As corporal punishment for their crimes those deemed guilty by a party of elects are forced to run the GAUNTLET in which the individual is to run between two roles of soldiers and overcome the attacks coming from either side. Tonight's party is not a jury of our peers but rather a set of unbalanced twins who's day to day hobbies include scaring people and spreading their depressive aura. Our convicted; a pair of lovers who've, until tonight, never really hurt anyone but themselves. This Naval method, now illegal, was abolished in 1806 by the Admiralty Order. Inside the walls of this Slaughterhouse time has no meaning...
We spin with the flat head of a venomous serpent as it creeps in the rafters above the ground floor peering in on our newcomers. Dr. Logan Mitchell, experienced hacker Katie Knight, and Con Artist Dice Coreleone make their way into the lobby beneath dim green emergency lights. There's a slight popping sound followed by a click noise and suddenly a beam of light is cast from Logan and into the dark.
"You just happen to have a flashlight on you?" Asks Katie who's pulled out her phone and switched on it's light to add to what little vantage they have.
"Airport gift shop." He states calmly, "You didn't think I was going to come empty handed did you?"
Dice chuckles quietly, "So a flashlight is your alternative? See, this is why y'all need me."
He then proceeds to reach inside that giant curly helmet of hair on his head and unsheath an actual weapon. The other two shine their lights on him and the trigger device he's got in his hands and the big cheesy grin on his face.
"What the Hell is that?" Logan asks astonished that something that big could be hiding in his hair.
Dice cocks the backing and pulls the safety, "An elephant tranquilizer dart gun."
"You sure it works? Mr. Salesman?" Katie mocks him.
He flattens his brow and peers into her eyes with a sneer, "This isn't for sale. It's to save my ass if the wrong people come looking for me."
"I'm sorry." Logan's not following.
Katie fills him in, "Dice makes a living conning people. He's gotten caught up with the mafia a time or two."
The walls rattle, a sizzling pop rains down from above, a couple emergency lights flicker out, and the sound of screaming can be heard in the distance. There's a gush of wind and then something heavy lands on Katie. She lets out a roar and chucks it from her as long and warm as it is it take her a couple tries. They shine the lights on it and the copperhead hisses at them before they take off in a run.
"I'm not the only one carrying!" Shouts dice, "You heard that gunshot too?"
Logan, trailing the pack, calls out to him, "Who didn't?"
"It was a snake!" Screams Katie, "A fucking snake!"
Snakes aren't the worst thing hiding in the shadows here. Aside from all the bodies left to rot in their abandoned cells, the rats eating the discarded intrails from larger dead animals or what ever the creature left behind from his victims, and spiders slipping in and out of the holes in the doll faces along the walls our friends Kendall and Carlos are up against Jigsaw and his pigmen, Dr. Frankenstein and his rotting clones, the thing that wants to eat them, a GSW to the head on the floor beside them, and a young man entering the early stages of hypothermia in the glass blue room behind them.
A timer over their heads ticking down from fifteen minutes lets them know the games have begun. Kendall, post shock, is still staring at the man who just blew his own head off. Carlos, still present from being shielded, comes around to step into the older boys light. Just seeing that tan, sweet face wakes Kendall up. Kendall gently reaches up and takes Carlos' broken glasses off his face.
"Let's put these somewhere safe." He whispers and then tucks them into the pocket in his pink dress shirt.
Carlos nods, "We're on a time limit. What should we do first?"
Kendall takes a breath and begins to think out lout, "When my professor gives me a set amount of time to write an essay I usually scribble a little bullet point on the side of all the things I want to talk about and then choose the most important ones to talk about."
"Then lets assess our situation and go from there." Carlos says and then walks over to a cobblestone wall to unhook a lantern from the sconce.
Kendall follows him down the hallway and tries to put the suicidal maniac out of his mind. The light flickers as they pass each door and they notice a pattern. Each one has an image on it, a sticker. Like the Halloween decorations on the apartment doors back home at palm springs they each have their own personality. They show a hint as to what's inside.
There are three with spirals, three with pyramids, and the one at the very end is an eye. The symbols of the Illuminati. The spiral of life in blood red which is found in the Saw series, the pyramids of power set to represent the many slaves to support the very top who is the doctor that plays God, and the all seeing eye of consumption for the creature.
"Why only one eye?" Asks Carlos.
Kendall takes a breath and tells him, "Spiritually and symbolically the eyes can represent the ability to see through maya and glamour. In it's depth it is being able to see truly and developing understanding as well as seeing ourselves for who we truly are."
"You think that means the key is in there?" He asks.
Kendall looks at him sympathetically, "I doubt they'd make it so obvious."
"Most contestants aren't us. They'd be too afraid to think clearly." Carlos tells him, "I think we should start somewhere else and come back, though, just in case."
"We just need to find the key." Kendall insists.
Carlos shakes his head, "I want to try to do all of them."
Kendall cocks a brow as if to ask the question, 'What?' but says nothing.
Carlos pushes past him and steps to one with a spiral wrapping his fingers around the cold, iron knob. He looks over his shoulder in the direction of the firelight and says, "We need that money."
The older boy tries to argue, "What makes you think they'll even give it to us if we win."
Carlos takes a deep breath, "Even the devil has to keep his bargains."
And he pushes open the door.
The moment he does the whirring starts. She's been crying for a while, her mascara is draining down on her face. She's got hay colored hair braided tightly behind her and it's pulled back into a contraption on the chair she's sitting in. She's got both wrists tied to the arms of her seat and she doesn't look comfortable. She's afraid of them both.
When Kendall comes over Carlos presses into his chest for security. There's a reason you never just go for the exit. You never know if you're leaving someone behind.
"For six thousand dollars, Kendall this is Samantha Puckett. Does she look familiar." Jen asks.
He takes Carlos' hands gently and pushes them away, "She's a webstar. ICarly. Do you remember?"
Carlos nods. Of course they do. This girl is also a wanted criminal in about forty two states. A girl just like her mother. Carlos worked with her on the set of a couple gigs he had. She's spent several years being a baby sitter with the girl he'd seen down in his challenge. They were friends, the three of them. Grabbed dinner together a time or two, they even came to watch him do a music video once for Dua Lipa.
The room is a lot smaller that the cell Gustavo was in but it's also got a lot more in it. All of her wanted posters pinned to the walls, warrants for her arrest, strings of developed photos hanging across the room and upon each one are images of her committing crimes. Theft mostly, but also impersonation, fighting police officers, drunken misconduct. One even shows the details of a car she'd wrecked and almost died in from driving under the influence.
On a shelf is stacks of money but the safe is in the back of the room. She lets out a scream as the gears on her machine start turning and pulling her braid from her scalp. A stream of blood floods her eyes. They could just take the money and move on to another room and Kendall sees this but he's also very aware that there's a chance the key is in that safe. As obvious as the eye seemed everything is an illusion here. He's not one to kill any one.
"Carlos I'm going to read to you the combination as the numbers come up on the gears. I need you to put them in the safe." He demands and they both move as quickly as they can.
The gears move faster this time and there's a lot more of them but Kendall is prepared for this. He spits out each digit as quickly as he can and Carlos clicks the dial at the same speed. There's six numbers needed this time and each digit is another thousand that they earned. The safe pops open and the younger boy pulls out the remote to the device and presses one of it's only two buttons. When it stops her face is covered in blood and she's got all her veins on the surface of her arm but she's set free. She stands and struggles to keep her balance to no avail. When she goes to fall Kendall catches her.
"Carlos. I'm taking her to the circle room, keep going." Says Kendall and he's slipping out the door while Carlos swipes all the cash into the bag and then throwing it over his shoulder.
Young Garcia does as he's instructed and crosses the hall to open into a pyramid symbol door. He spies a mound of cash waiting on an altar on the other side. The moment he opened the door a series of squares lit up going across and he waits to watch it again. Jen explains, very briefly, that it's a memory test.
"Step wrong and you'll feel the shock in your future kids, Garcia. For two thousand dollars, do you think you can manage?" She warns.
And he's off. Meanwhile the twins watch on the monitor. These tasks are mediocre compared the one in the eyeball room. The pain, however is very real. Jen even laughs as Carlos missteps and gets electrocuted through the foot. While he gathers his bearings she looks over at Sylvia with the only eye she has. There's a weird feeling between them now. They used to be so close.
"It looks like they'll make it." Says Jen.
Sylvia doesn't know how to respond. She's not running lines anymore. She's looking at her sister and seeing only a monster. The things they've done tonight will get them in massive trouble. They joke all the time about selling their souls to the devil but never did Sylvia actually think Jen would do it. There's more she's not told her. Something scarrier is going on and Sylvia needs to figure it out.
"You left me out." Sylvia chooses to try something that never works on Jen; sympathy.
The girls lack many of the human emotions. Sympathy being one of them, when it comes to other people. Sylvia will have to pretend it doesn't bother her to watch people actually die by her hand to even begin to convince Jen she's still in this and even further that she's simply hurt she wasn't involved in the plan making.
"We were kids when we we're talking about finding the real jeepers creepers and becoming Jigsaw copy cats. When did you go and start doing things without me?" She drops her voice to a whisper.
They're both distracted by the screen where Carlos has completed his trip across the board and silenced the energy in the room. He scoops all the money in the bag and hops back across the room closing the door for good. No key there either. He meets up with Kendall out into the hall.
"The timer says we've got ten minutes left." Kendall tells him.
Carlos nods, "You pick the next room."
"Can we please do the last one? I want to go home." Kendall begs wiping more blood out of his eyes but only spreading it across his face a small panic as he realizes it's not going to come off.
Carlos shakes his head, "We have to check every room. There could be more people here."
"Carlos, James is dying. I don't even think he's breathing anymore. We have to get him out of there. We didn't put any of these people here and the moment we open a door and find them there we start their game. We become liable. If we find the key and we get him and her out of here we can call for help. We've already lost Camille, I can't lose James too and if you die playing one of these games I'll have no more reason to go on." Kendall puts down the lantern and pulls Carlos into a hug, "I need to see the sunrise in your eyes tomorrow or I'll never forgive myself."
Carlos nods. Then he weeps into the crook of Kendall's neck. A deep breath in as he pulls out of the hug, "Let's see what's behind that door."
"You go. I'll do one more while you're gone. We can knock out two challenges at once." Carlos insists.
Kendall hates the idea. Splitting up is what causes all the bad shit in the horror movies. This is Hollywood; their world is a cliche. Still, he knows there's no talking Carlos out of this. So he lets it happen. He makes the decision to turn away as Carlos opens another door. He walks down the long corridor and reaches out to that feeling of the world about to end.
Carlos chooses a spiral door. His eyes fall on Kelly Wainwright, the talent scout who got him the job. The woman that saved his life and got Gustavo banned from the music industry. There's a price to being a hero too. For where there's a hero a villain always appears. There cannot be Gods among men. She's dangling upside down by her feet and screaming against the gag in her mouth.
Jen: Carlos, for four thousand dollars you need to divert the poison coming from the vat in the back corner of the room into the weighing bucket beside the door. We've left some pipes for you to assemble it's path away from your little talent scout. All you need to do is get fifteen pounds into the bucket and the weight will unlock the safe that holds your money. Take too long, however and Ms. Wainwright will perish.
A crow flies out of the room tipping it's wings so that it veers to the left back into the circular room. It's black feathers glimmer in the light of the fire as it swoops over Sam's head and passed the glass door she's sitting against. It flies out into the corridor and makes it's way through the floor into the stairwell. It lets out a caw and disappears into the shadows.
Somewhere in the shadows a light can be seen shaking as the one who casts it runs. Our three heroes lost in the dark and trying to find their way around come to a stop. Katie begins to look around in corners and Dice checks his phone for signal but it's hopeless as the storm outside is in full surge. Logan presses his hands to the flat cool surface of the elevator.
"There's a hum..." Says Logan, "A hum elevators make when they're on- there... there's no hum."
Dice looks up at him, "What does that mean, doc?"
"It means the elevators aren't working!" He slaps it, "The elevators aren't on!" and then he begins punching it releasing the anger in his heart he's kept cool until this moment, "Turn the elevators back on! Damn it!"
Dice tries to calm him quietly, "Shhhh. Dr. Mitch, please. That think could hear us."
Logan goes into a rageful fit kicking the door over and over as Dice places an open palm on his back, "Please. Dr. Mitchell, that thing could come and kill us."
"Ah! I got one! I got a camera!" Katie yells and she pulls a device out of the wall with all it's chords and begins fumbling with her phone and some chips, "Give me your phones. Both of you now!"
They look at her like she's crazy and then when she looks up at them with that 'I'm going to kill you' glare they do as they're told. She begins plugging chords into different places and attaching the devices to one another.
"What are you doing?" Asks Logan.
She holds out the three screened creation she's made that has live footage of different places throughout the building, "Giving us eyes... so we can see."
"Is that?" Dice points at the screen in the middle.
Katie nods, "It's Carlos. He's still alive and he's on the fourth floor."
Zooming in on him he's got the look of sheer panic on his face as he hurries to finish his task. Kelly's stopped screaming now. The poison trickles down her legs and stomach. The gollops of flesh plopping down on the floor around her smell fowl. Carlos is sobbing now, with snot slipping out of his nose and mouth as he fumbles with the pieces. He's almost there.
"Hang on, Kelly. Just a couple more seconds okay." He wipes his face on his purple sweater and tries to stop shaking. The poison burning the tips of his fingers as he goes.
Kendall waited. He came back just as Carlos got the last pipe in place and all the remaining poison flushes into the bucket and it's just enough to tip the scale and open the safe. Carlos races to get the key to unlock her chains but the damage is done. He's gasping for air and his tears could fill the bucket alone because he can't even see as he fumbles for her lock. It's too late. She's dead.
"Carlos." Kendall calls out to him but Carlos just continues to paw at her chains trying to free her begging please, oh please over and over again. So Kendall walks up to him and pulls him down into his arms and Carlos screams and buries his face into Kendall's neck, "Carlos we have four more minutes. We've got to go."
"Th-The keys NOT working. It didn't w-w-work." He whimpers.
Kendall looks at the tiny thing in Carlos' hands, "That's because it's not for her."
They share a glance. It's THE key. The one that will free James and get them back to the Hellevator. Carlos pulls the money out of the safe and dumps it into the bag and they step out into the hall way. A rough sound comes from that last door on the end. Another, then another still.
"Run!" Says Kendall.
Then the creature bursts through the wood of the door with it's wings spread behind it's back and it's pointed crests spread out and it's teeth bared. It's three times the size of a normal man and covered in a thick layer of oily goop. There are open holes on it's face that open and close as it breaths. It's feet curl into massive claws and it's eyes are her eyes, Camille's. It's coming for them.