Games Seem So Easy

Ch. 16

::Delilah's POV::

Stephano was leading the way. I tiptoed behind, followed by the rest of the boys. The yard was quiet, like someone had told everyone and everything to hush.

"Yo! You going in?" A voice asked obnoxiously. It was the black cat. The one on which you are supposed to save, when playing the game in real life. It's supposed to follow you for most of the game, so you can always save in different places. It laid on a tree stump, swishing it's tail and licking it's paws. Pewdie looked joyously at the cat.

"Hell yah! You coming with us?" Pewds responded, crouching to it's level, staring into it's feline eyes. The cat nodded slightly, then hopped off the stump and scurried away. Cry and Felix seemed calm, but Dan and Phil and Toby looked a little worried. Piggy and Jennifer were making out again.

Stephano stopped at the bottom of the porch step, looking at me.

"I'm not really used to having to open doors. Will you go in first?" Blinking, I thought about his question. I guess it made sense, he was used to Pewdie handling that part. I muttered a quick yes, and pushed through the door.

We came into the main entrance. There was but one door on the opposite side of the room.

"I remember this part..." Pewdiepie mumbled. Cry chuckled a little.

"It took you so long to get past that room." He said. Walking around Pewds, Ryan opened the door to the next room.

"Follow me, children." And we did. It was a very plain room he lead us into. Besides a single piece of paper ahead, and a circular spot of blood in the middle of the room, it was totally empty.

"Just a word of advice; don't step on the blood, whatever you do." Felix instructed, Phil and Toby nodded, Dan chewing his lip. We waited while Cry flounced across the room to fetch the paper. Snatching it off the wall, he hurried us back out the same door we came, muttering something about 'Star Wars' and trash compactors.

We walked out, reentering the lobby area. Two doors appeared on the left and right that I was sure hadn't been there before. Pewds spun around, screaming a bit.

"It's gone!" Sure enough, the door we'd just come through was blended back into the grandma-ish wallpaper. There was absolutely no trace of any door.

"Someone's a little scared..." Muttered the cat, strutting in. He lowered his haunches to the floor and began to lick his paws.

"No I'm not!" Felix replied stubbornly, scrunching up his eyebrows.

"I already beat this game!" He went on. The cat just smirked to itself, pouncing onto Cry's shoulder. He smiled at the kitty, patting it's head. It purred merrily.

"Onward!" Stephano yelled, charging off to the door on the right.

We all chased after, pumping our arms and churning our legs. Piggy was breathing like an obese man running a marathon.

"For the Bro army!" Cheered Felix, pumping a fist in the air.

"For the win!" Toby added.

"For staying alive..." Dan muttered, wheezing slightly. I squeezed his hand for a second, flashing him a look of understanding.

"For life or death." I agreed, my voice quiet but firm. It was a resolution. I didn't care what it would take, I was getting home alive. And soon.

• • • • •

When I let Dan's fingers loose, dropping them from my hand, he immediately turned away. Was he embarrassed? Horrified? I hoped not.

We pressed on, marching into the room Stephano had led us towards. There was a shiny stainless steel workbench that for some reason had a pair of fabric scissors chained to it, and a small filing cabinet. One other door was on the north wall of the room, but it was locked.

Ryan yanked open one of the cabinets drawers, lifting out of the mostly empty space a teddy bear. Pewdie plucked it from his grasp, snuggling it to his face.

"He's so cute! I will name him Stephano Bengt Junior!" He rubbed noses with the stuffed animal, talking in the same voice he did when talking to Maya, his dog back home. Cry took the bear away, holding it out of Pewds reach.

"Don't you remember the next part?" Cry asked Pewdiepie, looking pitiful. He waited while Pewds scratched his chin, confused. Suddenly, his face contorted in terror. He shook his head rapidly.

"There has to be another way! This is like 'Can Your Pet' all over again!" Pewdie whined, dropping dramatically to his knees. Toby patted his back, Dan and Phil standing befuddled across the room. Ryan gave Felix a look that said nothing but no. Felix dropped his shoulders, muttering what sounded like 'okay, fine'.

Cry shuffled back over to the work bench, lifting the scissors as high as the metal links holding it there would allow. He snipped off the head, legs, and arms of the stuffed bear, tossing the extremities aside and pocketing only the torso.

Even though I knew it was only part of the game, seeing the red at the severed edges of the limbs made me sad that we had to cut up such a cute animal.

It was the kind of thing I'd dig out of my closet when trying to find a pair of shoes or something, and then hug for just a second before tossing it back into the pile of junk-like items related to my childhood that coated my closet floor.

We all followed, much more solemnly than before, as Ryan took us to the door across the main entrance hall from the workbench room. Or, more accurately, the stuffed teddy slaughtering room.

As Cry's hand reached the knob, a single, penetrating thought bubble into mind. What if I ended up like the bear because of the Master? Worse, what if I ended up like the bear at the hands of one of my new friends?