The wind howled deeply, blistering snow and crisp midnight air seeping through the many cracks of the dimly lit abandoned ski lodge. Slits on the ceiling gave way for the stars and moon to shine down upon four teenagers who sat around the fire pit in the center of the lodge, each hunched over a warm bowl of soup that was heated over the fire. The can lay discarded on the ground nearby, lightly sheeted with the glistening snow as the remains dribbled across the rotting wood, freezing in its tracks. It was the only food The Entity would give them, that is until they proved themselves. They weren't even sure if they needed food anymore, but they craved it. The room was silent, almost awkward and slightly ominous. The only sound echoing was the crackling of the fire and their breathing, warm puffs of breaths clouding the air in front of them before disappearing into the night.
A teen wearing a blood stained leather jacket slowly lifted his eyes, sight shifting across the room at the three others hunched around the pit. Their noses and cheeks were red, glowing in the fire's light. He began playing with his soup with his bandaged, bloodied hands, gathering some in his previously used plastic spoon and slowly letting it dribble back into the bowl repeatedly. It had turned cold by now and was quite unappetizing. He gulped down the remaining taste of the God-awful soup, his neck tattoo moving along his Adam's apple. The days seemed to drag on endlessly until they were called to The Trial where one of them would wander off through the gates to try and appease It. They were promised everything, but only found boredom and emptiness. The only thing that kept them going was their darkest, deepest desires, their lust for blood. It is why they were put there in the first place; To kill and feed The Entity. In turn The Entity fueled their lust for death. Thankfully, they had all come into this mysterious world together, and that's how they planned to go out as well.
The ground underneath them began to shake, rumbling and whispers of foreign tongue seeping in behind the walls of Ormond. The terrain sprouted gaping crevices, lighting up with a glowing substance. The next Trial had begun and The Legion was chosen to partake. Putting his hands on his knees, he sat up with a quiet sigh, putting his bowl down on the floor before stretching his arms out with a grunt. Beside him was a white, scratched up, oval mask. A painted and faded face made of charcoal decorated it with a spatter of blood, holes drilled in the drawn eyes. He picked up his mask and donned it over his own face.
"I can handle this one," He spoke, his voice husky and muffled by the mask. His breath bounced off the inside of his mask, keeping him warm.
"Are you sure, Frank?" One of the other teens, a girl with beautiful pink dyed hair and colourful braces asked, tilting her head to the side. Frank nodded, pulling a knife out of his cargo pants' velcro pocket. He played with it between his fingers as his heart began to speed up with the anticipation of his next kill, longingly gazing at the weapon in his hand, fingers grazing the saraded blade. He turned his head to look behind him at the girl.
"Yeah, I'm sure, Sussie," Frank nodded briskly. "I promise you can have the next one, Joe," A smile danced onto his face behind his mask. "You haven't gone in a little while,"
The other male laughed. He was dark skinned with a deep voice, a bandana wrapped around his face, covering his patchy stubble. "Now get a move on, The Entity won't be too happy with you,"
Frank threw a signal out to the rest of the gang before heading out of the lodge's doors and out into the blistering snow. Everything was fogged and he couldn't see more than a few meters in front of him in this weather. The wind seemed to be pushing him back as he followed the glowing slits scattered across the ground until he found himself at the gate, three lightbulbs lit in a neon red with the metal gates pried open. The whispers grew stronger as he stepped onto the cobblestone path inside the gate and crossed over into the playing field. The snow fall ceased as the terrain began to sprinkle itself with blades of grass before turning itself into a forest, the gate closing behind him and leaving Frank closed in to The Trial's terrain. The Trial was now beginning.
Frank took his first few steps around the Red Forest. The woods were decaying and the flora surrounding it was barely hanging onto it's last roots. He had been here many times before, but each time it was a little more different than the last, never consistent. His boots crunched on the half dead grass beneath his feet as he gripped his knife firmly in his right hand. Frank bit his lip, eager to get the party started. He opted to walk to the furthest point away from him, a generator in the far corner of the trail's chosen location. On his way, he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye. Frank stopped in his tracks and slid behind a thick tree, poking his head around the corner. His palms grew clammy in anticipation as he watched the girl walk around aimlessly. A clear indicator she was a brand new treat from The Entity, a delectable dessert to him.
The stray girl crept up to a dead generator, a murder of crows fluttered off as she began to work on her one true objective. Their caws filled the air with terror as all else fell silent. A few seconds in, the generators began clicking as the gears began to turn. She stuck her tongue out, focusing hard on her craft as stray wisps of her dirty blonde hair danced along her face. She was the next unsuspecting victim of Frank's lust for blood.
Carefully, Frank took his first steps towards the generator. His boots crushed the grass underneath, leaving a faint crackle to fill the silence. He stopped in his tracks as the girl shot her head up, looking around herself nervously. Her grey eyes were wide and her pink face went flush. He had to act now or he might lose his prey. In an instant, Frank shot himself forward, leaving the girl nowhere to run. As she heard the footsteps she lost focus on the generator, leaving a loud backfire as she frantically tried to scurry away, backing up into the fence surrounding the trial area. Frank had her right where he wanted, slowing his pace to a cocky jaunt as he flaunted his hunting knife. He let low chuckles escape his mouth as he bent down to look at eye level with the girl. She was frightened, breathing accelerated as the panic set in.
"Get away from me, please!" She pleaded, tears welling at the corner of her eyes. Frank just laughed, grazing his knife along her chin. A sick grin painted its way onto his face behind his mask as he watched her tremble.
"You must not understand how things work around here, do ya sweet cheeks?" Frank cocked his head and paused for a moment before swinging his knife directly into her shoulder.
She squealed with pain and managed to slip away in the small gap between Frank and the generator, heading towards the main building she had seen in the center of the forest. As she ran she stumbled over her klutzy feet, almost tripping over herself more than once, frantically trying to get away as blood poured out from her shoulder, staining her fuzzy sherpa. The heart beat that fell on her ears began to fade as she neared an old wooden home. Once she reached the house, she heard a generator being worked on up the stairs. Trying to be as quiet as she could she hobbled up the stairs of the abandoned home, grasping her shoulder and crying in agony. Once on the upstairs balcony she located two others who rushed to her side to bandage up her wounds before she could be found again.
"Are you okay, Ember?" Meg asked as she wrapped the dressing across her injured shoulder. She nodded, stifling whimpers of pain. "I promise, it only gets easier from here," David nodded in agreement.
"I sure hope so," Ember stood back up, carefully making her way onto the generator the two were working on before she got there. "Who is that guy? You can't even see his face. Somehow that makes it more terrifying, not being able to see whos coming for you,"
"There's a couple of 'em," David mumbled, arm deep into the generator. "Four, to be exact,"
"Four? How can there be four of him? What do you mean 'Them'?" Ember furrowed her eyebrows together, confused. "I thought there was only one killer at a time?"
"Somehow, The Entity managed to grab a bundle deal, apparently," Began Meg with a short laugh. "They're like a little band of hoodlums. There's Julie, she absolutely terrifies me. Joey, who often doesn't come out into trials nearly as much as the other four. Sussie, the sweetest girl you'll probably ever meet. Don't know how she got roped into the mess, and good old Frank," She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. " He's kind of like the leader of the their little gang,"
"How do I know who's who?" Ember asked, trying to align the cables just right, nearing the completion of the generator as another one on the far corner of the map sprung to life.
"Sussie and Joey are easy to tell. She's got pink hair while Joe's usually got some sort of skull bandana wrapped around his face, always wearing black. Frank and Julie dress quite the same, but one of 'em has tits," David explained, smiling at his own witty comment.
"Wise guy," Meg scoffed. The three of them successfully finished their generator. Meg ran to the right and hopped off the top porch as David went back down the stairs, leaving Ember by herself once again. Luckily they only needed three more generators to be completed before they could leave The Trial.
For the rest of The Trial Ember was constantly on edge, she felt frightened to do any generator by herself and spent most of her time crouching behind the wooden walls that scattered the fenced land. She would often hear her heartbeat growing stronger and strange screams bouncing off the thick smog and ringing in her ears, she could only imagine what was going down around her. The Trial seemed to last forever until the last generator was completed and the doors were powered. By then a few of her fellow survivors had fallen prey to the man and all that was left was her, David, and who they called The Legion. Ember had no choice but to go in for the door herself and hope David made it out alive.
Carefully and quietly she made her way to the door, pulling down the lever and watching the lightbulbs grow a bright, blood red with every passing second, but just before the last bulb lit Ember heard a loud scream and a thud to her left. David had fallen prey to The Legion. She struggled with her inner thoughts on going in for the save and after much deliberation she figured after doing next to nothing all Trial that she would try to do something one last time. Leaving the door at a few seconds to open Ember left the gate for David who was on his last hook. This was her last chance to prove to both herself and the other survivors what she was worth.
Halfway to the hook she stopped mid tracks as a chill ran down her spine. Ember slowly began to back up before bumping into something behind her. Fear ran through her whole body as she felt another body behind her, breathing in her right ear. As quickly as she stopped an arm wrapped around her waist as the other hovered above her neck, a knife in hand. It took the breath right out of her.
"My mother always taught me not to play with my food, but it just seems to taste so much better when you have a little fun," Frank pondered, the smell of cigarettes and body spray engulfing Ember. She stayed as still as the trees, only making noise as she panted heavily. Her heart sprang into her throat, gulping loudly as she watched David be sacrificed to The Entity in front of her. This was it, this is her first death. She closed her eyes tightly, anticipating the worst, but instead found her feet lifted off the ground and her body slumped over Frank's shoulder. She struggled and wiggled, kicking her legs up into the air madly.
"Let me go!" Ember screamed, banging her fist on his shoulder blade. It seemed like nothing affected him, no matter how hard she hit. "Get me off right now!"
Frank just chuckled, holding onto her body tightly as he wandered through the terrain. On his way he passed many hooks, leaving Ember to wonder what exactly this Legion guy had in mind. She paused her struggle and awaited her fate. Instead of a sacrifice, he dropped her haphazardly onto the moist, grassy ground with a plop. Infront of her was a hatch with mysterious haze seeping out and into the enclosed terrain, a single note emitting from inside. Ember looked at the hatch and back at Frank, scrambling to her feat.
"Well?" Frank asked, cocking his head playfully. "Aren't you going to hop in?"
Ember shook her head as if in a daze, wiping off her baby blue sherpa which was full of blades of grass stuck to her blood. "What do you mean? You're just… letting me go?" Frank sighed, twirling his knife in between his fingers. She couldn't tell his emotions which frightened her even more.
"Like I said earlier..," His words slid off, pausing for a moment. " It just seems to taste better when you play with your food. The more I toy with you, the more fun the next time will be. Don't make me change my mind and make you regret this decision,"
Ember swallowed heavily, nodding in response. She gathered herself together and dusted off her black capri leggings, her white tennis shoes muddied from the rain soaked dirt. For some reason she felt thankful for his gesture, whether that was out of pure kindness or his truly mad desire to play with his prey. Either way, it was an escape nonetheless.
"Thank you," Ember told him quietly, eyes wide as she stood next to the hatch.
Frank was taken aback by her gratitude, stumbling over his words for a second. He furrowed his eyebrows as he contemplated on the right choice of words to spit out of his mouth, but he just couldn't find them. To him, this was absolutely insane.
"Why are you thanking me? Are you alright in the head there, sweet cheeks?"
Ember just laughed, shaking her head and flashing a smile before jumping in through the hatch. Frank stood and watched, baffled at what had just transpired between him and the fragile being that was in front of him. How could she have expressed gratitude when he could have easily had her hanging by the shoulder, left to wallow in her pain until The Entity was satisfied with the loss of hope and the squeals of her pain? He was left with his thoughts for a while as he wandered back through the gate he had come through and was taken back into his own territory. The snow fell gracefully onto his jacket, seeping up the blood that newley adorned it into a beautiful crimson colour.
Upon entering into the grounds of Ormond lodge he found himself a boulder and climbed on top, rustling in his jacket's pockets and pulling out a lighter and a pack of Canadian Classics. Carefully, he pulled one out and let it rest between his lips. Frank cupped his hand to shield his smoke from the wind as he flicked his lighter, taking a deep puff and leaning back to look up at the night sky. He let his mind wander for a while, Ember's words bouncing in his head over and over like a broken record player. For a moment, he lost track of time.
"Hey," A voice called from outside of the lodge. "What are you doing out here?" The voice came closer and Frank sat up to look behind him, pulling his cigarette out of his mouth.
"Oh, hey Julie," Frank waved, removing his mask and setting it on his lap. "Thought I'd just take a moment. It was just a weird fuckin' match," He quickly took another puff of his smoke, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling it into the sky.
"Like, weird as in it was just a bad game? Or weird as in whatever else?" She climbed on top of the rock next to him, stealing his cigarette for a quick puff.
"No, it was a good match and everything, I got three sacrifices. There's this new girl-," He looked over at Julie, taking his cigarette back. " I had my fun with her, and I let her go. I've gotten bored with playing mind games with the rest of them, so it was nice to have a breath of fresh air, but when I let her go she thanked me," Frank's face was puzzled, lips pursed together tightly."It really threw me for a fuckin' loop. I could have killed that bitch then and there. She was in no hurry to get her ass out of there and thanked me,"
Julie smiled and laughed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Frank, you're thinking about this way too much. I think you should go inside and get some beauty sleep," She teased, hopping off of the rock and heading towards the lodge. "You coming?"
Frank huffed and slumped off the rock, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, I'm coming,"