Escape

Prologue

Ivy felt as if someone were hitting her over her head repeatedly with a hammer. Her head ached and as she opened her eyes her vision was blurry, her eyelids heavy. The room she was in was dim, and as her eyes adapted to it, she realised she wasn't alone. Four people lay beside her. On instinct, her breath sharpened with fear, and she inched back from them. She then realised that she was chained to the wall, a heavy manacle around her wrist. It was then she noticed that the people were apparently asleep, eyes closed and breathing deeply. "He- hello?" She managed. No reply. She leaned back against the wall. She closed her eyes forcing herself to wake up from this nightmare.  She reopened her eyes expecting to be greeted by her dog licking her face, the sun streaming through the thin curtains and the smell of her mum's cooking from downstairs. Instead, she was greeted with a boy in the corner, rocking back and forth, arms crossed over his chest, muttering something as though it was a mantra, too quick to distinguish words.

"Are you okay?" she asked, extending her hand. He crooked himself up. He observed her from under his bangs.. He glared at her in silence before curving his lips into a murderous smile. "I think you should be worrying about yourself," he said, pointing to her wrist. She adverted her line of sight to her wrist. A red liquid dripped from her wrist. At first she presumed it was blood but she quickly convinced herself it must've been something else.

"Are you okay there, Ivy?" He asked. She quickly rotated her head. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her chest. She knitted her eyebrows together and took a deep breath and attempted to composed herself.

"H- how do you know my name?" she stuttered. Her body began to tremble unconsciously and she gritted her teeth by habit. She brought her knees to her chest and held them together fighting the urge to shake.

His murderous eyes observed her once more before his thin dry lips curved into a smile. He brought his hand up to his lips and began to nervously bit them. "You're wearing a name tag. Just like the rest of us" he said, referring to the two other boys and the lonely girl across from them. She glanced at him and then his name tag. She was unable to read it, the light behind too dark. She lay back and sighed.

"But" she managed before stopping abruptly."Never mind."

She continued shaking her head.

Before the boy could answer, a passage revealed itself from behind her with a scrape of the wall. She fell through the gap, backwards, shocked, too quickly to scream. She stared at to the mysterious room, breath catching in her throat.  Old damaged lights flickered on with a buzz of old electricity. Two identical room were  separated by a metal door. Five old decapitated wooden stools and desks in both rooms. A blackboard was in front and an old, cobwebbed bookshelf surrounded them. A door was revealed in one room, and four people were clearly tied up in the room she was in.

Her head throbbed as she struggled to blink in the bright light, scrambling to try to sit up, and biting her dry, cracked lips. A gruesome odour burned in her nostrils and down her threat, almost making her gag.  She could almost taste it. She knew the smell but could not put her finger on it. She rotated to the boy from earlier with fear in her eyes. She slowly tore the rusty, dirty, heavy manacle of her wrist. Names were carved into the blackboard. "Ivy, Iain, Crystal," she whispered. Other names were up there too. At first, she believed it was a cruel joke, but as she looked deeper it was far from a joke. It was cruel reality. She scrambled to her feet, still horribly aware of the situation. Trailing her old sneakers against the creaking wooden floor, she managed to get herself to one of the desks. She slammed her hands on the desk causing it to shake. "W- what the fuck......" she stuttered, grabbing the attention of everyone. Iain, the boy she met, raised from his original spot and moved beside her. He stared, licking his dry lips before facing the terrified teenagers. He held a letter in his hand.

"I hope you like the setting," he read slowly, his eyes flickering across the printed words. There was a short pause before a short haired brunette rose to her feet, tears glistening in her eyes. She held her trembling body tightly, as though fearful it would fall apart.

"What the fuck? Where's the bastard that left that?" she screamed, tears trickling down her cheeks. The seven teenagers still seated rose in fury, shouting and cursing out of rage and fear. A microphone switch ceased the chatter. "Ahh. It seems like everyone has awoke," a voice said, disguised in a heavy layer of auto tune, crackling static overlaying the words. "I have invited you all here to participate in my game. You must obey me."

"What if we don't you bastard?" the weeping girl called out.

"What vulgar language but good question. If you don't then what's the point of you being here. I guess I have to dispose of you." Silence filled the classroom. They stood quietly, fearing what would come next. "I would love to talk more but I have some plans to make this game even more exciting. In each desk you should find a map and bag. A rules book should be behind you. Remember, follow each rule carefully, because I am watching your every move." The microphone turned off. They each looked around at each other, looking for something, anything that could give them a slight sense of hope. They looked at the the red thin book, presumably the rule book. They stood in place waiting for someone to open the book, or for someone to proclaim this a terrible practical joke, anything. Ivy stepped forward, biting her lip, attempting conceal her fear and opened the red book.

"Let the game begin," she read aloud.

A/N) how was it? Before you get your hopes , this book will certainly not be coming out every week or so. This is just one of those stories that randomly updates. I may update tomorrow or next month.

Special thanks to The_girlwholived  and FaBuLoUsAlois