The Game

three rabbits

I cried for help as the man leapt on to me, grabbing my arms and pulling me towards the kitchen. He tied me to a chair with a rope he was carrying in his miniature backpack.

"So, you're Bella, eh?" the strange man questioned with a smirk. "You're prettier in person, compared to those selfies you sent me."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I screeched. "WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO COME AND STALK ME AT MY OWN HOUSE?"

"Oh, I wouldn't call it 'stalking,'" he replied with crossed arms, tapping the hard, wooden floor with his foot. "I just wanted to teach you a lesson about foolish girls, like yourself, who give out personal information to people they don't know in person."

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked the mysterious man in a shaky voice. I knew this was a bad thing to ask a potential MURDERER or STALKER but I still wanted to know.

"Oh, so you're more of a curious one. Here's what we're going to do: we're going to play a game. A life-or-death kind of game. Other young ladies like you are involved, so you're not alone. Anyways-"

I interrupted the man. "I DON'T WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME. JUST PLEASE LET ME GO! I SWEAR, I WILL NEVER MESSAGE BOYS ONLINE AGAIN! PLEASE, I LEARNED MY LESSON!" I bawled in agony.

"Oh, I'm afraid you haven't even experienced the lesson yet. If you interrupt me again, something bad will happen to you, I promise. Anyways, for today's mini-game, you have to go into the woods and kill THREE rabbits and bring them to me," he said as he calmly cut the rope tied around my body, setting me free.

"You will have 1 hour to do this, and you will be competing against other girls. What will be the prize of this mini-game if you win, may you ask? Your freedom from the next round. The others will be fighting for theirs too, so it will be tough. There aren't many rabbits in this forest behind your house, you may know, so use your time and knowledge of nature wisely. Follow me."

He led me out the back door and into my backyard. The woods were silent, but not for long. Two other girls emerged from them, gasping for air. They looked almost as if they had just been chased by something. Two men appeared behind them, showing the girls their way toward us.

"Line up horizontally, girls. No one gets a head start," one of the mentors scowled. "We've already gone over the rules with each of you. Your time begins now."

The other girls and I scrambled towards the forest desperately. I had so many questions swirling around in my head, but I ignored them for now. I'll get the answers to them right after I save my ass.

I knew the woods inside and out, due to my curiosity as a child. I would always explore in them, even if my parents told me I couldn't. I took notice to what different animals ate and where they lived; it was an interest of mine. I could find three rabbits easily; the most common place for them would be a burrow that they dug themselves. I just need to find huge holes in the ground.

The others didn't seem to have as much strategy as I did; they seemed to have no idea what to look for. I couldn't really help them, though.

Wait, I thought. Did I just see a burrow? Sure enough, I did. I ran to the area it was in and stuck my hand deep inside of the earth. I felt four furry heads. I gave them all a little shove out of the burrow, and sure enough, they were bunnies. I couldn't believe it! The other girls were still scampering around, trying to find rabbits to murder.

Now, I've come to the hard part: taking the lives of small, innocent animals that deserve to live. The men didn't give us any weapons, and I certainly didn't want to have to do the dirty work by hand. I picked up a thick, pointy branch off of the ground that fell off a nearby tree.

"I'm so sorry" I whispered to the tiny animals. I took the stick and killed three out of four rabbits. The one bunny left had a sad expression in its eyes, sniffing the dead relatives of his in pain. The rabbit looked up at me, and hopped away.

Tears were streaming down my face. I could never forgive myself for doing something as selfish as that.