The Phantom's Gamble

The Abduction

I thought it was weird at first, but I didn’t really pay much attention to it. On several occasions, I spotted a certain minivan around the premises of my school after closing, with particularly strange-looking men acting suspiciously. I thought I was just imagining things, but as the days went by, the strange feeling I had turned into reality.

This was a fairly secure place, brimming with students and teachers, equipped with security, as it’s one of the most prestigious universities in the United States of America. No, it’s not Harvard—it’s Princeton University, located somewhere in New Jersey, around 185 Nassau Street. I’m not particularly enthusiastic about the school, but the greenery is amazing, so I opted for it.

Anyway, the feeling that turned into reality was the fact that I was abducted by these men. I guess, at some point, I allowed it. I was particularly bored, after all. It didn’t seem like I was the only one, since I could literally hear muffling and struggling from the person near me, along with several other futile struggles that continued nonetheless. I couldn’t see them because my face was covered and my mouth taped, but what’s the point of struggling when there’s no way to break free?

However, in this situation, I tried my best to understand it. The only thing I could determine at that moment was that we weren’t on the road anymore. The smell of the ocean wafted into the ship, or whatever buoyant machine was being used at that moment to transport us. That was when I knew we’d probably be sent off to some secluded place, but the reason was still shrouded in mystery. I just had to wait.

Unfortunately for me, the situation wasn’t favorable. The place was becoming unbearably hot. I guess we were kept somewhere in the ship where people don’t go often because, while our mouths were taped and our faces covered, our noses still worked—and the stench coming from the place was becoming more pungent by the day. I guess that’s what happens when you stay in a confined space with a few people. I don’t even know how many days had gone by. My lips were becoming parched, and my tongue had reached the point where it couldn’t produce saliva any longer. I still had to endure. I didn’t have a choice, after all. It seemed the others in this confinement had also given up to an extent. I didn’t hear any more muffles or struggles, either.

After days of traveling, the ship seemed to have come to a stop because I could hear footsteps outside the confinement—something I hadn’t heard throughout our journey. The footsteps approached the door, and I could hear it being unlocked. We were dragged out of the confinement because there was hardly any strength left for movement. They removed the mask from my face, and I could have sworn that the sun was about to fall into my eyes. It was so bright that it took me a few seconds to adjust to the brightness while feeling dizzy. The first thing I did was survey the area to see where they had brought us. The place didn’t look familiar—it seemed like a place completely shut off from the world. Thick forests dominated the area, as the island was in the middle of nowhere. I immediately had an idea of what was going to happen.

Before I could process that, I had to examine the others who were also abducted. Including me, there were two boys and two girls, making us five in total. The first girl I saw had blonde hair, green eyes, and a fairly good physique, considering the fact that we hadn’t had anything to eat in a while. The other girl looked confused and puzzled by the situation. Compared to the first one, she was taller—about 6'2", with dark short hair, brown eyes, and a good physique too.

As for the other boys, compared to me, they had better physiques. If I had a toned and fairly ripped body, they had bulky ones. The one with the larger build seemed to have checked his surroundings as he locked eyes with mine. I was wondering why he was bald, though. The other guy was too calm and composed, and it gave me an annoying feeling.

Anyway, that was that, and I started searching for clues everywhere. The ship wasn’t particularly large, but the weirdest thing was that it had no labels or names to indicate the owner. The men who brought us out of the confinement were all wearing dark military clothes with masks. Not even their eyes were visible. I thought it was odd that they were walking in formation, but they were making a path for their leader to come out. How do I know he’s the leader? It’s pretty obvious. If this were some kind of comic and there was a main character somewhere, and he had been kidnapped and put in this situation, and people arranged themselves to greet someone with a formation like that, you’d know the person was the leader instantly. His steps were unlike any others. There’s no specific way to describe how it felt, but since we were on a metal ship and he had these boots on— I think they’re called tactical boots—even with those boots, his footsteps were silent.

Setting aside the boots, the most bizarre thing for me was the mask. I’ve never seen anything like it. The others had their noses covered with dark shades so we couldn’t see their eyes or faces, but this man had a mask similar to the Noh masks in Japan. I don’t really know if it was custom-made or not since I didn’t recognize the design. Sighs I guess we’ll have to hear what he has to say for now. It seems like he’s getting ready for a speech.