𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 ⎯⎯⎯ ᴿᴬᴵᴺᴮᴼᵂ ᶠᴿᴵᴱᴺᴰˢ

//、7˝

____ AWOKE TO the sound of chatter, they must've fallen asleep. The classmates weren't talking much but the room hadn't felt this lively. Skyla was in the corner of the room chatting with the 3 remaining survivors. An orange party hat sat on her head. It seemed like the others also wore a party hat.

In the corner of the room was a table, with a single ticket. ____ got up and picked one up. They looked around before spotting a weird machine, similar to a gumball machine.

They entered the ticket, a blue folded hat was dispensed. ____ held it before hesitantly placing it on their head. Why did they have to wear party hats anyways?

____ felt a tap on their shoulder and looked around, finding Skyla. "About time! I was running out of things to talk about with them." She pointed towards the 3 people she was chatting with before. "Do you know why we have to wear... these?" ____ asked. "Don't you remember? Make sure you redeem your tickets or something! I don't know, I forgot what our captor said."

"Huh, he did say something like that." ____ recalled. "Hah! I was right!" Skyla exclaimed. "So... What now?" Skyla shrugged, the other survivors following along.

A hissing noise was heard, it was obvious the sleeping gas was being sprayed into the air. The others panicked, but they knew they couldn't do anything about it. So, they succumbed to the sedative. Soon, ____did too.

〃--- ʿ·˒ ➳

____ was not expecting to wake up beside a giant building block. It seems the others were scattered around the corner they were in. ____ got up and headed over to Skyla.

"Hey, wake up." "No." Skyla said in her sleep, rolling her back towards ____. She was currently sleeping on the floor. "BITCH WAKE UP-" "OKAY SHUT THE FUCK UP." Skyla was now wide awake but annoyed as fuck.

The screaming has awakened the others as well. The new area was a change. Upon turning the corner, they were met with a stage, a bunch of balloons, and worst of all, Blue. It was just sitting there, back turned.

"I'm so glad you could make it." Neat! no ear-deafening ringing sound this time! "Get ready for some delicious goodbye cake." Cake? The small group looked around before ____'s eyes spotted a whole cake on top of some stairs.

"Once everybody gets a slice of cake, I'll open the exit and you can all go home." It sounded simple enough... But the fact that Blue was there made ____ skeptical. "Have fun in there..." It was clear that the kidnapper wasn't going to let them leave without a fight. Not literally though.

A balloon slowly fell towards the floor. The group watched with anticipation. It popped, and some of the classmates closed their ears at the sound. Blue stood up and ran towards the popped balloon, pausing slightly, before returning to his stage.

Okay, this was rather simple. Don't pop the balloons. There was a giant sign that said that as well. The group of five entered the balloon-filled area. With ____ leading the way.

Surprisingly, it was incredibly easy. Sure, some of them had to jump over some balloons, but they managed through. They walked up the stairs and spotted the chocolate cake. Most importantly, the door.

The group walked closer to the door and attempted to open it. Much to their dismay, it was locked. A couple of them groaned in frustration. ____ turned around and gazed at the cake. The kidnapper did say that once they had goodbye cakes, he would let them leave.

Upon closer inspection, the cake was already cut. Paper plates and plastic forks surrounded it. ____ took a plate and a fork before taking a slice of cake. The others haven't budged, all watching ____. It was clear that they didn't trust the cake.

With slight hesitation, ____ took a bite. It tasted pretty normal. When the group saw this, they went and grabbed their plates. Skyla sat on the floor, next to ____. The others followed suit.

It was... rather peaceful. The usual tense atmosphere had calmed down slightly. Soon, almost everyone was done with their cakes. Don't worry, the cakes weren't poisoned at all.

Everyone placed their plates and forks back on the table. They all stood up, wondering what to do next. A balloon slowly fell towards the table, and before any of them could react, it popped.

Blue stood up and ran up the stairs. The group made a team effort to try and break down the door. It wouldn't budge. Fortunately, the door opened up and they rushed in. They were greeted with giant building blocks, similar to the ones they woke up next to. A wooden plank sat on the top.

The door shut in Blue's face. But it was clear that it wasn't going to hold any longer. They looked at the pile, unsure of what to do.

Skyla made a look of realization. "PUSH THE BLOCKS!" She started pushing it to the side and ____ followed along. The rest of the group obeyed Skyla's commands. The plank fell, and just in time. Blue knocked down the door.

They ran up the planks and started crouching in the small vent. Blue chased them down. The group was immediately met with a left or right decision. Why now out of all times?

"THIS WAY!" One of them screamed. The group didn't question it and just walked behind. They spotted a red light and a small wooden plank. They took turns passing, but Blue was getting closer.

Several more planks blocked their way, they crawled under but this hindered their speed by a lot. Eventually, the group saw an opening.

Light. But they didn't have time to celebrate. The group crawled under a small opening under the fence. Some were scratched, but luckily, nothing too deep.

Blue neared them, and the group had to hope that the fence would keep it at bay somehow. There was no exit, behind them was a pair of locked metal gates. They stared at Blue and said their prayers.

...

The vent doors closed down on Blue halfway through. It crawled back before the vent doors shut for real this time. Was this it? Were they free?

It felt... unreal. They survived. A moment of silence passed before the group celebrated. They were free. But they were exhausted, both physically and mentally.

Skyla's once-usual smile had depleted, and her eye bags were somehow more visible than before. Everyone looked like shit. They were all covered in dirt, blood, bruises, wounds, you get the gist.

A lot of people were lost today. The group had to accept that. They were all definitely traumatized, how could you not be? The sun was rising, the group was at a loss. They sat down on the grass, unsure of what to do. One thing was for sure, they survived.

____ wasn't sure how long they sat there. It was dawn before, now it's morning. The silence was filled with a weird jittery sound. It sounded like a helicopter.

"THANK THE HEAVENS!" One screamed everyone stood up. There was in fact, a helicopter. It started flying away though, there wasn't enough room to land anyways. This time, a truck neared the locked metal gates. They were saved.

〃--- ʿ·˒ ➳

The group sat in the truck, they were interrogated and questioned. The route to ODD WORLD was shut down for inspection. And the group would finally go home. Everyone sat differently in the seats, but Skyla and ____ were by each other.

The truck started, and they were on their way back home. Exhaustion had already crept up on some of the students, including Skyla. Her head lay on ____'s shoulder, she had already dozed off. ____  glanced at her, before falling asleep as well. They were safe.

Thanks for sticking around to the end!  Looking back at the story, I realize how much I could've improved.
I apologize if you had to wait for a long time for the final chapter. I got distracted by a lot of things.
One day, I'll rewrite this story. Should I do it in a separate book or in this book as different chapters? Should I keep the old chapters if I do use this book?
Of course, I'm not going to do it immediately.
Once again, thanks for reading till the end. I learned a lot and I'm ready to write more in the future.