Let the Games Begin DreamNotFound

Chapter 25

George POV

"It would be a shame if any of you feared what hides in the dark." As if on cue, the screen returned to raven black.

George exchanged an apprehensive look with his friends. Nothing about that announcement sounded good. His attention slipped to Dream's stomach, flitting to Tommy's weak condition. He swallowed hard. If this game involved combat, they were done for. Opting out of a game would result in death, injured had to play.

Guards stepped forward from their posts, and the elevator wall rolled up. The room flooded with familiar rumbles, green light bathing the floor from the eerie elevator lights. 

Dream entwined their hands, giving the brunette's palm a gentle squeeze. Striking green met warm brown, long lashes tapping freckles in a quick wink. "If we'll be in the dark, that means you'll have to hold my hand." 

"It does not." George grumbled, tugging his hand unsuccessfully. "Idiot, I hope you trip." 

The dirty blond laughed softly under his breath. He kept one eye on the guards, standing cautiously from his seat. 

George rolled his eyes, but stood to follow his friend. Chairs scraped the tile as Sykunno, Corpse, and the brothers copied their movements. The guards needn't raise their guns at the group, standing aside to watch them obediently enter the elevator. 

Several players were already loaded into the elevator, and he could hear the stumbling steps of less cooperative players forced into the moving room. 

Green shifted to red, and that heavy door slammed shut. The ground shook beneath them, and George tightened his hold on Dream as they descended to the next game. Unlike elevators built by humans, the aliens had no indication of how many floors this place contained. There wasn't any buttons, either.

Rumbles faded into silence, a jolt slamming through the players. The bright lights changed back to green, and the wall panel slid up to reveal a massive cavern. 

Whoa. George peered between the bodies around him. The cavern stretched on farther than the eye could see, disappearing into the dark. 

The dark....

Guards shoved players out of the elevator onto uneven stone ground. George kept pace with Dream, scanning the cavern for a clue to what would come. Gray and brown molded in a dull atmosphere, finding nothing but stone everywhere he looked. 

"Welcome, players, to the fourth game." The electronic voice buzzed in the tense air. "The rules to this game are simple. Please look at the tunnel before you." 

Heads turned, staring into the pitch black awaiting them. 

"In this game, the objective is to make it to the end of the tunnel without the aid of sight. There are traps set at unknown locations throughout the tunnel, and the distance to the finish is not for your knowledge." 

"Somehow, they made it sound easier than it will be." George muttered. "If we can't see, we can easily get turned around. Or land in a trap."

"Still don't want to hold my hand?" Dream teased in a hushed tone.

"I already am, idiot." George reminded him. 

"That is all, let the game begin!"  

No one moved. Players glared at one another, shifting their feet like cornered rats. Not a single person wanted to risk falling into a trap first. 

"Get a move on!" BANG!

George's heart leaped in his throat as screams erupted from the back of the group. Players startled forward, one or two even tripped. The guard who'd fired the gun grew silent, their job done.