¶ I had a thousand questions I wanted to ask, but I couldn't mutter a word. Ancel awkwardly shifted in place, and waited for me to say something, anything. I tried to gain some form of grasp on reality and squeaked, "Did you do Mrs Collin's homework". He shifted silently with an occasional blink, "Um... no". From the corner of my eye, I saw him grip his sword, but judging by his expression, it was out anxiousness rather then malice. "What are you doing here, Ancel"? He put his arm over his torso it looked as if he was trying to hold himself. "I don't expect you to believe me, but I woke up when you pulled me out of that green pool".
¶ I hesitantly asked, "So you don't know what we're inside of"? His eyes widened, "We're inside of something"! I grabbed his shoulders, "we're going to be okay, just hand me your sword". He looked down at his hand, and nearly jumped back, "Why am I holding a sword"! He looked to me for answers, but all I could do was bob my shoulder softly. He handed me his blade then we made our way to a wall. I used the tip from the curved blade to stab the monster then dragged it down to make an opening. At the same time, we heard a monsterous roar. As we rushed out of the monster, it wrapped its tongue around my waist and arms. This time, it squeezed me tight enough for me to shout out in pain. I dropped the sword, and shouted at Ancel, "Chop off its tongue"! In one swift movement, Ancel slashed his blade through the frog's tongue. I fell down and landed beside Ancel.
¶ It all happened in a flash, Ancel offered me a hand, the monster wailed, and we ran as fast as we could towards the elevator. I vaguely remember yelling to Ancel, "That door over their is our exit"! Now that it had lost its tongue, the monster jumped into the air and attempted to squash us like flies. By some miracle, after we entered the elevator the door shut behind us. For a split second, we were safe. I saw Lucas leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his eyes were widened by surprise. Evan had his arms around Jamie, it looked as if he was restraining her, his eyes were just as wide as Lucas. Jamie simply stared at me with eyes filled with tears. Before we could reconnect, the elevator sent us reeling.
¶ Jamie broke free from Evan's grasp and gripped my torso, "I thought you were dead". I hesitatantly hugged her back, "I'm fine, we tore a hole through the thing". She let the moment linger, until Lucas barked at Ancel, "Good to see you buddy". Ancel stood beside Lucas, "Thank God you're here too". Lucas and Ancel are twins, though you wouldn't know it from looking at them. Lucas was about two inches shorter than Ancel, but Lucas seemed to stand taller, probably because of Ancel's constant slouching.
¶ We all felt a breath of fresh air. There aren't any doors left, we'll be free from this nightmare. I don't know what'll happen, but a part of me is smiling. When the door finally opened, the once pristine white room was replaced with a black void save for the maroon circle sitting in the center of the room. Ancel asked, "I thought you said the room would be white". Lucas showed a worried look, "It was". We looked amongst eachother and after a silent debate, we decided to enter the void. Jamie leeched onto my side while we made our way to the center of the room.
¶ Once we all stood in the circle, the walls all flashed on. The man from before sat in a comfortable arm chair while looking down on us. With a smile, he exclaimed, "Hello contestants sadly you're not done yet". Lucas screamed, "Wait, who are you"! The man dropped his smile, "Reeling, didn't you tell them I hate to be interrupted"? Everyone looked at me, "I told you all, he's the man I met when I woke up". Lucas's eyes grew with suspicion, "How does he know your name"? The man slouched into his chair, "I know all your names Lucas".
¶ Evan raised his hands cautiously, "Excuse me sir, when will be going home"? The man grew a grin, "Finally someone who knows how to show respect, I've always liked you Evan. Too bad you're a Judas". Evan took a step back, shocked at what that might mean. Lucas eyed Evan worryingly, "My name is just Evan". The man waved his hand, and the circle we stood on slowly began to raise. "It doesn't matter, you'll go home when you're finished", the screens turn off as we enter the room above us. There was a click and one final shake that sent me to the ground.
¶ Evan offered me a hand. I eyed his hand worryingly. A part of me wonder why he's being so kind now after being so cold all this time, especially after being called a Judas. But I've spent years of my life with him as a friend. During summer we would always go to his house and have a makeshift tournament with various fighting games. Hell, I've vented about my feelings for Meredith to him. I gripped his hand with a hesitant smile, "Thanks Evan". He matched my smile, "No problem, Reeling".
¶ There were two more doors placed opposite one another. Evan pointed at the door to the right of us, "I think we should go through that door". Lucas's eyes slanted, "I think the other one is a better choice". Evan looked as if he was trying to swallow his pride. Ancel chimed in, "Yeah the door to the left looks better". Ancel sighed, "Fine let's go in that room". Me and Jamie silently followed Lucas into the final room. As we entered the room, we noticed the room was identical to the elevators on the floor below, except the room wasn't an elevator it was a simple room. Suddenly a gate fell from above the door and locked us in and on the opposite wall a door opened. The view inside the other room was blocked by some plants, so without going through the door we couldn't see inside.
¶ Lucas chimed, "Evan, go through the door first". Evan glared, "Why don't you"? After what happened to me last time, I don't blame then for being hesitant, I blurted out, "Why don't we play rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first"? Lucas bobbed his shoulders, "Fine, I'm game". Ancel nodded his head. Jamie sighed, "We don't have much of a choice do we"? For the first round, we all went at the same time. Jamie and Ancel won by throwing paper while the rest of us threw rock. For the next round, Lucas and I threw paper, while Evan threw scissors. For the final round, I threw rock while Lucas threw scissors. Begrudgingly, Lucas stepped past the plants and into the next room.
¶ We waited for him to give us a signal, but he was silent. Ancel said worryingly, "we should go after him". I nodded, "we should but, he could be in danger we can't all die for him, only one of us should check". Jamie interjected, "Or we could just move the plants blocking the door". I felt my cheeks burn red, "Yeah, that sounds better". Ancel grabbed one end and I grabbed the other, we pulled the leaves down at the same time and saw Lucas gawking at the marvelous scenery. It looked as if we were standing atop a jungle tree. It looked like we were in a vast jungle with all sorts of beautiful plants. Birds flew about the skyline while water could be heard running, vines hung from the tree tops. But the most amazing feature of all was a massive pink flower that had yet to bloom sitting atop one of the trees across the room.