Vortex

1

VORTEX GAME SHOW
DAY 1

I jolted awake and looked around. It seems like someone had woken me up. But who? There was no one there. Just me. I remembered going to sleep the previous night... but nothing else. What was going on? I was strangely alert, like extra adrenaline had been released. I needed to figure out where I was, because the bedroom I was in clearly wasn't my own. My heart started beating faster and faster. What if I was being held captive?
I got out of bed and looked down to see myself wearing clothes- a simple t-shirt, jacket and pants. I noticed something on the ceiling- it was small and black. I tried flicking it off, thinking it was a bug, but it turned out to be a small camera. "Ok, that's just creepy.." I said to myself. The room was big, and there was a door at the end of it. I was anxious to see what was on the other side, but I was never going to get out of here if I didn't open the door. So I did.

I traveled down a hallway and reached something that was like something out of a TV show- a gleaming stage of purple and blue. Bright spotlights illuminated everything. I laughed a little because it was so bizarre. "Hello?" I called. No answer. I walked onto the stage, looked around, and traveled down a second long, dark hallway, until I finally opened yet another door. This time, it was full of confused-looking people I didn't know, all sitting together at a small black table. Before I greeted them or asked what was going on, I took a good look at each.
"So, does anyone know what this place is or why we're here?" I eventually asked.
A dark-haired girl wearing a hoodie shook her head. She shifted in her seat and looked away, seemingly refusing to talk. "Ok then..." I sat down with them.
"W-who are you?" A paranoid boy pointed his finger at me, visibly shaking. "You're not a threat, are you?"
"Of course he's not!" Another boy snapped. "You're not helping one bit. Now shut up." The other boy lowered his head.
Geez, I thought these people would be a little nicer. But I had to work with what I got. I sighed. "I'm sorry, sir. We're all just... very tired and scared. We know as much as you do, so..." Another girl spoke from the opposite end of the table. "By the way, my name is Mary."
"I'm Spencer."
The other people said their names as well.
"Call me Leo." The angry boy said.
"U-uh... I... m-my name is Avery..." The paranoid boy said.
"Cerise." The quiet girl said.

All of a sudden, I heard a calm, robotic voice coming from a loudspeaker. "Please exit your rooms and meet at the center stage." I waited for more information, but that was it. "What in the world...?" I said. All of us shrugged and left the room in a nervous cluster.
When we reached the stage, we were surprised to see another group of people, making ten in all. "Nice to see that we have some company." Mary put her arms behind her back elegantly.
The first person to walk up to us was an energetic-looking girl wearing rubber boots. "Hello! Do you know what's going on? By the way, I'm Jill." She shook my hand intensely with a serious look on her face. Then she smiled. "Aha... I guess we should get used to each other. I hope to get along."
I nodded, not knowing what to say. The other people in the cluster shifted around, chattering with each other. "Let's introduce ourselves, yeah?" A cool-looking boy said.
"I'm Cian. Nice to meet you."
"Spencer."
He didn't bother shaking my hand, and instead pat me on the shoulder. I blushed.
We all exchanged names with the rest of them. There was Cian's very short best friend, an eccentric girl named Mona. Apparently, they had known each other prior to our little capture. There was also a fashionable girl, Penelope, and lastly, a kind-but distant boy named Felix.
"Uh, so." Leo said. "What do we do now?'

"Great question!" The loudspeaker blasted, frightening us. "I will now announce why you are here and what this place is. This is the one and only Vortex Game Show!"
All of us looked around in a confused manner. "W-what? Vortex Game Show? I've never heard of that!" Avery stuttered. The voice ignored him and boomed on.
"In this game show, you will compete in challenges and the winner will be decided by our lovely anonymous voters!"
"What type of challenges?" Cerise asked calmly.
"What type of challenges? What type of challenges?! I think all of us wanna know about the anonymous voters!" Felix replied.
"Don't argue!" Jill pleaded.
"No, no, what is this?!" Avery cried.
"Everyone SHUT UP!" Leo yelled.
Everyone did exactly that as Leo took a deep breath, his anger fading away. "Guys, let's just wait for more information. If this, hopefully not, is a dangerous situation, we need to listen."
Jill nodded with confidence in her eyes. "He's right! Come on."
The voice cleared its throat and spoke again. "Listen very carefully. There are many different types of challenges. There will be trivia. There will be physical challenges. Mental and creative challenges that will take intelligence... stuff that tests your skills at listening, collaborating, and critical thinking. Sometimes you will work in teams, and other times along. Whew. Bare with me, I'm almost done. If you do successfully on the challenges, that's good. You might even win a prize. But if you lose..."
All of us looked around at each other. Avery looked more nervous than ever. "Go on." I cleared my throat.
"The person who does worst on the challenges will be judged by a team of anonymous voters- as well as viewers of this amazing game show. They will determine if the person is one of their top five on their favorites list. Keep in mind that there are ten of you. If the majority have you on their top five, you are safe. If you are not, however, you will face immediate death. And no, that's not a joke."
"..."
"Wait, WHAT?" Mona was the first to react, jumping up and down and crying out with a strange mix of fear and excitement. "No way! Death! That's craaaaazy weird!"
What was next was a cacophony of panic and shock. "B-but-" Jill asked, "Isn't that cruel? Why would something like that ever be s-something-" Her words broke.
"It's for the entertainment." The voice said with a neutral tone. "I didn't come up with it."
Avery collapsed and started sobbing about how he didn't want to die. Felix and Cian stood still and watched in silence. I was the same- I didn't know what to think. Cerise glanced over to me, looking content... for some reason. Penelope simply looked a little surprised. Leo was more angry than anything.
Mary made an effort to stop this once and for all. "I refuse to participate in this ghastly game show. Everyone, come with me and we'll find a way to escape!"
Felix shook his head. "I'm not counting on it. If they went out of their way to kidnap us and put us here, there's surely some kind of security to prevent us from getting out. Is that right?" He asked the voice.