Seven

Chapter 7- The Escape Plan

The screen turned off for a few seconds, causing the room to become almost pitch black.

"What's going on?" Nine whispered.

But Mario didn't answer. Because he didn't have an answer. He had no idea what to expect, and that terrified him. He knew, then and there, an escape plan was his next move, no matter what.

The screen finally switched back on revealing footage of Player 5 sneaking down a hallway. She came to a stop at the grandfather clock, and Mario rolled his eyes when she picked up his clue and stuck it into the pocket of her uniform. She scurried down the hallway, continuing her search for her clues, or another Player's clue, when suddenly, a small flame sprung out from her pocket. At first, she didn't even notice it. As a matter of fact, Mario was surprised by how long it took her to become aware that she was about to catch fire. Did she not feel it? Or at least smell it?

And an even better question, how was this footage taken? Mario hadn't noticed a single security camera in the house, so were they all cleverly hidden? Or was someone discreetly following them around?

The remaining players watched on in horror as Player 5's body burned to a crisp, her screams echoing out all around the room. Carmen turned her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Brandi covered her eyes. Nine was watching, but he seemed to be in some kind of trance.

"Do not be alarmed by the outcome of Player 5's choices. Kelly was well aware of the rules, as you all were. As we continue on, please remember, following the rules are of the upmost importance. Which brings me to my next point," Dr. Vincent continued.

Another video started up revealing Jackson, who was Player 3, sitting at a table in a room alone. The room was completely white; the walls, the flooring, even the furniture. There were no windows in the room and from what could be seen, there was no door either. Mario hadn't seen this room yet, but it didn't go along with the theme of the rest of the house, so he thought maybe it was located elsewhere.

It looked as if Jackson was either asleep in his chair, or just completely out of it, at first. But then someone else entered the room wearing a long, black coat and a matching wide brimmed hat. The person's face couldn't be seen, but he was tall and had a large frame. Mario assumed it was a man, possibly even Dr. Vincent himself.

When Jackson noticed him, his eyes widened in surprise. "W-who are you?"

The man sat in the chair across the table from Jackson. "Jackson Lee, you are disqualified from the games due to your failure to follow the rules."

"I'm sorry. I had no idea...I mean...I hadn't seen any rules...I didn't know..." Jackson was clearly nervous judging by the tone of his voice and his twitchy hands.

"Be that as it may, you've compromised the game for others. However, I'm not an unfair man. Since, as you said before, you didn't know the rules, I'm willing to offer you a choice."

"Okay," Jackson answered slowly.

"Every player here was invited to play for a specific reason- a reason they wouldn't want to share with anyone else," the man said, making Jackson's eyes widen in horror.

Mario's suspicions were correct. Everyone here was guilty of something and that was what they had in common. That was what brought them here.

"Confess your sins, Jackson, and you're free to go home. Or, you can choose a parting gift instead."

"A parting gift?" Jackson asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You have thirty seconds to make your decision," the man said, setting a timer down on the table.

And then, without another word, he stood up and left the room, his face remaining concealed from the camera.

Jackson looked distraught. He must've known the parting gift was a trap of some sort, but confessing what he had done could've been much worse than anything else. Mario knew he didn't want to confess anything to anyone, but especially not these people.

When the timer rang out, the man entered the room again. "Have you reached a decision, Player 3?"

Even though Jackson visibly shook with terror, he nodded. "I choose the parting gift."

"Very well," the man replied, giving some sort of a hand signal.

Four of the butlers came into the room and escorted Jackson out. The video continued to show the empty room for what felt like forever, leaving everyone on the edge of their seat wanting to know what happened to Jackson.

Finally, the camera switched to a different room, one that looked more familiar. It must've been Jackson's assigned bedroom. The butlers led him inside and closed the door. A few seconds later, four gorgeous women entered the room, completely naked. Jackson's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of them and he smirked.

"Well, hello ladies. Come to papa!"

The women surrounded him, kissing him and undressing him, leaving a big smile on his face. Mario and Nine shared a confused look, not sure of what was going on.

"So, if we break the rules...we either die, confess to something we did or...get a prize?" Damon asked.

"Please, no questions at this time," Winston replied from the back of the room.

"If this is what happens when you break a rule, then I'm down," Nine leaned over and whispered to Mario.

Mario shook his head, never taking his eyes off the screen. He had a feeling in the pit of stomach that something terrible was about to happen. He just didn't know what yet. 

It wasn't until Jackson let out a bone-chilling shriek that everyone realized what was really happening. The women suddenly sprouted fangs and began biting him, tearing away at his flesh like a pack of hungry wolves.

Carmen and Brandi looked away, covering their faces, while Mario, Damon and Nine all stared on in shock and horror. All of the suspicions Mario had were right. This place, these people, these games, he wanted no part of it. He had to find a way out.

"Turn it off, please!" Brandi cried, covering her ears to block out Jackson's cries for help.

Of course, the video kept right on playing. Mario looked down at his trembling hands, letting himself show a little weakness for once in his life. He had grown up in a rough neighborhood and had even seen people be killed before. But he had never seen anything like this. Not in real life, anyway. This was something he thought only happened in horror films. How on earth was this real?

"What the hell kind of games are these, huh?!" Damon snapped, standing from his chair and stalking over to Winston, who remained perfectly still. "Answer me, old man!"

When Winston offered no explanation, Damon walked over to the screen and attempted to tear it off the wall.

"Mr. De Costo, please, have a seat," a voice said from seemingly nowhere.

Damon looked around for its source, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. "Who are you?! Why are you doing this to us?!"

There was no answer, but the video switched from Jackson's bloody demise back to Dr. Vincent's familiar silhouette. Damon slowly backed up and sat down in his chair next to Brandi.

"I would once again like to stress the importance of following the rules. The remaining five of you did exactly that, which is why you're here. There's no reason you all can't find a way to make it through the next two games as well," Dr. Vincent explains.

"How do you know us?! Why are we here?!" Damon shouts.

"The video has been pre-recorded," Winston says.

"It may have been pre-recorded, but he can hear us!" Nine shouts angrily, standing to his feet. "Tell us why we received an invitation to come here! You said we're all here for a specific reason! What reason?!"

When Nine's question was met with silence, he sat back down in his chair and buried his face in his hands. He was obviously stressed about being here; he even tried to escape earlier and caught fire after he knocked over a candlestick.

At this point, everyone seemed to share Nine's concerns. Two players were dead and it was probably only a matter of time before the rest of them were as well. Mario knew what he had to do. He only hoped he could actually make it happen. He knew, in the back of his mind, he would do anything to get out of here. Anything at all.

"All of your questions will be answered in due time," Dr. Vincent continued. "For now, return to your rooms and rest. You will report to the dining room for dinner tonight and will be briefed on the rules for the next game."

With that, the screen turned off and the room was deathly silent. No one knew what the hell was going on anymore, but one thing Mario did know was they were all here for something terrible. Each of them were hiding something- something Jackson was willing to die to keep quiet.

Although Mario knew he had something to hide, he also knew that if his life depended on it, he would gladly confess to holding Soren captive. He would even let her go as soon as he returned home.

One by one, the players began to leave the room, heading for their bedrooms to get some much needed rest. Mario knew he wouldn't be able to sleep after the things he had seen, so he planned to spend this time plotting his escape.

"Psst."

Mario turned around and saw Carmen climbing the stairs behind him. She caught up to him, looking around to make sure no one could hear her.

"Are you planning to stick around after what we just saw?" she whispered.

At first, Mario didn't answer her. After what happened to Jackson, he would make sure he didn't do anything that came across as helping another player. But was this really helping? He wasn't going to help Carmen do anything, but he could very well help himself get out of here. She seemed like a smart girl. It's possible she had found something Mario didn't know about yet.

"Do you really think they'd make it easy for us to get out of here?" he whispered back.

"No, of course not. But if I'm gonna die anyway, I'd rather go out on my own terms," she replied.

"Me too," Nine whispered, coming up behind them. "No way am I going to be eaten by beautiful, naked women. Or...you know, on second thought, I probably could live with consolation prize."

Carmen rolled her eyes. "Then you can stay here and be eaten. I'm going back home. I didn't sign up for this."

"None of us did," Mario reminded her. "We were all forced to come here. Which means if we try and escape, something bad is probably waiting for us."

"That's why we have to plan carefully. Each of our bedrooms have a window, right?" she asked, looking between Mario and Nine as they reached the top of the stairs. "If we all three escape at the same time, they can't stop all of us."

Mario almost objected to the idea immediately, but as he gave it more thought,  it made sense. They couldn't go after all three of them at once, could they? And even if they did, Mario had an obvious advantage. He was way bigger and stronger than the other players and could probably overpower the staff without much effort.

"So what? We just all make a leap for it at a certain time?" Nine asked.

Carmen nodded. "Exactly. The windows aren't very high. We could easily climb out and land in the bushes below. I've already checked my area out. It's about a hundred yards or so to the highway. We jump, and then we run like hell."

"I've tried escaping through a window already and it didn't work out for me," Nine said.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Carmen asked. "Did they catch you?"

"No, but...I knocked over a candlestick and lit myself on fire," he said, cutting his eyes at Mario, who refused to help him.

"That sounds more like you're just a dumbass," Carmen said, making Mario snicker.

Nine gave her a bored look. "Listen, I didn't just knock it over, okay? It was like...it appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't there when I opened the window and then suddenly, it was."

Carmen laughed. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"He might be right," Mario said. "During the first game, the house was...changing. I went down a hallway and two hours later, that same hallway looked completely different."

"Or maybe you just went down a different hallway," Carmen smirked.

"Maybe it's nothing, I don't know. It just seems like...they know we'd think of escaping, so they've...boobie trapped all the doors and windows," Nine said.

"My window is fine. I checked it out when I first got here. Nothing happened. Besides, it's worth a shot. I can't stay in this place another day," Mario said.

"Then lets agree to make a run for it," Carmen said, looking between them.

Mario thought seriously about what he was agreeing to before he said anything. He didn't trust Nine or Carmen, but he did believe if all three of them tried to escape at the same time, it would be more difficult to catch them. This could be his only chance to get out of here and he was going to take it.

"Fine," Mario  answered. "What time?"

Carmen looked down the hallway where the old grandfather clock sat.  "The sun sets in about nine hours. That's when they will be preparing dinner for us. Six o'clock- at the final chime, open your window and haul ass. No matter what though, don't stop. Keep running until you're as far away from here as you can get."