rods were sticking out of all places on his body.
“Oh god…” Levi said.
“Live and learn, let’s get out of here.” Silver said.
“Don’t you care about anybody but yourself!?”
“No, I don’t think you do either.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve killed because of some stupid thing with your wife or whatever.”
“You killed too!”
“That was to survive, My boyfriend didn’t cheat on me!”
“WHATEVER! Just shut up and we’ll get out of here and you’ll never have to see us ever again!”
“I like the sound of that.”
Levi and Silver walked out of the room and back to the room with the piranhas.
They then walked through the door and came to the outside where they saw Jewel, Six and Rhythm waiting for them.
Jewel looked over at them and muttered under her breath. “Damn it.”
“We have good news and bad news.” Levi said.
“Give us the bad news first.” Six said.
“Okay, Robert has died.”
“He said to give the bad news first.” Rhythm said.
“I did.”
“Really? Then there’s nothing but good news.”
“Why is Robert’s death good news?”
“It’s just the way he treats women.” Jewel said. “But I would have been happier if Silver died instead.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Silver said mockingly.
“Yes.”
“Do you want the good news or not?” Levi asked.
“Yes.” Rhythm said.
“Okay. Brace yourselves… We can escape!”
“WHAT!? Really!?” They all said.
“Yes. So are we going to go find that door or what?”
“Wait.” Jewel said. “Levi, remember, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
12: Chapter TwelveCHAPTER TWELVE - ESCAPE
Jewel took Levi by the arm and pulled him aside. She had told Rhythm and Six that she was planning to talk to him when he got back, so they didn’t think anything of it.
“What do you need?” Levi asked.
“I want to make sure I can trust you.” Jewel replied.
“What? Of course you can trust me.”
“Yeah, it’s easy for you to say that.”
“Do you not trust me?”
“I… I don’t know. I just… You're the only one here that’s still both a murderer and alive.”
“Rhythm tried to kill a bunch of people.”
“Shut up, she was being forced to do that. You did it out of rage.”
“So what’s your point?”
“My point is… Did you kill Dave… And Oracle?”
“No, Dave was poisoned and Oracle died of her illness.”
“But how? How did Dave get poisoned?”
we were playing a truth game and Dave went first. When he answered untruthfully needles injected him with poison.”
“Are you sure I can trust you?”
“Yes, the only one here who also could have done the game is Silver, you can ask her, but seeing as Dave was the only other person that died before we met them. Silver must have been with them when they played.”
“Okay…”
Jewel walked over to Silver quitely.
When she was with her, she asked about the game.
When they were done with each other, Jewel walked back to Levi.
“Looks like your story checks out. I’m glad that I know you didn’t really do it. I’ve really grown to like you. I’m sorry for not trusting you.” Jewel said.
“It’s okay, I understand where the mistrust came from.”
“Thanks. So what exactly happened to Robert?”
“He was smashed with something called… Kimecit… Bomberment… Robs?”
“Do you mean Kinetic Bombardment rods?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Being hit with one of those wouldn’t be fun.”
“I can imagine.”
“Hey, can we go now?” Rhythm asked. “I don’t want to stay here longer then we need to.”
“Yeah, if we can go, it’s best to do it as fast as we can.” Jewel said. “But we still need to find the exit.”
“Should we split up?” Six asked.
“No, we need to stay together. Let’s say Silver finds the door first. What would be stopping her from going through it without us. It’s very likely that the door will only open once.”
“But I’m the one with the key card.” Levi said.
“And what if you find the door and leave without us?” Silver said.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Sure, you say that now.”
“I think Jewel’s right, we need to all go together.” Rhythm said.
“There’s no reason to even think, Jewel’s right.” Six said.
“Whatever, how do we go about finding it?” Silver asked.
“So far it seems like a lot of the doors were found in a continuous line.” Jewel said. “I think it’s safe to assume we can just keep walking and we’ll find it.”
“That would make sense.” Levi said. “That last one must have been intended to be the last door.”
“Yeah, stop talking and start moving.”
“Hey! Who put you in charge!?” Silver demanded.
“Me. Now shut up and start moving.”
“Fine.” She growled.
The group of five continued walking down the path.
Levi was walking with Six and Rhythm. Jewel and Silver walked on their own.
“What are you guys going to do when we get out of here?” Levi asked.
“I’m gonna check on my family.” Six answered. “I need to make sure they’re okay. What about you Rhythm?”
“I’m going to get my revenge on those F***ers that tried to make me terrorize the white house.” Rhythm answered.
“Woah… That’s a little dark.” Levi said.
Jewel ran up to Levi from behind.
She bumped into his back and snatched the key card from him.
“Huh? What was that for!?” Levi said.
“I see the door, hurry up!” She said.
The rest of them ran after Jewel trying to catch up with her.
As they ran they could see the door coming into sight.
When they made it face to face with the door, they saw that there was a number printed on it like the other doors. There was an eleven printed on it.
“Eleven? Why is an Eleven on it?” Levi asked. “Does that mean there’s an eleventh person?”
“That’s unlikely.” Jewel said. “If you recall, there was a door that required all of us to go in. If there is an eleventh person, that door would have had an eleven on it. Plus, having an odd number of people would be… Well… Odd.”
“Theres a note on the door.” Six said.
“Let me see that.” Rhythm said as she grabbed the note. “Any number of persons can walk through this door. Once the door closes, it will never open again.”
“So I guess we can go through it.” Silver said.
“Yeah.” Jewel said as she scanned the key card.
The door opened slowly. It finally opened all the way and the five of them walked into it. It started to close but before it could close fully, Silver lunged out of the room.
“WHAT THE HELL!” She shouted. “JEWEL, YOU BITCH!”
“What?” Levi asked.
He looked over and saw Jewel smiling.
The door was almost fully closed. Silver was trying to reach inside.
“YOU BASTARDS! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL!”
“Have fun in there.” Jewel said.
“I’M GOING TO DIE IN HERE!”
“Good!”
The door closed all the way and she couldn’t be heard any longer.
“Jewel, how could you do that!?” Levi asked shocked.
“How could I not? The world will be a better place without her.” Jewel answered.
“I can’t see any reason to not do it.” Rhythm said.
“I… I guess she was a pretty bad person, but then again, aren’t we all?” Levi asked.
“Yes, I don’t know a single person who can be classified as a saint.” Jewel said.
The room they were in started to move like an elevator, but sideways and not down or up.
They waited for about ten minutes and then a door behind them started to open.
They walked through to see themselves in a small deck by the side of a road. The area around them was like a luscious green plain. Flowers where blooming everywhere.
“It’s… Beautiful.” Six said.
“Hey guys.” Rhythm said. “It’s another note.”
She handed it to Jewel and she began reading.
“Congratulations.” Jewel read. “The opening of the door signaled a person to come and pick you up. He does not know what you have just been through, and he should not know. he is just here to take you back to civilization. It should only be about a minute to wait for him.”
“Looks like someone is going to help us out.” Levi said.
“So I guess we just wait?” Six said.
About a minute or two of waiting, they saw a car driving up to them.
The car came to a stop and the window rolled down. There was a man inside who had slick black hair and purple eyes. He had a kind demeanor on his face.
“You the guys I’m picking up? Hi, My name’s Eleven.”
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