The party was held in an elaborate hall named, oddly enough, the "Dining Hall". One of the largest rooms in the Graham building save for the entrance hall, the dining hall was ornately decorated with dark oak furniture: a long polished table lined with chairs, a wooden bookshelf (which Caleb suspected was more for show than utility), and one wall of large windows offering a view of a courtyard and some dim old buildings. Behind the dining table was an open area which Caleb suspected was for dancing once upon a time.
"Great party," Ivy said sarcastically, almost having to shout over the loud pop music streaming through two speakers nearby.
"It's not too bad," Caleb replied. "Though it would be better if they served the food soon." His stomach had been rumbling ever since he, Chance, and Elle had stepped into the dining hall.
"Yeah man. I'm starving," Theo said, rejoining the group. He'd been drifting around for the better part of an hour, talking to people and stepping outside the door for "breaks", which Caleb suspected, perhaps harshly, that Theo was using for drugs.
"The whole 'no staff' thing is getting really ridiculous. I mean I'm starting to think we're not even in the right hotel," Ivy said with a toss of her hair.
Before Caleb could reply, the door into the Dining Hall swung open. Three kids entered; one was a pretty younger looking girl covered in tiny silver scars with long burgundy-brown hair, followed by her exact opposite, another young girl with pale soft skin, near-black hair, and icy blue eyes, and finally an older boy with a strong, slender build and dark wavy hair.
The first girl, the one with the scars, glanced around, scanning the crowd. Despite her healed wounds, she didn't look too menacing. In fact, she looked very friendly. Caleb waved to the three.
The girls waved back. The boy sneered.
"Damn! He's hot," Ivy murmured. "Not that you guys aren't," she added, "but he is fine."
Caleb watched as the newcomers dropped their luggage off in a corner with everyone else's bags. Then the girls made their way to Caleb's posse while the boy introduced himself to Elle, interrupting her from her conversation with Chance, who, in turn, looked pissed.
"Hey!" The first girl greeted, smiling brightly. "I'm Tori, and this is Sloan," she added pointing to her comrade with the scars.
"Hi guys," Sloan said, giving a soft smile and nodding politely.
"I'm Ivy," Ivy said, "that's Caleb, and that's Theo. Welcome to the party."
Before anyone else could speak, there was a loud bang. Caleb turned around to see that Chance had shoved Atticus into a wall, pinning him there by his shirt and shoulders. Atticus fought to free himself, but Chance had too good a grip, and no wonder. Atticus looked strong, but compared to Chance he could have been a rag doll.
"Hey! Stop that! Get off of him!" Elle futilely shouted, slapping Chance's shoulder. The boy hardly seemed to notice. He drew one fist back to hit Atticus, but before he could land it, a loud crackle of static broke over the speakers, cutting the music off. Caleb covered his ears in discomfort.
"That's enough. Let him go," a voice said over the speaker once the static cleared. This seemed to be enough for Chance to drop Atticus, both boys angrily stalking away from one another.
"Welcome, everyone, to Trinity Heights Mental Institution. I take it you all are having fun?" The man on the speakers asked. He had a raspy voice, grating on Caleb's ears like sandpaper.
"I wasn't quite expecting a fight to break out so early on, but that's why I get for inviting young adults to an isolated location without supervision, eh?" The intercom man laughed, a sour gurgle.
"You aren't all just normal teenagers though, are you?"
With that, everyone broke into murmurs.
"What does he mean?" Tori asked.
"'Course we're normal," Theo protested.
"I am definitely not normal. Have you seen this face hombre?" Igni joked.
"No, you aren't normal at all. Sirens. Witches. Demons. They called me crazy, but I knew. I. Knew," the intercom man's voice grew softer, colder. "Well who's crazy now?"
The man sighed. "That's all behind us now, isn't it? What you all really want to know is why you were invited here. Please, take a seat at the table, it's going to be a long story."
Caleb looked at Ivy, shrugging. She returned his confused glance, but like the rest of the gathered teens, she seemed to be stunned into silence.
Everyone took a seat at the table. Caleb sat between Sloan and Ivy, and still no one talked.
"You seem to be missing a few. Ah, yes. The girls in the chapel. They will pay dearly for trespassing, in good time."
"Pay?" Chance yelled, "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"All in good time, Chance Montgomery. Now that most of you have gathered, I should probably announce my intentions for you. All of you are special in some way. Different. Sub-human."
"Why that's preposterous!" Said Rosalind, clearly flustered.
"Please refrain from opening your mouth, Ms. Rosalind. Actually, refrain from opening either of them. If any of you were unaware, Ms. Beauchamp is a Futakuchi-onna, a rare creature comprising of two separate sentient beings in one body. Well, mostly in one body. You see, the young Miss has an extra mouth on the back of her–"
"Shut up! Shut up! No one needs to hear your lies!" Rosalind shot up, slamming her hands on the dinning table. Then she seemed to remember herself. Patting her hands on her dress to straighten it out, she sat back down. "That's all they are, anyway. Lies."
"You aren't the only abnormality here, Ms Beauchamp. In fact, every young adult gathered here tonight is in some way attuned to the occult. Werewolves," Caleb jumped a little at this, "witches, demons, the whole lot. They called me crazy when they admitted me to Trinity Heights the first time. 'No such thing as ghosties and goblins', they told me. But you're all here, aren't you? You're right where I want you."
"What do you want with us?" Shouted a frightened Hinoki. The poor boy looked terrified.
"You're crazy!" Chance screamed, throwing in a few colorful words for good measure. The room erupted into protest, but all Caleb could do was stare at the table in front of him. Somehow the man had known Caleb was a werewolf. How could he have known? Caleb had been so careful, oh so careful, to hide his beastly identity.
"Everyone settle down!" The raspy-voiced man interjected. "Thank you. What do I want with you? Well, firstly I want to expose you to the rest of the world. I was tortured this hellhole of a facility because I knew vermin like you all existed. So you all are going to feel my pain in due time."
"You see, I have devised a little scenario for each of you. You are all going to play a little game, a competition so to speak. I will be dividing everyone here into teams. You will compete on a daily basis for your teams victory– and for your own personal survival."
The group broke into uproar. Some shouted "Let us leave!", while others called for an explanation on "survival".
"Shut the hell up! The lot of you are going to be difficult. As I was saying, in these games you will be divided into two teams. Every day you will be given a new challenge. I will be filming you all throughout your stay at the asylum. Your challenges will be broadcasted live through an online webseries. I will expose your kind to the world. No one will ever call me crazy again."
"If you wish to survive your stay in the asylum, you will need to rely on your own abilities, as well as on your team. After every challenge, at least one of you will be, let's say, eliminated."
After a brief outburst of protest, the intercom man continued.
"Now for the teams. Staying in Ward A will be Eliade, daemon; Caleb, werewolf; Casimir, noken; Ignacio, being of fire; Chance, demon; Elle, siren; Sloan, hound of hell; Ivy, witch; Dana, lion djinn; and Calida, being of fire.
"In Ward G will be Hinoki, dryad; Elijah, sorcerer; Theodore, necromancer; Brennan, trickster being; Atticus, dhampir; Mae, clairvoyant; Alya, jinn; Anastasia, demon; Rosalind, futakuchi-onna; and Victoria, angel."
"Both teams will find their respective wards to be fully furnished with clean beds, working bathrooms, electricity, and other general amenities. Before I leave you, I will give you a warning. This asylum is still alive, even though the last residents left over thirty years ago. The spirits of those first doctors, nurses, and patients still roam these halls. Be weary. That is all. I will check in on you all again tomorrow morning for your first challenge." There was an awkward pause, then, "Oh, and one more thing. Your roommate assignments will be outside each room. I suggest you all go straight to sleep. You're going to need it."
XxXxX
I want to preface this author's note by profusely apologizing for the wait. Between school and snowmagedon, it's been a few crazy weeks. I do, however, hope you all enjoy the chapter! Updates should be every week or two, and starting with the next chapter, the games will begin! If you guys haven't heard it, I listened to the song "Long Way Down" by Gary Numan (for Evil Within) while writing the last portion of this chapter, so I highly suggest you look it up! It's creepy haha. Anywho, thanks for reading and I am truly sorry for the wait.