Flint woke up groggily. His body ached his and his head pounded. "Where am I?" he said out loud looking down at his arms and legs seeing them bound to the chair; a chair which was bolted to the floor. "What's going on." he said struggling against the restraints that held him. He looked around the room and noticed he was not alone. "Thad" he asked staring in horror at his fiancé slumped against an opposite wall a clear blood trail smeared down the wall towards Thad.
The boy against the wall stirred his head throbbing. He touched the back of his head wincing at the pain of contact and widening his eyes at the blood stained against his fingers. "What happened?" he asked hearing his voice echo off the walls. "Flint?" he asked seeing his fiancé across the room. Thad struggled to stand up and tried to take a step forward towards Flint, but as he did so the boy across the room screamed out in pain causing Thad to jump back pressing himself against the wall.
A voice came over a scratchy speaker, echoing in the large room. "Would you like to play a game Thad?" the voice said cackling. "Let me explain the rules Flint's chair is rigged to cause him pain when certain tiles are stepped on. In order to rescue your beloved from the chair... and from me you must find four keys that are in the four corners of this room. You have one hour." the voice laughed again before clicking off the large timer on the wall starting up blinking red numbers back at Thad.
"Fuck." Thad muttered holding his arm as he looked around him. The tile he had stepped on before sat in front of him. He looked up at Flint. "I should mark them right?" he asked as Flint nodded silently. Thad pressed his blood stained fingers up against the tile, drawing an X across it lightly. He looked towards the corner of the room and started across stepping carefully all the while watching Flint. He had made it several tiles before stepping on one caused Flint to scream out again. Thad jumped back and looked at Flint who was whimpering in pain. "Fuck Flint what's he doing to you, what's the chair doing to you?" Thad screamed as he marked the tile and stepped around it.
Flint winced in pain as he spoke. "There are nails. It's rigged with nails." he whispered "The nails dig into me harder whenever you step on one of the rigged tiles." he said quietly flexing his hands out in front of him and wincing in pain. "Please hurry." he begged.
Thad found his way to the corner of the room wincing every time Flint let out a scream. Before him was a box covered in a sheet. He reached out a shaking hand and whisked it off revealing a plastic box, a contraption with two holes leading inside. A key was in the middle a little trap door beneath it. "Thought I'd make it easy for you huh Thad?" said the voice as it clicked on overhead. "I need your blood. Give me enough and you get the key. If not well..." the voice laughed and clicked off just as Flint's screams started up the boy crying out in agony as nails dug into him.
Fear crossed Thad's face as he quickly pushed his hands into the two holes. Blades and saws started attacking Thad's hands his blood splattering around inside the box staining it red. As Thad started to scream out in pain at the feel of blades cutting into his wrists Flint's screams stopped and so did the onslaught of blades and saws. The key dropped to the floor of the room and Thad pulled his arms out collapsing onto the hard tile. He reached forward for the key and slid it into his pocket before shakily standing up.
He stepped on another tile directly in front of him Flint's screams echoed in the room as Thad shouted. "Fuck this. Just fuck it!" He ran across the floor Flint's screams echoing before turning into whimpers of pain as he reached the opposite corner. "Don't worry I'm going to get you out." Thad said before pulling the cloth off whatever was in the corner. He stared down at the small table in front of him a revolver lay there and directly in front of the table was a closed off window with a hole in the wall.
"On the other side of that wall is one of your friends. One of your schools Warblers. In order to get the key you must shoot him. If you don't Flint will die. It's yo-" the voice cut off at the sound of the gunshot echoing in the room and a shrilling scream coming from the next. "Wise decision Thad." the voice said as the window's glass pane slid up revealing David slumped against a wall, a gunshot hole in his temple; a key dangled from around the boy's neck. Thad grimaced and stepped forward before reaching an arm out and pulling the key off of David's lifeless body. "I'm sorry." he whispered tears slipping down his cheeks. He turned his back on his dead friend looking at Flint in the chair. Blood dripped from and the boy took slow ragged breaths as he watched Thad, a mixture of fear and pain on his face. Flint opened his mouth to speak but Thad shook his head. He couldn't speak of what had just happened, he never wanted to. He mouthed a silent I love you to as well as an I'm sorry before taking a breath and running to the next corner, Flint's screams echoed out across the walls as Thad triggered several tiles.
"Thad" Flint whimpered "I can't" he looked over at Thad tears streaming down his face. "I can't hold on." he whispered his breathing hitching in his throat.
Thad wiped at the tears on his face. "Please hold on" he whispered ad he turned to face his next challenge. He pulled the sheet off a table three labeled syringes lie there as well as a key in a box.
"Almost done Thad." the voice said through the speaker system. "Stick those in your arm. Two are poison and one is the antidote. Only in the right order will you survive." the voice laughed menacingly before continuing. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." the voice said clicking off.
Thad yelled you in frustration before looking at the table before him. The syringes were labeled 1 2 and 3 and had various amounts of liquid inside them. He sighed and reached out a hand picking one up and glancing down at it. Number 2. He grimaced in pain as he stuck the needle into a vein in his arm smearing blood from his cut up hand over it as he pressed down on the plunger. He felt the liquid enter his system as he reached for Number 3 and did the same. Finally he picked up Number 1, the last one, and stabbed it into his arm depressing the plunger and feeling the liquid enter his veins.
"Are you okay?" Flint asked shakily as he glanced at the clock. 10 Minutes. He watched Thad reach for the key in the now open box before bracing himself as Thad ran across the floor to the the last corner. The nails pressed into him once again, slipping further into his skin scrapping the bones across his back and ribs, slicing and tearing at his muscles. The blood seeped from Flint slowly, dripping to the floor. Flint's cries of pain once again hit the walls and echoed around the room. Flint let out a low whimper as Thad reached the corner where his last challenge stood.
A click came on overhead and the voice spoke again. "I'm sorry to say Flint that your fionce chose wrong." the shackled on Flint's chair opened and Flint watched as Thad fell to his knees.
"Thad!" Flint screamed struggling to pull himself out of the chair and rushing to Thad on the floor. "Thad." he said again lifting the boy's wrist feeling the faint pulse linger there.
A door on the opposite side of the room opened. "If you can get him to the door in 8 minutes you both get to live. I will even have an ambulance waiting there for you." the voice clicked off and Flint got up pulling Thad up beside him struggling and stumbling across the room. Their blood mixing as Flint struggled to maintain Thad's weight. The clock hit two minutes and Thad passed out leaving Flint to struggle as he half dragged Thad towards the door, trying to support the boy's dead weight. "Please Thad." he cried stumbling and falling to his knees. They were almost to the door. 30 Seconds. Flint grabbed Thad and pushed him across the doorway reaching out to crawl across the open doorway when the door slammed shut with a bang.
"Want to play a game Flint?" the voice said laughing as Flint curled up on the floor crying, the lights in the room going out. One. By. One.