A spell was put on us, or at least you'd think so. The girl, who Ringmaster called Reyna, read the heart stopping message from Ringmaster herself: Only ten hours to escape. At least five minutes of that time was spent in silence at the sudden revelation. The buff blonde kid was the first to recuperate.
"Alright, no more wasting time! We need to know all we can about this 'game'. Ringmaster said each of us got a note right? Well let's read off what each of us got. I'll go first." He said before he drove his hand into his pocket. I couldn't help but notice he carried the way a leader would. After a few seconds he fished out a small piece of paper and read it out loud.
"There are ten two cards" he read before looking up with a look of confusion. I shrugged my shoulders at him; that hint made no sense at the time, we probably needed more context.
"Maybe if we read all the hints it'll make more sense" my mother surprising spoke up, voicing my exact thoughts. Ringmaster's phone call interruption caused me to temporarily forget that my mom and my, sort of, X-girlfriend was here. I gave each of them a quick glance and made a mental note to talk to them later.
The scrawnier boy that sat on the arm cushion next to Reyna gave a curt nod and began to read his note.
"Try and leave and your fired" he mumbled out in monotone. Another silence ensued afterward. We didn't have to guess what that hint meant. Ringmaster was always watching; if we try and escape we'll be blown up. After clearing her throat to disrupt the silence, Rachel gave her hint.
"It says '2+2+2+2+2= 10" Rachel read before looking at us confused. Reyna seemed to be deep in thought as she spoke up for the first time since she gave her hint.
"Could that be the way out? We need to find the number two card and use it to get out of here." She questioned. Before anyone could give it much thought the buff blonde responded.
"Maybe but let's get all the hints before we start coming up with ideas." Reyna looked upset about her idea not being fully recognized, but gave a grudging nod in agreement.
"I'll go next" the Native American girl said before reading her paper. "Only those who participated in the equation can enter through the door."
Her Latino friend quickly followed. "Mine says 'Whoever touches the Two Card first owns it'. Interesting huh?" he asked with forced enthusiasm. He was trying to keep the situation upbeat, key word trying. Still, I admired his effort.
Figuring it was my turn I brought out my paper. It was slightly wet but not unreadable.
"Two Cards are behind any numbered door except 10." I said before grinning. That was a pretty good hint. Even better was my mother's hint, which sparked a flame of hope that had been missing.
"Mine says 'All of you have a chance to escape!'" she practically yelled, though who could blame her. That was the best news we could have received. The mood visual brightened as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. We would all make it out alive.
"I figured it out" Reyna yelled out excitedly. Everyone's eyes turned to her, awaiting her conclusion.
"Through each of regular doors is a hidden number two card. Each person gets a number two card. Five go through the number ten door at a time. All of us get out alive!" she finished, standing up in excitement.
"That make's since but there are only nine non-ten doors, meaning only nine number two cards. We're missing a card." The buff blonde quickly countered. The mood of the room fell drastically, falling even more than it was when they first got into the room. The blonde quickly followed the rejection of Reyna's plan with his a plan of his own.
"You may not be wrong. Remember we still have two more hints" he said while giving Reyna a reassuring pat on the back. I looked toward the desk I remember seeing the two girls before Ringmaster's phone call, but they were gone. Not only were they gone but a door behind the desk was opened.
"I'll go check out what they're doing" I volunteered. The buff blonde gave me a thankful look before going to comfort Reyna. The way he shot down her idea was a little less than gentle. Giving him a nod I walked over to the desk.
It was small and very uncomfortable desk, definitely not ideal for working. A plain door was directly behind it, slightly ajar. Assuming the two were in there I opened the door slowly. Instead of finding two people I found one figure, lifelessly lying on the ground.
It was a petite figure of a feminine teenager. Her face wasn't visibly under her deep black, spiky hair. She had dark ripped jean with a punk like T-shirt. Her skin was, no pun intended, deathly pale. She was lying in a pool of a red liquid, presumably her own blood.
Pain and sadness began to engulf my heart as recognition hit my brain. Hypnotically, as if a zombie I dragged myself to her. I had to be sure. I made my way to her and scooped her up, meaning to see if it was indeed who I thought it was.
As I turned her I felt blood gush out of her stomach, warm blood. This was a recent kill. I managed to turn the girl and looked in her eyes. Her usually unmistakable shocking blue eyes had been dulled. Still, I knew who she was.
"Thaila…" I whispered to myself, barely audible. No way she was dead. I couldn't accept that. Without looking away from her eyes I trace my hand down her arm, aiming to get to her wrist to feel a pulse. Half way down her forearm I felt a warm liquid that I had very recently.
Slowly looking down to her wrist I saw a sight so vile I dropped her dead carcass in shock. Her hand, well it wasn't there. It looked as if something had ripped her hand off. Chunks of flesh still remained dangling from her dismembered wrist. It was coated in blood and was still bleeding, refusing to clot.
Time seemed to fly by as I stood next to her body, trapped in my own thoughts. What could have happened to her? Eventually the footsteps of another person came in accompanied by a sharp inhale.
Instead of retreating like I thought they would, I heard a low growl of a masculine male. Before he could react he was being crushed under someone's body. He couldn't breathe, whoever it was seemed content on choking the life out of him.
"You monster! You killed my sister!"
