37

Sudden sounds pulled a young boy’s consciousness up from the depths like the hand of God tearing into the ocean, reaching downward through the depths to feel his existence before tightening to an iron grip. Something was very similar about what had been happening, but something was at the same time different. His eyes opened up and he found that he was restrained to a chair by his arms, legs, and neck.

He need only look around to see that other bodies had been strung up like puppets as he had been. There was something familiar about it all. Something that-

“Nobody...cheats the game” the voice rippled through his mind as if a pebble were tossed into a small pond. It knocked his memories loose and instantly he knew where and who he was. He was Abel Gray and he was in the main lobby where the roulette game was held. Around him were the bodies of Simon, Aria, Sophie, Levi, and the old woman, Ai. He smelled blood, but it was a familiar scent, the same one he smelled when he’d first woken up in these restraints. Ai, at his side, was still leaking from the hole in her head.

The others, however, brought a swelling feeling of happiness to his heart, considering the circumstances. They were not dead, blown up, or eaten by any mechanical monstrosities. That was when it occurred to him that he too was alive. He distinctly remembered the feeling of his bones breaking and the walls closing up on him forever...but could it all have been a bad dream? No, that was impossible. Everything was so vivid and he remembered everybody around him. There was no way that that was all just a dream.

He tried to wriggle out of the restrains, but as he expected he wasn’t able to make much headway. As he did Simon begin to stir, his eyes opened slowly and he looked around his surroundings. He tried once to break out of his restraints. “Another cycle, huh?” He said to himself.

“Hello, Simon?” Abel asked.

He looked up, confused, and for a second recognizing, but he corrected quickly, “For fucks sake, what are you looking at?”

“Simon, what the heck is going on?” Abel asked.

“How do you know my name?”

“You mentioned a cycle,” Abel said, ignoring his question, “You remember too? What happened before, I mean?”

Simon’s face gave away his mind, “Yeah...I remember you leaving me behind, again.”

“Again?” Abel asked.

Simon started to laugh, it was a horrible sort of sound. “You leave me behind every cycle, Luke. And you wonder why I despise you so much.”

Abel looked confused at his answer, “Luke?”

“That’s your name, isn’t it? You’ve told me again and again it drives me crazy.” There was malice in his voice, his eyes looked much darker.

Leave behind every cycle? “This...has happened more than once? This roulette game?”

Simon leaned his head back and stared up into the darkness. “You say you remember but you don’t know anything at all.”

“Tell it to me, then,” Abel said. “And my name’s Abel, by the way. My real name. I remember who I am.”

“Oh, of course you do.”

“Simon, I’m sorry we left you behind. It’s news to me that this has been going on for longer than I thought. I don’t know how that could be possible, but obviously we’re living it so I don’t have any reason to not believe you.”

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Simon didn’t say anything, still staring upward.

“I found you...and it made me sick what happened. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. There wasn’t supposed to be a—” an explosion, he thought. His eyes wandered until they settled on Levi, his head was bent forward and his hair dipped over his eyes. If what he remembered about...whatever that came before was true then it was very likely what caused him to explode back then could very well do so here. He mentioned that it might have been a b-....so it was likely he could assume that he meant bomb, but when did he figure out about such a bomb? Had he known all along? It wasn’t likely, he was running back in to confront Answer about it. That would mean it would be most likely that he found out about the bomb from the old woman—maybe the elder had said it had been a part of his prophecy.

Hey, wait a minute, if this place were truly the SubCon facility then we should be underwater completely. How then were we able to visit Levi’s village? There were still so many questions that plagued his mind.

“Helloo?” Simon asked, “Are you brain-dead already?”

Abel shook his head as the thoughts vanished. “Oh...I’m…” He looked up at Simon, who was looking at him as if he had claws for hands. “You remember,” Abel said.

“We already went through this,” he said.

“Why do we remember? Why is this happening again?”

“Do you think if I knew why I’d still be here?”

“You could...I mean knowing doesn’t necessarily get you out of the situation,” Abel answered.

“Well smartass, then you can stop asking me. Knowing won’t help you.”

Abel moved to respond, but felt trapped by his own admission. “Why are you so mean?” He decided to ask a different sort of question. “You mentioned that we leave you behind every cycle...is that really true?”

“We’re done talking,” Simon said.

As he did, Sophie beside him began to stir, she looked first to Simon and looked at him confused, “Where…?” She looked to Abel and her surprise took over. “Abel…”

“So you knew his name too,” Simon scoffed. “Figures. To think I’ve been through this a hundred times and you still find new ways to disappoint me.”

“A hundred?!” Abel asked.

“A hundred what?” Sophie asked, confused. “Where are we?”

“Sophie,” he turned to her, “We’re alive! Don’t you remember-”

“Remember? That’s a sick way to see it, Cain...he…”

“She never remembers,” Simon said, “She hasn’t ever remembered the passover.” He was looking to the floor now.

He looked from Simon then back to Sophie, a painted look of confusion doubled on her face. “Passover…? Abel, what’s going on?”

“Passover, is that what it’s called?” Abel asked.

“Uh, yeah? It’s what I call it, hence that’s what it’s called.” Simon grunted.

“How many times have I...uh, passed over?” He asked.

Simon looked as if he was about to give an answer, but stopped a moment. “You...haven’t. This is the first time.”

“First time for what?!” Sophie screamed, she had clearly had enough. Her scream rustled Aria and Levi awake. They each looked like they had a massive headache. “What’s going on?” Aria asked. “And...who am I?” she asked.

“I-I don’t like this one bit,” Levi said.

“Ah well, Abel,” Simon said, “Looks like the party is just about to begin proper, so it seems you’ll need to stick a pin in it,” He grinned for the first time. The rambunctious voice of Lucky filled the room all around them, but Abel couldn’t listen to anything but his own thoughts. Something was keeping their minds stuck in this strange facility, this strange place where doors could lead anywhere and where rabbits wore suits of steel. Somehow they’d been repeating the roulette game, traveling in a circle for a hundred games at the very least if Simon was to be believed. As much of a pain as he had been Abel could only think of the body he’d seen in the room under the podium. He had no reason to lie about this kind of thing. So why was it that he remembered this time? It has to be because something different happened this last time that didn’t happen during the others. Maybe if he could keep it up they could break free of the loop they were in. He owed that much to the others, especially the others who didn’t remember.

Lucky hopped up closer to him, he’d finished his speech to them while he’d been thinking. His beady little eyes looked up to Abel, in them Abel saw himself. But it wasn’t just himself he saw, there was someone else he saw behind those cold eyes. His little head perked up and his mouth opened, “So, Graybeard...you passed over. Aren’t you the lucky one?”