The Garden Of Lair

PROLOGUE

The color red dominates the surroundings, as if the world is drowning in a sea of blood. The man's body lies on the floor, a gruesome tableau of crimson blood and bones. Each stab is like a gaping maw, narrating a tale of brutal, merciless attack. His lifeless eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, a silent testament to the terror he had experienced. 

The scene was a haunting image, a macabre dance of death that, for some, was merely entertainment and a reckless gamble. But for those who participated, their survival hung in the balance.

A chilling laugh, a sound both insane and brittle, shattered the silence. She emerge from the shadows, a woman with bloodstained hands, a twisted smile etched on her face.

"I-I did it..haha..hahaha" she whispered, her voice barely a murmur. She pressed her bloody palm to her head, as if trying to stem a tide of madness.

"W-where's the c-card?...where is it?!" her voice trembled, a desperate plea in the face of the horrifying scene. She frantically searched the man's pockets, her fingers were trembling while tracing the contours of the lifeless body.

"Seven...hahaha, finally!"

She stood up, her movements slow and deliberate, her eyes fixed on the exit. The air crackled with anticipation, a palpable tension hanging heavy in the room.

"Finally! I can escape this damn game!" her laughter erupted like a broken record, shaky and uncertain, but amidst the confusion, there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Just one more card, and it'll all be over!" 

The chipped paint of the door frame dug into her knuckles as she gripped it, knuckles bone-white. A quick glance at the luminous numbers on the wall clock – 5:50 AM – ignited a spark of fierce hope in her chest. Just ten minutes. Ten more minutes until she was free from this suffocating hell. 

Her gaze fell on a discarded phone lying near the door. Without hesitation, she snatched it up, her fingers fumbling with the buttons. She punched in the number, each digit a prayer. 

The ringing tone was a symphony to her ears, a discordant but beautiful melody of potential escape. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, a single tear escaped her eye. It wasn't a tear of sadness, but a tear of fragile, desperate hope. 

That hope shattered like glass against a stone wall when the ringing abruptly ceased. Silence. Dead air. She tried again, and again, the insistent ringing a mocking counterpoint to the growing dread in her heart. No answer. The phone remained stubbornly silent, a cruel echo of the silence that had become her constant companion.

"Shit!" she whispered, her voice full of despair. "No one's answering...What do I do? I'm not ready to die!"

"SHIT!" that scream escaped from her lips, a raw, desperate whisper. She slammed the phone against the wall by the door. Her breaths turned into weak gasps, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. 

"Shit! Shit! Shit! What am I going to do?!" she buried her face in her hands, the world shrinking with the rapid beating of her own pulse. "I don't want to die yet!" 

"It's almost six o'clock. If I just hide, they won't be able to find me, right?" a nervous laugh escaped her lips, but it was quickly swallowed by a wave of fear. 

"I'll just hide for now...but where?" she scanned the room, her eyes darting around, searching for any signs of movement, any hint of danger. A cold shiver ran through her body as she noticed a door on the left side of the hallway, near the window. It seemed to beckon her, promising refuge from the horrors lurking in the shadows.

As she approached the door, a glimmer caught her eye, a flash of light in the periphery. Like a lightning strike illuminating the darkness, it drew her gaze upwards. Her eyes widened — a golden card!