Falling.

 How long has it been?

My eyes blared awake looking around. I saw dimly lit cavern torches hanging off walls, but it was still somewhat dark getting up from the hard rocky floor. I started walking blindly forward. Having no idea where I was, or going. Seconds turned to minutes which then turned to hours, but yet I persisted continuing down the endless cavern. Every step hoping it will reach the end. 

As my legs started to grow weak and blisters started to appear I started to lose hope. More hours passed and now hungry, exhausted and thirsty I realized maybe I will never make it out and now my feet were bleeding as stepping on a particularly sharp stone seems to always do that. Collapsing into a pile and lying on the side of the cave wall I gave up realizing there was no hope left. I thought about everyone I ever loved in my last moments. Fitting.

Hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of people were going through the same experience. Some gave up straight away, others walked for a few hours until they gave up, but there was an end through willpower, strength, and emotions. You could make it through except walking 24 hours on the hard, sharp, and painful ground while also being exhausted, starving and thirsty was not pleasant. Luckily there was a drink break every 5 hours. Only a few people ever make it to the end, mainly males because of the strength required, but that will change soon.

Our story isn’t about these amazing people that completed the challenge but a different person who gave up after only an hour.

Appearing in a completely white box a chessboard sat on a table of polished marble and a chair lay on the ground, on the white side. A book sat on the ground labeled how to play the game but not needing to read it. Heisantly I moved over to the chair poking it to check if it was trapped, seeing it was fine I sat down and checked the chess set only then did I move the king’s pawn two places forward 

As I got ready for an intense game. The pieces on the black side moved themselves. After only 2 mins I won.

Disappointed that I won so easily I thought I was going to get teleported again. The hour in the cave made me understand I wasn’t in Sydney anymore. Thinking that was it I tried to calm my increasing nervousness. The pieces then went back to their starting positions except now I was black. Again I played it a little bit harder but still it was pretty easy, as the pieces rearranged again I battled over and over until around the twentieth game I was defeated trapped by a rook and pawn it was checkmate. Again the pieces rearranged this time but this time I vanished again. 

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I appeared in a room where no lights were coming from anywhere, except there was? Already getting used to this continuing insane situation I looked around, finding no entertainment except a tap, a door, and a table where it had a rump steak and salad resting on top. Hungry and thirsty I ate the rump and some salad, not my favorite dish but I drowned it with water and opened the door hoping to leave, seeing it was another room with black walls. I stepped out, not looking down.

Then I started spiraling downwards, not like before as all I could see was darkness but this time there was light everywhere, blinding even. Without anything better to do I just thought over this crazy situation trying to control my nerves and put on a stoic look instead of the scared and confused child I was inside. After twisting, turning,, and feeling like I was going to vomit I was teleported again. Waiting for it to be over and put into another one of these- these things. Not knowing what to expect but guessing but when I got there I was so wrong. People of all ages were spread out around the room. It was like the cave that I first saw when this all started except the floor was smoothed out and there was more light with walls surrounding us. There were probably more than 200 people in here. Glancing over I saw there were people of all ages, races, and religions. Sitting down I tried to relax realizing I was at the mercy of these aliens. Shouting echoed around the wall as well as people crashing their fists futilely. 

Me? Well, I just lay down waiting for something to happen even though I was scared I didn’t care, I was dead broke, tired of my office job and the constant reminder my rent was due I was about to go homeless. So that was why I had the quitters idea of giving up, quitting life, and drowning in the cold lake underneath my city's bridge.

I only got up when People started back away cursing and shouting out around the room. Turning back around, a skeleton was standing there bone naked. Getting up I backpedaled away from it trying to gain ground in its bone-white hands it was holding a sword. Hating the fact that I knew we were going to fight, I still didn’t want to fight it. Something in me screamed at me to live, that's why I backpedaled away instead of not moving. Making that whole monologue of I didn’t care but still trying to survive, what an odd creature I was.

As I watched the skeleton looking around it turned its eyes on a little girl probably only 11, its eyes didn’t move from here then madness brake out as the skeleton charged on the defenseless girl, and it was fast too fast for anyone one of us over here to catch up to it but the nearest person to the girl seeing it charge at her jumped it charging into it. The skeleton instantly reacted using its flat side to smash into the side of the man hard enough for even here to hear cracks he crashed into the ground rolling, shouting, and crying. 

Anger and fear were intertwined at the moment. Everyone had the same look but most was fear, The skeleton turned to the girl after dispatching off its first target. People shouted to stop, yelling at people to do something closer to the people nearest to her, but it was all too late. A quick then gurgled scream echoed around the ground as the skeleton sword stuck out of a little girl’s body. Her carcass was chucked aside from the blade with inhuman strength. It was chucked to the other side of the room just by the head of an older girl, probably 14 or 15,  And she was right next to me.