Elias

Elias             Twenty-three

          It wasn’t until the next morning that a tall guy in a black jumpsuit dragged an unconscious Ryan into the room. Ryan’s shirt was tattered and you could see angry looking bruises littering his chest through the tears. His right eye is black and swollen shut.

          The man that dragged Ryan into the room looked at us for a minute through the black helmet with a black tinted visor. A thick black metal baton was worn on his hip, hanging from a little loop, along with a tazer. A moment later the man rushed from the room, leaving Ryan in the middle of the room, groaning softly every so often.

          Ashley never came back. They didn’t bring her in.  Ryan didn’t kill her, did he? I could feel the question bouncing around in the chilly air of the room. Everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to actually ask the question.

          Out of nowhere, Snow got up and went to Ryan. We all watched her as she sat back down on the floor by his head, and then as she pulled his head into her lap. I looked at Tobias and I knew saw the flash a jealousy dance across my eyes. We all knew I had a thing for Snow.

          I shook my head and drew my attention back to Snow and Ryan, who is now having Snow’s pale, slender fingers run through his dirty- literally- blonde hair. His hair has blood in it, whether its his or Ahley’s I don’t care to know.

          Ryan grunts and slowly moves from his side onto his back before opening his bloodshot eyes, staring straight up into Snow’s blue eyes. He just stares at her for a second before he blinks and gets a terrified look on his face. S**t.

          “Where’s Ash?” His voice cracks, not just from the tears welling in his eyes but from the dryness of his throat and the room. Snow bites her lip and glances around the room, unsure of what to say. Hell, we’re all unsure of what to say. Snow just keeps dragging her fingers through his hair as if she were combing it clean of the dried blood. She is forced to stop and look back into Ryan’s pained eyes when he grabs her wrist with what little strength he has. “Snow, where is Ashley?”

          We all know that he knows the answer. He knows that we all know the answer too. She’s dead and gone Ryan. I let my eyes squint slightly at the thought, allowing myself to give that much away. Anything too noticeable and Ryan would see it out of the corner of his eyes and then he would question me. I don’t want to have to answer that kind of question.

          “Ryan... Sweetie... I think you know where Ashley is.” Snow brings her other hand up and places it against Ryan’s cheek, upside down. It reminds me of the scene in The Amazing Spiderman when Peter kisses Jane upside down. I shift my body around a little out jealousy of her touching his cheek like that. A choked sob fills the room, followed by an agonized moan and then another one, only its muffled this time. Ryan has turned his face into Snow’s lap, crying loudly.

          We all knew he wanted to be the one to die, not her, just by the way he looked when they called number eight. I guess his plans didn’t turn out very well. My eyes meet with Snow’s. She’s gently stroking the bak of Ryan’s head as he sobs into her lap. I have to look away. Would she do that to me if I were in Ryan’s position? Of course she would. I shake my head, dismissing the thoughts. She’s just comforting him the only way she can, Elias. I have to remind myself of this.

          After ten minutes of him crying like this, Snow clears her throat and Ryan turns to look at her, sniffling. His tears have made streaks in the dried blood on his cheek that trails to his mouth.

          “Ryan, what happened out there? You were out there longer than anyone else.” Snow looks at him, her black eyebrows furrowed in concern. Well for one, he was dragged in here unconscious by one of the fuckers that run this hell hole. Two, he was probably stalling time so he wouldn’t have to face his sister. Three, well, I don’t really have a three yet.

          Ryan coughs and his lower lip quivers, Snow bites her lip again causing me to narrow my eyes at them both. “It was different, changed. It wasn’t the same as the game. I don’t know, I don’t remember.” Ryan looks up at Snow with sadness in his pale blue, slightly less bloodshot, eyes.  Snow c***s her head to the side, the way she does whenever something spikes her interest.

          “What do you mean ‘changed’?” Snow runs her fingers through his hair again, trying to soothe him and help him remember. “What about Ash? Huh? Where’d she go?”

          Ryan bites his lip and shifts his torso, wincing in pain. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of his ribs were cracked. Not that he hasn’t had them before. He was our quarterback in football. Broken ribs were nothing to this wall of muscle.

          “I told her to run, the way she would in the game, away from me. I told her not to look back and to just get to the room and stay in there. I yelled at her to leave the gun in the lock box...” Ryan shakes with unheard sobs, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. “The maze was rearranged. It took me over half an hour to get to Ashley. I didn’t tell her goodbye. I promised her she would see our mom and dad again.” Ryan has shed those tears now, they stream down his face quickly, causing him to gasp for breath after every sentence, resulting in a sharp cough and a wince.

          Snow looks at me again. Why would he promise that? No one knows if we’re getting out of here. And if we do we have no f*****g clue where we are. I shake my head and roll my eyes, looking away from her and back to Ryan. She returns her attention to him as well.

          “I took the gun and put it up against my head, like this.” He demonstrates with is first two fingers representing the barrel of the gun against his temple and his thumb up in the hair, the rest of his fingers folded back. His hand does indeed look like a gun. “I squeezed my eyes closed but right as I was about to pull the trigger A gun went off and it wasn’t mine. I opened my eyes and Ashley was-”

          Ryan lets out another agonized cry, burying his face back into Snow’s lap. And Ashley was dead. I finish the sentence for him, and then do it aloud.

          “And Ashley was dead.” I look at Snow when she narrows her eyes at me, giving me the look saying ‘Shut the f**k up, Elias. What the hell is wrong with you?’ I just shrug and cross my arms over my chest. Ryan nods into Snow’s lap, his cries muffled.

          He settles down once more, wiping his eyes and looking up at Snow again. “Some thing was off though. I was knocked out by a guy in a black suit and motorcycle helmet, but I was with Ashley for over five minutes. She didn’t turn. She shot herself in the head but she didn’t turn.” Snow looks confused as she looks into Ryan’s tired eyes.

Normally a person would turn in ten seconds if they were shot in a non-vital place like the arm or the leg. The more vital the shot gets, the fewer seconds they have until they turn. The stomach is around five seconds, heart maybe two. The head, well, I’m not sure. The rules were we weren’t allowed to shoot them in the head because they say we would die. No one has ever done in for fear of losing the easiest game ever.

          “I don’t remember anything else. I was knocked out.” Ryan says it tiredly, his voice trembling and screaming that he’s about to break down and cry again at any point in time.

          “What an interesting story, Ryan.”

I don’t remember the intercom coming on, but it must have been on for awhile. Ryan sits up and looks around the room frantically before scooting himself back into the corner farthest from the corner.

“What do you want?! You leave me alone you sick f**k!” Ryan looks up at the video camera that has moved with his motions, following him. I feel a shiver run up my spine as the voice on the other side of the intercom laughs.

“Oh, please, Ryan. I want nothing else to do with you. You wasted a round and a day of game play. So don’t flatter yourself.” There was a sigh over the intercom and the sound of papers being moved around. “I do, however, want something to do with players numbered ‘One’. It’s time to play, kiddos.”

I looked at Snow after hearing that it was my turn to play, the red one on my left inner wrist seemed to glow brighter, it seemed to burn my skin. It was like it was taunting me with the fact that I had to play. This game isn’t so fun now.  It hasn’t been since we woke up here.

“Elias,” I hardly register that A brunette girl is standing in front of he, her hand outstretched in front of my face. “Elias!”

I blink and look up at the girl, Gabri. The blue one on her right wrist is glowing and taunting me as well. I wave my hand, dismissing her hand, and rise to my feet. Snow has stopped, mid-comb through Ryan’s hair, and is staring at me. Her eyes are shiny.

Sighing, I rub my chin with my hand. I am one of the few blessed eighteen-year-olds that can grow facial hair and actually look great with it. My stubble is starting to grow longer now, but it’s itching from it growing.

Gabri wrinkles her nose at me before walking to the door, waiting for it to unlock. Captain of the girl’s varsity soccer team against the captain of the boy’s varsity lacrosse team? Fun. Just fun.

The door unlocks and I give Snow one last glance, flashing my best smile to her. I know it doesn’t look like a confident smile when she purses her lips at me and shakes her head softly.

With a push of the door, Gabri walks out and disappears down the hall, obviously in a hurry to get this over with. I sigh and step out, the vault-looking door swinging closed and locking behind me.

For the first time since I go here, I actually feel a little scared. I didn’t realize how safe I felt in that room until I was stripped of it. I feel the strong desire to be back in there with Snow, getting jealous of her giving Ryan attention and not me.

Shaking my head, I head down the opposite direction than Gabri. Ryan was telling the truth, the maze is rearranged. I hear the sound of a video camera zooming in and look up in the corner of where the two hallways meet, seeing the camera watching me.

I smirk at it before raising my hand and then my middle finger. I feel oddly satisfied as I turn around and march down the hall, wandering with no idea as to where I’m going at all.

“Follow the blood trail.” The voice is faint but I hear it. I look down on the floor only to see little drops of blood heading down the hallway until they vanish to the left of the hallway. I frown in disgust.

“Is this Ryan’s blood?” I ask no one in particular.

“No, his sister’s blood.” I feel vile rise up in my throat. Just the fact of knowing that she was dragged or carried while still bleeding makes me keel over and empty what little is in my stomach onto the floor. “Keep moving, ya softy. She was already dead.”

I take a moment before I straighten myself and wipe my mouth. Following the simple instructions, I begin to follow Ashley’s dried blood trail.

“The way through the maze isn’t rearranged. It’s just backwards.” They flipped it around. This gives me a good idea of where I’m needing to go, so I start to move in a jog and then a run. I need to get to the room before Gabri, she won’t hesitate to kill me.

Luckily, I do get there before her. I rush into the room, fumbling with the latch on the lock box before I hear footsteps echoing down the hallway as Gabri’s feet hit the concrete. My breath quickens as adrenaline floods my veins, seemingly replacing my blood. I pull the gun out and raise it to point at her just as she enters the room, her mousy brown hair falling out of it’s messy ponytail.

“Don’t move, Gabri. I won’t hesitate to shoot you.” I say it as calmly as I can, my eyes narrowing to zero in on her, daring her to move. I place my finger on the trigger as she glances at the lock box, her chest rising and falling quickly as she tries to catch her breath. “Don’t you do it!”

I grit my teeth and pull the trigger just as she runs to the lock box, pulling out her gun. Only my gun doesn’t fire any bullets. I forgot to turn the safety off. My eyes widen as she grins at me, cocking her gun and I quickly do the same.

“Give me a f*****g damn good reason to let you live. And don’t you dare say Snow because that’s not good enough.” Gabri is grinning wickedly at me as I slowly put my finger back on the trigger.

“Why don’t you give me one?” I Smirk back at her before firing the gun, dropping it and only staying long enough to see where I hit her. The bullet embedded its self in her hip before she dropped her gun, grabbing at her hip and screaming ‘It burns!’ over and over again. I saw the door open and I ran to it, glancing back before running out the door, down the straight hallway back to the little room Snow was in.