The Paradox Challenge

Chapter One

“LET ME OUT!”

Her coffin shuddered, knocking against the table with loud echoes. Still, if anyone was out there, no one came to inspect. Viciously she kicked at her box, angrily pounding at the strong wood. Her eyes burned with the tears that were not coming and her body shook as she frantically squirmed in her casket.

One last kick.

Suddenly the entire thing flipped over and Sierra could feel herself falling. She held her breath, expecting to really die this time, but the coffin only roughly clunked onto the ground, the hinges popping open. The table must have not been very high up.

In brief elation, Sierra kicked off the top, sitting up to reach fresh air. It was gloriously full and though it slightly rank of metallic, she didn't care. For a moment she just sat with her eyes closed, filling her lungs and breathing incredulously.

When her revived relief subsided, Sierra blinked to take a look at her surroundings.

And her mouth fell open.

She was in a vastly large room made entirely out of white metal. It was blindingly bright with veins of light coursing the entire length of the walls. Gilded tiles lined the low ceiling in patterns, each slab with a specific design and aligned in strange formation.

Other than that, the room was completely vacant. Completely vacant and completely alien.

“Congratulations. Part one of puzzle twelve was completed,” suddenly boomed a monotonous female voice, making Sierra jump, “Initiating part two. Subject 107 – Sierra Faye, sixteen years old, five feet, seven inches tall, 125 pounds, category twenty, specification seven, sector one. Welcome.”

Frightened, Sierra timidly stepped from the covers of her coffin and looked around for any sign of a speaker. She had absolutely no idea what was going on. This was definitely not a morgue.

“Think,” she forced herself, “What happened before all this?” Her brain fought for a memory but everything was bleak and hazy.

Ren.

Wincing, Sierra shuddered as a name flashed into her memory. It was a guy's name, maybe her brother? No...she didn't have a brother. She had a Mother, Father, and an older sister who died six years ago in a vehicle accident. Elsie. That was her sister's name. For an entire six months, no one talked or breathed about Elsie without getting a painful slap from her father. Then, once at the dinner table, Sierra got into a fight with her father. It was about something stupid, probably having to do with school, when suddenly, she blurted, “Elsie would have agreed with me!”

The silence was unbearable. Eyes wide and heart racing, Sierra had quickly covered her mouth once she had realized what she had done. But it was too late because Daddy had already heard and his hand was raised to strike.

“You do not dare speak of her name,” he had growled softly.

She had a red hand-mark on her cheek for two days. No one asked questions. No one seemed to care.

Sierra blinked, wincing as the painful memory seeped back into her brain. Well, it was a start. At least she didn't have complete amnesia or worse. But that still didn't answer any questions. Breathing deeply, she pushed the thoughts of Elsie aside, refusing to let her eyes water again.

Sierra stared at the gilded tiles above her head, studying the detailed patterns. It was such a unique design of criss-crossing lines and swirls. But they didn't seem in the right place; like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be solved.

Her eyes went wide in realization as her memory suddenly sparked awake.

Puzzle. The Games. This was her year one anniversary of being a contestant in the Paradox Challenges.

A wave of the past began to roll in, pounding down all at once like an ocean current. Ren, Seph, Emilie, Jaylen, her house, her first day, the bombs, the screams, the snowy hill tops with avalanches, the riddles...everything rushed back with heavy intensity, and for a moment, she stood breathlessly, leaning against her coffin.

Sierra shook herself into refocus, the throbbing in her brain still burning like new scars. She was in the Games...she needed to solve the puzzle...

“Keep attentive...do the part...fix the pattern,” she breathed, her thoughts coming together. No more time to slack off, no more time to be confused. The world was a clock and she was a pawn. Everything was already in motion and she was useless as a sitting duck.

There was a puzzle that needed to be solved. And this part, was probably timed.

In frantic movements, Sierra flipped over the cover of her casket, hoping to find the indicator of how much longer she had left – a countdown of some sort. Every timed puzzle had one. She just didn't always know where. However, the only thing on the back was her name engraved in cold silver lettering. An icy chill shivered down her spine, knowing that a mere few minutes more could have made the casket real.

Shaking her head, Sierra rushed to the walls, pressing every corner incase a hidden button was tucked beneath view. But no, there weren't peculiar bumps or ridges or scars. The walls were a smooth as beach sand.

Sierra turned to the table in which the casket had been lying on. It was about four feet tall with stubby wooden legs. She felt each edge and each nail, looking for a button or maybe a clue. Her hands were trembling again. What little relief breaking out of her coffin had given her was replaced with a growing dread. If that countdown reached zero, she would be blown to pieces.

Finally, Sierra found a small raised section under the fringe of the metal straps of the table. Eyes wide and body shaking, she pressed it. A yellow light blinked on from behind and a cylinder raised from the center of the table. The timer. Finally she could read the numbers.

09:56

There were only ten minutes left.