I look at Claire as she also runs for a weapon lying around her. She grabs a thin long knife as I grab two light-looking daggers. Somehow they feel familiar, even though I don't have any idea how to use them. I figure that if I guard with one, I can use the other to counter. As everyone grabs their weapon, the speakers come to life again.
"Oh, that's right, one more thing that I forgot to explain…" The voice says with a hint of glee.
Everyone cautiously eyes each other as they wait for the voice to continue. At this point, the voice is the only one with answers around here anyway.
"About those "keys", they are at the end of those 22 doors over there." The voice coming through the speaker pauses for an audible deep breath.
I quickly look around the room again and confirm that there are no doors except the one I entered.
"Only when you have made a group of three or more people will you be allowed to enter. There is one "key" each for every room after that door. The keys are digital and can only be acquired by the bracelets by the box by each door. The rest of the rules will be explained when you are inside. I look forward to the entertainment…hahahaha!" The voice cackles as the speakers die with a few crackles and pops.
I look at Claire and she looks back with an inquiring gaze. I nod at her as something hits my back making me jump away and whirl around, my daggers ready to attempt defending myself against anything. I get a good look at who had the bright idea of surprising someone who is holding weapons.
"Hey, Jake!" A familiar voice enters my ears.
I look at the guy before me. Standing at five-foot-three is a black middle-schooler. Hazel eyes with black hair and pearly whites smiling. Reiner. The only friend I knew since our first year of middle school, was suddenly trying to surprise me once again. This time he succeeded though.
"How did you get here Reiner?" Clair asks quizzically. I was about to ask him the same question myself but she beat me to the punch.
"Ah, I was at home watching a game of football while my parents were out on one of their little honeymoon dates. Raiders were facing the Eagles with a score of 32-32 in the final with overtime, when all of the sudden the power went out. I went to go outside to check the fuse box to see if anything tripped. It was really dark out so I went back to my room to grab a flashlight when I saw the window slightly open. I walked toward the window and something hit my head really hard. The next thing I knew, I was in that room with everyone else chained to each other. After that, I heard what happened to that guy who tried to use his mouth instead of his brain… I didn't see it because it was behind the pillar I was chained to. Then after I ate that roll… I don't really know. Woke up in here." He says with a somber mood.
Reiner always was a huge fan of football, especially the Raiders...wait a sec, something doesn't add up.
(Hey Zero, if someone is possessed, why aren't they acting differently? Claire wasn't in the room so I don't really need to worry about that from her but Reiner was…)
("They usually won't act any different. When someone is possessed, contrary to those movies in your memories, they stay the same and act the same way. What changes is that they slowly become more and more unhinged mentally, until they finally snap and the demon takes over. Very few can stop this unless they somehow dominate the demon and rule over them, but that would take a very large amount of willpower as well as a miracle.")
(Dammit, I really hope nothing bad happens to him…)
"So how did you two get here anyway? I've told my piece so your turn." Reiner says with an attempt at humor.
"We-" I begin to explain until the sound of many heavy metallic doors sliding upwards. A robotic voice then came over the loudspeakers once all of them were open.
"ATTENTION, DOORS HAVE UNLOCKED AND WILL BE OPEN FOR ONE MINUTE AND TWENTY SECONDS. ALL PARTICIPANTS THAT HAVE NOT GONE THROUGH A DOOR WILL BE SUFFOCATED IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA. I REPEAT-" The robotic voice repeated the message, only with a number of one minute left.
I look at Claire and Reiner and with but a nod, we rush to one of the doors along with everyone else. We each grab a bracelet from one of the boxes randomly then altogether run through the closest door near us as a group. Rushing through the door, Reiner trips and causes everyone behind him to fall on each other. Right as Clair trips over me and falls into the room, the door slams down tight. It sounded very heavy and thick for a regular door.
"Damn…everyone okay?" Reiner asks while looking at Claire, then me.
"Ouch…watch where you are going, Reiner!" Claire says slightly peeved and embarrassed.
"I'm fine…" I say while getting up. Even though I fell face-first into concrete, there isn't any pain at all.
Zero's enhancement side effect is really useful. Then I notice another person leaning on the door panting heavily. A thin white guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He is wearing a school uniform that screams pompous know-it-all. I was about to discount the robe before he opened his mouth.
"And, who are you people?" He asks with a certain tone while slowing down his breathing.
"You first." I state, which obviously aggravates him.
"So be it. I am Edan Bloodstrom. I got to Janice High of Associates." He says with some flair.
"Jake." I point at myself, then to Claire and Reiner and say their first names. I never knew Claire's last name and Reiner never liked it when anyone said his last name, so I kept quiet about that name…Cockburn...pfft.
I use every ounce of willpower at my disposal to remain neutral faced while that thought went through my mind. Zero on the other hand was laughing hysterically at the notion of that last name. I believe I was moderately successful, between Edan's confused look and Reiner's scowling face.
Edan while looking confused continued his train of thought. "Anyway, don't even bother with those keys. They are mine you hear?" He pulls out a small pistol from behind him then aims it at us and repeats himself. "They are mine."
We immediately put our hands up. No one is stupid enough to bring knives to a gunfight. Both figuratively and literally. I wrack my brain to try to come up with a solution to this when the voice replayed what he said in my head as I look around the room. Then I notice something.
"Hey look, we are all on the same team here."
"Explain." He demands. For some reason, instead of being scared of having a gun in my face, it's starting to piss me off.
"He never said that one person had to hold all 5 keys. Plus, we don't know if there are only 5 rooms beyond this one." What I wouldn't give right now to rearrange that smug face of his right now.
"That doesn't prove anything." He scoffed.
I try to reign in my rising anger and slowly begin to resume my bluff. "Then what do you make of those three levers over there next to that door?" I walk over to one of the four levers that are spaced apart and pull one and let go. It immediately flips back upright when my hand lets go. Internally I sigh with relief that my hunch was right.
"One person can't get past this room. We need teamwork. Plus, you saw that guy, right? How completely nuts he was… who knows what is beyond these doors. So, what if your bracelet that has all of OUR keys gets broken? Not only would we be stuck, but so would you."
"…" Edan thinks for some time before he slowly lowers his gun. "How do you suggest we do this then?" The building anger and irritation slowly calmed down but didn't go away as I saw him beginning to point it away from us.
"Simple. We rotate per room. One of us gets the first key, the next gets the next one, and so forth until the first person gets their key again and it repeats. This way we have a backup in case anyone person's bracelet breaks." Just one more push… "Besides you have the gun, right?"
A smile flits across his face for a moment before he hesitantly agrees. Got him.
"Alright, I suppose. But don't try anything funny!" He pauses for a breath. "How do we decide who gets the first key?"
"Rock, Paper, Scissors." Reiner says calmly. "It is the fairest way since there aren't teams or anything."
"I agree with that." Clair happily follows up while I also agree.
"Alright." Edan holds his hand out." The rest of us follow.
""ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS!"" Three hands move forward as they cast their lots and leave it up to fate. Surely enough, one by one hands droop in defeat while one shoots up in victory.
("Won three rounds…Thank goodness.") Zero says as he mentally sighs with relief.
Edan on the other hand is fuming. His pride didn't want to allow anyone to get something first before him. Yet it was that same pride that eventually caved in and let him have it. Wanting something is one thing, and murder is fine, but lying and bringing dishonor to his family name is completely unacceptable, apparently. Me, Reiner, Eric, and Claire.
"Alright let's just go then…" Eric said reluctantly. He couldn't back out of his words now.
We each went up to a lever on the wall. By each one was a plaque with writing on it. Reiner asked what everyone's said, and so everyone read off of their plaque.
"Five keys are needed, but seven sins will test you." Clair said first at the far left.
"Death of a team member will result in one additional key gained for all living team members." Reiner called out next.
"As long as one person or group has the needed keys and arrives at the end, all participants in that group may leave." Eric called out after Reiner.
I look at mine carefully before reading it out loud. "Death awaits all who cannot complete the challenges."
"Seems like four additional rules to this thing." I say to myself.
Then we all pull on our levers as a large metal door slides up between them.
"Let's go I guess." Reiner says with some courage.
The door opens up into a dimly lit hallway with a soft red carpet. There are intricate paintings on the walls and green wallpaper spreading onwards down the hallway. We continue walking, not really able to take in the reality of where we are. What felt like moments ago, we were all in cages and practically starving; yet now we see this luxurious hallway with art décor of a…finer…taste.
Some were of men while others were of woman, some nude and others going into certain extremes. We start to smell something really delicious as we come upon a door that is lit at the bottom. The small light came through from under the old-looking wooden door. We slowly open it as the air rushes past us, bringing with it such delectable smells.
Roast turkey, savory chicken, fresh salad with a slight zest, Minestrone, and other soups with various other meats, cheeses, puddings, loaves of bread, and rolls were laid out as we slowly opened the door. By the table were four evenly spaced chairs at what someone would call a "feast fit for a king and all his people". Over beyond the table was a plaque with big red words written on it.
"You should not eat from death's bounty. Abstain from desire and be satisfied."
Immediately, Edan dashed towards the table, completely ignoring the plaque on the wall. He hadn't had anything to eat that day besides the roll, and like everyone else, he was very much hungry. He had already let Jake be the first to get a key, but he would be damned if Jake beat him to this food. Without waiting or letting anyone say anything, he immediately sat down and started stuffing his face with the various rolls, meats, and cheeses in front of him with bliss clearly in his eyes.
Just as Claire and Reiner were about to do the same, Jake grabbed them and whispered them something. "Guys remember when he gave all of us that roll? What if it is laced with some drug or poison? Also that plaque...'Abstain and be satisfied.' I wonder what it refers to?"
At the words "drug or poison" both of them stopped struggling against Jake as they recalled being drugged and waking up in cages.
"Good point…still looks good though. I think it is telling us to resist the temptation." Claire sighed as her stomach made a grumbling noise followed by Jake and finally Reiner. Claire was blushing whereas Jake and Reiner were laughing together at the noise.
I turned around and looked at Edan at the table still stuffing his face like a madman. Something didn't seem right about it so I called out to him. "Hey, Edan. Edan?" No response as he just kept on eating.
"Edan! EDAN!" I walk over to grab his shoulder, but suddenly he pulls his gun out and points it at me.
"Let me eat or I WILL KILL EVERY ONE OF YOU!!" His voice went from calm to frenzied in record speed. His eyes had a madness to them while somewhat looking glossed over.
I slowly backed away saying "alright…alright…" and moved towards the door as he resumed eating. "Just catch up to us once you are done alright?" Again, no response came from Edan besides the constant smacking of lips and ripping of meat and other foods.
("Jake, that boy…forget about him. He won't be leaving anytime soon.")
(What makes you say that Zero?)
("That boy's demon is getting stronger, and I can already tell it has already overpowered his host. The boy named Edan no longer exists Jake…")
I pause a moment to think about what the four plaques said. 5 keys but 7 sins will test you…of course!
(Zero does the act of giving in lead to a faster take-over from the demon?)
("Yes, it does in fact. Remember the faster the hosts become unhinged and lose their willpower, the faster they can take over. It doesn't have to be about a particular deadly sin though and that is the dangerous part. It can be about ANYTHING that you are giving into.")
I shudder at the last bit of his words. That would be nearly impossible. People mentally give into things all the time. Hunger, sleep, thirst, sex, pride, and peer pressure are just a few that could be listed if this is the case. I turn towards Claire and Reiner before I talk to them.
"Let him finish eating and he can catch up later I guess. It's not like there are any levers in this room to open the door this time." I lied to them, knowing that he would never leave until the demon completely takes over. But this also brings up an issue that I forgot about when we were split up into teams.
(Zero, if one demon completely takes over a host, what would it do then? I mean after it finished "eating", would it go after us for some reason?)
("Yes. After it cannot get any more power from making the host give in to something, it would go after the nearest source of sentient life and drain their entire lifespan for more, as it consolidates its form and begins changing the host body into one more...suitable for it.")
(Great so not only do we need to resist ourselves, but we just got a ticking timer until we die from that thing…perfect.)
("Well, you don't need to resist anything in particular besides that food though. Since I'm not a demon and I have no plans on taking you over. Reiner's demon though…")
(We'd better hurry then.)
I look at the people next to the door and decide not to tell them about their possible possessions currently. It would make them ask questions that would waste time, and they wouldn't exactly believe me either. Especially since the only thing they remember is eating a roll that the loony asshole gave them and then ending up in a cage. Claire might believe me, but Zero said to not trust her for now…
I motion them to go ahead of me while I take one last look at what used to be Edan. As they step through the door, I follow closely behind after pressing my bracelet against the door for the key.
The next room only had a soft-looking California King-sized bed with luxurious linen and pillows that adorned it. In the corners of the room were soft lazy-boy styled chairs with books, games, and magazines by each one. There was even an eighty-inch flat-screen TV with the newest Ybox Sphere below it. Jake looked at the TV and the background on it said "Rest for the weary and sleep for the dead. Continue moving forward for salvation."
Seeing as we were all trying to escape from the well-built man and his insanity, the other two instantly ignored this room, eager to get away from Edan. We got our key and continued onward, though I paused before leaving. It was tempting to sit down on the sofa. Between the soul-wrenching pain and having my face rearranged by a brute, I was pretty tired physically, emotionally....even his pregnant spirit was tired. After remembering Zero's words about Edan and the ticking time bomb, I feebly walked through the door to follow the other two.
I can rest later...hopefully.
The following room had only a table with four glasses of pink liquid on top of it. At the far end of the square stone room was a simple bed with normal sheets and a white fluffy pillow. We tried the door at the end of the room, but it was locked. On the door was a bronze plaque with an inscription.
It read: "Drink the liquid and leave the room to acquire the key." Very straightforward like usual.
I walk up to the wine glass of pink liquid and the others follow behind me. We noticed something from the earlier room as we left the bed behind. As long as one person ignores the temptation, everyone will be able to leave. But seeing as who is up for the next key...
Claire realizes why we paused and slowly walks up to the table. With a nervous glance, she reaches her hand out to pick up a glass when Reiner says something.
"Let's all take it at the same time. At worst we die of poison, at best we give her some courage eh?"
I was about to think of a solution, Claire grabbed the wine glass and downs the strange pink liquid in one sitting. She immediately drops the glass as her eyes gloss over with a strange look, her eyes dilating wide as saucers. She turns toward me and walks slowly, her hips had a slight womanly sway and her eyes looked as if she just found the most delicious snack. Her lips parted slightly into an alluring smile.
(Holy...what was in that drink?)
Seeing her like this, I walk forward to ask her if she is okay…or not. She suddenly jumped at me and pinned me to the ground. Her lips went on my face as if it were candy in front of a five-year-old. I look to my left to avoid those drug-induced kisses and skinship to see Reiner's face completely twisted in anger for a brief moment. The rage in his eyes was real alright. That moment seemed to last forever as it was burned into my eyes completely, and that's when I realized that he had a thing for her too.
Seeing him recover, I yell at him to get her off of me so we can leave the room. "Make sure to tag her wrist to the door for our key!" I remind him while he struggles to tear her away from me. I help him drag her to the door and we enter after the key has registered.
I follow behind Reiner who is starting to act strange, literally dragging her with him, and Claire who is constantly giving me looks while biting her lip.
I shudder to think about what could be in the rooms ahead of us…