A Game of Ordeal

Chapter one

In the big city of Denver today, it was windy and cold. The strong wind battered the already blooming trees, breaking branches and swirling dried leaves along the bustling streets. The sun was setting over the majestic skyline, signaling the end of the workday for most people, but not for Elizabeth. The young girl was once again at home, diligently pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an artist. From a young age, she realized that her blood was filled with boundless love for art, deciding to nurture and work on her dreams rather than wait for miracles to happen. Hundreds of hours spent sketching, hundreds more on the computer and graphic tablets. So many successes and failures later, now she created art that she loved.
Elizabeth was unsure, haunted by past failures, broken by childhood teasing, and shattered by memories. As a child, people described her as "naive and overly kind." She was the child who would offer her cookie and apologize when it was tossed aside. That made her a target for most of the ruffians. Children were cruel, tearing up her drawings or stealing them to paste on school corridors to mock her.
Behind her walls of insecurity lay all these memories that she couldn't shake even today, but she had never allowed herself to give up on her dream - people didn't deserve to feel that sort of pleasure. Thousands of torn-up drawings, thousands of tears, many failures, and lots of fear - but this was exactly what made her so strong, and she was proud to have made it. Her family and all her friends were like her shield - they were the people who had supported her from her very first day - from her first drawing to her last masterpiece. It was a fact that Elizabeth had developed her skills extraordinarily in all these years, and had even managed to start a small business. Time was flying, and she was drawing and drawing. Her customers were increasing, and their admiration for her and her unique talent was increasing. Now her most important task was to develop herself and to fulfill her dream, without allowing anyone to break her.

Throughout most of today, Elizabeth was alone - her older brother Robert had gone to work around nine in the morning, and her parents had left for Arvada to meet old family friends. At home, it was warm and cozy, quiet and peaceful, and she loved such serene days. Sometimes, she needed to be by herself, with her thoughts, wrapped in the warm embrace of home comfort, to relax.

Today, Elizabeth had decided to set aside some time to work on her new website - a new place for people to get closer to her and her services. As she browsed through various designs, she endeavored to present herself and her art in the best possible way to impress her clients and followers. Experimenting with new fonts, colors, and animations, her eyes were glued to the gleaming screen of the computer. At that moment, her phone rang, the sharply loud sound echoing through the living room, pulling Elizabeth out of her dreamy portal.

Her gaze fixed on the small screen displaying Courtney's name - her closest friend. Elizabeth warmly smiled and slid her index finger up to answer the call. Through the phone's receiver came Courtney's cheerful, high-pitched voice:

"Hey, sweetheart. What are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing much, just working on the website. Bored, mostly."

"Bored? Have you forgotten about the cabin tonight?"

The cabin. Damn, the cabin! Elizabeth slapped her forehead loudly - lost in her own world, she had completely forgotten about tonight's gathering.

"Oh, uh... no. I haven't," she exclaimed, cursing herself silently.

"Don't worry, take your time," Courtney chimed in playfully. "I spoke with Alex, he said he's coming too. Robert is with us as well, right?"

"Yeah."

"Come pick up Alex, then swing by to get Rob from work. I think that's a good plan. What do you think?"

"It makes sense, but Robert needs to come home, take a shower, and..."

At that moment, the front door swung open loudly, and Robert and his best friend Alexander burst into the house. The two boys were extremely cheerful and smiling - they didn't look like they had been at work all day at all.