Emmabella climbed down the ladder into the foul smelling sewers. She wrinkled her nose but continued down the ladder. She swore she would never go back, but the screams of innocent children still managed to haunt both her dreams and her waking moments. 'Maybe, just maybe,' She thought, 'This time I won't come back alone.'

One day later

'I'll be too big for the cubby soon.'

That's all Liam could think about as he sat curled up in his usual hiding place. He knew he had been growing, his toes were harshly pushed up against the wall of the cubby and he could hardly move his arms with them being crammed against his body and the walls of the cubby. His brother had shown him this hiding place before he died. His last words haunted Liam.

'I'm too big for this now, but you can fit.'

What would happen to him when he outgrew the cubby? His breath hitched when he heard the door creak open. 'Hello?' A woman's voice. Was it Serpentine or Silver? 'Is anyone in here?' Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he slowly raised his hand to cover his mouth. He began to tremble as he silently prayed. He heard the closet door open and the shuffling of the woman searching for someone.

He could hear loud scratching on the walls. It was Slasher. The scratching got louder and louder until it was right outside his cubby. That's when the horrifying realization hit him, she'd known he was there the entire time. She yanked the cubby open and Liam screamed full volume. He knew no one would help him, no one would be willing to put their lives so close to death for him. The one who would have done that for him was dead.

Slasher had a painful grip on his arm. Her blue eyes stared mercilessly at Liam. She raised her clawed hand, intending on slitting his throat when the sound of a gun rang through the air. Blood slowly crept from Slasher's chest. Her vest had broken. She whipped her head around to look at who'd shot her. A raven-haired girl stood in the doorway.

The girl fired again, this time killing Slasher. Blood pooled around her limp body and stained her blonde hair. Liam looked at the dead body before him. He'd seen dead bodies before, mainly children, but this time, he didn't feel a sense of dread. Rather, relief washed over him. He didn't even realize the young girl was approaching him. She picked him up. 'It's not safe here, we need to go.' She said quietly. Only one question was on Liam's mind as the girl ran with him through the halls. 'Who is she?'

The girl placed Liam down when they reached the small bathroom. She walked over to the large cracked mirror and took it off the wall. There was an opening roughly the same size as the mirror. 'Crawl in.' The girl said as she lifted him. Liam did as he was told and the girl crawled in after him, making sure to put the mirror back where it was.

The two were left in darkness as they crawled through the secret entrance.

Liam crawled up to a slab of wood at the end of secret entrance and the girl slid it out of the way, revealing a small, dark room. They both entered the room and the girl turned on the lights. 'Let me tend to your arm.' The girl said. That was when Liam first noticed his arm was bleeding. The girl pulled a first aid kit out of her bag and began cleaning his arm. 'Ma'am?' Liam asked quietly. The girl smiled. 'Please, call me Emmabella.'

Six years earlier

Oliver flicked on the light switch to the secret room. 'Sara, let me tend to your shoulder.' Tina said as she pulled a first aid out of her pocket. Emmabella looked around the small room. The walls were painted a dark brown and there was a dark red carpet. They were lucky James accidentally knocked over the mirror, otherwise, they might have never been able to escape from the Man-eaters. Emmabella couldn't understand how something so inhumane could look exactly like a normal person.

Emmabella had been there for as long as she could remember. She had faint memories of walking around barefoot in a white room surrounded by other children who were also barefoot, but other than that, she couldn't remember life outside The Mansion. She had lived her whole life being hunted. But everyone always told her that would change, all her friends told her they would escape together. 'Oliver, when will we run away?' Emmabella asked. Oliver ruffled her hair. 'Soon, soon, Emma.'

(Present day)

A large bell could be heard ringing through the house. The hunt was over. 'Let's go.' Emmabella said as she moved the wooden slab away from the opening. They both exited the secret room. Liam looked at her arms. Her brown skin was scattered with scars.

'Emmabella, I've never seen you before. Where are you from?'

'I escaped here with my friends.'

'Really?'

'Yes.'

The two walked into the kitchen where the other children were. Emmabella opened the pantry and handed Liam a piece of bread. 'How old is he?' She asked a brown-haired boy behind her. 'Five, almost six.'

'How many kids have died this week?'

The room fell quiet.

'10 have died, one's heavily injured.'

'How bad are his injuries?'

'Um, he had to get stitches on his arms, left leg, hip, and he's in too much pain to move around a lot.'

'I see.'

'Who are you?' A ginger-haired girl asked. She glared at Emmabella with her brown eyes.

'Emmabella, you?'

'Ingrid. How did you get here?'

'It's a long story. The kid who was injured, let me see him.'

'Why should we let you-'

'I need to see if he's able to escape here.'

The room went silent once again. Ingrid looked at a blonde-haired girl from across the room and nodded. 'Karen will lead you to him.'

Emmabella followed Karen to a small room where a brown-haired boy lay sleeping on a bed. 'His name is Klaus.' Emmabella walked over to the sleeping Klaus. A pair of crutches laid next to his bed. Emmabella softly chuckled, the crutches brought back nostalgic memories. 'Are you injured?' Karen asked softly. Emmabella looked at her puzzled. 'No.'

'I noticed your limp-'

'I walk like that. An injury happened a long time ago.'

Five years earlier.

'Load the gun!'

'I'm trying!'

The door was going to break. It was only going to be a matter of time before Red broke down the door. Oliver was attempting and failing, to load the gun he'd found in the secret room. Sara was bawling her eyes out and Tina was screaming at Oliver. Emmabella stood next to James, who tried to tell her it would be okay. It was not going to be okay and she knew that.

Never had Emmabella wished so badly that Man-eaters never existed. Maybe if they didn't, she'd live in a loving family, a normal neighborhood. She wouldn't have to listen to the screams of children. How many friends had she lost? She'd lost count. She wanted so badly for the Man-eaters to just die. How could something so evil exist? The pounding on the door got louder and louder.

The door broke.

Everyone scattered. Everyone except Emmabella. Everything happened so quickly that she couldn't comprehend the situation until it was too late. Red threw his knife at her and it landed directly into her right leg. She cried out and fell to the floor. She scrambled to get up but Red reached her before she could get to her feet. That's all she could remember before she blacked out.

She woke up two days later. She had sustained multiple injuries, but the worst was her leg. Everyone knew she would never walk the same again.

(Present day)

Emmabella had nearly forgotten what it was like to sleep in a sleeping bag. There were very few beds. She looked around at the sleeping children. Some snored loudly while others slept quietly. It felt strange being surrounded by people again. At the bunker, there was only-

'Emmabella?' A quiet voice asked.

Emmabella looked over at Karen. Her blue eyes sparkled in the dark.

'Yeah?

'Are you awake?'

'No, Karen, I'm talking in my sleep.'

There was a long silence.

'What is it, Karen?'

'You said you escaped with the help of your friends. What happened to them?'

Emmabella clutched her sleeping bag. She hadn't spoken of the incident in years. 'They died. Goodnight, Karen.'

Five years earlier

It was two months after Emmabella's injury. She still wasn't fully healed, but her friends, mainly Oliver, refused to wait. But they also refused to leave her behind. They found a map in the secret room. It showed different exits to The Mansion. They were taking all the children with them. Everyone woke up to the loud bell. The loud bell signaled the beginning of a hunt. 'It's three days early.' Tina mumbled. She ran her fingers through her curly hair.

'It's fine! Everyone get to the secret exit!' Oliver ordered. Everyone scrambled to the room with the secret entrance. No one expected The Slasher to be there. Waiting for them. She killed them one by one. Only Emmabella managed to escape with the help of her siblings. It took her five days for her to make it through the sewers and up to the surface, which should have been a three-day trip. But her troubles weren't over yet.

(Present day)

That bell. Emmabella woke up to the bell. The bell signaled the beginning of the hunt. It was way too early for a hunt and all the children knew it. Emmabella grabbed the gun out of her bag.

'Everybody, grab your weapons.'

In the Man-eaters hideout

Donelle, called "Silver" by the children, watched Frederick, known as "Red" by the children because of his red eyes, remove his whites gloves. He hated to get blood on them. It was so hard to get the stain out. Donelle then pulled out her makeup bag and pulled out a white powder. She added a generous amount of powder to her face when Yolaine, who was called "Violet" spoke.

"Megan's death was a tragedy was it not?"

"Yes, I never expected Emmabella to come back. Frederick said.

Donelle looked at the cameras. With every secret entrance they built, they put cameras at the entrance, but they didn't put cameras inside of the entrance. It added a bit of fun to the game. The children were none the wiser. They were given hope, they believed that they'd outsmarted them just like. Were children really that gullible?

'Sound the bell for a hunt today.' Donelle said, placing down her makeup brush. Frederick grinned slyly. They all wanted to hunt Emmabella. The second child that managed to escape. Donelle applied red lipstick to her lips and rose from her seat. She ran her smooth fingers through her silver hair.

'She won't escape here again.'

With the children

'They can only be killed if you pierce the heart?' Karen asked.

'Exactly. They wear vests that can only be destroyed with a gun. Which is why they supply us with every weapon but guns. My friends and I were fortunate to find guns in the secret room. You have to shoot the vests at least twice to kill them though."

Emmabella loaded a shotgun and handed it to her.

'It's real easy, aim and fire.' She said.

Footsteps could be heard outside the room. The 10 children that were given guns aimed their guns at the door. The footsteps got louder and louder.

'Now!' Ingrid yelled when she saw the doorknob moving.

'Wait!-'

Shots were fired before Emmabella could stop them. Whoever was behind the door ran. Emmabella tackled Ingrid and held a gun to her head.

'Listen to me, because I'm only going to say this once. If you do not follow every order I give you, I will kill you. This isn't a game.'

Emmabella then fired the gun inches away from Ingrid's head. The door flew open and gunshots were fired once again. Except for this time, it wasn't the children, it was a Man-eater. It was Red to be exact. He was holding what looked to be a hunting rifle. Several children dropped dead before they could take cover. Emmabella fired once.

And missed.

She cursed herself and fired again, at the exact same time Red fired at her and shot Emmabella's shoulder, causing her to fall and drop her gun. Emmabella's bullet landed on Red's chest and shattered his vest. Karen leveled her gun and shot it again. She shot him in the head. Red fell to the ground. Everyone stared at his body. Ingrid and Emmabella slowly walked towards the body.

'He shouldn't be dead.' Emmabella mumbled.

The two moved closer to the body until Emmabella saw that there was no bullet hole in his head. He'd healed.

'Son of a-'

Red shot Ingrid before Emmabella could finish her sentence or shoot him. Screams were heard throughout the room as Red shot Ingrid, then Emmabella, in the stomach. Emmabella grabbed her stomach and leaned onto the wall. Her vision went blurry, and then completely black.

When Emmabella opened her eyes, she was in a field of green grass with a light azure-colored sky. She also saw the faces of her friends. Except for this time, they weren't cold, dead, and filled with fear. They were smiling.

'Hello, Emmabella.' Oliver said. Emmabella felt frozen in time. As if she were stuck in a picture with her friends. The only family she'd ever known. She stared into Oliver's chocolate brown eyes, those eyes she thought she would never see full of life again. It all felt too real.

'Am I dead?

'No, not yet.'