N E R V E

nine

i woke up, i was laying on a cold floor. i blinked my eyes a couple of times to adjust to the darkness i was in. my head was thumping like crazy, i felt really dizzy.

i stood up slowly from the ground, where was i?

all of a sudden, bright neon green lights lit up the dark room i was in. my eyes watered as i looked at what was painted all over the walls

snitches get stitches.

i looked around closely at the room i was in, it looked like the inside of a cargo container.

i began to cry, i covered my mouth to silence myself from sobbing uncontrollably. but when i touched my cheek, it stinged. i flinched in pain, i looked at my finger, a drop of blood.

i heard a ding come from inside the container. there was a small tv, sitting on the floor at the other side of the container.

i walked closer to the tv, it began to put my pictures and information on the screen.

"hello, vee, you broke the rules. you are our prisoner. we told you not to snitch, now we control your life. we control your family, we control your future, the only way out is to win the final round. go to the staten island ferry and the watchers will find you. see you in the finals, see you in the finals..."

i exhaled deeply, i tried to push open the container but nothing. i began to kick the entrance over and over until it finally opened, creating a loud banging sound as it hit the concrete.

i looked around, i didn't even know where i was. it looked like a construction site that was by the ocean. i went in one direction, hoping to find a way out of here.

i walked along many other cargo containers, i crossed my arms against my chest, praying that someone would find me. "we're coming for you vee!" i heard in the distance.

i turned around quickly and saw two people running around with flashlights. i hid behind a container, looking at the two people running in the opposite direction of me.

"oh my god vee are you okay?"

tony. he appeared out of the blue. i jumped at his sudden appearance.

"no! i'm not okay! you need to tell me everything tony, what the hell is going on?"

he quickly pushed me back into the spot i was hiding in, "why is this happening to me tony."

"okay..me and that guy, ty, we both played nerve last year in seattle," he sighed. "we got a dare to hang from a construction crane, 200 feet in the air. the two of us and this kid named chris, did the dare. but chris ended up slipping when i told him to grab my hand."

i licked my lips, so that story was true.

"me and ty, we bailed afterwards. w-we tried to go to the cops, we tried to get the game shut down but they didn't do anything, they just called it an accident. then, the watchers came after us for snitching. they messed with my dad's job, they leaked photos of my sister online, they stole our identities, vee."

"me and ty...we became prisoners of the game."

"what does that even mean?"