Andrew Bailey & The Eternal Maze

Chapter - 3

The room was silent, so very silent. The spotlight went out and all was left was a room with nothing but fear. Their big mouths were probably dropped to the floor and as I tried to find Alice, Michelle and Quinn, I felt like I had stepped on something under my feet. It felt soft yet solid. It was dark and that felt really creepy so I moved away from it while trying to find them, preferably it wasn't another creepy doll lying somewhere.

"Alice! Michelle! Quinn! Where are you guys?"

As I was calling them out the lights went back on and well, every single one of us nearly had a heart attack. There were now two nut crackers in the room. And one of them was right on top of a body. A literal dead human body. There were bloody foot prints all over the floor, apparently a few of us walked upon the crime scene without knowing, that was probably what I stepped on just now as well. And you can expect how people normally react after seeing a dead body. It wasn't that bad.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!"
"WHO DID IT?!?!! WHICH ONE OF YOU MURDERED HIM!"
"STAY BACK! ANYONE WHO COMES NEAR ME I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF!"
"ISN'T THAT THE KILLER, THE ONE WHO JUST THREATED TO KILL?"

"Everyone calm down! In the name her majesty and my country's security force, Scotland Yard, I will ensure your safety and find the culprit." A woman dressed with a coat and holding a badge declared to us.

"Oh the police thank goodness. We're saved."
"The police? Why would they kidnap a police officer? Are you really one?"

From a moment of relieve back to a moment to anxiety, the people in the room were actually quite easily influenced by the way the conversations went.

"My name is Emma Ward. I know that everyone is on edge and we have no idea what is going on or what happened to this person, however we still need to find out what happened to this person nonetheless, you may not trust me however I assure you I indeed am a member of Scotland Yard. Please leave this investigation to me. If you feel unsafe that someone here might have killed him, move to a respective distance away from the others while I check the body."

I thought to myself that she was indeed good at handling people. She could not prove her identity however she made personal assurance without using any sort of proof in the conversation. Whether she really is a cop or not, I myself aren't sure however I know that she has experience with crowd control, something experienced police officers usually have, but it isn't a skill unique to police officers so her identity as a cop may not be true as well. I walked over to the body myself and started looking for clues. The body had a single puncture wound to the heart area, poor guy did not even have a fighting chance. One strike and he was out. As I was about to check the body, Emma was glaring at me intensely. I tried to ignore the obvious glare and check the victim's pockets, I was greeted by a slap on the wrist by Emma.

"Sir just what are you trying to do to my crime scene?"

"Finding clues to the culprit?"

"I appreciate the help, however I cannot let an inexperienced civilian contaminate the crime scene."

"As you mentioned before, some of us don't trust you one bit. If you were the culprit, you could use the time now to get rid of certain evidence. Am I right? Plus, I'm sure the others would feel more comfortable if more than one person were in the investigation."

Emma gave a sigh and allowed me to look over the body as well. The wallet belonged to a Robert Dale, forty-three of age. Mr Dale had a name card in his wallet as well, an apparent professor at Harvard University. Quite a smart man apparently. Whoever killed him would have been close to him to have known his position due to the darkness however even so, to have accurately pierce the heart in that darkness would have been almost an impossible task, no matter how highly trained unless...



"Attention everyone, I have to ask this but did anyone actually see this man before the lights went out?" I asked while pointing to the body.

Everyone just stared at each other, none of them said anything.

"As I thought, it was way too dark to accurately kill someone with a stab to the heart in pitch darkness. Not even season pros could do it. There isn't any equipment that could help the killer do that in the room either. The answer is simple, this person was killed elsewhere. Rigor mortis has not set in, so he should have been killed not too long ago. This place that may seem not to have any exit or doors but since we all came from some secret shaft that dropped us here, the probability is there is a secret passage for this room as well. So during the time where the lights went out, the killer or killers adjusted the lights and place a really creepy doll for a distraction and when it went out they may have dragged the body in here, placed another nut cracker just for dramatic effect. Of course this is just a theory."

Emma just stared at me with her jaw on the ground. Her facial expression was definitely one for the picture books.

"I'm sorry, who exactly are you again?"

"Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Andrew, Andrew Bailey. You can call me Andrew if you'd like."

As I extended my hand out to Emma for a handshake, Alice got in-between us and shook her head.

"No way, I don't need more rivals. First that person Quinn and now a Scotland yard female cop."

"Alice it's just a greet-"

Before I could finish my sentence, a painting on the wall turned black and came back as a monitor.

"Hello, can you hear me? Oh good it's on. Congratulations on passing my little test, you have just proven yourself able to do basic deductions. Simply put , you will not fail at the starting point. Give your selves a round of applause."
A man with a mask told us through the monitor.

"Screw your test, who do you think you are?"
"That's right! Let us out right now!"
"Do you know who we are?"
The people in the room protested.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be civilized, there's no need to shout. I understand majority of you are not here based on your own volition however we aren't always given a choice. The people around you were all selected in a specific way, all of you are blessed in some way yet only one showed any intellect by solving how the man actually died. In a frantic situation, barely anyone showed any initiative about the situation except a select few and yet I'm passing the whole group to the next stage. What a generous being I am!"
The masked figure laughed.

"In the first place, why did you kidnap us here and what on earth are you talking about, what stage?"

"Oh I apologize, I've been telling this to groups the whole day, I forgot to explain to your group. Simply put, you are trapped here. Whether you live or die is completely up to you. The body you see right there, was a man who refused to play my game. That's why he ended up there."

"Live or die? Why are you making us play some sort of sick game by using threats?"

"Yes this is exactly a game. My game. If you want to take it as threat, that's fine with me. Anyways moving on, every game has an objective and rules. The objective is simply survive and reach the end. Whatever you have to do to survive, that's how you do it. Like every game, it's better to experience if for yourself what the rules are. There is no way to quit, there is no way out. You simply have to reach the end."

"Are you kidding with us? What kind of sick game are you asking us to participate in? Who do you think you are?"

"Asking? Oh no I'm afraid you're mistaken, you have zero choice in the matter. You were all chosen as players and you shall participate regardless of your will. Plus if you are asking about who I am, you could consider me the game master of this game. Let's see you could call me Pierrot. "

I thought to myself, more than arguing with him, I would certainly prefer more information.

"Pierrot, you mentioned just now that you have been telling groups about this so-called game. Just how many people or groups are playing this game?"

"Oh the very observant Mr Bailey, yes I won't indulge personal information easily but let's just say imagine it like an online game in the world of yours."

"Wha-" I was shocked. The possibility this game could have thousands of players is close to impossible.

"Okay enough questions, unlike you people, I am extremely busy. When this screen goes back being a normal painting, doors shall open all over this room, choose a starting point and begin the game. Goodbye and have fun."
As the screen turned back in the painting, people started panicking on which door to pick. Fear was already ruling over them.

"So Andrew which door do we pick?" Alice asked.

"Well first we have to meet up with Michelle and Quinn, then we pick a door that isn't crowded. Who knows what kind of sick game Pierrot has planned for us. "

As we grouped up, Emma came and approached us.

"Andrew was it? Do you mind if I came with you? Among the people here, I feel like your group is the most trust worthy."

"That's fine with me, how about you guys?" I looked back at the group and Michelle and Quinn looked fine with the idea, only Alice shot me a glare.

"Welcome to our group then Emma."

As I turned the knob, being a little afraid what was inside, it was simply a waiting room with a screen on it that said, standby.

As we waited the door the we entered from locked itself and from above five bags dropped from the ceiling.

"Ladies and gentlemen, before you depart, you each will have a bag containing basic necessities and random equipment. It could be something simple like a torch light or something dangerous like a weapon. They say luck has apart in every game and this one is no different. And with this, I bid you adieu and happy gaming. Let the games begin!"

D5 S