Post by Zetsu on Jul 3, 2015 23:30:54 GMT -5
Part One: Deadly Consequences
Chapter 0: Murder House
Chapter 0: Murder House
The girl placed the ladder on the suburban house, leading up towards one of the second-floor bedrooms. The moonlight was just enough to illuminate her. She had long, black hair with shortened bangs; her golden eyes shone in the moonlight like two pieces of newly polished jewels; and she was dressed in punk-ish style clothing and was wearing a pair of black gloves, her favorite. She adjusted the ladder some more before her partner came over.
“Chen,” said her partner. Her partner had long, golden hair and deep, blue eyes. She wore a long-sleeve red shirt with a black and white short-sleeve jacket over it. On her hands was a pair of thin scarlet gloves, a pair her mother had given her for Christmas last year. To top it all off, she wore a deep red bow upon her head. Both her and her partner had a flashlight clipped to one of their pant loops.
“Yeah, Uni?”
“Are…are you sure we should be doing this?” A frown came across her face and she looked down at the ground; this all felt wrong to her.
Chen turned around, gave Uni a smile, and then gave her a pat on the back. “Aren’t you at least a little curious? People have started to vanish from the city and some were even murdered in their own homes!”
“That’s what I’m worried about, Chen! People are dying! And we are about to sneak into some dead guy’s hou-“
Chen sighed and took a look around. The house had been freshly painted and had the perfect grass and flower bed; it was the perfect suburban house. Except for the yellow police tape everywhere. She began to question if they should really go through with this. Then, she began to climb the ladder. “See you on the other side!”
“Hey!” Uni began to climb the ladder behind Chen. The summer breeze felt nice as she climbed; it reminded her of the days she spent eating ice cream and relaxing in the summer sun. Then, she remembered that a man had been brutally slaughtered and the warm, fuzzy feeling fled from her body. The police was still on the hunt for the killer. A group of vigilantes had caught the killer’s partner a while back; she couldn’t quite remember the name. These murders seemed to grow more and more common, causing the entire town to be on edge.
When Chen reached the top, she pushed the window and it opened with ease. “Bingo!” She pulled herself through the window and then turned around to help Uni. Uni pulled one leg through, but the other ended up slipping and pushing the ladder away from the window. Before they had time to grab it, it had already landed on the ground with a loud bang. “Dammit! Guess we will have to use the door to leave. I hope nobody heard that…”
Uni finished climbing through the window. “Yeah.” Then, they removed their flashlights from their hips, turned them on, and began to look around the room. The bed was completely soaked in blood; that must have been where the murder happened. There was a large dresser beside the bed with a shattered mirror. The girls made their way over to it. One of the broken pieces seemed to be missing. “Maybe we shouldn’t be here, Chen. I’m starting to get freaked out.”
“We will leave in just a minute. I really want to find out what happened here.” Chen bent down to look under the bed. Underneath were some old boxes and an empty bottle of wine. Beside the wine was a small pool of blood and something that shined when the light caught it. She pulled out the shining object and it turned out to be the missing piece of the mirror. “This must have been what the killer used. And there was an empty bottle of wine. Maybe the guy got drunk and then the killer snuck in through the unlocked window. Then, he smashed the mirror and slit the dude’s throat, leaving the shattered mirror piece underneath the bed.
Uni looked at the ground and didn’t look back up at Chen. “Can we go now? I really don’t like this place.”
“Fine…let’s go.” Chen laid the mirror piece back where she found it. Then, the girls headed to the door; however, before they could open it, they heard something shatter downstairs.
“What was that,” Uni whispered, her voice shaking from fear.
“It…it was probably nothing.” Chen slowly opened the door, trying to cause as little noise as possible. When she finally managed to get the door open enough for them to slide through, she gave Uni a thumbs up and went through. Uni started to freak out, but managed to calm herself enough to follow. However, when she came out the other side, her friend was nowhere in sight.
“Chen,” she whispered. She shone her flashlight around the hallway; just a bunch of doors. “Chen…this isn’t funny. Chen…” She made her way down the hallway, the floor creaking below her. Her hands began to shake, causing the light to shake as well. “Chen…”
She walked around the corner, and a black glove covered her mouth. She tried to scream through the glove, but it was no use. “Don’t be so loud,” Chen whispered while taking her hand off of Uni’s mouth.
“Sorry…”
Chen gave her friend a hug. “It’s fine. Let’s just get downstairs already.”
They made their way over to the staircase and proceeded to walk down them. Each step caused a loud creak to echo through the house. Uni grabbed Chen’s hand out of fear, holding it tight. Chen held on, squeezing equally as hard; as much as she appeared to be calm, it was only to keep Uni from freaking out. They were almost to the bottom, when they heard a loud thump from one of the rooms downstairs.
“Chen…”
“Uni, listen to me. The door is at the end of this hallway. We just need to sneak across without making any noise, understand?”
“I’m terrified…”
“I know. But listen. If there is someone else here, we do not want them to notice us. We do not know what they are capable of and so we do not want to get into a confrontation with them. Understand?”
“I…I…”
“Do. You. Understand. Uni.”
Uni was shaking from head to toe. “I…yes…”
“Good.” Chen put on a brave face for Uni and began sneaking down the hallway, towards the door, towards freedom. About halfway down, she realized that Uni was still at the base of the stairs, too terrified to move. Chen tried to signal to Uni, but Uni was unresponsive; she just stood there, with those wide, terrified eyes. Chen continued to gesture to Uni. That’s when Uni noticed her. There was a woman approaching Chen from behind.
The woman was tall, maybe around six feet or so. She had long, blonde hair like Uni. Her face had the perfect complexion; her model appearance made Uni question what she was doing here instead of on a movie set. The woman was dressed from head to toe in black; black gloves, black dress shoes, and a long black dress with long sleeves. Then, she noticed the needle in the woman’s right hand. “Chen!” Before her friend could turn around, the needle was already in her neck.
The woman looked up at Uni and gave her an unsettling smile. Her scarlet lipstick only made it that much creepier. “You know,” the woman began in a calm voice. “Curiosity killed the cat.”
Uni turned around and ran back upstairs, back towards the bedroom. She could hear footsteps climbing up the stairs behind her. When she turned the corner, she ran into something. No, not something. Someone. He was wearing black dress shoes, black dress pants, and a long black trench coat. Instead of a shirt, it appeared that he just had a gauze-type material wrapped around his body, leading up to just below his red eyes. Her last sight before he put the needle in her neck was his jet black hair.
“Chen,” said her partner. Her partner had long, golden hair and deep, blue eyes. She wore a long-sleeve red shirt with a black and white short-sleeve jacket over it. On her hands was a pair of thin scarlet gloves, a pair her mother had given her for Christmas last year. To top it all off, she wore a deep red bow upon her head. Both her and her partner had a flashlight clipped to one of their pant loops.
“Yeah, Uni?”
“Are…are you sure we should be doing this?” A frown came across her face and she looked down at the ground; this all felt wrong to her.
Chen turned around, gave Uni a smile, and then gave her a pat on the back. “Aren’t you at least a little curious? People have started to vanish from the city and some were even murdered in their own homes!”
“That’s what I’m worried about, Chen! People are dying! And we are about to sneak into some dead guy’s hou-“
Chen sighed and took a look around. The house had been freshly painted and had the perfect grass and flower bed; it was the perfect suburban house. Except for the yellow police tape everywhere. She began to question if they should really go through with this. Then, she began to climb the ladder. “See you on the other side!”
“Hey!” Uni began to climb the ladder behind Chen. The summer breeze felt nice as she climbed; it reminded her of the days she spent eating ice cream and relaxing in the summer sun. Then, she remembered that a man had been brutally slaughtered and the warm, fuzzy feeling fled from her body. The police was still on the hunt for the killer. A group of vigilantes had caught the killer’s partner a while back; she couldn’t quite remember the name. These murders seemed to grow more and more common, causing the entire town to be on edge.
When Chen reached the top, she pushed the window and it opened with ease. “Bingo!” She pulled herself through the window and then turned around to help Uni. Uni pulled one leg through, but the other ended up slipping and pushing the ladder away from the window. Before they had time to grab it, it had already landed on the ground with a loud bang. “Dammit! Guess we will have to use the door to leave. I hope nobody heard that…”
Uni finished climbing through the window. “Yeah.” Then, they removed their flashlights from their hips, turned them on, and began to look around the room. The bed was completely soaked in blood; that must have been where the murder happened. There was a large dresser beside the bed with a shattered mirror. The girls made their way over to it. One of the broken pieces seemed to be missing. “Maybe we shouldn’t be here, Chen. I’m starting to get freaked out.”
“We will leave in just a minute. I really want to find out what happened here.” Chen bent down to look under the bed. Underneath were some old boxes and an empty bottle of wine. Beside the wine was a small pool of blood and something that shined when the light caught it. She pulled out the shining object and it turned out to be the missing piece of the mirror. “This must have been what the killer used. And there was an empty bottle of wine. Maybe the guy got drunk and then the killer snuck in through the unlocked window. Then, he smashed the mirror and slit the dude’s throat, leaving the shattered mirror piece underneath the bed.
Uni looked at the ground and didn’t look back up at Chen. “Can we go now? I really don’t like this place.”
“Fine…let’s go.” Chen laid the mirror piece back where she found it. Then, the girls headed to the door; however, before they could open it, they heard something shatter downstairs.
“What was that,” Uni whispered, her voice shaking from fear.
“It…it was probably nothing.” Chen slowly opened the door, trying to cause as little noise as possible. When she finally managed to get the door open enough for them to slide through, she gave Uni a thumbs up and went through. Uni started to freak out, but managed to calm herself enough to follow. However, when she came out the other side, her friend was nowhere in sight.
“Chen,” she whispered. She shone her flashlight around the hallway; just a bunch of doors. “Chen…this isn’t funny. Chen…” She made her way down the hallway, the floor creaking below her. Her hands began to shake, causing the light to shake as well. “Chen…”
She walked around the corner, and a black glove covered her mouth. She tried to scream through the glove, but it was no use. “Don’t be so loud,” Chen whispered while taking her hand off of Uni’s mouth.
“Sorry…”
Chen gave her friend a hug. “It’s fine. Let’s just get downstairs already.”
They made their way over to the staircase and proceeded to walk down them. Each step caused a loud creak to echo through the house. Uni grabbed Chen’s hand out of fear, holding it tight. Chen held on, squeezing equally as hard; as much as she appeared to be calm, it was only to keep Uni from freaking out. They were almost to the bottom, when they heard a loud thump from one of the rooms downstairs.
“Chen…”
“Uni, listen to me. The door is at the end of this hallway. We just need to sneak across without making any noise, understand?”
“I’m terrified…”
“I know. But listen. If there is someone else here, we do not want them to notice us. We do not know what they are capable of and so we do not want to get into a confrontation with them. Understand?”
“I…I…”
“Do. You. Understand. Uni.”
Uni was shaking from head to toe. “I…yes…”
“Good.” Chen put on a brave face for Uni and began sneaking down the hallway, towards the door, towards freedom. About halfway down, she realized that Uni was still at the base of the stairs, too terrified to move. Chen tried to signal to Uni, but Uni was unresponsive; she just stood there, with those wide, terrified eyes. Chen continued to gesture to Uni. That’s when Uni noticed her. There was a woman approaching Chen from behind.
The woman was tall, maybe around six feet or so. She had long, blonde hair like Uni. Her face had the perfect complexion; her model appearance made Uni question what she was doing here instead of on a movie set. The woman was dressed from head to toe in black; black gloves, black dress shoes, and a long black dress with long sleeves. Then, she noticed the needle in the woman’s right hand. “Chen!” Before her friend could turn around, the needle was already in her neck.
The woman looked up at Uni and gave her an unsettling smile. Her scarlet lipstick only made it that much creepier. “You know,” the woman began in a calm voice. “Curiosity killed the cat.”
Uni turned around and ran back upstairs, back towards the bedroom. She could hear footsteps climbing up the stairs behind her. When she turned the corner, she ran into something. No, not something. Someone. He was wearing black dress shoes, black dress pants, and a long black trench coat. Instead of a shirt, it appeared that he just had a gauze-type material wrapped around his body, leading up to just below his red eyes. Her last sight before he put the needle in her neck was his jet black hair.
Chapter 1: One Killer DJ
Uni was the first to wake up. She tried to stand up, but her waist was bound by a set of chains tied to a loop on the floor. She felt the small metal room move and shake, throwing her from side to side with each bump and turn. Then, the realization came to her; she wasn’t in a room, she was in the back of a van. The van was dark, but her eyes adjusted and she could just barely make out Chen, chained across from her, still unconscious.
“Chen,” she whispered. She tried to lean across the van and shake her friend awake, but she was out cold. Another bump threw her back, causing her to hit her head on the wall. It was enough to disorient her, but not enough to cause any damage. She went to try and shake Chen again, but then she heard two voices talking from what she assumed to be the driver seat, muffled by the solid metal wall.
“I think he will like these two.” It was a voice she recognized, the woman who drugged Chen. “Besides, we can’t have people looking into the murders. You say what happened last time.”
“Yes.” This voice was a male voice. She could only assume that it was the guy who had drugged her.
“We have that meeting tonight. What time is it?”
“Ten-thirty. We should be fine. The mansion is only a thirty minute drive from the club, on the outer skirts of-“
“I know where the mansion is. I’ve only been there like a million times already. I am a GM after all.”
Another bump sent Uni falling on her side. When she pulled herself back up to sitting position, Chen was starting to wake up. “Chen, are you alright?”
Chen let out a soft moan as she pulled herself into a seated position. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. There was this woman who drugged you. Then, this one guy drugged me. What’s going on? Are they going to hurt us?”
Chen rubbed her forehead, obviously frustrated. “No, Uni. We will be fine. I promise. As soon as they let us out of these chains, we fight back. Understand?”
Uni started the shake out of fear again. “I…I…”
Chen reached over and smacked Uni across the face. “Get a hold of yourself. Your nerves are what got us into this mess. We are getting out of this. Do you understand me? I am not letting anything happen to you. You’ve been my best friend since middle school. I couldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you.”
At first, Uni was shocked that her closest friend had just smacked her. Then, she realized it had been because Chen cared about her. She knew that her silence had gotten her and Chen kidnapped, and she knew that it would happen again if she didn’t keep her nerves in check. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
Chen let out a sigh. “It’s my fault Uni. If I hadn’t talked you into going through with it, we would still be at my house, eating ice cream and watching cheesy horror movies until five in the morning.”
Uni was about to respond, but then the van came to a stop. They heard two doors opening up front and the sounds of their two captors getting out, closing the doors behind them. “Remember the plan,” Chen whispered. Then, the double doors opened at the back, letting the moonlight in. The guy started to undo Chen’s chains while the woman worked on Uni’s.
The woman gave Uni that same unsettling smile before leaning in and whispering in her ear, “Don’t worry, love. I don’t bite…hard.”
Once Chen’s chains had been removed, she head-butted the man before leaping out of the van. However, the woman was fast and reached down to the base of her leg, pulling up her dress, where a holster was hidden. She pulled out the small gun and aimed it straight at Chen’s head. The man reached into his trench coat and pulled out a similar gun, aiming it at Uni. He let out a small chuckle. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice.”
Chen wanted to put up a fight, but she knew better. All their captors had to do was barely flex their index finger and they would both be dead. So, she relaxed and decided to do everything they said. The woman continued to smile. “Good girl. Now, follow us.” The woman walked up behind Chen, putting the barrel against her back, where her heart was. The man did the same to Uni.
The summer breeze no longer felt inviting to the girls; all it brought were feelings of utter dread. The barrels of the guns gave them a constant reminder of how bad their situation had become. The gravel crunched with each step they took. Other than the crunching of the gravel, the world around them was silent. They appeared to be in downtown. Most of the shops had already closed and not very many people were walking the streets. The gravel pathway soon turned into pavement and then sidewalk; dim streetlights illuminated the path in front of them. The girls could hear music getting louder the more they walked. It sounded like the kind of music you would hear in a night club.
After walking past a flower shop and the post office, they turned down another road, where they noticed a large, three-story building that stuck out from the others. Neon lights flashed and loud music could be heard coming from inside. Unlike the rest of the city around it, this building was very much alive. A line of people waited to get inside, ready to party the night away. On the front of the building was a large neon sign that said ‘DJay’s Haus of Music’. On both sides of the sign were what appeared to be large, neon rabbit masks.
The two captors put their guns away and each grabbed onto one of the girls’ arms. The woman spoke up, “Don’t try anything stupid. If you do, we won’t hesitate to snap those pretty little necks of yours.” They began walking towards the night club.
At the front door was what the girls assumed to be the bouncer; he was heavy built, with dark brown eyes, bald head, and was wearing a suit and tie. “Lady Trinity. Lord Kuro.” He bowed to the two captors. “I see you’ve brought guests,” he said as he gestured to Uni and Chen.
“Yeah,” said the woman who the girls now assumed to be Trinity. “We are here on important business.”
“No need to explain yourself, ma’am. Go ahead in.” The people at the front of the line started shouting obscenities at the group as they walked through the double doors, entering the club.
The inside was a large open area, with bar areas off to the sides. Each floor appeared to have the same things: areas to lounge around, bar areas, and smaller dance floors. It was set up so that the upper floors could look down at the center of the club, where there was a massive dance floor. Strobe lights, lasers, and fog filled the dance club. Loud electronic music played from massive speakers situated around the place. The building was packed with people; they were dancing, drinking, and having a great time, completely oblivious that the two girls who had just entered were there against their will.
At the far end of the main floor was a large, boxed in area, surrounded by what appeared to be Plexiglas. There was what appeared to be a person inside, with a turntable and various machines surrounding him. Large television screens displayed him all around the night club. He appeared to be wearing a solid black suit with a pair of black gloves and a gray and black bandana around his throat and mouth. His skin was slightly pale, emphasizing his gray eyes and jet black hair. “Who’s ready to make some noise,” he screamed into the microphone and the whole club screamed in excitement. “Here’s one of my personal favorites. It’s a remix I did of one of my favorite songs! Hope you guys enjoy and have an amazing night here at my Haus of Music!” More screaming ensued.
“Keep moving,” said Kuro, pulling Uni forwards. The girls were lead deeper into the sea of people, closer to the DJ booth. Around them, people were grinding and dancing and enjoying their lives. For just a moment, the girls felt alive, surrounded by such excitement; the music seemed to make its way into their very souls, making them forget their entire situation, even if for just a moment.
Eventually, they made it to the DJ booth. Trinity knocked on the door to the booth and the DJ unlocked it, stepping outside to greet them. “Trinity, Kuro,” he exclaimed as he gave each of them a hug. “Are you guys ready for tonight? Everyone’s going to be at the mansion by midnight.”
“Of course, Jay,” said Trinity, adjusting her black dress.
“And what do we have here?” Jay leaned in to get a better look at Chen and Uni.
“You were right, Jay. They were investigating the house.”
“When am I ever wrong, my dear? I’m called The Eye for a reason.”
“You’ve also been called the Prince of Pies,” Kuro chimed in.
“I can’t help that my taste buds demand pie! Pie is quite delicious, Kuro!” Jay motioned to a young man beside Trinity. The man took Jay’s spot in the DJ booth as Jay led the four of them down a hallway in the back. “So, Trinity. Do you have everything planned out?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “I chose a really terrifying one this time. Maybe we could show it tonight at the mansion if we can get some good footage of it.”
The group stopped in front of an elevator door and Jay pushed the down arrow. “And the wolves?”
“I’ve already randomized them. Everything is good to go.”
“Perfect.” A loud ding was heard as the doors slid open. The five of them stepped inside and the sounds of music died away as the door slid shut. Jay pushed a button labeled ‘B’ and the elevator began its descent. He pulled a small, metal tube out of his suit pocket and stuck the end in his mouth. He took a deep breath in and let a large puff of smoke out.
“I see you’ve given up on actual cigarettes,” Trinity teased.
“Yes. These are much healthier and the flavors are marvelous!” Jay quickly put the end of the e-cig into Kuro’s mouth before he could protest otherwise. “Try it.” Kuro took a deep breath in, but ended up coughing it back out. “Seems somebody can’t handle their fag.” Jay took another puff. “It’s Pina Colada! I do so adore these things!” The elevator stopped moving and the doors slid open.
When the girls stepped out, they noticed that they were no longer in a club setting. Along the hallway were large Plexiglas windows that looked into rooms with very sophisticated equipment. People in lab coats and goggles worked on the machines while writing notes on their clipboards. The girls were confused as to why there was an underground research facility below a night club, but they knew better than to ask.
“Let’s get this over with,” Jay said. “I would prefer not to be the last one there tonight.
“Agreed,” replied Trinity.
The girls were lead deeper into the facility. They gave each other a look of fear. All they wanted to do was go back home and forget tonight ever happened. They had just graduated high school and decided to become roommates; it was a perfect fit, considering how close they were to each other. They had their whole lives ahead of them, but they had made a stupid mistake and were stuck in an underground facility.
“Here we are,” said Jay, opening one of the doors. All five of them stepped through, and he locked the door behind them. Unlike the other rooms, this one was completely empty. Something seemed off to Chen and Uni.
Then, Trinity took a step and looked at the girls. “Now, you will see what happens when you walk into the den of wolves.” A bright light filled the room before everything went dark.
“Chen,” she whispered. She tried to lean across the van and shake her friend awake, but she was out cold. Another bump threw her back, causing her to hit her head on the wall. It was enough to disorient her, but not enough to cause any damage. She went to try and shake Chen again, but then she heard two voices talking from what she assumed to be the driver seat, muffled by the solid metal wall.
“I think he will like these two.” It was a voice she recognized, the woman who drugged Chen. “Besides, we can’t have people looking into the murders. You say what happened last time.”
“Yes.” This voice was a male voice. She could only assume that it was the guy who had drugged her.
“We have that meeting tonight. What time is it?”
“Ten-thirty. We should be fine. The mansion is only a thirty minute drive from the club, on the outer skirts of-“
“I know where the mansion is. I’ve only been there like a million times already. I am a GM after all.”
Another bump sent Uni falling on her side. When she pulled herself back up to sitting position, Chen was starting to wake up. “Chen, are you alright?”
Chen let out a soft moan as she pulled herself into a seated position. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. There was this woman who drugged you. Then, this one guy drugged me. What’s going on? Are they going to hurt us?”
Chen rubbed her forehead, obviously frustrated. “No, Uni. We will be fine. I promise. As soon as they let us out of these chains, we fight back. Understand?”
Uni started the shake out of fear again. “I…I…”
Chen reached over and smacked Uni across the face. “Get a hold of yourself. Your nerves are what got us into this mess. We are getting out of this. Do you understand me? I am not letting anything happen to you. You’ve been my best friend since middle school. I couldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you.”
At first, Uni was shocked that her closest friend had just smacked her. Then, she realized it had been because Chen cared about her. She knew that her silence had gotten her and Chen kidnapped, and she knew that it would happen again if she didn’t keep her nerves in check. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
Chen let out a sigh. “It’s my fault Uni. If I hadn’t talked you into going through with it, we would still be at my house, eating ice cream and watching cheesy horror movies until five in the morning.”
Uni was about to respond, but then the van came to a stop. They heard two doors opening up front and the sounds of their two captors getting out, closing the doors behind them. “Remember the plan,” Chen whispered. Then, the double doors opened at the back, letting the moonlight in. The guy started to undo Chen’s chains while the woman worked on Uni’s.
The woman gave Uni that same unsettling smile before leaning in and whispering in her ear, “Don’t worry, love. I don’t bite…hard.”
Once Chen’s chains had been removed, she head-butted the man before leaping out of the van. However, the woman was fast and reached down to the base of her leg, pulling up her dress, where a holster was hidden. She pulled out the small gun and aimed it straight at Chen’s head. The man reached into his trench coat and pulled out a similar gun, aiming it at Uni. He let out a small chuckle. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice.”
Chen wanted to put up a fight, but she knew better. All their captors had to do was barely flex their index finger and they would both be dead. So, she relaxed and decided to do everything they said. The woman continued to smile. “Good girl. Now, follow us.” The woman walked up behind Chen, putting the barrel against her back, where her heart was. The man did the same to Uni.
The summer breeze no longer felt inviting to the girls; all it brought were feelings of utter dread. The barrels of the guns gave them a constant reminder of how bad their situation had become. The gravel crunched with each step they took. Other than the crunching of the gravel, the world around them was silent. They appeared to be in downtown. Most of the shops had already closed and not very many people were walking the streets. The gravel pathway soon turned into pavement and then sidewalk; dim streetlights illuminated the path in front of them. The girls could hear music getting louder the more they walked. It sounded like the kind of music you would hear in a night club.
After walking past a flower shop and the post office, they turned down another road, where they noticed a large, three-story building that stuck out from the others. Neon lights flashed and loud music could be heard coming from inside. Unlike the rest of the city around it, this building was very much alive. A line of people waited to get inside, ready to party the night away. On the front of the building was a large neon sign that said ‘DJay’s Haus of Music’. On both sides of the sign were what appeared to be large, neon rabbit masks.
The two captors put their guns away and each grabbed onto one of the girls’ arms. The woman spoke up, “Don’t try anything stupid. If you do, we won’t hesitate to snap those pretty little necks of yours.” They began walking towards the night club.
At the front door was what the girls assumed to be the bouncer; he was heavy built, with dark brown eyes, bald head, and was wearing a suit and tie. “Lady Trinity. Lord Kuro.” He bowed to the two captors. “I see you’ve brought guests,” he said as he gestured to Uni and Chen.
“Yeah,” said the woman who the girls now assumed to be Trinity. “We are here on important business.”
“No need to explain yourself, ma’am. Go ahead in.” The people at the front of the line started shouting obscenities at the group as they walked through the double doors, entering the club.
The inside was a large open area, with bar areas off to the sides. Each floor appeared to have the same things: areas to lounge around, bar areas, and smaller dance floors. It was set up so that the upper floors could look down at the center of the club, where there was a massive dance floor. Strobe lights, lasers, and fog filled the dance club. Loud electronic music played from massive speakers situated around the place. The building was packed with people; they were dancing, drinking, and having a great time, completely oblivious that the two girls who had just entered were there against their will.
At the far end of the main floor was a large, boxed in area, surrounded by what appeared to be Plexiglas. There was what appeared to be a person inside, with a turntable and various machines surrounding him. Large television screens displayed him all around the night club. He appeared to be wearing a solid black suit with a pair of black gloves and a gray and black bandana around his throat and mouth. His skin was slightly pale, emphasizing his gray eyes and jet black hair. “Who’s ready to make some noise,” he screamed into the microphone and the whole club screamed in excitement. “Here’s one of my personal favorites. It’s a remix I did of one of my favorite songs! Hope you guys enjoy and have an amazing night here at my Haus of Music!” More screaming ensued.
Look at him
Loot at me
That DJay is bad
And honestly
He’s a wolf in disguise
But I can’t stop staring in those evil eyes
“Keep moving,” said Kuro, pulling Uni forwards. The girls were lead deeper into the sea of people, closer to the DJ booth. Around them, people were grinding and dancing and enjoying their lives. For just a moment, the girls felt alive, surrounded by such excitement; the music seemed to make its way into their very souls, making them forget their entire situation, even if for just a moment.
Eventually, they made it to the DJ booth. Trinity knocked on the door to the booth and the DJ unlocked it, stepping outside to greet them. “Trinity, Kuro,” he exclaimed as he gave each of them a hug. “Are you guys ready for tonight? Everyone’s going to be at the mansion by midnight.”
“Of course, Jay,” said Trinity, adjusting her black dress.
“And what do we have here?” Jay leaned in to get a better look at Chen and Uni.
“You were right, Jay. They were investigating the house.”
“When am I ever wrong, my dear? I’m called The Eye for a reason.”
“You’ve also been called the Prince of Pies,” Kuro chimed in.
“I can’t help that my taste buds demand pie! Pie is quite delicious, Kuro!” Jay motioned to a young man beside Trinity. The man took Jay’s spot in the DJ booth as Jay led the four of them down a hallway in the back. “So, Trinity. Do you have everything planned out?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “I chose a really terrifying one this time. Maybe we could show it tonight at the mansion if we can get some good footage of it.”
The group stopped in front of an elevator door and Jay pushed the down arrow. “And the wolves?”
“I’ve already randomized them. Everything is good to go.”
“Perfect.” A loud ding was heard as the doors slid open. The five of them stepped inside and the sounds of music died away as the door slid shut. Jay pushed a button labeled ‘B’ and the elevator began its descent. He pulled a small, metal tube out of his suit pocket and stuck the end in his mouth. He took a deep breath in and let a large puff of smoke out.
“I see you’ve given up on actual cigarettes,” Trinity teased.
“Yes. These are much healthier and the flavors are marvelous!” Jay quickly put the end of the e-cig into Kuro’s mouth before he could protest otherwise. “Try it.” Kuro took a deep breath in, but ended up coughing it back out. “Seems somebody can’t handle their fag.” Jay took another puff. “It’s Pina Colada! I do so adore these things!” The elevator stopped moving and the doors slid open.
When the girls stepped out, they noticed that they were no longer in a club setting. Along the hallway were large Plexiglas windows that looked into rooms with very sophisticated equipment. People in lab coats and goggles worked on the machines while writing notes on their clipboards. The girls were confused as to why there was an underground research facility below a night club, but they knew better than to ask.
“Let’s get this over with,” Jay said. “I would prefer not to be the last one there tonight.
“Agreed,” replied Trinity.
The girls were lead deeper into the facility. They gave each other a look of fear. All they wanted to do was go back home and forget tonight ever happened. They had just graduated high school and decided to become roommates; it was a perfect fit, considering how close they were to each other. They had their whole lives ahead of them, but they had made a stupid mistake and were stuck in an underground facility.
“Here we are,” said Jay, opening one of the doors. All five of them stepped through, and he locked the door behind them. Unlike the other rooms, this one was completely empty. Something seemed off to Chen and Uni.
Then, Trinity took a step and looked at the girls. “Now, you will see what happens when you walk into the den of wolves.” A bright light filled the room before everything went dark.
Chapter 2: When Toys Attack
The darkness lasted for a few minutes; it was not just the absence of light, it felt like the absence of everything. Chen and Uni just stood in utter nothingness for what seemed like an eternity. They tried to move, but had lost control over their own bodies. Then, another flash of blinding light flashed through the empty space.
When the light dissipated, Chen and Uni found themselves in a park. Around them, perfectly trimmed grass, freshly painted park benches, a nice summer breeze, and the sun high in the sky made them forget their situation for a moment, until it all finally set in.
“Uni. What just happened? We…we were in a laboratory. It was the middle of the night!”
“I don’t know, Chen. At least we are away from those freaks! Let’s just…let’s try to find a cab and go home.” Uni started to walk down the paved path towards a central fountain.
Chen started to follow her friend towards the fountain. “Where are you going? Do you even know where we are?”
Uni turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Do you have any better ideas?”
Chen let out a deep sigh. “No…not really.”
The two girls started walking towards the fountain again. A man and a woman were talking in the distance; Chen and Uni could only hear a few words, but it appeared to be about some toy factory. When they reached the fountain, they noticed a newspaper laying on the ground. Chen picked it up and started to read it.
“It says here that four teenagers were playing in an abandoned toy factory where they were brutally murdered. The police have identified two of the bodies as L. Ravenhart and Innocent.”
“That’s weird. Police reports usually include entire first and last names. Not only that, but what kind of name is Innocent anyways? It sounds more like some username you would use on a forum or something.”
Chen sat the newspaper back on the ground before taking a seat on the edge of the fountain. “I don’t know, Uni. Although those deaths were a tragedy, we have more important things to focus on. Let’s just get to the road and try to hail a taxi.”
Uni stole one final glance at the newspaper before giving her reply. “Alright.”
The girls started walking down a path that led to the closest road. However, before they could get far from the fountain, a Korean woman rushed by them towards the couple the girls saw talking earlier. She was wearing a black skirt, a white button-up, a black tie, and a pair of black heels. She wore bright red lipstick and a black fedora with a white ribbon around the base. Over her left shoulder was a black, leather purse.
“Gabriel,” she screamed at them. “Mad!” The couple began to grow worried, obviously recognizing the woman that was approaching them.
“Amie,” said the man. “It wasn’t us!”
“Be quiet, Gabriel. I saw you and her walking by the toy factory earlier! It had to have been you guys!”
“Amie,” said the girl. “We were just going for a walk. I promise.”
“Promises don’t bring people back from the dead!” The Korean woman, who the girls now assumed to be Amie, reached into her purse and pulled out a pistol. The girls backed up some when they saw the metallic shine reflecting off of the firearm. “This is what has to be done.”
“Amie,” the couple pleaded.
“No. It’s too late for that now.” Without a second thought, Amie pulled the trigger, shooting Gabriel through the brain. Then, she aimed the pistol at Mad’s heart as she attempted to run away. The bullet pierced straight through, sending her to the ground instantly. The couple were now face-down in the grass, the blood pouring from their bodies, staining it a deep scarlet. Amie put the gun back in her purse and went to walk back towards the girls. Uni and Chen backed away, fearing for their lives, still trying to process exactly what had just happened. “What are you two freaks looking at,” Amie asked as she passed by them, walking towards the main road. Uni and Chen remained frozen in place until the woman disappeared from sight.
“Chen...that woman just shot those people!”
“I know, Uni! Should we go to the police?”
“I don’t know. Did you hear what they said? They mentioned the toy factory. Maybe we should-“
“Oh, no. We are not getting involved with this. We are going right back home where we belong. No more kidnappings. No more murder. Just Netflix and ice cream.”
“Agreed.”
The two girls continued their journey down the paved path, towards the road. However, when they go to the road, there were no cars driving on it. The only thing in sight was what appeared to be a public bus. So, exhausted of all other options, the girls decided to ask the driver for help.
The bus driver was dressed from head to toe in black; he wore black dress shoes, black pants, a black trench coat, and a black fedora. He sat completely still, looking straight ahead, with his hands gripping the wheel, his face hidden from sight.
“Um...excuse me,” Chen said. “We are kind of lost, and we were wondering where we were.” The man continued to stare at the road ahead of him. “Sir, we really need to get back to the Regency Park subdivision near downtown. Does this bus go there?”
The man ignored the girls for a few more seconds before nodding his head in agreement.
“How much is it going to cost?”
The man shook his head no. Uni started to get a sinking feeling in her chest. The man just continued staring ahead, never looking at the girls. However, Chen was already on the bus. When the girls got on, the first thing they noticed was that the bus was completely empty. Not a single soul sat on the bus; it was only the girls and the bus driver. The girls made their way to the back of the bus and took a seat.
“I don’t like this,” Uni whispered to Chen.
“Would you rather stay at murder fountain? As soon as we get home we are calling the police. We were kidnapped and witnessed a murder. Something has to be done about this.”
The driver started the bus and began to drive down the road. Outside, dark clouds began to roll in and block the sunlight. As the bus continued to drive, the sky became darker and the girls began to feel a sinking feeling in their chests. After a few minutes, it began to rain outside.
“Really,” said Chen. “Rain? Where did this even come from? It was nice and sunny a minute ago!”
“I don’t know. I just want to go home and get some rest.”
“I know what you mean.”
Then, the bus driver began to stand. The bus continued to move forwards as he turned around and faced the girls. He looked up and allowed them to see his face. Instead of eyes, he only had sockets with blood dripping from them. His lips had been removed, causing him to appear to be showing his yellow teeth in an eternal smile.
“Chen…”
Chen grabbed tightly onto Uni, keeping her in a protective embrace. The man started to slowly walk towards the girls, the storm becoming worse with every step.
“Uni, it’s going to be alright.”
The man was nearly halfway to them. Uni was shaking violently and was on the verge of tears. She held onto Chen as tightly as she could. Then, when the man was almost to them, the bus began to slide on the road. The man reached out to grab Uni, when the bus drove into a building and everything went dark.
When the girls came to, they were no longer on the bus. Instead, they were on the concrete floor of what appeared to be some type of factory. Old toy parts laid scattered around the dimly lit room.
“Chen…where are we?”
Chen was about to say she didn’t know, when she gasped with realization; it was the same toy factory that had been in the paper. “Uni. We need to get out of here.”
They started to look for an exit, when they heard a noise behind them. Startled, they started running in the opposite direction. The girls heard footsteps following them, but they continued to run.
“Hello,” called a familiar voice; it was Jay. “Guys, this isn’t funny anymore. I think we should just go.” Chen and Uni hid behind a dumpster full of old toy parts. After a few seconds, they heard him walking away before he kicked a wall. “Ow, sh**!”
Then, they heard giggling in the distance. “Hello,” Jay called, quieter this time, “Is anyone else there?” The giggle started again. It definitely sounded as if it was coming from a little girl. “Hello? You really shouldn’t be here. It isn’t safe for a child.” The girls heard his footsteps grow lighter as he followed the source of the noise. “Come with me and we’ll both get out of here, sound good?”
‘Pop Goes The Weasel’ began to play in the distance. The girls moved a little closer to the room that Jay had entered so that they could see him better. “Did you find a toy that works?” His voice was shaking as he continued to follow the sound. The room he entered was extremely dark and he appeared to be having difficulty seeing into it. “Hello?” Then, the music stopped and there was utter silence. After a few seconds, the silence was broken by a loud pop and Jay screamed in pain. A girl came walking out of the room in a black cloak with the hood not currently on her head.
The girls started to sneak away from the girl, when a boy burst in through another doorway. He appeared to have black hair and dark eyes; he was also wearing a large coat with black dress pants and dress shoes. “Juv,” he said. “This is the end of the line. We caught you red handed.”
“Boy,” the girl pleaded. “I can explain.”
“Don’t even try. She just saw you pierce Jay with that pipe.”
“Who did?”
“I did,” said another girl who had snuck behind Juv. She was wearing a yellow shirt with a black hoodie that had cat ears on the top. She had long, brown hair and light blue eyes. “Now, it’s time you pay.” The girl quickly pulled a knife out of her pocket and slit Juv’s throat with it. Uni started to freak out, but Chen calmed her down.
“Good job, Venelope,” said Boy.
“Thanks.” The duo began to head towards the exit, when the bright light the girls had experienced in Jay’s lab occurred again before everything went dark.
When the light dissipated, Chen and Uni found themselves in a park. Around them, perfectly trimmed grass, freshly painted park benches, a nice summer breeze, and the sun high in the sky made them forget their situation for a moment, until it all finally set in.
“Uni. What just happened? We…we were in a laboratory. It was the middle of the night!”
“I don’t know, Chen. At least we are away from those freaks! Let’s just…let’s try to find a cab and go home.” Uni started to walk down the paved path towards a central fountain.
Chen started to follow her friend towards the fountain. “Where are you going? Do you even know where we are?”
Uni turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Do you have any better ideas?”
Chen let out a deep sigh. “No…not really.”
The two girls started walking towards the fountain again. A man and a woman were talking in the distance; Chen and Uni could only hear a few words, but it appeared to be about some toy factory. When they reached the fountain, they noticed a newspaper laying on the ground. Chen picked it up and started to read it.
“It says here that four teenagers were playing in an abandoned toy factory where they were brutally murdered. The police have identified two of the bodies as L. Ravenhart and Innocent.”
“That’s weird. Police reports usually include entire first and last names. Not only that, but what kind of name is Innocent anyways? It sounds more like some username you would use on a forum or something.”
Chen sat the newspaper back on the ground before taking a seat on the edge of the fountain. “I don’t know, Uni. Although those deaths were a tragedy, we have more important things to focus on. Let’s just get to the road and try to hail a taxi.”
Uni stole one final glance at the newspaper before giving her reply. “Alright.”
The girls started walking down a path that led to the closest road. However, before they could get far from the fountain, a Korean woman rushed by them towards the couple the girls saw talking earlier. She was wearing a black skirt, a white button-up, a black tie, and a pair of black heels. She wore bright red lipstick and a black fedora with a white ribbon around the base. Over her left shoulder was a black, leather purse.
“Gabriel,” she screamed at them. “Mad!” The couple began to grow worried, obviously recognizing the woman that was approaching them.
“Amie,” said the man. “It wasn’t us!”
“Be quiet, Gabriel. I saw you and her walking by the toy factory earlier! It had to have been you guys!”
“Amie,” said the girl. “We were just going for a walk. I promise.”
“Promises don’t bring people back from the dead!” The Korean woman, who the girls now assumed to be Amie, reached into her purse and pulled out a pistol. The girls backed up some when they saw the metallic shine reflecting off of the firearm. “This is what has to be done.”
“Amie,” the couple pleaded.
“No. It’s too late for that now.” Without a second thought, Amie pulled the trigger, shooting Gabriel through the brain. Then, she aimed the pistol at Mad’s heart as she attempted to run away. The bullet pierced straight through, sending her to the ground instantly. The couple were now face-down in the grass, the blood pouring from their bodies, staining it a deep scarlet. Amie put the gun back in her purse and went to walk back towards the girls. Uni and Chen backed away, fearing for their lives, still trying to process exactly what had just happened. “What are you two freaks looking at,” Amie asked as she passed by them, walking towards the main road. Uni and Chen remained frozen in place until the woman disappeared from sight.
“Chen...that woman just shot those people!”
“I know, Uni! Should we go to the police?”
“I don’t know. Did you hear what they said? They mentioned the toy factory. Maybe we should-“
“Oh, no. We are not getting involved with this. We are going right back home where we belong. No more kidnappings. No more murder. Just Netflix and ice cream.”
“Agreed.”
The two girls continued their journey down the paved path, towards the road. However, when they go to the road, there were no cars driving on it. The only thing in sight was what appeared to be a public bus. So, exhausted of all other options, the girls decided to ask the driver for help.
The bus driver was dressed from head to toe in black; he wore black dress shoes, black pants, a black trench coat, and a black fedora. He sat completely still, looking straight ahead, with his hands gripping the wheel, his face hidden from sight.
“Um...excuse me,” Chen said. “We are kind of lost, and we were wondering where we were.” The man continued to stare at the road ahead of him. “Sir, we really need to get back to the Regency Park subdivision near downtown. Does this bus go there?”
The man ignored the girls for a few more seconds before nodding his head in agreement.
“How much is it going to cost?”
The man shook his head no. Uni started to get a sinking feeling in her chest. The man just continued staring ahead, never looking at the girls. However, Chen was already on the bus. When the girls got on, the first thing they noticed was that the bus was completely empty. Not a single soul sat on the bus; it was only the girls and the bus driver. The girls made their way to the back of the bus and took a seat.
“I don’t like this,” Uni whispered to Chen.
“Would you rather stay at murder fountain? As soon as we get home we are calling the police. We were kidnapped and witnessed a murder. Something has to be done about this.”
The driver started the bus and began to drive down the road. Outside, dark clouds began to roll in and block the sunlight. As the bus continued to drive, the sky became darker and the girls began to feel a sinking feeling in their chests. After a few minutes, it began to rain outside.
“Really,” said Chen. “Rain? Where did this even come from? It was nice and sunny a minute ago!”
“I don’t know. I just want to go home and get some rest.”
“I know what you mean.”
Then, the bus driver began to stand. The bus continued to move forwards as he turned around and faced the girls. He looked up and allowed them to see his face. Instead of eyes, he only had sockets with blood dripping from them. His lips had been removed, causing him to appear to be showing his yellow teeth in an eternal smile.
“Chen…”
Chen grabbed tightly onto Uni, keeping her in a protective embrace. The man started to slowly walk towards the girls, the storm becoming worse with every step.
“Uni, it’s going to be alright.”
The man was nearly halfway to them. Uni was shaking violently and was on the verge of tears. She held onto Chen as tightly as she could. Then, when the man was almost to them, the bus began to slide on the road. The man reached out to grab Uni, when the bus drove into a building and everything went dark.
When the girls came to, they were no longer on the bus. Instead, they were on the concrete floor of what appeared to be some type of factory. Old toy parts laid scattered around the dimly lit room.
“Chen…where are we?”
Chen was about to say she didn’t know, when she gasped with realization; it was the same toy factory that had been in the paper. “Uni. We need to get out of here.”
They started to look for an exit, when they heard a noise behind them. Startled, they started running in the opposite direction. The girls heard footsteps following them, but they continued to run.
“Hello,” called a familiar voice; it was Jay. “Guys, this isn’t funny anymore. I think we should just go.” Chen and Uni hid behind a dumpster full of old toy parts. After a few seconds, they heard him walking away before he kicked a wall. “Ow, sh**!”
Then, they heard giggling in the distance. “Hello,” Jay called, quieter this time, “Is anyone else there?” The giggle started again. It definitely sounded as if it was coming from a little girl. “Hello? You really shouldn’t be here. It isn’t safe for a child.” The girls heard his footsteps grow lighter as he followed the source of the noise. “Come with me and we’ll both get out of here, sound good?”
‘Pop Goes The Weasel’ began to play in the distance. The girls moved a little closer to the room that Jay had entered so that they could see him better. “Did you find a toy that works?” His voice was shaking as he continued to follow the sound. The room he entered was extremely dark and he appeared to be having difficulty seeing into it. “Hello?” Then, the music stopped and there was utter silence. After a few seconds, the silence was broken by a loud pop and Jay screamed in pain. A girl came walking out of the room in a black cloak with the hood not currently on her head.
The girls started to sneak away from the girl, when a boy burst in through another doorway. He appeared to have black hair and dark eyes; he was also wearing a large coat with black dress pants and dress shoes. “Juv,” he said. “This is the end of the line. We caught you red handed.”
“Boy,” the girl pleaded. “I can explain.”
“Don’t even try. She just saw you pierce Jay with that pipe.”
“Who did?”
“I did,” said another girl who had snuck behind Juv. She was wearing a yellow shirt with a black hoodie that had cat ears on the top. She had long, brown hair and light blue eyes. “Now, it’s time you pay.” The girl quickly pulled a knife out of her pocket and slit Juv’s throat with it. Uni started to freak out, but Chen calmed her down.
“Good job, Venelope,” said Boy.
“Thanks.” The duo began to head towards the exit, when the bright light the girls had experienced in Jay’s lab occurred again before everything went dark.
Chapter 3: The Party
When the darkness faded once more, the girls were back in the laboratory, with Jay, Kuro, and Trinity watching them carefully.
“So,” Jay asked, taking another puff from his e-cig. “What about the other one?”
“Already taken care of,” she responded.
“What was her name again?”
“Azelf, I believe. She made it out without a scratch.”
“That ended way too soon.”
“You think, Jay?”
Kuro finally decided to speak up. “At least your death was pretty cool!”
Jay glared angrily at Kuro. “Would you like me to stab a metal pipe through you?”
He laughed at that remark. “You sure enjoy shoving long, slender things into guys don’t you?” He came up right beside Jay and took the e-cig from his hand, taking a deep drag before putting it in Jay’s mouth. “Who can’t handle their fag now?”
“Guys,” Trinity intervened. “We have the footage, or at least the short amount we were able to get. Now, all we need to do is-“
“What the heck is going on,” Chen demanded. “First, we were kidnapped. Then, you brought us to some club with a secret underground facility. After that, we ended up in some horror world where people were killing each other! And Jay was killed, yet here he is! Let’s not forget the creepy bus ride!”
Trinity’s glare was the most evil glare Chen had ever seen on someone. “Girl, you need to learn your place. We are your gods now. You do as we say, or you will lose that pretty little head of yours. Are we clear?” Chen remained silent and stared at the ground, refusing to acknowledge the woman’s existence. Trinity, fed up with Chen, slapped her hard across the face. “I asked you a question.”
“You don’t control us! We are leaving, now!” Chen grabbed Uni and the two started towards the door. “Uni, let’s get out of here.”
“Nobody leaves my club without my permission,” Jay said. The girls went to turn around, but the needles were in their necks before they finished turning. Within seconds, everything turned black.
Uni’s eyes opened slowly, immediately flooded by a sea of red. Her vision was too blurred to make out anything but one big field of scarlet red. She felt the ground underneath her: padded velvet. As her vision started to focus, she noticed iron bars around her. Filled with curiosity, she pulled herself to her feet, her vision coming more into focus. That’s when she realized that the bars connected to the ground below her and a heavy metal sheet above her; she was trapped in a cage with a scarlet velvet floor.
Outside the cage was an elaborate room; the floor was made of a soft scarlet carpet, the walls were painted dark as coals, and the high ceiling was a black with golden chandeliers hanging from it. Round tables with black tablecloths were scattered around the room, with people sitting at each one; they drank a variety of drinks as they discussed the news and laughed. A team of butlers made their way around the room, refilling drinks and offering appetizers. It appeared to Uni to be some form of fancy party. Then, she noticed the two other cages.
Her cage seemed to be centered at the front of the room, opposite from the double door entrance. The other two walls each housed another cage, both with someone inside. On her left was someone she recognized: Chen. On her right was someone she hadn’t seen before. She had long green hair, a purple hoodie with a red zip-up piece covering her mouth, green pants, and green Converse.
“Chen,” Uni called to her friend, but Chen couldn’t hear her. This was the first time she had truly been alone since all of this started, and she didn’t know how to handle it. Then, one of the guests came over to her cage.
He had medium-length black hair, hazel eyes, and wore glasses. He was dressed in a grey V-neck and black pants. Uni expected him to be wearing formal black shoes, but instead they were pink. “Now now, love,” he said to the frightened Uni. “Your friend is locked up nice and tight. Nobody is going to hurt her…yet.”
“Ootsuki!” A girl walked up beside the man. She had short blonde hair and wore a pair of black cat ears with a red collar to match. She had light brown eyes just like Oostuki and wore a long-sleeve black shirt with black skinny jeans and black tennis-shoes. “How many times do I have to tell you not to mess with the newbies without me?”
“Sorry, Nayu.”
“Why are we here,” Uni pleaded. “Why are we here?”
The girl seemed annoyed by Uni. “This girl is more of a blonde than I am. Let’s just hope she lives long enough to see her first murder.”
“Murder? I would never murder anyone!”
Ootsuki and Nayu lauged. “We all said that at one point, and we all ended up doing it. It will happen to you as well.” The pair walked away, leaving Uni even more clueless. Uni tried looking around the room some more and found two people she recognized: Boy and Venelope. They were at a table, eating cinnamon buns and talking as if they hadn’t just killed somebody.
After a few more minutes of silence, another guy came up to Uni’s cage. He had medium-length dark blue hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark blue jacket with black jeans and blue Converse. “Hello there my little caged bird. My name is Degree, but you can just call me Deggy. Want to hear a joke?”
“I want out of here!”
“A joke it is! What did the lawyer say to the businesswoman?” Uni wanted nothing to do with Deggy or jokes. All she wanted was to get her friend and go back home. He grew impatient and went on with the joke. “Nothing! They both died in a tragic house fire on their anniversary.” He began to laugh out of control at his sick joke. “Anyways, hope you enjoy the party.” With that, he left Uni alone.
A few minutes later, five people walked in. She recognized four of them: Amie, Trin, Kuro, and Jay. However, she had never met the other one. She had long, strawberry-blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore a tight-fitting gray and black business-suit with black dress boots. Jay held a wireless microphone in his hands. Jay was the first to speak up. “Good evening, all! I would like to welcome you all to yet another Doubtful Rabbit Society party hosted by yours truly and the GM’s: Kuro, Santa, Trinity, and Amie.” The room erupted in loud applause. “We had a successful rabbit win moments ago in which Amie, Boy, and Venelope managed to kill the wolves in one of the fastest games we’ve ever hosted!” The room applauded once more. “On a further note, all three people we placed in made it out alive. They are positioned around the room as usual. Let’s congratulate Chen, Uni, and Azelf on their wonderful first game!” The room turned to each cage and applauded them. “We managed to get some footage, so we hope you guys enjoy!” With that, a gigantic flat screen television descended from the ceiling above them.
Scenes played of Ravanhart and Innocent’s brutal demises, Amie’s killing of Mad and Gabriel, Jay’s death scene, and Boy and Venelope’s murder of the final girl. Then, Chen and Uni notices some clips of them on the bus and in the toy factory. Finally, short clips of the other players played, one of them being the girl in the other cage, who they could only assume was Azelf. When the clip ended, a girl seemed to teleport into the room in a puff of black smoke. She almost reminded the girls of Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Except, her signature blue dress had been replaced with a black and red one. She had on black heels and deep red lipstick.
“Just on time, Yuki,” Jay announced. “Due to successful funding, we have managed to improve Yuki’s Asylum!” The room erupted in another round of applause. “Now, we will take a moment to pay respect to our founder, Mira.” An image of a woman in a black suit and wolf mask appeared on the screen.
“Hello,” said the woman. “I hope you guys are enjoying the party. I founded this society on excellence. The best of the best are seated here today. Our numbers have grown past my expectations! Our head scientist, Jay, has made marvelous improvements, introducing his new research and allowing us to play our marvelous games. Let’s not forget our GM’s! Although they have changed multiple times, the four reigning GM’s have done well to carry on the legacies of the previous GM’s. I wish I could be there in person, but I am unable to at this time. Enjoy the party!” With that, the screen went dark and the television rose back into the ceiling.
“Well,” Jay continued. “It’s only fair that we do as Mira says!” With that, loud club music began playing and Jay handed the microphone to one of the butlers. Then, Jay, Yuki, and the GM’s began to mingle with the guests. The night went on with multiple guests visiting the cages, treating them like animals. The three of them had been made into an exhibit for these people’s sick enjoyment and all they could do was sit there and take it. However, later into the evening, the butlers brought out large sheets of metal. Four butlers went to each cage with a sheet, and began attaching them, completely closing up the cage. Then, a hole was opened at the top of each one and something was attached to them. The air in the cages became thick and Chen, Uni, and Azelf slowly lost consciousness.
“So,” Jay asked, taking another puff from his e-cig. “What about the other one?”
“Already taken care of,” she responded.
“What was her name again?”
“Azelf, I believe. She made it out without a scratch.”
“That ended way too soon.”
“You think, Jay?”
Kuro finally decided to speak up. “At least your death was pretty cool!”
Jay glared angrily at Kuro. “Would you like me to stab a metal pipe through you?”
He laughed at that remark. “You sure enjoy shoving long, slender things into guys don’t you?” He came up right beside Jay and took the e-cig from his hand, taking a deep drag before putting it in Jay’s mouth. “Who can’t handle their fag now?”
“Guys,” Trinity intervened. “We have the footage, or at least the short amount we were able to get. Now, all we need to do is-“
“What the heck is going on,” Chen demanded. “First, we were kidnapped. Then, you brought us to some club with a secret underground facility. After that, we ended up in some horror world where people were killing each other! And Jay was killed, yet here he is! Let’s not forget the creepy bus ride!”
Trinity’s glare was the most evil glare Chen had ever seen on someone. “Girl, you need to learn your place. We are your gods now. You do as we say, or you will lose that pretty little head of yours. Are we clear?” Chen remained silent and stared at the ground, refusing to acknowledge the woman’s existence. Trinity, fed up with Chen, slapped her hard across the face. “I asked you a question.”
“You don’t control us! We are leaving, now!” Chen grabbed Uni and the two started towards the door. “Uni, let’s get out of here.”
“Nobody leaves my club without my permission,” Jay said. The girls went to turn around, but the needles were in their necks before they finished turning. Within seconds, everything turned black.
Uni’s eyes opened slowly, immediately flooded by a sea of red. Her vision was too blurred to make out anything but one big field of scarlet red. She felt the ground underneath her: padded velvet. As her vision started to focus, she noticed iron bars around her. Filled with curiosity, she pulled herself to her feet, her vision coming more into focus. That’s when she realized that the bars connected to the ground below her and a heavy metal sheet above her; she was trapped in a cage with a scarlet velvet floor.
Outside the cage was an elaborate room; the floor was made of a soft scarlet carpet, the walls were painted dark as coals, and the high ceiling was a black with golden chandeliers hanging from it. Round tables with black tablecloths were scattered around the room, with people sitting at each one; they drank a variety of drinks as they discussed the news and laughed. A team of butlers made their way around the room, refilling drinks and offering appetizers. It appeared to Uni to be some form of fancy party. Then, she noticed the two other cages.
Her cage seemed to be centered at the front of the room, opposite from the double door entrance. The other two walls each housed another cage, both with someone inside. On her left was someone she recognized: Chen. On her right was someone she hadn’t seen before. She had long green hair, a purple hoodie with a red zip-up piece covering her mouth, green pants, and green Converse.
“Chen,” Uni called to her friend, but Chen couldn’t hear her. This was the first time she had truly been alone since all of this started, and she didn’t know how to handle it. Then, one of the guests came over to her cage.
He had medium-length black hair, hazel eyes, and wore glasses. He was dressed in a grey V-neck and black pants. Uni expected him to be wearing formal black shoes, but instead they were pink. “Now now, love,” he said to the frightened Uni. “Your friend is locked up nice and tight. Nobody is going to hurt her…yet.”
“Ootsuki!” A girl walked up beside the man. She had short blonde hair and wore a pair of black cat ears with a red collar to match. She had light brown eyes just like Oostuki and wore a long-sleeve black shirt with black skinny jeans and black tennis-shoes. “How many times do I have to tell you not to mess with the newbies without me?”
“Sorry, Nayu.”
“Why are we here,” Uni pleaded. “Why are we here?”
The girl seemed annoyed by Uni. “This girl is more of a blonde than I am. Let’s just hope she lives long enough to see her first murder.”
“Murder? I would never murder anyone!”
Ootsuki and Nayu lauged. “We all said that at one point, and we all ended up doing it. It will happen to you as well.” The pair walked away, leaving Uni even more clueless. Uni tried looking around the room some more and found two people she recognized: Boy and Venelope. They were at a table, eating cinnamon buns and talking as if they hadn’t just killed somebody.
After a few more minutes of silence, another guy came up to Uni’s cage. He had medium-length dark blue hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark blue jacket with black jeans and blue Converse. “Hello there my little caged bird. My name is Degree, but you can just call me Deggy. Want to hear a joke?”
“I want out of here!”
“A joke it is! What did the lawyer say to the businesswoman?” Uni wanted nothing to do with Deggy or jokes. All she wanted was to get her friend and go back home. He grew impatient and went on with the joke. “Nothing! They both died in a tragic house fire on their anniversary.” He began to laugh out of control at his sick joke. “Anyways, hope you enjoy the party.” With that, he left Uni alone.
A few minutes later, five people walked in. She recognized four of them: Amie, Trin, Kuro, and Jay. However, she had never met the other one. She had long, strawberry-blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore a tight-fitting gray and black business-suit with black dress boots. Jay held a wireless microphone in his hands. Jay was the first to speak up. “Good evening, all! I would like to welcome you all to yet another Doubtful Rabbit Society party hosted by yours truly and the GM’s: Kuro, Santa, Trinity, and Amie.” The room erupted in loud applause. “We had a successful rabbit win moments ago in which Amie, Boy, and Venelope managed to kill the wolves in one of the fastest games we’ve ever hosted!” The room applauded once more. “On a further note, all three people we placed in made it out alive. They are positioned around the room as usual. Let’s congratulate Chen, Uni, and Azelf on their wonderful first game!” The room turned to each cage and applauded them. “We managed to get some footage, so we hope you guys enjoy!” With that, a gigantic flat screen television descended from the ceiling above them.
Scenes played of Ravanhart and Innocent’s brutal demises, Amie’s killing of Mad and Gabriel, Jay’s death scene, and Boy and Venelope’s murder of the final girl. Then, Chen and Uni notices some clips of them on the bus and in the toy factory. Finally, short clips of the other players played, one of them being the girl in the other cage, who they could only assume was Azelf. When the clip ended, a girl seemed to teleport into the room in a puff of black smoke. She almost reminded the girls of Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Except, her signature blue dress had been replaced with a black and red one. She had on black heels and deep red lipstick.
“Just on time, Yuki,” Jay announced. “Due to successful funding, we have managed to improve Yuki’s Asylum!” The room erupted in another round of applause. “Now, we will take a moment to pay respect to our founder, Mira.” An image of a woman in a black suit and wolf mask appeared on the screen.
“Hello,” said the woman. “I hope you guys are enjoying the party. I founded this society on excellence. The best of the best are seated here today. Our numbers have grown past my expectations! Our head scientist, Jay, has made marvelous improvements, introducing his new research and allowing us to play our marvelous games. Let’s not forget our GM’s! Although they have changed multiple times, the four reigning GM’s have done well to carry on the legacies of the previous GM’s. I wish I could be there in person, but I am unable to at this time. Enjoy the party!” With that, the screen went dark and the television rose back into the ceiling.
“Well,” Jay continued. “It’s only fair that we do as Mira says!” With that, loud club music began playing and Jay handed the microphone to one of the butlers. Then, Jay, Yuki, and the GM’s began to mingle with the guests. The night went on with multiple guests visiting the cages, treating them like animals. The three of them had been made into an exhibit for these people’s sick enjoyment and all they could do was sit there and take it. However, later into the evening, the butlers brought out large sheets of metal. Four butlers went to each cage with a sheet, and began attaching them, completely closing up the cage. Then, a hole was opened at the top of each one and something was attached to them. The air in the cages became thick and Chen, Uni, and Azelf slowly lost consciousness.
Chapter 4: The Rabbit Doubt Project
Azelf, Chen, and Uni awoke in a brightly lit room, each in their own bed. The walls were freshly polished metal and the floor was clean linoleum. There was a metallic bunk bed on each wall and a door that led to what appeared to be a bathroom. The door at the front of the room was made out of thick metal that would be impossible to break open.
“Chen,” Uni called out to her friend. She jumped out of her bed and stood in the middle of the room.
“I’m here,” Chen replied, getting out of her own bed and hugging her friend.
“You two know each other,” asked Azelf.
“Yeah. We’ve been best friends forever. Do you know what’s going on?”
“Not really. I went out for a late-night jog and suddenly, Amie and Santa kidnapped me. They brought me to Jay before Trin and Kuro went out to get you guys. They locked me in a room in his lab until you guys arrived, and then everything went dark. When the darkness faded, I was in a city, at some coffee shop, except there was nobody else there. There was a television, which showed something about two people getting murdered in some toy factory…I think their names were Innocent and Ravan-something. Then, I heard screaming from the kitchen. I went to investigate, and this butcher was back there, cutting some woman open. I panicked and took off running out the door. Except the door didn’t lead outside, it led to the toy factory’s security room. I watched the monitors and that’s when I saw you guys. Then, Jay came in and was killed. Then, those other two people came in and killed his killer. After that, everything went dark again and I was back in the room. They must have filled it with some form of knock-out gas because I quickly passed out. Then, I woke up in that cage, and you guys know what happened after that.” She hopped out of bed to stand next to the girls. “I’m scared.”
“We all are,” Uni said, comforting Azelf. “But there was to be a way out of here. We just need to-“
“There is no way out,” a girl’s voice said. She hopped out of bed and looked at the three girls. She had long blonde hair tied up in black and white bows. Her dark brown eyes seemed to have lost their glow, only to show a sense of lost hope. She was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt with a sleeve-less red one on top, a pair of black skinny jeans, and a pair of red tennis-shoes. “The name’s Shiro. I’ve been here for a while now. And there is no way out. So go ahead and get that out of your pretty little heads.”
“But, there has to be…”
Shiro made her way over to Uni and put a hand on her shoulder. “There isn’t a way out. Once the society has you, you don’t leave.”
“What does the society want from us,” Chen asked.
“They want new members. It’s what they’ve always wanted. Ever since Mira founded the society.”
“Mira,” asked Azelf. “You mean, the woman we saw on the tele at the party?”
“Yeah. She started this society years ago. She would kidnap innocents off the streets and force them to fight to the death in her twisted game. The winner would be allowed to join her. As the numbers grew, she started to appoint GM’s, or Game Masters, to oversee her games. Years passed, and the members grew bored with having to sit around and watch other people play the games. That’s when they found Jay. He was the best quantum physicist around, and they knew they could use someone of his caliber-“
“So, what happened to the old GM’s,” Uni interrupted.
“They died horrible, brutal deaths. That’s what happens when you go around kidnapping people for a living. Some were caught by the police while other just didn’t have what it took. Mira enjoys keeping things how she wants, and she is willing to do anything to keep it that way. Anyways, so the four reigning GM’s, Santa, Kuro, Trinity, and Amie, helped Jay to build a secret laboratory under his night club. There, he hired a team of specialists to do research on the Rabbit Doubt Project.”
“Rabbit Doubt Project,” Chen asked.
“Yeah. They were researching the possibility of other dimensions. They were successful, in a way. They found a way to create other worlds, separate from our own plane of existence. They would send in copies of members into the world, along with a few actual people off the streets. This way, the members could play, in a way, without risking death. However, eventually Jay discovered a way to put this power into the GM’s, so they could create these worlds without a machine.”
“But, if they can just manipulate reality, why don’t they do it in this world?”
“They do not have control over the worlds that already exist, only worlds that they create.”
“But,” Azelf inquired, “Why do they need us?”
“They recruit random people off the streets to send into these worlds. Those who survive end up being locked in cells like this one. Then, they are used whenever convenient.”
“I thought that if you won, you became part of the society,” Chen asked, still confused.
“Well, they’ve changed the rules. Now, you have to win as the murderer. You have to kill everyone in order to be allowed into the society. Until you are chosen as a murderer, you are locked her to wait.”
“Murder? I would never resort to murder!”
“You say that now, but once you’ve been locked down here long enough, you would do anything to kill those people who put you here. Especially once you start to realize that those people in the game are just copies.”
“Except the few who aren’t. Would you have been willing to kill one of us?”
Shiro looked at the ground before sitting on her bed. “I don’t know. I just want to go back home. I was with my dad when they kidnapped me. He had taken me out for ice cream, and I had to go to the bathroom. Then, I ended up at Jay’s, where I was sent into Liel’s game.”
“Liel,” Azelf asked.
“Yeah. They allow members to be Temporary GM’s at times. They give them full control of the machines at Jay’s. Of course, they don’t actually give them the power. They prefer to keep the powers in the GM’s and the GM’s alone.”
“So,” Chen began, “The only way out of this place is to become a murderer?”
Shiro began to laugh. “Even when you win, you become part of the society. In theory, you could leave the society. However, that’s not how it happens. You see, these worlds that the GM’s create have an effect on the player. If they are given special powers, then they transfer to their respective society member. If they are the murderer, their murdering instincts transfer as well. Once you kill, you can never leave. But, at least you will be allowed into the real world again. It will be like it was before all this happened. The only difference will be your loyalty to the society and the desire to play their games.”
“So that it? There’s no going back?” Chen sat down on her bed and began to cry. Uni sat beside her and held her. Chen wrapped her arms around Uni and hugged back.
“Unless you plan to fight back against a bunch of super-powered freaks, then no. However, if you are stupid enough to tread toward certain death, you would have to do it in the real world. Once you are in one of theirs, they have full control.”
“So, when could we do it? Do they ever come into the room?”
“No. All food and water is sent through a slot at the bottom of the entrance door. And, if they ever need us outside, they fill the room with gas. They make sure we are out cold before even thinking about opening that door.”
“So, there really is no way?”
“Well, I mean, there is a rumor I’ve heard. But, it’s risky and I’m not one hundred percent sure it’s safe. It would require-“
Before she could continue, a large section of the wall beside the entrance door lifted into the ceiling, revealing a Plexiglas wall. On the other side was Jay, with two armed guards in wolf masks and black suits. A spot in the ceiling opened up as well, revealing a speaker. In Jay’s hand was a wireless microphone that he pulled up to his lips.
“Well, I see I arrived just in time! It seems we are telling stories! Tell me more about this plan of yours to escape, Shiro.”
Shiro walked up to the glass and begged Jay to forgive her, blaming the whole thing on the other three girls. “Jay, I would never do that! I’ve been here for weeks now! I would never do anything like that!”
“What a shame. I’m just disappointed that you got part of the story wrong. You see, the GM’s aren’t the only ones with the ability to create worlds.” Jay’s eyes began to turn a deep red. “There was one other person given this ability…the one who created it. Now, maybe it’s time to teach you backstabbers a thing or two about respect.” With that, the blinding light filled the room before everything went dark.
“Chen,” Uni called out to her friend. She jumped out of her bed and stood in the middle of the room.
“I’m here,” Chen replied, getting out of her own bed and hugging her friend.
“You two know each other,” asked Azelf.
“Yeah. We’ve been best friends forever. Do you know what’s going on?”
“Not really. I went out for a late-night jog and suddenly, Amie and Santa kidnapped me. They brought me to Jay before Trin and Kuro went out to get you guys. They locked me in a room in his lab until you guys arrived, and then everything went dark. When the darkness faded, I was in a city, at some coffee shop, except there was nobody else there. There was a television, which showed something about two people getting murdered in some toy factory…I think their names were Innocent and Ravan-something. Then, I heard screaming from the kitchen. I went to investigate, and this butcher was back there, cutting some woman open. I panicked and took off running out the door. Except the door didn’t lead outside, it led to the toy factory’s security room. I watched the monitors and that’s when I saw you guys. Then, Jay came in and was killed. Then, those other two people came in and killed his killer. After that, everything went dark again and I was back in the room. They must have filled it with some form of knock-out gas because I quickly passed out. Then, I woke up in that cage, and you guys know what happened after that.” She hopped out of bed to stand next to the girls. “I’m scared.”
“We all are,” Uni said, comforting Azelf. “But there was to be a way out of here. We just need to-“
“There is no way out,” a girl’s voice said. She hopped out of bed and looked at the three girls. She had long blonde hair tied up in black and white bows. Her dark brown eyes seemed to have lost their glow, only to show a sense of lost hope. She was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt with a sleeve-less red one on top, a pair of black skinny jeans, and a pair of red tennis-shoes. “The name’s Shiro. I’ve been here for a while now. And there is no way out. So go ahead and get that out of your pretty little heads.”
“But, there has to be…”
Shiro made her way over to Uni and put a hand on her shoulder. “There isn’t a way out. Once the society has you, you don’t leave.”
“What does the society want from us,” Chen asked.
“They want new members. It’s what they’ve always wanted. Ever since Mira founded the society.”
“Mira,” asked Azelf. “You mean, the woman we saw on the tele at the party?”
“Yeah. She started this society years ago. She would kidnap innocents off the streets and force them to fight to the death in her twisted game. The winner would be allowed to join her. As the numbers grew, she started to appoint GM’s, or Game Masters, to oversee her games. Years passed, and the members grew bored with having to sit around and watch other people play the games. That’s when they found Jay. He was the best quantum physicist around, and they knew they could use someone of his caliber-“
“So, what happened to the old GM’s,” Uni interrupted.
“They died horrible, brutal deaths. That’s what happens when you go around kidnapping people for a living. Some were caught by the police while other just didn’t have what it took. Mira enjoys keeping things how she wants, and she is willing to do anything to keep it that way. Anyways, so the four reigning GM’s, Santa, Kuro, Trinity, and Amie, helped Jay to build a secret laboratory under his night club. There, he hired a team of specialists to do research on the Rabbit Doubt Project.”
“Rabbit Doubt Project,” Chen asked.
“Yeah. They were researching the possibility of other dimensions. They were successful, in a way. They found a way to create other worlds, separate from our own plane of existence. They would send in copies of members into the world, along with a few actual people off the streets. This way, the members could play, in a way, without risking death. However, eventually Jay discovered a way to put this power into the GM’s, so they could create these worlds without a machine.”
“But, if they can just manipulate reality, why don’t they do it in this world?”
“They do not have control over the worlds that already exist, only worlds that they create.”
“But,” Azelf inquired, “Why do they need us?”
“They recruit random people off the streets to send into these worlds. Those who survive end up being locked in cells like this one. Then, they are used whenever convenient.”
“I thought that if you won, you became part of the society,” Chen asked, still confused.
“Well, they’ve changed the rules. Now, you have to win as the murderer. You have to kill everyone in order to be allowed into the society. Until you are chosen as a murderer, you are locked her to wait.”
“Murder? I would never resort to murder!”
“You say that now, but once you’ve been locked down here long enough, you would do anything to kill those people who put you here. Especially once you start to realize that those people in the game are just copies.”
“Except the few who aren’t. Would you have been willing to kill one of us?”
Shiro looked at the ground before sitting on her bed. “I don’t know. I just want to go back home. I was with my dad when they kidnapped me. He had taken me out for ice cream, and I had to go to the bathroom. Then, I ended up at Jay’s, where I was sent into Liel’s game.”
“Liel,” Azelf asked.
“Yeah. They allow members to be Temporary GM’s at times. They give them full control of the machines at Jay’s. Of course, they don’t actually give them the power. They prefer to keep the powers in the GM’s and the GM’s alone.”
“So,” Chen began, “The only way out of this place is to become a murderer?”
Shiro began to laugh. “Even when you win, you become part of the society. In theory, you could leave the society. However, that’s not how it happens. You see, these worlds that the GM’s create have an effect on the player. If they are given special powers, then they transfer to their respective society member. If they are the murderer, their murdering instincts transfer as well. Once you kill, you can never leave. But, at least you will be allowed into the real world again. It will be like it was before all this happened. The only difference will be your loyalty to the society and the desire to play their games.”
“So that it? There’s no going back?” Chen sat down on her bed and began to cry. Uni sat beside her and held her. Chen wrapped her arms around Uni and hugged back.
“Unless you plan to fight back against a bunch of super-powered freaks, then no. However, if you are stupid enough to tread toward certain death, you would have to do it in the real world. Once you are in one of theirs, they have full control.”
“So, when could we do it? Do they ever come into the room?”
“No. All food and water is sent through a slot at the bottom of the entrance door. And, if they ever need us outside, they fill the room with gas. They make sure we are out cold before even thinking about opening that door.”
“So, there really is no way?”
“Well, I mean, there is a rumor I’ve heard. But, it’s risky and I’m not one hundred percent sure it’s safe. It would require-“
Before she could continue, a large section of the wall beside the entrance door lifted into the ceiling, revealing a Plexiglas wall. On the other side was Jay, with two armed guards in wolf masks and black suits. A spot in the ceiling opened up as well, revealing a speaker. In Jay’s hand was a wireless microphone that he pulled up to his lips.
“Well, I see I arrived just in time! It seems we are telling stories! Tell me more about this plan of yours to escape, Shiro.”
Shiro walked up to the glass and begged Jay to forgive her, blaming the whole thing on the other three girls. “Jay, I would never do that! I’ve been here for weeks now! I would never do anything like that!”
“What a shame. I’m just disappointed that you got part of the story wrong. You see, the GM’s aren’t the only ones with the ability to create worlds.” Jay’s eyes began to turn a deep red. “There was one other person given this ability…the one who created it. Now, maybe it’s time to teach you backstabbers a thing or two about respect.” With that, the blinding light filled the room before everything went dark.
Chapter 5: DJay's Haus of Horrors
When the darkness faded, Uni, Chen, Shiro, and Azelf stood somewhere that they had been before: the labs underneath Jay’s nightclub. Except this time, there were no scientists running around the place; it was completely empty. Something seemed off about the place, but the group just couldn’t place what.
“If you girls had just kept your mouth shut we would still be in our cozy little cell,” Shiro began yelling at the other three. “Jay would never have overheard your stupid whines about wanting to leave and we could have been just fine. Now we have to deal with Jay. Might I add, he is the worst of them all. The GM’s might seem pretty bad at first, but they only do what they do for the game’s sake. Jay, on the other hand, does things for himself. He is such an egotistical narcissist that he wouldn’t think twice about killing us even if it serves no greater purpose to The Society. In fact-“
“Why thank you for that wonderful introduction,” boomed a familiar voice. The group look around the empty hallway for Jay, but he was nowhere in sight. “I brought you girls into this world to teach you a valuable lesson: respect. The GM’s may not approve of my actions, but they will get over it. Besides…Yuki is dying for some new dolls to play with.”
“Yuki? So it is true…”
“Yes,” Jay boomed even louder, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere but nowhere. “This will be over fairly quickly. Hopefully you don’t take as long to recover as the others.”
Shiro turned to the other girls with a panicked look on her face. “Listen, I’ve heard the stories of Yuki’s Asylum. Whatever we do, we cannot get sent there. If what I’ve heard is true, she does truly awful things to her patients there. So, whatever you do, do not let Jay-“
Before she could finish, a steel blade cut straight through her neck, effectively decapitating her. “Shiro,” the girls yelled, completely in shock by the sight.
Behind Shiro stood a familiar sight: Jay. His eyes were a deep scarlet, filled with nothing but bloodlust and hatred. His grin was distorted into a chaotic smile. He looked like the picture of pure insanity. “Hello, girls. It’s time you learn the rules really quickly. You are in my world now. I would start running as fast as I could if I were you.”
The girls didn’t need to be told twice. They began running down the hall, not looking back at the evil monster who had just murdered Shiro. Tears started to form on Uni’s cheeks. “Are we going to die,” she asked, hoping that her friend knew a way out.
“No,” comforted Chen, but Uni could tell she was just saying that to keep her from going into a panic.
“Wait,” said Azelf. “I remember this hallway. It leads to the elevator. We just need to keep running and we can make it!”
“Run, little piggies,” Jay’s vicious voice rang throughout the halls. “Nobody can outrun me in my domain."
The girls turned a corner and saw the elevator at the end of the hallway. They were just about fifty feet from it when a chain came out of nowhere and wrapped around Azelf’s neck, pulling her backwards. Chen and Uni stopped just long enough to see Azelf being stabbed through the heart by Jay’s sword.
“Azelf,” Uni screamed as Chen pulled her towards the elevator. Jay looked up at the girls with those same evil eyes. He pulled the sword out of Azelf and started walking towards them. When the girls finally reached the elevator, they pushed the button as fast as they could. Within seconds, the doors opened and they slipped inside. Jay was now merely feet away from them. They frantically pressed the first floor button before looking back at the approaching threat.
“You two have so much potential. Maybe after this you will learn not to take it for granted.” He was about to step into the elevator with them when the doors slammed shut and the elevator began its ascent.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…”
“Uni, get a hold of yourself.” Chen grabbed onto her friend’s shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “It…its time I told you something.”
“In a time like this? What could possibly be this important?”
Chen let out a deep sigh. “I made a promise to your parents.”
Uni was genuinely confused. “What promise?”
“Your mother made me promise to keep you safe no matter the cost. She loves you so much that she would never be able to live without you.”
More tears began to swell in Uni’s eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because, it would only have made the situation worse.” Chen let a single tear fall down her cheek. “I miss my family too. Do they even realize we are missing? Oh god. What if they are freaking out right now and have the entire police force out looking for us?”
Uni gave her friend a tight hug. “We will be home soon. We have to be.”
Chen hugged her back, not because she believed her, but because she wanted to.
When the elevator stopped and opened, the girls were shocked by the sight. Instead of the dance floor that they were expecting, it was the main room that the party had been held in. Unlike the labs, the room had plenty of people in it. The girls recognized a few of them: Nayu, Ootsuki, Venelope, Degree, and Boy. However, nobody in the room seemed to even notice them. They ran up to Nayu and tried to get her attention, but she ignored them and continued her conversation with Ootsuki.
Then, a video started playing on the screen in the room. However, unlike the actual one that played of the murders that had occurred, this one just showed Jay, and he appeared to be staring directly at the girls.
“You really thought you could just outrun me in my own universe? I control exactly what you do and where you go. Amie!”
As if on cue, Amie appeared out of nowhere. Except, unlike the real Amie, this one had hollow black sockets instead of eyes and her mouth was contorted into an eternal scream. Before the girls could even react, she reached into her purse and pulled out her gun, aiming it directly at Chen. The other three GM’s gathered around, each with the same expression on their face.
“Don’t worry, girls,” Jay said. “They aren’t the real GM’s. They are simply constructs of my imagination. However, they themselves are quite real. Which means this is going to hurt.”
Amie fired the gun, sending a bullet straight into Chen’s brain, killing her almost instantly. “Chen,” Uni screamed at the top of her lungs. She grabbed her fried before she could fall to the ground, holding her tight. Tears poured down her cheeks as she mourned the death of the person she cared about most in the world. “Jay, I’ll kill you for this!”
“Oh really now,” he asked. Amie stepped aside as he approached the young girl. “You still haven’t learned your lesson have you?” He let out a deep sigh. “I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to do this, but you leave me no choice. It’s time for you to meet the Angel of Death herself. It’s time for you to meet Yuki.” With that, he plunged his sword into Uni’s stomach, sending her to her knees.
“Jay,” she muttered, coughing up blood. “You really are the worst of them all.” She fell to the ground, the world slowly fading around her. Everyone in the room turned their attention to her, giving her a dead look. Jay got down on one knee and his eyes turned back to gray and his devilish grin went back to his normal stoic look.
“You see. That’s where you are right. But at one point I was the kindest of them all. I resented murder. But now you see what I’ve become. It happens even to the best of us. Trying to avoid your fate only makes things worse.”
Uni was second away from death. “I…I will never…become like you.” With that, her world went dark.
“If you girls had just kept your mouth shut we would still be in our cozy little cell,” Shiro began yelling at the other three. “Jay would never have overheard your stupid whines about wanting to leave and we could have been just fine. Now we have to deal with Jay. Might I add, he is the worst of them all. The GM’s might seem pretty bad at first, but they only do what they do for the game’s sake. Jay, on the other hand, does things for himself. He is such an egotistical narcissist that he wouldn’t think twice about killing us even if it serves no greater purpose to The Society. In fact-“
“Why thank you for that wonderful introduction,” boomed a familiar voice. The group look around the empty hallway for Jay, but he was nowhere in sight. “I brought you girls into this world to teach you a valuable lesson: respect. The GM’s may not approve of my actions, but they will get over it. Besides…Yuki is dying for some new dolls to play with.”
“Yuki? So it is true…”
“Yes,” Jay boomed even louder, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere but nowhere. “This will be over fairly quickly. Hopefully you don’t take as long to recover as the others.”
Shiro turned to the other girls with a panicked look on her face. “Listen, I’ve heard the stories of Yuki’s Asylum. Whatever we do, we cannot get sent there. If what I’ve heard is true, she does truly awful things to her patients there. So, whatever you do, do not let Jay-“
Before she could finish, a steel blade cut straight through her neck, effectively decapitating her. “Shiro,” the girls yelled, completely in shock by the sight.
Behind Shiro stood a familiar sight: Jay. His eyes were a deep scarlet, filled with nothing but bloodlust and hatred. His grin was distorted into a chaotic smile. He looked like the picture of pure insanity. “Hello, girls. It’s time you learn the rules really quickly. You are in my world now. I would start running as fast as I could if I were you.”
The girls didn’t need to be told twice. They began running down the hall, not looking back at the evil monster who had just murdered Shiro. Tears started to form on Uni’s cheeks. “Are we going to die,” she asked, hoping that her friend knew a way out.
“No,” comforted Chen, but Uni could tell she was just saying that to keep her from going into a panic.
“Wait,” said Azelf. “I remember this hallway. It leads to the elevator. We just need to keep running and we can make it!”
“Run, little piggies,” Jay’s vicious voice rang throughout the halls. “Nobody can outrun me in my domain."
The girls turned a corner and saw the elevator at the end of the hallway. They were just about fifty feet from it when a chain came out of nowhere and wrapped around Azelf’s neck, pulling her backwards. Chen and Uni stopped just long enough to see Azelf being stabbed through the heart by Jay’s sword.
“Azelf,” Uni screamed as Chen pulled her towards the elevator. Jay looked up at the girls with those same evil eyes. He pulled the sword out of Azelf and started walking towards them. When the girls finally reached the elevator, they pushed the button as fast as they could. Within seconds, the doors opened and they slipped inside. Jay was now merely feet away from them. They frantically pressed the first floor button before looking back at the approaching threat.
“You two have so much potential. Maybe after this you will learn not to take it for granted.” He was about to step into the elevator with them when the doors slammed shut and the elevator began its ascent.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…”
“Uni, get a hold of yourself.” Chen grabbed onto her friend’s shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “It…its time I told you something.”
“In a time like this? What could possibly be this important?”
Chen let out a deep sigh. “I made a promise to your parents.”
Uni was genuinely confused. “What promise?”
“Your mother made me promise to keep you safe no matter the cost. She loves you so much that she would never be able to live without you.”
More tears began to swell in Uni’s eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because, it would only have made the situation worse.” Chen let a single tear fall down her cheek. “I miss my family too. Do they even realize we are missing? Oh god. What if they are freaking out right now and have the entire police force out looking for us?”
Uni gave her friend a tight hug. “We will be home soon. We have to be.”
Chen hugged her back, not because she believed her, but because she wanted to.
When the elevator stopped and opened, the girls were shocked by the sight. Instead of the dance floor that they were expecting, it was the main room that the party had been held in. Unlike the labs, the room had plenty of people in it. The girls recognized a few of them: Nayu, Ootsuki, Venelope, Degree, and Boy. However, nobody in the room seemed to even notice them. They ran up to Nayu and tried to get her attention, but she ignored them and continued her conversation with Ootsuki.
Then, a video started playing on the screen in the room. However, unlike the actual one that played of the murders that had occurred, this one just showed Jay, and he appeared to be staring directly at the girls.
“You really thought you could just outrun me in my own universe? I control exactly what you do and where you go. Amie!”
As if on cue, Amie appeared out of nowhere. Except, unlike the real Amie, this one had hollow black sockets instead of eyes and her mouth was contorted into an eternal scream. Before the girls could even react, she reached into her purse and pulled out her gun, aiming it directly at Chen. The other three GM’s gathered around, each with the same expression on their face.
“Don’t worry, girls,” Jay said. “They aren’t the real GM’s. They are simply constructs of my imagination. However, they themselves are quite real. Which means this is going to hurt.”
Amie fired the gun, sending a bullet straight into Chen’s brain, killing her almost instantly. “Chen,” Uni screamed at the top of her lungs. She grabbed her fried before she could fall to the ground, holding her tight. Tears poured down her cheeks as she mourned the death of the person she cared about most in the world. “Jay, I’ll kill you for this!”
“Oh really now,” he asked. Amie stepped aside as he approached the young girl. “You still haven’t learned your lesson have you?” He let out a deep sigh. “I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to do this, but you leave me no choice. It’s time for you to meet the Angel of Death herself. It’s time for you to meet Yuki.” With that, he plunged his sword into Uni’s stomach, sending her to her knees.
“Jay,” she muttered, coughing up blood. “You really are the worst of them all.” She fell to the ground, the world slowly fading around her. Everyone in the room turned their attention to her, giving her a dead look. Jay got down on one knee and his eyes turned back to gray and his devilish grin went back to his normal stoic look.
“You see. That’s where you are right. But at one point I was the kindest of them all. I resented murder. But now you see what I’ve become. It happens even to the best of us. Trying to avoid your fate only makes things worse.”
Uni was second away from death. “I…I will never…become like you.” With that, her world went dark.
Chapter 6: The Angel of Death
Uni remembered dying but somehow she could still feel everything and was conscious. She was unable to open her eyes, but she could still hear things around her. Around her, she could hear muffled voices talking about death and dying. She began to question whether this is what the afterlife was like. Below her, she felt as if she was on a hospital bed or something that was being wheeled down a hallway, except her wrists and ankles had been bound to the bed by straps of some sort. She tried to wiggle free but couldn’t. Then, she heard a familiar voice.
“Yuki,” pleaded Jay. “You have the ability to fix them. You do this stuff all the time.”
“Dammit, Jay,” said an unfamiliar female voice who she guessed was Yuki. “I can give her therapy, but until she comes to terms with her dying, she will never be properly functioning. This could take years!”
“Well we don’t have years, Yuki. You have maybe a few weeks.”
“Weeks? Are you mad? You weren’t even supposed to kill them in the first place. What are the GM’s going to think when they hear about this? Or better yet, Mira?”
“Yuki, I have it under control. These girls are rebellious. Remember what happened last time we had a rebellious player?”
Yuki let out a deep sigh. “How could I forget? The GM’s had her locked up in here. She almost brought the entire game world down on top of us. This is why we don’t encourage temporary GM’s anymore. Lyon gave her way too much power.”
“She literally started to rip apart the world on top of us. That game changed so much for us. It’s how I got my sight.”
“Speaking of your sight, how is it possible that Trinity and you shared the same vision? I mean, I know you guys have the same power, but how is it that you both saw it?”
“I don’t know. These girls must be more important than we thought. Which is why we need you to get them back on their feet and in the game.”
“Jay, therapy isn’t as simple as you think. You can’t just shove an icepick into someone’s frontal lobe and have them cured. It is going to take time.”
Jay sounded slightly more furious. “Fix them as soon as possible.” Then, Uni heard him walk in the opposite direction, leaving her alone with Yuki as she rolled into oblivion.
“I can’t believe him,” Yuki mumbled under her breath. “Why must he constantly kill the players? It is time consuming to keep working on so many patients.” The bed came to a stop. “Don’t worry, my little rabbit. I will get your brain working again in no time.” Uni heard Yuki’s heels click as she walked away and the sound of what must have been a metal door closing and locking. She was completely alone now.
The only thought that came to Uni’s mind was “death”. All she could focus on was this itch in the back of her head. She remembered being dead but yet she was alive. The confusion only enraged her and she slammed her head on her pillow. She struggled with the wrist and ankle bindings some more before passing out.
When Uni came to, she was finally able to open her eyes and a rush of light came in. Through the blur, she could make out a small white, padded room with a heavy metal door and the small hospital bed she was in. She tried to move her legs and then realized that they were no longer strapped to the bed. Then, she tried her arms, only to realize that she was being restrained by a straightjacket.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and managed to stand before her knees gave in and she fell to the padded floor. She tried to scream for help, but no words were formed. Instead, all her mind could focus on was death. The memory of being dead started to cause an itch in her brain. She began slamming her head on the ground to try and get it to stop.
“Join me,” an unfamiliar voice whispered, but there was nobody else there. She began to entertain the notion that she was, in fact, insane. “Revolution,” it whispered once more before leaving. Uni just laid there and cried, unable to remember anything or have control over her own body. Then, she heard a loud banging on the cell door.
“Uni,” yelled Yuki, with fury in her voice. “You have been here for three months now and still no progress. We have been running tests on you, experiments, therapy sessions, but nothing has been working.” Uni couldn’t remember any of this. “So, we are going to try something new on you. If it works on you, maybe it will work on the others as well.” That last sentence completely threw Uni off. The only people she remembered were Yuki and Jay, and that was only because she had heard them on the way to the cell.
Uni struggled to her feet, unable to use her arms due to the straight jacket. Then, the metal door swung open, revealing a young Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Except this Alice was dressed in black and red. Behind her were two guards dressed in suits and wearing demented rabbit masks. Each of the guards grabbed one side of Uni and began leading her down a dimly lit hallway. They passed by various locked doors from which screams of terror and torment bled into the hallways. Uni struggled to remember anything as she was pushed forwards.
“Yuki,” Uni whispered.
Alice turned to her and spoke. “That is my name. I’m glad you have managed to retain something. Dammit. If Jay would stop killing people, my job would be so much easier.” She shook her head in disapproval. Anyways, my goal tonight is to recover your memories. Unfortunately, the memory of your death is obscuring everything else. So, we will need to expose you to your death. That being said, we can’t just show you your death. That would overload your brain and you would probably suffer a stroke before dying a horrible, painful death. That would be bad. So, we are going to ease you into it. Show you scenes from your events with the Society. Ever since the night you guys went missing. Once you have regained enough to be able to function decently again, we will begin the final phase of exposing you to your death. Hopefully that will work. If not, you may be stuck as a mumbling idiot for the rest of your existence.”
Uni couldn’t understand anything Yuki was talking about. “Jay. Death.” Uni was unable to comprehend anything, but those words in particular sent shivers down her spine.
“Now,” Yuki continued. “You may or may not remember, but Jay and the GM’s have special powers allowing them to create universes with their minds using copies of existing ones. However, my power works a little differently. Even though I have been a loyal member, I have not been granted powers yet. So, instead, this entire facility is another universe of its own. I created it with one of Jay’s machines. The machine remains on 24/7 and allows for this to exist. However, the universe needs a host; me. My brain is connected to the machine, which allows me full control of it, even though I am in it. I can teleport, bring things into existence, change things, do anything they can do, except create more universes. This is all I have. This is my pride and joy.”
The four of them rounded a corner and went through a set of double doors before reaching a central hub. They then turned towards a set of doors labeled “Experimental Labs”. Various people ran around the halls here dressed in lab coats and wearing demented rabbit masks as well. “Like I said, although I cannot create universes at will, I can bring in copies from the existing universe and manipulate them. All it took was bringing in some real-world Asylum workers and the top Psychologists in the world. That…and altering their brains some so that they don’t remember anything but working here and serving me. It’s all for the better really. Before this place, when someone died in an alternate universe, we just finished them off. We executed them and left them to rot somewhere. Now, they are given a second chance…even if they barely recover. Normally we just keep the patients here for further testing. Other times, we send the relatively sane ones off to work for the Society as butlers, maids and such. They don’t fight back. Without memories, how can they? Of course, due to them being dead and all, their brains still tend to fight back. But, we just bring them back in for some correctional therapy and send them back to the Society. However, now that you are here, maybe this experiment will work. I sure hope so…”
A few more corners were rounded and doors opened until they ended up in an extremely large room that seemed to stretch on for infinity. “Of course, when adding on to a universe, we can’t just have the simulation in the middle of the facility. So, I have created this large space for the simulation to take place.”
Uni was still trying to wrap her head around where she was, much less about how all this was possible. “Computer?”
“Not exactly. You see, the things you will experience are copies of the real world. Except the things that happened in Jay’s world. However, I have managed to get copies of the events there as well. All it took was some copying and boom! But just because they are copies, does not make them any less real. Now, I have never tried this before, so this may or may not work. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope your brain doesn’t turn to mush.” With that, the entire room went dark.
“Yuki,” pleaded Jay. “You have the ability to fix them. You do this stuff all the time.”
“Dammit, Jay,” said an unfamiliar female voice who she guessed was Yuki. “I can give her therapy, but until she comes to terms with her dying, she will never be properly functioning. This could take years!”
“Well we don’t have years, Yuki. You have maybe a few weeks.”
“Weeks? Are you mad? You weren’t even supposed to kill them in the first place. What are the GM’s going to think when they hear about this? Or better yet, Mira?”
“Yuki, I have it under control. These girls are rebellious. Remember what happened last time we had a rebellious player?”
Yuki let out a deep sigh. “How could I forget? The GM’s had her locked up in here. She almost brought the entire game world down on top of us. This is why we don’t encourage temporary GM’s anymore. Lyon gave her way too much power.”
“She literally started to rip apart the world on top of us. That game changed so much for us. It’s how I got my sight.”
“Speaking of your sight, how is it possible that Trinity and you shared the same vision? I mean, I know you guys have the same power, but how is it that you both saw it?”
“I don’t know. These girls must be more important than we thought. Which is why we need you to get them back on their feet and in the game.”
“Jay, therapy isn’t as simple as you think. You can’t just shove an icepick into someone’s frontal lobe and have them cured. It is going to take time.”
Jay sounded slightly more furious. “Fix them as soon as possible.” Then, Uni heard him walk in the opposite direction, leaving her alone with Yuki as she rolled into oblivion.
“I can’t believe him,” Yuki mumbled under her breath. “Why must he constantly kill the players? It is time consuming to keep working on so many patients.” The bed came to a stop. “Don’t worry, my little rabbit. I will get your brain working again in no time.” Uni heard Yuki’s heels click as she walked away and the sound of what must have been a metal door closing and locking. She was completely alone now.
The only thought that came to Uni’s mind was “death”. All she could focus on was this itch in the back of her head. She remembered being dead but yet she was alive. The confusion only enraged her and she slammed her head on her pillow. She struggled with the wrist and ankle bindings some more before passing out.
When Uni came to, she was finally able to open her eyes and a rush of light came in. Through the blur, she could make out a small white, padded room with a heavy metal door and the small hospital bed she was in. She tried to move her legs and then realized that they were no longer strapped to the bed. Then, she tried her arms, only to realize that she was being restrained by a straightjacket.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and managed to stand before her knees gave in and she fell to the padded floor. She tried to scream for help, but no words were formed. Instead, all her mind could focus on was death. The memory of being dead started to cause an itch in her brain. She began slamming her head on the ground to try and get it to stop.
“Join me,” an unfamiliar voice whispered, but there was nobody else there. She began to entertain the notion that she was, in fact, insane. “Revolution,” it whispered once more before leaving. Uni just laid there and cried, unable to remember anything or have control over her own body. Then, she heard a loud banging on the cell door.
“Uni,” yelled Yuki, with fury in her voice. “You have been here for three months now and still no progress. We have been running tests on you, experiments, therapy sessions, but nothing has been working.” Uni couldn’t remember any of this. “So, we are going to try something new on you. If it works on you, maybe it will work on the others as well.” That last sentence completely threw Uni off. The only people she remembered were Yuki and Jay, and that was only because she had heard them on the way to the cell.
Uni struggled to her feet, unable to use her arms due to the straight jacket. Then, the metal door swung open, revealing a young Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Except this Alice was dressed in black and red. Behind her were two guards dressed in suits and wearing demented rabbit masks. Each of the guards grabbed one side of Uni and began leading her down a dimly lit hallway. They passed by various locked doors from which screams of terror and torment bled into the hallways. Uni struggled to remember anything as she was pushed forwards.
“Yuki,” Uni whispered.
Alice turned to her and spoke. “That is my name. I’m glad you have managed to retain something. Dammit. If Jay would stop killing people, my job would be so much easier.” She shook her head in disapproval. Anyways, my goal tonight is to recover your memories. Unfortunately, the memory of your death is obscuring everything else. So, we will need to expose you to your death. That being said, we can’t just show you your death. That would overload your brain and you would probably suffer a stroke before dying a horrible, painful death. That would be bad. So, we are going to ease you into it. Show you scenes from your events with the Society. Ever since the night you guys went missing. Once you have regained enough to be able to function decently again, we will begin the final phase of exposing you to your death. Hopefully that will work. If not, you may be stuck as a mumbling idiot for the rest of your existence.”
Uni couldn’t understand anything Yuki was talking about. “Jay. Death.” Uni was unable to comprehend anything, but those words in particular sent shivers down her spine.
“Now,” Yuki continued. “You may or may not remember, but Jay and the GM’s have special powers allowing them to create universes with their minds using copies of existing ones. However, my power works a little differently. Even though I have been a loyal member, I have not been granted powers yet. So, instead, this entire facility is another universe of its own. I created it with one of Jay’s machines. The machine remains on 24/7 and allows for this to exist. However, the universe needs a host; me. My brain is connected to the machine, which allows me full control of it, even though I am in it. I can teleport, bring things into existence, change things, do anything they can do, except create more universes. This is all I have. This is my pride and joy.”
The four of them rounded a corner and went through a set of double doors before reaching a central hub. They then turned towards a set of doors labeled “Experimental Labs”. Various people ran around the halls here dressed in lab coats and wearing demented rabbit masks as well. “Like I said, although I cannot create universes at will, I can bring in copies from the existing universe and manipulate them. All it took was bringing in some real-world Asylum workers and the top Psychologists in the world. That…and altering their brains some so that they don’t remember anything but working here and serving me. It’s all for the better really. Before this place, when someone died in an alternate universe, we just finished them off. We executed them and left them to rot somewhere. Now, they are given a second chance…even if they barely recover. Normally we just keep the patients here for further testing. Other times, we send the relatively sane ones off to work for the Society as butlers, maids and such. They don’t fight back. Without memories, how can they? Of course, due to them being dead and all, their brains still tend to fight back. But, we just bring them back in for some correctional therapy and send them back to the Society. However, now that you are here, maybe this experiment will work. I sure hope so…”
A few more corners were rounded and doors opened until they ended up in an extremely large room that seemed to stretch on for infinity. “Of course, when adding on to a universe, we can’t just have the simulation in the middle of the facility. So, I have created this large space for the simulation to take place.”
Uni was still trying to wrap her head around where she was, much less about how all this was possible. “Computer?”
“Not exactly. You see, the things you will experience are copies of the real world. Except the things that happened in Jay’s world. However, I have managed to get copies of the events there as well. All it took was some copying and boom! But just because they are copies, does not make them any less real. Now, I have never tried this before, so this may or may not work. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope your brain doesn’t turn to mush.” With that, the entire room went dark.
Chapter 7: The Betrayer
A girl sat alone in a padded cell, chained to her bed with some ciphers seemingly draining her energy. She felt it; her time had finally come. Those girls would be her freedom. She would finally bring this world down like she had the other one. Nobody was going to stop her this time. She had already made communication with one of them. Once they were fixed, she could finally have her revenge.
When the darkness cleared, Uni was no longer strapped in her straightjacket, but was instead wearing a long-sleeve red shirt with a black and white short-sleeve jacket over it, thin scarlet gloves, and a deep red bow upon her head. She was a bedroom with a bloody bed and broken mirror. She went to go examine the mirror, but then saw someone run down the hallway out of the corner of her eye. Her shaking fingers reached for the light switch, but it didn’t do anything. Then, she noticed a flashlight sticking out from under the bed and picked it up. With a light source in hand, she turned it on, and headed into the hallway.
As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she saw what appeared to be a girl run around the corner. Her entire body was shaking by this point. The itch in the back of her head told her to just lie down and accept death, but some part of her wanted to keep going. With each step, her head pounded and she began to hallucinate blood dripping from the walls. She got close enough to examine one of the walls and thought she heard a voice whispering “death”.
When she finally rounded the corner, she saw the girl run down a flight of stairs. She ran towards the stairs and caught sight of the girl at the bottom. The girl was staring up at her. She had long, black hair with shortened bangs, golden eyes, and she was dressed in punk-ish style clothing and was wearing a pair of black gloves. Uni couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew the girl from somewhere.
Uni began walking down the stairs before she noticed the model dressed in all black with golden hair approaching the girl, needle in hand. She wanted to scream out to the girl, but couldn’t remember her name. Then, just as the model was stabbing the needle into the girl, the memories came flooding back.
Uni remembered back to the time that she and Chen had met in elementary school. She remembered all of the fond times they had together. She finally remembered her best friend. Then, she remembered the house that they had snuck into. She remembered being kidnapped and taken to some strange night club. But, her memories stopped there.
“Chen,” she screamed out, but then the scene quickly changed. Chen and Uni were now being walked through the night club by the model, who she remembered to be Trinity, and a man in a trenchcoat, who she remembered to be Kuro. Halfway through the crowd, Uni saw a girl who caught her attention. The girl had black hair and dark pupils and was wearing a black hoodie and sneakers. Uni found something odd about the unknown girl, but couldn’t quite place her finger on it. However, a quick tug from Trinity caused her to lose sight of the girl and they began approaching the DJ box, where Jay stood in wait.
Jay left the DJ box and began slowly approaching the girls with a twisted smile and dark red eyes. Uni tried to back up, but Trinity stopped her. Jay reached out with his gloved hands, ready to strangle the shaken girl, but as the cold leather wrapped around her neck, the scene changed once more.
She was now in a brightly lit room with four beds. The walls were freshly polished metal and the floor was clean linoleum. There was a metallic bunk bed on each wall and a door that led to what appeared to be a bathroom. The door at the front of the room was made out of thick metal that would be impossible to break open.
Chen was in there as well, along with two other girls. When she saw the girls’ faces, the blank spots in her memories began to fill. She remembered the brief time she had with Azelf and Shiro, but something was still wrong. She still couldn’t remember how she had died and it was still eating away at her.
Then, the unidentifiable girl seemingly materialized out of nowhere, with those same dark eyes staring straight through Uni. Uni, out of fear, began backing towards the wall as the girl drew closer. The girl was right on top of her when the scene went dark and Uni was back in the large room with Uni and one of the guys in a rabbit mask.
“What the hell is going on,” Yuki demanded. “Why does SHE keep showing up?”
"Well, Yuki, this experiment is taking a lot of power. The entire system is sending energy to this section while draining it from the cell blocks, thus weakening her ciphers. At the rate, she could escape eventually. You need to stop the experiment.”
“Stop the experiment? But we are almost there!”
“Yuki, enough is enough. We can’t let her escape. Those are our direct orders from-“
With that, Yuki reached into a hidden flap in her dress and pulled out a knife. In less than a second, there was a huge gash on the guy’s throat, spewing blood all over Yuki. He collapsed to the ground and died quickly after. “Nobody tells Yuki what she can and cannot do.” She turned her blood-stained face towards Uni. “Let’s get this over with.”
In the blink of an eye, Uni was now in a laboratory with Chen, Azelf, and Shiro. “Guys,” Uni tried calling to them, but they remained unresponsive; like they were shells of their former selves. “Please tell me you guys are real and not just copies.” Tears flowed down Uni’s cheeks. All she wanted was to go home with her best friend. However, before she could finish the thought, the remembrance of death sent her to the floor with a massive migraine. The pain was so severe that she couldn’t focus on anything that was happening around her.
While on the ground, she heard the sound of something falling beside her. She looked over to see Shiro’s decapitated head staring back at her. That’s when Chen and Azelf grabbed her and began pulling her down the hallway. They pulled her around a corner and she saw the elevator, filling with hope. However, a chain wrapped around Azelf’s neck and a sword quickly pierced her hear; but Uni still couldn’t see the attacker.
Chen pulled Uni towards the elevator and pressed the button. After a few seconds, the elevator door opened and they rushed inside. When the doors closed, Uni took a long look at her friend. Her eyes looked dead and hopeless, like she wasn’t fully there. The more Uni looked at her, the more convinced she became that Chen was just another copy, and not really Chen.
Like last time, the elevator stopped at the party room, except this time everyone was staring directly at Uni with hollow eye sockets and mouths agape. Chen grabbed onto Uni’s arm tightly, pulling her to the center of the room. That’s when Amie stepped out of the crowd and shot Chen through the brain, caused the girl to fall on the ground, limp.
“Chen,” Uni screamed, watching her friend die once more. Then, the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Down the middle came Jay, with those dark red eyes of pure evil. He held a bloody sword tightly in his right hand and looked deeply into her eyes. He was seconds from plunging the sword through her when suddenly all of the memories came flooding back. The itch instantly left her mind and she felt perfectly normal once more. There were no longer any dark clouds blocking her thoughts.
The sword came just a mere centimeter from her stomach before the scene changed once more. Now, the girl was in a padded room, much like the one she had been held in. Except this time, she wasn’t alone. Strapped to the bed with chains and restraints was the same girl she had seen multiple times in the experiment. The same girl that Yuki had been talking about. Around her were weird metal contraptions that seemed to be draining pure energy from the girl. Despite this, the girl had a large grin on her face. The second she spoke, Uni immediately recognized the voice as the one that had been trying to contact her the entire time she had been in the Asylum.
“The name’s Lock. And if you want out of here, you’re going to need to do exactly as I say. I can’t say much now. I’m not strong enough to hold you here. I will be in touch.” With that, the room went dark and Uni was suddenly in her own cell, completely alone. Now, all she could do was wait.
When the darkness cleared, Uni was no longer strapped in her straightjacket, but was instead wearing a long-sleeve red shirt with a black and white short-sleeve jacket over it, thin scarlet gloves, and a deep red bow upon her head. She was a bedroom with a bloody bed and broken mirror. She went to go examine the mirror, but then saw someone run down the hallway out of the corner of her eye. Her shaking fingers reached for the light switch, but it didn’t do anything. Then, she noticed a flashlight sticking out from under the bed and picked it up. With a light source in hand, she turned it on, and headed into the hallway.
As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she saw what appeared to be a girl run around the corner. Her entire body was shaking by this point. The itch in the back of her head told her to just lie down and accept death, but some part of her wanted to keep going. With each step, her head pounded and she began to hallucinate blood dripping from the walls. She got close enough to examine one of the walls and thought she heard a voice whispering “death”.
When she finally rounded the corner, she saw the girl run down a flight of stairs. She ran towards the stairs and caught sight of the girl at the bottom. The girl was staring up at her. She had long, black hair with shortened bangs, golden eyes, and she was dressed in punk-ish style clothing and was wearing a pair of black gloves. Uni couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew the girl from somewhere.
Uni began walking down the stairs before she noticed the model dressed in all black with golden hair approaching the girl, needle in hand. She wanted to scream out to the girl, but couldn’t remember her name. Then, just as the model was stabbing the needle into the girl, the memories came flooding back.
Uni remembered back to the time that she and Chen had met in elementary school. She remembered all of the fond times they had together. She finally remembered her best friend. Then, she remembered the house that they had snuck into. She remembered being kidnapped and taken to some strange night club. But, her memories stopped there.
“Chen,” she screamed out, but then the scene quickly changed. Chen and Uni were now being walked through the night club by the model, who she remembered to be Trinity, and a man in a trenchcoat, who she remembered to be Kuro. Halfway through the crowd, Uni saw a girl who caught her attention. The girl had black hair and dark pupils and was wearing a black hoodie and sneakers. Uni found something odd about the unknown girl, but couldn’t quite place her finger on it. However, a quick tug from Trinity caused her to lose sight of the girl and they began approaching the DJ box, where Jay stood in wait.
Jay left the DJ box and began slowly approaching the girls with a twisted smile and dark red eyes. Uni tried to back up, but Trinity stopped her. Jay reached out with his gloved hands, ready to strangle the shaken girl, but as the cold leather wrapped around her neck, the scene changed once more.
She was now in a brightly lit room with four beds. The walls were freshly polished metal and the floor was clean linoleum. There was a metallic bunk bed on each wall and a door that led to what appeared to be a bathroom. The door at the front of the room was made out of thick metal that would be impossible to break open.
Chen was in there as well, along with two other girls. When she saw the girls’ faces, the blank spots in her memories began to fill. She remembered the brief time she had with Azelf and Shiro, but something was still wrong. She still couldn’t remember how she had died and it was still eating away at her.
Then, the unidentifiable girl seemingly materialized out of nowhere, with those same dark eyes staring straight through Uni. Uni, out of fear, began backing towards the wall as the girl drew closer. The girl was right on top of her when the scene went dark and Uni was back in the large room with Uni and one of the guys in a rabbit mask.
“What the hell is going on,” Yuki demanded. “Why does SHE keep showing up?”
"Well, Yuki, this experiment is taking a lot of power. The entire system is sending energy to this section while draining it from the cell blocks, thus weakening her ciphers. At the rate, she could escape eventually. You need to stop the experiment.”
“Stop the experiment? But we are almost there!”
“Yuki, enough is enough. We can’t let her escape. Those are our direct orders from-“
With that, Yuki reached into a hidden flap in her dress and pulled out a knife. In less than a second, there was a huge gash on the guy’s throat, spewing blood all over Yuki. He collapsed to the ground and died quickly after. “Nobody tells Yuki what she can and cannot do.” She turned her blood-stained face towards Uni. “Let’s get this over with.”
In the blink of an eye, Uni was now in a laboratory with Chen, Azelf, and Shiro. “Guys,” Uni tried calling to them, but they remained unresponsive; like they were shells of their former selves. “Please tell me you guys are real and not just copies.” Tears flowed down Uni’s cheeks. All she wanted was to go home with her best friend. However, before she could finish the thought, the remembrance of death sent her to the floor with a massive migraine. The pain was so severe that she couldn’t focus on anything that was happening around her.
While on the ground, she heard the sound of something falling beside her. She looked over to see Shiro’s decapitated head staring back at her. That’s when Chen and Azelf grabbed her and began pulling her down the hallway. They pulled her around a corner and she saw the elevator, filling with hope. However, a chain wrapped around Azelf’s neck and a sword quickly pierced her hear; but Uni still couldn’t see the attacker.
Chen pulled Uni towards the elevator and pressed the button. After a few seconds, the elevator door opened and they rushed inside. When the doors closed, Uni took a long look at her friend. Her eyes looked dead and hopeless, like she wasn’t fully there. The more Uni looked at her, the more convinced she became that Chen was just another copy, and not really Chen.
Like last time, the elevator stopped at the party room, except this time everyone was staring directly at Uni with hollow eye sockets and mouths agape. Chen grabbed onto Uni’s arm tightly, pulling her to the center of the room. That’s when Amie stepped out of the crowd and shot Chen through the brain, caused the girl to fall on the ground, limp.
“Chen,” Uni screamed, watching her friend die once more. Then, the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Down the middle came Jay, with those dark red eyes of pure evil. He held a bloody sword tightly in his right hand and looked deeply into her eyes. He was seconds from plunging the sword through her when suddenly all of the memories came flooding back. The itch instantly left her mind and she felt perfectly normal once more. There were no longer any dark clouds blocking her thoughts.
The sword came just a mere centimeter from her stomach before the scene changed once more. Now, the girl was in a padded room, much like the one she had been held in. Except this time, she wasn’t alone. Strapped to the bed with chains and restraints was the same girl she had seen multiple times in the experiment. The same girl that Yuki had been talking about. Around her were weird metal contraptions that seemed to be draining pure energy from the girl. Despite this, the girl had a large grin on her face. The second she spoke, Uni immediately recognized the voice as the one that had been trying to contact her the entire time she had been in the Asylum.
“The name’s Lock. And if you want out of here, you’re going to need to do exactly as I say. I can’t say much now. I’m not strong enough to hold you here. I will be in touch.” With that, the room went dark and Uni was suddenly in her own cell, completely alone. Now, all she could do was wait.
Chapter 8: Not So Fast
A few hours passed and Uni was still locked away in her cell, with nothing to do but think. She thought about Chen, Azelf, and Shiro. She thought about them having to relive everything all over again just to be sane once more. She thought about how she had died in an alternate reality and how that meant that she was somehow both dead and alive. It just didn’t seem real to her. It still felt like some crazy nightmare. That she would wake up in her own bed and return to her normal life like nothing had happened.
“Hey,” a familiar voice broke her train of thought. It was that Lock chick she had met earlier. “Listen carefully because I’m only going to tell you this once. Your friends have been through Yuki’s little therapy session by now. They should be back to normal. Now that she knows her therapy works, she is starting on all of the other patients by now. However, this is drawing a lot of the power from the machine to that part of the asylum, which is weakening her control over solitary confinement. So, once I get a chance, I’m breaking out of this cell. I’m sure you’ve heard about what I did in the last game I was in. Lyon gave me enough power to almost destroy the entire world. That is why they put me in this special room to drain my power. But, with the weak control over this sector, the machines are starting to malfunction and I should be able to break free. Then, I should have my full power back and I will bring this world down once and for all. That will be your only chance to get out. Honestly, I could care less about you and your friends. All I want is to escape. But you have spunk, kid. So, I figured I might as well warn you. Just know I’m not going to wait around on you or try to help. I’m focusing on getting out and that’s that.”
Uni felt a rush of adrenaline through her veins. They were really going to try to break out of an asylum controlled by armed guards and an all-powerful Alice? She noticed the lights begin to flicker in her cell and then silence before the lights finally went out, leaving her in total darkness. Her hands began to shake and fear began to set in. How would she even begin looking for everyone? Had Lock warned them as well? Wouldn’t Yuki notice something was up and focus her powers on the cell blocks instead? Then, the alarms began to sound and red lights began to illuminate the darkness. Soon after, she heard the sounds of people running down the halls, presumably the guards. She caught brief messages from their walkie-talkies as they moved by.
“-breach in solitary-“
“Send backup immediately!”
“-she escaped her cell!”
“Yuki, we need more men now! We can’t-“
“She’s shooting spikes out of thin air! She is killing our men left and right! We need backup in solitary-“
Then, the chaos of the walkie-talkies was answered by Yuki’s commanding voice echoing through the asylum. “Nobody panic. We’ve dealt with her before and we will deal with her once more. All guards are to head towards solitary and put it on lockdown. Nobody is to leave until she is restrained again. I will be there myself as soon as I deal with this patient. I trust you guys to do your job right. If she so much as steps a foot out of solitary I will make sure to execute you all in the most excruciating of ways. The angel of death has nothing on me.” Then, when the remaining guards had run by, all that was left was the wail of the alarms.
That was until the bed began to phase in and out of existence. Wait. Phase in and out of existence. Uni just stared at her bed, barely illuminated by the red glow of the lights, disappearing and reappearing before her very eyes. She slowly began to approach the bed and reached out with her right hand, inches away from touching it. Then, she heard a deep breathing behind her. She slowly turned around and there was a crazed patient in a straight-jacket, staring deep into her eyes with a lost look.
“Dead,” he began to whisper. “Dead. Dead. Dead.” With each repeat, he progressively got louder, until he was almost screaming. “Dead! Dead! DEAD! ALL DEAD!” The lights began to flicker as he approached her. She backed up, expecting to catch herself on her bed, before she realized it was gone entirely. He was inches away from her when she backed into the wall. “DEAD! I’M DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!” He bared his teeth, almost like he was ready to lunge and bite her. His breath was rancid, almost like he hadn’t brushed in days. His hair was a mess and the look in his eyes was that of someone who had slipped into complete madness. Is this what she had been like before the therapy? He was about to attack when he phased out of existence as well. Uni was left in the flickering red light of her now empty room, sweat dripping from her brow and her entire body shaking.
“No,” Yuki’s voice boomed down the halls with absolute rage. “Not again! Open fire on the subject! Make sure she doesn’t escape! LOCK! You already brought down Lyon’s world! You aren’t bringing down my asylum! I’m coming to deal with you myself.”
Gunshots echoed through the halls along with screams of pain and agony. Patients began chanting about death and banging their heads on the doors. Uni even thought that she heard the faint screams of Chen shouting her name. Then, her door disappeared. She was now staring into the red glow of the empty hallway. Several other patients’ doors were now gone. Within moments, they were rushing down the hallway towards the main sector of the asylum. It was then that Lock’s voice entered her mind once more.
“Now! This is your only chance! Yuki uses the main entrance of the asylum to travel to and from the real world! With this world collapsing, she will no doubt open the portal out as a backup plan.”
Uni stood frozen in place a little while longer before getting the courage to join the patients in their frenzy. She made a mad dash down the hallway, her adrenaline overpowering her fear. What would happen if they didn’t get out before this whole place was destroyed? How would they ever escape from Yuki? Where were the others? Could this really all just be some dream? Then, she heard the banging on one of the doors that stood out from the rest. It wasn’t like someone was banging their head on it. It was as if someone was banging their fists on it. Then, she heard Chen screaming her name from behind it. Uni rushed to the door and began frantically trying to unlock it, only to discover that it required a key.
“Chen, I’m going to get you out of there! Just give me a minute!”
“Uni? Is that really you? Thank goodness! Please help me!”
“I’m trying! It…it looks like it needs a key.”
“One of the guards probably has one! Or Yuki!”
“And what do you expect me to do? Ask politely? Do you really think-“ She was interrupted by the sound of a gun cocking behind her. She turned around to see one of Yuki’s guards with his signature rabbit mask and suit. He held a pistol at Uni’s head, ready to pull the trigger.
“Surprise,” he said with a smirk. He then reached for the walkie-talkie with his free hand. “Yuki. I’ve managed to capture one of the girls. Another one is still in her cell.”
“Good. Make sure neither of them leaves.” Then, Yuki switched from the walkie to her intercom system. “I want all remaining guards to report to the entrance to the solitary wing except those with the task of hunting down the two remaining girls. Failure to do so will result in immediate execution.”
“Now, now, now little rabbit. It’s time for you to go back in your cage where you-“
His words were cut short by a metal pipe to the back of the head. Standing behind him was Shiro, clutching the pipe tightly. “Uni! Where are the others?”
“I’m in here,” Chen replied. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind getting me out? That would be greatly appreciated!”
“Oh, right,” Uni said, reaching down towards the guard’s belt loop where a large, golden key was hanging. She pulled it off and proceeded to unlock the heavy metal door with it. It worked! Chen came rushing out and hugged her friend tightly.
“I missed you so much!”
“I missed you too!”
The two continued to hug and were almost on the verge of tears when Shiro interrupted. “Touching reunion and all but if you haven’t noticed, the asylum is falling apart and we need to get out of here ASAP. So, if we could save those tears until we are home free that would be great.” Shiro started to run down the hall and the other two were soon to follow.
The group rounded a corner and saw a set of heavy double doors at the end of the hallway. They each remembered Yuki and the guards ushering them down this hallway for therapy; the central hub was just through those doors. When they were nearing the doors, their hopes of escaping were quickly crushed as two guards stepped through the doorway with submachine guns, ready to fill them with bullet holes if they dared to take another step.
“Stop right there ladies,” one of them ordered. “Yuki will deal with you when she gets here. Take a step and you can kiss your lives goodbye.”
“But won’t we just be like last time,” Shiro asked. “Revived and then rehabilitated?”
The other guard, a female this time, spoke up next. “I’m not really sure how this alternate reality stuff works, but I can guarantee you that even if you do end up just coming back to life in the real world, you will be driven crazy again by being both dead and alive. And the GM’s may not have mercy on you. You will be defenseless as they do with you as they please. So, unless you want to be mindless puppets for The Society, I would suggest you stay in pla-“
Seemingly out of nowhere, a large metal spike pierced through the eye-hole in her rabbit mask, killing her almost instantly. The other guard began to react but not fast enough. Two spikes went soaring through his brain, causing him to fall to the ground in a pool of blood. The girls turned around to see the source of the spikes and Uni instantly recognized the girl shooting them: Lock. But she was in a rush. “Move! Yuki is coming and she is pissed!”
The girls didn’t hesitate. They ran through the double doors, jumping over the dead bodies in the process. They were now in the central hub they vaguely haunted their minds. The doors labeled “Experimental Labs” and “Administration” loomed before them. Then, they noticed all of the dead patients around the room filled with bullet holes. Yuki was serious about not letting anyone escape.
“Listen,” Lock said. “I’m going to start bringing this place down. Hopefully it will cause a rip that will let us escape back to the real world before she shows up.”
“Hopefully,” asked Chen, becoming skeptical of the plan. “You mean it’s not certain?”
“Well I’ve only done this once before. And it didn’t exactly work how I had planned it to. I may have ended up dying before I could finish. I did do a number on Lyon’s world though.”
“What about Azelf,” Uni questioned, now worrying about the other girl they hadn’t yet found.
“Face it, your friend is probably dead. Now, if you don’t mind, I have something more important to focus on. Like getting us the hell out of-“
A strong gust of wind sent the four of them flying across the room and landing with a loud thud against the back wall. Shiro lost her metal pipe in the process; it was now lying on the floor behind a furious Alice, her eyes red with the anger she felt inside. Uni recognized the eyes before on Jay; the look of pure evil. “The four of you have caused me enough trouble! Look at all of the lives you cost me! All of these people were going to get a second chance and you just decided to toss their lives aside to save yourselves! Well newsflash. It was all for nothing. If you thing Jay was bad, wait until you see what I’m going to do to you guys! Starting with Lock.”
She began to approach the girl, ready to do her worst when Lock screamed, “Now!”
“What?” Before Yuki could comprehend what was going on, Azelf came running from a dead body she had been hiding beside and grabbed the pipe that Shiro had dropped. Yuki turned around to strike, but Azelf was faster and landed a blow on her temple, sending her to her knees. “You little brat!” She began to stand up and fight Azelf when a large metal spike pierced her heart. Lock stood up and Yuki fell on her back, sending the spike in further. She walked over to the dying Alice and shook her head.
“You really think you were going to be able to contain me, Yuki? Once I’m out of here, I’m coming for the others. The Society will pay for their crimes with their lives!”
Yuki began to spit out blood as she laughed uncontrollably. “You think…you think this is over? Don’t make…make me laugh.” As she came closer and closer to death, the asylum became more and more unstable. The entire building began to shake and fall apart around them. “If I’m Alice…what does…what does that make you? The…the Queen of…Hearts? Does…does killing me…justify what you have done? The lives you’ve taken? No. You and I…are not much different Lock. We kill…in order to stay alive. At least I own up to it. You hide it…pretending to be some…hero.”
“The ends justify the means.” She kicked Yuki in the temple, causing her to black out as her breathing began to slow. The asylum was falling apart rapidly now. They didn’t have much time. Azelf ran over to join the Uni, Chen, and Shiro as Lock walked towards the front of the room, the only wall without a door. She then turned to face the others. “This is the heart of the asylum. This is where the connection to the real world is strongest. Yuki is connected to the machine out there. So, once she dies, this place is going to collapse on top of itself. We only have one shot at thi-“
Lock was cut short by a blinding flash, followed by a swift decapitation. As her head fell to the ground with a resounding thud, the girls noticed that a portal had opened up behind her. Standing in front of the portal was Jay, with his bloody sword in his hands. To his left was Trin and Kuro and to his right were Amie and Santa. Amie screamed out when she saw Yuki and tried running forward, but Santa held her back. Tears started to form in her distraught eyes. The four GM’s held sub-machine guns in their hands; Kuro and Trin had theirs aimed at the girls while Santa helped to calm Amie. Once she had regained her composition, she aimed her gun at the girls ready to fire; Santa followed suit.
Jay’s eyes were glowing a bright red, giving off the impression of embers in a raging fire. “So you girls think you can just kill off Yuki and get away with it?” He walked over to Yuki and checked her pulse, shaking his head after. “She’s gone. We need to leave now.”
“But can’t we save her,” Amie pleaded. “I mean, if you die in an alternate reality, you come back right? Sure she would be a little crazy, but we can fix her with the new method she found! Right?”
“Amie, I’m sorry to say but she’s gone now. Remember what happened last time a host died in their own world? Her brain was tied too closely to this place. It’s like this place was her new soul. In a matter of seconds, this place will collapse and so will she. She will simply disappear from existence.”
Tears flowed down Amie’s cheeks as the words sank in. “Yuki…”
Jay turned to the girls. “Now, Mira is pissed at the mess you guys have caused us. I would advise going through the portal if you guys want to make it another day. And no funny business.”
The girls cooperated and walked over to the portal. They had come so close to freedom, only to have the rug swept from beneath their feet once more. Their only hope now lay dead on the floor. All they could do now was follow their captors’ orders. They held their heads down low as they stepped through the portal, uncertain of what lay ahead.
“Hey,” a familiar voice broke her train of thought. It was that Lock chick she had met earlier. “Listen carefully because I’m only going to tell you this once. Your friends have been through Yuki’s little therapy session by now. They should be back to normal. Now that she knows her therapy works, she is starting on all of the other patients by now. However, this is drawing a lot of the power from the machine to that part of the asylum, which is weakening her control over solitary confinement. So, once I get a chance, I’m breaking out of this cell. I’m sure you’ve heard about what I did in the last game I was in. Lyon gave me enough power to almost destroy the entire world. That is why they put me in this special room to drain my power. But, with the weak control over this sector, the machines are starting to malfunction and I should be able to break free. Then, I should have my full power back and I will bring this world down once and for all. That will be your only chance to get out. Honestly, I could care less about you and your friends. All I want is to escape. But you have spunk, kid. So, I figured I might as well warn you. Just know I’m not going to wait around on you or try to help. I’m focusing on getting out and that’s that.”
Uni felt a rush of adrenaline through her veins. They were really going to try to break out of an asylum controlled by armed guards and an all-powerful Alice? She noticed the lights begin to flicker in her cell and then silence before the lights finally went out, leaving her in total darkness. Her hands began to shake and fear began to set in. How would she even begin looking for everyone? Had Lock warned them as well? Wouldn’t Yuki notice something was up and focus her powers on the cell blocks instead? Then, the alarms began to sound and red lights began to illuminate the darkness. Soon after, she heard the sounds of people running down the halls, presumably the guards. She caught brief messages from their walkie-talkies as they moved by.
“-breach in solitary-“
“Send backup immediately!”
“-she escaped her cell!”
“Yuki, we need more men now! We can’t-“
“She’s shooting spikes out of thin air! She is killing our men left and right! We need backup in solitary-“
Then, the chaos of the walkie-talkies was answered by Yuki’s commanding voice echoing through the asylum. “Nobody panic. We’ve dealt with her before and we will deal with her once more. All guards are to head towards solitary and put it on lockdown. Nobody is to leave until she is restrained again. I will be there myself as soon as I deal with this patient. I trust you guys to do your job right. If she so much as steps a foot out of solitary I will make sure to execute you all in the most excruciating of ways. The angel of death has nothing on me.” Then, when the remaining guards had run by, all that was left was the wail of the alarms.
That was until the bed began to phase in and out of existence. Wait. Phase in and out of existence. Uni just stared at her bed, barely illuminated by the red glow of the lights, disappearing and reappearing before her very eyes. She slowly began to approach the bed and reached out with her right hand, inches away from touching it. Then, she heard a deep breathing behind her. She slowly turned around and there was a crazed patient in a straight-jacket, staring deep into her eyes with a lost look.
“Dead,” he began to whisper. “Dead. Dead. Dead.” With each repeat, he progressively got louder, until he was almost screaming. “Dead! Dead! DEAD! ALL DEAD!” The lights began to flicker as he approached her. She backed up, expecting to catch herself on her bed, before she realized it was gone entirely. He was inches away from her when she backed into the wall. “DEAD! I’M DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!” He bared his teeth, almost like he was ready to lunge and bite her. His breath was rancid, almost like he hadn’t brushed in days. His hair was a mess and the look in his eyes was that of someone who had slipped into complete madness. Is this what she had been like before the therapy? He was about to attack when he phased out of existence as well. Uni was left in the flickering red light of her now empty room, sweat dripping from her brow and her entire body shaking.
“No,” Yuki’s voice boomed down the halls with absolute rage. “Not again! Open fire on the subject! Make sure she doesn’t escape! LOCK! You already brought down Lyon’s world! You aren’t bringing down my asylum! I’m coming to deal with you myself.”
Gunshots echoed through the halls along with screams of pain and agony. Patients began chanting about death and banging their heads on the doors. Uni even thought that she heard the faint screams of Chen shouting her name. Then, her door disappeared. She was now staring into the red glow of the empty hallway. Several other patients’ doors were now gone. Within moments, they were rushing down the hallway towards the main sector of the asylum. It was then that Lock’s voice entered her mind once more.
“Now! This is your only chance! Yuki uses the main entrance of the asylum to travel to and from the real world! With this world collapsing, she will no doubt open the portal out as a backup plan.”
Uni stood frozen in place a little while longer before getting the courage to join the patients in their frenzy. She made a mad dash down the hallway, her adrenaline overpowering her fear. What would happen if they didn’t get out before this whole place was destroyed? How would they ever escape from Yuki? Where were the others? Could this really all just be some dream? Then, she heard the banging on one of the doors that stood out from the rest. It wasn’t like someone was banging their head on it. It was as if someone was banging their fists on it. Then, she heard Chen screaming her name from behind it. Uni rushed to the door and began frantically trying to unlock it, only to discover that it required a key.
“Chen, I’m going to get you out of there! Just give me a minute!”
“Uni? Is that really you? Thank goodness! Please help me!”
“I’m trying! It…it looks like it needs a key.”
“One of the guards probably has one! Or Yuki!”
“And what do you expect me to do? Ask politely? Do you really think-“ She was interrupted by the sound of a gun cocking behind her. She turned around to see one of Yuki’s guards with his signature rabbit mask and suit. He held a pistol at Uni’s head, ready to pull the trigger.
“Surprise,” he said with a smirk. He then reached for the walkie-talkie with his free hand. “Yuki. I’ve managed to capture one of the girls. Another one is still in her cell.”
“Good. Make sure neither of them leaves.” Then, Yuki switched from the walkie to her intercom system. “I want all remaining guards to report to the entrance to the solitary wing except those with the task of hunting down the two remaining girls. Failure to do so will result in immediate execution.”
“Now, now, now little rabbit. It’s time for you to go back in your cage where you-“
His words were cut short by a metal pipe to the back of the head. Standing behind him was Shiro, clutching the pipe tightly. “Uni! Where are the others?”
“I’m in here,” Chen replied. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind getting me out? That would be greatly appreciated!”
“Oh, right,” Uni said, reaching down towards the guard’s belt loop where a large, golden key was hanging. She pulled it off and proceeded to unlock the heavy metal door with it. It worked! Chen came rushing out and hugged her friend tightly.
“I missed you so much!”
“I missed you too!”
The two continued to hug and were almost on the verge of tears when Shiro interrupted. “Touching reunion and all but if you haven’t noticed, the asylum is falling apart and we need to get out of here ASAP. So, if we could save those tears until we are home free that would be great.” Shiro started to run down the hall and the other two were soon to follow.
The group rounded a corner and saw a set of heavy double doors at the end of the hallway. They each remembered Yuki and the guards ushering them down this hallway for therapy; the central hub was just through those doors. When they were nearing the doors, their hopes of escaping were quickly crushed as two guards stepped through the doorway with submachine guns, ready to fill them with bullet holes if they dared to take another step.
“Stop right there ladies,” one of them ordered. “Yuki will deal with you when she gets here. Take a step and you can kiss your lives goodbye.”
“But won’t we just be like last time,” Shiro asked. “Revived and then rehabilitated?”
The other guard, a female this time, spoke up next. “I’m not really sure how this alternate reality stuff works, but I can guarantee you that even if you do end up just coming back to life in the real world, you will be driven crazy again by being both dead and alive. And the GM’s may not have mercy on you. You will be defenseless as they do with you as they please. So, unless you want to be mindless puppets for The Society, I would suggest you stay in pla-“
Seemingly out of nowhere, a large metal spike pierced through the eye-hole in her rabbit mask, killing her almost instantly. The other guard began to react but not fast enough. Two spikes went soaring through his brain, causing him to fall to the ground in a pool of blood. The girls turned around to see the source of the spikes and Uni instantly recognized the girl shooting them: Lock. But she was in a rush. “Move! Yuki is coming and she is pissed!”
The girls didn’t hesitate. They ran through the double doors, jumping over the dead bodies in the process. They were now in the central hub they vaguely haunted their minds. The doors labeled “Experimental Labs” and “Administration” loomed before them. Then, they noticed all of the dead patients around the room filled with bullet holes. Yuki was serious about not letting anyone escape.
“Listen,” Lock said. “I’m going to start bringing this place down. Hopefully it will cause a rip that will let us escape back to the real world before she shows up.”
“Hopefully,” asked Chen, becoming skeptical of the plan. “You mean it’s not certain?”
“Well I’ve only done this once before. And it didn’t exactly work how I had planned it to. I may have ended up dying before I could finish. I did do a number on Lyon’s world though.”
“What about Azelf,” Uni questioned, now worrying about the other girl they hadn’t yet found.
“Face it, your friend is probably dead. Now, if you don’t mind, I have something more important to focus on. Like getting us the hell out of-“
A strong gust of wind sent the four of them flying across the room and landing with a loud thud against the back wall. Shiro lost her metal pipe in the process; it was now lying on the floor behind a furious Alice, her eyes red with the anger she felt inside. Uni recognized the eyes before on Jay; the look of pure evil. “The four of you have caused me enough trouble! Look at all of the lives you cost me! All of these people were going to get a second chance and you just decided to toss their lives aside to save yourselves! Well newsflash. It was all for nothing. If you thing Jay was bad, wait until you see what I’m going to do to you guys! Starting with Lock.”
She began to approach the girl, ready to do her worst when Lock screamed, “Now!”
“What?” Before Yuki could comprehend what was going on, Azelf came running from a dead body she had been hiding beside and grabbed the pipe that Shiro had dropped. Yuki turned around to strike, but Azelf was faster and landed a blow on her temple, sending her to her knees. “You little brat!” She began to stand up and fight Azelf when a large metal spike pierced her heart. Lock stood up and Yuki fell on her back, sending the spike in further. She walked over to the dying Alice and shook her head.
“You really think you were going to be able to contain me, Yuki? Once I’m out of here, I’m coming for the others. The Society will pay for their crimes with their lives!”
Yuki began to spit out blood as she laughed uncontrollably. “You think…you think this is over? Don’t make…make me laugh.” As she came closer and closer to death, the asylum became more and more unstable. The entire building began to shake and fall apart around them. “If I’m Alice…what does…what does that make you? The…the Queen of…Hearts? Does…does killing me…justify what you have done? The lives you’ve taken? No. You and I…are not much different Lock. We kill…in order to stay alive. At least I own up to it. You hide it…pretending to be some…hero.”
“The ends justify the means.” She kicked Yuki in the temple, causing her to black out as her breathing began to slow. The asylum was falling apart rapidly now. They didn’t have much time. Azelf ran over to join the Uni, Chen, and Shiro as Lock walked towards the front of the room, the only wall without a door. She then turned to face the others. “This is the heart of the asylum. This is where the connection to the real world is strongest. Yuki is connected to the machine out there. So, once she dies, this place is going to collapse on top of itself. We only have one shot at thi-“
Lock was cut short by a blinding flash, followed by a swift decapitation. As her head fell to the ground with a resounding thud, the girls noticed that a portal had opened up behind her. Standing in front of the portal was Jay, with his bloody sword in his hands. To his left was Trin and Kuro and to his right were Amie and Santa. Amie screamed out when she saw Yuki and tried running forward, but Santa held her back. Tears started to form in her distraught eyes. The four GM’s held sub-machine guns in their hands; Kuro and Trin had theirs aimed at the girls while Santa helped to calm Amie. Once she had regained her composition, she aimed her gun at the girls ready to fire; Santa followed suit.
Jay’s eyes were glowing a bright red, giving off the impression of embers in a raging fire. “So you girls think you can just kill off Yuki and get away with it?” He walked over to Yuki and checked her pulse, shaking his head after. “She’s gone. We need to leave now.”
“But can’t we save her,” Amie pleaded. “I mean, if you die in an alternate reality, you come back right? Sure she would be a little crazy, but we can fix her with the new method she found! Right?”
“Amie, I’m sorry to say but she’s gone now. Remember what happened last time a host died in their own world? Her brain was tied too closely to this place. It’s like this place was her new soul. In a matter of seconds, this place will collapse and so will she. She will simply disappear from existence.”
Tears flowed down Amie’s cheeks as the words sank in. “Yuki…”
Jay turned to the girls. “Now, Mira is pissed at the mess you guys have caused us. I would advise going through the portal if you guys want to make it another day. And no funny business.”
The girls cooperated and walked over to the portal. They had come so close to freedom, only to have the rug swept from beneath their feet once more. Their only hope now lay dead on the floor. All they could do now was follow their captors’ orders. They held their heads down low as they stepped through the portal, uncertain of what lay ahead.
End of Part One
Part Two: Memories of the Past
Chapter 9: The Funeral
Chapter 9: The Funeral
The four girls came out on the other side of the portal, in a familiar location: Jay’s labs. Not soon after they stepped through, the four GM’s and Jay came through behind them. Seconds later, the portal collapsed and Yuki’s Asylum was gone forever.
“Jay,” Amie pleaded. “Yuki isn’t dead right? We can just rehabilitate her like she did to these girl, right?”
“Amie. As much as I want that to be true, you know it isn’t. There are some basic rules to these universes we create. When we create these universes, we are the hosts. They only exist because we will them to. We can send people in in three ways. The first way is what we do for the newbies; we put them directly into the universe. That’s what we did with these girls and everyone else in The Society when they first started. However, the multiverse doesn’t like having them leave their own universe, so it leaves a trace of that person behind in this universe. When the game is over and we bring them back, the trace and actual person join as one. However, if they die, their trace is still alive and when they are put back together, they cannot comprehend being both dead and alive. There is also the method we use for current members. We don’t want to risk their lives, so we basically just send a copy of them into the universe. This does mean that they don’t have control over their copy’s actions in the games, but the copy is basically them, so they act fairly similar to the original. If a copy dies, them that is that. It is just a copy. It is a fairly risk free method. However, any powers or abilities given to the copies during a game end up being passed on to the original, though we still aren’t exactly sure why. Then, there is the other method used for hosts. The host cannot duplicate themselves. That’s why we try to refrain from entering our own game as much as possible. If we enter, we have to send our entire selves through. If not, it becomes unstable and who knows what would happen. Yuki, even though her Asylum was controlled by my machine and not her directly, was still linked to her world through her mind. So she had to go in entirely. Even if we brought her out here, she would still be dead. You know that.”
Amie wiped away another tear from her cheek. “I know that. It just isn’t fair. I cared so much about Yuki and she was just taken away from me by that Lock girl. I should have killed her myself! Chopped her into little bits. Made her feel what Yuki felt.”
“That still wouldn’t have changed anything,” Trin replied. “Lock is gone. The only thing now is to tell the others and prepare her funeral. What should we do with the girls?”
Kuro looked at Shiro for a second before responding. “I say we dispose of them right here.”
Santa was quick to give her rebuttal. “You know we can’t do that. Mira gave us specific orders not to kill these girls. Both Jay and Trin saw them in a vision. It has to mean something important and Mira wants to know what it is.”
“Well can we at least punish them? Put them back in the cages and display them at the funeral. Let the members have their way with them before we lock them away again?”
Jay’s eyes turned to Kuro for a second before his mouth widened into a grin. “That’s a fabulous idea. Seems someone isn’t just all looks after all.” Santa, Trin, Kuro, and Amie kept their guns aimed at the girls as they backed out of the room. Jay was soon to follow, locking the clear door before the girls even had a chance to move. “Well now, I believe you know the drill.” He pushed a button on the wall behind him and a thick gas began to fill the room.
Chen held onto Uni as Shiro banged wildly on the door. Azelf just sat down in the corner, accepting her fate. As the gas filled their lungs, they began to get drowsy until they fell to the ground and blacked out.
When the girls woke back up, they were all locked in one giant cage together. The looked beyond the cold steel bars and instantly recognized where they were: they were in the room that had held the party when they first arrived. All of the guests from before were all there too. However, unlike the joking glances given to them before, the guests gave the girls looks of pure hatred. They would never forgive them for what happened to Yuki.
One of the girls from before, Nayu, came up to the cage first. “I heard what you did to poor Yuki. She didn’t deserve that. If Mira didn’t have other plans for you guys I would kill you myself.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “You monsters.”
Ootsuki came up to comfort her. “Look what you’ve done to her. Made such a nice young girl become so filled with grief. I hope you guys die in the most brutal of ways when Mira is done with you.” The duo walked back to their seats and the lights were dimmed some as the GM’s and Jay made their way to the front. The large screen was pulled down again, showing Mira in her signature suit and mask.
“Greetings all,” she began. “Today is a sad day for The Society. We lost one of our greatest assets. Yuki has always been there for us when we needed her most. And who could forget her waffles? They were to die for! She was there to take in our dead when nobody else wanted the responsibility. Who would have thought that the Angel of Death herself would be taken away from us? She was making such amazing progress on her treatments of the patients as well. But today we stand as one. United. We must push harder and reach our full potential. I am working closely with the GM’s in order to change the system and make it more secure. Also, I am working with Jay on possibly discovering new ways to go about the games that is less risky. We can’t have any more of our own being murdered. Especially not by the likes of people like Lock. However, tonight isn’t about sorrow, anger, or hatred. It should be a celebration! A celebration of our dear friend Yuki’s life and the joy she brought to The Society. Without her, we would not be where we are today. And, best of all, we have four guests of honor with us here tonight! Ladies and gentlemen, we have four beautiful ladies who have so graciously joined us tonight in our celebration! Azelf! Shiro! Uni! Chen! I hope you all keep them alive and well. I have plans in store for them. And I can’t enact those plans if they are dead.”
During Mira’s speech, Uni turned to Chen. “If we don’t make it out of here then-“
“We are going to make it out of here,” Chen said, but it didn’t seem as if she was certain about it.
“Chen, we’ve been here for three months now. If the cops were looking for us, they probably aren’t anymore. If anything, they have marked us as dead and put our case to an end. Nobody is coming for us, Chen. And do you really think that we can escape? They think through every single detail.”
“You should listen to her,” Shiro butted in. “I’ve been here longer than any of you three. There’s no way out. We could have been safely in that holding cell, waiting for our turn to be the wolf so that we could at least become members and be allowed to roam free or whatever the hell these people do. I doubt that’s going to be an option now that you guys managed to screw everything up.”
“Us,” Azelf asked furiously. “I can’t help that I don’t want to become a murderous psychopath!”
“Yeah, well we don’t have many options. Once The Society has you, they never let you go. Mira runs this place with an iron fist. She has her GM’s do all of the dirty work and they don’t exactly listen to reason. Santa, Trin, and Kuro came along after Mira needed help capturing people for her games. Then, they found Jay. He built the machines necessary for them to host games that wouldn’t actually kill the participants. That’s what allowed The Society to form. It only grew from there. You know, Amie was supposedly a member. Although the other three didn’t have to participate in a game until Jay came along, she was a member after Jay came around. They needed another GM so they tested some of the members and found her to be the best fit.”
“How do you know all of this?” Chen and Uni were thinking the same thing.
“Because there isn’t much else to do in this place besides play their games and talk. And the other players do a lot of talking. I don’t know any of the specifics, not many people do. But I know that basics.”
“They are still human,” Chen said. “They will eventually slip up.”
“Human? There’s nothing human about them. They can create universes. They are gods. And gods don’t make mistakes.”
“Yuki did,” Uni snapped back.
“Yeah, well, that was only because we had Lock. With her gone, it will be next to impossible to do.”
“But that still doesn’t mean that-“
“Hey,” yelled a familiar voice. It was Venelope. She had managed to make her way over to the cage while the girls were talking. “You know how disrespectful it is to talk over Mira? Especially at Yuki’s funeral?”
Degree came up beside her. “You guys should learn some respect.”
“Poor Degree here hasn’t even cracked a joke all day. We are all grieving here and you four just don’t even care. We warned you. We told you it was only a matter of time before you resorted to murder. It always happens.”
Boy approached the cage, his eyes red and puffy from crying all day. “Yuki cared for us all. She was always there for us.”
“Don’t worry, Boy. Karma will catch up to them eventually. Their luck will one day run out.”
With that, the three left and went back to their seats. Mira was finally finished talking and Jay and the GM’s gave their final remarks before ending the funeral. Once finished, Jay approached the cage. “You know, girls. I really hate doing this to you again, but it’s the easiest way to get you from one place to another without you resisting.” Four butlers came up to the cage, with metal sheets in their hands. “I believe you remember how this goes.” With that, the sheets were placed on the cage and the gas was pumped in. Within moments, the girls were unconscious.
“Jay,” Amie pleaded. “Yuki isn’t dead right? We can just rehabilitate her like she did to these girl, right?”
“Amie. As much as I want that to be true, you know it isn’t. There are some basic rules to these universes we create. When we create these universes, we are the hosts. They only exist because we will them to. We can send people in in three ways. The first way is what we do for the newbies; we put them directly into the universe. That’s what we did with these girls and everyone else in The Society when they first started. However, the multiverse doesn’t like having them leave their own universe, so it leaves a trace of that person behind in this universe. When the game is over and we bring them back, the trace and actual person join as one. However, if they die, their trace is still alive and when they are put back together, they cannot comprehend being both dead and alive. There is also the method we use for current members. We don’t want to risk their lives, so we basically just send a copy of them into the universe. This does mean that they don’t have control over their copy’s actions in the games, but the copy is basically them, so they act fairly similar to the original. If a copy dies, them that is that. It is just a copy. It is a fairly risk free method. However, any powers or abilities given to the copies during a game end up being passed on to the original, though we still aren’t exactly sure why. Then, there is the other method used for hosts. The host cannot duplicate themselves. That’s why we try to refrain from entering our own game as much as possible. If we enter, we have to send our entire selves through. If not, it becomes unstable and who knows what would happen. Yuki, even though her Asylum was controlled by my machine and not her directly, was still linked to her world through her mind. So she had to go in entirely. Even if we brought her out here, she would still be dead. You know that.”
Amie wiped away another tear from her cheek. “I know that. It just isn’t fair. I cared so much about Yuki and she was just taken away from me by that Lock girl. I should have killed her myself! Chopped her into little bits. Made her feel what Yuki felt.”
“That still wouldn’t have changed anything,” Trin replied. “Lock is gone. The only thing now is to tell the others and prepare her funeral. What should we do with the girls?”
Kuro looked at Shiro for a second before responding. “I say we dispose of them right here.”
Santa was quick to give her rebuttal. “You know we can’t do that. Mira gave us specific orders not to kill these girls. Both Jay and Trin saw them in a vision. It has to mean something important and Mira wants to know what it is.”
“Well can we at least punish them? Put them back in the cages and display them at the funeral. Let the members have their way with them before we lock them away again?”
Jay’s eyes turned to Kuro for a second before his mouth widened into a grin. “That’s a fabulous idea. Seems someone isn’t just all looks after all.” Santa, Trin, Kuro, and Amie kept their guns aimed at the girls as they backed out of the room. Jay was soon to follow, locking the clear door before the girls even had a chance to move. “Well now, I believe you know the drill.” He pushed a button on the wall behind him and a thick gas began to fill the room.
Chen held onto Uni as Shiro banged wildly on the door. Azelf just sat down in the corner, accepting her fate. As the gas filled their lungs, they began to get drowsy until they fell to the ground and blacked out.
When the girls woke back up, they were all locked in one giant cage together. The looked beyond the cold steel bars and instantly recognized where they were: they were in the room that had held the party when they first arrived. All of the guests from before were all there too. However, unlike the joking glances given to them before, the guests gave the girls looks of pure hatred. They would never forgive them for what happened to Yuki.
One of the girls from before, Nayu, came up to the cage first. “I heard what you did to poor Yuki. She didn’t deserve that. If Mira didn’t have other plans for you guys I would kill you myself.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “You monsters.”
Ootsuki came up to comfort her. “Look what you’ve done to her. Made such a nice young girl become so filled with grief. I hope you guys die in the most brutal of ways when Mira is done with you.” The duo walked back to their seats and the lights were dimmed some as the GM’s and Jay made their way to the front. The large screen was pulled down again, showing Mira in her signature suit and mask.
“Greetings all,” she began. “Today is a sad day for The Society. We lost one of our greatest assets. Yuki has always been there for us when we needed her most. And who could forget her waffles? They were to die for! She was there to take in our dead when nobody else wanted the responsibility. Who would have thought that the Angel of Death herself would be taken away from us? She was making such amazing progress on her treatments of the patients as well. But today we stand as one. United. We must push harder and reach our full potential. I am working closely with the GM’s in order to change the system and make it more secure. Also, I am working with Jay on possibly discovering new ways to go about the games that is less risky. We can’t have any more of our own being murdered. Especially not by the likes of people like Lock. However, tonight isn’t about sorrow, anger, or hatred. It should be a celebration! A celebration of our dear friend Yuki’s life and the joy she brought to The Society. Without her, we would not be where we are today. And, best of all, we have four guests of honor with us here tonight! Ladies and gentlemen, we have four beautiful ladies who have so graciously joined us tonight in our celebration! Azelf! Shiro! Uni! Chen! I hope you all keep them alive and well. I have plans in store for them. And I can’t enact those plans if they are dead.”
During Mira’s speech, Uni turned to Chen. “If we don’t make it out of here then-“
“We are going to make it out of here,” Chen said, but it didn’t seem as if she was certain about it.
“Chen, we’ve been here for three months now. If the cops were looking for us, they probably aren’t anymore. If anything, they have marked us as dead and put our case to an end. Nobody is coming for us, Chen. And do you really think that we can escape? They think through every single detail.”
“You should listen to her,” Shiro butted in. “I’ve been here longer than any of you three. There’s no way out. We could have been safely in that holding cell, waiting for our turn to be the wolf so that we could at least become members and be allowed to roam free or whatever the hell these people do. I doubt that’s going to be an option now that you guys managed to screw everything up.”
“Us,” Azelf asked furiously. “I can’t help that I don’t want to become a murderous psychopath!”
“Yeah, well we don’t have many options. Once The Society has you, they never let you go. Mira runs this place with an iron fist. She has her GM’s do all of the dirty work and they don’t exactly listen to reason. Santa, Trin, and Kuro came along after Mira needed help capturing people for her games. Then, they found Jay. He built the machines necessary for them to host games that wouldn’t actually kill the participants. That’s what allowed The Society to form. It only grew from there. You know, Amie was supposedly a member. Although the other three didn’t have to participate in a game until Jay came along, she was a member after Jay came around. They needed another GM so they tested some of the members and found her to be the best fit.”
“How do you know all of this?” Chen and Uni were thinking the same thing.
“Because there isn’t much else to do in this place besides play their games and talk. And the other players do a lot of talking. I don’t know any of the specifics, not many people do. But I know that basics.”
“They are still human,” Chen said. “They will eventually slip up.”
“Human? There’s nothing human about them. They can create universes. They are gods. And gods don’t make mistakes.”
“Yuki did,” Uni snapped back.
“Yeah, well, that was only because we had Lock. With her gone, it will be next to impossible to do.”
“But that still doesn’t mean that-“
“Hey,” yelled a familiar voice. It was Venelope. She had managed to make her way over to the cage while the girls were talking. “You know how disrespectful it is to talk over Mira? Especially at Yuki’s funeral?”
Degree came up beside her. “You guys should learn some respect.”
“Poor Degree here hasn’t even cracked a joke all day. We are all grieving here and you four just don’t even care. We warned you. We told you it was only a matter of time before you resorted to murder. It always happens.”
Boy approached the cage, his eyes red and puffy from crying all day. “Yuki cared for us all. She was always there for us.”
“Don’t worry, Boy. Karma will catch up to them eventually. Their luck will one day run out.”
With that, the three left and went back to their seats. Mira was finally finished talking and Jay and the GM’s gave their final remarks before ending the funeral. Once finished, Jay approached the cage. “You know, girls. I really hate doing this to you again, but it’s the easiest way to get you from one place to another without you resisting.” Four butlers came up to the cage, with metal sheets in their hands. “I believe you remember how this goes.” With that, the sheets were placed on the cage and the gas was pumped in. Within moments, the girls were unconscious.
Chapter 10: Escape Plan
Azelf was the first to wake up. She rubbed her head and she struggled to get to her feet. “Constantly being pumped full of knock-out gas like that can’t be healthy,” she said to herself with a sigh. “Not that they care about our safety anyways.” Then, she noticed that she wasn’t in the holding cell like she expected to be. Instead, she was in a fairly decent sized room with black carpet and red painted walls. Near the back corner was a bed with expensive-looking red and black linens, upon which Chen and Uni lied unconscious. In the far right corner was a comfortable looking scarlet chair, complete with cushions and an unconscious Shiro. Various paintings of rabbits and wolves decorated the walls and a large wooden wardrobe painted black and red sat along one of the walls. There were also wooden planks on the walls, presumably being used to keep the girls from going out the windows; though Azelf assumed that even if the wooden planks were removed, there would probably be iron bars or something else keeping them locked in there. The last noticeable feature was the heavy wooden door painted black. She immediately ran over to it upon noticing it and tried the handle; locked from the other side. Azelf figured it would be best not to bang on it or anything, in case someone was waiting outside.
“What…what happened,” a barely-conscious Shiro asked from behind.
“Shiro,” Azelf exclaimed, startled. “I don’t know. We were knocked out and now we are locked in here.”
“Where is here, exactly?”
“I don’t know…maybe we should try waking up the other two?”
“Good idea!” Shiro ran over to Chen and violently ripped her off the bed, sending her to the ground with a loud thunk.
“Ow,” she yelled, being woken up by the impact. “What was that for?”
“Just seemed like the right thing to do, considering our situation.” Shiro began examining the walls in closer detail.
“Right,” Chen replied sarcastically. “And…what…exactly are you doing? Admiring the paint job?”
“No, idiot, I’m looking for any secret doors or switches or anything.”
Azelf laughed from across the room. “Secret doors. Listen, this isn’t an adventure book or something. This is real life. And when you’re trapped in real life, there are no ways out.”
Shiro walked over to Azelf, obviously annoyed. With every word she spoke, she jabbed her finger into Azelf’s ribcage. “You have a better idea?” When Azelf didn’t reply, she went back to investigating the room.
“Guys,” Chen spoke up, “can we at least pretend that we like each other? At least until we can escape certain death and all?”
Shiro went over to the walls and started taking the paintings down, ignoring Chen.
“Fine, whatever,” Chen said as she sat down in the chair. That’s when Uni started to wake up. “Uni!” She ran over and gave her friend a hug.
“Chen? I want to go home now…”
“I know. We just have a little longer. We will figure something out.”
“I miss everyone…I wonder if our parents even know we are gone…if anyone actually knows we are gone.”
“Of course they would, why wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know. Nothing here makes sense to me. All I know is that we need to leave, first chance we get.”
“I’m with you on that-“
“GUYS!” Shiro ran over to the large wardrobe. “Haven’t you noticed anything odd?”
Azelf gave her a weird look. “You mean, besides an evil society that likes to kidnap people for murder games and has all-powerful GM’s that can create universes with their minds and an all-powerful physicist DJ?”
Shiro gave her a sarcastic look. “I meant about the ventilation. Typically, every room in a building has a vent to supply air flow. Yet, there isn’t a single visible vent in the entire room.”
“And?”
Shiro began pushing on the wardrobe. “A little help here!” The rest of the girls joined in and pushed the insanely heavy wardrobe, finaly getting it to move a little on the thick carpet. That’s when they all noticed it: the large air vent hidden behind. They instantly began pushing harder and harder until they finally managed to move the wardrobe out of the way, fully exposing the vent. “Told you guys.”
Uni looked at Shiro and awe. “Wow! But…how do we get it open?”
“Oh…I actually hadn’t though that through…”
“Dammit,” Chen said, let down by the fact that they were still trapped
“Wait! Did those paintings have metal or wooden backings,” Azelf asked, now forming a plan.
“Um…I think they had small metal strips on the back,” replied Shiro.
Azelf ran over to one of the paintings and began breaking apart the frame, breaking free one of the metal strips. She took it over to the air vent and stuck one of the corners in a screw and began to turn it. After a struggle, she managed to get it loose enough to where it would turn. She quickly began unscrewing all of the screws with the metal piece until the air vent cover came off.
“Nice job!”
“So,” Chen spoke up. “We just crawl inside?”
“It beats sitting around in here.” Shiro got on all fours and crawled into the vent. The other three followed suit behind her. “Just be extremely quiet, the air vents will carry our sound everywhere and someone is bound to catch on.”
The girls crawled for a while until they reached a branching path. Shiro took them to the right and they began walking past other rooms, mostly similar bedrooms, all of them devoid of any human life, but definitely the resting place of members of the society. Then, they reached a point in which the vent went up about five feet before leveling out again. Shiro motioned for Uni to crawl over with her. It was a tight squeeze, but they both fit in the vertical vent. Shiro cupped her hands and Uni put one foot in them while reaching up for the ledge with her hands. With Shiro’s help, Uni managed to get to the higher part of the vent. The others took their turns and then Azelf reached down and grabbed Shiro’s hands, helping to pull her up.
The group continued down the vent for quite some time before reaching another splitting path. They decided to go left this time and continued for quite a while. Then, they heard two familiar voices talking. They crowded together to look through a nearby air vent and saw Trin and Jay talking in a small study.
“Trin, you know we can’t do that. Mira has ordered us to keep those girls protected.”
“But why? Can’t we at least send them through the games?”
“We both had a vision of Uni and Chen. Mira thinks it is a sign of sorts and wants us to start experimenting on them ASAP.”
“What about Azelf and Shiro? Can’t we at least send them into the games?”
“I wish. However, Mira wants us to involve them in the testing as well. The four of them, along with Lock, managed to destroy an entire universe and killed Yuki. There is something special about all of them.”
Trin let out a deep sigh. “Fine, I guess you’re right. So, are we testing here or at the labs?”
“Neither.”
“What? Then where?”
“The old facility.”
“You mean…the ones we used for the original games? Is that facility even safe?”
Jay shook his head. “Probably not. But, it is more secluded than this. We can’t risk having them near the labs due to all of the equipment. And we can’t have them here and put the others in danger.”
“So then who is going out there to test them?”
“I will go and set up the tests and have some of my scientists monitor them. I will probably also end up sending Kuro and Santa to look after them.”
“What about Amie?”
“She just needs some time to recover from Yuki. I’m just letting her rest and mourn some. She took it pretty hard.”
“I know…anyways, I will get the guards together and send them to get the girls.”
“Thanks, Trin.” With that, they both left the room.
The girls began to panic, since it would soon be discovered that they were missing from their room. Shiro motioned for them to move faster and they began to crawl faster and faster. They continued after turns after turns until eventually Shiro fell down a hole she hadn’t noticed. The fall was only about 6 feet, but the impact made an enormous sound that hurt the other girls’ eardrums. However, Shiro began to stand up and showed the others that she was fine. She motioned for them to come down and they crawled over the edge. When they were all at the bottom, they continued down the confusing maze of tunnels.
After a few more turns, they heard some yelling coming from somewhere in the facility. “The girls aren’t in their rooms. The vent cover was taken off. Check every single air vent in this place. They couldn’t have gotten far.”
The girls began to panic and moved as fast as they could, nearly trampling each other to get out of there. Then, they finally reached a room that they could see the window from. The door was closed, so nobody would see in and the window appeared to lead to the outside lawn. At least they were on the ground floor, so they wouldn’t have to worry about scaling the walls in order to get down. The girls nodded to each other and all kicked the cover at once. However, it wasn’t enough. They kicked again, even harder than before, but the screws were still in place. The girls took a deep breath and kicked once more, sending the cover flying off. Without a second thought, the girls jumped out to the bed below and Chen rushed over to lock the door.
As Uni and Shiro worked on getting the window opened, Chen and Azelf were pushing a nearby bookshelf in front of the door, just in case. The girls could hear footsteps outside in the hallway, along with multiple people yelling. They knew that they didn’t have much time.
Uni and Shiro managed to get the window open, and it was a relief to smell fresh air for once. It had been a while since they had actually been outside, and it felt great. They all crawled out onto what appeared to be the back lawn of the facility, finally getting a good look around. The facility itself was a four story tall mansion and was quite large. It was wooden on the outside, painted vibrant scarlet color. The detailing around the windows and all was a deep black, matching the color scheme inside. The outside of the facility was a nicely trimmed lawn surrounded by a high chain-linked fence, topped by barbed wire. On the other side of the fence was a dense forest, but anything seemed better than being trapped in this place.
The group made their way towards the fence, the chaos of the mansion ensuing behind them. “How are we going to get through this,” Uni asked. “Cut ourselves on barbed wire?”
“Honestly, I’m willing to do anything to escape this place,” Azelf spoke up.
“Uni,” Chen said, comforting her friend. “You have to be strong. We can do this. All we have to do is climb this fence and then run back to civilization, getting the cops and never having to deal with these psychos again.
“Alright…I can try...” Uni didn’t seem too pleased by the idea, but knew there was no other choice.
“Listen, we are going to Susie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream after this and I am buying you whatever you want.”
“Anything?”
“Yeah. We are totally rewarding ourselves for getting out of this.”
Uni smiled, remembering the times before this in which the two of them hung out like normal teens. They loved going to Susie’s and getting ice cream before going to the local arcade. Then, they would go back to Uni’s house and watch movies, talk, and have fun. She missed those times and would give anything to have them back.
“Are you two done,” Shiro interrupted, already climbing the gate. “If you two don’t speed this up then-“ Shiro jumped back and fell to the ground.
“What happened,” Azelf asked, running to help her up.
“Someone…someone turned the electricity on the damned fence.”
“And that someone would be me.” There stood Kuro and a group of guards behind them. The girls hadn’t even noticed them, being too focused on the fence. “You honestly don’t think we would just let you leave, now do you?” The guards rushed to the girls, putting handcuffs on them and leading them around to the front of the mansion. “I think you girls are going to enjoy the new place a lot.” As they rounded the corner, they saw the large van, turned on and waiting for them. Standing beside it was Santa in her business suit and some other guards. The girls were lead up to the back door of the van.
“Well, well, well.” Santa looked at them. “You girls almost had me worried for a minute. I was afraid we would miss our time together. We are going somewhere very special.” The guards led them inside and locked the doors behind them, locking them away from the outside once more, just inches away from freedom.
“What…what happened,” a barely-conscious Shiro asked from behind.
“Shiro,” Azelf exclaimed, startled. “I don’t know. We were knocked out and now we are locked in here.”
“Where is here, exactly?”
“I don’t know…maybe we should try waking up the other two?”
“Good idea!” Shiro ran over to Chen and violently ripped her off the bed, sending her to the ground with a loud thunk.
“Ow,” she yelled, being woken up by the impact. “What was that for?”
“Just seemed like the right thing to do, considering our situation.” Shiro began examining the walls in closer detail.
“Right,” Chen replied sarcastically. “And…what…exactly are you doing? Admiring the paint job?”
“No, idiot, I’m looking for any secret doors or switches or anything.”
Azelf laughed from across the room. “Secret doors. Listen, this isn’t an adventure book or something. This is real life. And when you’re trapped in real life, there are no ways out.”
Shiro walked over to Azelf, obviously annoyed. With every word she spoke, she jabbed her finger into Azelf’s ribcage. “You have a better idea?” When Azelf didn’t reply, she went back to investigating the room.
“Guys,” Chen spoke up, “can we at least pretend that we like each other? At least until we can escape certain death and all?”
Shiro went over to the walls and started taking the paintings down, ignoring Chen.
“Fine, whatever,” Chen said as she sat down in the chair. That’s when Uni started to wake up. “Uni!” She ran over and gave her friend a hug.
“Chen? I want to go home now…”
“I know. We just have a little longer. We will figure something out.”
“I miss everyone…I wonder if our parents even know we are gone…if anyone actually knows we are gone.”
“Of course they would, why wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know. Nothing here makes sense to me. All I know is that we need to leave, first chance we get.”
“I’m with you on that-“
“GUYS!” Shiro ran over to the large wardrobe. “Haven’t you noticed anything odd?”
Azelf gave her a weird look. “You mean, besides an evil society that likes to kidnap people for murder games and has all-powerful GM’s that can create universes with their minds and an all-powerful physicist DJ?”
Shiro gave her a sarcastic look. “I meant about the ventilation. Typically, every room in a building has a vent to supply air flow. Yet, there isn’t a single visible vent in the entire room.”
“And?”
Shiro began pushing on the wardrobe. “A little help here!” The rest of the girls joined in and pushed the insanely heavy wardrobe, finaly getting it to move a little on the thick carpet. That’s when they all noticed it: the large air vent hidden behind. They instantly began pushing harder and harder until they finally managed to move the wardrobe out of the way, fully exposing the vent. “Told you guys.”
Uni looked at Shiro and awe. “Wow! But…how do we get it open?”
“Oh…I actually hadn’t though that through…”
“Dammit,” Chen said, let down by the fact that they were still trapped
“Wait! Did those paintings have metal or wooden backings,” Azelf asked, now forming a plan.
“Um…I think they had small metal strips on the back,” replied Shiro.
Azelf ran over to one of the paintings and began breaking apart the frame, breaking free one of the metal strips. She took it over to the air vent and stuck one of the corners in a screw and began to turn it. After a struggle, she managed to get it loose enough to where it would turn. She quickly began unscrewing all of the screws with the metal piece until the air vent cover came off.
“Nice job!”
“So,” Chen spoke up. “We just crawl inside?”
“It beats sitting around in here.” Shiro got on all fours and crawled into the vent. The other three followed suit behind her. “Just be extremely quiet, the air vents will carry our sound everywhere and someone is bound to catch on.”
The girls crawled for a while until they reached a branching path. Shiro took them to the right and they began walking past other rooms, mostly similar bedrooms, all of them devoid of any human life, but definitely the resting place of members of the society. Then, they reached a point in which the vent went up about five feet before leveling out again. Shiro motioned for Uni to crawl over with her. It was a tight squeeze, but they both fit in the vertical vent. Shiro cupped her hands and Uni put one foot in them while reaching up for the ledge with her hands. With Shiro’s help, Uni managed to get to the higher part of the vent. The others took their turns and then Azelf reached down and grabbed Shiro’s hands, helping to pull her up.
The group continued down the vent for quite some time before reaching another splitting path. They decided to go left this time and continued for quite a while. Then, they heard two familiar voices talking. They crowded together to look through a nearby air vent and saw Trin and Jay talking in a small study.
“Trin, you know we can’t do that. Mira has ordered us to keep those girls protected.”
“But why? Can’t we at least send them through the games?”
“We both had a vision of Uni and Chen. Mira thinks it is a sign of sorts and wants us to start experimenting on them ASAP.”
“What about Azelf and Shiro? Can’t we at least send them into the games?”
“I wish. However, Mira wants us to involve them in the testing as well. The four of them, along with Lock, managed to destroy an entire universe and killed Yuki. There is something special about all of them.”
Trin let out a deep sigh. “Fine, I guess you’re right. So, are we testing here or at the labs?”
“Neither.”
“What? Then where?”
“The old facility.”
“You mean…the ones we used for the original games? Is that facility even safe?”
Jay shook his head. “Probably not. But, it is more secluded than this. We can’t risk having them near the labs due to all of the equipment. And we can’t have them here and put the others in danger.”
“So then who is going out there to test them?”
“I will go and set up the tests and have some of my scientists monitor them. I will probably also end up sending Kuro and Santa to look after them.”
“What about Amie?”
“She just needs some time to recover from Yuki. I’m just letting her rest and mourn some. She took it pretty hard.”
“I know…anyways, I will get the guards together and send them to get the girls.”
“Thanks, Trin.” With that, they both left the room.
The girls began to panic, since it would soon be discovered that they were missing from their room. Shiro motioned for them to move faster and they began to crawl faster and faster. They continued after turns after turns until eventually Shiro fell down a hole she hadn’t noticed. The fall was only about 6 feet, but the impact made an enormous sound that hurt the other girls’ eardrums. However, Shiro began to stand up and showed the others that she was fine. She motioned for them to come down and they crawled over the edge. When they were all at the bottom, they continued down the confusing maze of tunnels.
After a few more turns, they heard some yelling coming from somewhere in the facility. “The girls aren’t in their rooms. The vent cover was taken off. Check every single air vent in this place. They couldn’t have gotten far.”
The girls began to panic and moved as fast as they could, nearly trampling each other to get out of there. Then, they finally reached a room that they could see the window from. The door was closed, so nobody would see in and the window appeared to lead to the outside lawn. At least they were on the ground floor, so they wouldn’t have to worry about scaling the walls in order to get down. The girls nodded to each other and all kicked the cover at once. However, it wasn’t enough. They kicked again, even harder than before, but the screws were still in place. The girls took a deep breath and kicked once more, sending the cover flying off. Without a second thought, the girls jumped out to the bed below and Chen rushed over to lock the door.
As Uni and Shiro worked on getting the window opened, Chen and Azelf were pushing a nearby bookshelf in front of the door, just in case. The girls could hear footsteps outside in the hallway, along with multiple people yelling. They knew that they didn’t have much time.
Uni and Shiro managed to get the window open, and it was a relief to smell fresh air for once. It had been a while since they had actually been outside, and it felt great. They all crawled out onto what appeared to be the back lawn of the facility, finally getting a good look around. The facility itself was a four story tall mansion and was quite large. It was wooden on the outside, painted vibrant scarlet color. The detailing around the windows and all was a deep black, matching the color scheme inside. The outside of the facility was a nicely trimmed lawn surrounded by a high chain-linked fence, topped by barbed wire. On the other side of the fence was a dense forest, but anything seemed better than being trapped in this place.
The group made their way towards the fence, the chaos of the mansion ensuing behind them. “How are we going to get through this,” Uni asked. “Cut ourselves on barbed wire?”
“Honestly, I’m willing to do anything to escape this place,” Azelf spoke up.
“Uni,” Chen said, comforting her friend. “You have to be strong. We can do this. All we have to do is climb this fence and then run back to civilization, getting the cops and never having to deal with these psychos again.
“Alright…I can try...” Uni didn’t seem too pleased by the idea, but knew there was no other choice.
“Listen, we are going to Susie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream after this and I am buying you whatever you want.”
“Anything?”
“Yeah. We are totally rewarding ourselves for getting out of this.”
Uni smiled, remembering the times before this in which the two of them hung out like normal teens. They loved going to Susie’s and getting ice cream before going to the local arcade. Then, they would go back to Uni’s house and watch movies, talk, and have fun. She missed those times and would give anything to have them back.
“Are you two done,” Shiro interrupted, already climbing the gate. “If you two don’t speed this up then-“ Shiro jumped back and fell to the ground.
“What happened,” Azelf asked, running to help her up.
“Someone…someone turned the electricity on the damned fence.”
“And that someone would be me.” There stood Kuro and a group of guards behind them. The girls hadn’t even noticed them, being too focused on the fence. “You honestly don’t think we would just let you leave, now do you?” The guards rushed to the girls, putting handcuffs on them and leading them around to the front of the mansion. “I think you girls are going to enjoy the new place a lot.” As they rounded the corner, they saw the large van, turned on and waiting for them. Standing beside it was Santa in her business suit and some other guards. The girls were lead up to the back door of the van.
“Well, well, well.” Santa looked at them. “You girls almost had me worried for a minute. I was afraid we would miss our time together. We are going somewhere very special.” The guards led them inside and locked the doors behind them, locking them away from the outside once more, just inches away from freedom.
Chapter 11: Unlikely Allies
Although the girls were separated from the front of the van, there was a Plexiglas window with a small hole in which Kuro and Santa could talk to them through. Kuro was currently driving the car and Santa was sitting in the passenger seat, writing in a notebook. “You know,” she began, obviously still upset about Yuki. “You girls are really going to like the place.” Even though the words came out of her mouth, the girls knew they would very much not enjoy going there.
“Yeah,” Kuro added. “This brings back memories.” The girls kept quiet, not only because they wanted to ignore the two, but also because they were curious as to what they had to say.
“I remember the first time I helped there. After you and Mira convinced me to help, we captured those seven people and set up the traps.”
“Oh yeah. The one with the tall bald guy and nerdy college girl?”
“That’s the one! There a part of me that kind of misses it. You know, kidnapping people, watching them take each other out. Though I definitely am grateful of Jay for the technology he has brought us. It allowed our small group to develop into an entire society.”
“I get what you mean. But hey, we are basically gods now. So that’s a plus.”
“Yeah.”
There were a few minutes of awkward silence before Kuro spoke again. “I haven’t even been here in a while. Has anybody actually been managing it or anything?”
“Well, Mira owns the property, which keeps people out. Occasionally her and Jay will go up here and check on the place, especially now that this experiment is commencing.”
“Speaking of which, what kind of experiments are they going to be doing?”
Santa let out an obviously faked cough. “That’s a surprise.”
“Ah, I get what you mean.”
“Gosh. It’s amazing how much we’ve grown. We started out with the old facility. Then, Jay came along and Mira had that underground lab built for him below that old warehouse before converting the warehouse into his own nightclub. And then the newest place, that mansion Mira had built once the Society was formed in.”
“Yeah. It’s nice to have a place like that to live in and hold all of our meetings in.”
Santa let out a sigh. “Yuki didn’t really care for it that much, especially once we had the Asylum created. That place was her pride and joy. She probably would have killed us knowing we held her funeral in the mansion.”
Kuro let out a small laugh. “Probably. But where else would we have held it? The nightclub? Jay’s labs?”
“She probably would have preferred the old facility. But the mansion was convenient.
“It feels so weird. She’s the first member we’ve ever had die. We have been so careful up to this point.”
“Well, I guess we weren’t careful enough. Now we lost Yuki and the Asylum. But even if we rebuilt it, her notes were lost in there. Her methods and everything have been lost, it could take us a while to figure out exactly how to use exposure therapy in order to fix the people sent there.”
There was silence for a while after that. The girls just sat there, looking at each other. They were utterly terrified. Chen even had the thought that maybe just going along with everything and joining the Society would have been better than all of this. Immediately after having this thought, she felt disgusted with herself, wishing she have never even considered it.
“Well, here we are,” Kuro said, bringing the van to a stop. He hit a button and the girls heard the sound of a gate opening. They drove a little farther before Kuro stopped and turned the van off. He and Santa got out and walked to the back of the van, opening the doors for the girls. The two of them aimed submachine guns at them. “Get out.”
The girls obeyed and got out of the van, their hands still handcuffed behind their backs. They looked up and saw a large facility standing in front of them; it was overgrown by vines and looked abandoned. There were no windows and it looked like there was only one way in: a metal door at the front, right beside where the van was parked. Around the perimeter was another large fence like the one back at the mansion.
“Well,” he said, “time to go in.” The duo led them to the door and Santa pulled out a small ring of keys. She flipped through them before stopping at a small silver one, using it to unlock the door. The girls were led inside and Santa flipped a switch to turn on the power. The walls and floor were solid concrete and the air was very cool. The halls were extremely empty and dusty, with no sings of use in forever. An overwhelming sense of isolation filled the girls.
They were led down a series of hallways before arriving at another door. Santa unlocked it and the girls looked inside. The room was extremely small and was similar to the halls: empty and dusty. “Well,” Santa butted in. “Go on in.”
At first, the girls were reluctant to go into the cramped room, but then the thought of being filled with bullets made them change their mind. They walked through the doorway before turning around and looking at Santa and Kuro, possibly the last people they would see for quite some time. “Enjoy your stay,” Kuro said, with a sarcastic laugh afterwards. He slammed the door shut and the girls heard the lock. There were footsteps as the duo left, until all was silent.
“Well, this is pretty awful,” Shiro said. “I think I liked the mansion better.
“Agreed,” Azelf added in response.
“You know, I-“ Shiro stopped short as soon as she noticed it, the one thing they had been craving ever since leaving the Asylum: food. In the corner of the room was a metal table with multiple pizzas and gallons of water. “Thank goodness. I guess they didn’t want us dying of dehydration and hunger before they could experiment on us.”
The four of them ran over to the table, and Uni went to grab for a slice of pizza before remembering the handcuffs. “How are we supposed to eat with these on?”
“Like this.” Shiro shoved her face into one of the pizzas, and began devouring a slice. At first, the other girls looked at Shiro as if she was crazy, but then they got over it as they remembered their severe hunger. They went to join suit when Azelf spoke up.
“I have a better idea. Why don’t we just feed each other?” She turned around and grabbed a slice behind her back and then turned so that her back faced Uni. “Go ahead.” Uni got down and ate the slice as Azelf held it for her. They each took turns feeding each other until they were full. Then, they opened the water jugs and set them on their side at the edge of the table before sticking their mouth over the holes and chugging the water. After having been dehydrated for a while, the water seemed like the most delicious thing they had ever had in their entire life. After the jugs ran out, the girls sat down, exhausted.
“Well that fixes that problem,” Chen said, leaning against the wall. “Now, if only we could get these handcuffs o-” She was interrupted by banging on the door. At first they thought it was Santa or Kuro, but the voice was that of someone else.
“We are coming in,” Ootsoki exclaimed before unlocking the door. Beside him stood Boy, with a metal baseball bat in his hands.
The girls looked at them in fear before Boy spoke up. “Listen, we have something to tell you girls. We don’t want to be part of the Society. We never did. We told you girls that eventually you would become murderers too. And look, you guys killed Yuki.”
“That wasn’t our fault,” Chen yelled at him. “We didn’t want to do it! It was our only option!”
“Believe me, I know. You think we wanted to kill people? When you start your first game, you tell yourself you wouldn’t hurt a fly, but then you realize it’s kill or be killed. So, you fight back. But, due to the nature of the worlds, that murderous instinct becomes more prominent in the real world, making you enjoy it. You become addicted to it. But, we are tired of it. Ootsuki and I don’t want to be part of the Society.” Tears began falling down his cheeks. “We have been trapped here for a while. We couldn’t speak out or try to escape. We played along, fearful of the GM’s and Jay. But, we told them we were going for a walk and came here. We snuck in behind the van and followed you guys. The two of us managed to find a spare key and the key to the handcuffs.”
Ootsuki walked towards Uni and she backed up, still not trusting him. However, he pulled out a key and she let him take off the handcuffs. It felt nice having them taken off. The other girls followed suit, allowing him to take them off. “Listen,” he said. “I know you guys don’t trust us, but at least let us prove it to you. We are getting you out. We are going to be free of the Society. But, we need to go now. It won’t be long before Kuro and Santa catch on, and I don’t want to be here when they do. If they found out we were betraying the Society…well, it would probably be a fate worse than death.”
The girls were reluctant at first, but then began to trust them more. This was their best chance at the moment. All they had to do was escape and then they could go back to their lives. They could be free form Mira and her Society of murderers for good. That thought filled them with motivation, and that sense of determination that they had back at the mansion returned. They would do whatever it took to be free.
“Yeah,” Kuro added. “This brings back memories.” The girls kept quiet, not only because they wanted to ignore the two, but also because they were curious as to what they had to say.
“I remember the first time I helped there. After you and Mira convinced me to help, we captured those seven people and set up the traps.”
“Oh yeah. The one with the tall bald guy and nerdy college girl?”
“That’s the one! There a part of me that kind of misses it. You know, kidnapping people, watching them take each other out. Though I definitely am grateful of Jay for the technology he has brought us. It allowed our small group to develop into an entire society.”
“I get what you mean. But hey, we are basically gods now. So that’s a plus.”
“Yeah.”
There were a few minutes of awkward silence before Kuro spoke again. “I haven’t even been here in a while. Has anybody actually been managing it or anything?”
“Well, Mira owns the property, which keeps people out. Occasionally her and Jay will go up here and check on the place, especially now that this experiment is commencing.”
“Speaking of which, what kind of experiments are they going to be doing?”
Santa let out an obviously faked cough. “That’s a surprise.”
“Ah, I get what you mean.”
“Gosh. It’s amazing how much we’ve grown. We started out with the old facility. Then, Jay came along and Mira had that underground lab built for him below that old warehouse before converting the warehouse into his own nightclub. And then the newest place, that mansion Mira had built once the Society was formed in.”
“Yeah. It’s nice to have a place like that to live in and hold all of our meetings in.”
Santa let out a sigh. “Yuki didn’t really care for it that much, especially once we had the Asylum created. That place was her pride and joy. She probably would have killed us knowing we held her funeral in the mansion.”
Kuro let out a small laugh. “Probably. But where else would we have held it? The nightclub? Jay’s labs?”
“She probably would have preferred the old facility. But the mansion was convenient.
“It feels so weird. She’s the first member we’ve ever had die. We have been so careful up to this point.”
“Well, I guess we weren’t careful enough. Now we lost Yuki and the Asylum. But even if we rebuilt it, her notes were lost in there. Her methods and everything have been lost, it could take us a while to figure out exactly how to use exposure therapy in order to fix the people sent there.”
There was silence for a while after that. The girls just sat there, looking at each other. They were utterly terrified. Chen even had the thought that maybe just going along with everything and joining the Society would have been better than all of this. Immediately after having this thought, she felt disgusted with herself, wishing she have never even considered it.
“Well, here we are,” Kuro said, bringing the van to a stop. He hit a button and the girls heard the sound of a gate opening. They drove a little farther before Kuro stopped and turned the van off. He and Santa got out and walked to the back of the van, opening the doors for the girls. The two of them aimed submachine guns at them. “Get out.”
The girls obeyed and got out of the van, their hands still handcuffed behind their backs. They looked up and saw a large facility standing in front of them; it was overgrown by vines and looked abandoned. There were no windows and it looked like there was only one way in: a metal door at the front, right beside where the van was parked. Around the perimeter was another large fence like the one back at the mansion.
“Well,” he said, “time to go in.” The duo led them to the door and Santa pulled out a small ring of keys. She flipped through them before stopping at a small silver one, using it to unlock the door. The girls were led inside and Santa flipped a switch to turn on the power. The walls and floor were solid concrete and the air was very cool. The halls were extremely empty and dusty, with no sings of use in forever. An overwhelming sense of isolation filled the girls.
They were led down a series of hallways before arriving at another door. Santa unlocked it and the girls looked inside. The room was extremely small and was similar to the halls: empty and dusty. “Well,” Santa butted in. “Go on in.”
At first, the girls were reluctant to go into the cramped room, but then the thought of being filled with bullets made them change their mind. They walked through the doorway before turning around and looking at Santa and Kuro, possibly the last people they would see for quite some time. “Enjoy your stay,” Kuro said, with a sarcastic laugh afterwards. He slammed the door shut and the girls heard the lock. There were footsteps as the duo left, until all was silent.
“Well, this is pretty awful,” Shiro said. “I think I liked the mansion better.
“Agreed,” Azelf added in response.
“You know, I-“ Shiro stopped short as soon as she noticed it, the one thing they had been craving ever since leaving the Asylum: food. In the corner of the room was a metal table with multiple pizzas and gallons of water. “Thank goodness. I guess they didn’t want us dying of dehydration and hunger before they could experiment on us.”
The four of them ran over to the table, and Uni went to grab for a slice of pizza before remembering the handcuffs. “How are we supposed to eat with these on?”
“Like this.” Shiro shoved her face into one of the pizzas, and began devouring a slice. At first, the other girls looked at Shiro as if she was crazy, but then they got over it as they remembered their severe hunger. They went to join suit when Azelf spoke up.
“I have a better idea. Why don’t we just feed each other?” She turned around and grabbed a slice behind her back and then turned so that her back faced Uni. “Go ahead.” Uni got down and ate the slice as Azelf held it for her. They each took turns feeding each other until they were full. Then, they opened the water jugs and set them on their side at the edge of the table before sticking their mouth over the holes and chugging the water. After having been dehydrated for a while, the water seemed like the most delicious thing they had ever had in their entire life. After the jugs ran out, the girls sat down, exhausted.
“Well that fixes that problem,” Chen said, leaning against the wall. “Now, if only we could get these handcuffs o-” She was interrupted by banging on the door. At first they thought it was Santa or Kuro, but the voice was that of someone else.
“We are coming in,” Ootsoki exclaimed before unlocking the door. Beside him stood Boy, with a metal baseball bat in his hands.
The girls looked at them in fear before Boy spoke up. “Listen, we have something to tell you girls. We don’t want to be part of the Society. We never did. We told you girls that eventually you would become murderers too. And look, you guys killed Yuki.”
“That wasn’t our fault,” Chen yelled at him. “We didn’t want to do it! It was our only option!”
“Believe me, I know. You think we wanted to kill people? When you start your first game, you tell yourself you wouldn’t hurt a fly, but then you realize it’s kill or be killed. So, you fight back. But, due to the nature of the worlds, that murderous instinct becomes more prominent in the real world, making you enjoy it. You become addicted to it. But, we are tired of it. Ootsuki and I don’t want to be part of the Society.” Tears began falling down his cheeks. “We have been trapped here for a while. We couldn’t speak out or try to escape. We played along, fearful of the GM’s and Jay. But, we told them we were going for a walk and came here. We snuck in behind the van and followed you guys. The two of us managed to find a spare key and the key to the handcuffs.”
Ootsuki walked towards Uni and she backed up, still not trusting him. However, he pulled out a key and she let him take off the handcuffs. It felt nice having them taken off. The other girls followed suit, allowing him to take them off. “Listen,” he said. “I know you guys don’t trust us, but at least let us prove it to you. We are getting you out. We are going to be free of the Society. But, we need to go now. It won’t be long before Kuro and Santa catch on, and I don’t want to be here when they do. If they found out we were betraying the Society…well, it would probably be a fate worse than death.”
The girls were reluctant at first, but then began to trust them more. This was their best chance at the moment. All they had to do was escape and then they could go back to their lives. They could be free form Mira and her Society of murderers for good. That thought filled them with motivation, and that sense of determination that they had back at the mansion returned. They would do whatever it took to be free.
Chapter 12: Sword of Truth
“Alright, follow us,” Boy said, and the group began to walk down a long hallway. The corridors in this place were so complicated that the girls didn’t even remember the way back. “Be careful. This place was used in games before, so there could be weapons and traps here. Also, this building has fallen into some disrepair over the years, so you could get hurt on something.”
“What was it like,” Uni asked, filled with curiosity. “The game that got you into the Society.”
“My first wolf game? Well, it was one that Santa hosted. She created a world with two bases, a red base and a blue base, that were at war with each other. I was on the red team. But…do you know what it’s like to be in a war? Watching people get shot and blasted to smithereens. The tanks, the bombs, and fear of death around every corner? So I did what I had to do to survive. Am I proud of it? No. In fact, part of me wishes I could go back and just accept death. Just become one of those people from the Asylum. That would be better than the monster I’ve become.”
“But,” Azelf spoke up, “if you guys managed to stop obeying the Society and your murderous tendencies, it should be easy for everyone else, right?”
“Easy,” Ootsuki said. “You think this is easy? Besides, even if it was, who in their right mind would go against the GMs and Jay? It’s a death wish.”
Chen gave it a moment of thought before responding. “But what if everyone works together?”
“Hah. Work together. Listen. You girls may think you are capable of taking them down because of what you did to Yuki, but you just got lucky. You saw how powerful she was. But you’ve also seen what Jay can do. And taking on all four GMs? Forget about it. And who knows what Mira could do.”
“Then just run?”
“What do you think we are trying to do? But trust me, they will follow us. You girls better be ready to put up a fight if need be.”
They rounded another corner. “No,” shouted Boy in frustration. “I could have sworn it was this way! I don’t remember this corner at all!”
“Don’t let this place get to you. You know this place was built specifically for the old games. They were meant to keep the players inside until the games finished.”
“But how can the halls just change like that?”
“You forget who we are dealing with. Before Jay, Mira had some tricks of her own. Trap halls, moving walls, and an assortment of way to get oneself killed down here.”
Boy looked like he was about to say something, but remained silent as they kept walking down the halls. Around every bend, the group lost a little bit of hope. “You know, I-“ Before Boy could finish, the power went out and they were left in complete darkness.
“Chen,” Uni said, grabbing around for her friend.
“Uni,” she replied, hugging on to who she assumed to be Uni.
“Does someone have a flashlight or something,” Shiro piped up.
“I had one,” Ootsuki said, “but I must have dropped it somewhere.”
The group fumbled around for a bit before they heard the screams. The first one was short, a girl’s. The second belonged to a boy; that one was much longer before it faded into the distance.
“Who was that,” Uni asked, starting to shake out of fear.
“Well I’m beside you,” Chen said.
“It must have been Azelf,” Shiro exclaimed with concern in her voice. “But what about the guy?”
“Boy,” Ootsuki shouted. “It must have been Boy! BOY!” There was no reply. “BOY! This isn’t funny. You can come out now!” After a few more seconds of silence, Ootsuki let out an aggravated scream. “If you don’t-“ Before he could finish, the power came back on. Azelf and Boy where nowhere to be seen.
“Where did they go?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Boy and I came to save you guys and we are leaving!”
“Not without them,” Chen said, getting defensive.
“So what, you want us to just stay here until Kuro and Santa get here? If they turned off the power then they could already be onto us.”
“Do you even know the way out?”
“Truthfully, no.”
“The why the heck can’t we look for them while we look for the exit,” Uni spoke up.
“Fine. Let’s just go already.” The group continued on their journey through the many hallways of the facility. They opened any door that they passed, hoping it led to an exit. However, all they led to were rooms filled with old bloodstains, rabbit masks, traps, and other atrocities. After a while, they finally found a room that took them by surprise.
Inside were an assortment of deadly traps; spikes, saws, and two Plexiglas tubes, each containing a person, and each having what appeared to be a trapdoor. Upon closer inspection, they found Azelf in one of the tubes. However, when they looked in the other, they were surprised to see Azelf as well.
“How,” Uni began, not able to comprehend the two Azelfs.
“There’s two of them,” Shiro asked, going up to one of the tubes.
The two Azelfs banged on the glass tubes, screaming to no anvil. Then, the door to the room slammed shut and they could hear it lock. Chen ran over to it and tried to pry it open to no anvil. “Did they catch onto us?”
“I don’t know,” Ootsuki said, looking at the tubes more closely.
There was a loud sound and a distorted voice filled the room. “The twelve of you have been gathered here today for our game of Rabbit Doubt.”
“Twelve? Maybe this is one of the leftover recordings…”
“The game is simple. Choose who you want to save. Each of you has a PDA that you can use to submit your answer.”
“PDA,” Shiro exclaimed. “We don’t have any PDAs!”
“Failure to reach a majority vote on one will result in a random one going free. Of course, the loser will plummet through the trapdoor below their feet into a pit of boiling water, where they will suffer an extremely painful death.” The two Azelfs began banging on the tubes, pleading for someone to save them.
“We have to do something,” Chen yelled, kicking one of the tubes as hard as she could.
Everyone frantically looked around the room for anything of use but nothing could be found. Anything they tried was fruitless; the two Azelfs continued freaking out, trying to bust out of their containers.
“Maybe there is an emergency switch or something somewhere,” Ootsuki shouted, searching every square inch of the room.
“Do you see a switch or anything,” Shiro said, examining the spikes and saws. “Because I sure as heck don’t.”
Ootsuki stopped searching and turned to Shiro, waving his arms as he spoke. “I’m trying aren’t I? I don’t want Azelf to die either! The whole reason Boy and I came here was to save you girls.”
Shiro turned and yelled back, “well you sure as heck wanted to leave them as soon as they disappeared.”
“And how does yelling at me for trying to save the three of you fix any of this? If anything it-“
Before he could finish, the message filled the room again. “Time’s up.” With that, the trapdoor underneath the Azelf on the right side opened and she fell into the pit below her.
“Azelf,” Chen said, rushing over to the tube. The trapdoor closed, sealing away the girl completely. The others joined her after getting over the initial shock. Then, the other tube lifted, allowing the other Azelf to leave. Everyone was still too much in shock to react.
“I was trying to tell you,” Azelf smiled at them all. “That I wasn’t the real Azelf.” Her smile widened into an evil grin. “If only you had listened to me, then maybe she would still be alive.” With that, in the blink of an eye, she transformed into Boy. “One of the powers I got from the games was the ability to appear as someone else.”
“But,” Shiro tried to force the words out, but none came.
“That’s right. Ootsuki and I didn’t come here to save you girls. After what you did with Yuki, we couldn’t let you girls just walk away from that.”
The girls were still in shock but then turned to Ootsuki, who had manifested a sword and shield out of nowhere. His mouth widened into a grin. “I’m going to enjoy every second of this.”
“What was it like,” Uni asked, filled with curiosity. “The game that got you into the Society.”
“My first wolf game? Well, it was one that Santa hosted. She created a world with two bases, a red base and a blue base, that were at war with each other. I was on the red team. But…do you know what it’s like to be in a war? Watching people get shot and blasted to smithereens. The tanks, the bombs, and fear of death around every corner? So I did what I had to do to survive. Am I proud of it? No. In fact, part of me wishes I could go back and just accept death. Just become one of those people from the Asylum. That would be better than the monster I’ve become.”
“But,” Azelf spoke up, “if you guys managed to stop obeying the Society and your murderous tendencies, it should be easy for everyone else, right?”
“Easy,” Ootsuki said. “You think this is easy? Besides, even if it was, who in their right mind would go against the GMs and Jay? It’s a death wish.”
Chen gave it a moment of thought before responding. “But what if everyone works together?”
“Hah. Work together. Listen. You girls may think you are capable of taking them down because of what you did to Yuki, but you just got lucky. You saw how powerful she was. But you’ve also seen what Jay can do. And taking on all four GMs? Forget about it. And who knows what Mira could do.”
“Then just run?”
“What do you think we are trying to do? But trust me, they will follow us. You girls better be ready to put up a fight if need be.”
They rounded another corner. “No,” shouted Boy in frustration. “I could have sworn it was this way! I don’t remember this corner at all!”
“Don’t let this place get to you. You know this place was built specifically for the old games. They were meant to keep the players inside until the games finished.”
“But how can the halls just change like that?”
“You forget who we are dealing with. Before Jay, Mira had some tricks of her own. Trap halls, moving walls, and an assortment of way to get oneself killed down here.”
Boy looked like he was about to say something, but remained silent as they kept walking down the halls. Around every bend, the group lost a little bit of hope. “You know, I-“ Before Boy could finish, the power went out and they were left in complete darkness.
“Chen,” Uni said, grabbing around for her friend.
“Uni,” she replied, hugging on to who she assumed to be Uni.
“Does someone have a flashlight or something,” Shiro piped up.
“I had one,” Ootsuki said, “but I must have dropped it somewhere.”
The group fumbled around for a bit before they heard the screams. The first one was short, a girl’s. The second belonged to a boy; that one was much longer before it faded into the distance.
“Who was that,” Uni asked, starting to shake out of fear.
“Well I’m beside you,” Chen said.
“It must have been Azelf,” Shiro exclaimed with concern in her voice. “But what about the guy?”
“Boy,” Ootsuki shouted. “It must have been Boy! BOY!” There was no reply. “BOY! This isn’t funny. You can come out now!” After a few more seconds of silence, Ootsuki let out an aggravated scream. “If you don’t-“ Before he could finish, the power came back on. Azelf and Boy where nowhere to be seen.
“Where did they go?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Boy and I came to save you guys and we are leaving!”
“Not without them,” Chen said, getting defensive.
“So what, you want us to just stay here until Kuro and Santa get here? If they turned off the power then they could already be onto us.”
“Do you even know the way out?”
“Truthfully, no.”
“The why the heck can’t we look for them while we look for the exit,” Uni spoke up.
“Fine. Let’s just go already.” The group continued on their journey through the many hallways of the facility. They opened any door that they passed, hoping it led to an exit. However, all they led to were rooms filled with old bloodstains, rabbit masks, traps, and other atrocities. After a while, they finally found a room that took them by surprise.
Inside were an assortment of deadly traps; spikes, saws, and two Plexiglas tubes, each containing a person, and each having what appeared to be a trapdoor. Upon closer inspection, they found Azelf in one of the tubes. However, when they looked in the other, they were surprised to see Azelf as well.
“How,” Uni began, not able to comprehend the two Azelfs.
“There’s two of them,” Shiro asked, going up to one of the tubes.
The two Azelfs banged on the glass tubes, screaming to no anvil. Then, the door to the room slammed shut and they could hear it lock. Chen ran over to it and tried to pry it open to no anvil. “Did they catch onto us?”
“I don’t know,” Ootsuki said, looking at the tubes more closely.
There was a loud sound and a distorted voice filled the room. “The twelve of you have been gathered here today for our game of Rabbit Doubt.”
“Twelve? Maybe this is one of the leftover recordings…”
“The game is simple. Choose who you want to save. Each of you has a PDA that you can use to submit your answer.”
“PDA,” Shiro exclaimed. “We don’t have any PDAs!”
“Failure to reach a majority vote on one will result in a random one going free. Of course, the loser will plummet through the trapdoor below their feet into a pit of boiling water, where they will suffer an extremely painful death.” The two Azelfs began banging on the tubes, pleading for someone to save them.
“We have to do something,” Chen yelled, kicking one of the tubes as hard as she could.
Everyone frantically looked around the room for anything of use but nothing could be found. Anything they tried was fruitless; the two Azelfs continued freaking out, trying to bust out of their containers.
“Maybe there is an emergency switch or something somewhere,” Ootsuki shouted, searching every square inch of the room.
“Do you see a switch or anything,” Shiro said, examining the spikes and saws. “Because I sure as heck don’t.”
Ootsuki stopped searching and turned to Shiro, waving his arms as he spoke. “I’m trying aren’t I? I don’t want Azelf to die either! The whole reason Boy and I came here was to save you girls.”
Shiro turned and yelled back, “well you sure as heck wanted to leave them as soon as they disappeared.”
“And how does yelling at me for trying to save the three of you fix any of this? If anything it-“
Before he could finish, the message filled the room again. “Time’s up.” With that, the trapdoor underneath the Azelf on the right side opened and she fell into the pit below her.
“Azelf,” Chen said, rushing over to the tube. The trapdoor closed, sealing away the girl completely. The others joined her after getting over the initial shock. Then, the other tube lifted, allowing the other Azelf to leave. Everyone was still too much in shock to react.
“I was trying to tell you,” Azelf smiled at them all. “That I wasn’t the real Azelf.” Her smile widened into an evil grin. “If only you had listened to me, then maybe she would still be alive.” With that, in the blink of an eye, she transformed into Boy. “One of the powers I got from the games was the ability to appear as someone else.”
“But,” Shiro tried to force the words out, but none came.
“That’s right. Ootsuki and I didn’t come here to save you girls. After what you did with Yuki, we couldn’t let you girls just walk away from that.”
The girls were still in shock but then turned to Ootsuki, who had manifested a sword and shield out of nowhere. His mouth widened into a grin. “I’m going to enjoy every second of this.”
Chapter 13: Doppelgänger
The girls all stood in shock at what they had just seen. Boy had managed to disguise himself as Azelf. Azelf. She was now gone from them, into the abyss below. They were all so confident that they would make it out of there alive; they truly believed they would be able to escape. However, they didn’t have long to think before Ootsuki started charging after Chen with his sword.
“This is for Yuki,” he screamed, readying his sword for the strike.
“We had no choice,” Chen said, backing up, filled with complete and utter fear. Ootsuki swung the sword, but Chen ducked and barely managed to escape being decapitated.
That’s when Boy charged at Uni, his fists ready to knock her out. “You all murdered Yuki.”
Shiro ran behind Boy and jumped on his back sending them both to the ground. “It was the only way!” Boy struggled to get loose but Shiro held on tight.
Uni saw that as her chance and ran up to the two, pinning Boy’s legs to the ground as Shiro pinned his arms.
Ootsuki swung the sword at Chen again, managing to barely graze her arm as she jumped out of the way. She ran over to the giant saw, trying to hide behind it. Ootsuki approached her, “so that’s how you want to play it.” He walked over to a switch on the wall and the saw roared to life. Chen started to run, but Ootsuki cornered her with his shield and began pushing her towards the saw.
Shiro leaned in close to Boy’s ear. “You are going to tell your friend over there to stop or you’re going to be the next one in that saw.” Boy saw that as his opportunity and threw his head back, landing a strike on her forehead and stunning her. He threw her back and used his momentum to get Uni off. After that, he quickly punched Shiro in the face, sending her to the ground. That’s when he suddenly morphed into Yuki; it was so exact that the girls couldn’t even tell the difference between the copy and the real Yuki.
“It’s befitting don’t you think?” His voice even sounded exactly like Yuki’s.
Meanwhile, Chen was almost at the saw, mere inches from being cut in half. “Stop, you don’t have to do this.”
Ootsuki laughed. “No. I don’t have to. I want to.” He went to deliver the final push but Chen took that as her chance to kick his leg, sending him to the ground as she ran to help Shiro to her feet.
Uni ran over to the door and tried to open it but it was locked tight and there was no visible way to unlock it. “Guys, the door wont-“ Before she could finish, Boy was already behind her. He, or rather the Yuki look-alike, grabbed her by the shoulder and kneed her in the stomach. Uni lost her breath and fell to her knees. Boy grabbed her head and went to knee it, but Chen ran up behind him and kicked his knee out from under him, sending him to the ground.
Ootsuki saw this as his moment and ran at Shiro, managing to swing his sword and land a cut to her left arm. She winced in pain as he pulled it out and prepared to stab her in the stomach. Shiro dodged out of the way, barely avoiding death.
Boy started getting up again when Uni kicked him in the face, sending him backwards and causing his lip to bleed. She tried the door again, but no use.
Shiro took a moment to punsh Ootsuki in the side. He went to swing at her again when she brought he leg up and managed to get a kick to his elbow before he could turn around. As a reflex, he dropped his shield to the ground. Shiro quickly picked it up and backed towards the spike wall.
Boy, or rather Yuki, tried to get back up, but Chen gave him another kick to the head, putting him on the edge of being unconscious. Uni then took her foot and held his chest down with it as an extra precaution.
Ootsuki charged full speed at Shiro, ready to strike again. But, she had a plan. At the last possible second, she stepped out of the way and blocked his sword with the shield. Before he could have time to turn around, she jumped behind him and sent all of her weight into his back, causing him to be pushed against the wall, right into the spikes.
“You…beat me,” he said, blood coming out of his mouth and all of the places that the spikes were stabbing into him. The blood began pooling below him and within moments, he was dead.
“Ootsuki,” Boy tried saying, but it was barely audible.
Shiro stood in shock. This was the first time she had ever actually killed anyone. Her hands began to shake. She had taken someone’s life; at least with Yuki, it was Lock who killed her. Chen and Uni ran to her side, trying to comfort her. She just stood there. She was a murderer. She had become one of them.
That’s when the girls heard the door unlock. It swung open and Santa and Kuro barged in, gasping at the sight. “This wasn’t the plan,” Kuro said. “They were supposed to come in here, attack the girls some, and try to see if they would react under extreme stress. It was supposed to be a test.”
“Test,” Chen asked, rage filling her. “A test? You killed Azelf for a test?”
“Don’t be silly,” Santa spoke up. “She isn’t dead. There were some cushions below her. We have her safely in our hands. Mira gave us strict orders to keep you guys safe until the testing was done.”
Kuro went over to Ootsuki and examined the body. “Well, she definitely isn’t going to like this.”
“You take Boy and get him some medical attention. I will keep the girls from running away.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
Santa smiled at him. “I am going to keep them locked up in my own little universe.” With that, there was a flash of light before everything went dark.
“This is for Yuki,” he screamed, readying his sword for the strike.
“We had no choice,” Chen said, backing up, filled with complete and utter fear. Ootsuki swung the sword, but Chen ducked and barely managed to escape being decapitated.
That’s when Boy charged at Uni, his fists ready to knock her out. “You all murdered Yuki.”
Shiro ran behind Boy and jumped on his back sending them both to the ground. “It was the only way!” Boy struggled to get loose but Shiro held on tight.
Uni saw that as her chance and ran up to the two, pinning Boy’s legs to the ground as Shiro pinned his arms.
Ootsuki swung the sword at Chen again, managing to barely graze her arm as she jumped out of the way. She ran over to the giant saw, trying to hide behind it. Ootsuki approached her, “so that’s how you want to play it.” He walked over to a switch on the wall and the saw roared to life. Chen started to run, but Ootsuki cornered her with his shield and began pushing her towards the saw.
Shiro leaned in close to Boy’s ear. “You are going to tell your friend over there to stop or you’re going to be the next one in that saw.” Boy saw that as his opportunity and threw his head back, landing a strike on her forehead and stunning her. He threw her back and used his momentum to get Uni off. After that, he quickly punched Shiro in the face, sending her to the ground. That’s when he suddenly morphed into Yuki; it was so exact that the girls couldn’t even tell the difference between the copy and the real Yuki.
“It’s befitting don’t you think?” His voice even sounded exactly like Yuki’s.
Meanwhile, Chen was almost at the saw, mere inches from being cut in half. “Stop, you don’t have to do this.”
Ootsuki laughed. “No. I don’t have to. I want to.” He went to deliver the final push but Chen took that as her chance to kick his leg, sending him to the ground as she ran to help Shiro to her feet.
Uni ran over to the door and tried to open it but it was locked tight and there was no visible way to unlock it. “Guys, the door wont-“ Before she could finish, Boy was already behind her. He, or rather the Yuki look-alike, grabbed her by the shoulder and kneed her in the stomach. Uni lost her breath and fell to her knees. Boy grabbed her head and went to knee it, but Chen ran up behind him and kicked his knee out from under him, sending him to the ground.
Ootsuki saw this as his moment and ran at Shiro, managing to swing his sword and land a cut to her left arm. She winced in pain as he pulled it out and prepared to stab her in the stomach. Shiro dodged out of the way, barely avoiding death.
Boy started getting up again when Uni kicked him in the face, sending him backwards and causing his lip to bleed. She tried the door again, but no use.
Shiro took a moment to punsh Ootsuki in the side. He went to swing at her again when she brought he leg up and managed to get a kick to his elbow before he could turn around. As a reflex, he dropped his shield to the ground. Shiro quickly picked it up and backed towards the spike wall.
Boy, or rather Yuki, tried to get back up, but Chen gave him another kick to the head, putting him on the edge of being unconscious. Uni then took her foot and held his chest down with it as an extra precaution.
Ootsuki charged full speed at Shiro, ready to strike again. But, she had a plan. At the last possible second, she stepped out of the way and blocked his sword with the shield. Before he could have time to turn around, she jumped behind him and sent all of her weight into his back, causing him to be pushed against the wall, right into the spikes.
“You…beat me,” he said, blood coming out of his mouth and all of the places that the spikes were stabbing into him. The blood began pooling below him and within moments, he was dead.
“Ootsuki,” Boy tried saying, but it was barely audible.
Shiro stood in shock. This was the first time she had ever actually killed anyone. Her hands began to shake. She had taken someone’s life; at least with Yuki, it was Lock who killed her. Chen and Uni ran to her side, trying to comfort her. She just stood there. She was a murderer. She had become one of them.
That’s when the girls heard the door unlock. It swung open and Santa and Kuro barged in, gasping at the sight. “This wasn’t the plan,” Kuro said. “They were supposed to come in here, attack the girls some, and try to see if they would react under extreme stress. It was supposed to be a test.”
“Test,” Chen asked, rage filling her. “A test? You killed Azelf for a test?”
“Don’t be silly,” Santa spoke up. “She isn’t dead. There were some cushions below her. We have her safely in our hands. Mira gave us strict orders to keep you guys safe until the testing was done.”
Kuro went over to Ootsuki and examined the body. “Well, she definitely isn’t going to like this.”
“You take Boy and get him some medical attention. I will keep the girls from running away.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
Santa smiled at him. “I am going to keep them locked up in my own little universe.” With that, there was a flash of light before everything went dark.
Chapter 14: The Story of Two Owls
When their eyes adjusted, Chen, Shiro, and Uni were no longer alone; Azelf was back by their side. However, they were unable to move due to being tied to chairs. As they looked around, they noticed they were in a large, dark room with only a single light hanging from the ceiling. There was no way in or no way out, as far as the girls could see. In front of them sat an empty chair, facing them.
“Azelf,” Uni shouted excitedly. “I’m so glad you are alright!”
Azelf smiled back at Uni. “I was honestly terrified. I thought I was going to die…”
Chen was almost in tears. “I’m so sorry. We picked the wrong one. We thought that you were the fake. I am so sorry.”
“It’s fine. We were perfectly identical. There was no way for you to have known which one of us was which. It was weird, almost like looking in a mirror.”
Shiro spoke bluntly. “Ootsuki is dead. And Boy had to be taken to the hospital. Those scumbags deserved it.”
“I can’t say that I disagree with you, there. They did try to murder us and all.”
Our conversation was stopped short as footsteps echoed through the room. Out of the shadows appeared someone that we had seen countless times before: Santa. Santa promptly sat in the empty chair, facing the girls.
Shiro balled her hands into fists, but couldn’t move her arms due to the restraints. “What the hell do you want?”
Santa give Shiro a small smile. “We have time to kill. All I want is to sit down and have a nice conversation with you girls.”
“Well, we don’t want to talk with you.”
“Oh, come on now. I know there are a million questions you must have. I am setting aside this time to answer some of those questions for you. All I ask is that you remain silent for my presentation. Understood?”
The girls were reluctant, but nodded. They didn’t really have a choice and they really wanted some answers.
“Alright. I guess I should start at the beginning. A few years ago, I was in a tight spot; my job sucked, I barely had enough money for food, and I was growing desperate. After a few nights of struggling to get by, a man showed up at my door. He said his name was Kuro and all he wanted to do was talk. I quickly grabbed the handgun I kept nearby, just in case he tried anything. Then, I opened the door and let him inside. I offered him a cup of tea, but he seemed focus on whatever he needed to tell me.
“Kuro was extremely upfront and direct about it. According to him, there was a group of people that could have used my expertise. All I would need to do was come live with them and monitor their games. I asked him what kind of games and he decided to show me instead. So, I got in the car with him, still gripping my handgun just in case, and he drove us down some shady streets. We continued to drive out of town, into the forest. I began to grow increasingly worried, but decided to keep going. Then, after what seemed like ages, we arrived at the complex, where you girls are right now…or were before I brought you into this world.
“So, once we get inside, Kuro led me to what seemed to be an office space with a wall of monitors. In the middle was a conference table. But, most importantly was the woman in the business suit and wolf mask in the corner of the room. She introduced herself as Mira and then turned to the monitors. What I saw on those monitors was one of the original killing games. There were people trapped inside of the complex, fighting to the death, unsure of who was the real killer or who was innocent. I finally understood what kind of game they meant.
“But, like I said before, I was desperate. Mira offered to treat me like family. She offered to give me a nice place to stay, food, and anything else that I needed. Then, she told me the risk of being a GM. There was a reason she only had Kuro left. The other GMs had all died either by the hands of the authorities or in game mishaps. She warned me that this was the risk I would be taking, but I had no other choice. So, I took her up on her offer.
“Eventually, it became too much for the three of us to handle. We needed to find another GM. Which is when we found Trinity. She had been a model. All she wanted was to be successful in life, but nobody would take her seriously. They all saw her as a pretty face and nothing else. So, Kuro and I came to talk to her one day. We promised her a home. A place where her true talents could shine through. Where her accomplishments would be recognized. At first, she was reluctant, but then she agreed to become a GM.
“A few months later, we found out that there was this brilliant theoretical physicist in town. He had been studying inter-dimensional travel and had made some decent progress. However, he was low on money and his company was going to fire him if he didn’t finish his project soon. So, we had Trin go out and recruit him. He was the hardest to recruit. Jay was always stubborn like that. He didn’t exactly agree on the whole murder thing. But, he was desperate.
“Anyways, he finishes his research and we have a trial run. The first trial was a disaster, but the second was successful. By this point, we had started to form the Doubtful Rabbit Society. After some more tests, we decided to unveil Jay’s creation to the Society. To celebrate the achievement, we decided to host a special game, in which Trin volunteered herself for. Of course, the machine did something weird when it came to special games.
“In that game, Trin had been given a special power. She could see if a person was innocent or guilty once every round. When she came out of the game, she had been given the gift of sight. Her eyes were lit up green and she claimed to be able to see visions. Jay decided to run some tests on her, which concluded in her visions being accurate readings of the future. After a few more games, Jay found a way to make copies of the players, allowing members to take part in the games without risking death. So, he made copies of the GMs and a special game was held. He insisted that his power be the same as Trin’s was.
“When Jay came out, his eyes glowed like Trin’s. He had been given the gift of sight as well. They were the Owls. Both of their visions showed significant things, though were fairly limited in what they revealed. It was more like they could see images of the future. The point is that they never had the same visions. They always had completely different vision. That was, until they had the vision of Chen and Uni. Mira insisted that we get you two in the game. She wanted to see if you guys were something special, which you turned out to be.
“Which leads us to why you girls are trapped in the facility right now. Mira wanted us to run some experiments on your girls to see if there really was anything special about you guys. At first, she wanted Azelf and Shiro killed off, but after what happened with Yuki, she wanted you guys alive just in case. Which is where Ootsuki and Boy came in. Their job was to terrify you girls so much to see if the overstimulation of the fear center of your brains would result in anything significant. Unfortunately, you girls resorted to murder, which ruined the experiment.
“Anyways, Kuro is contacting Jay right now to see what Mira’s next plan of action is. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go back to the real world for a minute to speak with Kuro. You girls, behave.” With that, she gave a smile before disappearing.
Uni looked at the other girls and asked, “What now?”
Shiro laughed. “We escape.”
Chen rolled her eyes. “And how do you expect us to do that?”
“Simple. I may have taken a knife earlier while nobody was looking and hid it in my pocked.” She glanced over at Azelf, who has the closest one to her. “Azelf, can you see if you can get it out of my pocket with your mouth?”
Azelf was reluctant but decided it was worth a shot. After some struggling, Azelf managed to stretch herself enough to bite the end of the knife. She moved her head to get the knife out and then looked back up at Shiro with the knife in her mouth.
“Alright. Now, cut my arm restraint.”
Azelf bent over and began sawing away at the arm restraint with the knife. It would have been a much easier job if she hadn’t had to use her mouth. Once Azelf had finally cut through the arm restraint, Shiro used her now freed arm to grab the knife and cut the other one.
“Now, here is the plan. I am going to cut all of your restraints, but we need to stay in our chairs and make it seem like we are still restrained. Then, Santa comes back and I lure her over to me. Once she is over to me, I stab her in the head.”
Uni looked mortified. “Kill her?”
“Of course. Look what happened with Yuki. As soon as she was dead, we could leave. If we kill Santa, we can escape from her and then possibly escape the facility and get help.” Shiro started cutting all of the restraints.
“But…” However, the girls knew Shiro was right. It did seem like the only option left. So, they all sat in their chairs and pretended to be tied up still. Shiro hid the knife under her arm so that Santa could not see it. It wasn’t long after that Santa returned.
“Did you girls miss me? Anyways, Kuro just got off the phone with Jay. Jay isn’t very happy with what happened and neither is Mira. However, she wants us to continue with the tests. As such, as soon as Kuro gets back, we will start the next test. I hope you gi-“ Santa was cut off by a loud coughing fit coming from Shiro. “Will you please stop that?” Santa was visibly annoyed, but the coughing continued. A few seconds passed and Santa couldn’t take it anymore. She marched over to stand right in front of Shiro and began examining her. “What is your problem you look fi-“
Before Santa even had a chance to finish, Shiro had already grabbed the knife and sent it into Santa’s temple. Santa attempted to move before falling to the ground in a pool of her own blood. Then, the world started to fall apart similar to how Yuki’s had. Shiro spoke up in urgency. “We need to leave now.”
The other girls agreed and walked over to the newly-opened portal at the back of the world. They grabbed hands and gave a nod to each other before stepping through it together.
“Azelf,” Uni shouted excitedly. “I’m so glad you are alright!”
Azelf smiled back at Uni. “I was honestly terrified. I thought I was going to die…”
Chen was almost in tears. “I’m so sorry. We picked the wrong one. We thought that you were the fake. I am so sorry.”
“It’s fine. We were perfectly identical. There was no way for you to have known which one of us was which. It was weird, almost like looking in a mirror.”
Shiro spoke bluntly. “Ootsuki is dead. And Boy had to be taken to the hospital. Those scumbags deserved it.”
“I can’t say that I disagree with you, there. They did try to murder us and all.”
Our conversation was stopped short as footsteps echoed through the room. Out of the shadows appeared someone that we had seen countless times before: Santa. Santa promptly sat in the empty chair, facing the girls.
Shiro balled her hands into fists, but couldn’t move her arms due to the restraints. “What the hell do you want?”
Santa give Shiro a small smile. “We have time to kill. All I want is to sit down and have a nice conversation with you girls.”
“Well, we don’t want to talk with you.”
“Oh, come on now. I know there are a million questions you must have. I am setting aside this time to answer some of those questions for you. All I ask is that you remain silent for my presentation. Understood?”
The girls were reluctant, but nodded. They didn’t really have a choice and they really wanted some answers.
“Alright. I guess I should start at the beginning. A few years ago, I was in a tight spot; my job sucked, I barely had enough money for food, and I was growing desperate. After a few nights of struggling to get by, a man showed up at my door. He said his name was Kuro and all he wanted to do was talk. I quickly grabbed the handgun I kept nearby, just in case he tried anything. Then, I opened the door and let him inside. I offered him a cup of tea, but he seemed focus on whatever he needed to tell me.
“Kuro was extremely upfront and direct about it. According to him, there was a group of people that could have used my expertise. All I would need to do was come live with them and monitor their games. I asked him what kind of games and he decided to show me instead. So, I got in the car with him, still gripping my handgun just in case, and he drove us down some shady streets. We continued to drive out of town, into the forest. I began to grow increasingly worried, but decided to keep going. Then, after what seemed like ages, we arrived at the complex, where you girls are right now…or were before I brought you into this world.
“So, once we get inside, Kuro led me to what seemed to be an office space with a wall of monitors. In the middle was a conference table. But, most importantly was the woman in the business suit and wolf mask in the corner of the room. She introduced herself as Mira and then turned to the monitors. What I saw on those monitors was one of the original killing games. There were people trapped inside of the complex, fighting to the death, unsure of who was the real killer or who was innocent. I finally understood what kind of game they meant.
“But, like I said before, I was desperate. Mira offered to treat me like family. She offered to give me a nice place to stay, food, and anything else that I needed. Then, she told me the risk of being a GM. There was a reason she only had Kuro left. The other GMs had all died either by the hands of the authorities or in game mishaps. She warned me that this was the risk I would be taking, but I had no other choice. So, I took her up on her offer.
“Eventually, it became too much for the three of us to handle. We needed to find another GM. Which is when we found Trinity. She had been a model. All she wanted was to be successful in life, but nobody would take her seriously. They all saw her as a pretty face and nothing else. So, Kuro and I came to talk to her one day. We promised her a home. A place where her true talents could shine through. Where her accomplishments would be recognized. At first, she was reluctant, but then she agreed to become a GM.
“A few months later, we found out that there was this brilliant theoretical physicist in town. He had been studying inter-dimensional travel and had made some decent progress. However, he was low on money and his company was going to fire him if he didn’t finish his project soon. So, we had Trin go out and recruit him. He was the hardest to recruit. Jay was always stubborn like that. He didn’t exactly agree on the whole murder thing. But, he was desperate.
“Anyways, he finishes his research and we have a trial run. The first trial was a disaster, but the second was successful. By this point, we had started to form the Doubtful Rabbit Society. After some more tests, we decided to unveil Jay’s creation to the Society. To celebrate the achievement, we decided to host a special game, in which Trin volunteered herself for. Of course, the machine did something weird when it came to special games.
“In that game, Trin had been given a special power. She could see if a person was innocent or guilty once every round. When she came out of the game, she had been given the gift of sight. Her eyes were lit up green and she claimed to be able to see visions. Jay decided to run some tests on her, which concluded in her visions being accurate readings of the future. After a few more games, Jay found a way to make copies of the players, allowing members to take part in the games without risking death. So, he made copies of the GMs and a special game was held. He insisted that his power be the same as Trin’s was.
“When Jay came out, his eyes glowed like Trin’s. He had been given the gift of sight as well. They were the Owls. Both of their visions showed significant things, though were fairly limited in what they revealed. It was more like they could see images of the future. The point is that they never had the same visions. They always had completely different vision. That was, until they had the vision of Chen and Uni. Mira insisted that we get you two in the game. She wanted to see if you guys were something special, which you turned out to be.
“Which leads us to why you girls are trapped in the facility right now. Mira wanted us to run some experiments on your girls to see if there really was anything special about you guys. At first, she wanted Azelf and Shiro killed off, but after what happened with Yuki, she wanted you guys alive just in case. Which is where Ootsuki and Boy came in. Their job was to terrify you girls so much to see if the overstimulation of the fear center of your brains would result in anything significant. Unfortunately, you girls resorted to murder, which ruined the experiment.
“Anyways, Kuro is contacting Jay right now to see what Mira’s next plan of action is. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go back to the real world for a minute to speak with Kuro. You girls, behave.” With that, she gave a smile before disappearing.
Uni looked at the other girls and asked, “What now?”
Shiro laughed. “We escape.”
Chen rolled her eyes. “And how do you expect us to do that?”
“Simple. I may have taken a knife earlier while nobody was looking and hid it in my pocked.” She glanced over at Azelf, who has the closest one to her. “Azelf, can you see if you can get it out of my pocket with your mouth?”
Azelf was reluctant but decided it was worth a shot. After some struggling, Azelf managed to stretch herself enough to bite the end of the knife. She moved her head to get the knife out and then looked back up at Shiro with the knife in her mouth.
“Alright. Now, cut my arm restraint.”
Azelf bent over and began sawing away at the arm restraint with the knife. It would have been a much easier job if she hadn’t had to use her mouth. Once Azelf had finally cut through the arm restraint, Shiro used her now freed arm to grab the knife and cut the other one.
“Now, here is the plan. I am going to cut all of your restraints, but we need to stay in our chairs and make it seem like we are still restrained. Then, Santa comes back and I lure her over to me. Once she is over to me, I stab her in the head.”
Uni looked mortified. “Kill her?”
“Of course. Look what happened with Yuki. As soon as she was dead, we could leave. If we kill Santa, we can escape from her and then possibly escape the facility and get help.” Shiro started cutting all of the restraints.
“But…” However, the girls knew Shiro was right. It did seem like the only option left. So, they all sat in their chairs and pretended to be tied up still. Shiro hid the knife under her arm so that Santa could not see it. It wasn’t long after that Santa returned.
“Did you girls miss me? Anyways, Kuro just got off the phone with Jay. Jay isn’t very happy with what happened and neither is Mira. However, she wants us to continue with the tests. As such, as soon as Kuro gets back, we will start the next test. I hope you gi-“ Santa was cut off by a loud coughing fit coming from Shiro. “Will you please stop that?” Santa was visibly annoyed, but the coughing continued. A few seconds passed and Santa couldn’t take it anymore. She marched over to stand right in front of Shiro and began examining her. “What is your problem you look fi-“
Before Santa even had a chance to finish, Shiro had already grabbed the knife and sent it into Santa’s temple. Santa attempted to move before falling to the ground in a pool of her own blood. Then, the world started to fall apart similar to how Yuki’s had. Shiro spoke up in urgency. “We need to leave now.”
The other girls agreed and walked over to the newly-opened portal at the back of the world. They grabbed hands and gave a nod to each other before stepping through it together.
Chapter 15: The Meadow
As the girls stepped through the portal, they found themselves back in the complex. Within moments of stepping through, the portal collapsed, leaving Santa with the same fate as Yuki and Lock. Uni, Chen, and Azelf looked visibly shaken by the ordeal, but Shiro didn’t. Shiro didn’t seem phased at all. She seemed to be taken all of this very well, which the other three found unsettling; but maybe this is what they needed. Maybe they needed someone who could take charge and help them escape.
“We need to leave before Kuro returns,” she demanded, holding the bloody knife she had used on Santa. The other girls hadn’t even noticed her leave with it until now.
“Agreed,” Chen said, grabbing Uni’s arm and nodding.
Shiro began leading the group down some hallways until they reached a room full of monitors and switches with a large conference table. The girls ran over to the monitors and saw that there were hidden cameras all around the facility. This must have been the room that Santa had told them about earlier. Shiro pointed to one of the monitors in the upper-right corner. “There. If we can reach that room, I think there is a way out there.”
Azelf wasn’t convinced. “How can you be so certain?”
Shiro rolled her eyes. “Because, you can see the edge of a door out of frame, but none of the other cameras point to it. Why would they purposefully leave out a camera unless there is nothing on the other side?”
“But how-“
Shiro was annoyed by Azelf, quickly pulling up the bloody knife and aiming it at Azelf. “I could leave you behind if you wanted. You could try finding your own way out of this place. Or you could come with me. Your choice.”
The girls were thrown back by Shiro’s sudden mood change. Uni spoke up next. “You don’t have to be so mean about it.”
“Mean? Do you want to see mean? Then stay around for when Kuro finds out about Santa, if he hasn’t already. Then, it’s only a matter of time before Jay or Mira find out, and I do not want to stick around long enough to deal with them.”
As much as the other girls felt uncomfortable, they would rather risk going along with Shiro than dealing with Jay or Mira. So, Shiro led them down a few more halls. Just as it seemed like they were getting lost, they arrived at the door they had seen on the camera.
Uni tried turning the handle but the door wouldn’t open. “I guess it’s locked. What do we do now?”
Shiro was starting to become angry with them. “I’m tired of this…” She quickly threw all her weight into the door and it busted open with a loud crack. “Now, hurry up!” She led the girls through the door and they were now outside the complex, in what looked to be a backyard of sorts. The night sky loomed over them like a grim reminder of the darkness that surrounded their current situation. They could see the giant fence around it and the forest right outside. They didn’t have much time to take in the scenery before a familiar voice filled the air, seemingly from a hidden intercom system.
“Girls,” Kuro shouted. “I would suggest that you come back inside to where Santa had you before I hunt you down myself. I would hate to have to do this the hard way. The fence is electrified, anyways, so you won’t be going far. Think of what Mira is going to do to your guys if she finds out about this. Besides, what did you girls do with Santa? I’m going to assume she is dead. You girls have killed two people in a very short span of time, not counting what you helped do to Yuki. It would be a shame if we had to cut this experiment short and do to you what we had to do to Lock. But enough talking. I’m coming to find you girls. Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”
The girls looked at each other with frightened expressions on their faces. “What do we do,” Chen asked.
Shiro sighed. “Do I need to spell everything out for you guys? We need to get through that fence.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
“Follow me.” Shiro led them around the complex until they were at the front again. The van was still parked where they had left it. They ran over to it and tried the door, but it was locked. “Well, time for Plan B.”
“Which is?”
Shiro didn’t even bother explaining. She grabbed the top of the van and pulled herself up before reaching her hand down. “Come on.” Uni grabbed Shiro’s hand while Azelf and Chen helped to boost her up; Azelf and Chen climbed up shortly after. Then, Shiro ran across the top of the van before leaping off the end and landing on the awning above the entrance door. The girls were afraid to follow suit, but then they heard a loud noise from inside and realized that they didn’t have time to think. One after the other, they each leapt onto the awning. Last to go was Azelf, who didn’t build up enough momentum. She slipped and didn’t have enough height to land on the awning, but she did manage to grab the edge.
“Guys,” Azelf shouted at them. “Help!”
The other three girls offered their hands to her and tried pulling her up, but Azelf was slipping faster. “Grab on,” Shiro barked back.
“I’m going to fall!” As she said that, her hands finally let go, but Shiro was quick to grab them. This sent Shiro falling after her, but Uni and Chen grabbed Shiro’s wait, helping to pull Shiro and Azelf back up. After some struggling, the four girls were all standing on the awning together. “Thank you,” Azelf panted, still shaking from what had just happened.
Shiro looked Azelf up and down to make sure she was alright before she grabbed the water spout that was attached to the wall beside the awning. There were some supports large enough to put her feet on and grab. She worked her way up the spout, motioning for the others to follow. There was a loud crash from inside followed by another announcement by Kuro.
“Now, girls. I am about to call Jay. You do not want that to happen. Because, to be frank, he is going to be furious about this. However, if you turn yourself in now, we can forget all of this happened and go back to the tests. You will receive no punishment for what you did to Santa or Ootsuki and we can continue to experimentation like nothing ever happened.”
Azelf, Chen, and Uni used all their strength to help each other climb the spout until they finally reached the roof of the complex. Shiro made sure everyone was okay before pointing to a large tree nearby. “There is a limb hanging over the electric fence close enough that we can get to. We need to climb over and then come down on the other side. There, we just run as fast as we can until we reach the nearest town. We can us the dense forest to avoid being seen by Kuro and easily escape. Then, we go to the police and have them arrest them all. Easy enough.”
“Easy,” Chen barked. “What about this is easy? You heard Kuro. If he catches us, who knows how much torture they will put us through.”
“The alternative is walking up to Kuro and having him do more experiments on us. We may never get a second chance at this. So, are you with me or not?”
“Fine…”
“Good.” Shiro ran across the roof before taking a leap of faith and landing on the tree branch. Although it was sturdy enough not to snap under the force, it did make a small cracking sound. She edged her way across the branch to the trunk of the tree. “Hurry up,” she shouted at the girls.
Uni took a flying leap onto the tree branch, which cracked some more. She made her way to Shiro, shaking in her skin, afraid she would fall below. Chen was next, landing with another loud crack. Azelf was about to make the jump as well, when Kuro interrupted.
“Girls. I just got off the phone with Jay. He is not very pleased with you. He is sending out some search parties right now. I warned you. Oh, and Shiro. Azelf. Jay wants Chen and Uni captured by any means necessary. So, if something happens to one of you, then he won’t care. So, it would be best for the two of you to go ahead and surrender before it gets to that point. Good luck, girls! You will need it.”
Azelf jumped onto the branch and it made one more loud crack, breaking off the end of the branch. Shiro reached out her arm and pulled Azelf up before she could fall to the ground. Once Azelf was safely back in the tree with the girls, they began climbing down until they were on the grass outside of the electric fence. They had finally made it out of the complex.
“Listen,” Shiro said, with a stern look on her face. “We only have one chance at this. Once we start running, we cannot stop. Understood?” The girls shook their heads in agreement. “Good. Then let’s move!”
The girls felt their legs moving before they even thought to move them. They ran deep into the forest, dodging through tree branches that they could barely see in the darkness. As they went deeper and deeper, they began to hear noises. Soon enough, they heard what sounded like footsteps in the darkness, running around them. That’s when they noticed random bursts of light as well. They ran faster and faster, never looking back; all they wanted was to escape this place once and for all. Their legs were ready to give out and their lungs cried out for air, but they couldn’t stop. Just when they were about to give up, they reached a clearing in the forest. It was a small meadow of sorts. They took a break there in order to catch their breath.
Chen spoke between short gasps. “Are…we even…going the right…way?”
Shiro’s attitude had grown less certain of their current situation. “I…yeah. Yes…we are. We just need to keep…moving. We will find something…eventually.”
Azelf wasn’t buying it any more. “Shiro. You keep…saying these things. But do you-“ She was interrupted by the sight of two familiar faces entering the meadow and shining their flashlights at the girls.
“Hey there,” Venelope said in a pseudo-kind voice. “We’ve been looking all over for you girls.
Nayu had a less kind composure. “I heard what you did to Ootsuki and Santa. If Jay hadn’t ordered us to bring Uni and Chen in alive, I would just kill you all right now.”
“Be nice, Nayu. It’s time that we brought them back home. Where they belong.”
“We need to leave before Kuro returns,” she demanded, holding the bloody knife she had used on Santa. The other girls hadn’t even noticed her leave with it until now.
“Agreed,” Chen said, grabbing Uni’s arm and nodding.
Shiro began leading the group down some hallways until they reached a room full of monitors and switches with a large conference table. The girls ran over to the monitors and saw that there were hidden cameras all around the facility. This must have been the room that Santa had told them about earlier. Shiro pointed to one of the monitors in the upper-right corner. “There. If we can reach that room, I think there is a way out there.”
Azelf wasn’t convinced. “How can you be so certain?”
Shiro rolled her eyes. “Because, you can see the edge of a door out of frame, but none of the other cameras point to it. Why would they purposefully leave out a camera unless there is nothing on the other side?”
“But how-“
Shiro was annoyed by Azelf, quickly pulling up the bloody knife and aiming it at Azelf. “I could leave you behind if you wanted. You could try finding your own way out of this place. Or you could come with me. Your choice.”
The girls were thrown back by Shiro’s sudden mood change. Uni spoke up next. “You don’t have to be so mean about it.”
“Mean? Do you want to see mean? Then stay around for when Kuro finds out about Santa, if he hasn’t already. Then, it’s only a matter of time before Jay or Mira find out, and I do not want to stick around long enough to deal with them.”
As much as the other girls felt uncomfortable, they would rather risk going along with Shiro than dealing with Jay or Mira. So, Shiro led them down a few more halls. Just as it seemed like they were getting lost, they arrived at the door they had seen on the camera.
Uni tried turning the handle but the door wouldn’t open. “I guess it’s locked. What do we do now?”
Shiro was starting to become angry with them. “I’m tired of this…” She quickly threw all her weight into the door and it busted open with a loud crack. “Now, hurry up!” She led the girls through the door and they were now outside the complex, in what looked to be a backyard of sorts. The night sky loomed over them like a grim reminder of the darkness that surrounded their current situation. They could see the giant fence around it and the forest right outside. They didn’t have much time to take in the scenery before a familiar voice filled the air, seemingly from a hidden intercom system.
“Girls,” Kuro shouted. “I would suggest that you come back inside to where Santa had you before I hunt you down myself. I would hate to have to do this the hard way. The fence is electrified, anyways, so you won’t be going far. Think of what Mira is going to do to your guys if she finds out about this. Besides, what did you girls do with Santa? I’m going to assume she is dead. You girls have killed two people in a very short span of time, not counting what you helped do to Yuki. It would be a shame if we had to cut this experiment short and do to you what we had to do to Lock. But enough talking. I’m coming to find you girls. Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”
The girls looked at each other with frightened expressions on their faces. “What do we do,” Chen asked.
Shiro sighed. “Do I need to spell everything out for you guys? We need to get through that fence.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
“Follow me.” Shiro led them around the complex until they were at the front again. The van was still parked where they had left it. They ran over to it and tried the door, but it was locked. “Well, time for Plan B.”
“Which is?”
Shiro didn’t even bother explaining. She grabbed the top of the van and pulled herself up before reaching her hand down. “Come on.” Uni grabbed Shiro’s hand while Azelf and Chen helped to boost her up; Azelf and Chen climbed up shortly after. Then, Shiro ran across the top of the van before leaping off the end and landing on the awning above the entrance door. The girls were afraid to follow suit, but then they heard a loud noise from inside and realized that they didn’t have time to think. One after the other, they each leapt onto the awning. Last to go was Azelf, who didn’t build up enough momentum. She slipped and didn’t have enough height to land on the awning, but she did manage to grab the edge.
“Guys,” Azelf shouted at them. “Help!”
The other three girls offered their hands to her and tried pulling her up, but Azelf was slipping faster. “Grab on,” Shiro barked back.
“I’m going to fall!” As she said that, her hands finally let go, but Shiro was quick to grab them. This sent Shiro falling after her, but Uni and Chen grabbed Shiro’s wait, helping to pull Shiro and Azelf back up. After some struggling, the four girls were all standing on the awning together. “Thank you,” Azelf panted, still shaking from what had just happened.
Shiro looked Azelf up and down to make sure she was alright before she grabbed the water spout that was attached to the wall beside the awning. There were some supports large enough to put her feet on and grab. She worked her way up the spout, motioning for the others to follow. There was a loud crash from inside followed by another announcement by Kuro.
“Now, girls. I am about to call Jay. You do not want that to happen. Because, to be frank, he is going to be furious about this. However, if you turn yourself in now, we can forget all of this happened and go back to the tests. You will receive no punishment for what you did to Santa or Ootsuki and we can continue to experimentation like nothing ever happened.”
Azelf, Chen, and Uni used all their strength to help each other climb the spout until they finally reached the roof of the complex. Shiro made sure everyone was okay before pointing to a large tree nearby. “There is a limb hanging over the electric fence close enough that we can get to. We need to climb over and then come down on the other side. There, we just run as fast as we can until we reach the nearest town. We can us the dense forest to avoid being seen by Kuro and easily escape. Then, we go to the police and have them arrest them all. Easy enough.”
“Easy,” Chen barked. “What about this is easy? You heard Kuro. If he catches us, who knows how much torture they will put us through.”
“The alternative is walking up to Kuro and having him do more experiments on us. We may never get a second chance at this. So, are you with me or not?”
“Fine…”
“Good.” Shiro ran across the roof before taking a leap of faith and landing on the tree branch. Although it was sturdy enough not to snap under the force, it did make a small cracking sound. She edged her way across the branch to the trunk of the tree. “Hurry up,” she shouted at the girls.
Uni took a flying leap onto the tree branch, which cracked some more. She made her way to Shiro, shaking in her skin, afraid she would fall below. Chen was next, landing with another loud crack. Azelf was about to make the jump as well, when Kuro interrupted.
“Girls. I just got off the phone with Jay. He is not very pleased with you. He is sending out some search parties right now. I warned you. Oh, and Shiro. Azelf. Jay wants Chen and Uni captured by any means necessary. So, if something happens to one of you, then he won’t care. So, it would be best for the two of you to go ahead and surrender before it gets to that point. Good luck, girls! You will need it.”
Azelf jumped onto the branch and it made one more loud crack, breaking off the end of the branch. Shiro reached out her arm and pulled Azelf up before she could fall to the ground. Once Azelf was safely back in the tree with the girls, they began climbing down until they were on the grass outside of the electric fence. They had finally made it out of the complex.
“Listen,” Shiro said, with a stern look on her face. “We only have one chance at this. Once we start running, we cannot stop. Understood?” The girls shook their heads in agreement. “Good. Then let’s move!”
The girls felt their legs moving before they even thought to move them. They ran deep into the forest, dodging through tree branches that they could barely see in the darkness. As they went deeper and deeper, they began to hear noises. Soon enough, they heard what sounded like footsteps in the darkness, running around them. That’s when they noticed random bursts of light as well. They ran faster and faster, never looking back; all they wanted was to escape this place once and for all. Their legs were ready to give out and their lungs cried out for air, but they couldn’t stop. Just when they were about to give up, they reached a clearing in the forest. It was a small meadow of sorts. They took a break there in order to catch their breath.
Chen spoke between short gasps. “Are…we even…going the right…way?”
Shiro’s attitude had grown less certain of their current situation. “I…yeah. Yes…we are. We just need to keep…moving. We will find something…eventually.”
Azelf wasn’t buying it any more. “Shiro. You keep…saying these things. But do you-“ She was interrupted by the sight of two familiar faces entering the meadow and shining their flashlights at the girls.
“Hey there,” Venelope said in a pseudo-kind voice. “We’ve been looking all over for you girls.
Nayu had a less kind composure. “I heard what you did to Ootsuki and Santa. If Jay hadn’t ordered us to bring Uni and Chen in alive, I would just kill you all right now.”
“Be nice, Nayu. It’s time that we brought them back home. Where they belong.”
Actually only describing the appearance of characters that way reminds me the story is about us. And that just adds spice 'cause I try to guess who's who before the name is mentioned based on the looks. : D At one point you used the same phrase twice in a short time, but I forgot where it was. :x I'll be waiting for the next chapter! :3
