18 August 2012
' why am I even here. You should never have come.' I scolded myself in my head as a crawled further into the dank tunnel. The air around me was moist and cold, I could feel grit and something wet and slimy beneath my hands as I continued to push forward into the dark, never ending abyss.
It had started as I was walking home. I was carrying far too many shopping bags and was concentrating on not dropping anything, when I noticed the boy walking next to me. He smiled, 'do you need a hand?' he asked nodding towards the bags. I was wary about handing over my things to a stranger but as I was thinking I was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of calm, enticing me to trust him. 'yes, please.' I said robotically as if under a spell. He smiled and took my bags. 'so what's your name?' he asked politely. 'Claire, what about you?' I replied. 'I'm Damien, how old are you?' he said quickly. I was taken aback by his abruptness, I was preparing to ask him why he was so interested in me, but again the sense of calm washed over me, wiping away any sense of doubt about him. '18' I replied, I saw his lips move but I didn't hear what he said, but it looked like he had said, perfect.
As we were coming close to my house, Damien stopped suddenly and turned to me, 'come back to my house, I've got some friends coming over. It will be fun.' he said lightly. My head was screaming at me to say no, make up an excuse, anything but go home with this boy. 'yes, that sounds fun.' I said, my head in turmoil but again I felt at peace.
'where is it you live again?' I asked wearily, we had been walking for about an hour and the soles of my feet were beginning to hurt. 'just at the end of the road.' he smiled. I trudged on, trying to ignore the increasing pain in my feet. 'here we are.' he said proudly. We were stood in front of a modern looking house, that looked like a typical family home. However inside was different, the air was cold, freezer cold and there was no sign of a family living here. Melted candles sat around on various surfaces and the decor was all dark. 'ummm, actually I've just remembered...' I panicked before I looked into his eyes and my fear dissipated. 'sorry about the weird interior my parents are a bit odd.' he laughed. 'anyway my friends are coming later, do you want to play a game while we wait?' he asked innocently. I almost burst out laughing until I realized he was serious. 'um sure.' I agreed, as not to offend him.
He returned carrying an old, dusty black box, it had symbols carved into it's surfaces. He opened it and brought out a cardboard house. It was intricately painted with even the smallest details included. 'so what do we do?' I asked impatiently. 'write your name on a piece of paper and place it in any room in the house.' I did so and so did he. 'now close your eyes and hold my hands.' I did, he started a low murmuring and I was tempted to peek but didn't. Suddenly I felt wind rip around me pulling at my clothes and blowing my hair everywhere, I gripped his hands tighter not daring to open my eyes. Then as quickly as the wind came, it went. 'you can open your eyes' he informed me. I fearfully opened them and looked around. We weren't in his lounge anymore. 'where the hell are we?' I screamed. 'well you see, you already said it.' he smiled evilly, 'this is the cardboard house, welcome to hell.' I felt my throat constrict and I couldn't seem to breath. 'now you see, I thought a clever little girl like you would work out the clues I so generously gave you, Damien is another name given to devil and the number eighteen is made up of three sixes, which is the devils number, but you already knew that.' he sneered pacing around me. I could feel my whole body quivering with fear. 'now here are the rules of this game, I am a fair man after all. You have until evening to escape hell. Somewhere in this house is a white portal, go through that and you have earned your freedom, I can't tell you where it is, I don't know, it changes every time.' he laughed. I shivered at the thought of how many people must have stood before him, trembling as I was. 'however.' he continued, 'if I find you before evening or you fail to find your way out...you are mine to keep. Now to make this fair I will give you a ten minute head start. Starting now!' he screeched. I turned and sprinted from him gasping in lung fulls of air. I jumped down the stairs pushing doors open and frantically opening doors looking for a white light.
That's how I found myself here, in the basement, crawling through a sewer pipe. I kept crawling until I felt a wooden door in front of me. I stopped, glancing at my watch. My ten minutes were up but I still had three hours to escape. I leant against the wall, trying to quieten my breathing. I strained my ears listening for any sounds, I just started to relax when I heard something, I listened harder. It sounded like something was dragging it's way through the tunnel. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I knew it wasn't Damien as he couldn't fit through the tunnel. I calmed down thinking it was my imagination running wild when I saw a soft light turn the corner. Then a frail hand slapped down onto the floor, I heard the dragging noise. I started frantically clawing at the door, desperately trying to find the door knob. 'ssssstttttoooop.' I heard a hoarse whisper. I turned slowly and was horrified. Before me was a bone thin girl. Her dirty hair hung limply around her face, her skin a deathly pale. Her bones protruded from her skin and her eyes were sunken in her skull, her legs looked broken as she slowly dragged herself towards me. 'wait I can help you.' she echoed. 'who are you?' I asked. 'he caught me, twenty years ago .' she stammered. 'you haven't aged?' I said. 'You don't age and you cannot die.' she replied. 'I have to go, I'm running out of time' I said to the ghostly apparition. I found the handle and twisted it, light seeping into the tunnel. 'noooo.' she screamed. I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, 'I found you.'
'they're warning people to be alert, that's the fourth girl missing this month.' mum said worriedly. 'ok mum, I'll be careful, love you.' I sighed exasperatedly as I hung up. I turned and saw a handsome boy walking next to me, I blushed as he smiled at me. 'here, do you want a hand with those bags.' he said politely. 'that would be great, thank you...'
©
It Started As A Game • Opuss № I