His Obsession

Chapter One - The Game

Jake Park woke up one day to find himself in a strange forest-like area, shrouded in darkness. But that was not the only thing, there were others. Soon he and a few other people were all talking to each other trying to figure out where they were and how they got there. The thing that had confused him the most was what was the significance between him and the other three people around him. Why would someone kidnap four people who had no relation or significance? But since they were together, they all decided it would be best to stick together.

I found out that the old guy was called William Overbeck, but he likes to go by 'Bill'. He is a war veteran that fought in Vietnam. Then there was the geeky looking fellow who went by Dwight Fairfield, he honestly looked like an anxious person, but he was the first person to tell us that we should put our heads together and find what is going on. Then there was the only female of the group, Claudette Morel. Real science whizz that girl, she just seemed like the type of person to run and hide in bad situations.

Then there is me, Jake Park, natural survivalist. My Dad is some big shot CEO for this big ass company and I always had to live up to high expectations. But I did not want that life, so I dropped out of school and started living out at the edge of the woods. So, it is a good thing I know my way around secluded areas with no chance of phone reception. We wandered the forest for a short while scouting the area to try to locate a source of life but there was not anything to be found.

'That's strange.' I thought. Even in a dense forest area like this, there should be signs of animal life, but there wasn't anything. But I kept getting a strange feeling that there was something watching us. We continued deeper into the thicket. Suddenly Claudette ran ahead saying that she saw something.

'She's going to get herself killed.' But she was already gone. I was a few steps behind the other men, making sure to have them in my line of sight. All of a sudden, my head started to spin, and a voice raced through my mind.

'Welcome survivors . . . You have been chosen . . . The game will start shortly . . . escape or die . . .' The voice vanished along with my spinning head. I was now more confused than before. Survivors? Chosen? Game? What did it all mean? Did it say, Escape or . . . Die?

'Jesus Christ! This is more fucked than I thought.' I raced over to Dwight and Bill, they too were recovering from what they just heard as well. They gathered themselves and we quickly searched for Claudette. We emerged from the bushes to find somewhat of a camping ground. Claudette was sitting on a fallen log, head in her hands. Clearly, she had heard whatever that voice was as well.

I asked if she was ok. She explained that she had stumbled upon this abandoned campsite, when suddenly a voice pierced through her skull, giving the same details that the men also heard. They were all equally confused but decided it would be best to make this camp space more useable. Dwight and Claudette found a suspicious crate packed to the brim with canned foods; well, we won't starve to death that's for sure. Bill collected discarded blankets and made makeshift sleeping bags, I decided to make a fire because I guessed with the way the temperature keeps decreasing, I do not really feel like freezing to death.

Later we were all gathered around the fire eating tinned soup when again we all experienced the same spinning in our heads, the voice returned.

'Let. . . the . . . game . . . begin.' Suddenly a thick, black mist started to envelop each one of us. When I opened my eyes again, I was alone and in a different location. The weirdest thing about it was, I could see glowing objects scattered across the land. I made my way towards one and saw it was some kind of generator, but it was not functional. I was so confused. Why would there be broken generators scattered around the place? As I thought this, I noticed something else. Something that made my stomach churn. There were large hooks placed everywhere as well and they were not clean. Bloodstains. Then my mind clicked. Survivors. Chosen. Game. Escape.

"Or die. Holy Shit." I Whispered. Whoever or whatever had brought us here, brought us here to survive this game, and if there are survivors, then there has to be-

A scream erupted from the surrounding area, sending chills down my spine. I quickly ran towards the source. I know, dumb idea, but I had to be certain that my theory was correct. As I reached the area where the scream came from, I hid behind a wooden structure that had a window. I peeked out to find Dwight belly-crawling across the ground, groaning in pain. Blood dripped down his face, he looked as if he had been bludgeoned. Just as I was about to go help him, a towering figure emerged from the cornfields. This figure was coloured like he was the shadows, it didn't have a face, only beady, glowing eyes were seen, and it carried . . . I couldn't really describe it. It looked like a disfigured skull atop a large stick.

As I watched on in horror, the figure hauled Dwight over his shoulder and started to carry him away. I followed closely behind but made sure I was not seen. They came to a stop at one of the many hooks that were scattered across this location. Dwight struggled and cried out for help as the massive figure dropped Dwight on the hook. The hook going straight through his right shoulder. Dwight screamed in agony. The figure not showing any emotion or remorse vanished at the sound of a bell. I was paralyzed with fear that I did not notice that something more sinister had manifested above Dwight.

A pair of spider-like talons appear from the sky and descended upon poor Dwight. I watched as he tried to fight off the talons from spearing him. But it was no use, Dwight lost his strength and the talons gutted him right before my eyes. Then they raised his body into the sky. Dwight and the talons were gone. Suddenly a single word passed in from of my eyes.

Sacrifice.

My knees gave out from under me. I finally understood what was happening. Survivors are chosen and are sent into a survival game of sorts. They have to fix the broken generators to open an exit of some kind to escape. But a killer also enters the game, their objective to kill and sacrifice the survivors to some sort of. . . entity.

'Escape or die.'

Little did I know that when you die, you come back, and the process repeats over and over. Like a never-ending game of cat and mouse.