A deranged man who likes to call himself the Director kidnaps a teenage boy and girl to be his actors. He expects them to perform the six acts of his play without messing up once, or else harrowing pain awaits them.
🥇1st place / The Cosmic Awards
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NATHAN DIDN'T BOTHER arguing with Adelaide or telling her he could clean the wounds on his own. Because in all honesty, and throwing aside egoistical bullshit, he was tired and he'd appreciate her help.
He pulled the bottom of his pants up until they gathered at his knees, then turned, kneeling by the bed with his arms resting along the mattress. In this position his calves were exposed for Adelaide, who settled behind him.
"Last time a sandbag and now some weird shit sliced my legs," Nathan said, picking at a loose thread. "Next thing you know I'm dead."
Adelaide gasped humorously audibly. "Gosh, don't say that!" It sounded like she was ready to swat him, so Nathan unawarely tensed for a second, but nothing happened. "You're gonna live, alright? And we're gonna get out of this and nothing bad's gonna happen."
"Do you really think when we finish the acts he's gonna let us go? He'll probably kill us." The thought made Nathan's heart sink but he liked killing himself beforehand. Preparation. Golden days when he didn't have to worry about death.
No answer from Adelaide. Nathan heard the squeeze of the plastic, the squirt of liquid onto tissue. "I'm . . . uh, I'm gonna start, yeah?" she said, as if waiting for Nathan's permission. "It's gonna hurt a little."
Nathan's shoulders lifted and dropped in time with a heavy sigh. "I know." Just then, a disgruntling burn festered along the wound. Then another sting. Nathan hissed to himself but kept his eyes attached to the mattress, aimlessly tracing the choppy stitches holding it together with his fingertip. "Adelaide?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you see anything behind the iron chords? An audience or something? I have bad eyesight so I couldn't really tell if there's someone there."
"Bad eyesight," Adelaide mumbled to herself. "I sorta could tell. You squint a lot." The prioritized afterthought must've vanished, because she suddenly realized she'd ignored the actual question. "It's super dark out there, I couldn't see anybody either. I don't think there is."
"I feel like someone's watching us. I heard weird noises," Nathan said, turning so that he could face Adelaide but she gently tapped his ankle.
"I'm not done yet. Give me a second. You were saying . . . ?"
"It's fine." Nathan turned again, pressing his elbows into the mattress, palm cradling his cheek. "The Director caught me peeking out, and I told him I heard something and guess what he told me?"
Nathan felt Adelaide stop patting the wound with disinfectant (hopefully she was done now, though he wouldn't nag about it). The burning ceased. He continued, "That that something could hear me too."
