The Wheel

11. Veronica

I well remember that I was wearing a simple T-shirt and a pair of jeans at Chris' party, and now I'm dressed in a long black dress and black shoes. How did that happen?

"I would be a little cold if I had my T-shirt on," Miguel said contentedly, looking over his blue cardigan and a light-blue shirt with classic blue pants.

I'm amazed how serene this jollier is. Does he know something about this place?

I inspect a black cube, each side of which is covered with a bunch of black glass squares: it looks so geometrically perfect that it makes this place look very mysterious. For a second it calls to mind a movie "Cube", where a group of people got into a similar room only that one was brighter; and they were solving mathematical problems and were avoiding deadly traps. What if we got in the same place? What if we have to kill each other?! Following this logic, the only one who can get out of here is the one who will still be alive! All horror movies Sam and I had watched together came to my mind and I feel even worse! It's one thing when you are on one side of the screen, laughing because of the stupid things the heroes do, and it's another when you are one of them! What if we are trapped in here forever? Some rich psycho decided to put eight people in here and watch them starve to death! I feel even more scared! Anything might happen! I should breathe deeply as Emma said. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Damn! It doesn't work! I start panicking – I begin to cry and scream! It's bad! It's really bad!!!

"Hey, hey, baby, I'm here," Sam is trying to calm me down and kisses me. He is wearing a brown jumper with white pants. "It's okay."

"Sam, I'm scared! How did we get here? What the hell is going on? One minute we were having fun and the next I don't remember a thing. How can it be okay? We're dressed as if we are about to attend a dinner party! We don't know where we are! Anything can happen to us! Why am I the only one who is panicking? Why does nobody remember anything? Don't you understand that we may die soon?!"

"I understand, babe," he keeps kissing and hugging me, "I'm here, it's alright. We are all scared. Perhaps it's someone's prank. Perhaps, it's not that bad: we might be in a club where we went after Chris' party and locked ourselves in a VIP room! I suppose."

His words calm me down. I imagine for a second how I have to cut someone's limbs or gouge someone's eyes like in "Saw". Not that! Please, not that! I break free from Sam's arms and run toward the wall.

"Let me out!" I scream and knock on the glass wall. "Let me out, please! I don't wanna die!!!"

"You won't have to!" suddenly I heard a strange female voice that sounded like a voice assistant on my phone. "You'll just have to follow my directions."

On one of the walls all the TV screens lit up and formed into a bright image of a smiley face emoji.