Chapter 2: A Performance for No One


Okay, so I'm alone in a room with walls made out of stone. I'm still wearing my normal clothing. The room is lit up by purple crystals along the walls. There's a bunch of carrots scattered across the floor. A metal door leads out of the room. I try to open the door only to find that: it's currently locked. Of course, it is. Why did I think otherwise? I can't leave so I think of how I got into this situation.

I remember driving in the car with Nick. We were going camping for a month. I don't know what made Nick willing to go camping with me. This is my chance to get to truly know him. It was going to be so much fun! I drove us to a rather peaceful area. We set up camp and now I'm here. I pace back and forth in the room out of boredom.

There's nothing to do in this room. I hear footsteps coming. I bang on the door to get their attention hopefully. The door opens revealing a white vixen with yellow eyes. She's wearing pristine white robes laced with sapphires along the edges and a white cowl with similar designs. The vixen is walking with a staff that has a yellow crystal floating at the end of it between two prongs. Nothing is holding the crystal in place. It's simply floating. She steps in the room. A male red fox with red eyes follows her into the room. The red fox is wearing purple mail armor with multiple crystals purple crystals embedded into it. He has two swords on his belt.

The vixen says, "One of our own isn't eating, will you help us?"

I respond, "First, where am I?"

The male fox responds, "You will help us willingly or not."

She replies, "She has a right to know, where she is, this is Everlight."

I ask, "Everlight doesn't mean anything to me, where am I?"

"That's the only answer you will receive." She reaches into her pocket for a scroll. "All you have to do is read this."

I demand, "Where is Nick? He's a fox that was with me and why and how was I brought here?"

He says, "You don't seem to understand your situation. You are here to help us. You can either do so willingly or we can force you to comply."

She comments, "It's not the time for you to have fun, yet. You may only do so, if she doesn't comply. We did promise that she won't be harmed. All will be made clear once the animal of interest actually eats. Now, will you help us? If, you want to do so willingly just read everything on this scroll per it's instructions."

She gives me the scroll. I look over it, it seems all I have to do is scream at certain times?

He asks, "Now, that you know your part, will you do it willingly or should I make you comply by force? I've always loved the natural act, it's so much better than the fake one we're about to do." He unsheathes his swords.

I think over my options, just screaming seems to satisfy them, I'm not harming anyone. Why not? It seems a lot better than the implied alternatives. "Very well, I will play my part."

"How disappointing, I wanted to do the real thing." He sheathes his swords again.

She says, "Very well, let us practice first. I will tell you when I like the sound and then you can follow the script."

I scream a few times with different pitches and lengths. They selected one of them. He says, "it's time to follow the script."

I scream. He unsheathes his blades. He stabs the stone wall. It's making a dent into the wall. The script tells me to scream again. This process repeats several times by the time the script ends, the walls are covered in dents that the fox made.

He laments, "Hmph, you've done your part. You're safe for now, I guess" then angrily stomps out of the room.

She reassures me, "Don't mind him, you're very helpful today. Don't worry, you'll be free soon."

I notice the room has lack of water to drink, I ask, "Can I have some water? My throat is sore from all that screaming,"

She says, "Certainly. I will bring water to you myself. Give me a few minutes." The vixen leaves the room and shuts the door. She comes back a few minutes later carrying a bucket of water. She places the bucket of water in the room. "There you go, enjoy. We'll be back tomorrow." She leaves the room and closes the door.

I am left alone with my thoughts. What was all that about? How does me screaming several times convince someone to eat? The vixen seems to be a lot nicer than the male. Speaking of the male his swords seem to be unusually strong, He's able to leave marks within the wall. At least, there's food and water here now. There's just endless silence. I can't even tell the passage of time here. How long have I been here? It must have been a while, I'm feeling hungry, so maybe at least six hours. I pick one of the many carrots scattered across the room to eat. At least, the carrots are edible.


I answer Alim, "Well this fox isn't hungry right now AND until I'm hungry I won't eat anything." I raise my voice a bit to get across a point.

Alim asks, "What will make you hungry then, mister fox?" Alim seems unfazed by all of it. He's just so innocent.

"How about a story from you? I might be hungry enough after that."

"I can tell you about my sister Anna. She's a white bunny, she's was very energetic and happy. She would run around everywhere in the burrow rearranging everything that was in place. My parents didn't like her much though for some reason, I never knew why. They wanted her birthday to come sooner. That's what I heard them whisper when they thought everyone was out of sight. My sister seemed to always be alone, she didn't really get along well with anyone, she was a bit too demanding wanting everything her way. Not even the foxes liked her.

"On her fourth birthday, everything changed. We invited all the kids within the village for the party. We played games and had a fun time. At the end of the party, one of the fox kits liked her a lot. She didn't like the fox though. The fox kit put a black ring around her neck and dragged Anna away to where she lives. She was screaming and crying all the way there at least that's what I saw before she was out of sight. She lives with the foxes now. She's rather happy and has a ton of friends. She seemed not be so energetic anymore. I still see her when I go to class. It's rather strange though, when I see her alone, she cries a lot but if I ask her if something's wrong she tells me everything is fine. The fox that took her away tends to follow her everywhere nearly all the time.

"Mister Fox, are you hungry now?"

Alim finishes this story. "I'm tired. I might be hungry after I wake up, I'm going to sleep now."

I fall asleep.

I wake up, it's hard to know how much time has passed. Alim is jumping on me again.

Alim says, "Are you hungry now? I'm bored."

"I'm still not hungry, yet. Do you have another story?"

"Well, I can tell you the bedtime story my parents tell—"

"Quiet, someone's coming."

The black fox from earlier returns. He opens the door and surveys the room. The fox speaks with an ominous tone, "I see you haven't bothered to eat. Now, you can learn the price of your disobedience. BEHOLD!" The screen begins to play the sound of someone being stabbed by a sword and I can hear Judy screaming. "All, you have to do for this to stop is EAT!"

I think, can I kill an innocent kit for this to stop? What if they don't stop? What if it's all a lie? What can I do for a distraction? I've got a plan. "I'm too thirsty to eat right now, would it be possible that you bring me some water?" The sound subsides for now.

The fox says, "Certainly. Give me a few minutes." The fox leaves the room and shuts the door. I enjoy the brief moments of silence. The fox returns with a bucket of water. "Here, drink." I slowly lap up some of the water he brought. "Enough stalling, EAT now!"

I reply, "I'm not hungry anymore, can I eat tomorrow instead?"

"Stubborn. Have it your way." He shuts the door; the sound comes back. I hear Judy screaming and being stabbed to keep me company for the rest of the day.

I shout, "Judy, I'm sorry!"


A/N: Struggling to decide if I should kill the kit or not.

Would the chapter be more effective if I just submitted Nick's part or would that be too dark?