Survival Games

Let the games begin

          I never knew what happened.

          One moment I was in the courtyard, saying goodbye to Jane, the next I was in my cell. But it was different. My room was made of pure quartz, a single iron pressure plate in the center. My bed had disappeared.

         I DO HOPE YOU ALL CAME PREPARED, THERE'S NO GOING BACK.

         A shiver ran through my spine, and my hair stood on end as if electrified. I felt goosebumps rising in my flesh, my heart was pounding audibly in my ears. I don't know why it frightened me so, but his words sent a terrifying image of Ominous Death hanging over my soul like a shroud.

         Then the world exploded.

          A bright ray of piercing light flew through my cell, illuminating the pressure plate. I felt drawn to it. Almost of their own will my legs forced me to it. My first thought was one of bewilderment. My second of terror. I didn't have time for a third before my mind went black.

          Jane was standing next to me.

           Although the world was spinning in a confused jumble of motion, I was still standing. I looked at the ground and attempted to hold back my vomit reflex. I felt as if I had just quaffed a potion of nausea and rolled down a hill. I managed to sneak a glance at my surroundings, and the sight blew me away. I was in a glass tower, in a ring with the 23 other contestants surrounding a high mound with chests speckling its side. Around the clearing was a grassy expanse to the East, forest to the North, Mountains to the West, and a large body of water to the South. The others were all looking down at the mound, and I realized by their faces that they, too had simplified our predicament to one escape and one conclusion.

            Kill.