Allura

Prison of Despair

When Allura opened her eyes, she was shocked to find herself once again in the nightmare from last night.

"Wha-what?!" She said as she looked around, and was horrified to see a bunch of sheep in cages. "What's going on?! What is this?!" She panicked, but then noticed the falling platform and began climbing like last time.

"Hey! You're that newbie from last night!" A familiar voice rang out.

"It's you! The person who helped me!" Allura said in realization.

"Word of advice. Watch out for cracked blocks. They'll collapse when you step on top them." The voice warned. Allura took caution as she climbed. Eventually, she started hearing the bell again.

"You've done well, and have come pretty far. I'll see you at the landing. Everybody else is there, too!" The voice said.

"Everybody?" Allura questioned then climbed up to the top. Above her was a chain with a hoop dangling from the ceiling. She jumps up and pulls it, then a bunch of stairs appeared. She then climbs up the stairs until she found herself at a landing, full of sheep all standing on two legs.

"Looks like you survived." She looked up to see a sheep with a tie.

"What? Who are you? A sheep?" She asked confused. What was all this?

"Do I look like a sheep. You're the sheep. Everybody here's a sheep but me." The sheep said. Wait a minute, his voice sounded familiar.

"You're the one who's been helping me." She realized. "Who are you? And what is this place?" She asked.

"I wish I knew..." The sheep with the tie replied. "One thing's for certain, though. If we don't climb... we're dead." He said.

"Dead?!" Allura said horrified.

"If you see this place once, that's it, it's all over. You'll keep coming back every night." The sheep explained.

"Every night...?! You can't be serious!" Allura said back.

"We all have the same fate here. If you don't want to die, you gotta climb." The sheep explains.

"So, if I want to survive, I have to climb too?" Allura asked.

"There's no guarantee... But take a look at that." The sheep with the tie said as he pointed to a ringing bell above something that appeared to be a confessional. "See that bell? It's like a church or something. If we can make it to the top, there may be an escape." He said.

"So there is a way out then?" Allura reiterated.

"Like I said, there's no guarantee." The Sheep repeated. "But we've got to believe, keeps us sane. Those who panic, die first." He added.

"J-just stop with all this dying nonsense...! I'll do what you say! Just-just please help!" Allura pleaded. She was terrified, but who wouldn't be in this situation?

"Look, from here on out, I'm afraid you're on your own. I'm going now." He said and began walking away.

"N-no wait!" She begged.

"You better hurry too." The sheep simply said and left.

"Why?" She asked herself. She walked up onto the platform and saw all the other sheep around. She walked up to talk to them to see if they knew what all this was, but they didn't seem to know anything.

"Where am I?! What's with all these damn sheep!?" One shouted.

"Everyone dies eventually..." One who was lying face first on the ground said.