Prolouge

"Leah….Leah wake up!"

I opened my eyes from my slumber and was mortified when I realized I was no longer in my beach house in Hawaii. I lifted my head and looked into the eyes of my two best friends, Aria and Carmen. Like me, they were standing against a stone wall with their hands chained above their heads in a V formation. We each were wearing different clothes than what we went to sleep in and that alone scared the living daylights out of me. We were barefoot too and our hair looked as if it had been ruffled.

"W-what's going on?" I asked. "Where are we?"

Aria looked around, "I don't know…"

"What about you Carmen?" I asked.

She shook her head, "I don't know either…I just remember someone holding me down in bed and covering my face with something."

Aria and I gasped, "Someone broke into the house! Why didn't you scream?"

"I couldn't," she said as tears ran down her face, "I was out within seconds and I thought it was a dream!"

Aria sighed, "It's alright Carmen…I'm sure this all a sick joke."

"That's what you think precious…" said a deep voice that seemed to come from all sides of the room.

The three of us shrieked at the voice, looking around to see if we could see the person.

"Who are you?" I screamed. "Show yourself!"

"All in due time, all in due time…but first let me welcome you three ladies to the Deadly Estate."

Aria sniffled, "Why did you bring us here!"

The voice laughed, "You three are going to play my little game."

Carmen started to cry, "I don't want to play any games…I have a life to get back to."

"Well you don't have a choice little girl…it's either play my game or give up your soul."

I closed my eyes hoping I would wake from this dream, but it was all too real. None of us had any clue what was happening to us or who the jerk was that placed us in this mess. We were scared…very scared.

"What should we do?" Aria whispered to me. "I don't want to stay here."

I glanced at her and then at Carmen, "I guess we'll have to do what he says."

"I agree with your friend…you three ladies are about to embark on a journey through this place that'll prove your strength and will to live…The object of the game is simple…get out of here with your mind…body…and SOUL."

The way this man spoke brought chills to my spine. It was oddly familiar and yet I couldn't place where I had heard it.

"What happens if we win?" I asked.

"It's very simple…you return home safely with no harm done."

"And if we lose?" Carmen asked as a tear fell from her eye.

The man laughed deeply, "If you lose…you'll belong…to ME."

The three of us looked at each other with so much fear in our eyes.

"Why us?" I asked. "We're just three friends trying to have a good time during spring break."

"hahaha you'll find out soon enough…I promise."

The minute he spoke those words Carmen's chains released her arms and then she fell through a trap door. Aria and I gasped as we listened to her screams of terror as she fell.

"Carmen!" We yelled at the same time before the wall Aria was standing against turned around with her still attached to it. She screamed until it completely turned around.

As for me, my shackles released my arms and then a door opened to my left. I looked around while my body shook in fear. I was so scared at this point that I didn't even want to move. I raked my hand through my long dark brown hair before walking towards the door slowly. I just couldn't believe that one trip to Hawaii turned into the biggest fight for survival I had ever been on.