The both of them have been waiting for quite a long time in silence, Kayla has started to think that something must have happened to them, thirty minutes have passed and Kayla finally loses her patience, “Are you sure we didn't have to go and find them?”
“No use”, he said simply, Kayla didn't understand what he meant at first, but then she realized that they would only get lost trying to find them because they probably had moved around someplace they didn't know, so it would be best to just stay here and wait for them, so Kayla didn't have any choice and could only sigh heavily.
She couldn't help but stare at him with an annoyed expression and sighed heavily, after she had calmed down a bit, she then suggested something, “Instead of sitting here doing nothing, how about we search for the next key?”, since all of the card is in her hands, it will be a waste to just sitting and doing nothing like this, she could get this chance to sorted the card since Steven has a source of lights.
Steven didn't say anything and for a moment Kayla thought that he had gone, because it was so dark that she couldn't really see his silhouette, so Kayla extended her hand trying to reach towards him, her heart almost jumped out from her chest when suddenly a hand much bigger than her grabbing her arms tightly. “I suggest that you throw all the cards away”, he said while letting go of Kayla's hands.
“It has never been good to let others know that you know much more compared to them”, his tone was calm, Kayla could only sigh, “I also feel the same, but they said to take it first and then threw it away later since we don't know if we could find that original place again”, now thinking about it, she feels that she is very dumb indeed. Even if they pick up all of the cards, how could they search for all of these keys and how could they guarantee that they could find other people to share it with? And even if they did share it with other people, would they be thankful for it or would they turn to bite them instead? Who in the world would do such a stupid thing?
Kayla couldn't help but laugh at herself, she won't say that she is a saint that wishes everyone to be safe and try to help others as much as she can, because she is not that stupid and innocent, she knows that in this world, there are many people who will hurt others for their own interest, there is one things that people said is right, To know one heart, you have to see it when you are at the bottom of the abyss. Because at that time you will know who will be the one standing by your side. Everybody has their own thought and priorities, you can't force someone to walk the same path as you. But in here where you could lose your life so easily like that, Kayla hope that everybody will show some sympathy and work well together to get out of this mess.
Steven didn't say anything and the atmosphere became awkward for a moment, Kayla didn't expect that Steven would open his mouth to talk first, “I.. have found an interesting room deep inside this alley— Instead of a room, it could be said to be a hidden paradise. The place is very bright and surrounded by water, and there is a white octagon gazebo placed directly in the middle of the room, there is only one path that directly leads you to the gazebo”
Kayla still couldn't understand what he was talking about, all of this already felt bizarre enough for her, so when she heard that, she didn't feel the excitement any longer. But the next words he said, is what truly astonished her, “I already take a close look at it. There is a certain word written with golden paint on the floor, ‘Exchanged three for freedom’”
Kayla could feel her hair stood on all ends, “You mean.. they wanted us to change three people's lives for our freedom?”, this is bad, really bad. If people knew that place, there would certainly be a huge fight happening, people would start to snatch the keys from each other and if things went bad they could even.. Kayla didn't dare to think about it, after seeing someone die with her own eyes, she knew that something much worse would happen. Don't see that they were providing meals for them, all were just basic necessities, anyone could go mad if they stayed there for too long. Kayla could feel her whole body getting cold, and she suddenly felt scared and didn't know what to do.
Steven seemed to sense her anxiety and said, “That is why I told you to throw the card first, it is best that we pretend not to know anything. But even so, we couldn't keep this secret forever, there might be some people who already know about this and are in search of it. I am telling you this because I wanted you to choose, do you want to get out of here first before it everyone knows, or do you want to wait and see the situation first— But seeing how you reacted, I suggest that you get out of here and protect yourself first”, his tone is calm and cold, Kayla heart is still thumping loudly,
“I.. “, her words get stuck on her throat. It would be a lie if she said that she didn't want to get out of there, but to think that she has to sacrifice three people's lives for her freedom seems too much for her. They still didn't know what would happen to those people and themselves in all of this, one thing she is sure of is that she really hates the system here, ‘What kind of crazy people use real people for their games?! They really have nothing better to do anymore!!’, Kayla was so angry that her eyes went red in anger and sadness in her heart, her hand tightened in a fist, and she hugged her legs closely to her, she suddenly really wanted to go home and talk all about it to her mom and dad.
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Steven let out a small sigh, “You don't need to think too much, we are basically strangers to each other, you don't need to feel sorry for them”, Kayla didn't say anything, her tears silently dropped from her eyes,
“How about you? Since you already know the way out, why are you still sitting here?”
“I can't find the key”, Steven said simply, Kayla didn't reply to his words, she silently pulled out some of the cards from her pocket and silently offered it to him. Steven didn't take it, so Kayla thought that he didn't feel her hand approaching, so Kayla open her mouth to say something, but Steven already said it first, “I wanted to see how you choose, so I stayed”
Kayla is looking at him with disbelief in her eyes, ‘Is it really fun to see me making a fool out of myself?’
Steven clearly knows that she is glaring at him, but he doesn't say anything. They could faintly hear the sound of footsteps coming toward them, Steven immediately got up followed by Kayla, and he quickly stood in front of her on alert. They could hear the sound of talking(more like arguing) not far from them, Kayla clearly recognized this sound, “Aaron? Diane? Is that you?”, she asked carefully.
There was a silence in the air for a moment, but she could instantly hear Clara squeak in happiness, “Oh my god! I thought we would never find her! Kayla!! Where are you?!”
After checking the other party to be the one they had been waiting for, Steven pulled out a lighter and lit up his candle. As soon as Aaron saw him, he ran up to him, Kayla had predicted it before and immediately blocked his way, “Wait! Lets all have a nice talk, he didn't do anything to me, don't worry”
Aaron wanted to say more, but since the person getting involved herself didn't say anything, he also couldn't say anything and only glared at him. Clara finds this chance to throw herself at Kayla, “I must tell you something, we just met with a terrifying group of people”
“You have met with other people?”, Kayla asked interested, but instead of feeling happy, Kayla could see that their expression was not promising, so this must be a poor meeting. Diane couldn't hide her hatred anymore and scoffed, “Not just that, they are also the stupidest and ridiculous type of person that I hate the most”
Kayla blinked questioningly at them, and Diane started to explain what had happened to them, “We met with two girls on the way to find you, they said that they had made a group with other containing more than twenty people working together, so we decided to go and take a look. Just as we entered, someone who looked like the leader of the group came forward pretending to be friendly, asking us if we had found something useful and telling us to share it as a form of kindness”, she said the last words sarcastically and continued, “Of course, we didn't plan to say anything, but because we looked like someone who is too smart to know nothing, they didn't really want to let us go, so we fight a bit”
Kayla was shocked by her words, Diane said that when they wanted to leave, they keep on pressuring them to stay, saying something like,
“We have someone who takes ahold of a card and it says that as long as we find all the keys, we could get out of here. But later on, we noticed that it had changed, and that is when we found the first key. That is when we decided to go back and search for the card, but a shame, we didn't know the way back. Do you perhaps know the way back to the original place?”, he asked
Aaron and Diane looks at each other, somehow they have a tacit understanding that this person seems suspicious, so they immediately reject him, “No, we didn't”
But that person just smiles, “But you must have known about the card right? Do you have any clues or any card left? We could search for it together, why don't you guys stay, a lot more people are much more better right?”, that is when Diane realized that he must have seen Clara's nervous expression, she stepped forward and hide Clara behind her and Aaron politely rejected him, “No thanks, we are doing fine on our own”
Because they rejected them so boldly, it makes it look like they have something to hide and that makes them become more interested in them, that is when Diane finally snapped, “Well, it will be easier if all of us used our heads, but if it was only one person, I doubted it will work”, she sarcastically said. That person's face twitched a little but still maintained his calmness and smile, Diane didn't want to play with them any longer and pulled Clara out with her, “If you want to keep on dealing with them you do it, I will go first”
That is when some of them block her way, Diane looks at them with anger in her eyes, and that person suddenly laughs, “Seeing you wanted to leave so badly. Does it mean that you are afraid that we will snatch away what you have? We didn't have any bad intention, we just simply wanted to get out of here, so if you know anything, just anything, we would appreciate it”
Diane took a glance at Aaron and the both of them nodded, Diane immediately punched the person blocking her way hard until he fell to the floor, she shouted to Clara to run as fast as she could as she, Aaron, and Jeremy followed behind closely, that is how they escape from them. Kayla was rendered speechless by the things they had just gone through, when she was about to say something, Diane started blabbering again, “They just keep on gathering idiotic people together and try to see where it could lead them, so foolish!”
Kayla could only give them a small awkward smile, she couldn't help but find something strange from their story,
“But the keys we find in both of the rooms are quite easy, what do they mean by only finding one?”
“Could it be that they are lying to us?”, Jeremy said.
Steven who has been quiet suddenly speaks, “You are quite lucky, I have been to many of the rooms, and some of the rooms indeed have nothing in them”, Kayla looks at him with surprise, ‘Are we really that lucky?— Then this place must be really huge, considering that each room is not small in size either’
When they were still lost in thought, they suddenly heard the sound of a bell ring once, it was very clear and sounded very noble and calming, they all looked at each other in dazed, ‘What the hell is that again??’, Kayla sighed heavily and feels her head twitching in distress.
TO BE CONTINUED ..