Chapter 2: Make Your Choice

Jared walked down the corridor, the weight of the collar already straining his neck. For a second he felt bad about having Ali killed, but he quickly put that thought out of his head (after all, that bitch had the gall to call the cops on him after he joked about blackmailing her for sex). Coming to a dead-end in the hallway, he stared at the message on the wall; "Are the choices in or out of your hands?" with a red arrow pointing to the left. Jared followed the arrow into another room, and upon entering, the door slammed shut behind him.

"What the hell?" he tried to open the door but it remained stuck. Two lights turned on behind him, illuminating the room. Jared turned around and at the far end of the room he saw two big yellow vats filled with liquid. Above each vat hung a cage, and in each cage was a person. Jared walked up to one of the vats, and a television in the corner turned on. The face of the puppet appeared and started to speak.

"Hello Jared, I want to play a game. In front of you, you will see a thief and a liar. Also known as Neral and Brent, your roommate and your best friend." Two more lights turned on, shining light upon the people in the cages. "You constantly tell both of them that you would do anything to save them, even choosing them above anyone else for this kind of situation. Well now it's time to see who you really value more, and who you will break your promise to. When this tape ends, you will have 90 seconds to save one by pushing the button on the wall for their respective cages. The one that you save will be spared from the vat of acid below. However if you do not make a choice within the 90 seconds both cages will drop, killing them both. Some information to consider: Neral stole a total of $3,000 from you while living with you, while Brent continuously lied about Ali, Lindsay, and every other girl you were ever involved with. Let the game begin." Jared didn't move for a few seconds as the timer started, both caged victims started panicking.

"Look man, money can be replaced," Neral said, grabbing onto his cage, "but Brent's lies have done worse! He started that whole mess with Ali and Lindsay."

"Well that doesn't matter as much cuz Ali's dead now." Jared said coldly, looking at Brent.

"Not my fault! Look yeah I lied about the girls, and other stuff, but you can never trust a thief! Stealing's just like an addiction! I can stop lying but he can't stop stealing!"

"Oh quit the psych major bullshit! What you did was way worse!"

"And being your stereotype isn't? Progressive black man my ass!"

"Shut up you racist bastard!" The arguing continued, Jared clutching his head in his hands.

"Enough you two!" he yelled, "Look, I…I'm just gonna pick a number between one and five, whoever gets it right lives."

"2!"

"1!"

"3!"

"5!"

"4!"

With a sigh, Jared walked over to the cage on the right. Closing his eyes he pushed the button with both hands, screaming as a spike shot out and went through his hands.

"Oh you son of a bitch!" Neral screamed as his cage started to lower. "I protected you from the cops when you were dealing and this is how you repay me?" Brent closed his eyes and covered his ears. Neral started to scream as his feet hit the acid. A door opened up and Jared ran through it, leaving them behind, "at least watch what you've done to me you fucking pussy!"

Closing the door behind him, he fell to the ground crying, Neral's screams in the background still hurting Jared. Finally the screaming stopped, and Jared continued down the hall.