The Name of the Game is: Fear

[Angavu]

((The following is a cooperative piece of fiction written through the input of myself(Angavu), Matt(Lagomorph), Billi Ivey(Billi), Makena Walker(Makena Walker), Bobby Park(Katabatik), Violet Lam (Karakuriya), Damian Singleton (Damian Singleton), and Eleanor Smith (Elly). Players have given their consent to this fiction and have been a part of the process in all editing processes, as well as having the right to edit the story proper. The conversations have been censored for forum-acceptable standards.))

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Chapter 1: Pick your player

The first thing he noticed was the darkness. Even after the opening his eyes, a bleak abyss was the only thing that greeted him. A heavy groan vibrated out of the boy’s mouth, the fog beginning to lift from his head, replaced with a dull, thudding ache. He stood slowly, lashing out with a hand, grabbing a nearby railing, holding on tightly while his vision began to pick out vague shapes and orient themselves to the small room he found himself in. High windows let in faint moonlight, each window about eight feet up on the wall, and small enough to fit maybe only a small child. Cardboard boxes and wooden pallets were tossed about the area haphazardly, giving the room an even more dilapidated feel to it.

“Where the hell am I?” He called out, putting a hand to his head to try to quell the thudding that made it hard to think. The skin under his fingers was taut and sensitive; having the sharp, searing pain of a burn wound. “Hello?!” With the shapes in the room becoming somewhat clearer, Dar was able to make out a nearby doorway, stumbling towards it in the faint light, wedging it open and poking his head through into similarly dark hallway. “Hello?! Anyone here?!”

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Elsewhere, Damian Singleton opened his eyes, looking straight up at the ceiling. His vision came back fairly quickly while he tried to orient himself. “What da…” He coughed, craning his neck to try and see around the room as best he could before standing. Using a nearby desk for support, that felt far more beaten up than what should be allowed in any decent workable building, he shakily made his way to his feet.

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Keeping one hand firmly on the wall, Dar shuffled his feet and tried to keep his ears alert as best he could, despite the constant ringing sound in that nearly deafened him from hearing even his footsteps. “Anyone there?” He called gruffly, straining to see in the dim light. Off in the distance of the hallway, a figure emerged wreathed in shadows upon shadows. Shambling a little as it walked through the hall, the skinny figure crept closer towards where Dar was standing. Immediately, adrenaline shot through his system and his blood began to churn, a lance of fear rushing through his core.

The figure abruptly stopped, crooking its head forward, as if trying to get a better look at the large youth, who had taken a few steps back, hoping that whatever it was didn’t start to charge him. “D?” A female voice asked from the shadows. Blinking, Dar froze in his tracks, recognizing the voice and letting the adrenaline rush out of him.

“Elly?”

“What the #%@! is going on?!” She cried, anger tainting her voice.

“$#!& girl! The hell’s going on?!” Dar cried back at simultaneously with Elly, his fear sparking a flash of anger and anxiety in his voice.

“…What makes you think that I know?” She retorted quickly. Dar could almost see the sneer on her face.

“#%@! if I know girl. One minute I was kickin’ some Freak butt and then-“ Dar trailed off as a large cascading series of thuds thundered through the hallway. The both of them froze and spun towards where the sound was coming from…behind Dar.

“…Hello?” Elly asked tentatively, her voice a mixture of anger and frustration.

“The hell was that? Who’s there!?” Dar cried into the darkness, his voice on edge, the cold pit in his stomach growing deeper. There was another thud as around the corner, another form stumbled into view, looking around frantically.

“Dar?” It called out, voice deep and inflected with an accent typically found in the Row.

“Dozer?” Dar called back, straining his eyes to try to get a better view.

“Yea.” He replied, slowly walking forward.

“Dozer, what’s going on?” Elly demanded.

“Uh…I du’know…just got a headache…” He said softly, rubbing the back of his head

“I know what ya mean dawg…my head’s killin’ me.” Dar said gruffly, his hand hesitantly touching the burn on his neck..

“Where da hell are we?” Dozer asked, his eyes trying to pick out details in the hallway from the low light.

“Figured you might know.” Dar said, sounding slightly hopeful.

“Naw dude…I don’ have the slightest…dis $#!&’s weird.” Damian remarked with an exasperated sigh, leaning back against one of the walls in the hallway, arms folded.

“#%@! it. Let’s just get the #%@! outta here.” Dar grumbled angrily, his fear shifting into anger, his fists clenching together.

“I’m wit ya on dat one.” Dozer said plainly, Elly nodded her agreement.

For a moment, Dar looked about the hallway and cursed under his breath. “…$#!&, I wish there was a light. Hold on.” Closing his eyes, Dar held up his right hand, clenching it into a fist and stared at it. At first nothing happened. Then about a minute later, Dar frowned. “The #%@!?” He cried, eyes burning with a sudden surge of anger. Damian shot him a worried look, his eyebrows raised.

“Dat’s not good.”

“Don’t you make light? Or energy or something?” Elly asked, voice frustrated, stamping her foot and glaring at Dar, who sputtered a little while looking at his clenched fist.

“What the #%@! you think I’m trying to do girl?! $#!&’s not working!” Dar yelled back, slamming his fist into a wall with a dull thud; cheap plaster flaking off around his skin.

“Lemme try.” Damian said softly, stepping up to take one of his gloves off, and hopefully giving Dar some time to cool down.

“What the #%@! is going on?! Is this some $#!& the Coach is doin’ to us?!” Dar cried, yelling at the wall and anyone within earshot.

“Prank by the team more likely.” Elly replied coldly, her arms folding in front of her, eyes narrowing.

“Oh I #%@!in’ hope not. For their sakes.” Dar replied venomously, seething anger in his voice.

“Now why da hell would we do dis?” Damian asked, doing a much better job of keeping his cool than Dar was. “Hold on…I’m gonna try ta see if I can get some sparks goin’.” Dar said nothing, grinding his knuckles into his palm while Elly watched on anxiously. Damian held out a bare hand and tried to call the static out of the nearby air, but to no avail. Not even the barest hint of a spark formed. “Damnit…This ain’t good at all.”

Her fingers working anxiously in her hands, Elly watched the two boys try to call some sort of light from their powers while sneering, anger at the situation and frustration at not knowing what was going on burned through her mind. “What about you girl?” Dar asked her, turning his attention from Damian, who was trying to call a spark again.

Frowning, Elly closed her eyes for a brief moment. “…Nothing.”

Frantic, Dar’s rage boiled over again. “Well did ya try?!” He yelled, wondering if she had even given it a legit shot. In the dark, Elly’s expression couldn’t really be read, but she must not have taken Dar’s comment too well.

“…’scuse me one second.” She replied coldly before backing up a few steps, Dar and Damian watching her intently as she said something under her breath. “…Son of a…” She cursed suddenly, looking down at her forearms, rolling up the sleeves of her leather jacket.

“#%@!.” Dar exhaled, throwing his arms up.

“Well one thang’s for sho…we not powerin’ up.” Damian stated; a growing sense of worry in his voice.

“Oh, and of course they’re still there, they’re just being #%@!ing USELESS.” Elly cried in fury, staring at the bracers.

“$#!&…if I could, I’d just run the damn wall over.” Dar complained under his breath.

“Yea…ya could.” Damian agreed solemnly, which only brought up a sneer from the large linebacker.

“Let’s just find the damn exit.” Dar said exasperatedly while Elly tried her best to pull on the bracers.

“I’m game.” Damian chimed in, looking over to his teammate. Dar nodded.

“Aiight. Everyone back here in 5.” Dar said boldly, hoping to find the exit quicker if they split up. The cold, dark recesses of the building howled softly, sending a foreboding chill down the three’s spines, causing their imaginations to wander as to what could be waiting for them.

“Aight.”


While the three students broke up their small group to search around, a fourth had already come to, but was not moving from her seat in the corner of what appeared to be a cubicle. Violet sat, hugging her knees to her chest; face down in her thighs, body rocking back and forth. Fear gripped at her muscles and brain, sending shivers down her body. She was so out of it that she didn’t even see the figure approaching her from the door. Step by step, it moved closer, footfalls pounding down on the floor. Violet heard them, tensing tighter, squeezing smaller, and praying she wouldn’t be found. The figure was closer…ten feet….eight feet….six feet…three feet away. Violet’s head snapped up, eyes wild and wider than ever.

“Any’a y’all find $#!&?” Dar’s distant cry came, lilting through the doorway. The figure froze, meeting Violet’s eyes.

“Christ! Didn’t see you!” The figure cried, hand to its chest, beads of sweat dripping down its back. “Violet’s in here!” Elly yelled out to the door. Almost immediately, two sets of footfalls thundered down the hallway, rushing up to the room. Damian and Dar pushed on through, making a small half circle around Vi with Elly.

“*^#%….you aiight Vi?” Dar asked. Violet sat there, blinking, too terrified to move or reply.

“Yea…this ranks ‘bout a 10 on ma weird $#!&-o-meter.” Damian muttered softly to himself. Elly moved closer to Vi, kneeling down next to her, nervous to touch the frightened girl. Violet, hands shaking, placed her palms on the wall next to her.

“…Trapped…” The other three shuddered involuntarily at her words.

“Don’t say $#!& like that, I’m spooked enough already.” Elly said quickly, trying her best to bring Violet around. Dar pursed his lips together, turning from Violet and punching the wall again, splitting open one of his knuckles slightly.

“The #%@! is going on?!” He yelled, trying to vent the flame of anger that welled up within him. “Get us the #%@! outta here!”

“...I'm trapped... They're trapped.” Violet said hollowly, hands against the wall.

“Who the hell’s trapped?” Elly asked, voice frustrated.

“She’s not making any damn sense!” Dar roared.

“Somethin’ tells me…tha outta here part is gonna #%@!in’ suck.” Damian muttered. Dar shot him a look and spat in the corner.

“You find anythin’ Dozer?” He shook his head while Violet looked down at her hands, starting to shake, eyes still wide.

“Hell naw…just Vi. I ran in here wit ya.” His attention shifted over to Violet as he moved a little closer to her. “Eh…Vi, ya good girly?”

Meanwhile Dar glanced towards Elly and asked the same question. “Hell no, just Vi and a lot of hallway.” She replied, causing Dar to go off in another torrent of curses. Violet’s breathing increased as tears started to form behind her eyes. She looked up frantically to them.

“There are knives in me!” She cried. The group took a simultaneous shudder as they all were thinking the same thing… What the hell is going on?

“K..Knives? What ya talkin’ ‘bout girly? I don’ see no knives, ya look good.” Damian said, trying to calm Vi down. Dar was looking really creeped out like the rest of ‘em.

“F..#%@! it. I’m gonna look for the exit.” He said quickly, wanting to not be in the same room as Vi at the moment. “Y’all stay here with her.”

Damian looked up to him, keeping his cool, and nodded. “Aight. We’ll try ta calm her.” Violet was still staring down at her hands, her fingers picking at her skin. “uh…Elly? A lil’ help?” Damian asked worriedly, not quite sure how to calm her down while Dar stalked out of the room and down the hallway.

“What do you want me to do?” She huffed, just as uncomfortable with the situation as Damian was.

“I mean…anythin’…help meh try ta calm her.” Damian pleaded, looking back towards Violet. “Vi? There’re no knives…”

Violet shook her head frantically, trying to hug herself, but in doing so, creeped herself out even more, making the problem worse. “Yes, there are. They’re inside.”

Elly blinked, but seemed to understand. “…what, your claws?” She asked gently.

“Inside?” Damian worked to swallow the rat that took up residence in his throat. “How da hell?”

“That’s your deal right? You’ve got all those funny implants.” Elly asked, working her jaw and trying to hit something that’ll shock her back into reality. Vi froze and suddenly pulled herself up, straightening herself and closing her eyes briefly.

“Yes, that’s all.” She said calmly, looking towards the two concerned students huddled around her. Suddenly, the door to the room flung open, causing all of them to spin around. Dar looked back at them, face set in a grim look.

“What the hell is going on here?” Violet asked, voice steady.

“I found somethin’.” Dar said simply.

“What?” Elly replied quickly, hopefully.

“Stairs.”

“Up or down?”

“Up.” Dar said, beckoning them to follow him. The four of them walked out of the room, moving slowly so as not to knock into anything and went about twenty yards before Dar stopped them. “Two doors. The one on the left and the one on the right. Only this one opens.” He said, pointing to the right door.

“There isn’t…an exit on this floor?” Violet asked.

“Don’t think so girl. Tried all the doors.” Dar replied with a shake of his head. Elly quickly strode forward, pulling the door to the staircase open while Violet muttered to herself.

“It has to be an illusion.” The staircase was even darker than the hallway, nearly pitch black with only enough ambient light from the building to see the beginning of flat steps on the floor heading upwards along with a very large stain of some sort at the foot of those stairs.

“#%@! I wish we could use some light.” Dar cursed, looking upwards. Frowning, Elly quickly dug into her pockets and pulled out a lighter almost at the same time Damian did.

“…got a lighter. Can’t believe I forgot.” Damian said with a sigh, tossing it to Dar while Elly did the same.

“How long you think they got?” Dar asked, shaking them both to try to hear any slushing of the fluid inside.

“Beats the hell outta me.” Elly said with a shrug of her shoulders. Dar cursed, pocketing Elly’s lighter while holding up Damian’s.

“Hell of a time for those old #%@!ers to stop talking…” Dar muttered before flicking the lighter on. The sudden flash of light crashed through the hallway and stairwell, blinding bright.

“CHRIST!” Ely cried, covering her eyes frantically while Violet merely rubbed them with a confused look on her face. Dar winced a bit at the light but took a peek inside the stairwell with the rest of them, seeing a couple cardboard boxes along with accentuating the stain of whatever fluid it was at the base of the stairs. Sweat beading on Dar’s forehead, along with the others having sweat form in various places of their bodies, they moved forward tentatively into the stairwell.

“This has to be an illusion…” Violet whispered. Dar sneered.

“#%@! I hope so girl.”

Hitting a wall out of a flash of frustration, Damian agreed. “If it is, it’s one hell of an illusion.” Right as they were about to head forward, from up the stairs, there came a loud, piercing sound. It was the blood curdling scream of a girl, and a familiar girl at that.

“Da hell?”

“HELLO?!”

Flashes of who it might possibly be lash through everyone’s mind, some of them thinking of the worst case scenario. Fear entrenches deep within them.

“Everybody up!” Violet cried, pushing forward as the four of them charged up the stairs and up to the next floor. The scream came again, loud and high pitched.

Just what the hell is going on here?

[Angavu]

The scream pierced the still, dark air of the building; chilling to the bone and freezing the hearts of those who heard it. Flickering, the flame of the lighter cast deep shadows about the dank hallway, illuminating the shocked faces of the four youths in the stairwell.

“What the hell was that?!” Dar cried out in shock, rubbernecking his head upwards to try to get a good look. Violet dashed forward, agilely snaking about Dar’s massive frame and up the stairs.

“It was someone screaming, DUH!” Elly replied angrily, looking up towards the stairs.

“Everyone, up!” She called with stern command, pushing the rest of the group into action, thundering up the metal stairs with loud booming steps. The cacophony of heavily raining footsteps shattered the silence in a painful crash. They went up the twisting stairway about one floor? Maybe two? It was so dark that it was hard to tell. Dar had to slow his pace slightly to keep from blowing the lighter out from the sprinting. Violet slammed into the door at the top of the stairs, rattling it in its frame before pushing down on the handle. Once she did, both she and Dar slammed into the heavy wood at once, carried by the momentum of their ascending charge, and blew the door open so forcefully that it gave a booming thud when it hit the wall on the inside of the hallway. The scream came again, a girl, screaming at the top of her lungs, fear wrapped so deeply in the voice that it shook and vibrated with a timbre of anxiety and despair.

“The hell did it come from?!” Dar yelled back, trying to locate the scream. Damian and Elly came through the door behind them, squinting to try to look in the dark past the small halo of light given by the lighter in Dar’s hand. The scream pierced the air again, frantic, choked with tears. “Shit! This way!” Lowering his shoulder, Dar charged forward in the hallway, almost like he had his full football pads on, ready to destroy whatever was in front of him. Violet kept pace, striding forward with lithe, feline grace as Elly and Damian charged, similar to Dar, in a brash, aggressive fashion. The scream came again, choked with sobs, pulling the four youths into an open room, filled with crates and draped with cloth. Sobs came from a corner, tucked away as far as could be from anything else in the room. The tiny frame of Makena Walker sobbed frantically, hugging her knees with white-knuckled hands. She was sitting in her ballet clothes, a pink skirt over a matching leotard that clung to her skin tightly.

“Hello?!” Elly called into the room, looking back and forth to try and see anything. Dar’s eyes fell on Kena and widened.

“Kid?” He asked softly, gazing upon the girl who he saw as a little sister, sobbing in the corner.

“Woah! Hey!” Elly spat out in shock, seeing Kena for the first time. Violet hung to the back, squinting through the dark, frustrated, trying to see what was going on. Meanwhile, Kena scooted back farther, flush against the wall, eyes like dinner-plates. As Dar creeped forward, the light from the lighter cast shadows over Kena’s face, who shielded her eyes, frightened and blinded by it, unable to see just who it was who came to her cries. Fear crept into her voice again as she gave a choked scream, closing her eyes, jerking her head left and right in denial.

“Easy! Easy! It’s us!” Elly blurted to her, kneeling near Kena as Damian’s eyes widened, shocked at seeing his girlfriend on the floor, sobbing.

“Kena?” He asked softly, moving quickly to her side, kneeling. As he moved forward, a loud crash sounded from outside in the hallway. Someone was moving around. Dar’s head snapped up, looking behind them. Fear and anger lanced through his voice.

“Stay with her!” He called, dashing out of the room by himself. Mumbled voices came from the hallway. There was more than one person out there. Elly stamped her foot, huffing and glancing after Dar. “Whoever you are! Come out!” Dar called.

“Christ, who else is here?!” She demanded as Violet stood near the wall between the room and the hallway, placing her hand on it, as if feeling through the wall to where the strangers were.

A soft voice squeaked from out in the hallway, barely audible. “…Elly?” The punk girl recognized it immediately and stood up, calling in a loud voice.

“Bugs? Was that you?”

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Meanwhile, Damian knelt next to Kena, his hand on her back, gently rubbing it and whispering to her, trying to console the shaking girl. “D-Damian? Oh, God….where’d D-Dar go?” She asked, shaking, eyes unfocused and on the ground, her voice a mixture of relief at seeing loved ones, and greater fear as action unfurled around her without explanation. Her eyes stayed unfocused on all around her, but were looking decidedly at an overturned box in the far corner of the room across from her.

“It’s ok. He went out to…It’s ok. I mean…you’re ok.” He murmured to her softly, hand stroking her back while she backed into the wall as much as she could. “Can ya stand luvly?”

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The voice in the hallway cried out again. “Elly? Where are you?” The high-pitched voice that belonged to Matt called out. More stumbling and crashing filled the hallway. Dar glanced back to Elly, nodding and raised his voice higher.

“Head to my voice! Come out slowly!” He called, booming through the building like a foghorn. There was crashing again, but the person who fell into Dar’s ring of firelight was Bobby Park, not Matt. The boy looked up with a frightened expression as Matt stumbled into the firelight just a few moments after Bobby did. Elly, meanwhile, had moved over towards Kena, kneeling in front of her and Damian, confident that Dar had the door under control as Violet’s head snaked out of the room, looking at the two boys in the dim light.

“Matt? Bobby?” She asked softly, Bobby’s eyes widened as he adjusted to the light, looking up.

“Guys?” Bobby squeaked out. Violet raised her voice higher. “Bobby! Over here!” She called, ushering him and Matt into the room with the rest of them as Dar said something similar but with more cursing.

“Vi! Dar!” Bobby cried, looking up at the two, his chest heaving in frightened breaths. Matt blinked, looking up at them with a confused and disoriented expression.

“Bobby! Vi! Dar! What’s going on?” He asked, grasping his head. Violet stepped forward, grabbing Bobby’s arm.

“Are you alright?” She asked him while Dar stood like a sentinel, lighter in hand and frowning heavily.

“Uh, Not sure. Ow…I think I banged something. I’ll be okay.” He said, exhaling heavily and tentatively touching his body.

“Where are we?” Matt asked, fear clutching his voice. Dar frowned and shook his head in answer.

“No clue.” He said while Violet muttered.

“Hell if I know.”

Shrugging, Dar jerked his head towards the door. “This way. Let’s get back to the rest of ‘em.” Bobby and Matt nodded, who rubbed the back of his head gently.

“Right. Okay.”

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“What’s going on? Someone hurt you?” Elly asked, frowning in a mixture of frustration and anxiety as she knelt in front of Kena, trying to calm her down. Shaking her head quickly, Kena raised her hand, trembling, pointing to the crate at the far side of the room. Blinking, Elly rose, looking at it. “What? The box?” She asked, standing up and moving closer towards it, taking careful steps in the dark room. Even though Dar stood by the doorway, the light from the lighter didn’t extend very far. Damian, still consoling Kena with gentle rubs of her back and hair, looked between the two girls, frowning. As Elly moved closer to the box, the shadows became more accentuated. Long humanoid shapes pressed against the dark walls. Were they people? Bodies? Figments of her imagination? Whatever it was, it was creepy as hell. Nearly tripping over a large box, Elly slowly maneuvered around it, but stepped on something hard, somewhat round and oblong shape. The hell? Elly looked down at it, eyes widening as her hands touched it and brought it up into better light.

It was a severed head.

“CHRIST!” She called, dropping it and leaping backwards, nearly knocking over a cheap shelving unit.

“The hell?!” Dar called, alarmed by Elly’s outburst, turning back into the room as Kena shuddered heavily, pushing farther into the wall and Damian’s hand. Bobby gave a loud gasp as he and the rest of the door group made their way in. The light from Dar’s lighter cast deeper shadows about the room, but also illuminated the head that rolled along the floor in front of Elly. Hands shaking slightly, Elly looked down at the head in front of her.

“…Oh, goddammit.” She whispered, reaching down and picking up the head. It was made of plastic, with no painted eyes or even ears. A plastic socket of where it was to be attached to a mannequin’s body stuck out of the neck.

“What is it?” Violet asked, trying to get a better view from around Elly’s body. With an angry sigh, Elly held the doll’s head up to the light so everyone could see it.

“Oh! Agh! Holy!” Bobby shouted, recoiling from the sight, gasping and edging back while Matt eeped and joined him. Violet looked at it, blanching and face turning white, she stumbled backwards. Dar did the same, paling with a cold sweat breaking out on his brow.

“Now dat’s some creepy shit.” Damian muttered, not leaving Kena’s side.

Elly huffed angrily. “Thought I stepped on someone’s head…Kena, it’s a damn doll. It’s ok.” Kena swallowed hard, watching Elly, her eyes focusing now at least.

“This is some !%#@ed up shit.” Dar muttered while Elly tossed the doll head into the corner. Damian turned back to Kena, his hand still out for her to take to stand if she wanted to.

“It was just a doll luvly” He said gently to her. Kena shook, stammering as she tried to speak in anything higher than a squeak.

“I…it was dark…” She whispered, taking his hand gently and standing up slowly.

“How does that make it okay?!” Violet asked with vigor, glancing to Elly after watching the doll head get tossed away. Bobby nodded and rose his voice.

“Violet raises a good freakin’ point!”

Dar frowned, turning to Damian, “Dozer, how’s she?” Damian looked up to him, his stance strong, but eyes showing deep concern.

“She’s good. Jus’ a lil’ shakin’ like da rest of us.” He said with a nod while Kena stayed in the corner, hugging her arms across her chest. Keeping the lighter on, Dar moved forward, setting it on the ground like a torch, moving closer to Damian and Kena, starting to form a circle around it. The others moved to the circle of light as well, standing nervously, looking over their shoulders and desperately seeking answers in the eyes of the others. Confused stares met the like.

“This is some weird shit.” Elly muttered to herself. “Anyone know ANYTHING?! How they got here? Where the exit is?” She cried out angrily as Matt asked the same question. Mixed replies chirped in from around the circle, but they all said the same thing. Nothing. “How DID we get here? What were we doing?”

Dar frowned, rubbing the sore, tender flesh on his neck. “I gots a burn, but that’s ‘bout it. I don’t remember shit.” Kena stayed close to the wall, wedging herself in as close as she could between Dar and Damian. “This all of us? No one else hidin’ around?”

Bobby shrugged. “Maybe? I dunno.”

“Neva know ‘till we look.” Damian said gently. Dar spit in the corner with frustration as Bobby started checking his pockets for a cellphone.

“Aiight. Dozer and…no. Bobby and I’ll go out lookin’ ‘round. Dozer, you stay ‘ere wit’ everyone’ else.” Dar muttered, looking at the burning lighter in the middle.

“Aight.” Damian nodded.

“Uh, Okay. Sounds good, Dar.” Bobby said nervously, biting his lip.

“Be careful! It’s dark and creepy out there!” Matt called out behind them as Dar and Bobby moved to the doorway, Dar taking out Elly’s lighter, the second one that he had pocketed earlier, flicking it on. Damian half-way looks at the light while Kena kept her eyes glued to Dar’s back, biting her lip as the two of them leave.

Muttering, Elly scoffed at Dar’s back. “That’s not helping, Dar.”

“Stay careful, guys.” Bobby said as a farewell, stepping through the door. And then, they were both gone out into the darkness, the golden light from the lighter vanishing into the twisting corridors. Now gone, Damian looked around the circle, staying close to Kena.

“Where are we? I…is he going to be okay?” the mousy girl asked Damian, looking at him imploringly.

“Who Dar? He’ll be aight. But I don’t got da slightest where we at.” He replied softly as Violet looked away from the group, putting a few fingers to her ear with a confused expression on her face. Her fingers began to tap away at her temple. Frantically, Elly checked her pockets again.

“Damn. Any chance anyone still has a comm.? Cell phone? Something?” Elly asked, huffing out in frustration again. She was met with a whole lot of nothing as the rest searched themselves.

“Nope, mine are missing….my comm is…gone…mine too.” Were all responses she received.

“Maybe we should look for power dampeners. If we could disable them…” Violet muttered, looking around as if performing a diagnostic.

“P-power dampeners?” Kena asked softly, stammering a bit.

“Power dampeners?” Matt also asked, frowning.

Violet nodded, turning back to the group. “I’m getting jammed.” She said, referring to the cybernetic communication systems located within her head. “But…no one can use their powers, can they?”

Damian shook his head heavily. “Last time I checked…no.” Elly nodded in agreement.

“The four of us already tried.” She said with the barest hint of annoyance. Matt frowned, making a fist and concentrating, but frowning as nothing happened.

“I don’t…I’m not real good with mine yet so I can’t just switch them on.” Kena whispered.

“What DOES turn them on? Hell, what ARE they?” Elly yelled out angrily, glaring about the circle, desperately looking for answers.

Violet frowned. “My infrared isn’t even working, so whatever’s going on here isn’t normal…” It was then, however, that the world suddenly turned into a bright flash of white…

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As the two walked down the dank hallway, Bobby kept close to Dar, hugging his heels as the dull ring of silence filled the space between them, save for hollow, echoing footsteps. Nervously, Bobby glanced around Dar’s body, trying to look as far forward as he could in the dim firelight.

“This is seriously creepy, Dar.” He muttered softly, trying to alleviate his nervousness. Dar grunted, frowning.

“You’re tellin’ me.” He said in a slightly annoyed voice. As they continued forward, they came upon a larger antechamber in the hallway, where two doors stayed wedged shut. Dar tried both, slowly opening one of them to reveal another set of stairs, going both up and down. “Shit…more stairs.”

“Oh goddammit.” Bobby muttered as from farther down in the antechamber, there was a soft shuffling sound and the clank of metal upon metal. Bobby’s eyes snapped up, looking at Dar, frightened. “Dar!”

“The hell was that?!”

“Who’s there?!” Bobby called into the dark as Dar held up the lighter higher, casting more light down the hallway, inching forward as slowly as he could. Bobby fell in behind Dar, a step behind and carefully scanning the dark. Together the two of them moved towards where the sound had come from, only hearing the thudding of their hearts in their chests, the heavy fear-filled footfalls on the hard floor below. There was another shuffle, causing them to stop in their tracks, breathing heavily and sweating, they inched forward, hoping to find just what it was that lay before them.

Suddenly, a figure pounced out of a hidden niche between two large wooden boxes, charging the two like a hungry lion, metal gleaming dully in the dim firelight within the figure’s hand. The metal was short, sharp and spiked outwards, ready to pierce and tear at flesh. Screaming, Dar leaped backwards into Bobby, knocking him out of the way as he dodged the whistling slash of the metal spikes.

“Kill you an’!” The high-pitched, frantic voice of the figure yelled at the two of them, pivoting on its foot, spinning to launch itself at the two kids again.

“SHIT!” Dar called, back peddling as best he could, cold adrenaline spiking through the pit of his stomach, knowing he didn’t have his powers to save him. Bobby yelled as well, trying to get out from Dar’s wheeling body and the unknown attacker.

The attacker, however, froze, looking at the two of them with wide, pupil-less eyes. The light skin and blue hair looked dark and dirty in the dim firelight as Billi’s mouth dropped.

“Holy shit.”

Dar, who had fallen into a quasi-boxing stance blinked, looking at his girlfriend with shocked eyes. “What the #$!@ girl!?” He cried out in shock as Bobby looked at her, mouth agape.

“Billi! Holy shit!” Billi said nothing, but charged Dar, flinging her arms around his waist in a tight, frantic hug. Her keys stayed in her right hand, held between her fingers and spiked out like claws. Dar was breathing heavily, still trying to work off the surge of adrenaline in his system, his breath exploded out in a heavy exhalation as she tackle-hugged him, an arm falling protectively about her shoulders reflexively.

“Billi? The #%@! girl?” He asked, shocked, looking down at her as the Southern girl squeezed him until he was about to pop.

“Oh, baby…are you…geez…where are we?” She asked deliriously, trembling and keeping her eyes closed, head against his chest.

“Are you okay?” Bobby asked tentatively. Billi slackened her grip on Dar, pulling away gently and looking over towards Bobby.

“Hey Bobby. And no, I’m not damn okay.” She said with frustration.

“Shit…” Dar rumbled low in his throat.

“Well, no, gah. No. Are you hurt?” Bobby amended. Billi shot back at him with icy frustration.

“I can’t ice a damn thing, an’ I was blind as a bat. And my head hurts.” She listed, hands clenching Dar’s shirt tightly.

“Aiight, hold onto me girl.” Dar said softly to her, keeping his arm about her shoulders.

“Are y’all okay?” She asked softly, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm down, keeping her hands firmly on Dar. She wouldn’t let go for a million bucks right now.

“I’m fine girl.” Dar said softly. Bobby nodded.

“I can’t make a spark. I’m a little banged up, but…okayish.” He told her. Billi nodded, inching a little closer to Dar.

“Aiight, let’s at leas’ get back to the others.” Dar rumbled. “Nothing else on this floor.” Billi stopped trembling slightly, staying within arm’s reach of Dar, but backing up slightly.

“Good idea.” Bobby agreed. “Billi, you’re in the middle, okay?” He said, ushering Dar to take the lead while Bobby brought up the rear.

“Gotcha. We th’only ones here?”

“Noo, there are others. We’re going right to them.” Bobby said softly, keeping his head spinning to look behind them. “They’re all gathered up in a room-“ Bobby was cut off as suddenly, the hallway was awash with bright, florescent halogen lights, blinding the three of them.

“Oh man… Holy shit!” Billi cried, covering her eyes as Dar and Bobby recoiled as well.

“!#@% let’s go!” Dar called, charging down the hallway, trying to quickly adjust his eyes to the sudden light.

“Go Billi!” Bobby yelled, pushing her a bit so she could follow Dar through the hallway to the old room. Voices from the room called out in agonized confusion. Dar, Billi and Bobby burst through the door, blinking blearily at the room, now illuminated, and the rest of the students within.

“The hell just happened?!” Dar yelled out angrily, snapping the lighter closed, watching as everyone tried to recoil from the sudden flash of light. Billi had her keys in her hand again, holding them with strained fingers. The room, now lit, showed a menagerie of items. Toys. Fake guns, swords. Dolls, life size and tiny. Masks. They were in a toy factory warehouse.

“Looks like we got lights…” Damian muttered as his eyes adjusted.

“Well that’s just @#%!in’ great.” Elly mumbled with venom.

“Oh geez, are you guys okay?” Billi asked gently, adjusted to the light and letting her key-wreathed hand fall down.

“Billi!” Matt said with a large smile, glad to see another familiar face.

“Tex? That you?” Elly asked, still trying to get adjusted to the light, squinting at the blue-haired girl.

“Yeah, Pinky.” Billi replied with a gentle, nervous smile.

“Any y’all touch anythin’?” Dar demanded, eyes scanning the room. Billi hustled over to the group, her keys back in her pocket.

“Matt, you okay? Kena, Dozer?” She asked each in turn. “Vi?”

“Naw…deh just came on.” Damian told Dar as Matt nodded to Billi, giving her a weak smile.

“Are you okay Billi?” Matt asked as Dar frowned, working his jaw in frustration.

“eh, Tex…” Damian said gently as Billi came up to him. Kena glanced about frantically, dashing around the harsh, bright light like a trapped animal. Bobby meanwhile, looked up at the lights, licking his lips.

“This is good! Really good….or really bad…” Suddenly, the lights dim to something of about a tenth of the brilliance they were just at. Still light enough to make out details about the room, but dim enough to still give a sense to the darkness of the building. Some of the lights even began to flicker like strobes. Billi’s eyes widen as she backs up towards Dar. Bobby wheeled around, going flat against the far wall as the rest of the students gasp, sliding back as in the middle of the group, above the lighter on the floor, words start to shimmer into the air, floating and written in a fiery script. Kena squeezed herself between Dar and Dozer while Billi latched onto Dar’s arm. Elly and Violet took a few steps back while Matt and Bobby flattened themselves to the wall.

“WELCOME” The words spelled out, high in the air as if someone was writing it with an invisible pen. “TO THE GAME”

“Who da %#@!?” Damian muttered in shock.

“The what?” Elly growled at it.

“THE NAME OF THE GAME” the text continued to write.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding…” Violet whispered as she watched the words.

“IS FEAR.”

Kena backed up farther, finding sanctuary against the wall, Bobby stared at the words, mouth agape. Billi clutched Dar’s arm, staring daggers of anger at the words and the unknown, invisible writer.

“What the hell?” Elly yelled at it, watching the words hover in the air, glowing red/orange. Damian glanced to his side, finding Kena and holding her hand.

The text shimmered out of existence being replaced with one line of text. “SHALL WE PLAY?”

Immediately, Elly growled at it. “Oh, #%!@ no.”

Chapter End

[Angavu]

Chapter 2: Rules of Engagement

Bobby Park stammered, eyes transfixed on the burning words before them all, taking a step back reflexively. Kena shook like a dry leaf, hiding behind Dar’s shoulder in an attempt to distance herself from the frightening context of the words before her, whereas Elly looked about angrily, vainly trying to find the origin of the words. Damian stood near Kena, keeping a good eye on her while watching the development whereas Violet stood as still as a grave. Billi kept a vice-grip on her keys, holding them out between her fingers like claws, ready to slash at the first aggressive thing that moved. The “welcoming” words hung in the air, blazing with eerie intensity before dying away like embers in a fire. Just after the text vanished, new letters formed in the air, as if watching script being written on paper with an invisible pen.

“THE RULES OF THE GAME:” It wrote in the air, causing Mat’s ears to wilt and eyes grow wide with nervousness. “RULE #1: THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THE BUILDING.”
Damian ground his teeth together, glaring at the words being writ in the air while Kena timidly peeked out from behind Dar’s arm, holding it like a life raft in the middle of a typhoon. “RULE #2: YOU MAY NOT USE YOUR POWERS WHILE PLAYING THE GAME. RULE #3: HIDDEN AMONG YOU, IS AN IMPOSTER. HE OR SHE, WILL HUNT YOU.”

“Oh, What?!” Bobby blurted out, eyes dancing about the group at the same time everyone else’s did. Violet, if she could grow stiffer, did so, making it hard to tell if she was a real girl, or one of those window-store mannequins.

“AND, HE OR SHE, WILL TAKE YOU.” The ominous silence and gravity of that statement hung over the room like a heavy fog; a weight that slammed into each person’s shoulders with the powerful force of a sledgehammer. “RULE #4: TRUST NO ONE. ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS IS AN IMPOSTER. THEY SEEK TO END YOU ALL.”

Kena shook more, frightendly clinging to Dar, eyes like dinner-plates while Bobby unleashed a stream of very un-Bobbylike curses at the text. Billi’s pupil-less eyes surveyed the room, looking and watching everyone before her, from Dar’s scrunched up frustration to Matt’s eeping recoil.

“RULE #5: THE ONLY WAY TO WIN THE GAME AND ESCAPE IS TO DISCOVER THE IMPOSTER…BEFORE ALL OF YOU ARE FINISHED.”

Fists were balled up, and wary glances were traded. Elly shook her head disbelievingly and Dar stared, mouth agape in bewilderment.

“THE IMPOSTER IS ALREADY AMONG YOU.”

“Looks like shit just hit da fan…” Damian mumbled, fists and arms shaking from being held so tightly.

“LET THE GAME BEGIN.” With that the text died away, fading like cooling embers and Dar charged where the text was just residing.

“WHAT. THE. !#%@!” He cried in anger, veins popping out of his face and neck.

“I-it's lying right? We can get out of here. There's no one here trying to kill us right? Right?!” Kena asked, voice trembling, and quickly rising to hysterics.

“Okay, okay, okay. Everybody, calm down.” Bobby said, not really calm himself, but desperately trying to get a hold on the situation.

“I’m calm.” Billi said, but her tone reflected cold anger.

“I been calm da whole time...but dis shit gettin' ridiculous.” Damian muttered, glaring at Bobby.

“Alright, which one of you !#@$ers is doing this?!” Dar yelled out, turning to the group, muscles tight with rage. Matt shrunk back, looking scared.

“Hey, Dar! Sh! Look, this... whatever it is... he might just be trying to split us up, right? He kidnapped us, right? Why should we trust him?” Bobby said quickly, trying to quell the rampaging of the large youth.

“There's no impostor. No. It's just something to keep us busy. We're only going to get out of this by working together." Violet said, coming out of her frozen state and shaking her head slowly.

“What the hell are you talking about Vi? Have you noticed we can’t find a !%@#ING exit and we can’t use oure !$@#ING powers?! That was rule !@#$ing one and two!”

“Haven’t you seen a horror movie before?” Violet asked calmly, to which Dar only sputtered and turned away.

“Exactly! Vi’s right!” Bobby said, exhaling slightly, nodding in quick agreement.

“Yeah, what Vi said. Jus' some baddie gettin' his rocks off.” Billi nodded.

“Well, when I find ‘im, I’m electrocuting his ass…” Damian growled, looking almost as ticked off as Dar was.

“And just to be safe? We can’t split up.” Violet calmly. Bobby, Billi, and even Kena nodded in unified agreement.

“Especially the minorities. They always get it first in horror flicks.” Bobby tossed in there, possibly trying to lighten the mood. Damian raised an eyebrow to Bobby, muttering something along the lines of “What’s that supposed to mean?” while Kena glanced fearfully towards Bobby, realizing the context of his statement. Dar turned on Violet, anger still lancing through his eyes. “Hello!Token Asian guy here! Just saying…” Bobby said defensively, drawing a glance from Violet. “You’re the token Asian girl. You’re hot. You’re safe.” He said in reply.

“The virgin goes last, everyone knows that.” Violet said with the barest hints of a smile in her eyes.

“This isn’t the !#@$ing time to be making jokes!” Dar snarled out, but not yelled.

“Look, it’s easy.” Billi started, stepping forward. “Split up inta teams a two...go out, come back in fifteen. Whoever's only got one, that team' s the one with the bad guy.”

Elly frowned, pursing her lips together. “Not funny, Tex.” At the same time, Bobby and Matt recoiled, lashing out their own protests to Billi’s half-kidding joke. Kena squeaked softly, holding onto Dar’s arm, tears balling up in the corners of her eyes. Dar stood there, not even realizing that Kena had latched herself to him, eyes burning.

“Then let's hear your bright idea, Park. Panic?” Billi retorted.

“I've been telling my ideas, Billi. Keep together, maybe find the guy.” Bobby stressed to the group. “We're all on edge, but if we keep together it'll be okay.”

Billi frowned and stepped forward. “Boy's got some rules. That means there's some wiggle room, hell, I know that. My solution won' work, but it shows there's holes.”

“Dar's still freaking huge and scary. Violet still knows kung-fu. I look like I do. Matt still knows how to throw a punch. Elly probably has a switchblade in her boot or something. We're not powerless.” Bobby replied, trying to calm everyone down and keep his voice even.

“Whoever this bastard is, he took away our DAMN powers Park! You think knowing how to throw a punch is going to do SHIT?!” Dar roared to the smaller boy.

“Dar, Dar, eeeasy!” Bobby shot out quickly, throwing up his arms in defense.

“I just wanna go home…” Kena cried softly, her body shaking in her ballet costume and eyes squinted shut.

“Yeah, I wish.” Elly commented to Kena, pissed off.

“I like Billi's plan. It's quick and dirty.” Violet stated quickly.

“Well I don't like it. But it's a start.” Billi admitted.

“And nothing in the rules says anyone's going to die or anything.” Violet said calmly.

“It's basically Russian roulette though!” Matt cried in opposition to the split.

“And involves someone being bait.” Bobby muttered.

“An’ the imposter might not even do it.” Billi said with a sigh.

“Why don’ ya be bait Bobby?” Damian sneered quietly.

“Nobody's going to be the bait.” Was Bobby’s quick reply.

“Look, we're being dumb. If there's really someone pulling an illusion here, there's an easy way to do this.” Elly sighed exasperatedly, stepping back.

“There’s not an imposter…there isn’t…” Kena whispered to herself, like a mantra that was as futile as it was frightening.

“Tex!” Elly said suddenly, turning to the blue girl.

“Yo.” Came the slightly agitated reply.

“What’s my name, Tex?”

Billi paused before looking out under her hat to the punk girl across the circle. “Pinky. Elly. Whaddya want me to say?”

“Was looking for the first one, thanks.” Elly said with a sigh, looking a little relieved. Damian walked away from the circle, leaning back against a wall with a gloved hand against his forehead. Bobby caught on to Elly’s plan and turned to Violet.

“Vi, remember our date?”

“I remember you staring at my tits, yeah.”

Billi realized what Elly had just done as well and turned to Dar, whispering in his ear while her face flushed purple.

“Right! What kinda restaurant did we go to?” Bobby asked Violet, still going with his questioning.

“Oh, it was a Greek place. I got the spanicopita.” Violet replied after thinking a moment.

“Vi’s okay.”

Dar, meanwhile, looked to Billi, face still showing frustration, but with a heavy sigh and closed eyes, he whispered back. Billi nodded, still purple in the face, and piped up after coughing gently.

“Dar’s okay.”

“Dozer, how’d you win the last game?” Elly asked, trying the next person she saw.

“What?” He replied, looking up from his introspective position on the wall. “I sat half da game, rememba? Tha face mask deal.”

“Yeah, but how did you win it?” Elly asked, skeptical.

“What about Kena?” Billi asked suddenly, looking behind Dar to where the little girl was shaking.

“What ‘bout her?” Dar asked, looking over his shoulder to the girl who looked up to him like an older brother.

“She ain’t answered nothin’.” Billi noted.

“She’s scared outta her damn mind!” Dar replied in earnest defense of his “little sis”. Billi’s face grew pained, biting her lip and looking back at Dar stoically.

“She might be a good robot…” She said softly. Damian glanced over, ignoring Elly a moment when noticing that Kena had come under scrutiny. Hurriedly, he moved forward to her. Kena’s gaze shot from Billi to Dar, desperately seeking some sort of shelter and peace.

“I’ll ask her.” He said softly, putting a hand on Dar’s shoulder. “That aight Dar?” The large youth nodded his bald head with a slight frown while Billi spoke softly.

“Sorry shug…hey, we got Matty yet?” Billi asked, quickly changing the topic and shifting to the other side of the room.

“No, I don’t think so.” Bobby replied, looking over towards his friend. “Hey, Matt? How did my parents find out about me being a hero?”

Blinking, Matt looked at him and said, “Uh... they found that medicine you were talking for getting nuked, ya?”

“DOZER!” Elly yelled, stamping forward to him angrily, furious that her question was ignored and evaded.

“Yeah, you got--whoa, Elly!” Bobby jolted in shock while Damian turned from Kena to her, more concerned about his girlfriend than answering Elly’s question.

“How. Did. You. Win. That. Game.” Elly asked, eyes like blades and each word like a jab to his chest. Everyone’s attention snapped to her and Damian, who looked at her with shock.

“I sacked da QB…in da Endzone…safety….what the hell girl?” Elly let the tension drop then, backing back down as Bobby cleared his throat and the room relaxed a bit. Dar took a step forward, putting himself between Elly and Dozer.

“Christ, just answer the first time, damn…” Elly muttered to Dozer, backing up.

“I told ya I sat out half da game from da penalty, thought dat was enough.” He replied.

“Let's let that go.” Bobby said gently, stepping between the two.

“What about Elly?” Violet asked, keeping her eyes on her.

“Yea, what about you Elly?” Dar asked, quickly jumping behind Violet’s verbal confrontation.

“!@$#, ask me something then!” Elly snapped back.

“Why’d I start callin’ ya Pinky?” Billi asked to fill in a sudden hush that set over the crowd. “And it ain’t jus’ ‘cause yer pink when you change. Ever’one knows that.”

Elly blinked, frowning. “Wait…it isn’t? ‘Cause of my skin color then?”

Dar blinked, frowning to Elly and visibly had gears turning in his head. “Don’ answer a question wit a question.” Damian mumbled.

“Got tired a you callin; me Tex, chica.” Billi explained gently.

“Well, yeah, duh! That's why I kept calling you Tex just now!” Elly replied quickly.

“Don' mean much, though. Someone else got somethin?” Billi asked the rest of the group.

“Also, D, Dozer Bugs.” Elly said, rattling off nicknames while pointing to Dar, Damian, and Matt in turn.

“Ya, she always calls me Bugs.” Matt said with a nod.

“!@$#, we’ve been sayin’ everyone’s nicknames since we’ve been here. She coulda jus’ heard us from before.

“It was the first thing she said to me though when she heard my voice.” Matt said, trying to defend her.

“Too easy. Elly, why’d you dump Tony?” Violet asked, with seemingly no hesitation. Bobby, and a few others who knew Elly well flinched. Elly glared at Violet with such ferocity, it was shocking.

“…Tony dumped ME.” Elly spat to Violet. “For Sam. I just let him go 'caue of Helljake.”

“Kicka lady?” Damian asked, blinking.

“That’s good enough.” Violet said with a nod.

“Is there a limit to th'damn paranoia? 'Cause I'm jus' seein' it go on an' on...” Billi rambled.

“This is getting’ us !@#$in’ nowhere…” Dar agreed with a low growl.

“Once we get this out of the way, Billi, we'll all know that we're all okay.” Bobby muttered, putting his hands up.

“Kena is the only one who hasn’t passed yet, ya?” Matt asked, stepping forward, looking at the small, frightened girl.

Bobby nodded his agreement. “Yeah, just Kena.” Damian looked to Matt with a mixture of anger and defensiveness, holding up a hand to him. “Hold on Bunny.”

“Wait, did someone ask Bobby something?” Elly asked quickly.

“Oh! Sorry. I asked a bunch of things. I thought that would count. Ask, though. Please.” He said in response, nervously licking his lips.

“Who came up with the Bobifer nickname for you, Bobby?” Matt asked him, ears twitching on his head.

“Layla. I miss her like a toothache.” He said with a slight frown. Billi sighed heavily, sitting down with a thud. Dar, in a rare sign of affection, placed his hand gently on Billi’s shoulder for a second before letting go. Billi responded by rocking against his leg, not looking up.

“He’s right.” Matt said with a shrug. Everyone was silent for a while until they realized that Kena had yet to answer.

“Dozer, you know Kena better than any of us, right? And we know you're good.” Bobby started. “So if you can ask her a good question and if she can answer it okay, we'll all be golden.”

“Aiight, I got it. Chill out.” Damian said, putting his hands up.

“Thanks Dozer.”

“Or it proves the imposter is just that good...” Vi commented coldly.

“Aight...K...I know dis is weird an all. But uh. Im just gonna ask ya.” Damian said, starting out. “What did we do at tha Snow Ball that was really special? Not to mention it stood out.”

Kena stammered a moment, looking to Damian, trying to wipe tears from her eyes.

“Wait…if all of us pass, who’s the imposter?” Matt asked, looking towards Bobby.

“There might not be one.” He replied. “I don't trust this guy. I mean, he didn't make a good first impression when he, for example, kidnapped all of us.”

Dar frowned, raising his deep voice. “He’s told the damn truth so far. No exit. No powers.”

“No exit yet” Bobby corrected.

“Trusting what he says flat out is just stupid.” Violet threw in. Matt nodded.

“We haven't explored the whole place yet. The exit must be around here somewhere, ya?”

“Then let’s stop !@$#in’ around and FIND the damn thing!” Dar growled.

“Not until we know we're all trustworthy. We'll be looking behind our backs the whole time if we don't stamp this out.” Bobby elaborated.

“We... You got your friend to... We danced on the air.” She said, finally answering Damian back after he took her hand gently. Smiling, Damian sighed with relief and nodded to the group. Kena was clear.

Billi frowned, however. “You don' think half the school knew 'bout that? Or more?”

Bobby shrugged. “I'm convinced.”

Frowning, Billi turned to her boy and looked up at him, worry still in her eyes. “All right, Dar, what're we gonna do?”

“Hell if I know.” He muttered.

“Well, let’s try to find an exit.” Bobby said quickly. Meanwhile, Kena and Damian whispered something to the side.

“I don’t like that whispering.” Violet said with a frown.

“They’re a couple Vi, that’s what couples do. If you went out with me again, we could whisper.” Bobby said with a forced smile, trying to lighten the mood.

“I’d like to think these are exceptional circumstances.” Violet defended. Kena shook, returning to her spot behind Dar’s arm.

“H-he was just... apologizing.” She squeaked out.

Matt frowned, but agreed with Violet. “Ya let's not encourage whispering, for all we know there's two imposters.

“Why the @#!$ do you say that Matt?” Dar asked suddenly. Matt threw up his hands and Damian came to his rescue.

“Rules said one. Stick to da rules.”

“Don’t be naïve.” Violet huffed, putting her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

“As far as I'm concerned, he just said that to divide us.” Bobby said, nodding. “I'd like to get to finding an exit.”

“There's not an imposter. Remember? We all passed...” Kena whispered, trying to hold onto what they had just established.

“So what're we gonna do? Pair up like Billi wanted?” Dar rumbled, arms crossed.

“No, I think we should all go out together.” Bobby said with pursed lips.

“Let’s split the difference. Four each.” Elly offered.

“I don't think it's a good idea to split up. I don't like that at all.” Bobby muttered.

“Look, how do you kidnap a bunch of super heroes? You've got to be pretty damn tricky. So don't expect this to be simple. Don't expect the imposter--if there is one--to be obvious.” Violet said, not looking up or taking her hand away from the bridge of her nose.

“We gotta find a damn exit!” Dar said again, trying to drive home that point.

“There is no exit Dar.” Dozer said to him, frowning. “Da rules said so.”

“What'ya sayin' Dozer? I thought we weren't supposed to trust the rules.” Dar sneered to him.

“Trust the damn rules.” Billi snapped, frustrated. “Boy says, there ain’t no exit. So make one. He says you got no powers, well…I’m still cooler’n y’all. Tempwise. Find the holes an’ get out.”

“Ok…I’m gonna point out somethin’.” Damian said, holding up his hands gently. “Obviously…this perp is a psycho. Anyone seen Saw? Follow da rules and live.”

“Dammit Dozer, why’d you have to bring that up?” Elly hissed to him.

“The guy didn't say anything about dying.” Violet noted.

“Didn’t say we’d live either.” Dar grumbled.

“No, nobody's going to die. We're going to get out of this fine.” Bobby said quickly after Vi’s comment.

“He said they're going to end us, what else could that mean?” Matt interjected.

“I’d rather follow da rules. I don’ plan on dying in dis scary movie.” Damian said more to himself than the rest of the group.

“I'm with Billi. Let's find the holes and get out.” Bobby said calmly.

“I just want to go home. Can we go find the door now? Please?” Kena pleaded weakly from behind Dar’s arm. She looked up to him pitifully, which caused him to put a hand on her shoulder.

“Chill Kid. We’ll be outta here soon enough.” He told her softly, but sternly.

“This isn't a concrete box, after all, or we'd all be suffocating.” Bobby noted. “There’s gotta be a way out.” Dar frowned, pointing up towards the ceiling, where tiny windows lined the tops of the walls. They were at best, a foot by a half a foot in size.

“Unless yer' the size of one of your monkies, you ain't gettin' out that way Park.” The linebacker growled.

“Well, we had to get in here some way, didn't we?” Bobby asked in return. “Maybe there’s something else.

“Maybe we can stuff Kena through one.” Elly said off hand.

“She’s too big for that. No way she’s fittin’ through!” Dar snapped, protectively of his surrogate little sister.

“Maybe if we look out through the windows, we'll be able to see where we're at and yell for help?” Matt asked, looking up at the windows, which weren’t TOO high up.

“That makes sense, Matt.” Billi said in agreement.

“Can we... I mean, it's really high. Can we climb up there?” Kena asked, sniffling, and looking up to the windows, which were about twelve feet off the floor.

“Hell, I'll try anything. Bugs, think we can do the human pyramid?” Elly asked, turning to the other cheerleader in the group.

“We've made it work before, ya?”

“Y’all couldn’t even do dat in practice.” Dozer scoffed.

“Sure we have! For a few moments...” Matt said defensively.

“Well we need it ta last longer than 30 seconds.” Dozer replied coolly.

“D, Dozer, you take the base?” Elly asked, examining the wall. Damian and Dar raised their eyebrows almost simultaneously.

“You’re serious?” The football players asked incredulously.

“Why the !@$# not?” Elly asked, frustrated.

“I think you guys can do it.” Bobby said eagerly.

“It’s not that high.” Elly muttered to herself. Matt nodded.

“Yeah but if one of us breaks a bone, we'll be in trouble. Or like hits our nose wrong? That can kill you I heard”

“None of us should break a bone if we're falling from that high.” Bobby said, looking at the height of the windows. “It might hurt, or it might sprain something, but I don't think it would break a bone.”

“If I broke one, it wouldn't be that bad...” Violet said off-hand.

“Kena’s gonna be at the top.” Damian said, stating the obvious about the smallest and lightest there. “But dis floor is hard.” He added with obvious concern.

“I... I don't want to. It's too high...” Kena stammered, squeaking while looking up at the, to her, imposing height.

“There you have it...she said no.” Damian said, with a mixture of relief.

“Kena, come on. You're the lightest out of all of us. We need you.” Bobby pleaded.

“No Bobby, Damn man.” Damian hissed to him, protective of his girl.

“I can't think of a better way to look for help. If you can, I'm glad to hear it.” Bobby stressed.

“Hey, now, we can’ live without gatherin' more info. I hope.” Billi commented.

“Maybe if we look around we'll find easier windows to get to?” Matt interjected as well. Kena squeaked, shaking her head quickly.

“I'll fall. And I can't go through the floor... I'll get hurt.” She said, shaking.

“Forget her. I’ll do it.” Violet said with a huff of frustration.

“Okay, sounds good Vi.” Bobby said, turning his attention and frustration from Kena. “I don't think I'd be any good at the base. Should I... run safety, maybe? I'll stick by and try to catch if there's a mistake.”

“Too bad Thorn isn't here, he could just fly up.” Matt sighed.

“This is ridiculous…” Dar muttered.

“Okay, so Damian and Dar make the base. Elly, you're strong--or Bobby or Matt. Then if I can get a toss up, I bet I can make it without killing anyone.” Violet said with a heavy sigh, but drew glares for her choice of words.

“Not funny Vi.” Damian muttered to her.

“You see me laughing?” Violet responded snappily.

“Alright, let’s just do this !@$#in’ thing already!” Dar roared, then glanced down to Kena, still attached to his arm. “Yo, Billi.” He said quickly.

“Yeah?” She asked, looking up to him, tiredness and frustration on her features.

“Lil’ help here? C'mon Kid, stay with Billi for now.” Dar said, gently pushing Kena towards the cowgirl. Billi nodded, holding out her hand.

“Kena, come on, shug, he's gonna need that arm.” She said softly, gently taking Kena’s arm and pulling her to the side, causing Kena to peel her fingers from Dar’s arm slowly and latch onto the new support while Dar moved into position.

“Two football players doin’ a !@$#ing cheer routine…” Damian mumbled to Dar, standing next to him.

“This never leaves the damn room Dozer.” Dar said in agreement. Bobby declined commenting but Billi did grin faintly.

“Oh trust meh…it won’t.”

“Look, me on Dar, Matt on Dozer, we both toss Vi.” Elly said, directing people into position.

“When we get out of here we'll tell everybody how self-sacrificing you were, even if we leave out the details.” Bobby said, apparently unable to hold himself from commenting.

“Can it Park!” Dar roared to him, a vein popping out of his head.

“And I’ll put you in your locker for life!” Dozer snapped with Dar.

Bobby paled slightly, backing up. “Easy, easy! I said we’d leave out the details! Jeez!”

The players moved into their position, Elly moving in front of Dar, waiting to get a boost onto his shoulders while Damian looked to Matt, ready to put him on his own shoulders as well.

“So…I’m holdin’ tha bunny.” Dozer muttered.

“Yea, don’t get too excited now Dozer.” Dar said with a slight grin.

Dozer chuckled, holding out his hands for Matt to step into. “Whateva Dar.” Almost as one, Elly and Matt moved up, stepping into the hands of the football players and stepping on their shoulders.

“You’re doing great guys!” Bobby said from the side, watching the four of them, hoping that they’ll be okay. Dar and Dozer both groaned a bit, trying to keep the two balanced. Billi bit her lip, sending glances over to Kena every now and then, who had taken up residence by a corner, curled up but watching. Violet licked her lips and moved forward.

“Bobby, Billi, give me a boost?” She asked, ready to scale the pyramid of people. The two nodded, taking positions to the side of Violet, holding out their hands. Slowly, Violet put her feet into the outstretched hands, climbing up between Matt and Elly, keeping a foot on each base and trying her best to stay balanced. Damian grimaced as Violet put more weight on the base and just as Violet was about to look up to the window, the lights cut out in the room, plunging them all into darkness. Kena screamed, clamping her hands to her ears, and closing her eyes as the pyramid collapsed in startled shock. Curses flew through the air as the kids landed on top of one another, slamming into the hard concrete floor. Violet shrieked, jumping from the top of the pyramid and somehow managing to roll with the fall, minimizing her damage. Hidden amongst the cacophony of sounds was the added sound of grinding concrete as one of the walls swung open, directly behind Billi. Her eyes went wide as she vanished into the hole in the wall with a strangled out curse. Just as soon as it opened, the wall snapped back into place, as if there had never been a hole in the first place.

“Everybody okay?” Bobby called in the dark, frantically trying to find everyone.

“Ow... ya, I think so. I didn't hit my nose at least.” Matt called from somewhere in the pile.

“I can’t see shit!” Dar called, trying to throw off the weight of Elly from off of his back.

“That was smooth!” Elly yelled in frustrated anger.

“Well…that was nice.” Damian said sarcastically, voice muffled.

“Dar! Lighter!” Bobby called loudly. In response, Dar fumbled around in his pocket, elbowing someone in the side as he did so. Other than the cursing and rustling of the kids pulling themselves out of the pile, the only sound in the room was that of Kena crying in the corner.


“Kena! Shut up and do something useful!” Elly yelled frustratedly, peeling herself from the pile. At the same time Violet yelled “God, Makena! Hush!” with a chorus from Bobby in “Kena, keep it together!”

Damian, rose, snarling at the three of them. “Chill out!” He called to them, trying to make his way to Kena as best he could.

“Hey, all of you shut the !@$# up!” Dar yelled, also in defense of Kena, still fumbling in his pocket. As soon as he got his hand on the lighter, the lights in the room rose again, flicking on and off like strobes. Slowly, everyone finally got untangled enough to walk around.

“Kena? Say something so I can get to ya!” Damian called, not seeing Kena anywhere nearby. Dar also scanned the dark, flickering room, vainly trying to find someone.

“I-I'm over here!” Kena called, voice shaky and squeaky. Damian instantly rushed over to where the voice came from. Dar’s face fell as he almost whispered to the group.

“Where the !$#@ is Billi?”

“Billi?” Bobby asked, scanning the room now.

“What? Tex!? This ain’t funny!”

“Billi? Billi!”

“Shit! Shit!”

“…!@$#! Billi!” Dar cried out, louder than expected, pushing Damian and Vi out of the way as he bull-charged out of the room.

“Don’t split up!” Violet called frantically, charging after him.

“Follow him!” Bobby called, following Vi after the unhearing Dar. Kena, frightened and growing wide-eyed as her surrogate brother ran off, went at full sprint after him, and followed closely by Violet and Bobby who were first to charge. Matt, Elly, and Dozer brought up the rear. Dar charged forward, blinded from those around him, and uncaring to the protests they launched at him. Without thinking about where he was going, Dar hit the staircase, charging downwards, followed closely on his heels by Kena, Violet, and Bobby. As Matt, Elly and Dozer got to the doorway, the door suddenly snapped shut on them, locking, and isolating the two groups from one another. Matt crashed into the door with a shock, eyes widening. Despite their initial beliefs and desires….the group was now split. The hunt had begun.

Chapter End