Chaos Theorem

Chapter 19: Rise of the Beast

I've adopted a new paragraphing style! Please tell me what you think of it!

We pulled out from another kiss and looked at each other. Nate was blushing, as he had been for the last five minutes, and was fiddling with his jacket as if it were the thing keeping him alive. Living was something we were certainly doing right now, and I guess that was something that he wanted to continue into the future.

However, he also sensed the unavoidable nagging feeling, "Will's going to be worried sick about us. We need to get back to him as soon as possible."

"Yeah, of course." I nodded dulcetly.

Nate's face flushed again, "Is It ok if we don't tell them all just yet? I still need to figure out how to work a relationship... I tend to struggle with that back home. I don't think outside pressure's going to help me that much."

I was going to whisper something back, something sweet with a compassionate edge, but I was interrupted by the very boy we were going to go and find.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Will boomed. The way his voice cracked towards the end told me that he didn't shout like this often. He proceeded to show us his phone, fumbling to pull up the minigames app.

We'd been accepted into a game! When did that even happen? See, this is why I need focus; my brain turns to mush the second there are any distractions! Turning to Nate hastily, I could see that his own displeasure was written in his bared teeth and squinting eyes.

"It's still accepting entries," Will pointed out, putting his phone away, "But we need to prepare for the worst."

I tried to think about what the worst meant, but my bright eyes fell to dark as soon as I remembered that Tricky was in the room behind the boy in the gothic black mask. I ran past him and into the room, where I stopped at her slow-moving, weakened side.

Her fur appeared matted, and her eyes were sunken. Her leg looked better, but she still gave an impression that the pain was unspeakable. She was cursed, and it was me and Nate who'd cursed her.

I turned back to the two boys, "What do we do?!"

**PENNY**

Why did the arrows point to a derelict hospital? We had no clue. Well, it was obviously going to be a game, but what? This place made no sense.

"Do you think this game'll get you on the leaderboard?" Yenn asked, strolling casually up to me.

"I hope so." I shrugged, but then I straightened my glasses. I knew it would. I needed to be optimistic!

"I believe in you, dude." Ava patted me kindly on the shoulder, "But please be careful. We have no idea what could be in there, even without a game."

I nodded at her, and then turned to go in. Now was better than any other time, because now meant that we could do something before it was too late.

The first thing I noticed was that the doorway was bitter. Icy. Truly, nobody had been here in a sizeable amount of time.

Matt started to gush, "P- please don't forget about Stella, if the worst happens. I'd never be able to f- forgive myself if-"

"Hey." Adam stopped him, "We got her. Don't worry."

"O- ok..." Matt whimpered, and hugged himself apprehensively.

And the game accepted us all.

The lobby was chilling, in multiple ways. It was really cold, like we had fallen into a frozen sea, but also... well, this was definitely what the people on the internet meant by a liminal space. I could see the horror potential now, unlike ever before.