Ethan’s eyes flew open. Fear and adrenaline flooded his mind as it worked in overdrive to process all the information his five senses sent over .
Where am I? I’m sitting. Its dark. The chair is soft, sofa? There’s someone else sitting beside me. He’s not moving. Wait, long hair, so ‘she’? There’s movement, there are more people! I need to get out… She’s breathing I think… Huh?!
Ethan’s attempt to get out of his seat was abruptly halted by a metal belt-like apparatus securing him to the chair. His hands flew to the belt, searching for some sort of latch or mechanism to unlock it. However, he quickly gave up when he found both ankles securely held in place as well. He next noticed a white metal bracelet of sorts, firmly wrapped around his right wrist. Ethan’s intuition suggested that this bracelet would ensure any escape attempts would remain unsuccessful.
Slightly despairing, Ethan shifted his focus to the others around him. They were in 2 rows, where the seats in the second row were slightly elevated. Ethan was seated at the end of the first row. The unknown person to his right suddenly jolted awake and started to replicate Ethan’s prior actions. In fact, it seemed like everyone else were slowly stirring awake, or more accurately, jerking awake. Ethan could hear the man behind muttering a few choice words under his breath, and a few seats over the rattling of metal could be heard as someone tried to forcefully yank himself free.
“Did they seriously knock me out? Deal or not, I’m going to punch that smile off his disgusting face.”
Beside him, the person growled with frustrating as she grappled with her own restraints. The woman’s voice clued Ethan to his neighbour’s gender.
They? Who’s they?
George’s sinister smile surfaced in Ethan’s mind as he recalled the events before his blackout.
“Ah great, it seems like everyone has woken up! I was starting to get worried that we would start late. Looks like I’m going to have a talk with the good doctor after this, wouldn’t want any sort of overdose next time, would we?”
The speaker chuckled, and lights flooded the room. Ethan winced, shutting his eyes off from the sudden invasion of lights. He could hear groans of protest from his surroundings.
“Hm, maybe I should provide sunglasses next time. Oh wells, quit your whining its just a little bit of light. The theatrics is more important than some minor discomfort!”
As his eyes got used to the light, Ethan saw George on a stage. Now with a wide, fiendish smile, and definitely more genuine in Ethan’s opinion, plastered on his face, George surveyed the 13 individuals sitting before him.
“Some of you may know me, for those of you who don’t, you can call me ‘George’, I’ll be the person-in-charge of this game for the next 7 days. Now, since I wasn’t entirely honest with some of you before this, let me explain what’s going to happen.”
Saying this, George purposefully looked over at Ethan and gave him an exaggerated wink.
“Here at New Life Inc., we are committed in helping anyone in need! No matter how impossible, or desperate, your situation is, we shall find a way to resolve them for you!”
Taking on a serious expression, George fervently and whole-heartedly declared, eyes burning with fervour as he gazed towards Ethan’s direction. The façade lasted for a few seconds before George broke into his playful, sinister smile.
“Well, this solution comes at a cost. Not money mind you, instead –”
“Yah yah yah, you want us to play your little game, do your little task and then you will help us. You will keep your end of the deal right? There better not be some sort of bullshit at the end of it!”
A loud voice cut through George’s overly enthusiastic monologue. Ethan realised it originated from the man sitting behind him. Twisting his body and head as far as he could, Ethan tried to get a better look at the man behind him. A stocky, somewhat muscular frame entered Ethan’s vision. Wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, the tattoos on the man’s arm were visible. He resembled a typical thug or gang member that Ethan would sometimes see on shows, but this time Ethan could almost feel the menacing aura radiating off the man. On the side, Ethan noticed a similar metallic bracelet on the man’s wrist, except it was blue.
Taken aback by the suddenly interrupted, George’s smiling façade cracked as a slight frown wormed its way onto his face.
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“Well yes, that’s the idea. But give me awhile to – ”
Yet again, George was interrupted, but this time by yelps of surprise and shock from the rest of those present. Warm, sticky blood splattered over Ethan’s head and arms, who had tried to avoid the sudden onslaught by turning away and using his arms to shield himself. Without waiting for George to complete his sentence, the man had swiftly reached over and ruthlessly tore his neighbour’s neck open. This sudden, unexpected series of actions had caught everyone present unprepared, and only the man himself wore a satisfied smile on his face as he rested himself comfortably back onto his seat.
“There, done. Killed myself a poor soul. Now let me go enjoy my new life, heh heh heh.”
With an audible sigh, George had completely given up the stage persona he was trying to be. Giving a hard stare at the man who had interrupted him twice, George continued his explanation.
“Yes, the deal is, you complete your task, and we guarantee you a new life. You have 7 days to do so, and you must stay all 7 days regardless of when you complete your task. No leaving halfway through, no leaving without completing your task.”
The man gave an audible tongue click, but otherwise kept quiet. He seemed plenty satisfied to have completed his task with relative ease.
“Whenever one of you do complete a task, an announcement will be made for all to know. For example…”
“– Congratulations. Task completed. –”
“This can be heard, regardless of where you are, so don’t worry about missing out on your peer’s achievements. Oh yes, all of you have been assigned a colour as your identity. Your bracelet’s colour reflects this. Of course, feel free to share your real names, but given what could happen in the next 7 days, I highly discourage that sort of foolishness.”
“And lastly, have a look at the screen, these are some basic rules you will have to follow the next 7 days. Break any and you will see yourself disqualified permanently. That’s what the bracelet is for too."
Letting off an audible sigh, George pointed looked towards his serial interrupter before continuing.
"Well, seeing as someone didn't have the patience to sit through my wonderful performance, that will be all from me, I look forward to the excitement you 13, well 12 now, will bring. Welcome to your first day everyone.”
With a carefree attitude, George announced his final words, and then exited the room chuckling at a joke only he found funny. As the door shut behind him, metallic clicks echoed through the room as the restraints finally set its captives free.
Ethan didn’t react. In fact, he had been frozen and motionless for a while. He kept reviewing the gruesome scenes he saw, watching in his mind’s eye the blood spraying and splattering all over him as Blue ripped open the victim's throat. Being so close in proximity to a still warm corpse flooded him with disgust and anxiety, his entire being frozen in inaction as he struggled to process. He was vaguely aware of the movements around him, as the other participants slowly explored their freedom from their chairs.
“Gwahaha, did I scare you shitless boy? First time seeing a dead body? And here I thought things would be more challenging, instead all I see are kids and weaklings. No one would survive a day in my old life.”
Realising that Blue was right next to him, Ethan’s body jerked up as he scrambled to gain some distance between him and Blue. Instead, Ethan only managed to fall off his chair, pain shooting through his body as he landed on his side.
“White eh? I’ve already did what I need to do, it will be my last too. Got to start living that fresh new life I’ve promised you know, hahaha. You though, I sure hope your task is different, I don’t see how you will ever accomplish murder, you ain’t got the mettle for that. In fact, I had anticipated for this to immediately descend into a bloody murder-fest, but I guess having everyone murder each other won’t be that interesting huh.”
Blue shrugged as he scanned the room, seemingly bored at the relative peacefulness displayed by the other, still alive, participants.
Ethan stared at Blue in disbelief, not sure how a man could go from cold-blooded murder to having a seemingly normal conversation about the aforementioned gore and murder. Ethan briefly contemplated mentioning his task, before deciding against it.
Its probably better not to trust him. Who knows if he’ll just kill me to make things ‘interesting’…
A few horrifying scenes flashed through Ethan’s mind, making him shudder.
“Cat’s got your tongue boy? Seriously, do you need a nanny, or are you just born mute? Bah, you ain’t any fun to talk to.”
Blue lumbered off, having lost all interest in Ethan. Ethan shakily stood up, noting what the other participants were doing. Most were like him, simply standing in place and looking lost. Though there were a group or two that had formed and were seemed to be having some sort of discussion between themselves. Ethan’s attention slowly wandered to the screen at the front of the room, displaying the rules that they will need to obey for the next 7 days.
New Life Inc. welcomes you!
7 days to completely change your life
Don’t let this wonderful opportunity pass!!!
Rules
1. There will be no contact to the outside world, any attempts to do so will result in immediate disqualification and termination
2. Any attempts to tamper or sabotage your bracelet will be met with immediate
disqualification and termination
3. Any attempts to tamper or sabotage the CCTVs throughout the building will be met with immediate disqualification and termination
4. Food, water and amenities are provided, no one or group is allowed to monopolize them.
Any attempts to do so will be met with immediate
disqualification and termination
!We wish you all the best!