Four Little Nightmares

Chapter 8: Hunger

[Seven's POV]

I counted eight kids, all of them huddled together in a group between the two chefs. Their legs were chained together to prevent them from trying to run, though I don't think that was necessary; they all looked way too scared to move a muscle. A couple of the kids were crying, wiping their faces with their sleeves, while others wore a blank expression on their face, their incoming inevitable death making them too numb to even express sadness. I remember all too well how that felt.

I looked down at the broken chain on my own leg, a constant reminder of the time I was in their exact position. The memory of everyone around you losing all sense of hope, the sound of sniffling and gasps for breath from crying too much... the screams. I constantly tried to forget them, but every single cry for help stuck itself in my brain, worrying me that they'd be there forever. But the worst sound was the first thud, the sound of the knife slamming down on the cutting board, the sound of the first kid's death. The sudden silence of his screams.

Everyone around me screamed in horror, before one of the chefs grabbed the second kid, who was frantically flailing around, begging to be freed.

Thud.

Third kid.

Thud.

Fourth kid.

Thud.

I was next.

I remember the kid behind me, Theo, was probably one of the closest things I had to a friend before Mono. In the playroom, we talked a bit, often about what we'd do if we were able to escape. He wanted to grow plants and stuff, he was huge on farming. I wanted to live in a cozy cabin with friends, never having to worry about monsters again. We would always try and keep our hopes up, saying that one day we'd be able to escape. But at that moment, we had both given up.

The chef had finished chopping up the fourth kid, stuffing him into a loaf of bread for the guests to enjoy. And then it was my turn. But before the chef turned to get me, I heard another thud, louder this time. Theo had somehow gotten a knife to fall onto the ground beside him. "You're making it out of here Seven!" Then with one quick swoosh, he crashed the knife into the chain connecting me to the others. It broke.

"RUN!" he yelled. I remember losing control of my body as my legs just sprinted away, the chefs screaming behind me. I looked back as I ran, and one of the chefs had grabbed Theo, ripping the knife from his hand. The other was running full sprint after me, but that's when I noticed a hole in the floorboard. And as the chef's fingers grazed my back, I jumped in. I remember falling and hitting multiple pipes and planks on the way down, before crashing into a cold pool of dirty water. And that was it. All the kids I was just with, now a memory.

Theo could've freed himself, yet he chose to save me, some kid he barely knew. And that's what got him killed. I got him killed. I was the only one who escaped, the rest being slaughtered and eaten as if they didn't matter. Yet for some reason, fate chose me to survive. Why me? A stray tear fell from my eye as I looked at the new batch of kids about to be killed. They looked terrified, their eyes either closed as they sobbed or wide open from fear.

"Seven?" Mono finally asked after a while of us looking at the scene below us. "Are you okay?" No. The sudden memory of Theo, the screaming, it was something I had been trying to keep far away from my mind, hell I hadn't even told Mono about any of it. I remember feeling so helpless, just like the kids below. I couldn't... leave them like that.

"We... have to help them," I muttered, just loud enough for Mono to hear me.

"What? Seven you told me the chefs are super dangerous and shit, going near them would be a suicide mission."