"It's a puzzle," Clifford looked back, seeing Jordan flashing his torch east-ward into nothingness.
Alfred and Claire were a feet apart.
Alfred's hands had already gotten sweaty, and Claire felt like she badly needed veggie burgers and fries. Immediately, a presage of tension was in the air, and they all felt it.
"What sort of puzzle," Alfred inquired, moving a few inches forward.
The bright gleam and glow of the huge twin gate, falling on them all like they were in front of the sun itself. (With protective pods, of course!)
Clifford kept on running his hands on the gate, "huh."
And then an unnerving sound broke out in a flash.
It continued, it didn't stop.
It got louder and then constant. They all paused and rolled their eyes in all directions for the source. It didn't stop.
Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock—
They all heard it. They were all confused. Their hearts were now trotting fast.
Jordan swiftly moved forward, running to the gate. His chest rising and falling. He stood beside Clifford, they locked eyes, and then looked in their opposite directions. Their hearts hammering faster against their chests.
Jordan crouched, and ran his hands all the way right till he got to a spot where the ticking was the loudest.
He ran his hand on the surface, it felt cold and dusty on the touch. He brushed it furiously, revealing a bar.
A bar that had a stopwatch counting down.
He gasped and shrieked.
"Uh guys, it's a fucking timer!" Jordan cried out, and others ran to him.
They all began to panic. Sweats now broke even faster.
The time read in digital format, 89, 88, 87, 86, 85—
"What happens when it hits zero?" Alfred asked, all panicky.
"Then we're ground zero," Claire replied in a sharp horror.
"It's the timer for the game... it's the timer for the game, we have to play the game before the time runs out." Clifford assumed and began to fret.
His hands began to sweat furiously. A crop of horrors strung his soul tight.
"Come on, come on." Alfred hushed and dashed to the golden gate. "Uhh," he stuttered, his eyes darting at all angles.
"Says here, only one may play." Alfred read it out and looked back in fear. A ghastly whiteness overspreading his cheeks.
"Who here is good with puzzles?" Alfred asked, and his teeth began to gnash.
"That would be me," Clifford pushed forward, swallowing hard.
79, 78, 77, 76, 75—
"Venga, venga." Alfred jumped out of the red square at the doorstep and allowed Clifford to step in.
Clifford looked up at the huge 6x6 puzzle. His head racked intensely, and he tried to calm his nerves as the ticking hit his head hard. He widened his eyes, and laid his hands on the scrambled image.
Left hand up, right hand left, left hand down and right, right hand up—
69, 68, 67, 66, 65, 64—
Alfred, Claire and Jordan all came close, sharing fretty body warmth. As they watched and prayed as Clifford's hands swung in all directions, they kept an eye behind their backs. They didn't get what he was making, not yet. Their hands were sweaty and shaky at the same time.
Claire's mind was bugling around how screwed she was going to be if her brother didn't return. With great pang, gripping and releasing her heart at the same time.
Jordan's subconsciousness was browsing around the orphanage, looking for how mad The Mistress would be, and how her bulgy eyes would haunt him forever. His muscular chest grew outwards as a heavy oppression overcame him again.
Alfred was surprisingly growing calmer, suppressing the potent full of possible danger in his mind. His bold gaze focused on Clifford's busy body, as if his staring was boosting Clifford's strength and speed. There were thousands of confident prayers running through his mind as he watched.
39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33—
"You can do this Cliff!" Claire yelled encouragingly, in a sheepish manner. Oh God, please!
"Come on man. I believe in you." Jordan added. Slightly on his toes.
Right hand down, Left hand right, Right hand left—
Clifford shuffled and slid those flat golden plates. Its temperature rose and drop momentarily, which made him yank his hands when they're hot, and rub them when it's cold. The image has now gotten complex, he paused for a second and began to re-adjust.
He hustled all the way in a reverse. His sister and friend's hopeful faces burned right through him. His sweats increased, and his hands began to tense like crazy.
18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13,—
"Come on Cliff. Come on!" They chorused and chanted.
They couldn't control themselves, they jumped and yelped. How strongly they wished to help, but the red square Clifford was standing on had projected bright red bars of flames. It surrounded him, telling them; he doesn't get out, and no one gets closer, until something happens.
He hustled and hustled. His hands running very fast on the golden gate, his feet tapping forward and backwards. His eyes rolling in all directions. His breathing shakier than ever before. His stomach, twisting and turning. Indistinct chatters clouding his brain and his heart thudding hard against his rib cage.
5, 4, 3, 2—
And the ticking stopped.
They all froze as they watched the image materialize and the red bars around Clifford die down.
Clifford was still holding his ground as they all eyed the motionless gate, thinking if he had solved the puzzle or not. Then all of a sudden, the huge twin doors then began to vibrate and Clifford stepped backwards. He jumped into the small crowd, and they all hugged. Partly because his few minutes in that tight and unreachable spot made them miss him, and because it seemed to them that he'd actually solved the puzzle.
"I think we did it." Clifford announced shakily, looking at the astonishing image he had just formed.
Before them was a golden insignia of an Egyptian god's eye.
To be precise, it was the great eye of Horus. It stared at them, and they all looked at it in awe and utter confusion.
"Yes! I'm the boss, applesauce!" He pointed aggressively at the image, a wide grin on his face.
"You da boss man... you da boss." Jordan agreed, excited like the rest of them.
"Take that... you... you piece of doll eye..." Claire stuttered but pulled her brother into a hug. "That was amazing!" She commented, watching her brother beam with smiles before her.
"Well, I guess you're not so helpless anymore." She said with a smirk on her face, as she gazed into his eyes. "Little brother," she added.
"Ha! Glad you see that now..." Clifford retorted, and then freed himself from her grasp. "We'll just have to work on the little brother part, yeah?"
Light chuckles broke out from the small crowd.
"Sooo... what really happens at zero?" Jordan surprisingly inquired.
They all stared at him, amazed that he still had to ask again.
"What? I wanna know."
They looked around, to behold no form of traps or weapons at all. Everywhere was still lit by the gleams from the eye image.
"Holy shit!" Jordan's mouth went wide.
"What?"
"Up there," Jordan pointed.
They looked up to see huge iron spikes hung way over their heads. It began to shake, like it was about to rain iron and blood.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Clifford hushed and led every one to the golden gate.
He pushed the iris of the eye and the huge door majestically opened. They rushed in blindly with increasing speed, leaving the long iron bars to pierce the grounds. Heavy thuds and clatters banged and ringed behind the doors.
For a moment there, relief washed over them as they had crossed over, and they were safe from death.
Death one.
*****
Author note.
How was the first game guys!?
Tense right? :)
Hit that little star right there of this chapter got ya! ;)
Thanks! :)