The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 81

Mark's POV

I woke up on a beach completely drenched in ocean water. I groaned, sat up, and looked around.

In front of me, there was the ocean, which stretched as far as I could see. The beach stretched out about a hundred meters in both directions before I saw more ocean. I turned around to find that behind me was a dense forest, my sword, and a backpack.

I stood up and walked to the edge of the forest where all the stuff was. I put the sword through one of my belt loops and opened up the bag. Inside was a blue hoodie that was covered in blood stains.

I stared at it for a second. I recognized it, though I wasn't sure from where. I set it on the sand next to me and looked into the bag again. The only other thing in the bag was a piece of paper. 

I pulled it out and read it to myself. 

Mark,

I must say, I'm a bit surprised you managed to make it this far.

Ethan and Robert made it through without a problem, as they've already seen everything they had to witness. However, you see, your other friends aren't doing too well.

You've been shrugging things off and not looking too deeply into the situations given to you. Felix and you came up with theories, but ended up deciding that you'd wait until you got your memories back to make any assumptions.

For this reason, your "Level Three," as I've heard it been called, will be different from what Ethan and Robert warned you about.

Some people (or a person) you will come across on this level will be real, instead of something I made up to trick and deceive you.

Good luck, 

Katherine, with a little help from RBM

I threw the note back into the backpack and stuffed the hoodie in after it. This had to just be another trick. A lie. Cry, Tyler, and Felix were fine. They had to be.

The signature was really the only thing that threw me off. Who was RBM? And why was that person helping Katherine?

Suddenly, a scream pierced through the quiet atmosphere. It sounded like the same person who had called my name after I fell unconscious.

I froze. If what Katherine said in the note was true, at least one person here was real. The person screaming—being punished, I assumed—was probably the one who rescued me from the ocean. Why would they rescue me if they wanted me to die? To be stuck here forever without my memories?

The person was in trouble, and the least I could do was find out if they were real.

I closed the backpack and slung it over both shoulders before I began sprinting through the forest. I followed the pitiful screams coming from the person I assumed had saved me.

The screams abruptly stopped. I skidded to a halt and tried to keep my breathing quiet.

I heard snickering coming from, what sounded like, a teenage girl, "He's coming. He must've found Katherine's note."

A boy stated, "He's coming to save his damsel in distress."

"I'll go find him. You stay here and guard the hostage," the girl replied.

I heard something rip before an Irish accent screamed, "Why am I a hostage?! And what the hell are two fifteen-year-olds doing in the middle of a forest?! What's going on?!"

"Don't worry about it. All you need to know is that this might hurt," the boy snickered before the guy's screams filled my ears.

I heard footsteps coming toward me. "Mark?" the girl called. "We don't wanna hurt ya. We're here to help!"