Awakened (Ace of Darkness, Book 1)

CHAPTER SEVEN

I began groaning and my throat was throbbing when I tried to wake up in this blank, uncomfortable bed. My eyes try to open and I try to move myself out of it, feeling incredibly tired. It was difficult and my shoulders gave out, too, giving up what I had done in the past always wanting to win. Waking up in this bed was like the structure of a nest, and creaked floors together.

My eyes kept closing as my head turned around the pillow to see what happened. When I finally pushed myself up, I tried to see the light of day, but this time, it wasn't. Not fully the light of day, not like seven hours, either. It was still dawn as all the others were waking up, and there were twenty-eight of them.

My eyes refused to stay open while I was shaking violently to lift myself from the bed. My hair was in the way as I pushed it back, and my lips felt dry, and so did my mouth. My mid-to-long dress still moved across the bedsheets where it was comfortable to sleep in, but still a little warm. As the day was close to arising, possible fear forced my eyes open.

I was in a different place, a different area, and a new place I'd never been to before. The entire place looked like a royal castle, and the gold on the top ceiling was omniscient. It looked like a typical museum ceiling, and the floor was tiled, in a dark-shaded colour.

The beds were separated into different rooms, and the walls were white, with paintings on them from years ago. The rooms were cold, but some were warm. There was a staircase, that had the same colour as the floor, that led to the main hall.

The main hall had a lot of statues and tables pushed to the very back. Lightness stretched over the room, making it look bright crossing over. There were more stairs than one; curved, straight and vertical.

The chairs looked still and delicate; hidden rooms were few. Joker paintings were up for all to see. Cards are placed in different spaces. And so did the majority of them used for games.

I didn't know what was happening.
My thoughts didn't allow me to know what was happening over here in a multitude of minutes. It felt like horror inside and expectations outside. I got myself out of bed and saw the rooms; and then the staircases. This all led me to think of one question: Where am I?

And so did this place itself. That sleep session did not seem worth it. And that happened to me again. As I headed over to the stairs, I placed my hand on the dark, steel railing of the curved stairs, and so did the twenty-seven others that joined this game. My eyes felt fright for the first time since the joker asked me questions. Statues were over the floors when I finally got down. My legs were slowly trembling to the point I felt stiff confusion. An explosion of dismay was over the others when I finally got inside the main room.

This cannot be real. It looks like a castle to me. And so is this room. Where the hell am I? Thoughts raced over my head and a spray of terror filled me while the joker and guards walked into the room. They're going to find out about us being here. Is this a joke? As I stood still I looked at the other rooms and my eyes were locked onto the amount of times I saw the staircase.

I put my left hand on my forearm and began seeing the jokers. They were similar to the ones on the Joker cards. The guards looked the same and wore different masks with card symbol shapes. They stood still like us and began to speak. I was surprised that there were more than two contestants inside. Horrified by what I was seeing, I led myself to look at the joker and guards again.

There was Rika, and then Ericson, Aaron was there and so was Kyra, and then Carietta. They were contestants, and they were contestant numbers twelve, ten, five, eight, and fourteen. I was contestant number twenty-two. As there were twenty-eight contestants, the guards kept addressing about the game, and what prize we will get. They then walked away.