The screen flashes, changing to footage of a cramped room, with an old man lying asleep on a small bed. This was his childhood bedroom? This is more like a storage closet. Samuel wakes up and looks around the room in confusion.

“Good morning, Samuel. You had a very rough childhood. One constantly plagued by fear, pain and anxiety... he left an indelible mark on your soul. One so strong that even after he was gone, you couldn’t wash it away. A lingering shadow waiting to pounce on you when you least expected. One day, it finally struck. Overwhelmed by the pain and misery deep in your soul. More than anything, you wanted this pain to go away, and so you indulged in it... you still have a chance to turn this around. It is time for you to face your fears and repent. Your one path to salvation is to seek forgiveness from those who you have hurt. So, will you let the shadow control you, or will you trudge your way back through your life, and cleanse yourself once and for all? The choice is yours. Good luck.”

Buddie’s message is very philosophical this time. Ed watches as Sam sneaks out into the hallway. Hearing George shout, he watches as Sam runs and hides in the master bedroom’s closet. He was very decisive there; it seems like he hasn’t forgotten the layout of the house despite how long it's been.

The footage splits, with one side showing Samuel, and the other showing George. Ed watches as George walks past the bedroom door, going further down the hallway and entering the study. Sam should be safe for now.

He turns his attention back to Sam, watching him step back out into the room, but this time it isn’t empty. On the bed there is a young couple sleeping side by side. Looking at Sam’s face Ed can see that he has become overwhelmed by his emotions, and that he no longer has control over himself. Watching the knife press into the skin, Ed expects to see Sam fall at the first hurdle. However, to his surprise, Sam seems to regain control of himself at the last moment, moving the blade away and letting it drop to the floor. Seeing Sam turn around, Ed watches the actors sit up and stare at Sam with a blank expression. Sam falls to his knees, shaking miserably with tears in his eyes.

“Please don’t hurt me... I’m sorry.” Ed watches as the couple gets closer to Sam, wondering what they are going to do.

“All is forgiven. Find the others and you will be set free.” Seeing them disappear, thoughts flash through his brain. Invisibility? Or did they teleport to somewhere else? I can’t say for certain.

Ed watches as Sam slowly moves closer to the study. Looking over at the other camera feed, he sees George crouching at the door, staring through the keyhole with his bloodshot eyes. Seeing Sam lean over to look into the room, Ed prepares himself for it to be over. The door slams open, sending Sam flying into the wall. Ed winces as he sees Sam lying in pain on the floor. That’s got to hurt.

“There you are.”

Watching Sam try and escape from his father, Ed sees him fall heavily down the stairs, and despite the pain, Sam manages to escape. Minutes pass with Sam waiting in fear, while George searches throughout the kitchen rest of the floor trying to find him. Eventually he gives up and goes back to watching TV.

Sam finds himself behind another couple and is able to hold off the influx of emotions, quickly throwing the knife away and begging for forgiveness. Ed watches them slam their heads together, causing a dull thud.

“All is forgiven” the couple disappears, giving Sam a chance to breathe. Two down. He should be able to get to the rest of them. Ed turns his attention to George and sees him standing in the hallway, staring at the end of the hallway. Did he hear something? Watching both screens, he sees George move closer while Sam sneaks into the bathroom. At the last moment, their eyes meet each other's, with Sam freezing on the other side of the door.

Fearing for his life, he is unable to block out the rage. Sam lifts the knife, stabbing through the hot steam, spilling blood down the drain. Well shit, this isn’t good. Ed watches as Sam stands there, smiling. A banshee-like scream echoes throughout the room, causing Ed’s ears to ring. Holding his head, Ed looks away, trying to block out the noise.

Shaking his head, it finally stops ringing. Looking back up at the screen, he sees two bodies latched onto Sam’s legs, digging their nails into his skin. Watching him struggle to move, Ed sighs as he looks over to see George standing in the hallway, blocking Sam from escaping. Sam uses all his strength to burst through the door, only to see George standing there. Ed watches Sam come to a stop, seemingly waiting for his father to catch him.

Before he can even think, the couple appears between Sam and George, by simply raising a hand, George is flung backwards into the wall. Unknown to Sam, the other couple he saved appears behind him, dragging the bodies off him and shouldering the weight themselves. After a moment Sam looks up, confused.

“Go.” Sam sprints up the stairs, slamming the door behind him when he makes it into the study. Ed watches as he crawls into the wardrobe, breathing heavily. He should have a bit of a breather now. Let’s hope he gets all of them before George catches up. He should have three left to get, plus seeking forgiveness from the one he just stabbed.

Ed watches as Sam finds and apologises to two more couples, one in the study and the other in the kitchen. Just one more. He turns his attention to George, who is standing at the bottom of the stairs, shrouded in darkness. It’s a little risky right now, he should wait a bit for George to move. Looking back at Sam, he sees him hand the knife over to the smiling bodies, who then stab him in the but, twisting the knife and causing Sam to groan. As the knife slides out, the couple disappears. Sam opens the door and sees the final couple on the couch.

Like a lion waiting to pounce, George shoots forth out of the darkness, latching onto Sam’s shoulder. Ed watches as George throws Sam into the wall. Watching Sam gasp in agony, Ed knows that it’s over. He watches to see how George will end this, only to see a sickening and twisted smile on his lips. One too real to be faked. He’s enjoying this. George grabs Sam, repeatedly slamming the old man’s head into the wall. With blood dripping down the wall, the only thing left in Ed’s mind is the sound of Sam’s head thudding over and over again.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The screen turns to black, but Ed can’t take his mind off what was happening. The thuds still reverberating in his head. He starts to feel pain, almost as if it was happening to him. He starts sweating heavily as he pales considerably.

“Are you okay, Ed?” Buddie’s voice enters his brain, gently soothing him like a warm blanket.

Slowing down his breathing, Ed sits back against the chair, rubbing his head as he looks up at the roof. Did I go too far? He was a victim too. Yes, he did kill a lot of people, but I shouldn’t have brought his father into this, that was too much... maybe this place is getting to me. I should rest for a while and think about it with a fresh head tomorrow. “Yes Buddie, I’m fine. Just a little tired, I’m going to go to bed early today, so just thank the actors for me and tell them that they can leave.” Ed falls asleep immediately.

~

Ten cloaked figures sit at an antique wooden table. nine of them sit on the sides, looking deferentially at the person at the head of the table. Each of them is holding a folder, preparing to hand it over to the leader. The leader looks between the door and the empty seat at the table.

“If the final person doesn’t come in a minute, I will remove their candidate from the running.” The room falls silent as the clock starts ticking. Forty seconds later, someone nervously rushes throw the door. Stumbling as they get into the final seat, their folder looking like a mess. Hurriedly tidying the folder up, they bow to the head of the table, apologising for being late. “The meeting shall now begin. As you all know, the company has made contact with a new reality and is now expanding further. Your department is currently not in need of new trap designers, so we in HR have decided to limit you to two new hires for the moment. If the situation changes, we will look at recruiting more people. Now I want each of you to introduce your candidates and tell me why they should be hired.”

They all gulp, now nervous after hearing just how few would be hired. Starting from the ones closest to the member of HR, everyone takes turns introducing their candidates, their voices strained and hoarse under the pressure being emitted from the head of the table. They hold the folders in front of them, and as they speak, it floats out of their hands and lands at the end of the table, flipping open. They talk about the traps they designed, how many they’ve made and other details about their internship, as well as going into detail about the candidate's life on Earth and how they are suitable to work in the company. Still a little nervous, most of them stumble a little under the pressure from HR, until it gets to one of them, who calmly stands up, handing the folder in their hands over.

“My candidate is Zara Morgan. She is twenty-three years old and was a medical student when she was on Earth. She has shown exceptional talent when it comes to designing traps that are most suited for her targets, requiring minimal input from Buddie. She has designed nine traps since the start of the internship, which is the maximum amount that we have allowed them to make at this time, but she has continued to ask Buddie if she can make more. She has never once argued with Buddie and has been enjoying herself the entire time. All of her traps have been successful, with each one maximising the amount of punishment the targets have to endure...” They continue to go on, introducing each of her traps in detail, concluding with her being the best talent they have had for the position in years.

The rest of them introduce their candidates, clearly lacking in confidence after hearing about Zara. Nervous it finally gets to the last person, the one who arrived late. Standing up they pass their folder to the head of the table.

“My candidate is Edward Armitage. He is nineteen years old and was a university student who majored in psychology when he was on Earth. Umm... he refused to do his work for the first two days, for which he was adequately punished. He successfully completed his next two projects, both of which resulted in the death of his targets. At the end of the fourth day, he tried to read a complete file, which resulted in his head exploding. On the fifth day he also refused to work, resulting in him being punished again. Because of the damage that his soul received from his previous deaths and the head explosion, we had to slow down his perception of time, resulting in him spending a year mentally in the punishment.

On the sixth day he completed his project, once again resulting in another death, and for this he was allowed to move around his room and into the hallway. On the seventh day he created another project that was ideally suited to his client, just like all of the others, but this time he also used it to gather more information, and with this he was able to determine that he was no longer on Earth, and in fact in a separate dimension, he has already figured out that the company is from a different reality, that realities and dimensions are different, and that each room is its own isolated space. Because of this, he was rewarded by being allowed access to the actors, with which he was able to create two more perfect traps.” They then go on to describe his traps in detail. Pointing out how they are on the same level as Zara’s, if not higher.

Seeing their candidate being challenged, the other person stands back up. “That’s all well and good, however, I can’t help but notice that your client has failed to complete seven days' worth of projects, which is the minimum amount required for them to even be considered for the position.”

Floundering, they try and think of something, unable to come up with anything. “Umm, well you see... that is true.” They lower their head, going to sit down.

“Hold on.” The person at the head of the table stops them from sitting. “In this folder I have found some rather interesting letters. It seems that Edward has received two recommendations from employees in managerial positions. One from Marketing, and the other from HR.” Everyone else at the table is surprised by this development, not believing their ears. “However, it is a fact that he has failed to meet the minimum requirements for him to be selected. Hmm... I’ve made my decision. The first candidate to be selected for the position is Zara Morgan. The second spot shall be left for Edward, however if he can’t meet the requirements by the end of tomorrow, the position will be given to someone else. Meeting adjourned.” After speaking, they disappear from the table, their cloak falling onto the seat. The rest of them stay for a while to think about what just happened. Slowly they file out of the room, until only two of them are left.

“It seems like both of our candidates have made it through, what will you spend your bonus credits on?” The last one says, speaking normally now that the pressure from HR is gone, revealing his voice to be old and gruff.

“Don’t think that Ed has made it through, he still has to make one more trap. What if he acts up again and decides to take the punishment? Then you won’t be getting the bonus at all.” The confident one says, her voice sounding sharp.

“Oh, trust me. He will get the position.” He says before leaving the room.

She sighs, following him.