Fear Games

8. Trapped, Trouble, Terror

"So how are we going to get out of here?" Colton asked.

That was a good question and I didn't have an answer at that exact second. "We'll find a way," I said. "We have to. And if not, our parents will at least come looking for us."

"Not my parents," Harlin said. "My foster parents don't give a shit about me."

That was a sad thought. I had no idea Harlin was in foster care. I just wanted to reach out and give him a hug. "Well, we care you about you. And we're all going to get out of here alive. Trust me on this."

That's when I noticed that finally my best friend was moving, waking up. She rolled over onto her side, facing the wall, and it only took a few seconds before I heard a loud WTF escape her mouth. She sat straight up, looked around the room at everyone else, and said, "What's going on?"

"Do you even have to ask?" I said. "We're trapped. Trapped in trouble and terror. We've been kidnapped."

"No!" Cinder said, running her hands through her hair in panic. "No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen to us. Our parents were supposed to protect us from this."

"I don't think there's anything they could have done," I said. "It seems to me like this has been planned for a long time. I mean, take a look at where we are. We're in some kind of high-tech dungeon. This wasn't just built overnight. This has been planned."

"But by who?" Colton asked.

That was a good question, and it didn't seem like any of us had an answer to that. Whoever it was wasn't part of our group—that much was obvious. This person came and interrupted our meeting, which meant that we were all in the clear.

So then do did that leave as an option?

"I have no idea," Cinder said. "I don't care who it is. I just don't want to die. Or my brother." She looked over at her brother, who was still unconscious, and said, "I just want to keep him safe."

"We will," I said. "All we have to do is—"

That's when the loudest screeching sound I've ever heard came blasting through speakers in every corner of the room. The remaining of us that weren't awake before suddenly jumped up, now fully aware of what was going on. Freddy, Arya, Kael, and German all looked startled, but they didn't even need to ask what was going on. They seemed to just know.

"What is that damn noise?" Kael shouted over the noise.

"I don't know!" I shouted back.

Finally, the noise stopped and everyone was silent. That's when the automatic metal door on the other side of the room opened up and a figure appeared in the entryway. They were wearing exactly what they were wearing when they kidnapped us from our meeting spot—black sweatpants, a black hoodie, and a black balaclava. They were too far away that I couldn't make out their eye color.

As they stepped into the room, no one said a word. I wanted to scream at them, tell them to let us go and beg not to be murdered. But I knew that would do no good and so did the rest of the group.

That's when I noticed the gun in their hand. They walked further into the room, closer to me. When they were finally standing right before me, I thought about jumping up and wrestling the gun out of their hand. But that wouldn't do any good. I needed to be good to get through this. These were the Fear Games. Games were winnable. If we all won, we could be freed.

Finally, the person said in a distorted voice that didn't sound male or female, "Welcome to the new Fear Games. You've all been chosen to play but not all of you will make it out alive. Here's your first task." The person dropped the gun on the floor and kicked it over to me. "It is time for you to choose who dies first. If you shoot me, you will all die instantly. Do not test me." Without another word, the person walked back to the automatic door and exited the room, leaving us alone.