Chapter 5 - Home

[4] Seo Min Chul

Chapter 5 �" Home

I struggle to ignore Elle’s accusing eyes as she zipped her orange suit. I am unsure at this point.

 

Was she pissed at me for commenting on her time she took to get out of her own room or was it because I saw her stark naked and took a whole minute to throw her a suit? In times like these, it was probably best to assume both.

 

“I can't believe that THE Professor Benji Coulthard would come up with the most unintellectual, ridiculous, Paleolithic puzzle known to humankind!” She finally yelled after her long silence. “And you! Enjoying the show? Took you a whole darn minute to get the picture and pass me some clothes!” She added grumpily as she combed her shoulder length, full black hair with her hands, straightening them with mixed results.

 

I smiled to myself. Knew it was best to assume both.

 

“Well honestly, Sweet Asian Girl had better assets.” I teased, immediately bracing myself for vengeance.

 

But none came. In its place was a loud erratic sound. It was as though something heavy and metallic was scrapping along concrete. I cringed as I held my palms as tightly as I could to my ears.

 

“The hallway door. It's moving!” Elle hollered over the deafening sound. She was right, the long hallway housing the 10 named rooms had a tall sliding gate that looked like it was a hangar entrance.At first I mistaken it for a wall, but now it is obvious I was wrong. The old gate was sliding open really slowly, scrapping the ground with its apparent rust; it must have been awhile since it was last used. It was a wonder it still works.

 

“Can somebody close that darn thing!” One of the other guys commanded. Yeah, that's right; I have forgotten about the other guests. After Elle’s door slid open the others followed suit within the next quarter of the hour.

 

It was fruitless. No one knew how.

 

It was a full 5 minutes before the sluggish mechanism came to a complete halt revealing a dark room on the other side. It was spacious from what I could make out from the spillover lighting.

 

“We skipping introductions then?” A tanned skin, well built male spoke up as he smirked at the others before taking off into the darkness. “Fortune favors the bold.” He added playfully.

 

“Idiot. He will be the first one dead.” Yet another male spoke. Unlike the first, this one was slender, composed and had an air of authority about him. “We will form a line 2 man thick and sweep over the right wall until we can map the place out. The inner line checks the wall, especially for switches. The outer line maps the diameter. One man remain out here to guide us back via sound if needed.” He commanded effortlessly.

 

“Who made you Prime Minister?” A girl we nicknamed ‘The B***h’ retorted, glaring at the slender man. Turns out her name was Sonya. She was one of the guests who got out of their room before Elle and I remembered glancing with hope at that opening door’s sign as it slid open only to find the name, ‘Sonya Wong’. She was still wearing that entitled aura about her.

 

“I am Seo Min Chul, the third seed. You will do well to follow the orders if you want to live.” He replied without looking. “Plus, your analogy is flawed; being prime minister would imply that I actually take advice from other ministers.” He added, as Sonya glared at his impudence.

 

“Okay guys. Let's not fight amongst ourselves. I mean Mr. Seo here has good points. Not taking sides or anything, but it would seem this would be our best option.” A man who had remained silent all these while spoke. His voice was mellow, gentle and pleasant. Seeing that everyone was now looking at him, he scratch the back of his head and bowed a little repeatedly. “I mean, that's just what I think.” He added backing away slowly, maintaining an innocent smile that seem painfully forced.

 

“How about we start with a round of introductions.” Elle chimed in. Elle must have known full well how everyone else must be feeling. Anxious. On edge. Afraid.

 

"Or how about we don't.” Irina replied coldly as she tied her long Snow White hair into a ponytail. I didn't notice before; perhaps it was due to how quickly things have came to past but her hair definitely stood out from the rest. It was really long and straight not to mention its color.

 

But unlike her hair length,its color was not unique. Beside her stood a shorter girl, her hair snow white as well but hers were thick and at shoulder length. Must be Claire, Irina’s Plus One, judging from how close they look.

 

“Uh guys. Time is wasting here..” Sonya whined as she rolled her eyes.

 

“Look, I already said-“ Min Chul retorted only to be interrupted by a loud yell followed by a low whirring noise.

 

Reginald’s yell. But what of the noise?

 

“Got the lights!” Reginald scream from inside the still dark chamber.

 

True to his words, there was a flicker of light as the whirring noise purred after reaching a high note, completing the generator’s activation sequence. There was light.

 

“Well, f**k me.” I muttered as my mind numbed for a few seconds.

 

Right at the centre of the second room stood a crucifix and on it, a man. Nay, he could not be called one no longer. He was missing his jaw and three sharpened blocks of wood penetrated past where his lungs should be. A portion of his hair was scalded and his left eyeball propped out of its sockets, dangling centimeters away from his chin.

 

“Those clothes, that hair…Brian?!” I thought to myself as I recalled our encounter from the bathhouse.

 

There was a loud shriek but I ignored it completely. The sight that stood before us was unbelievable. No amount of desensitizing could have prepared me for it. I felt sick. Violated.

 

I gagged a little but managed to hold it in. Elle didn't fare as well; she bolted for the previous hallway and threw up.

 

Reginald cupped his hands on his forehead, his face crumpled in, hiding his facial expression.

 

Irina hugged her sister.

 

Sonya was shrieking, her face contorted in horror.

 

Keith looked away, shivering as he faced his back against the body.

 

The small Asian girl looked solemn; her head tilted to avoid direct eye contact with the scene.

 

Only Min Chul looked on with his usual demeanor.

 

"Let's take him down. Find a place to store him.” Min Chul finally broke the frozen silence.

 

“Store?!” Sonya blurted out in disbelieve.

 

“That is another human being up there. It isn't right. But that's just my opinion.” Keith frowned, comforting a visibly upset Sonya.

 

“I would not have suggested touching that in the first place if it wasn't due to the fact that it is obvious that it is affecting all of your productivity right now.” The tall Korean continued, his sharp features hand in hand with his tone.

 

My mind was scrambled. I could tell Min Chul was just putting on a front. He was blinking more than usual. He is probably used to high pressure decisions being the heir to the Seo family’s conglomerate. Yes, I finally pieced it together. That face is no stranger to anyone with media access; both in traditional and modern forms.

 

There was a slam as Reginald punched the floor in anger. “What is going on here? Where's my brother? Where's everyone else?” He yelled releasing his forehead, his built muscles tensed up.

 

Just as I flirted with the possibility that he might actually punch right through the concrete wall beside him, the lights dimmed and a huge panel display; previously just a black shade in the upper corner of the room became apparent, flickering and then powering on. It was probably 90 inches across; mounted on the wall with a metallic casing with multiple bolts. Even the portion of the wall was thicker as though to support its additional weight.

 

We had a visual. But no sound came. It was like someone was remote piloting a desktop. They had Microsoft PowerPoint open, and they were about to give their presentation.

 

“Greetings.” Was all the first slide read.

 

After a good few seconds, it changed.

 

“Oh, don't look so down. I didn't expect the top minds in the world to be such great actors. This is really great! =)” the slide paused for a little thereafter and then our unseen pilot added some words on the fly.

 

“Look at those faces. We all know none of you really care about that hanging carcass, do you? Brian did well. Too well. So he had to go. Much too bad, he had the highest capability rating as far as I am concerned. After all, he was the First Seed coming into the winners list. A full half hour ahead of the competition. Pity.”

 

I swallowed my saliva. Was it true? I glanced around; he was right. Irina had a serious game face on, a look of confidence, close to a smirk even. Keith was looking straight into the screen, and it could have been my imagination, but surely I saw him smiling before flashing back to his worn out, worried look. The small Asian girl’s tears have dried up it seems; and she seemed calm and collected.

 

The rest were more or less behaving consistently.

 

Elle must have felt a slight truth to that statement as well. She stepped closer such that her arm touched mine and gave me a stern look.

 

And then the pattern hit me; Irina, Keith, small Asian girl, Min Chul,they were all players. I am not sure about Keith, but Irina and Min Chul openly declared they were winners and players by proxy. Small Asian girl should be none other than Isara Shiratori; a renowned prodigy in the field of chemistry. She came blazing into the media limelight for her relationship with her uncle, Benji. Yes, that Benji. They all had trademark dark blue tints in their hair. I didn't notice it earlier on the bus ride as she was wearing a hoodie, but now I had even more questions in my mind.

 

No. No. No. It must be a setup; whoever is doing this wants us to doubt each other. He is playing. Enjoying. Experimenting.

 

“And what of it? Move on quickly.” Min Chul spoke with his usual commanding tone.

 

The slide paused slightly before reverting back to its presentation;

 

“Welcome, First Team, to Jury. I am your curator, judge, referee and best friend in the coming days here at Coulthard Bunker. We are here to play a game.”

 

My eye narrowed as the words appear on the screen. There was a cold eerie silence as the group watched intently.

 

"The goal of the game is to defeat the other Second Team over 7 challenges. Pure and simple.”

 

My eye widened a little. That was right, there should be 18 persons at the gathering. 17 now that Brian’s dead. Me and Elle brought each other as our Plus Ones, so if no one else did so, there would be just 18 instead of 20 persons arriving at the manor. That would also mean, that the opposing team will only have 8 members.

 

Myself, Elle, Min Chul, Keith, Sonya, Isara, Reginald, Irina, and Claire. That's 9.

 

“But simplicity is boring isn't it? So we shall spice things up a little.”

 

Cold silence.

 

“I think every winner here knows that playing without a stake isn't worth the time. So I present you the ultimate stake; the right to live. For every challenge, the losing team will elect a sacrificial lamb to be summarily executed. All you have to do is politely place stated person into your bunkers confinement cell.”

 

As the typing halted, an electronic release buzzer sounded in the distance, and a metal grate door opened in the corner of the room. The label on the gate read, ‘Confinement Cell’

 

“At the end of the 7 challenges, the team with the most members remaining leaves the bunker and receives a grand prize that would guarantee your financial freedom for you and your descendants. But wait, there is more! Each team has a mole. You know who you are. They are tied with the opposing team and will walk free should the other team emerge victorious. And...naturally, a team also wins when there is no remaining non mole members on the opposing team.”

 

A mole? I glanced around again. I love to think that I was a good at reading a person. Always had that talent for evaluating a man’s soul, but I didn't pick up anything from any of their faces. Not before. Not now. And probably not anytime soon.

 

“Now, I know that it may be a lot to take in at once, so here's a little warm up. I have a special guest up here with me and from the tragic turn of events with mister Brian over there, it would seem he requires a team.”

 

Silence on the floor.

 

 “Soooo… Here goes. First team to find out how you guys were caught with your pants down earns an extra member to the team! After all, it is always good to do a little bit of postmortem when you got bested, isn't that right? When you want to call me, just press the buzzer below this screen, and I will attend to you. But remember, you only get one try! So perhaps it is better not to answer at all?”

 

More silence.

 

"Sorry, got your hopes up didn't I, I got that loophole covered; your bunker is regularly supplied with a ministry of health approved daily rations for the remaining members of your team. Should no answer or challenge be left incomplete…. No more rations! Simple isn't it?”

 

Uncomfortable shifting.

 

“Well, enjoy your new home and all its facilities. You will find they are quite premium in quality and do remember to submit your answers soon, you know, for your own sake. Catch you guys next time!”

 

The screen remained inactive for a few more seconds before it blacked out, the lights returning to full power.

 

A long silence dawned upon the room. Our silence may be shared, but I knew.

 

I knew.

 

That each and everyone of us were experiencing completely different emotions.

 

And that I, Leon, for as  long as I can remember, finally felt it again.

 

Excitement.