Alea Ludo

My eyes snapped open. The upper half of my body shot up from the ground in a state of panic. I didn't know where I was or how I even got there. I frantically scanned the area and took quick mental notes of my surroundings while in the barely lit room.

Sweat poured down my face. Breathing proved difficult. I undid my tie and allowed it to hang loosely around the collar of my shirt.

Only a single source of light was in the room—a light bulb that dangled from the ceiling, illuminating a single door with the number twelve painted on it. I racked my brain trying to remember what had happened to me. The last few events that I could remember was the IRS foreclosing on our bar, Maynard telling me to give up on saving it, and then the bastard Trent injecting me with something to knock me out.

I clenched my fists at the thought of Trent. That bastard was going to pay for what he did. I felt insulted by the arrogance shown by that man. He didn't even bother to tie me down. A mistake he would soon learn to regret.

I rummaged through my pockets in search of my cell phone. Nothing. Of course, Trent took it. With no other options, I approached the door. First, I placed my ear against it. Quiet voices came from the other side. It was difficult to pinpoint what was said.

Testing my luck, I moved my hand to the doorknob then gave it a little turn. Strangely enough, it was unlocked.

I remained on my guard.

The possibility of there being a trap on the other side was quite high. But, I refused to sit back and wait for my kidnappers to return — especially when I had no idea when that would happen. I slowly pushed the door open, keeping an eye out for any tripwire or anything else out of the ordinary.

There was nothing. There were no traps rigged to the door.

I quickly rushed out of the room and tackled the first person in my line of sight. It so happened to be a teenager in an orange hoodie.

"Where's Trent?!" I shouted as I wrapped my fingers around the boy's throat. "Tell me where he is right now!"

"I can't do that while you're choking me!" The kid struggled to say with a rasped voice. He moved his hands onto my wrists and tried to remove them from his throat. "We're friendlies! We're friendlies!"

"Enough!" A firm hand grasped my shoulder from behind. I looked and found an aged man in a medical coat standing behind me with a fierce scowl as if he planned to strike me if I didn't release the kid. He pulled me off the boy and pinned me against the wall. "Someone help me restrain him!"

No one else reacted in time. I smashed my forehead against the brim of the man's nose. The moment he released me, I subdued him in a rear chokehold.

My eyes bounced around to everyone else in the room as I demanded answers, "Who the f.u.c.k are you people?! Where's Trent?!"

"Chill out, dude! We're friendlies!" The boy I strangled earlier was the first to respond.

My attention shifted to a flame that struck from a fancy lighter. A Cuban cigar eased into the fire. The owner of the cigar was a big, old man with a muscular frame and broad c.h.e.s.t. That much anyone could tell from the tank top he wore.

"Don't think we'll convince him so easily," The old man commented.

Pressed to the floor underneath his boot was a teenage girl with skin of porcelain and a punk rock appearance. She was tied up and restrained by a green, heavy overcoat. Her pink mohawk swayed violently with each movement she made. She thrashed about like a wild animal.

"Go ahead and kill the f.u.c.ker, Scraggly! Doc deserves it!" The Mohawk girl yelled.

"I'm not here to kill anyone. Except maybe that bastard, Trent. If someone doesn't tell me where he is in the next ten seconds, I'm gonna--"

"Just calm down, okay?" Another teenage girl carefully approached me with her hands up. Rainbow streaks decorated her face, and her ponytail swayed with each steady movement she made. "No one knows where Trent is. We all woke up here just like you."

I took a gander around the room. It was circular. Twelve out of the thirteen doors in the area had numbers on them.

"Where is here?" I asked. I eased up and released the Doctor from my hold. He clasped his hand over his neck and backed as far away from me as he could.

I eased up my chokehold on the kid as he removed his hands from my wrists. When I stood up and backed away from him; the kid rubbed his hand across his neck.

"Your guess is as good as ours," The Doctor responded.

"You cool now? You're not gonna try and kill us, right?" The Rainbow face girl warily asked me. Gazes of uncertainty from the others in the room focused on me. Not that I blamed them.

"What's the deal with that girl being tied up?" I asked.

"That psychopath tried to kill us when she left her room," The kid in the orange hoodie replied.

"C'mon! Lemme go! I won't do it again! Promise!" The Mohawk girl flashed a bright, innocent smile. However, something about it unnerved me. Perhaps she deserved to remain restrained.

"No one's falling for that one again." The old man said before he took a drag of his cigar.

"Come on! Come on!" My attention shifted to the only door in the room that didn't have a number on it. A dark-tanned woman in a red blouse pulled on the doorknob with all her might. "Why won't this thing open?!" The woman's hands slipped from the doorknob. She fell back into the arms of a tall, sharply dressed man in shades. He quickly helped the woman steady herself.

"Are you okay? Perhaps you should not mess with the door anymore." The man suggested.

"I think that she should continue," The Doctor interjected, "at least she's trying to get us out of here."

I approached the unmarked door and examined it.

"This our only way out?" I asked.

"That's the idea. But, the door won't open." The red blouse woman replied.

"Ummm, excuse me," A soft voice stammered from the back of the room. I looked and found the owner of the voice. It belonged to a blonde-haired woman. She kept her head down and toes pointed inward as she continued, "perhaps it needs a key?"

"The door does not have a keyhole," The shades man pointed out.

"Let's just f.u.c.k.i.n.g ram it down," I suggested. If the only way out refused to open, then I'd make it open. I stepped back and sized the door. Afterward, I proceeded to ram it shoulder first.

It didn't budge.

I rammed it again.

Same result.

"I'll help," The old man walked up to me. "Someone keep an eye on the girl back there."

"I can do that," The orange hoodie boy said.

"This might work," The Doctor nodded his head and looked to the back of the room where some of the more quieter people resided. He set his sights on an unkempt man in a cheap grey, heavily stained suit. "Hey, you! Why don't you help them ram the door?"

"Why would I wanna do that?" The man asked.

"You want to get out of here, don't you?"

"I'm sure those guys got it," The man gave the Doctor a thumbs up.

"Worthless," He snidely commented. His attention shifted to a lone woman in the farthest corner of the room. Her nose buried in a book. "What about you? You haven't spoken a word to anyone. Anything you'd like to contribute to our escape?"

The woman didn't look up from her book.

The Doctor moved on to the last person. It was a woman in a trench coat that dragged her gloved hands across the walls in the room. "Have you found anything?"

"Nothing. No secret passages or hatches. That door's the only way out." The trench woman stated.

"Then let's ram it again," I suggested. With the combined strength and effort of the old man and I, hopefully, we'd break the door down.

Meanwhile, the Rainbow face girl shouted words of "encouragement". "C'mon! C'mon! Break it down! Put your backs into it! You call yourselves men?!"

After a few unsuccessful attempts, the old man and I stopped to catch our breaths. That door was sturdy as hell. That was for sure.

"I don't see you helping," I panted and wiped the sweat off my forehead with my sleeve.

Just when the old man and I prepared to ram the door again, it suddenly swung open. A man in a black blazer and fedora entered the room with a bright smile on his face.

"Welcome players to the spectacular facility of entertainment, Serendipity! Where dreams and d.e.s.i.r.es are granted to those determined enough to fight for them!" The man politely bowed to us.

"Serendipity?" The Doctor repeated.

"Who the f.u.c.k are you?" The Mohawk girl asked.

"Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself," The man removed his fedora then politely bowed to us in a smooth motion as if practiced thousands of times before. "My name is Caius. I will be the Game Moderator. It will be my job to oversee the games, the players, and ensure that things proceed smoothly. I hope that we can all get along and have fun playing these games together."

"Uh-huh..." The Rainbow face girl, suspiciously stared the man down as he straightened his posture.

"Now then, I will explain the rules of the game in a nutshell. For the next few days, you will all be living here, playing various games for the chance to win one million dollars with your lives on the line."

"Hold on," Elena slowly raised her hand. "You're not serious about the lives on the line part, are you? We're not really putting our lives on the line here, right?"

"Now onto the next order of business." With a snap of Caius' fingers, twelve people in black suits entered the room. They stood in front of the Game Moderator. In one hand lied a small, black box. In the other, was a little red book with the word rules etched on it. On his command, the black boxes were opened, revealing high-tech bracelets with screens located in the center.

The black suits approached us then clamped the bracelets on our wrists. Immediately, the screen on my bracelet turned on. The number ten appeared on it. I glanced up and inspected the bracelets of the others.

It was the same for them.

"Hey! I'm still tied up here!" The Punk rock girl complained. One of the people in black approached and released her from her restraints. Afterward, she was given a bracelet like everyone else.

"What's with the bracelets?" The Doctor asked while inspecting the bracelet on his wrist.

"I am glad that you asked that question, Wyatt. The bracelets act as a multi-functioning tool here in Serendipity. Mainly, however, they are used to hold your gambling points—GP for short. They display the number of points you have left while participating in the games." Caius replied.

Wyatt looked at the bracelet and nodded in response, ultimately accepting the answer.

"This makes a nice fashion accessory." The Rainbow face girl inspected the bracelet on her arm, admiring it.

"So, these bracelets only tell us how many points we have? How boring." The punk rock girl voiced her complaints.

"The bracelets do a lot more than that, Melanie. Consider these bracelets and GP act as your lifeline. Should any of you run out of points, the bracelet will inject a lethal poison into your bloodstream and kill you." Caius happily announced.

The room grew deathly silent once the man mentioned the penalty. Despite the man's cheerful, unconcerned tone, no one doubted his words. I accepted them as law without hesitation. I didn't want to challenge him on his announcement.

"Lethal poison? No way man! F.u.c.k this noise! I want out of here!" The orange hoodie kid panicked again. He grabbed onto the bracelet and attempted to remove it from his wrist.

"I would not do that if I were you, Darius. If you attempt to remove or destroy the bracelet f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y, you will be disqualified and killed by lethal injection." Caius quickly warned him.

Darius cringed in fear then ceased with his attempts to remove the bracelet.

"Now that's more like it." Melanie flashed her inhumane smile again.

"Hey," The cheap suit stepped forward. "You mentioned running out of points earlier. How does that happen?"

"Each day, two players will be selected to face each other in a game. Before a game can be played, GP must be offered. At the end of the game, the winning player will be awarded points gambled away from the loser." Caius answered.

The man in shades folded his arms across his c.h.e.s.t then heaved a heavy sigh. "So, that is where the gambling part comes in. The winners will live while the losers will die."

"And since there are twelve of us, and there can only be one winner, we can expect to be here for at least twelve days." The old man added.

Wyatt looked at him then scowled. "Twelve days? I cannot stay here for that long! Can we not play all the games today?!" He looked at Caius with pleading eyes.

However, the Game Moderator remained unfazed. No. That wasn't right. The man was fazed. But, not in the way Wyatt expected. Caius flashed an inhuman smile of his own that rivaled the creepiness of Melanie's. Goosebumps covered my entire body at the sight of it.

"Not possible, Wyatt. Only one game a day. Those are the rules." Caius stated.

Wyatt's heart must have sunk once he heard those words. He slumped over then clutched his head, letting out a disgruntled noise.

Twelve days.

We would be playing games for twelve days. I didn't mind staying there for that long since my time limit was two weeks. But still, twelve days was cutting it close.

"And to correct what Nicholas had mentioned earlier, it is possible for the losers of the games to survive,"

"Really? How is that possible?" The trench coat woman asked.

"As I said before, to play a game, GP must be offered. I did not say it had to be all of it. The players have free reign to choose how many points they wish to gamble."

"So, if we just gamble one point and lose, we'll be fine?" The green hoodie kid asked.

"That is correct, Darius." Caius gave the kid a thumbs up.

Hope had been offered to us — the players. If we only offered up one point each day, no one would be in danger of dying. Simple.

"If the goal is to take points away from the other players, then the one with the most points at the end is the winner, right? They get the million dollars?" Melanie inquired.

"Correct, Melanie."

"What about second place?" I asked. "Does second place get a consolation prize?"

"Are you asking if other places get any money? If so, then yes. It is possible for everyone here to survive and leave with large sums of money." Caius nodded his head.

"Holy shit! Seriously?!" Darius exclaimed.

"The purpose of the points is to rank the players. First place will receive one million dollars, second place, nine-hundred thousand dollars, third place, eight-hundred thousand dollars, and so forth."

"So, to get more money, we need more points. Sounds easy enough to me." The cheap suit man said.

"Since we all have the same amount of points right now. How much money do we all start with?" The woman in the red blouse asked.

"Absolutely nothing, Henrika. You are all tied for first place. Until there is a definite leader between you all, no money will distribute among you." Caius shook his head.

"Um, excuse me?" Elena nervously raised her hand above her head to gain Caius' attention. "So hypothetically speaking…if we all earn more points and we're satisfied with the amount that we have, can we leave with the money that we earned?"

"Yes. But, you can only do that after a game has finished. Once that happens, we have a vote the following day to see how many players wish to continue or leave."

Elena's face brightened up.

Wyatt heaved a sigh of relief before he said, "Oh, thank god. So, it is possible for us to leave this place as early as tomorrow then?"

"That is correct. However, that is only the case if all players wish to leave. If all but one player wishes to continue playing, then everyone will still have to remain here." Caius informed everyone, once again mercilessly crushing any form of hope that we had of escape.

"What? That's not fair! Whatever happened to majority rules? Don't we live in a freaking democracy?" Darius exclaimed.

The game moderator turned his head then smiled again. "Oh, we live in a democracy, but as of now, I am the one in charge of it since I am the game moderator."

"No need to panic. We all have to vote to leave for tomorrow." Iris assured everyone.

"You make it sound so easy, Iris. Do you believe that it will be that easy to leave this place?" Caius' happy and cheerful tone suddenly went dark and menacing. "Have you ever heard that money is the root of all evil?"

"He is right. It is possible that greed will get the best of some of us. Some of us may want to test our luck and continue playing to win even more money," said Nicholas.

"Another important rule to keep in mind, when the games are in motion, all players must be in attendance to witness the game. If a single player is missing, then that missing player will be disqualified and killed by lethal injection." Caius added.

"What is it with you and these insane rules?!" Darius exclaimed.

"Punctuality is very serious, Darius."

"I know I don't wanna die for being late." The cheap suit said.

"It is a simple enough rule to follow," Wyatt claimed.

"More like it's a means to keep us all in line," I said.

"Call it whatever you like, Ambrose." Caius turned his back to the group. The people in black suits stepped aside, clearing a path for us. "Now then, follow me. I will give you all the grand tour of Serendipity before the games begin."

Caius left the room.

"We can do this, right? We have to play for one day, and then we can all leave with our lives intact and one million dollars." Darius nervously said as he looked to everyone for confirmation.

"I'd very much like that." Elena nodded.

"Same here." Iris agreed to the plan.

"Don't get your hopes up." The old man warned. He dropped his cigar on the ground then crushed it under his foot. "Things won't go so smoothly."

"I don't have any plans on dying for today or anytime soon," Henrika spoke with much conviction.

"Sure, it's easy to say that you're not gonna die. But when it finally comes down to it, you have no control over your life." Melanie stated with a deadpan expression.

"Let us all work together to make sure that we will survive this game," Nicholas suggested.

"I am with you." Wyatt nodded his head in agreement with the suggestion.

"Understood. We shall leave this place tomorrow after the vote." Leona said.

Everyone formed a single file line then followed Caius through the thirteenth door. We wandered down a long corridor, eventually reaching the end where a lone elevator awaited us. One by one we entered. Surprisingly, there was enough space for all of us.

Caius hit the button on the elevator, and we ascended.

"What's with the elevator, Caius? Did you have us cooped up in a bas.e.m.e.nt the entire time?" The woman in the red blouse complained.

"Please forgive me for my lack of hospitality, Henrika. Rest assured that you all will be accommodated for your troubles." Caius mentioned.

"Accommodated with what? Women? Booze?" The cheap suit leaned forward, the wretched, familiar stench of alcohol filled the elevator. Most of the players pinched their noses closed and wafted the smell away from them.

"You've had enough booze, Stains! Your breath smells rank!" Melanie complained.

The cheap suit moved his hand in front of his face and breathed on it. Then, he smelled his hand and shrugged his shoulders.

The elevator soon stopped, and the doors opened. We stepped out and marveled at how elegant and lavish the room looked. The environment was colorful and unique compared to the bas.e.m.e.nt we were held in. It had the essential commodities. A large screen television resided in one corner of the room with a large sofa in front of it. Bookcases rested against the wall to the far left. Surround sound speakers and plants were set here and there. And a large glass window at the farthest wall of the room. Beyond the window was a large room.

The most predominant feature about it was that it looked like a giant grid. The floor, walls, and ceiling were separated in square panels.

"Holy shit! This place is amazing! Look, look, there's a huge television!" Darius raced across the room and stopped in front of the television. "I bet I can watch like twenty different channels on this thing at once!"

"Oh yeah, way better than that stuffy apartment!" Melanie made herself comfortable on the sofa, lying across it with her feet kicked up.

Iris approached the sofa with Elena tagging close behind.

"Hey, make some room for us!" Iris demanded.

"F.u.c.k off!" Melanie flicked them off, showing no intention of moving.

The old man walked over to the bookcases then read the books along with the girl in glasses. While they seemed to immerse themselves in the luxuries of the room, the others and I remained cautious. Keeping us in a dusty old bas.e.m.e.nt and then moving us to a luxurious place to relax seemed too suspicious.

"Do not get too comfortable here. This is how they are planning to keep us here even longer." Wyatt warned the others.

"Stay with me, everyone. We have to get the tour out of the way." Caius called. Everyone reluctantly followed the man around Serendipity. He led us through one of the hallways, stopping alongside one of the six doors that lined the wall. "On this side of the facility, half of you will stay here. As you can see by the plaques near the doors, these rooms belong to players one through six."

Wyatt approached the door then grabbed the doorknob. He gave it a few turns. The door didn't budge.

"It is locked." He stated as he removed his hand from the doorknob.

"If you had waited, Wyatt, you would learn that you cannot open that door through ordinary means," Caius informed.

"What do you mean?"

Caius pointed to a machine that resided on the door underneath the plaque. "Hold the screen of your bracelet over the scanner."

Wyatt followed the instructions and held his bracelet over the scanner. A holographic light emitted from the scanner and washed over the bracelet. Once it disappeared, the screen on the scanner turned from red to green. Wyatt turned the doorknob again and smiled once the door opened.

Everyone stepped inside and inspected the room. Surprisingly, it was just as fancy as the lobby. It was more like we were trapped in a five-star hotel than a facility.

"Incredible." Darius gushed.

Melanie pushed past everyone and jumped onto the king-sized bed. "F.u.c.k.i.n.g sweet! I've always wanted a bed like this!"

"Get off my bed!" Wyatt demanded. "This is not your room!"

"F.u.c.k off, Doc! Lemme have my fun!"

"All rooms are exactly like this one. You all will be provided with a large bed, television, phone, shower, and dry cleaning." Caius announced.

"Wait a minute! Did you say phone?" Darius got in Caius' face. "Does that mean we can contact people from the outside?! Like friends? Family?"

"No, no," Caius stepped away from Darius to get some space. "Listed above the phone are the numbers you can call in the facility. Mainly you can call other players, the security team, or me if you wish to go over the rules."

"Oh…" Darius hung his head and stepped away.

"Now, let us continue with the tour," Caius ordered. Everyone left the room. The Game Moderator led us to the next room. "This is the Lounge."

The cheap suit walked over to the bar area located in the corner of the room. He walked around the bar counter and admired the elegant bottles of alcohol on the shelves. He crossed his arms and smiled.

"Jackpot, baby. Wouldn't mind spending a few days to finish all this off." He removed a few bottles from the shelves and placed them on the counter.

"Any Bourbon or Scotch?" Salomon approached the counter.

"How about Jack Daniels?" I approached the counter as well. All three of us poured ourselves our drinks. In one go, we downed said drinks. The soothing taste of Jack Daniels eased some of my anxiety. If there were alcohol, perhaps my stay in Serendipity wouldn't be so bad.

"Try not to make yourselves too comfortable. We still have a tour to complete." Caius motioned for us to move on.

Frederick shrugged his shoulders then picked up a bottle of Gin, taking it along with him while Salomon and I left our drinks on the counter.

"You really gonna take that with you, Stains?" Melanie asked.

"What? He didn't say that it was against the rules." Frederick said before he took a swig of the Gin.

Caius led everyone further down the hallway, bringing us into a mess hall. Twelve large rows of connecting tables lined either side of the room.

"Here is the Dining Hall," Caius announced. "Through the door on the far other side of the room is the kitchen."

"Will we have Chefs cook meals for us?" Henrika asked.

"Chefs will be provided." Caius nodded.

Iris stepped forward, letting out a scoff. "What do we need Chefs for? I'll cook for us."

"Rainbows is gonna cook for us? Yeah, no. Probably want a real Chef making my food." Melanie shot down the suggestion immediately. No one else in the group seemed too eager to accept the girl's proposal either.

"Do you have any culinary skills, Iris?" asked Elena.

"You bet!" Iris confidently nodded her head. Her eyes beamed with certainty as she continued, "I've ranked top three in all my culinary classes! Let me in that kitchen, and I'll whip up something delicious!"

"That will have to wait for another time, Iris. Moving on." Caius led everyone out of the room. The Game Moderator took us down another hallway, pointing out the rooms as we passed them by. "On this side of the facility is the Art room, Infirmary, and Women's restroom."

"What about the men's restroom?" Darius asked.

"Why're you asking? You'll be using the women's restroom like the rest of the girls." Melanie berated.

Darius turned sharply to face the punk rock girl. "I'm a man, damn it!"

Melanie stopped and looked Darius up and down. From her snarky expression, she didn't seem impressed. "Really? From I've seen so far, you need to grow a pair. You've been bitching and m.o.a.ning the whole time we've been here."

"Excuse me for being scared, alright? We're trapped here for God knows how long!"

"And that's an excuse for being a bitch? No other man here spazzed out like you did." Melanie tilted her head back and smirked. "You really proved your manliness when you got tackled earlier. Screamed like a bitch, cowering, covering your face. Must've been embarrassing."

Darius' face turned red from embarrassment. "That wasn't my fault! I was taken by surprise!" He suddenly pointed at me. "This psychopath attacked me for no reason! Anyone would lose to him since he resorts to cheap shots and sneak attacks to win his fights!"

"Cheap shots? Sneak attacks? The f.u.c.k are you talking about?" I asked.

That son of a bitch had no idea what he was doing. I had to use cheap shots and sneak attacks to win my fights?

Far from it.

If I wanted to fight someone, I'd make it clear one way or the other.

"What? You don't remember?" Darius got in my face. "You burst outta your room and tackled me without warning! Then, you strangled me!"

"Get out of my face," I demanded.

"What? Couldn't wait for me to get back on my feet? You had to try and take me out while I was down?"

"Last warning."

"Was I that much of a threat to you? Honestly, you're the one that looked like the bit—"

I saw nothing but red.

For a moment, I lost control of my senses. When I snapped out of it, Darius was on the floor, covering his face. My fist throbbed, and blood stained it. His pained, muffled screams reached my ears. But, I didn't care. I lowered my fist and wiped his blood on my pants.

"Told you."

"Oh my god!" Elena hid behind Iris.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Iris exclaimed.

"Yeah! That's what I like to see! Finish him!" Melanie cheered.

"That's enough!" Henrika stood in front of me, glaring at me with eyes of contempt. Eyes like those did not affect me.

"He started it," I said.

"I don't care who started it! I'm ending it!" She put her foot down.

A common phrase. One frequently used by my mother. I looked away from Henrika and set my sights on Darius. The kid was helped to his feet by Wyatt and Nicholas. Blood dripped from his nose. It didn't seem broken.

"Well, that did not last long. How disappointing." Caius said.

"What are you talking about?" Nicholas asked.

"One of the rules is that physical violence is prohibited outside of the game room. Anyone caught physically harming someone will be punished. And the punishment for violating that rule, or any rule for that matter, is death." Caius callously revealed. Although there wasn't a hint of joy in his voice, his eyes told a different story. The man reached into his pocket then pulled out a tablet. He turned it on and showed us the screen. Pictures of the others and me were displayed. "With just a push of a button, I can activate your bracelets, and have you killed."

"W-Wait a second! I didn't know about the rule!" I said.

"Do it! Push the button! Kill him!" Melanie cheered.

"Hold on! Don't you think this is a little much?" Iris stepped forward. "Yeah, things got a little heated. But, it was only a punch."

"I agree. While I do not condone the act of violence, I do not think it is fair to kill someone for breaking a rule they did not know existed." Wyatt had come to my defense as well.

"Rules are meant to be followed for a reason. Why do any of you think the no physical violence rule was created?" Caius inquired.

"To prevent a bloodbath, right?" Leona deduced.

"Right on the money." Caius nodded his head in confirmation. "Sure, this time it was a punch. But, who is to say that it will not escalate next time? We must nip the problem in the bud."

"And that bud turns out to be him." Salomon looked at me.

"You can't be serious," I said.

"I am very serious, Ambrose." Caius hovered his finger over my picture. My heart rate increased ten-fold. It was coming—my death. Because of my anger issues, I was going to die before I even had a chance to save the bar.

"I didn't know about the f.u.c.k.i.n.g rule! Cut me some slack!" I desperately pleaded. Once again, I was forced to show weakness. No matter where I was or who I was with, I'd never been the one in control. That's just how it worked in my life.

"Cut you some slack? After what you did to poor Darius? What kind of Game Moderator would I be if I allowed such a heinous act to go unpunished?"

I looked back and forth between Caius and Darius. Caius seemed all too eager to push my button and have me killed on the spot. Darius, on the other hand, remained silent and looked away from me.

"I'll take whatever punishment you want. As long as it doesn't involve me dying." I negotiated.

My words brought a sly smirk onto the Game Moderator's face. "Tell you what, Ambrose. I may consider sparing your life if you beg me."

I tensed up.

"Beg?" I asked.

"Yes. Beg for your life. It is important to you, is it not? Prove it to me and everyone here."

Those were my options: beg or death. I didn't want to do either of those things.

"Don't do it! C'mon! Take your punishment like a man!" Melanie demanded.

"It's a simple choice," Frederick added before he took a swig of his Gin.

"Come on! Hurry up and do it! Pride isn't worth your life!" Iris said.

"Just get it over with," Wyatt ordered.

"Well, Ambrose? What is it going to be?" Caius asked.

I gritted my teeth, knowing precisely what I had to do. The bar took priority over everything else—even my pride. I dropped down on all fours and lowered my head to Caius.

"Please, don't kill me. I'll follow the rules." I begged.

"Oh, shit! He did it!" Melanie exclaimed.

"There! He did it! Let him live as you promised!" Elena pleaded.

"I do not recall promising to let him live," Caius said. I quickly stood up and glared at the bastard. If he truly intended to kill me no matter what, then the most I could do was try and take him down with me. Like hell, I'd go down without a fight.

"What?!" I shouted.

"I said that I might spare his life." Caius reminded.

"This isn't fair!" Henrika complained.

"Life isn't fair! C'mon! Kill him!" Melanie demanded.

"Settle down everyone. It was just a joke." Caius put away the tablet. At that moment, all my anxiety washed away. All the weight on my shoulders was lifted. The threat of death disappeared. But, only for that moment. "After seeing how far Ambrose was willing to throw away to live, I have decided not to kill him."

Melanie smacked her lips and crossed his arms. "Damn it. Oh well, at least I got the chance to see a grown a.s.s man get down on all fours again, begging like a bitch."

Oh, how I wanted to strike that bitch. Throughout my entire ordeal, she had done nothing but try and incite my death. If we were going to stay in the same facility, I foresaw nothing but trouble ahead. That girl was going to be a problem.

"Let this incident be a warning to all of you. Serendipity has state of the art security systems. Every room minus the bathrooms have cameras. So, next time someone breaks a rule, punishment will be administered." Caius warned. Afterward, he continued with the tour as if nothing happened. Soon enough, the tour ended when he brought us all back to the Lobby. "And that makes the end of our tour! I hope you all enjoy your stay here!"

"So, what happens next?" Wyatt inquired.

"We begin with a game, of course. I will randomly select two players from my tablet. Whoever is selected will be the first participants in the games." Caius pulled out his tablet then pressed a button. He turned the screen towards us and showed the selection process. The pictures of the players rapidly appeared on the screen, eventually stopping on Klara and Frederick. "Congratulations! The first game will be played by Klara McClain and Frederick Lukas!"

"Well, shit." Frederick finished off the rest of his Gin. "So, just gamble one point, and we'll be fine, right? No problem." The man tossed his bottle over his shoulder. It flew across the room then shattered against the wall.

"Hey! Watch it! That nearly hit me!" Darius complained.

Frederick ignored Darius then approached Klara. He extended his arm out for a handshake. "What do you say? Wanna have fun playing this game, honey?"

Klara didn't respond. She kept her attention on the book in her hands. Frederick smacked his lips then retracted his hand.

"Now that the players have been selected, the game wheel shall determine the first game," Caius pressed another button on his tablet. He turned and showed the monitor to everyone. A colorful wheel with several ill.u.s.trations spun rapidly, eventually coming to a stop at a panel with depictions of stick figures traversing through a gameboard.

"What kind of game is that?" Frederick asked.

"The name of the game is Ludo!" Caius happily announced.

"Never heard of it," I said.

"All shall be explained in due time. For now, Frederick, Klara, please follow me," Caius instructed. The two players followed after him, leaving everyone else to stand around in silence, dreadfully anticipating the first game of the night.