The Keeper Exams

Chapter Twenty-Five - Team of One

Realm Two: Underwater Atlantis Maze

Team Purple

User: Rdmwrites

Name: Ripley Alician

I hadn't been fond of shark before, but with burning scratches and more than enough cuts in my arms and legs rom a series of white, endless rows of teeth, I really hated sharks.

The black glimmering door at the end of the pond would worth the ordeal, however, but i was sure there would have been an easier way to the door, rather than falling into a pond of black, sleek sharks. Alice bobbed next to me, gasping as she treated water.

"Rip, what do we do?" she hissed between her teeth, trying not to move too much. The Sharks had beady black eyes, like none I had ever seen before, and were simply hovering casually in the water for a moment. The calm before the storm, I thought. I was thin, maybe they wouldn't eat me. I would give them much food.

One shark advanced, a splash of water momentarily blinding me as it dived through the water. Something pulled in my skin tight leggings, and then something sharp was nipping at me. I pulled away, kicking wildly, but it was faster than me. I began to swim, trying to pull away, however, sharks are smarter than we give them credit for. It tore at me, and finally managed to land a good sized bite- into my side. Blood attracted more sharks, I knew that, so I began to swim. The black glistening find and sleek bodies followed me, and the dark water clouded with a reddish-purple color. I didn't even think twice about Alice, before I noticed her on the black sand shore, pacing nervously before a shimmering black door. Was everything here black?

I managed to pull myself out, clutching my blood soaked side. The red liquid soaked through my shirt, and the rest of my clothes were soaked with a mixture of saltwater and blood, the bite in my side accompanied smalls cuts and nicks ran up my arms. I was thankful for the waterproof style leggings now, since they didn't weigh extra with the liquid and weigh me down. Alice began limping a couple paces behind me, her pretty blood hair darker and stringy, stuck to the sides of her far. My hair was stuck to my neck, and I didn't have the need to pull it off, so I ignored the drops rolling down the back of my neck and into my shirt.

The black, shimmering door loomed in front of me. I reached toward it, feeling for a handle, before realizing nothing was there. It was empty space, and, unprepared for that, I fell through the shimmering doorway, landing on a hard, cool ground. A dull pain ran up and down my limbs, but I got to my feet quickly, wincing partially from the cuts and burns of saltwater in cuts, and partially from the fall and the embarrassment of falling. Four other people were in front of me, my including Alice, who fell through the hole just as ungracefully as I had only moments after. There was a tall, slender girl with knotted dark brown hair, and a shorter one with a straightened brunette style. A boy with curly black hair and a younger boy with silver-green eyes that stared right through me. Serena was the tall girl, then Loira, who had the same gift as Alice. Luke was the older boy, and Samuel was the younger one. And they were all on the same team, if I was correct.

I took a fighting stance, tightening my jaw, when a familiar and chilling voice filled the room.

What has keys but no lock, space but no room, and you can enter, but you cannot leave?

The room was silent, everyone torn between fighting and trying to focus on figuring out the riddle. My brain was working overtime, until something clicked. No, it literally clicked. The answer, that is. My face broke into a grin, and I turned to the door.

"It's a keyboard," I said confidently. "The answer is a keyboard." A silver key floated down, hovering in the space as I began to move towards it. A squeak against the ground stopped me, and a cold voice spoke.

"Don't move, Ripley," said Samuel, his voice seeming to create pressure all around me. "Or your ally goes." I turned suddenly, to see Alice frozen in pure fear, a small hoop of flames licking at her feet, and a maniacally grinning Serena a couple paces away. "Thanks for answering the riddle. Too bad you won't be making it out." He shoved past me, but I wasn't about to give up this easily. His mind was open, obviously not on guard against an attack from the inside. I found what I needed with ease, and flipped two mental switches. One, I turned off the boy's vision. Then, I took his memory of the first stage.

And Samuel collapsed onto the ground with a scream.

I raced toward the key, but a sudden pain shot up my leg, causing it to buckle under me, and sending me skidding across the room. Loira with her powers, I assumed. I lashed out, snipping at her memories quickly, using the more recent ones of pain- which were plentiful, I might mention. The pain in my leg dulled, but the pain through the rest of me, from skidding across the cool floor, stayed stronger. I could hear screams, and tried to hit someone else's brain. Loira's screams went silent, although Luka began to yell after losing feeling in his body. I pulled myself to my knees, just in time to see Alice stumble back as a funnel of fire consumed her. I let out a sharp breath, scrambling to my feet, but when the fire disappeared, so did she.

Alice was gone.

I screamed, running at Serena and knocking her to the wall with my shoulder. We hit the wall with a loud thud, like the sound of a body hitting the ground. It didn't take much more than that, I rammed her into the wall again, clawing at her with loud shrieks. Her eyes rolled back, and her body fell limp.

A sharp pain in my neck was what made me freeze, and a strong hand on my shoulder pulled me you. Luke held me in mid-air, with Loira a couple feet behind him, holding the wall. Samuel was on the ground, and I released his mind, since using my gift was causing a great deal of a headache. The boy blink a couple times, then started to race at me, most likely seeing his lifeless partner. I reached into his mind again, but I was knocked to the floor first. Everything hurt, and my head felt like it was splitting, trying to take control of three different minds at once. I managed to pull myself to my feet, and stumble over to the still floating silver key. I stumbled to the silhouette of the door, reaching out towards it, and fell though.

Only one team made it through the door.

I was the only one left on my team.