"Guys," I said, breaking the silence, "Look," I opened the piece of paper that had been crumpled up and tried to figure out what was written on it, which wasn't made any easier by the grease stains.
I read the note aloud:
Congratulations, on finding the room I made especially for you all. We've taken you out of your lives and away from those you love. Your girlfriends, boyfriends, friends, and families are all awaiting your return. But before you go, I've got some challenges for you all.
You'll have to find your way out of Brennenburg Castle, without being torn to shreds by grunts, suitors, brutes, and the kaernk. Find the blue portal and go through it. Once you have gone through the blue portal, I'll give you more instructions on the other side.
Don't die; I can't bring you back to life. The portal will be heavily guarded, so be careful. I've provided you with more supplies; they're under your beds. And please don't be cowards; it's no fun watching you go through the castle if you don't do any fighting. Just keep in mind, your life, is now under my control.
Sincerely,
S.D. & B.
I finished reading the note and looked up. Everyone had stopped eating; even Niall wasn't devouring his bag of potato chips.
"Well," Zayn said, "At least we know we've been put here for a reason."
"Yeah, to be guinea pigs in this sick bastard's very own Hunger Games," Pewdie said, "Why should we even participate?"
"How else are we going to get home?" Zayn asked, "I've got Perrie to think about. Louis's got Elenor, and Liam's got Danielle! It's basically our one way out."
"You're not the only one who's got someone on the other side Zayn!" Pewdie was fuming now, "I've got Mariza to think about too, which is why I don't want to be risking my life out there and end up dead."
"Zayn's right Pewds," Cry said, "We need to fight our way out, it's the only chance any of us have of seeing our loved ones again, the only chance you've got of seeing Marzia. Think about it, what other choice are S.D. and B. giving us?"
"Speaking of S.D. and B.," I said, "Who are they?"
"I've got an idea…" Erin said, "I just hope I'm wrong."
The good mood we were in before had faded and had been replaced with a sense of hopelessness and despair. No one knew how long it would take us to escape and that's what scared us the most. Just the prospect of not knowing when we were going to leave, when any of us would see our loved ones again, made us feel as though we were going to be kept here in this dark miserable place forever.
I didn't have a special someone on the other side, but Page had her boyfriend. I'm sure that she missed him; I would if I had a boyfriend.
"I think it's time for bed guys," I said, and everyone silently agreed.
"We should have a couple people keep watch while everyone else sleeps, just to be sure we aren't ambushed," Cry said, "I'll take first shift."
"So will I," I said. Cry nodded at me and we got up with everyone else.
I went to my bed and looked underneath it. Under it were some bandages, a map, and another bag, about the size of an average backback. Next to those was a box. I pulled everything out and set each thing down on the bed. I pushed the bandages and map to the side and looked at the bag. It was blue and looked a lot like the backpack I used for school. I looked inside and saw that some of my clothes were there. I picked up my grey cardigan and looked around the room, wondering if anyone else had a bag like this. Erin, Jezebel, Page, and Anna were looking through their bags, which had their clothes in it. It looked like the same went for the One Direction Knights and the YouTubers.
I pulled on my cardigan and set the backpack to the side. I crawled up to the headboard of my bed, sat down, and pulled to box closer to me. I took a closer look at the outside of the box. It was blue, my favorite shade, and the same color as the backpack. I paused and took a look around the room. Before, I could have sworn that every bed was the same color and had white or black comforters, but now, each bed had different colors on it, the users' favorite color. My bed was the same shade of blue as the bag and the box. There wasn't much I could do about that, so I opened the box and nearly screamed at what was inside.
Inside the box were some of my personal items. My camera, my medication, my favorite book, my cell phone, my mp3 player, even one or two of my stuffed animals were in there. Along with those were cords to power and recharge everything electronic in the box. I picked up my camera, and opened the flap on the bottom, where the SD card would be, and there it was. I turned the camera on and went through the files. They were definitely mine. I remembered taking some of these pictures, making some of these videos. How had S.D. gotten these?
I walked over to Erin, who was looking in her box, which was a soft shade of lavender, just like her bed and the backpack. In her box were her 3DS, cell phone, mp3, and her makeup, along with the chargers. She pulled out all of her electronics and makeup and found pictures at the bottom. They were pictures of our dogs. Our black and white bichon frise/ poodle, Oreo was posing for the camera, like he always did. I recognized that picture, I look it myself. Another picture had our tan poodle, Macy, hiding, like she did every time she had her picture taken.
"How did S.D. get this stuff?" Erin asked.
"I don't know Erin," I told her, "I don't know."
