Our steps thud dully on the concrete ground as we slowly make our way down the wide corridor. The only other sounds are our breaths and my pulse throbbing in my ears. The light from the factory floor has all but left us at this point and we're venturing further into solid darkness. We've brought our phones out and are using the bright torches on them to look around. I have to keep my phone moving to try and see everything all at once, feeling like something can jump out at me at any moment. I don't think I've ever experienced being in complete darkness like this before.
"Tell me again why we came down here," Bella says in a low voice. She's practically pressed against me as we walk.
"Good question," I say. It seemed like our only option at the time. I keep looking back, in case the man with the axe - if he really was real - decided to follow us in.
Will looks at us with a firm set to his jaw. "I want you both to know that I'll do everything I can to get us all out of here. I'll protect you." He looks almost angry; like he's ready for a fight.
I try to smile but our situation is just too severe. I appreciate him trying to sound brave for us, though.
"Thanks," Bella says dully. "I just want to get Luke and Chia and get the hell out of here."
He assures us we will. A knot twists in my stomach, thinking about our friends being left behind. The man with the axe could have found them already.
I can't believe I ever had half a thought about Luke or Chia being responsible for any of this. Just because some of the puzzles included information that only the two of them knew didn't mean they had anything to do with this. If anything, I can't help but feel like this is my fault. It was my stuff in that storage room. Is someone trying to get at me, or at all of us? Whatever is going on, we haven't just stumbled on a random hell trap. This is something personal.
It's definitely not how I expected to spend my birthday.
There are narrow tunnels on our right, all leading into darkness. Up ahead, we can see the end of this corridor, which looks like it turns a corner to the right.
Will's breath is loud in the quiet air. Or is that Bella's? I turn to look over them both, trying to see their faces which are barely highlighted by our phone lights. I realise, with a spike of fear, that I can hear someone else breathing nearby. A ragged, shallow breath. Whispering in the air like a ghost following us.
I want to say something but my tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth. I shine my phone light over the narrow tunnels but only see empty darkness. Until it moves over a man standing beside us.
The darkness comes alive and the large man yells with an axe over his head. We scream and scatter as the axe slams down into the space between us. Bella grabs my hand and pulls as we follow Will into the nearest dark tunnel, which is narrow enough for a single file. The man lets out a harsh grunt as he starts chasing us. I think he's chasing us. I can't look back.
Our phone lights jerk around as we run, making it seem like the strobing darkness is moving. My brain is numb as we run through the concrete tunnel, adrenaline pushing me on. I don't know where we are or how close the man is behind us; I just want to keep running.
We get to an intersection and Will turns us to the right. I risk a look back and don't see anything. The man isn't there. Bella is whimpering and sniffing in front of me. I can feel the fear radiating off her.
We come out into a larger tunnel, wide enough to fit us all. This feels more like a corridor, with painted walls and thin strips of lights on the corners of the ceiling, which I take comfort in. At least we're no longer in darkness. We slow to an urgent walk as Will hums and looks either side, still pointing his phone light. I try and think of our next steps but my brain feels like thick sludge, my heart still pounding.
Movement shifts from a tunnel on our left as I turn and see the man lunge at us. I scream and push us away, almost falling over Bella as the axe cuts through the air beside me. The rush of hot air blows on my face as I stumble away. As the man steadies himself, eyes wild and glaring, Will leaps towards him. He presses his desert boot onto the man's chest and shoves him back, throwing him to the ground. We break into a run and Will turns us back into one of the narrow tunnels. Bella is wailing and huffing in front of me. I feel too numb to cry; too lost in everything.
I had managed to get a look at the man just then. Grizzled face, short hair and mostly balding; maybe in his fifties. He's wearing dusty overalls and heavy black boots. That's the mental image that sticks in my mind. I keep a hand on Bella's shoulder as we run, to let her know I'm still with them and for my own comfort.
Will turns two corners as we go. I have no idea how he knows where to go, but imagine he's just running blind like we all are. I keep waiting for the axe man to jump out at us. Every flash of our phones feels like the moment he'll come into view, eyes bulging and axe swinging.
We finally come out into a corridor like the one before; painted walls and lights on the ceiling. Or maybe it's a different part of the same corridor. We reach an intersection that splits to our right and continues ahead.
"I think we lost him," Will says, breathing heavily. It's the first time I realise how imposing and powerful he is, now we're in danger.
A spark of hope hits me when I see a red 'exit' sign on the wall, pointing straight ahead. Down at the end of the corridor is a door with the same 'exit' sign on it. My shoulders sag with a flood of relief. Bella and I almost laugh with hysteria when we look at each other.
I glance down the corridor on our right and freeze when I see the man with the axe. He's standing at the far end, axe in hand, legs wide, shoulders heaving with heavy breaths. A wild, deranged look is in his eyes. My body seizes up and stops working. Then the man charges towards us.
"Go, go," Will says, pushing us towards the exit door. He reaches down, and it's then I see the fire extinguisher on the wall. He pulls it off the wall and fumbles with it as he points his chin behind us. "Go!"
I take a hesitant step back, reluctant to leave him. Bella pulls my arm back. The man is a few bounding steps away as the extinguisher bursts out a powerful stream of smoke and powder. The blast of foam hits the man and sends him stumbling back. He hits the wall and rolls before he drops to the ground, for an instant becoming lost within the cloud of smoke.
"Go!" Will shouts. "I'll catch up to you."
Bella yanks my arm again and this time I let her. I take one last look at the man, rising to his feet against the heavy foam blasts, as I turn and head to the exit. I lose sight of Will as he takes a step towards the man, heading into the other corridor. Smoke and powder explode outwards in his wake, filling the air with a thick haze.
Bella pulls the door handle and shoulders her way through. We burst into a very dark area and suddenly stop. The door closes behind us with a click, taking away the last of the light. We're back in complete darkness. I had caught sight of tables in front of us before the door closed, and don't think the room is that big, but I can't be sure of anything.
Despite our urgency, neither of us seem to want to keep running in the dark. I hear the door handle turning and suddenly think it's the axe man coming for us, before I realise it's Bella trying the door.
"It's locked," she whispers, sounding miles away. Her heavy breathing is shallow and fast.
"Look for a lightswitch," I say, pressing my hands over the wall by the door.
I strain to hear the struggle with Will and the axe man but don't hear anything. Maybe this room was soundproof or something.
"I hope Will's okay." Bella sounds close to crying.
I nod, even though she can't see me. "He will be." I can't believe how brave he was to stand up against the man like that. You never fully know someone until they're pushed to show who they really are. I silently pray for his safety, not knowing what I would do if he got himself hurt or killed trying to protect us.
I say his name in my mind. Will Campbell. If the worst happens, I'll make sure everyone remembers him and knows what he did for us.
The lights come on suddenly, harsh and bright. I blink back the brightness and rub my eyes, taking a second to reorientate myself. I see we are in some kind of a security room, with a bank of monitors and keyboards in front of us, curved in an outwards U-shape. The room is around eight feet in each direction. A large glass window is ahead of us, but the area beyond is pitch black.
"What is this?" Bella says, looking around.
I scan the bank of consoles, still in an 'escape room' mode. I'm thinking about the next clue or puzzle, but a part of me feels that we're beyond that now. Maybe there's a way to call an outside line.
Static crackles from speakers overhead. "Welcome," says a voice, filling the room.
I stop breathing as Bella and I freeze
"Congratulations on making it to the final level." It's a gruff voice, but also somewhat light and nasally. We can hear the man's wheezy breathing through the speakers.
Bella lifts her head and shouts, "Who the fuck are you? Why are you doing this to us?"
A short, tense silence follows before the voice comes back. "You've done this to yourselves."
"Where's Will?" I ask. "Is he okay?"
"You don't have to worry about him anymore." I can almost hear a smile in his voice.
"What do you want?" Bella cries out with frustration.
We stand in silence, looking around and at each other. Every muscle feels tense.
A square monitor in front of us comes on. It's showing two news anchors at a desk, giving a report. A violent shudder shakes me as I immediately understand what the report is.
Police were called early this morning to a house in South London, after a report of a suicide. The victim has been identified as May Van DeSeer, a nineteen-year-old girl who attended Brentworth University. The details of the death have yet to be confirmed, but sources are calling it a suicide. Currently, there are no suspicions of foul play. Neighbours have called this a terrible tragedy. The young girl's family have yet to make a statement. Nadia Benneheim is on the scene.
The footage cuts to a blonde woman standing outside a residential street. Another cold shiver runs through me when I recognise May's house behind her. Sounds fade for me as I become lost in my tormented thoughts, feeling more lost than I ever was in the darkness.
"You've both been very bad," the man's voice says.
"That wasn't our fault!" Bella shouts to the room. "We didn't have anything to do with that."
The man tuts, like a teacher disappointed with a student. "You shouldn't lie."
The monitor cuts off, leaving us only with the sounds of our own heavy breathing.
"Now it's time for the final level of the game." His words feel like ice down my spine.
"Fuck you and your games," Bella calls out.
My hands are shaking as we wait for something to happen. I have no idea what to expect, but my racing mind imagines the door behind us bursting open and an axe sticking into me. What happens next is even more of a surprise.
The lights come on in the room beyond the glass. My breath catches when I see a girl tied to a chair, hands behind her. A cloth gag is around her open mouth. Her long dark hair is framing her bruised and battered face. An eye is inflamed and cut open, blood seeping from her nose, lips cracked and bloodied. A deep sense of dread hits me.
"Chia!" Bella shouts, leaning forward. I can tell she wants to break through the glass.
Chia is in a barren square room of grey walls, with a single spotlight above her. The thought of her being beaten, dragged into this room and tied to the chair makes me feel sick to my core.
"What did you do to her?" I say to the speakers, rising anger making my face hot.
The man's voice comes to us. "The two of you are guilty of murder."
"What?" Bella says. "No. That's a lie."
"No," the man hisses with surprising anger. "You are the liars. You two, Andi and Bella, were the most responsible for spreading rumours about May Van DeSeer."
Bella seems caught off guard, hesitating before she says, "Other people said more. It wasn't just us. It was the whole school."
My head is spinning and trying to make sense of everything. What did this man have to do with May? That was all so long ago, and no one had ever accused us of being responsible for her death.
The man's wheezing breath comes through the speakers. "May told me herself. She named two people to me the day before she took her life."
I want to shout out that it was a lie. That she would never have named me and Bella. Especially not to a crazy man like him. But I can't be sure of anything.
Bella and May did hate each other. They had a long-running feud which was common knowledge. But I never intentionally attacked May or wanted to hurt her. It was all just spread rumours and school pranks that unfortunately ended in someone's suicide. Events that have haunted me every day since.
I take my chance and say, "We don't believe you."
"You don't have to," the man says. "You just have to play the game."
Before we can say anything, a door behind Chia opens. A tall figure is standing in the doorway. A large hood hides most of his face, and I can see a balaclava underneath that. I wonder why he's covering his face when we had seen him earlier. A heavy-duty raincoat covers his body now and it's hard to see his shape, but he looks big. My heart jumps when I see the giant butcher's knife in his hand.
I instinctively step closer to the glass, and I would slam my hands against it if the bank of consoles weren't in my way. Bella starts whimpering with panic. I tear my eyes away from the knife and try to find something on the consoles. Some button or label that can help us. There must be an alarm or door release or something.
I freeze when the man's voice comes through the speakers. "Time to make a choice."
I stare at the big man with the knife, realising that it's not the same man with the axe. There are two of them. My eyes lock onto Bella's wide, fearful eyes, neither of us knowing what to do.
The voice says, "Time to decide who lives or dies."
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Thank you for reading!
Things are definitely escalating! What do you think 'Time to decide who lives or dies' means?
Do you think we'll see Luke or Will again before the end of the story?