It was a typical day. Ashley arrived home, and her brothers were nowhere to be seen. She thought they may still be at work, would not be the first time they stayed to do extra hours. She went upstairs and began her schoolwork. After some time, she got hungry. She headed downstairs to the kitchen and made herself a sandwich, and drank some water.
As she got back upstairs, she felt herself losing consciousness, and soon enough, she passed out, collapsing at the top of the stairs.
Ashley woke up and to find herself in a very familiar room, yet she could feel something was different. She realized that it was her very own cellar. She could not see the difference, but she knew it was there, somewhere something was different.
She continued to look around and then noticed shadowy figures huddled together in the corner of the room. It took a moment, but she realized who the figures were. "Cameron? Josh?"
The two figures looked at her with fear and relief. "Ashley?" they said in unison.
"Ashley, how did you get down here?" one of the boys said.
She looked around the room, noticing that where the door was, now was cemented. She saw that there was no longer a door there. "I don't know. It seems there is no way in or out," Ashley said.
They all look around the room for an escape but to no avail. The room was completely closed off, which only made them all wonder how they got into the room in the first place.
Suddenly a deep voice echoed through the room. "Well, how are my precious toys doing today?" the deep voice said.
"Let us out of here, you crazy bastard!" Josh yelled toward the open space, to no one in particular. It was weird to think someone somewhere was listening and maybe watching them. He could not understand why this monster would do this to them.
"Oh, you're hilarious. I'm not crazy, just pure evil. Now, you may not have noticed yet, but you are both chained to the ground, and my precious young lady here is also tied to the ground in the opposing corner to you. So you won't be able to reach each other," the voice said with humor in its words. The killer did enjoy playing games.
Now Ashley looked, she noticed a massive chain on her leg that connected to the floor. She could not believe this was happening to her brothers and her. She wanted to know why. "What do you want with us? Ashley asked.
"Oh, my precious one, you will see in due time," said the voice.
After some time passed and the voice was no longer heard of, they all thought the person behind this was no longer listening or watching them. They did not know why this person was doing this to them. However, at this point, that did not matter. All that mattered was getting out of there.
"Ashley, how close can you get to us?" Cameron asked. He had an idea that he prayed paid off.
Ashley walked a few steps toward them but was held back around seven feet by the chain. Cameron and Josh stood up to walk toward her, but their chains also withhold them back. There were about five feet in between them and their sister.
"Cameron, Josh, what are we going to do? I can't even get close enough to you guys to get a hug. I'm so scared," Ashley exclaimed. This was unfair for this to happen to them. "We shouldn't be in this situation. Whatever this situation is anyway." She feared that this might be the end for her brothers and her. She did not wish it to be this way.
Josh reached his hand toward Ashley, and she did the same. Their hands barely touched. "It'll be okay, Ashley. We will find a way out of here," Josh said, trying to make Ashley feel better. However, he did not see how they would ever escape this.
"How will we get out!? The only way out of this damned cellar was the door heading upstairs to the kitchen, but it was sealed up by rock-hard cement! Do you have some super-human strength that can break through cement? No? That's what I thought. We are doomed," Ashley uttered. She had no hopes left in her. She knew there was only one way out of there, and she was sure it was by death.
"Ashley, don't yell at Josh. It won't make this situation any better. We just need to keep calm and come up with a plan on getting out," Cameron told her. He did not have much hope either, but he was the oldest and had to think of something. At least he could try to be the hopeful one there.
"Oh, shut it, Cameron. There is no way out. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be in my corner," Ashley said. She wanted to pout and be in her misery. She knew there was no way out of this mess, and she was aware that her brothers knew this too.
She walked over to the corner she was chained to and sat facing the wall, not wanting to see her brothers right then. No one could help them. They were doomed and hated this fact.
A few minutes later, the deep voice returned. "What a wonderful performance. I always love it when they don't get along. How are my guests enjoying their stay?" the voice asked. He had other plans for these three.
"Go to hell," Ashley said. She did not wish to deal with this person she did not know nor had the balls to show his face.
"Oh, that's not very nice. Guess what? It's playtime," the deep voice told them.
"What do you mean playtime? Do we look like babies?" Josh exclaimed. He also was beginning to become frustrated at this unknown man who kept them locked up. Why could the man not show himself? Was he afraid that they would try to kill him? Josh would, too, if he ever saw this man that held them hostage. He would enjoy killing the man.
"Oh no, no, no, my precious boy. You all seem very grown-up indeed. It's time to answer a question. If you answer the question correctly, good for you, but it will be time to have some fun if you get it wrong. My kind of fun," the deep voice paused. "What instrument can you play but not hold? You have five minutes to come up with the correct answer. If you fail to do so, there will be consequences," said the deep voice. "Your time has already started. I would get to it if I were you."
They begin to think to themselves. Ashley thought she might have come up with the answer and decided to blurt it out instead of consulting her brothers. "Your voice," Ashley uttered.
"Bravo, precious girl, that is the right answer," the voice paused. Little did they know that no one ever escaped him. "that was quite fun, but you still get a consequence." Then he pressed a button on his phone.
The room began to fill up with ice-cold water.
"Wait, that isn't fair. She got it right fair and square," Cameron said. What was the matter with this guy?
"Yes, she may have gotten it right, but that doesn't matter. No one escapes me. No one gets away, alive," the deep voice told them.
Ashley looked at the water below her and realized it rose at a gradual pace. She did not think it would hurt them much. "Ha, you are so stupid. How do you suppose this water will hurt us? It is barely above my foot," Ashley said.
"Oh, my precious child, you have yet to see how dangerous water can be," the voice said.
Then the water began to pour in at a faster pace.
"Great, look what you did, Ashley. The water is coming in faster," Josh said. He did not know why his sister reacted like this. If she did not piss off the guy, maybe they could have talked the guy into letting them go.
"Hey, it's not my fault!" she told her brothers.
"Yes, it is. You called the guy stupid and questioned the water. Why do you have to be like that? Can't you just shut up about stuff for once?" Josh says. He did blame his sister for this. Now they would drown, and it was all his sister's fault.
"Guys, calm down. This is seriously not the time for one of your pointless arguments," Cameron said. He was assessing the area and the water, trying to figure out what they could do. He could feel the coldness of the water.
He did not care about what his older brother said. He may be older, but not by much, being that they were twins. Josh did believe that he was smarter. He should have never come back there with his brother to take care of their sister. He should have listened to himself those years before. "Shut up, Cameron. You are the reason we are in this mess. If you had just let Ashley move in with Grandma after mom and dad died, then we could have stayed in Miami but no. You had to make us come back. We had a good life there. We had a future there," Josh uttered.
Ashley looked at them, and the mention of their mom and dad brought tears to her eyes. Their parents died on a ski trip years ago. Because of an avalanche, the power went out for three days, and the guests were stuck in the lodge. Her parents were among those who did not survive it. When they finally got to the lodge to attempt a rescue, they had found most of the guests had froze to death. Ashley was only ten at the time. Her brothers, who were in college in Miami, stopped their schooling and came home to take care of her.
This was all her fault, Ashely thought. After she stopped thinking of her parents, she noticed that it had been getting freezing in the room. Colder than normal. She could see her breath in the cold air around her. The water that had been on the ground was starting to freeze. No, she thought. She could not die this way. She could not have the same fate as her parents.
"Cameron, Josh, he is trying to freeze us to death," she told them.
Cameron and Josh had just now noticed the coldness of the air and water around their ankles. Carmon concentrated on getting out. He did not perceive the loss of feeling he had in his feet. Josh was so angry that he did not feel it either. Both of their feet were under the water. Now, their feet seemed to be stuck because of a top layer of ice.
"Ashley, keep your feet out from under the ice," Cameron said. It was all he could think to do. He tried, but he and his brother were stuck.
Ashley looked down, but it was too late. Her feet were stuck, and the air seemed to be getting colder by the minute. It was as if the guy did something to this room to make it a freezer. No, it was colder than a freezer. This would not be good. "It's too late. They are stuck," Ashley uttered. She could feel her legs freezing, her arms and fingers going numb. She was unsure how long any of them had.
Ashley began to get very cold and had now lost the feeling in her legs and arms. She could feel the stiffness in her body as the coldness was settling in. She looked over at her brothers and noticed that they are no longer moving.
"Cameron? Josh? Are you guys okay?" she asked, but no answer. "Cameron?! Josh?! Guys?! Please don't leave me." Ashley had realized that her brothers were dead. With her last few minutes of life, she cursed at the person behind her brother's death. The iciness took over her body and slowly froze her like it did her brothers.
"Don't worry, my precious. You will join your brothers," the voice once again echoes through the room.
With what little strength she had left, she wanted answers. "Why are you doing this? Why me? Why my family? What is wrong with you?" Ashley asked as she felt herself losing the battle for her life. Slowly she was falling into the cold depths of death.
"This is my favorite game," the voice said, not that she would ever understand what goes through his head.
Ashley heard this last thing before she closed her eyes and became a human popsicle like her brothers.
The killer watched through the screen, seeing the work that he did. It was marvelous, he thought to himself. He could barely wait for his next set. What would he do next? He had so many thoughts on that.
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