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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"IT'S TIME FOR you to go back to your room. You too, my heroine."
Nathan stared and blinked like an idiot for a full minute. The silence screamed confusion. Behind the Director, Adelaide was also just staring. Probably frowning too.
Nathan was about to blurt out: what? but he bit it back. A split second later the Director was approaching him, and he untied his wrist. Nathan watched. Waited. Once the rope fell off, he quickly rubbed his wrist with his free hand, wincing at the sight of blood-red indented flesh. Let alone the pain.
The Director poked Nathan's side with his foot. "Move," he said, cocking his head in the door's direction. "You finished the six acts and you didn't mess up. Congrats."
It took Nathan a minute to function and another to stand even as he clutched the wires. And when he did, he gave Adelaide a look. What about the surprise? Sure it was supposedly his dad, but the Director hadn't exactly labeled it so far. Or maybe the surprise was that he wasn't going to kill him? A ton of ideas swamped Nathan's head but he focused on moving towards the door.
Something was wrong. Nathan stopped at the threshold and turned around, looking at Adelaide, who was talking to the Director in a low voice. The Director smiled at her. She smiled back. Proving that she was on his side—that was good. But something else occupied Nathan's mind.
"The surprise," Nathan said. "It's that my dad's here?"
The Director stared first. It was a creepy thing, how the edge of his mouth slowly curved into a smirk. He angled his chin just a little higher, then sighed. "Go back to your room. Now."
Not exactly an answer but an obvious threat. Before Nathan could even move, Adelaide had already given him a gentle push on the back, urging him in. So he did. And as soon as he was inside, he glanced back and caught a last glimpse of the Director as he shut the door behind them. Locked it too. Like normal.
Nathan and Adelaide looked at each other, but then Adelaide caught him and pulled him away from the door. To the other end of the adjacent wall, the safest spot from the Director's scrutiny.
"So . . ." Adelaide's voice sounded empty. "Uh . . . I . . . I was getting ready to distract him in case he wanted to kill you but . . . I just, I didn't expect this."
"Something's not right," Nathan said, his eyes constantly flitting to the door like he was scared the Director would suddenly barge in with a knife. "I'm sure. This can't be. He's got something in his head. I was sure he's gonna kill me. Six acts, six foot under the ground—ever noticed that?"
Adelaide frowned. Nathan saw the conflict on her face, the desperate need to feel safe. "Nate, that's what you thought," she said, "but you were wrong. He doesn't wanna kill you. I don't know what he wants to do with us now, but if he wanted to kill you, he would've done it."
