Chapter 2- "You Have Been Selected" (Scarlett)

Scarlett awakens on a pillar in a large circular room. Before she can get her bearings, the other pillars begin to fill up, some with people just like her, and some with something else entirely.

2

When the light finally faded and she could see her surroundings, Scarlett’s first feeling was relief.

Not because of where she was, but because of where she wasn’t.

When she had woken up a short while earlier, she’d been trapped in what had looked, ridiculous as she thought it sounded, like a dungeon.

The only lighting was a dim bulb hanging in the center of the room, although it had been more than enough to see the pile of dirty blankets in the corner, the cobwebs strewn about the ceiling and walls, the brown and tattered wallpaper that just barely stayed clinging to the wall, and a suspicious liquid that she hadn’t worked up the heart to investigate.

          Yet it was the sounds that had disturbed her most of all. She could hear a stomping above her, the creaking of floorboards that almost seemed ready to break under the pressure. A loud voice that, while practically incoherent, oozed a threatening vibe, making her want nothing more than to hide in a corner, close her eyes, block her ears, and drown everything out…

          “That was then, this is now,” Scarlett whispered to herself, realizing with some shame that at the mere recollection, she’d wrapped her arms around herself. This was no time to be afraid. She was in a new area now.

          In a way, it was even more baffling. She was standing on the top of a pillar that rose at least 50 feet off the ground. She would have felt queasy from the height, although there was plenty of room to stand, the circular base providing enough room to take a couple steps in all directions.

          The room itself was also circular, with six other similar pillars spread evenly along the outside, and three more bunched together in a triangular shape in the center.

          The center ones were vacant.

          The ones on the outside were not.

          In addition to Scarlet herself, three others occupied pillars.

There was a man who appeared to be in his late 20’s to early 30’s, fidgeting nervously.

A child who couldn’t be more than ten or eleven years old, sitting with his knees close to his chest.

Finally there was another woman, who looked slightly older than Scarlett herself, probably mid-20s, standing straight up.

          Before she could examine them further, or attempt to make contact, a loud, monotone voice rang out.

          “Amber Duval, you have been selected,” it said, and once again Scarlett was momentarily blinded. When she could see again, another of the pillars was occupied.

          The new person was a teenage girl, probably 15 or 16, if Scarlett had to guess. Her hair was a muddled, dirty blonde, hanging free just below her shoulders. As she looked around in apparent conclusion, her square-rimmed glasses, slipped from her face, and she stooped to pick them up. She was wearing skinny jeans and a black shirt with a white cardigan over it, which fit her petit body well, yet Scarlett still found something off about it.

          Maybe it was the distance between them, but the jeans seemed scuffed, and the colors seemed faded.

          The voice rang out again, with a similar announcement.

          “Richard Pratts, you have been selected.”

          Another flash of light, and this time an elderly man stood above the sixth pillar.

          Scarlett couldn’t say for sure just how old the man was, but based on his extremely thin, gray hair, the wrinkles in his skin that she could see despite the distance between them, and the hunch in his back, that he was no spring chicken. For a second, their eyes met, and the man uncertainly nodded at her, before coughing a few times.

          After seeing it for the second time, Scarlett figured she could reasonably assume her appearance had happened in much the same way: with her name being called, and an appearance after a bright light. She wanted nothing more than to talk to some of these other people, to find out who they were and how they’d gotten here, but short of yelling they would be unable to converse, and for some reason, Scarlett felt cautious about being too loud.

          Evidently the others did as well, for a suffocating silence filled the room. Even though she didn’t feel hot, Scarlett knew she was sweating.

          “Jonny Bowen, you have been selected.”

          Scarlett quickly shut her eyes, and managed to avoid the blinding sensation. When she opened them, there was a man standing atop the 7^th pillar.

          He seemed to be around Scarlett’s age, with short brown hair. He wore a pair of black dress pants, with a blue shirt and black jacket over top of it. Scarlett couldn’t say for sure, but she had a sneaking suspicion just from looking at the guy that more than trying to look formal, he was just attempting to look cool.

          She almost felt like chuckling.

          After a moment of looking around in bewilderment, the new man spoke up in a booming voice, likely so everyone in the room could hear him.

          “Well, this is certainly a merry crew we’ve got assembled here. Would anyone care to explain what I’ve been missing out on?”

          A few seconds passed, and nobody answered him. The air grew thick with silence again. The man looked around, raised his arms questioningly, but then dropped them again, and looked down. He seemed to realize that he wasn’t the only one left in the dark, despite appearing last.

          Just then, Scarlett remembered that wasn’t true. All the pillars on the outside were now filled, but the three in the center of the room remained unoccupied. But no new names were announced.

          When, a few moments later, the voice rang out again, the words were different.

          “With this, the participants have arrived. Now, we shall reveal ourselves. First, the Coordinator.”

          On the rightmost pillar in the center triangle, a being Scarlett could only classify as a blue, three-dimensional silhouette of a human being appeared.

          Before she could even begin to contemplate what it was, the voice continued.

          “Next, the Ambassador.”

          On the leftmost pillar, a similar being appeared. The only discernable difference between the two was that while the former was a solid, dark blue, this one was pure white, making it appear even more empty and unnatural.

          “Finally, I am the Overseer.”

          In the center pillar, another being of the same kind appeared, this one a dark red.

          Too far away to murmur to each other, and too intimidated to speak aloud, the seven people assembled around these three unbelievable…things, could only stare in silence.

          The red one raised its arms up, as if to address everyone. It had no discernable mouth, and yet Scarlett could only assume the voice, the same one she’d been hearing, was coming from it.

          “To begin, I welcome you all. The three of us have worked meticulously to gather each one of you. Be assured that your presence here, whether you realize it or not, has incredible significance. You are all equally valuable in our eyes, and should be equally valuable to each other as well.”

          Scarlett took a few deep breaths, and slightly adjusted her feet. She felt a little dizzy. A little lightheaded. This talk of being “gathered” and “selected” made her feel even more uncomfortable then she already was.

          As if she were just an object or possession, trying to be assured of its worth.

          “In the coming days, each of you will be tested in unique ways. It is my hope that you will come out of these trials as better, enlightened human beings. That is, after all, the ideal outcome of any hardship in life.”

          Tests, trials, and hardships…Scarlett felt a pit in her stomach grow more and more as the red one spoke.

          “As the Overseer, I am the head of this project, although make no mistake; everything that happens here will be directly decided by the seven of you. I am merely here to organize the event, and ensure it proceeds smoothly, with no errors along the way. Rest assured, there will not be many rules to follow.”

          Scarlett next heard a new voice. Unlike the red one’s voice, this one didn’t sound monotone so much as disinterested, or impatient.

          “As Coordinator, it will be my job to set up the nitty-gritty of this project. So I’ll be deciding what happens, when it happens, and why it happens.”

          Scarlett found what this one, who based off the way it named itself, she could only assume to be the blue one, said odd. After the Overseer claimed everything would be determined by their own actions, this one was suddenly saying it would decide what happened.

          What made it all the more disorienting was she still didn’t even know what these things were talking about.

          “I have nothing more to say. Speaking isn’t my strong suit, nor do I gain any particular enjoyment from it.”

          The blue one moved its head slightly, indicating the one standing next to it.

          “You can direct all your questions and concerns to this one.”

          The white one, who had been called the Ambassador, was the only one left to have no spoke now. It began raising its arms, just as the Overseer had, but instead of speaking, it just kept them like that, as it moved its head back and forth, as if scanning the faces of those standing around him with eyes it did not have.

          Finally, it lowered its arms, and then crossed them. Making a sound almost like a smirk, it finally spoke.

          “I’m sure the lot of you are all pretty scared, not to mention confused. You’re probably thinking things like “Where am I?” Things like “How did I get here?” And let’s not forget “What are these things?” Well, let me just start off by saying…I don’t intend to answer any of those questions!”

          Scarlett was shocked to find it spoke loudly and almost jovially, as if it was having a good time. It’s voice was full of life and charisma, not dead or disinterested like the others. And yet for some reason, what it said made her more cautious than the others. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this energy could only lead to something frightening.

          “I won’t answer those questions, but don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan to leave you guys completely in the dark! I can answer questions like “What are we doing here?” I can answer questions like “What do I have to do to leave?” And I can even answer questions like, “Am I in danger here?”

          It pointed its finger straight out, and even thought it wasn’t directly facing Scarlett, she still felt pierced by its attention.

          “The answer to that final one is yes, very much so! Because of the seven of you standing here now, only three of you are going to survive!”

 

Author's Note

I was a little unsure just how far this chapter should go, and am still working out exactly how it should be narrated. I'm sure it could definitely use some revisions, so any feedback would be (as always) greatly appreciated.