The New Game

by Juul

Everything is under water. Everything is distant. I can hear my heart pounding in my chest, aligning in sadistic rhythm with my fearful shallow breaths. Footsteps... they echo off the walls, seeming to go in all directions, making any guess that I had of my location indefinite. I open my eyes, but I cannot see; it's as if I can see better with my eyes closed. But it's so cold; I feel everything, I feel nothing... I can't move... What is this?

Nightmare... is it a nightmare? Am I dreaming? Or is this for real?

The footsteps draw nearer, and doom seems to approach with every step. Step... step... step...

Keep telling myself it's alright...

Step... step... step...

Something in the background...

The lights flash on and I open my eyes, blinded by the bright, white light appearing to shine directly in my face. I go to move my hand up to cover my eyes, but something is different. I glanced down to see that both of my wrists had been handcuffed together. What's happening? I quickly observe my surroundings in a panicked manner and feel my heart rate speed up, like a rollercoaster rushing down a hill at full speed...

A rollercoaster.

I quickly forget about the past and focused more intently on the future after noticing an enormous red stain on the yellowing tiles of the floor. Then the smell hit me full force, making me gag and I tried my hardest not to vomit. Where AM I? What kind of place is this? I hesitantly continue to view my surroundings, seeing as I have no choice in the manner. Black and white photographs cover the walls like a tapestry made of a million emotionless faces and hundreds of places long since gone... one of them seems familiar. "The Devil's Flight" it reads across the top and I realize in horror that it came from a newspaper article...

I discover that there is a small, presumedly ancient television up in the corner of the room. I look away for literally a second and only look back when I heard the sound of it turning on. I watch in sheer terror, wondering what would happen next. First there was static; the buzzing got louder and louder, and just when it was becoming untolerable, it stopped.

The black and white face of a puppet came on the small screen. The puppet had large eyes, unruly black hair, and a creepy blank stare--almost a smile; it was wearing a suit and on a tricycle.

"Hello," I hear a voice out of nowhere, an ominous, creepy voice that sounded as if it was coming straight from the depths of hell, "I want to play a game."

It took me a few minutes to find my voice. "Where...?" I start out, not sure what to say, even less sure if my question would be answered. "Where am I?"

The voice (which I am starting to believe that it was coming from the puppet on screen) answered my question. "You are ALIVE."

Obviously.

"And in the conscious world," continues the puppet, "However, you may find that in your world, there is a thin line between dreams and reality. Your nightmares are your fantasies, and your fantasies will become your reality if you don't fix what you can. Carpe diem, Latin for 'seize the day'... surely a smart one like you should know that... but also, as smart as you are, it is hard to hide one's greatest fantasies of your self-inflicted misery when they are written on your body like the cruel story of your life."

"You survived, and you should be greatful. Those other people on that rollercoaster, however, were not so lucky... If they are of concious mind right now, I'm sure that they would give the world to have it all back. Unluckily for them, they have no second chance... But I will graciously give you that second chance that they should have..."

"Or in your case, seeing as you've already HAD your second chance... and your third... and you STILL don't appreciate life... I'll give you a fourth..."

"How...?" I try to say, in such disbelief... How did this person know all of this about me?! I'm always so careful... I'm always a good actress... A good liar...

I find my voice. "How.. do you know... all of this?"

"I have my ways."

But of course.

"As you may have noticed, you are trapped. Trapped with no control, just like your friends had no control when death came calling for them. 'In this room, you will find a key, and that key will free you from your chains..."

I looked at my handcuffs.

"...But it's not that simple. The key will be found in a jar found in the cabinet behind you. And I warn you, that the creatures in that jar would be brown recluse spiders; very common, yes, but also extremely poisonous when in large groups."

Starting to panic...

"After you get that key, there is another one, and that one is closer than you think... This one will unlock the door to this room, where there is an antidote for the spider's poison on a table waiting for you on the other side..."

My breathing was getting faster and more shallow as I felt the terror rise up in me. "Okay," I say, my voice faltering. "I know where the first key is, so... WHERE'S THE OTHER GODDAMN KEY?!"

The puppet laughs a sadistic, cruel cackle that echoes off the walls although it came from the speakers on the TV. "Keep in mind that it's closer than you think. Remember, 'willful ignorance is surrendering control.' Good luck."

With that said, the TV shut off.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" I scream in annoyance. "THAT'S IT?! WHERE'S THE OTHER KEY?!"

I spent a few moments pondering that question, but to no avail. I stand up and turn around. The cabinet that he was speaking of was there after all. I figured it was just a lie. I walked cautiously towards it, almost there... Putting my hand on the door, I slowly open it and let out a scream after I see what's inside. The jar of recluse spiders was full... in fact, it was overflowing with the small but deadly creatures... they were crawling all over the inside of the cabinet and covering the jar inside and out.

After summoning up my courage and attempting to erase my fears, I reach into the cabinet and touch the jar. Some of the spiders crawl away in fear, others stay put, standing their ground. Letting out an earpiercing shriek after feeling the spiders' small hairs touching my fingertips, I yank my hands back.

I can't do this. I can't.

There has to be a way out of here... I look around searching for a hole in the wall, a possible weak spot in the wall, anything. No windows. The only door was locked. And the walls were solid concrete beneath the photos. I glance in terror at the spiders, who were now discovering the world outside of the cabinet. I waited a few minutes, noting that more and more of the little arachnids were fleeing the darkness of the cabinet. Maybe I could get the key if I waited...

I felt a sharp but quick sting on my left ankle. I kneel down and see one of the spiders scurrying off my shoe and onto the floor. Okay, so I've been bitten once... Making my decision, I hastily reach into the cabinet after realizing that I would eventually need the antidote sooner or later because apparently the spiders showed no mercy. I feel their tiny bodies moving beneath my fingers and my hands, a few of them getting squished in the process.

As disturbing as it feels, I know I have to get that key or else I will die here, alone... But I'm already alone...

But still... I WANT TO LIVE!

I scream once more out of pure horror as I struggle to get my hands into the jar, feeling the spiders crawling all over them. Found the key. I grasp it tightly with both hands and try to pull them back out of the jar. Nope. Too big with the key. The arachnids became angry and started to bite. I swear one just crawled up my sleeve...

CRASH!

The only thing I could do was pull my hands and the jar out of the cabinet and smash it against the countertop above it. Screaming in pain, I fumble with the key, shaking spiders and broken glass off of my now bloody hands. My hands shaking, I work out a way to unlock my handcuffs. I hastily shake them to the ground and throw the key down on the ground with them.

Now where's the other key?

Most of the spiders had now relocated to the floor and out of the cabinet; they were now the least of my worries. I take this as a good time to get a better look inside. I get down on my hands and knees and crawl halfway into the cabinet; if I was any bigger, there's no way I would fit. I see white underneath the mass of spiders. I brush some of them away and see that it's a piece of paper. I couldn't read it though, but I grabbed it and pulled it out, adding to my collection of spider bites.

Holding the paper up to the dim lighting in the room, I could see that it read:

The key to nothing as you will find,
Is in the place you go to tear the rind

More nonsensical bullshit. Of course. "I DON'T GET IT!" I scream in frustration, flailing my arms up over my head. "WHERE THE HELL IS THE--" I look up at my left arm. How could I have not noticed this?

Beyond all the scars of my past suicide attempts, there is a larger, fresher wound, and it is stitched up with staples like something out of a horror movie. (My whole life's a horror movie...) I bring my arms back down and touch this new wound with my right hand. It's bumpy and protruding, like there's something in it...

The key.

My eyes widen with horror. 'The key to nothing as you will find, in in the place you go to tear the rind'. Of course. My attempts to end my life... 'tearing the rind'... The key is in my arm.

How in the hell do I get that?!

I look around for a knife, a sharp object, anything to cut the key out with... The only thing I find is the other key on the floor... My reactions have started to slow down, due to the dangerous amount of spider venom coursing through my veins...

Clumsily picking up the key, I stare at it for what seems like hours before rolling my sleeve up all the way and putting the cold metal against my flesh. I start sawing at it making nothing but red marks that faded within minutes. I do it again, this time pushing the ridges of the key into my skin harder. Scratches. I repeat this until I start to draw blood. The poison has diluted the pain, but the deeper I went, the more noticeable the pain became.

Biting my lip, to surpress a scream, I started hacking away at the skin in pure frustration and impatience now. I missed the mark a few times, hitting surrounding areas on my arm and sometimes just thin air. I finally could feel the keys scraping together and I threw the one I had used as a makeshift saw on the ground. Tearing at my bloody, mutilated skin, I managed to rip the staples out, along with a good amount of what remained of my skin. I pulled out the key and started walking dizzily towards the door.

Once I make it to the door, I lean against it, breathing heavily. I halfway turn around and grip the doorknob with one hand, thrusting the key into the door with the other hand. The key turns and with difficulty, I pull open the door.

There is the antidote. In a bottle. Sitting on a small table. I stumble over to it and pick it up in shaking hands.

The lid was on tight. After a few tries, I manage to pop it off, but as I do so, I drop the bottle.

NO! I look in horror at what I've done.

I can't even speak.

"Too bad."

I look up and I can barely make out the puppet sitting on his tricycle about ten feet beyond the table in front of me.

"You've had so many chances..."

I shake my head. No...

"Just one silly mistake... like just one careless driver on the highway, or faulty wiring on an airplane... or poor mechanics on an amusement park ride... Just one silly mistake can end it all..."

I turn around and look back into the room I had escaped from. I stare in there, not sure what I'm looking for... I turn back around and come face to face with a man. I recognize him! He's--

"Jigsaw?!"

"There's no cheating death, Wendy."

So how was it? And yes, I know this was extremely AU. I experimented a lot with this one. This is the first time I've used first-person point-of-view for a fictional story and also the first time I've written something in the present tense. Feedback, please?