Downstairs

Part 2: Evelyn

    Everyone was crowded together. The door was rising slowly, and kids were trying to crawl underneath it. I was going to do my best to avoid as much fighting as possible, and let everyone else fight each other off. It was the most strategic way to win. Those left would be tired and worn out, so taking them down would be easy. It’s worked for me before. I didn’t earn the name White Shadow for nothing. As the door rose fully, a groggy voice came over the PA system. 

    “Alright brats, some of you have been acting out and we all know there is no toleration for that. So we got a special treat for all of you today! We’re gonna introduce weapons to our little game! The winner as you all know, gets to stay up in the royalty suite! A nice bed! Whatever food you want! A tv and more! Now… Let the fight begin!” 

    “I want that room!”
   
    “Over my cold, dead body! You trouble-making bitches are going to pay!” kids and teens started running for the weapons. The gray floor was being dyed with a crimson red paint. Screams and cries echoed the arena. Children dying, people crying, I was hiding, covering my eyes cause it was hard to watch it all go down. Up to the very last scream, I hid away. I heard a boy shouting. 

    “Victory! I’ve done it!!!” I knew that was my que.

    “That’s where you’re wrong!” I ran out, looking at all of the children’s corpses that lie on the ground. I searched for a weapon in a pool of blood and dismembered flesh. 

    “You think you stand a chance? You’re a stupid girl, and I am superior. Prepare to meet your death like the rest of these squabbling brats!” his yammering was annoying. I found a blood covered scythe and picked it up. 

    “Look, I don’t want to kill you. This isn’t my first time! I know this seems-”

    “Shut up! You know nothing! I’m not letting you take this opportunity away from me!” He lunged at me with a sword. I slid to the side to dodge him, and ran up beside him. He swung senselessly, and I had to continuously block him with the scythe. 

    “Just stop for a second! This place is ruining us all, and I assure you, I’ve been here a lot longer than you have. It’s hard, I know. But nobody else should have to die! Can’t you see this is all just a sick game? I’m not the one you should be fighting!” he stopped thrusting, and stood still. 

    “You’re right. This is all just one sick game.”

    I sighed in relief.

    “I’m glad you are finally getting the big picture. Here, I’ll pretend to be down, and when the elevator opens, we can go upstairs together.” I knelt down, but he swung his sword at me again. It barely rushed across my cheek, leaving a small cut. “What are you doing?”

    “If this is all a game, it’s a game I intend to win!”
 
    “I see. You’re head is too far gone. That’s a real shame.” I rolled out of the way as he lunged at me again, and sliced the back of his leg. He fell to his knees. “There, you have been immobilized. Now cut it out!”

    “Never!” He used the sword like a cane to lift himself up to a slouching stand. I used my scythe to smack the sword out of his hands and watched him fall over again. 

    “It’s over. I suggest you quit squirming around or you’ll bleed out faster.” his eyes closed slowly. “I’m sorry.” A voice came overf the PA.

    “Congratulations champion! You have been granted the royalty suite until the next match! Please approach the elevator.” The elevator door opened slowly. I walked towards it and saw a boy with red hair tied up beside it. I knelt down in front of him, and looked at me with a beaten up face. 

    “Wait! There is a living boy down here tied up! What should I do?” 

    “Leave him down there to die for all we care.” the voice said. I looked at the red haired boy again.

    “If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with. That’s what this is right? A purge party…” he said.

    “I’m not going to kill you. How did you get tied up over here?” 

    “I don’t know. I got sucked up by a rabbit, fell down a hole, got the crap beaten out of me, and next thing I know, I’m tied up in this giant room and a man told me I would get a front row seat.”

    “I see. You’re new here.” I untied him and he stood up. 

    “What is this place? And what on earth is going on.”
   
    “Well the area we are in right now, everybody just calls downstairs. Kids and teens are forced to fight to the death here for a chance to earn better living conditions. We all got here the same way you did. Idiotic curiosity to the mysterious plushy that appeared. Nobody knows how it works, for what, or why this is going on. All anybody here knows now is that they have no idea how to get home, and they probably won’t see tomorrow if they come downstairs. Come onto the elevator with me. I’m sure this sight is making your gut twist.” I walked into the elevator, but he just stood there. “Come on! If you don’t get on now, you’ll be stuck down here. This elevator only opens at the end of matches.”

    “Oh… okay. So, why didn’t you leave me there or kill me?” He stepped in and the elevator door shut.

    “I don’t like killing. Being here has ruined so many of us. I don’t even care about being winner or getting the stupid room. I just figure it would be easier to find a way out of here when I’m not inside a cage.”

    “A cage?” the elevator door opened. There was a metal bridge leading to another door. Around that bridge, a large warehouse like room filled with cages. 

    “Take a look for yourself. This is where they keep us. We get brought here through those stuffed portals, and thrown in cages. When the clearers go downstairs to clean up after matches, anybody they find who isn’t dead, those who are just unconscious, they throw you right back into a cage. As for the winners, they get the royalty suite.”