The Monolith: Chapter Four

The world swirled, danced. Darkness turned to figures and those figures turned into light. They hovered around him, watching like gods who loved their creation. They laughed and the sound reminded him of pureness and innocence. There among the grass he saw his mother.

Steve had almost drowned but everyone worked together to get everyone into the new room above them. They had all scrambled into the room from the flooded room as it rose, pushing them up. They had noticed one man missing, Jack

George dove in. The three Kats watched at the edge of the hole, waiting, wanting, and hoping.

"Where's Jack?" Mendy asked. It was Katrina, she was paler and skinnier than the other two, who replied, "Somewhere in the water."

Mendy didn't know what to do, she felt a bond, a lifeline for Jack, and like the others before, he could be dead. There was something about him that she trusted but she moved on, accepting his death. This is a game and people are going to die she thought to herself and walked away. She began to examine the room.

The water broke as George lifted Jack among the three Kats and they pulled him up. George began CPR.

Mendy stared at three girls who were now crying. She wondered why she felt stronger than them, braver and why death didn't grab her. "One Wish."

Jack had awoken with water in his lungs and death at his teeth. He returned along with his memory.

"If you want to get to the next room I think you should all lie down," Mendy said slowly bringing herself to the floor.

There were long blades much like the blades on a hacksaw but thinner. They pulled out of the wall through the slits between the second and third large granite bricks. They stood waiting, buzzing four feet off the ground and they twitched like bees about to attack.

They sprung into motion and slid across the room fast enough to shave a hair off one of the Kats. It was Katie, the one with longer hair and olive skin.

"Stay down," Marina yelled. Another blade two feet in the air had slid past with the speed of a well crafted trap.

"Now up," Marina said.

"What?" someone asked confused. They stared at the blade that laid below the last bricks only a couple of centimeters off the floor.

Jack was still reliving his newly remembered memories but pushed them back to the monolith in his mind, to concentrate on the new room of death.

The blade slid across the floor and they tried to jump. Only a couple had cleared; the others had fallen on the ground. The blades were only high enough to knock them off their feet. Many laughed, embarrassed by their own fear.

Mendy lied back down and Jack had seen her. The next set of blades were already out, two feet high springy as the locks, pins and springs bounced with potential energy.

"Down!" Jack said holding Marina's hand as they lied on the floor.

"Shit!" Mendy said as she noticed all three blades sticking out ready to cut everyone into pieces.

"Water," George whispered to Jack. George had pulled him close to the center of the room. The hole of water was the only solace, unless they could jump all three blades. Jack held Marina's hand and brought her to the pool. The blades sprung to life and the splash of those three had created had the others running and sliding.

Mendy slid in first, followed by other feet and bodies. Lastly a pair of legs severed above the knee followed by a torso cut below the nipples. The Kats screamed causing everyone to flinch as their ears were filled with pain. Jade was dead.

The water had turned red and everyone stayed, waiting for it to be over. Even when it was, they stayed floating due to the fear that giggled in their stomach.

A door had slid opened and Paul was the first out and towards the door. "We can't stay here, who knows what will kill us in the water if we don't move to the next room," George had said.

They pulled themselves out of the water. Marina stared into Jack's eyes. She was scared and surviving had increased her level of emotion to the point that she believed that Jack was her soul mate. She thought she loved him and it looked like he may love her back. Jack was just being brave and saw that look that she gave him. He questioned himself, should I tell her?

They moved, wet and scared. Steve had peed himself in the water but it was unnoticeable along with other secrets.

***

“Jade, the Olympian. She is personally one of my favorites,” the announcer said with a grin that could swallow a city.

“Jade, tell us. Are you scared?”

“Scared? Let me tell you a secret. I’m frightened, I’m nervous and . . . “ Jade was quickly pulled out of the camera by two men dressed in darkness itself.

“She’s excited folks. She’s ready for anything,” the announcer had said trying to cover up the noise in the background.

“ . . . wrong with you? We’ll just kill you now . . .  replace you . . .  what you really want?”

She replied but her answer was lost in static but the camera got her face in the background, it was a whispered “One Wish.”