The Game

"Hello?" I called, looking into the darkness. There was no light or sound. "Is someone there?" I called out again. I had no memory of how I had gotten here or where I was. I went to take a step forward, hoping that maybe I could find a way out of here when the ground there disappeared. Splashing noises echoed around me as I caught myself from falling into the knee deep water.

"Shit," I cursed to myself as my shirt got soaked from the splash. The water was freezing and it made my pants cling to my legs in an uncomfortable way. I felt around, trying to find the land again, but other then the small island that I had woken up on, there was nothing. So, I pushed through the water.

I made my way to what I hoped was the right way, and soon I found my answer. About a 100 or so yards ahead of me, I could see some sort of light. I pushed through the deepening water to what I thought would answer the millions of questions moving through my head, but instead, it only brought more.

Where the hell was I? Right outside the entrance, I could see nothing but miles and miles of forest greens. I had to pull myself up from the now waist high water onto the grassy ground. My breath was a little on the hard side as to exercise not being a strong point in my life. Yet, out of all the questions—Why was I in a cave? Why do I see nothing but trees outside? Why did the water get deeper as I left the cave? Where and or how could I have ever ended up here—the only question I could focus on was, what happened to my clothes? Instead of the normal yoga pants and oversize shirt I normally wore around my house, I was in pitch black pants and a dark blue clingy shirt. Even though both were soaked beyond compare, I knew that I did not own either article of clothing. Curious to see about my bra, I moved my shirt to find that it had also changed to a tight sports bra that was black with greenish lining. Across my chest was a strap of some sort and when I followed it to something on my back, I saw a thickly wrapped handle and circular end. I grabbed it and felt the rough material dig into my pruned palm. For a moment, I struggled to get it out, but once I did, I saw a beautiful sword.

Sword maybe wasn't the word for it. It was unlike the normal swords that you would find in ninja and samurai movies. It was a perfectly straight blade that can to a point on the end. There were holes and slots down the middle and the blade shined a beautiful rainbow color when the light hit it. The material to make it was strong and durable, but it was nowhere close to the normal silver that I had grown accustomed to seeing in swords.

"Ahh!" a scream echoed around me and I quickly shoved the sword back into the flexible sheath that was behind me—after much difficulty—and headed towards the noise. When I saw movement ahead, I hid behind a tree and looked slowly around it to find four people standing around.

"Please, you don't have to do this!" yelled the girl as the three people hovered over her in a menacingly way. "I-I haven't done anything wrong!"

"You think we care?" laughed one of the men that slowly walked behind her. He kicked the back of her knees and she fell on all fours.

"Look, just give us the orb and we will walk away," The leader said as he crouched down to get level with the girl. "We don't want any trouble."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, please!" She begged. I could see a sword similar in size, on her back. She, however, did not reach for it. "Just let me go, please I just want to get home"!

"Don't you think we all do?" said a blonde hair girl who was kind of hanging back, watching the two other men harass this girl. "Just do what he says and you'll live."

"Live?" A horrified look flooded her face as she seemed to finally understand the situation. "No, please! I have a child, I beg you!"

"Shut up!" screamed the red-haired man who was pacing behind her. He kicked her in the side and she let out a scream. "Just give us the fucking orb you piece of shit-"

"Ronald." The man in front glared at him, and this seemed to make him gain control of his composure again. "If you truly don't have it, then you don't have it." He said, turning his attention back to the girl who was rolling in pain on her side. "There is nothing we can do about it." He said before getting to his feet. He nodded to Ronald, who removed a large ax from his back.

"Please-please don't do this." The woman coughed. She had no energy to fight it seemed and this just made Ronald laugh. He swung his ax up in the air before bringing it down on the girl. I turned quickly away as I heard the loud cracking and squishing noise from blow. Bile rose in my throat and I had to do everything possible to keep it down. I did not want these people to find me.

"Well, she doesn't have one, so I guess we keep looking," I heard the blonde hair girl say she stepped closer to the men. "North or South?"

"We don't have time to head North, Samantha." The first man said. "You know we only have until sundown tomorrow."

"I am aware of that Danu, but at the same time, what is the point of heading South towards the exit without an orb?" I heard her move around, but I was unsure of where she was going. "We can't open that door without it, so there is no point heading down there."

"Why not just hang around the door and wait for someone to come by then ambush them?" Ronald asked. I heard a scraping noise.

"Everyone will be doing that." Danu replied. I heard him walk somewhere and because of the echo in the wood, I could not tell if it was towards me or away. "Not to mention, I've heard that lake is going to be a bigger problem." He picked up something and I heard a rock slam into the tree I was hiding behind. I flinched but covered my mouth to keep from screaming. "Let's worry about getting the orb later. We will run into others and one of them is bound to have one."

I listened as they walked away and it wasn't until way after I had stop hearing movement that I decided to move. I decided through all my fear that maybe it was safe enough to look. My body was frozen with fear and I had to shove myself against the tree and turn my body forcibly in order to look to see if I was alone.

I was.

To my dismay, I found that my eyes drifted towards the place that I had last seen the girl alive. Within seconds of them landing on the sight, I threw up. I bent over and grabbed my stomach, using the tree as support. More bile then I had just kept coming up and I sunk to the ground, barely avoiding the liquid that I had just discarded. I couldn't find the strength to even look at the sight and just kept it within my vision, but never once going back to fully look at it.

Blood was seeping everywhere, as body parts were ripped from each other, thrown and torn like a rag doll. It was if a bomb had exploded from within her stomach rather than just a simple cut from an ax. I felt myself begin to shake as I fought off the urge to fall into darkness.

I needed to get out of here. That man, Danu, had thrown a rock at the tree I was hiding behind. Did he know I was there? Where they waiting for me within the shadows? I didn't want to wait around to find out or become the next mess on the forest floor. I pulled myself to my feet and turned away, moving in the opposite direction that I thought those monsters had gone.

I needed to find some place safe.