• Playground •
Doran moved to a new town, this was a much nicer, cleaner, quieter town than the one he'll lived at before it was attacked by Pirates. Not the sort of town he expect to have, has heard the town never had any Pirates attacking it once.
There was a very big public park right in the center, it housed rows upon rows of swings, slides infested with cave-like tunnels that weaved in and around the playground - providing a maze for children to lose themselves in their games. There was even a functioning lamp theme merry-go round which seemed to always be slightly turning, inviting the other children to hitch a ride on its platform of twirls.
Doran have to emphasize on the fact that it was a quiet, peaceful town. The kind of town where kids could leave the house on their own and take the short journey to the park. He had been given strict instructions by his parents that he should come home the second it started turning dark. His life was wonderful,or so it seemed.
It was a Friday. Doran knew the day because he remember coming home with a large grin on his face as he knew he had the luxury of non-stop playing for the next two whole days. He did what he always did, Doran chucked his school bag on his bed and changed into other clothings. In a matter of minutes he was ready to descend into a world of fun. Nothing could stop him.
The cave like tunnels were Doran's favorite, it was so easy to get lost in them which made great fun for playing hide and seek with his only two friends, Sind and Uzu. They were both in his class and loved any game that filled them with pure adrenaline. They were going to play Murder. He don't expect anyone to know this game, they made it up. The rules were very similar to hide and seek, except when the one seeking found you, they had to 'murder' you. (Pretending, obviously).
It was nearing winter as Doran remember being slightly cold as he wormed my way around in the cave like tunnels, furiously trying to find a perfect hiding spot. Sind was the seeker. Uzu had hidden behind the merry-go round. Doran was alone.
It must have been maybe ten minutes (felt like a year) when he decided to do what all kids do when they get bored - Give up. "I give up!" Doran shouted, his voice echoing through the tunnels. "I'm in the tunnels! I give up!" He heard sudden shuffling from one end of the tunnel. Now Doran don't know why. But he froze still. He didn't call out again, he just...waited. Something wasn't right. Sind would always say something before coming in after someone in the tunnel. He'd always congratulate them on being the last to be found, or for cheating by hiding in the endless maze of tunnels. As Doran stood frozen, the shuffling grew louder.
He could tell it was starting to get dark outside as the tunnels slowly began to lose any light in them, slowly but surely dropping into darkness. Doran began to slowly shuffle backwards, the shuffling ahead of him grew louder, as if someone or somethingwaytoo big for the tunnel was trying to navigate around. "Come out, it's time to go home now," a very creepy voice echoed through the tunnels. It sounded like when a grown man talks to small children, talking slightly higher pitched. This was definitely wrong. Doran probably would have come out if the voice was outside. But it wasn't. It was inside the tunnels. Why would an adult crawl inside?
As Doran was shuffling further and further back, the face of a man appeared in the darkness ahead of him.
He has very long, spiky, black hair, yellow eyes, and two curly horns growing from the back of his head. He is rather tall. Doran looks a little closley, the man seems to be wearing purple lipstick and dark makeup around his eyes. He has a small flat nose and long thin eyebrows. He is wearing wore a polka dot shirt beneath a coat and black jeans.
The second Doran made eye contact to the man, he just smiled at him. Doran panicked, turned around and began shuffling on all fours as fast as he could, the shuffling behind him growing louder and quicker.
He was chasing Doran.
Doran sped through the maze for what felt like an eternity, he only stopped when his legs refused to move anymore. He'd taken so many twists and turns that even he was completely lost. "I don't want to hurt you, I just want to talk," the man echoed through the tunnels, Doran could tell he was nearby. He pressed his body against the bottom of the small, narrow tunnel and listened. The man continued to make soft cooing noises, begging him to come out and present Doran to him. Doran lay in that tunnel for hours. No exaggeration. Even after he heard him cursing to himself and angrily force his way out of the tunnel, Doran continued to wait. Thoughts raced in Doran's mind of him coming out the tunnel only to be met by that same smile that once man greeted him earlier.
In the darkness of the tunnel Doran could make out blue flashing lights on the outside, he heard frantic voices calling three names repeatedly. "Sind?! Uzu?! Doran?!" When Doran heard his name his heart slowly began to calm. Doran's parents had come. He easily shuffled out of the tunnels, guided by the wet dirt scrapings along the walls of the tunnel, the way the man must have gone. Outside Doran was greeted by several Marines, flashing their lights. There were groups of adults with concerned looks on the faces. Doran recognized two of them. His parents. "Mom! Dad!" Doran wailed, crying as he ran towards them. They began crying and ran towards Doran, lifting him off the ground and hugging him so tightly it felt as though he was being slowly crushed.
It turns out Sind and Uzu were taken that evening, and were later found hidden in a nearby skip, mutilated. They had been brutally massacred, their bodies had deep cuts everywhere, large pieces of glass found buried in their backs.
What chills Doran to the bones is that the wet dirt he saw in the tunnels wasn't dirt. It was Sind and Uzu's blood. After slaughtering his two best friends and making eye contact with him in that tunnel, he just smiled. Doran had just won the game.