Capewood (Book I) *Completed*

Autumn

We woke up to the banging of pots and pans sounding throughout the cell. The girl that calls herself the Reaper is standing with her scythe at the door's entrance, and she twirls her hair with her fingers as she watches others in china doll masks get us up and ready for whatever sick plan they have. 

"Alright, Maggots," says a man that has a chiseled body. He's tall, maybe standing at about 6'4. His biceps stretch the edge of his shirt sleeve, and you can very clearly see every muscle highlighted everywhere else. 

"It's time for our fun to begin. Get up and stand against the wall. If you fight us, you'll regret it. So be smart." he says. 

We all get up and stand against the wall without protest. The boy named Julian, who I may or may not have cuddled up to during the night, grabs ahold of my hand and pulls me back towards the wall.

I know it isn't smart, and I know nothing can come of this given our situation, but I can't help but feel some sort of... connection to him. He's the only person here I want to talk to, and even though I know one or both of us will die soon, I couldn't resist cuddling up to him last night.

Snap out of it, Autumn. You're in a fight for your life.

 "Awh, isn't that cute," says the guy noticing the handhold between Julian and me. "Just in time to watch each other die," 

He throws my hand down and turns away from me on the wall. "It isn't like that," he says. 

Ouch. 

"Could have fooled me," says the strong man.

His words fill my ears, and I know they shouldn't hurt my feelings. We barely talked last night, but the way he pulled me closer to him while we were going to sleep. The way he let me lean on his chest and wrapped his arm around me last night, it's not something you can just make up. 

Autumn, you'll have time for boys after you win. 

 "Once you're against the wall hold out your arm," he says addressing the whole group. We hold our arms out, and they pull out several syringes. They begin to inject people with the contents of the syringe and when it gets to me the china doll mask smiles at me with a grin. "Aren't you just a pretty little thing," they whisper to me as the clean my arm with alcohol. 

"You know we took a bet," says the china doll face. "We think that your good looks will serve you well in the competition. But we suspect you to fall at a solid 7th place. My money is on her," he says pointing to the girl named Alicia from last night. "If not her then maybe that one over there," he says pointing to Katherine. Whatever they injected us with is already affecting her, and she lies passed out on the floor. The china doll mask working on Katherine pulls out a longer needle. He sticks it into her ankle, and she winces as a gust of air sounds from the device.

"What did you put in her?" I ask concerned.

"Not just her, Autumn," says the china doll mask. "But you too. It's a tracker. So when we get you to our space, you'll be able to have tabs on you." 

Trackers? Now we aren't only being caged like prisoners but herded like cattle. These people indeed are crazy. 

"Good luck," they say as the stick me with the syringe. 

The contents begin to make me feel woozy as I start to lose balance and control of my body. The guy named Julian is already lying down passed out on the floor next to me. I try to fight it, but the drugs are coursing through my veins and become too much for me. My consciousness gives way, and I fall over. My eyes flutter, and I give way to the drugs. 

I wake to an ear-splitting scream. My head is throbbing, and it feels like someone is using a jackhammer on my brain. The first thing I notice is once again my leg is chained. It's a heavy chain, but this one is a lot longer than the one I was attached to when I woke up in this nightmare. My eyes start to fall into focus, and the room begins not to be as foggy. 

The room is bare other than the other contestants and me. There is a door at the corner of the room that is closed. It's a grey tiled floor, and there's very little light seeping through the window. Something about the outside of the window seems off, and as I stare at the glass, my eyes bulge out of my head. "Is that a-"

"It's a fish," says the boy named Julian. He is crouched against the wall next to me. He looks just as bad as I do right now with his face in his hands. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm almost one hundred percent positive that we are underwater." 

Underwater? How is that even possible? "What are we going to do?" I ask him. "How long have we been unconscious?"

"I woke up about 5 minutes before you did," he groans. "My head is hurting worse than the first time we woke up with whatever this crap is in our systems. I feel like someone is ripping my skull open." 

"That's because you're dehydrated." says the chilling voice of Eros.

We didn't even hear him come in. It's scary how quiet and creepy he is.

 He walks down the wall we are chained up to and begins to throw water onto the people who have not yet woken up. A couple of minutes later we are all sitting staring at him while he chuckles to himself against the opposite wall. 

"I told you that you'd need sleep last night, didn't I?" he asks. "This is the start of what could be the rest of your lives, literally." He chuckles when he says that and anger boils up inside of me. Who does he think he is playing God like this? "The game has begun, contestants. Only one of you will survive and leave Capewood alive."

"What if we refuse to play?" asks Julian from next to me. 

"Yeah," I pipe up, so Julian doesn't feel alone talking to him. "What if we don't kill each other? What are you going to do?"

"Force your hand," says Eros with glee.

"I thought we'd have that issue," says Eros continuing. "I was hoping to bypass this little exercise, but I need to show you who is in charge here." He removes a set of keys from his pockets and then smiles as he throws them off the ground. I notice a faint noise of dripping somewhere in the room. When my eyes adjust, I see water droplets leaking from the window.

"Holy crap," says Katherine loudly enough for the entire room to hear.

 "There are 11 keys on this key ring," says Eros. "Once you use one of the keys, it will break off into your lock. It can't be used again. The exit to the room is right there," he says pointing to the door in the corner. "It will remain unlocked. If you get unchained, I suggest you leave. Because as you see, this room will be filled with water shortly. All you have to do is go up the stairs." 

"That means one of us will-" begins Katherine as she looks at everyone in the group in horror.

"Yes, Ms. LaClair," he says. "One of you will drown."

I've been trying to convince myself that this wasn't real. That this was just a vivid nightmare, and that any second now my mother is going to come crashing into my room and telling me I'm going to be late for school.

The longer that I sit in this prison and wait for my sentencing though the more real that everything becomes. This is very real. The actions that I hold myself to during this time has an enormous consequence. For me to get one of the keys, I'm going to have to be okay with the fact my survival means one person's death. 

"I don't want to drown," says a girl quietly. I don't remember her name. She was very quiet and brief while she was introducing herself. "That's like the worst way to die,"

"Then I suggest you start working to get a key then, Rebecca," says Eros with a grin. "The water will start pouring rapidly once I leave the room. Good luck, contestants." 

He crosses the room and opens up the door that leads to the exit. "Entertain me," he says before he leaves the room. "You'll regret it if you don't." He closes the door and water starts to pour into the room. The floor is now at least at least an inch deep in water. All of us look around at each other waiting for someone to move. 

Autumn, can you do this?