{Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock~}
The Grand Stage sang a tune of smiles and cheerful notes. Pink and scarlet petals swirled around the television on the ceiling, with ten statues watching it in silence.
With a dim flash of light, each petal morphed into a butterfly; Blushing Phantoms. They formed a tornado of insects, swarming one of the statues carved in marble.
A statue of a gray wolf.
{When time comes for thee, would you run to flee?
Or would you stand and see, it's here to set you free~}
The television screen blurred in static, leaving only the clown doll's smile glowing in pink. The gray wolf cracked.
{The first round shed scarlet essence, yet nine more await~
Our chamber was born of defiance, a trick to defy fate!
We seek who takes the gamble first. The old, or the new?
But no matter who quenches their thirst. The price is eternal blues.}
The television faded into black. The music ended. The butterflies chased freedom, leaving behind rubble on the ground.
What used to be a fierce beast was now nothing but chunks of stone.
.
.
.
A digital clock sat atop a bedside cabinet, red numbers lit in neon on its screen.
[8:00 \ 11-02-20]
Jeffrey stared on the blank, muted walls, his bottom sinking on the soft, bed mattress.
'I killed… Vincent.'
His neck lost strength, his eyes peeled open, tearing a hole through his hands.
'I killed… my classmate. I killed him.'
His jaw went slack. His nostrils flared, yet his lungs remained empty. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, his nails clawing at his throat. His shoulders raised high, slowly.
"HAAA—"
His vision blurred as a rush of air filled his chest, his eyes almost rolling to the back of his head. Void of strength, the bedding pulled on his back, his head embraced by the soft, white bedsheets.
His stare remained on the ceiling, even as they stung from being open for too long.
'I'm…' His eyelids grew heavy, and he turned his head to the side. He caught sight of the digital clock.
[8:00 \ 11-02-20]
'What the…' His brows furrowed, but he couldn't pull himself to sit up.
'There's no way not a single minute has passed,' he turned his head the other way. 'It's probably broken.'
After the game of Hide and Seek, he became unsure of many things. But if there's one thing he was certain of, it was that he'd been sitting on the bed, staring at nothing, for a long time.
'Was that… a dream?' His eyelids finally won the battle of fatigue. His world fell into darkness.
A memory floated to the surface of his mind. A voice, and two doors. One pure white, and the other a pure crimson.
He chose the white door, unsure why, and there, he read a book. To be exact, he read two pages from the book atop the lectern.
'I… Why can't I remember what I read?' His thoughts crawled.
'Yet… I know… what they mean…' With eyes closed, he tried to blink.
'Something… took our…'
.
.
.
{WELCOME!} The clown poofed into existence, its mask glowing brightly in pink. {You are in the Dormitory!}
Strings manifested out of thin air, slowly wrapping around its neck and wrists. The clown limped, yet its light glowed brighter.
{You have three opportunities to rest,} a cold, deep voice echoed in the living room, with nine students focused on its words. Some of them sat on a couch or a tall chair, while others simply stood.
{Morning, noon, and evening. Each of you can only leave your rooms three times. When the next day dawns, the next game shall ensue.} Its voice faded away, along with the strings. The clown fell to the floor with a thud, before it vanished as though it had never been there.
Jeffrey was the first to move. He approached none of his classmates, opting to leave the room first. His face was pale, his fingers numb and his hair slick with cold sweat.
It wasn't just him. Most of the others were in the same state.
.
.
.
A few minutes ago…
After he fell asleep in his room, he awoke with the clock stuck at [8:00]. He stood and went for the door, thinking the clock was broken, only to stiffen up as he pushed the door.
At the exact time as him, eight doors on the same hallway swung open. They all stepped out, each one looking left and right in confusion.
They all chose to leave their rooms at the same time. Statistically, it was impossible.
"Are you… okay?" Jeffrey looked to this left, where a tall boy stood with a curious expression on his face.
Adam blinked, looking down to meet Jeffrey's stare. "Yeah… Uh, did the game end as soon as I was eliminated? I could've sworn not even a minute has passed," he scratched the back of his head, looking around to memorize the hallway's layout.
He was at the very end of the hallway, and to his left was Jeffrey's room.
"A whole hour passed in the game," Jeffrey shook his head and looked to his right. There, Adrian stood with his gaze glued to the wall in front of him.
"I even fell asleep…" Jeffrey murmured, following Adrian's gaze only to pause.
Adam approached, standing behind him and doing the same. Like the other two, he stared at the thing in front of them.
A small, stone statue of a snake coiled up, ready to strike.
'It's the same as the one beneath his platform back then,' Jeffrey squinted at the stone sculpture, before he tore his gaze away. Like Adrian, a small statue stood opposite of his door. It was a sculpture of an owl.
'Was mine an owl?' He raised an eyebrow and looked at Adam's stature.
'A butterfly. I didn't get to see the statue beneath Adam.'
"Hey Adam, did you see the statue beneath me back in the Grand Stage?"
"It's an owl," Adam nodded, slowly. "Everyone's statue corresponds to the one beneath them in the Grand Stage."
"...you saw everyone's statue?" Jeffrey couldn't help but blink.
When they were summoned in the Grand stage, none of them were able to move. They could look around, but their heads were forced up, facing the television in the ceiling. No one could look at anyone else, much less the statue they were on.
The only moment it was possible was after the clown initiated Hide and Seek. When they fell, they could look around briefly.
He caught a glimpse of Adrian's statue, alongside Anderson's, Elizabeth's, and Vincent's.
'Anderson's statue is a deer. Elizabeth's statue is an eagle. Vincent's statue should be a wolf… or a dog. I didn't get a clear view of it, but…'
He stared at Adam, waiting for an answer. The boy answered quickly.
"I have a good memory and my eyes are good too. Have you forgotten?"
Jeffrey blinked, then shrugged. "I guess."
In their class, Adam was the "golden boy." He had a great body, he had perfect vision, he could memorize anything just by reading them once, and he was clever.
How he was only the third smartest person in their class was a wonder no one knew the answer to.
"Then…"
"Jeffrey."
Jeffrey turned, and in front of him, Elizabeth stood quietly.
'...was she always this sneaky?'