Page 14 of Hell of a Thing

“It’s time for some entertainment.” A jovial voice I instantly hated came through an intercom system I couldn’t see. Jaunty carnival music accompanied it. Something about the cheerful contradiction to our life-threatening surroundings made this all that much worse. All I could imagine was a blood-covered clown with a stitched up face resembling the one who’d taken my camera laughing as he watched us.

The sweater I clung to trembled.

“We’re gonna make it through this,” I whispered to them. “We’ll just do what he says. We have to be almost through. I just know it. We’ll be at the end of it soon.” I was rambling and talking to no one specifically, but I tried to take comfort in my own words.

I could only rely on the shuffling sounds of feet to let me know there were a few of us left. A fact proven when bright lights flicked on without warning. Comfort came in knowing there were others. Even if I couldn’t trust them with my life, at least we didn’t have to die alone. Spots filled my vision, and when I could see, I realized just how thinned out our group had become. Pausing, I listened for any sound of life from behind us. Surely they weren’t all dead? But they were, and I didn’t dare look back to see the white hallway stained red with blood and gore. We’d reached the end of the corridor and faced an open door. There was only one way to go, and it was forward.

“Hey, can you let go of me now?” Honey-brown eyes filled with annoyance met mine. I unclenched the fisted fabric and let the girl I held take a step forward. I had no idea what her costume was, but her long blonde hair was tied up in pigtails and the pink fuzzy sweater she wore was at odds with the thick dark eyeliner circlingher hazel eyes.

Funny how I still noticed these things when everything around me felt unreal. I’d just survived a fucking cull, but this woman’s bad makeup stood out. Probably smeared from crying like the rest of us.

We moved closer together, huddling in a tight group as we looked around the new room, though I tried to avoid bumping into the fuzzy pink sweater. At best, she’d be pissed. At worst, we might have a genuine conversation, and after Mallory’s death, I was done getting to know these people.

Not when any of us could be next.

The new room was dim, with white walls just like all the ones we’d passed through. Dirt, grime, blood and gore splash in contrast to the stark white. Metal hooks piercing legs and arms dangled from the ceiling, looking like baited fishing lines for an enormous fish. They didn’t look cleanly cut, like the ones from the last room with limbs. Jagged uneven flesh protruded from the ends, as though they’d been torn off the body. These didn’t look as new, either. The entire room stunk of decay and sweat. Worse than anything I’d smelled previously. At least outside, with the putrid bacon, I could move away. This was enough to make my head spin.

My stomach churned, both at the assault on my senses, and the thought of the pain these unfortunate bastards suffered.

“There are two doors in front of you,” chirped the familiar voice from an unseen speaker.

Damn, I hated that endlessly cheerful tone. Wanted to find the owner of that voice and pummel them into dust. On cue, some hooked parts swished noisily to the side, revealing the doors they’d mentioned. In bloody scribbles, the door on the left readYoursand the one on the right readMine.A shiver ran through me as I noticed the care they took to apply extra blood and really emphasize the wordmine.

“One leads out. The other leads to me. In order for the exit to unlock, I need a sacrifice. One of you must come to me while the rest are free to go. You have ten minutes to decide.”

How could such an invitation sound convivial and foreboding at the same time?

“You can’t ask us to do that!” I shouted, my voice carrying over the panicked murmurs that began.

Tinny laughter filled the room, hurting my ears.

“You signed the contract.”

“What if we refuse?” I called out, clenching my fists. We’d been playing their sick game. Going from room-to-room. Encountering one trauma after the other. Regret wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how badly I wanted to take back my choice to come tonight. Part of me, though, felt grateful I didn’t convince any friends to come with me. I couldn’t fathom the guilt of putting Tom through this all because I thought I loved horror and monsters.

“If you refuse, the door will not open. Another group will come soon, and I’m certain they would be more than happy to pick one of you to be my plaything.” Another maniacal laugh followed.

Members of the group looked at me, their faces twisted with uncertainty. The young man with a mop of brown hair who’d looked excited when the room lit up now appeared appalled. Next to him, a woman with jet black hair and mascara running down her cheeks shook her head. “I don’t want to die in here like the others.” There were unspoken words in the girl’s statement, and I felt a chill run up my spine. Like she’d do anything to make sureshedidn’t die here. I surveyed the room, hoping to see the same shock I felt at such a horrifying idea, but I didn’t find it. Instead, a sea of grim agreement met my gaze.

Shit.

“Don’t you people understand what this place is?”And what was this place?I wracked my mind. The demons, the torture, the cruelty of it. All the pieces fit. “We’re in Hell, and they want us to lose every last bit of our souls. That’s what this is. We can’t let them. We can’t make a sacrifice. This is wrong. We have to work together. Fight them somehow.”

A tall man with arms as round as my head lurched forward and grabbed my forearm in a painful grip. “You want to talk so much? You go in!”

“No!” I shouted, digging my heels in as his iron grip tightened on my arm, and he began dragging me to the door. To my horror, nobody moved to stophim. The girl in the pink fuzzy sweater cast her eyes down and chewed her nails, but did nothing more. Instead, she took a half step towards the exit door.

In a panic, I kicked and screamed, begging for anyone to intervene.

My fellow humans.

A higher power.

Anyone and anything to save me from theMinedoor where that cheerful, deadly voice waited. As I passed, I tried to catch people’s eyes, to implore them to stop the madness, but only found desolate expressions or heads lowered entirely.

They didn’t care if a sacrifice was made.

So long as it wasn’t them.

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