Chapter Two

The news had spread quickly. By the second day every news station had told the story of the boy who was part of an illegal game show. Alex Rider, fourteen years old in his fourth year of high school. They told the story as they usually did, making their audience feel sorry for the boy, exaggerating everything. It worked of course, and soon the boy had his own Facebook fan page. 'Free Alex Rider' it was called. The thought was nice, but it would make no difference. Nobody could stop these madmen from playing their game. Something that the public didn't know though was that this particular boy had worked for MI6 on many different occasions, so he had already had his fair share of madmen.

Alex sat in his room trying to figure out what to do. He didn't know much about these people, he suspected they were SCORPIA at first but they didn't even know he was a spy, so that was out of the question. Yesterday when he had woken up he had been given a brief explanation of his situation. He had to play a game- simple enough. All he had to do was win this game and they would let him go. What troubled him were the details the strange man had included. If he made the wrong choice he would be killed. If he failed to make a choice he would be forced to make another, even worse choice. The thought sent shivers through his body.

He had an hour to make the choice. That seemed long enough, but something troubled him. They had said that his hour could be extended if he wanted, with a maximum extension time of 120 minutes for each choice. There was a catch though- there was always a catch. For every minute extra he wanted he would have to go through a minute of torture. They hadn't been specific on the type of torture, but he didn't expect anything too kind.

Alex sighed and looked around the room. There was one uncomfortable looking bed. He hadn't had a chance to test it yet though as he had spent most of last night walking around his room. There was a clock above the door, telling him that it was 2pm. The students from his school would be enjoying themselves right now, most likely out with their friends or family. He felt a rush of envy course through his blood. Why him? Why was it always him?

He looked up at the ceiling and he caught something black at the corner of the room. His eyes searched around and realised there were four of them- one at each corner. He groaned. These people keeping a close eye on him. What he was completely unaware of though was the fact that not only were his captors keeping an eye on him; the whole world was watching his every movement. Most of them wondered why the fourteen year old boy was not in a state of panic right now. He seemed perfectly calm, like this happened to him all the time. That was ridiculous though, he was only a child. No child would have been in a situation like this before.

The room also had a window, which was barred up and covered with black paper on the outside. It was as if they were mocking him, telling him that freedom was just a wall away. The man in the turtle neck sweater who he decided to call 'Turtle' had told him that he would be making his first choice today- in approximately three hours. Alex longed for one of Smithers' gadgets. He wanted to contact MI6- to tell him what was going on. He could only hope that they figured out that he was missing and come to rescue him. That thought gave him hope, if only slightly.

There was a knock on the door. Alex laughed, what was the point? People knocked on doors to give others privacy, but these people had four- most likely more, cameras in the room. He was certain they weren't too bothered about giving him privacy.

"Come in," he said, deciding to do along with it.

A young man entered the room. He looked to be in his early 20's with a big smile on his face and was carrying a plate in his hand. The man had brown hair with a side swept fringe and hazel eyes. He most definitely did not seem like the type of person who would be working for a group of maniacs.

"Hi there Alex, I'm Stephen. Steve for short," he walked over to the wall Alex was leaning on and held a hand out for him to shake.

"Hi, I'm Alex- but you already knew that," Alex said not moving his hands. He didn't want to make friends.

Steve held his hands out for what had to be the most awkward ten seconds of his life, and placed it back at his side. As if to make it even more awkward, he knew many people around the world were watching. He coughed his embarrassment away and held out his plate for the boy.

"I brought you some food. You must be starving!"

Alex looked at the plate. It was wrapped in cling film and the plate was plastic, but the food looked rather good. There was a beef burger and a handful of chips on it. He felt his hands reach towards the plate, and cursed himself for giving in. Taking the plate he put it down on the floor next to him. He would at least restrain himself from eating in front of the man.

"Enjoy the food," Steve said. "Oh, and remember- you're due to make your choice in three hours."

Alex didn't respond, but he did glare at the man until he was out of the room. He didn't want to look like a weak fourteen year old boy; he wanted these people to know that he was stronger than they thought. It wasn't time for that now though, besides, there were some benefits of people underestimating you. They were always caught off guard when you show them your true potential.

Three hours later Alex was woken by the sound of the door opening. He had devoured his food the second Steve was out of the door and disposed of the plastic plate on the bin he found next to the bed. He looked up and saw Turtle standing at the door. He was wearing a dark blue turtle neck sweater this time. Alex was certain this nickname was perfect for this man.

"It's time," Turtle said, as if he was trying to build up suspension. Alex was having none of it.

"Oh it's time already? Great! I can't wait. You wouldn't mind telling me what my choices are going to be, would you?"

"When we get there," he said, and walked out of the room. Alex followed behind. He was led into a room with two doors, not including the one he had come through. One was red and the other was blue.

"Like I told you before Alex, your first choice will be easy. It is simply to choose which door to go through."

"What's on the other side?" Alex questioned.

"That's for you to find out," Turtle smirked.

Which door would be the right one? Red or blue? Alex thought about this for a while; blue is usually associated with good while red was associated with evil. Or so he thought, but they could be tricking him. They could know that he would make that assumption, and purposefully make it the other way around. Groaning, Alex walked towards the red door.

"So…which door is the wrong one?" Steve asked one of his bosses. Three of them were sitting watching a large television screen.

The only woman in the room laughed.

"The red one."

A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday! I went to see Deathly Hallows Part Two so I was mourning, and I went swimming earlier today so I started writing once I got back! Hope you liked this chapter :)