Labyrinth

Welcome to the Game

Nas

The walk was shockingly short.

Of course, I'd like to say that Michelle - Shelly, I called her - led me down a dark and eerie corridor complete with flickering lights and mysterious stains on the visually loud carpet. Just to go with the whole 'waking-up-in-a-place-I-don't-know-and-not-even-recognizing-my-own-face' creepy factor.

But, of course, that wasn't the case. Shelly led me out of the room, and into a brightly lit hallway, and through an archway to an even more brightly lit room with a very high ceiling, the kind of tables you might find in a high school cafeteria, and a stage, for lack of a better word. It was really only a bit of floor raised less than a foot, and a podium placed at the front, facing the tables. The ceiling was so high that it gave the impression that there should have been great windows to let in some natural light, but there were none. No windows at all, in fact.

Over the stage, the ceiling dropped to a normal height, giving space for a gigantic screen on the wall above the podium. Now, the screen flashed WELCOME TO THE LABYRINTH in bold, white letters.

"You guys should really fire your graphic designer," I told Shelly with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes at me, but I saw her blush. "Go take a seat, Ouinn. Boss will be here shortly." And at that, she left me and disappeared behind a white door.

"The good ones always play hard to get," I sighed, sitting at the table closest to me. A moment later, a redheaded girl sat next to me, taking in the room. "Hiya," I grinned at her, "aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

She met my grin with a glare, but otherwise ignored my attempt at flirting. "Do we know each other?"

"God, I hope so," by then, more people were shuffling in and taking seats.

Her eyes lit up, "so you don't remember anything either?"

I just looked at her for a minute, not answering. The only thing I apparently didn't remember was how I got here and what my own face looked like.

"I woke up and I didn't remember anything. Not my own name, not my age, not my hair color. I don't know who my family is or where I came from," she continued.

I remembered all of those things. I remembered my own nickname and I remembered my mother's name, and all of my little sisters. I remembered that I was born in New Mexico and lived there until my dad disappeared and we packed up and moved to Colorado, where we lived in our dirty, three bedroom apartment.

"I-" I blinked at her, "I really-"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A man yelled, interrupting me. He was standing behind the podium, speaking into a microphone (rather unnecessarily, might I add. There were only about 30 of us here). At first glance, the man reminded me of Santa Clause. I was a bit taken aback that he didn't have a snowy-white beard. "As you may have guessed, I am the Game Master. The Magister, if you will," he chuckled, "You may all call me Boss."

Boss's nose and cheeks were a shiny pink. He was short, not taller than 5'5" or 5'6". The man had a belly and an over-jolly grin that matched his overly-jolly voice. "You lucky few have been chosen to play my game!" The was a wave of quiet murmurs and confused glances, "As you may have already noticed, you have no memories. As of now, you have nothing to care about. No family, no friends. Nothing to you matters," his grin became sinister as he scanned the crowd, "except, of course, your survival." He paused again, waiting until the gasps and protested died down. This man was a performer. He acted like a comedian who was giving his audience a chance to laugh before telling his next joke.

You have no memories. As I looked around, I saw that it was true. No one remembered a thing. No one but me.

"Oh my God," I whispered.

Helena

"Like any other game, there are rules," Boss was still smiling, "Here in Labyrinth, there are 100 floors. To win the game, you must clear every one of the floors. Now, boys and girls, there's a catch. Has anyone here ever seen the Saw movies? The Hunger Games? Oh, Maze Runner? Here, on each floor, there are 10 different puzzles. Sometimes it's just a mind game, sometimes it's a maze. Sometimes, it will be as easy as putting a shape in a box. Sometimes, you will have to make horrible decisions that will likely haunt you for the rest of your life. So, 10 puzzles, 100 floors, 30 contestants. Most of you, if not all of you, will die. If you manage to make it out, you will be given everything you lost and more. You will have your memories back, and you will be able to go back to your family with a fortune you've never thought possible. Oh, and you will be alive, which is the most valuable thing. If you compete, you have a likely chance of dying, though you have a higher chance of surviving than you do if you choose to remain on this floor, not competing at all. On each floor, you have three days before you have to leave the common room and clear the floor. If you would like, you may leave now. However, I have a meal prepared in celebration of such wonderful company and brilliant fun! Good luck, players! And enjoy!"

With a single clap, he left the stage and the same people who had escorted us to the room were reentering with platters of something that looked and smelled amazing but made me sick to look at.

Besides the clatter of dishes being set onto the tables in front of each person, the room was completely silent. The girl next to me was sobbing quietly, as were at least six others in the room. People were running fingers through their hair, trying to make sense of the situation. Most, though, were shocked into total stillness.

After several minutes, a young man, no more than 25 years old, with hair too short to tell the color, stood up, staring at the door that was behind the podium. On it was Fl 1: BEGIN in the same bold lettering as on the screen.

"Is that it?" The man said, to no one in particular, "Is that where we go?"

"My dear boy!" The Boss turned away from the woman he was talking to while taking various snacks from her platter, "I nearly forgot! Of course, that is where you go to compete. Once you are through that door, you are going to find a steel door that you will open with your handprint. That door will open to the puzzle. At the end of that puzzle, you will find the same thing. It really is quite simple."

The man didn't look in Boss's direction. Instead, he slowly made his way to the door and slipped through it.

"A good sport, he is." Boss smiled towards the door and turned back to the woman. "I hope his family remembers him."