Prolouge

"Game over!"

Jenn chuckled evilly, grinning as she looked down at Mariah's lifeless body and slammed the door behind herself. Blood was spread across the floor and over Mariah's body from her losing her own game... or so Jenn thought.

Two guns were on oppostie sides of the room for which they had used against each other in their fight. The room was silent for a moment until a slight coughing came into sound. Mariah rolled over onto her back and clutched her chest, spitting out blood.

As she gazed down at herself, she saw a hole in her shirt from the shotgun blast. She lifted her shirt to see how bad it was, and thankfully, it was only a hole the size of her fist, filled with rock salt, which wasn't too deep. She spat out more blood as she began to rise slowly but needed to rest her weight on something sturdy. She reached foreward to grab the corner of a desk, clentched it, and pulled herself up.

She staggered a bit when she finally stood up-right, but caught her balance and stood clutching her chest. She pulled her shirt over herself to cover up the wound and tied it as she looked around the room, regaining her vision from being unconcious.

As she looked down, she saw crimson blood everywhere that had spilled from hers and Jenn's bodies. She let out a graon as she bent down to pick up her gun that John had given her for protection.

She stumbled towards the door and slowly pulled it open. She walked out and down the with her gun in her left hand as her right hand rested on her chest covering the gaping hole that still continued to bleed and sting from the salt.

When she finally reached the exit of the abandoned zoo, she pushed the door open and looked around cautiously for either one of the Hoffman's. When she saw the coast was clear, she began to walk quickly to her car, open it, and drive off back to her apartment where things were about to change for the worse.

Chapter 1: New Friends, New Enemies.

As she arrived at her doorstep, she looked up and saw a note posted to the door. She yanked it off of the tack it was attached to and began to read it:

Mariah, Went to the Police Station. Be back in about an hour.

Jill.

Mariah bit her lower lip and slowly entered her apartment. She flipped on the lightswitch and saw that the living room was a mess from the other night that her and Jill had spent drinking. Mariah rushed to the bathroom and began to look for medical supplies to help with her wound. When she found some things, she walked back into the living room and began to try and fix herself.

She pulled out some bandages and set them off to the side while she looked around in the medical bag for more things.

She pulled out some alcohol wipes and put them on her thigh. After she rummedged through the bag and came across a few things that might help, she put them in small plies on the glass table in front of her. She tore off her shirt and threw it on the ground leaving her in her bra and pants.

She wiped the corner of her mouth, trying to not let anymore blood spill out and onto the carpet. The blood left a biter taste in her mouth as she began to prepare an alcohol pad for parts of her wound.

She inhaled sharply as she lightly pressed the pad to part of her gaping wound. She pulled her hand away quickly before it began to sting worse. She let out another deep sigh as she began to stroke over her wound lightly and graze it with the pad. She hissed when she felt it burning against her raw flesh and couldn't take it anymore. She stopped rubbing and placed the pad on the table and reached for the bandages to wrap herself with them.

After she did so, she threw everything away, and walked back over to her couch and sat down, still throbbing with pain. She looked over her shoulder at the clock to see what time it was and it read: 12:55 a.m.

Mariah rubbed her eyes and wondered why she had felt so tired as she reached for the remote and flipped the TV on. She turned it to channel 3 for the news and what came on, apalled her. She turned the volume up as she leaned foreward and listened to the newscaster.

"Who would have ever though that cheating could be so cruel? Well...the famous Jigsaw killer believes so. Around the time of 7:00 this evening, two boys and one girl were watched by a crowd of people as they were 'tested'. Both of the boys had to fight their way to victory by pushing a metal saw back and forth for either one of them to die and their 'girlfriend' to be saved, or to come to an agreement and have her killed, which ended up being their decision in the end. One of the two young survivors got a mild cut on his chest from the blade, but is still alright. Both of the boys were immediatly rushed to the hospital after the cops figured out how to break into the room they were in. Looks like Jigsaw is going public now...In other news..."

Mariah sat there with her mouth agape and her eyes wide open staring at the TV. She shook her head and snapped out of her trance as she stood up turning off the TV, walking to the door, grabbing her keys, and heading for the hospital to get proper care for her wound.

"The doctor will see you now." The nurse smiled as she opened the door for Mariah to pass through.

"Thank you." She replied pushing herself slowly out of the chair and headed for his office. As she walked, some of her more depressing memories came back to her. As she approached the door, she stopped and took the opportunity to check her phone. She looked at it with her sleepless eyes and saw she had one missed call. It was from Jenn. She clentched her teeth as she read her name. As she shoved her phone back into one of the pockets in her sweater, she looked at the door and it said:

Dr Gordan

M.D.

John's old doctor... She thought. She opened the door slowly and looked around the room curiously. Her eyes came across a figure sitting, reading and filling out papers. As she shut the door lightly behind her, he spoke, "Please...take a seat.."

She did so. He looked up at her and took off his glasses as he began to study her. She looked horrible. He leaned back in his chair and rested his hands in his lap.

"Well if it isn't John's neice.." He smircked furrowing his brows.

She scowled. "Look...I didn't come here to irritate you.."

He frowned. "Well...then what did you come for?"

She lifted her sweater over her head and lifted up her shirt, exposing the stained bandages. He sat up and widened his eyes. "Who did this to you?"

"Hoffman's bitch of a neice."

"When?"

"Earlier this night...after the game took place.."

"What exactly happened?" He asked putting his hands on his desk.

She began to explain every detail from the night before that morning. When she was finished, he stood up, grabbed his cane, and slowly walked over to a closet, where some of his jackets hung, and pulled out a thick envelop. As he stood there, Mariah studied his right leg. It was wooden. Her eyes drooped as she remembered what he went through to obtain that. Now I guess it's my turn to suffer from the pain I've caused everyone else to go through in these games..

He placed the envelop onto his desk and sat back down and looked her directly into her eyes. "Take it.." He said in a dull tone.

She raised a brow. "Why?"

He let out a deep sigh and fell back in his chair. "It's...very important.."

She hesitated when she reached for it, pulled it to her, and set it into her lap. She looked down at it with great fear of what it might be as she opened the flap and slowly pulled out a video tape along with a note. She unfolded the note and began to search it with her eyes. Her eyes began to swell with tears slowly as she read down the list of things it gave for Dr. Gordon. She looked back up at him wiping her eyes.

"Who gave you this?" she trembled.

He folded his arms and said, "John" with regret.

She clutched the video tape in her other hand and held it up. "What's this?"

"It's John telling me something that was private that needed to be done.." He stood up and walked over to one of the windows in his room and began to rub his chin.

"Which is what?" Mariah questioned.

He sighed. "He told me to protect your aunt...Jill.."

She stiffened at hearing her name and lightly put the envelop back on his desk. "Why?"

He turned to face her. "Hoffman is going to kill her."

At that moment, Mariah stopped and widened her eyes and discontinued her breathing for a short moment. Dr. Gordon stared blankly back out the window. Mariah blinked a few times before she looked up and asked, "When?

He shut his eyes. "Sometime tomorrow.."

Mariah stood slowly and winced at the pain coming from her stomach. She walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to stop him?"

He turned his head over his shoulder.

"Possibly."

She paused.

"Another thing.."

"Yes?" He slightly raised a brow.

"Can I get my moneys worth and you patch up this wound?" She chuckled slightly.

He smiled and walked over for his cane. "Of course."

He opened the door to his operating room and gestured for her to walk through first and after she did, he slowly closed the door behind himself.

Jenn slammed the metal door and stomped past her uncle, Mark, and began to rummage through a bag of medical supplies he had set out for himself. He looked over slightly as he pulled the string through his cheek, closing it back up and grunted as he did so. She grabbed some tweezers, bandages, alcohol pads, and rags from the bag and threw them down violently on a table in the room near Hoffman's. He looked at her through his mirror and tried to block out the pain as he cut off the extra strand of string that was hanging from his sewn up cheek. He tied it on the end and finished rubbing it with a tiny rag. He ran his hand across the bumpy flesh on his right cheek, for it would never be smooth again, and sighed. He heard Jenn mumble something to herself as he glanced back at her.

"You okay?" He asked looking at his cheek again in the mirror.

She pulled her shirt down a little to air out the bullet wound that had pierced her left shoulder, right above her heart. "No..not at all.." She said in a raspy tone.

He saw blood leaking out from the hole that was on her shoulder. "You don't look okay...Who did that to you?"

"Mariah..over our 'test'" She squinted as she plucked the bits of bullet shell out from her wound.

He stopped and turned around in his chair. "Who gave you a 'test'?"

She reached for the pads. "I think it was that girl Ashley.."

He stood up and threw his used stuff away. "There's no way she could have done that to you. Your her best friend and Mariah's too. She would never try to tear you two apart..."

She slammed her fist onto the table as her anger arose in her and began to clean her wound. Mark stiffened his shoulders and wiped his hands off on his slacks.

"Or maybe she carried out the test for someone else.."

Jenn continued to heal herself. "Yeah...maybe.."

Mark walked over to a safe he kept hidden from everyone else, except for his neice, and opened it. He pulled out some envelops and walked back over to Jenn and set them down in front of her. She blinked as she grabbed one and studied it. She looked over her shoulder back at her uncle, who was zipping up his jacket. She turned around to face him.

"What's this?"

He grabbed his gloves off of the counter and looked up and smircked.

"The new people for our game tomorrow.."

She smiled back and turned around and began to sew her bullet wound up. When she was done, she grabbed her jacket as well and headed after her uncle. She pulled gloves out from her jacket pockets and slipped them on.

'Where are we going now?" She stepped to his pace.

"Back to the house. I need to grab a few things." He said clicking a button on his keys to unlock the doors on his car.

Jenn walked around to the other side and opened the door to the passengers seat. "Good..I need some things as well.."

After they were both in the car, he put the keys in the ignition, and drove off, back to their house on the other side of the city.

Twenty minutes had passed as they drove through the city where they had caused so much chaos that lead to their house. After Mark pulled into his driveway, him and Jenn both got out, and walked up the steps to their house. Jenn rushed to her bedroom and began to rummage through her dressers and closet. She packed a bag full of clothes and other things she would need to run away with after the final game was over.

As she was zipping up her bags, she looked over at the stand next to her bed and saw a picture of her mother. She leaned over and grabbed it, running her hand over the glass lightly. A tear came to her eye as she stared at what her life used to be like. She kissed the picture lightly then pushed it into her chest.

A few minutes passed as she put it back on the stand and Mark appeared in her doorway.

He folded his arms and let out a sigh. "You ready?"

She looked at him and smiled softly. "Not yet...there's one more thing I have to do.."

He nodded. "Alright..I'll be out at the car. Try and make it quick."

"Okay." She replied as she watched him leave her doorway and head down the hall.

She reached over to her wooden dresser and grabbed her cell phone and began to dial Mariah's number. As she put it up to her ear, it went straight to her voicemail. Jenn sighed and after her voicemail intro was over, she heard the beep, and spoke,

Mariah..It's Jenn. I..need to talk with you. So when you get this message, meet me at our old warehouse. Thanks..

She smiled devilish like as she hung up and grabbed her things, walking out of her bedroom door and out into the car again. As he began to drive off, she spoke, "Drop me off at the old warehouse.."

Mark hardened his eyes. "Why?

Jenn smiled. "I have unfinished buisness to attend do.."

As Mariah opened the door to the apartment, she saw Jill walking out of the bathroom with a bag of makeup and some other supplies from the bathroom. Soon as Jill saw Mariah walk in, she stopped and stiffened. Mariah looked at her with curiosity. She shut the door quietly and looked around in the living room and saw two bags full of clothes and other personal items. Mariah asked, "What's with all of the bags?"

Jill sighed and walked to her bags and set the stuff in one that was navy blue. She zipped it up without saying a word and Mariah bit her lip. "Jill?" She asked again, folding her arms.

"I'm going to a safehouse for a while." Jill responded in a scolding tone, not bothering to even turn to face her neice.

Mariah's voice shook. "Why?"

"Because..." Jill gathered her bags on the couch.

"Because why?" Mariah demanded, tapping her foot.

Jill ran her hand through her hair and finally turned to look at Mariah. "Because I told Lieutenant Gibson who Hoffman was and what he was doing and why he has to."

There was a long pause. Mariah stood there speachless for a few moments then finally blinked asking, "Why did you do that?"

"Because Mark is going to try and kill me." Jill replied quickly picking up her bags.

Mariah's eyes drooped. 'I know..I've already talked to Dr. Gordon about you."

Jill stopped what she was doing and turned her head to look at her again. "You did?"

Mariah nodded.

"Did..he already watch the tape I dropped off earlier this night?"

Mariah nodded again.

Jill grabbed the handles of her bags and started to walk out of the door. When she was about ready to walk out, she heard a faint sobbing. She looked over her shoulder to see Mariah wiping her eyes with her sweater sleeve. Jill dropped her bags and hurried over to her and embraced her. Mariah squeezed her aunt as tight as possible and began to sob even more. Jill ran her hand over her only remaining relative's head as tears began to come to her eyes as well. She looked down at her and formed a smile to her lips.

"I love you Mariah."

Mariah looked up at Jill and grinned. "I love you too, Jill."

A few more moments passed before Jill spoke again, parting from Mariah. "Well, I must go. Gibson's assistant is waiting for me out in her car." She walked over, opened the door, and picked her bags up again, smiling at Mariah as she walked down the hall to the elevator.

Mariah stood in the doorway as she watched her aunt,Jill, wave goodbye and dissappear around the corner into the elevator. As she turned around and shut the door behind herself, she had realized this was probably the last time she was going to see her aunt...alive. Mariah ran her fingers through her hair as she thought to herself. She paused and remebered something. My cell phone. She shoved her hands into her sweater pockets and finally found it. She grasped it and flipped it open. Here eyes widened as she saw she had a voicemail. She dialed the voicebox number and moments later, listened to the message. When it was over, she erased her inbox and shut her phone off. Mariah walked into her kitchen, opened the trash can, and threw her cell phone inside of it. Mariah walked over to grab her keys, then turned the lights off on the way out.

Jenn waited impationtly, twiddling her fingers, for Mariah to discuss with her about the final Game. Jenn looked down at her bag, then up again to the desk next to her with folders spread across it. She let out a small yawn and placed her hands in her lap, running her hands over her jeans. As her eyes began to flutter shut, she heard a car pull up, followed by a door slam. Jenn's body jolted upright to the sound. Her eyes widened as she saw the door a few feet away from her open slowly. Mariah stood in the doorway then swiftly shut it behind her. She walked with her back straight towards her "friend" and a glare fixated on Jenn's eyes. Jenn formed an evil grin on her lips.

"Please...sit." She nudged her head at the seat before her.

Mariah did as she was told. She crossed one of her legs over the other. "What did you call me here for?"

Jenn smircked. "You'll see soon enough.." She reached around to the table beside her and grabbed a folder with Mariah's name on it.

She turned back and began to open it slowly. Mariah raised a brow.

"What is that?"

Jenn smiled. "Something for you.." She held her hand out to Mariah with a firm grip on the papers. Mariah hesitated to grab them and when she did, she quickly looked through them and let out an angry sigh.

"Who told you to give this to me?"

"Mark.." Jenn replied.

Mariah furrowed her eyebrows and folded the papers and shoved them into her pants pocket. She looked back up.
"I saw your new little 'game' on the news earlier."

Jenn frowned. "Oh did you now?"

Mariah nodded slowly.

Jenn held up her arm. "Oh yeah...and you see this? It's from trying to fix that piece of shit my uncle had tried to build."

Mariah saw that Jenn's arm had very severely cut by the saw.

"You and your uncle just don't know when to quite, do you?"

Jenn smiled. "And your aunt doesn't know whats coming to her...and neither do you."

Mariah stood up. "I don't have time for this.." She slowly began to walk out of the building when she had heard Jenn speak again.

"The new game starts tonight...and this IS where it ends."

Mariah stopped. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Jenn chuckled. "You'll have to wait and see for yourself.."

Mariah slammed the door, and rushed to her car, taking off back to her apartment.

Jenn leaned over to the desk again and pulled out another envelop that had the number 7 written on it. She opened it and pulled out a picture of Mariah and smiled.

"Now...this can finally end."