For a moment, the room was dead silent. Ava, Lily, and Ethan darted over to where Noah lay, their hearts racing as they feared the worst. His stillness was unnerving, and no one dared speak.
But then, after what felt like an eternity, Noah's eyes fluttered open. A groan escaped him as he blinked up at Ava, who was hovering over him with wide, panicked eyes. "I'm... alive?" His voice was barely more than a whisper.
Ava let out a breath she'd been holding for who knows how long, then burst into a shaky laugh, her relief pouring out. "Yeah, you're alive, dumbass."
As if on cue, everyone exhaled in unison, tension slipping away like a bad dream. Lily and Ava gently helped Noah sit up while Ethan, still huffing from the adrenaline rush, patted Noah's back with a grin. "Dude, you okay?"
Noah winced as his hand found his sore shoulder. "Yeah, I guess... but that was totally insane. What the hell just happened?"
Lily, finally cracking a smile, nodded. "We actually did it. We survived Round Two."
Just as the words left her mouth, a glowing message lit up on the wall: ROUND TWO COMPLETED
Lily squinted at the letters, barely believing it. "Oh, thank God. Round Two is finally over."
Ethan wasn't so quick to relax, though. His eyes were still glued to the wall, his jaw clenched. "Yeah... but now comes Round Three. And I have a feeling it's gonna be worse."
*****
Well, well, well… they made it through Round Two. Can you believe it?
Honestly, this game has been a walk in the park so far. Pulling teeth? Grabbing wires? child's play.
Where's the drama? Where's the real terror? Remember when they had to eat burnt flesh? Or rob a damn bank? Now Those were dares. But this?
Oh, just wait until Round Three. Things are about to get spicy.
Hehehe…
*****
Lily sighed, rubbing her temples. "I wish Round Three never starts. Can we just chill for, like, five minutes?"
Out of nowhere, Ethan let out a yelp. "OH MY GOD!!" He was stomping furiously on the floor. Ava and Lily both jumped, wide-eyed.
"What the hell, Ethan?" Ava snapped, looking like she'd seen a ghost.
"Why did you kill it?" Lily asked, staring at the squished remains of what had been a cockroach.
Ethan, still a bit breathless, glared at the squished bug on the floor. "It was coming for me. I swear it was gonna eat me alive!"
Ava raised an eyebrow. "Dude, it's a cockroach. A COCKROACH. Not a freaking lion."
Ethan crossed his arms defensively. "You don't know what these things are capable of! They eat anything—plants, meat… and yes, even human flesh. Look it up!"
Lily rolled her eyes, but Ava hesitated, clearly curious. "Human flesh? Really?"
*****
Oh, for real? Can cockroaches eat humans? Someone get me a phone so I can Google this.
Wait... I forgot, there's no Google in the multiverse.
Guess I'll have to pay Earth a visit. Hold on, let me check…
@*2$&;9# YEARS LATER....
Yep, he's kinda right. Cockroaches CAN munch on dead or alive humans… if there are enough of them.
So, uh, better hope you never find yourself surrounded by a swarm.
I have a feeling there is gonna be something horrible...
Hehehe
*****
"Okay, fine," Lily said, shaking her head. "But that was one cockroach, Ethan. One. Not exactly a swarm."
Ethan wasn't having it. "Yeah, but what if there are more? We can't trust this place. Everything here is a death trap."
Noah, finally pulling himself together, waved them off. "Alright, alright, enough with the bug talk. Let's focus on what's important here—like the fact that Round Three is about to start."
As if on cue, the TV in front of them flickered to life, the ominous message hanging over them: ROUND THREE BEGINS NOW
"Oh no..." Ava's voice trembled as a slow, eerie song began playing from somewhere near the kitchen.
The sound was coming from an old phonograph, the kind that belonged in a haunted house.
"Ugh, not this creepy shit again," Ethan muttered, storming over and smashing the CD to pieces. "There. That's better."
The others stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Dude... what the hell?" Noah muttered, but before he could finish, another CD slid into place on the phonograph, and music started playing again. Ethan was about to lose it and smash this one too, but something on the disc caught his eye.
"Chain yourself to the pipe. You have exactly three minutes," Ethan read aloud.
"Wait, what?" Ava blinked. "That's the dare?"
"Well, that seems... easy?" Ethan said, shrugging. "I mean, it's just a pipe, right?"
Lily didn't look so sure. "Yeah, but where's the pipe?"
As if on cue, the door to the room creaked open all by itself.
It was a dark room and nothing could be seen.
Ethan's eyes widened. "Nope. Nope, not going in there. No way."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Ethan, come on. It's your dare. Just do it, and you're free."
"Fine, fine. But if I get eaten by something, it's on you," Ethan muttered, taking a deep breath before stepping into the room.
The second he crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut behind him. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Ethan screamed.
Outside, his friends rushed to the door. "Ethan, what's going on?" Ava called out.
"Why did it close?!" Noah shouted, trying to open it.
"Ethan, forget the door!" Lily said. "Just do the dare, and it'll open when you're done!"
"F-Fine!" Ethan called back, trying to stay calm. But inside, the air was thick with dust and... oh no. Cockroaches.
"AAGGHHHH! NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!" Ethan screamed, stomping the floor like he was in a cockroach-killing marathon.
"Ethan, you good?" Noah called through the door.
Inside, Ethan's voice was shaking. "Yeah, yeah, just fine! Totally not losing my mind in here!"
He kept moving forward, eyes darting everywhere. He found the chain near an old pipe in the corner. But just as he bent down to grab it, a cockroach the size of a small rat scuttled out.