Call Out

Waking up in some room, somewhere.

Six students from the same school have gone missing.

If the game is to be completed, they may leave.

But, will they all be able to make it out?

This is a story of lies and manipulation infused with riddles. One may not be able to comprehend everything and many mysteries may still be left unresolved by this story's end. As for secrets? This place is full of them and I would know, so let's begin. This so-called game of puzzles was not what it seemed; in fact, it was already unfair from the very start, that is in fact how I ended up here, to relive such horrendous memories I had once experienced. Harrison Leblanc, dead. It's a pleasure to meet you, as a narrator I'll be voicing the following events from here on out.

Hidden in the depths, where no sunlight dared overlap shadows of the kind, there lay a boy by the name of Fern, nearing his grasp on the situation once he had awakened from his violent slumber. His head was throbbing in pain.

Whilst Fern's unconscious state remained irrelevant, he wasn't the only presence in this cellar. Five late teens all belonging to the same institution, were in a state of panic, striding about or at least, on edge about the uncomfortable room, confused by their surroundings and praying for an answer of how they would possibly escape this place alive.

He caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eyes while digging at the filth stuck between his shoe's soles, Johnathan realised that the last one of their group was awake.

"You're finally awake, eh?" Johnathan warmly welcomed Fern, easing him to stand up after being left face-planted on the rugged wooden floor. Johnathan brushed the dirt off his ripped jeans, mindful that this place was as dusty as an attic. Fern's rigid body stood there, blank. Johnathan gave him a friendly pat on the back before questioning, "Do you have any idea why we were all brought here?" he replied ever so calmly.

Fern blinked once, twice, before properly registering the silhouette of the boy standing in front of him who ​​appeared around his age with chestnut hair. Lurking about in the background were two other people inspecting the suspicious maple shelf, they all seemed to be in their casual clothes including Johnathan. Count it to six if you add me to it. Filling in the fifth seat, there was a girl glued flat on the floor, completely passive to the situation. She didn't seem to care.

Susana sighed, she sighed some more before closing her eyes. Man, I hate breathing, she noted to herself, puffing the loose strands of dark hair concealing her sight. She scrolled through her imaginary emote hotbar for a position that was more comfortable and suited to catch some z's. Susana was more or less like a robot, alive but soulless except that she couldn't be bothered at all to be 'motivated' for anything, that element of sloth rounded up her imperfect humanity.

To put the context into perspective, the furnished room was essentially fully made of wood, from pressed planks of... the sort of kind where you would be able to find at inexpensive furniture stores; essentially crafted from compressed sawdust and scraps, akin to a film set, one quickly built up overnight. The walls were coloured fiercely black, though one of the walls were left incomplete due to the lack of paint, the lighting could be easily retraced back to a singular bulb with a metal string attached to the oppressive ceiling. Intentional or not, the interior seemed lacklustre and poorly taken care of — a green English arm roll sofa had suspicious burn marks scorched onto the worn-out fabric, a shelf with assortments of books and rotting figurines and an infested turkey red carpet where Fern found most of his time conjoined to when he was out unconscious. Scented with a lingering waft of tobacco, the sheer white linen curtains shielded one out of four empty walls. Similar to a game developer lacking the solution of a complete interior, they had resorted to placing barrels and crates to work the magic of filling in the space. The first room was meant to serve as a lobby, a greeting, almost a tutorial puzzle of sorts for the brand-new captured players.