Into the Game

Chapter 2

She woke up to screaming and gray walls.

"Whose screaming?" She thought and looked around. Then she realized it was her. She stopped and took a big gulp of air. She was sitting on what seemed to be a surgical table, steel, with a paper between her and the table. She carefully got up, noting how dizzy she felt.

Her feet touched solid ground, cold and metal beneath her. She jerked her feet back up and the quick movement made her head spin. She lowered her feet carefully onto the floor again, this time expecting the cold rush that went up through her body.

She slowly took a few steps, arms out in case she collapsed. She reached the walls and ran her hands along them. She couldn't recognize the material. It was strange, and new to her. She then noticed a door that she swore hadn't been there a moment ago. She stepped toward it cautiously, her mind almost completely clear now. The door was made of the same material as the walls with a steel door knob. The knob was warm, as if someone had just left. That couldn't be right. She was all alone. She heard a scream she recognized as Jena's. She placed her hand on the door knob and turned. She stepped into a hall that looked like something she had seen before. It was only after the third turn she realized it was the passage from the game. She froze. The scream again. It sounded so pained, like something terrible was happening. She rushed forward.

No red and black swirls this time, which had to be good news. The whispers still clouded her thoughts, though she managed to push them down under the screams. What could they have been doing to Jena? She needed to find her.

"Jena, keep screaming, I'll follow the sound of your voice!" She called down the passage, though she couldn't be sure she was going the right way. Turn after turn, Elizabeth soon realized that she would never be able to find her way back; there were just too many turns. She followed the screams until she reached a door, of that indescribable material. She hesitated and placed her hand firmly on the knob. Again, it was warm as if someone had just gone through. She turned it and stepped inside. The door swung closed behind her and she swung around. As she lunged for it she heard it click as the lock went in place. She collapsed against the door, only then noticing how tired her legs were. How long had she been running? She couldn't know for sure. She finally turned her attention towards the room. Where she had been expecting to find her friend, she saw an old fashioned recorder, playing the screams on loop. There was a speaker in one corner of the ceiling, though that wasn't where the screams were coming from. There was an old oak door on the other side of the room. With a brass knob and knocker.

"Hello Elizabeth," the speaker announced. She jumped as it continued, "Welcome to the game. We ask you to begin by making a choice. Stay in this room," it started as she noted the walls slowly moving in, only the smallest bit, "Or continue through the door in front of you in the next ten seconds."

She jumped to her feet and lunged for the door. She yanked it open and fell through. She tripped and her face was met with dirt. She coughed and look around. She was in the middle of a dense forest, in a small clearing. It was dark. How long had she been gone? It wasn't that late when she was playing the game at Jena's house.

"Please, walk," the voice stated. The sentence was built like a request but had such an authority to it that she obliged and stood, looking around to choose a direction.

She decided it didn't really matter which way she chose, she was lost anyway. She stepped forward and waited to adjust to the darkness, now that trees blocked the majority of the moonlight. She took another patient step forward and began.

She didn't know how long she had been walking but her feet ached and she need a rest. She heard the faint sound of running water. With a short burst of energy, she dashed through the branches that whipped in her face, and made it to the creek.

She knelt down and was about to dip her hands in the water when the voice spoke.

"Ah, your next option. You may either take this bag," her head whipped involuntarily to a small pack leaning against a tree, "Or drink from the creek. Try to choose quickly." She walked soundlessly to the bag and looked at it. She sat next to it. Her decision was clear.

A few moments later, as she was about to open the bag, she saw a deer walk towards the creek and dip it's head to take a drink. It's tongue graced the water and a few moments later the deer made a painful sound and collapsed.

It was dead.