How Long is Forever [COMPLETED]

Fool Me Once

The skewer drops down to the ground and rolls away from your feet, but your eyes still stare at the palm of your hand. You don't want to do this. You don't want to enter this room.

"I don't think it's a good idea to let them go," complains the schoolgirl, but Sweatpants thoughtfully turns around the skewer in his hands.

"We decided to do this, thus we have to accept the outcome. I would really have wanted to see the other room though."

Someone pats your shoulder, heavy and almost painfully. It's the big one.

"At least it will be harder for you to become best buddies with the King, eh!"

You don't pay him any attention. With eyes glued to the slightly opened door, you swallow heavily. But Sweatpants is right; it was your idea after all, so there is no reason to complain. And maybe having the power to decide means that you'll have a higher chance to survive? Maybe this is the way to get Chishiya and you through this alive?

Chishiya. You slowly turn your head around so you can face him. His expression is blank, unreadable even to you. The skewer snaps under the pressure of his fingers, the sudden sound making you flinch, and you can see the two ends both pointing towards you. The urge to hug him tightly is strong, to kiss him, tell him that you love him a thousand times.

But everyone else is waiting for you to leave, and you can do nothing but nod. He does the same, and you feel multiple hands quickly shoving you towards the door. Darkness engulfs you as the door slams shut with a heavy noise, but you realize soon that it's not completely black.

Since it's a surveillance room, multiple screens are set up in two rows, bathing the room in cold blue light. You can see at least a hundred cables being laid out all across the floor, and most of them lead to the only other piece of furniture inside. An electric chair.

"Oh, great."

The furniture made out of dark plain wood doesn't invite you to sit on it at all, but as you turn towards the monitors, you realize there is not really another choice. Every screen shows the same message, and it's demanding you to take a seat so the game can continue.

You try to open the door again, but it is locked. Of course it is. There is one more door on your right, but it's locked as well. Probably the exit if you manage to make it out of here alive.

Watching the buckles adjusted on the armrests and on the back just at neck-height, you sit down with shaky breath. Comfortable definitely wouldn't be a fitting description, and the cold wood sends shivers down your spine. You don't want to be here alone. If Chishiya was there to hold your hand, to tell you that everything would be fine, it would have been easier.

Even though you'd have known that it's obviously a lie.

Nothing happens as you sit down, and it seems that just doing so is not enough, so you lean back and put your arms on the armrests. The buckles close immediately, causing you to exhale a hesitant whimper, and the cold metal around your throat painfully reminds you of the collar you were forced to wear just two days ago. You really didn't plan to repeat this so soon, if ever at all.

While it doesn't keep you from breathing, it definitely hinders you from moving or from getting up in general, which alone would be enough reason for you to panic. But somehow you manage to calm down by taking a few breaths, and you don't stop telling yourself that you will make it out of this alive. No matter what. And the same goes for Chishiya.

The message on the screens disappears, being replaced by camera shots showing different rooms. The four upper screens show rooms that are empty, and from the huge carpets on the floors you assume it's the rooms for the card symbol doors. Heart carpet for the Heart door and so on. And the other cameras... they show the room with the rest of the players in it, every monitor from a different angle.