Chapter 2

I woke up with a start. I looked around, all my neighbors were lying on the floor around me. But where were we? I asked myself as I looked around myself in a sleepy-like daze. I saw what looked like a game-show interview set up of a chair and couches, all the space around it clear except the little coffee table that sat next to what would be the interviewers chair. I heard the grumbling of my neighbors as they fought their way out of sleep. I continued to examine the room, it had tan walls with little designs in them, only a shade or two darker, making them difficult to see.

There was a white border on the top and bottom of the wall that edged it's way around the room. I saw that there were three huge windows that spread from the floor to the ceiling, all covered by long, vertical drapes that were the same darker tinted shades as the design on the walls. I heard giggling and turned toward my neighbors. That's when I saw the man in the corner of the room staring at me. He moved foward and seated himself in the 'interviewers' chair. I looked back at Brendyn who was giggling fiercely.

"Brendyn calm down. It's just 3D graphics." I gave him a reassuring smile. That's when I realized he wasn't wearing his 3D glasses. My breath hissed out between my teeth and I scanned the rest of the room. Not a single one of them was wearing their 3D glasses. I saw Matt crawl over to a 3D couch and touch it. It didn't phase like a 3D object would. I took deep breaths as I reached up to my face, slowly and touched my nose. No glasses. Don't freak out, don't panic. Maybe your still knocked out and your dreaming. I thought to myself.

"Anyone here know why we aren't wearing our 3D glasses?" I asked, my voice shaking.
Brendyn giggled. I looked at him in horror and turned to everyone else, they were reaching up to their faces. I saw 3 pairs of eyes widen at once. "I do." A voice I didn't recognize spoke. I knew who it was before I turned back to look at the man sitting patiently in the chair.
"What are we doing here?" I asked him, struggling to keep my calm.
He smiled, it was a comercial smile, those fake, creepy smiles that you know must have been rehearsed over and over again. It didn't reach his eyes, he continued, "You're playing the game of course!" His voice, I thought, was also rehearsed.

Then his words sunk in, "Playing... the game? But we aren't even at my house anymore!"
"Of course not! It wouldn't be life changing if you didn't expirience it first hand would it?" Another comercial smile.
"It would be normal if we were experiencing it at my house." I shot back.
"Exactly my point," he swept out a hand to the couch next to him, "now will you all please take a seat?" If he smiled one more time like that, I was going to smack it off his face. "Welcome to the Game of Chance. Now let's start with those questions shall we? You might need the help, losing could mean the world to you." He smiled at his joke, but it was a noticably grim smile.

I sat back and puffed air out of my cheeks, "Is there any rules we might not know about?"
"Well whatever happens to you in the game, happens in real life." He looked like he wanted to say more but couldn't. "Melanie, first question, since you seem to be the most talkitive of the group. Outside alone in the black of the night, what two things do you fear most? And don't lie to me, I will know."
"Probably someone else being out there, or some kind of big animal." I answered honestly.
"Okay next! Matthew what is it that scares you most?" Matt sat silently, pondering whether or not to answer it, I assumed.
"Heights." His voice came out in monotone and a suprised look crossed his face, but not before a sad look crossed the hosts.

"Ryan, have you had any nightmares this past week?"
This made Ryan's forehead crease in thought, "No, not that I am aware of."
"How about the week before?" Ryan flinched in sync with the man.
"Yes." The man nodded, turning to Brendyn.
"What is your most feared natural disaster?"
Goosbumps dotted along Brendyn's arms, "Tsnuamis."
"Connor, do you love your sister?"
"Yes." he answered, shaking.
"What if I were to tell you that she was here?" The man's sad eyes looked away as we heard Meredith's crying from somewhere far away. Connor tensed and he squeezed his eyes shut and his hands clenched.
"Your bluffing." He whispered.

"Think what you want." The monotone was back, more rehearsed lines. Almost as fake as those notecards he was reading in his hands. "Melanie, what is the worst way to die? In your opinion of course."
I considered lying, but I looked at the man's eyes and then quickly changed my mind, "Um... A fire?" I shuttered, burning away slowly and painfully was probably the worst way to die.
"Brendyn, do you prefer the forest or the desert?"
"Do you mean which one I like more, or which one scares me more?"
"Which one frightens you more of course!"
"Forest."
"Okay," the man stood up, "now it is time to begin the game. Good luck to all the players, I hope to see you on the other side!" He strode off into the darkness of the hallway and disappeared.

We all watched as two doors appeared on the wall next to us. They formed slowly against the wall and slowly grew more detailed until they looked like regular front doors. We watched as an invisible black hand drew in sharpy on the doors in black. It was a neat, but creepy old-fashioned cursive. The marker finished and moved to write something above the doors, but I quickly read what was on them. The first door simply said, 'Melanie, Connor and Matthew.' The second one said, 'Ryan and Brendyn.' We moved across the room as a group and separated in front of the two doors. I watched as the marker completed the writing above the doors. It was plain text this time, simply written in it was, 'The Dark Rooms.'