As I woke up, I found myself lying on cold hard concrete. I got up and checked my surroundings, but it was dim, I can''t see much in this state. I walked around and searched for the wall and perhaps the switch, but when I got to the walls I noticed something very disturbing. The walls were made of metal, cold solid metal.


    Why would the walls be made of metals? Where the hell am I? Why can''t I think of anything that happened before I was sleeping here? Suddenly something in front of me lit up a bluish light, two bracelets of some sort was cuffed on both my wrist. "What the hell are these?" I shouted, as I waited to hear my own echo.


    What have I gotten myself into? This doesn''t seem like a normal downtown place, not like cities would have places like these. Suddenly, I hear someone call out, "Hello? Is there anybody here?"


    Iresponded, "Yeah, over here! Can you call out again? I''ll follow your voice!" I followed the direction of the voice and saw a moving shadow, it should be her, the one who''s been calling out. "Hey! Can you see me? I''m wearing a pair of glowing bracelets! Call if you hear me!"


    "Yeah, I see you! I''ll hurry over!" I heard her voice and then footsteps nearing. I walked towards the sound and finally saw the person calling out. She was young, should be my age. Brunette and lets her hair fall over her shoulders, but her attire... it was something else.


    "Hey, where the heck are we?" The girl asked. "Idunno, I just woke up myself."


    "Do you think there''s more people like us in here?"


    I didn''t answer, but I''mvery certain there are more of us trapped in this place.


    Suddenly, the lights all flickered on, it revealed how high the ceiling is and illuminated the entire room. A door was on the opposite side of us, but there were nothing else inside the room except us. We nodded and made our way to the door and walked out, only to find a corridor that splits at the end.


    "Uh, which way should we go from here?" I asked, still not sure where are we.


    "I-I think we should head right. You know,right is alwaysright huh?" She joked, but even I could tell that she was trying to mask her anxiety


    We went right and saw a door at the end. "You think anyone''s beyond these doors?" She asked. I shrugged my shoulders and pushedopened the door. There we saw many people talking and arguing, but then they all turned towards us.


    "Are you guys the last?" A big guy beside the door asked. "Are there anyone else in that room?


    "I don''t think so. Where are we?" I asked, looking at the people around me.


    "That''s what we like to know. When I woke up, the room was dark, so I went to the only place that had lightand somehowended up in this hall," a girl wearing spectacles said.


    "Hall?" I looked around, only to agree with her. This place seems like a place for holding people, but right now only a handful of people are here.


    "Twenty-six, twenty-seven......" A guy was counting something.


    "Hey, what''re you counting?" I walked over and asked.


    "Thirty!" He shouted as he pointed at me. "There''s thirty of us in here, but why?"


    "Well then, why don''t I answer it for you?" A voice rang throughout the speakers.


    "Who the hell are you? And what the hell did you cuff on me huh?" A punk looking guy shouted.


    Yeah, it didn''t occur to me but all of us are wearing these things.


    "Nownow, calm down. No need to waste your energy getting riled up. I''ll lethertake over from here."


    As soon as he said that, a woman in business wear came from the door at the very end of the hall. "My greetings to all of you inmates. I am the head judge of this very prison. I will now begin explaining your situation."


    "Wait just a fucking minute! What didyamean prison!?" A buff guy asked. "Why the fucking hell are we in prison!?"


    Prison? This place is a frigging prison? I looked around, it seems everyone was shaken up after what she just said.


    "I''d assume you know full well of whatand whyyou are in this prison. After all, you all are heinous criminals thatshouldbespeciallyhandled," the woman calmly explained. "Normally, criminals such as you all should be given the death penalty but due to some......interference from another party, we have decided all of you should be sentenced to life imprisonment in this place," she continued on.


    "Also,mind thatall since all of you are underage, there may be a chance for you to be let off early, under one special condition."


    "So let me cutstraight to the point, this place is some sort of juvie for underage criminals?" A composed person spoke from the crowd.


    "Yes, all of you are certifiedcriminals, handled by the special investigation unit."


    "Well then, I think you have made a mistake. I have not done any deed worth being illegal or harmful to another, therefore I ask that you let me out of here right this instant."


    "Don''t play me for a fool, your crime was a worthwhile mentioning in the news. The adolescent whom killed over5000 people under his company by planting explosives at the very base of each corporate building."


    "What!? I would never do such a foolish act. My company has one of the highest securities in the world! They-"


    "Of course, TheStenvilecorporate has the most up-to-date security rivalling the government security. But alas, it would do nothing if the inside job was well done. Wouldn''t you agree, son ofMyodeinStenvile,CastianStenvile?"


    "What the- I would never do such a thing! And my company-"


    "Is history, my dear."


    The woman interrupted his sentence and threw a newspaper on the floor.The guy closest to her went and read the headlines.


    "H-headline: The heir of the corporate bared hissinisterfangs...." He said and passed the newspaper toCastian. He read the headlines and all thecolouron his face was instantly flushed.


    "N-no way.... It''s gotto bea lie... I-it has to be... My company its-its gone? A-a-and I did it?" His words are shaky, it seems like what the woman just said, were proven true on thenewspaper.


    "Well then, shall I resume?" The woman calmly said that sentence, like the fact the death of 5000 was nothing.


    "Then why the fuck am I here? I don''t even remember doing anything wrong!" A guy said as he walked over to her.


    "Hah, don''t remember? Or are you just denying the deed you done?" The woman smirked.


    "Uh, I don''t even remember what happened a few days ago. When I woke up, I was here," a girl wearing a hoodie said.


    "Hmm? You don''tremem- Oh! They did say they were going to wipe your memories! So that''s why," she said as seems as she just remembered.


    "Don''t fucking mess with us! I''ll kill you!!!" A guy shouted, then rushed ather.Shejust stood there almost like she was anticipating this would happen. Just before he reached the woman, the floor beneath him opened and he fell into it.


    "Waaaaaaaaaaarrgh!!!" We heard him scream and followed by a soft thud sound.


    "Oh my," I heard someone said. Then the woman spoke up, "I hope this acts as a warning. You got lucky this time.Next time you plan on laying a hand on me or the others, at least prepare to see some death."


    "Now back to what I was saying originally, you will be allowed free if you complete a certain condition."


    "Whatwouldthat certain condition be, might I ask?" A guy asked.


    "So glad you asked. The condition to allow you to befree will beto kill each other."


    "K-kill each other!?" I shouted."Don''t be crazy! Like hell anyone would do such a thing!"


    "you don''t have a choice. If you don''t startpreparingfor thekill, you yourself may as well be killed instead," the woman said it so calmly, like our lives are nothing.


    "If I''m killing someone, it''ll be you!!!" A voice shouted and he jumped out of the trapdoor. After he got his footing, he began to charge straight at the woman.


    "Huh, you really don''t learn, do you?" She sighed. "Very well, let him be the example of what will happen to you if you go against us!" With that said, she snapped her fingers.


    What happened next was right out of a nightmare. Bullets started hailing at the guy as he ran. The bullets were all fired from up above the hall, but it was to dark to see who or what was firing at him. He ran as dodged as many as he could but by the time he reached the woman, he was full of lead and was soakedwithhis ownblood.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Eh? E-eh?" He said weakly, he said it like he didn''trealisehe''s almostdead. Withholes in his body and his organs and muscles torn on the inside, it was a miracle he''s still alive right now.


    He slowly looked at his body and it finally occurred: he justrealisedwhat happened to him. He coughed up blood and struggled to no avail, he mustered the last of his strengthand crawled to her feet, blood splattering everywhere as he trieshard to move. Every motion sends a surge of pain and agony to his entire body. He managed to reach her and he said thosevery words,"Hargh, you b-bitch...... I''ll h-haunt you.... as a......ghost......"


    As he said his final words, he fell down and laid there unmoving, his blood flowing out of his countless wounds.Injust afewseconds, theguywhorushed atthewomanisnow alifelesscorpse, it happened so fast it took a while for me to comprehend it, even longer to accept it.


    "Aaaaarrrrgghhhhhhhhhhh!!!"The scream broke thesilence.I heard people screaming.I heard someone fell down behind me, but I just couldn''t do anything.I wanted to scream too, but the shock kept meparalyzed.I can''t move my body, Ican''tcontrol it, I was petrified.What just happened?


    Someone was just killed in front of my very eyes, and it all happened in an instant...Am I dreaming? I must still be dreaming right?


    "He really was stubborn, after I went and let him off with a warning he still came and defied me. Oh well, now you all knows what will happen if you defy us right? If you don''t start killing each other, we will start killing one of you every two weeks just to keep the spiceup."Noone said a word. Everyone just stayed still there, in shock and dazed no one could do anything now.


    "Y-you k-k-k-k-killed him... You seriously k-k-killed him..." I heard a girl muttered. We don''t know how to react, we couldn''t do anything to stop him, nor could we do anything to save him.


    "Alright, today''s assembly is now considered finished. You are all dismissed, you now gowhereveryou please, just keep in mind that some places are off limits, for now."


    We all just left the hall asfast as we could,the fear ofwho knows who will be dying nextwasinstilled deeplyinto us.Wedidn''t care, we just rushed towards the exit as fast as our legs allowed us to.


    Justas we reached the door, the woman over at the opposite door shouted," Ohyes before I forget, check your right cuff. It has a button to show you the map of the entire area showing where everyone''s exact locations of where each and everyone of you are. Also, headstraight to your rooms first, there''s a guidebook about the rules in this prison, I advice you to read it first before you go planning something."


    "Now then, tata," she said that as she disappeared, but no one was paying any attention to her.


    Weall checked our right cuff and touched the button. A hologram popped up and it showed a whole map of the place we were in, with everyone''s name listed on the right and lines pointing to the place they are at, right now all the lines are joined at the assembly hall showing that everyone was here, allexceptthe one name crossed out: DylanStanfrey. Guess this was the guy who was killed earlier.


    Fuck, justrememberingit made my stomach churn, likeIwannavomit or something, I looked at everyone else''s face, their expressions shows that they are definitely grim right now.I turned around and looked for the woman, but she disappeared, like she was never there."Where did she-"


    I stopped midsentence, I felt as if I missed something else. Could it be my imagination? I thought that as I looked at the hall again.


    No,something''swrong,it''sreally wrong.It feels like something was supposed to be right there, out in theopen. Irealised, but I didn''t want to accept it.The cold feeling and acknowledgement of it bore right down on me.Thebody, the blood, the stray bullets, everything that happened just now...Itsall gone! The crime scene that took place just now suddenly disappeared!


    I tapped the nearest girl on her shoulder and asked," Can I ask you of something? Am I hallucinating or something because..." I didn''t finish my sentence, I pointed at the assembly that looked as good as new.


    She gasped and trembled, and suddenly let out a deafening shriek. Everyoneturnedand looked at us. The big guy I met in front of the assembly before asked, "What''s wrong? Did something happen again?"


    All I could do was shakily point at the assembly. His eyes widened and shouted, " Holy Christmas! T-the body is gone!!!"


    Once everyone heard him shout, they all turned towards the hall again, this time a guy with dyed hair stepped out and asked, "What''dyamean the body''s gone?"


    He looked over our shoulders and saw the hall, spotless as before the killing happened. "OhmyGo-" Before he could finish his sentence he fainted and crumpled down on the floor.


    The others, upon hearing his statement started to seem worried, they seem to be unsure whether or not if they want to see for themselves did that incident actually occurred, or was it all just one big dream.


    Alas, dreams are not reality as to reality are not dreams, once you grasp it all there is left is but how strong your conviction stands. And right now, our convictions are anything but standing strong.


    Panic is startingto rise among us, we can''t grasp what is actually happening here, nor can we actually grasp what should actually happen next. We''ve been removed from our usual lives, but can we really call our usual lives ''usual''?


    No, I shook my head. I almost fell with the others, my wits are wavering. Idon''t think I could stand thisanymore...


    Islapped myself in the face as hard as I could to bring back senses to me, but it seems the others haven''t recovered yet. I swear I could hear someonemutter, "We''regonnadie, we''regonnadie, we''regonnadie..."


    Suddenly, a voice shouted out from the group, it was so loud it rang throughout the hallway. "What are you panicking about!? Stand up and face the enemies straight on, don''t let their words waver you for even a second!"


    "S-sure it''s easy for you to say, but did you forgetthatthey''ll kill one of us every two weeks if someone doesn''t die? It''s either kill or be killed in this scenario," a girl whimpered.


    "Don''t be afraid! Everything will be fine. We can find the enemy and drag them out, them force them to set us free!"


    "Huh, you wish."


    "What was that? Who said that?"


    "Me, you passionate monkey," said the guy in a suit. "I admire your resolve to stand against adversity, but I rather not face them head-on. If anything, we should calm down and think things through and formulate a plan first."


    "Hold on just a second! Who areareyou to give the orders!? Name yourself!"


    "If you must insist, I shall tell you. I am the leader of anupbringing company that will rise upon others in the business industry---- I am Edgar Holste, the genius entrepreneur!"


    "Entre-whatnow?" It seems the motivated person has no knowledge upon the word.


    "It means I amresponsiblefor the lives and jobs of those beneath my wings. Should thatexplanationfit into the skull of yours?"


    "I see... Anyway, now that you have introduced yourself I shall too! I am RoderickSmith. I guess people usually call me a stickler."


    "I don''t give one damn about you, unless you cool your head and follow my orders," Edgar calmly said.


    We were baffled by thesidelines. Didn''tthat woman say that we were all underaged?


    I stepped up andasked, "Um, didn''t that woman said that we were underage? Are you really an entrepreneur?"


    He sighed and answered, "Yes indeed, I am an entrepreneur, as to the same as that cluster of mess right over thereis a scion," He said as he pointed atCastian.


    "We hold important roles in society,not that commoners wouldhaveany knowledge about us now would they?Think, what would the world do if they found out a company rising in ranks were handled and lead by but a mere child? It would make a lot of suspicion and that might make a lot of enemies out of the other companies."


    "I guessyou''reright, sorry I doubted you."


    "If that''s out of the way, then can we get back to the topic at hand?"


    Everyone perked at that sentence, but for only a brief moment, we almost forgot we were locked in some impossible prison.


    "First, we should explore our surroundings. It would be unwiseto move around in uncharted territory."


    "Very well, I shall agree with you! Come, let us scout our surrounding first."


    "Now hold just one fucking moment here!!!" A voice rang from the crowd.


    "Who died and made you guys leaders?" A guy in a biker suit asked.


    "No one, but that''s why someone must step up and take the role. It doesn''t seem to me you are fit for the role," Edgar said, obviously irritated with him.


    "Wellsoooorry, I don''t plan on working together with you all. I do my own businesshoweverI please so don''t and stop me, or else."


    "Or else?"


    "I''mgonnafucking kill you."


    "Try if you may, but I think you want to retract your statement."


    "Huh? And why would I do that?"


    Edgar let out a long sigh. "How you even checked the rules yet? If you kill someone, make sure you kill him without letting any loose ends."


    "Huh? The hell you getting at?" The biker guy said almost furiously.


    "Once someone dies, we will undergo an investigation. If the party responsible for the murder is found, he will be executed for ''disrupting the peacefulenvironment''. Got that?"


    "Hmph, then I''ll just have to kill you without getting caught."


    "Are you still going to bluff your way through?"


    "Who''s bluffing? If someone''s bluffing, it ought to be you! Iain''tstaying any longer, play your own wimpyparty for all I care."With that statement, he left through the west corridor.


    Roderick shook his headwith a disappointing expression. "Why can''t we just get along? We are all in this situation together, why are we fight each other?"


    "Y-yeah, we should s-stick together, so n-nobody get any weird thoughts okay?" A girl at the back said shakily. I guess she is afraid, I mean who isn''t?


    "Okay, with that all settled, let us begin the scouting. Since there are 28 of us here, let''s split to five groups. Six people per group, each group will go down each corridor and check all the rooms and make their report back at the dining hall down the back. The rest will prepare some food for the lot of us. I believe a handful of us can cook?"


    "Um, I can. But are you certain there''s ingredients for us to cook?" A big guy approached Edgar.


    "I believe so, otherwise the lot of us will starve to death before their entertainment begins."


    "Huh? Entertainment? What are you saying?" The girl I was with at the beginning asked.


    "Did it not occurtoyou why were we forced to kill each other? All this should be a showto satiate the boredom of the people who are watching. I think we were chosen, then forced to bea scapegoat for a deathconvict, and sent all the way to here."


    "Wait, so you''re saying I didn''t destroy my company? I-I was framed!?" ShoutedCastian.


    "I believe so, unless you actually did it?" Edgar sentenced his words in a questionable manner.


    "N-no, I would never do something as outrageous as that."


    "But we will triumph, we will show themthat we will not give in to their silly game. Once we get out, we will report this case to all the investigating company and expose their heinous deeds."


    "Yeah, we will get out no matter what," I said confidently.


    "Butbefore that, let''s begin the scout. I will go east, anyone willing to come with me?"


    "Ooh me, me! Iwannago with you!" A cheerful girl raised up her hands.


    "I believe I should go as well. If anything does happen it would be wise to depend on me." The buff guy raised his hand as well.


    "U-uhm, I think it should be safe for me to go with you as well," a meek girl raised her hand.


    "I should go too," the girl I was with raised her hand.


    "I think I want to go there too. There''s a library there, I want to check it out," I raised my hand.


    "Wise choice, I wasplanningon going to the library as well. What about the others?"


    "I shall lead the north side then! Come, follow me!" Roderick shouted and marched towards the north corridor.


    "Well, I will head west. Perhaps I could persuade the bloke who went off to join us," the mature girl said.


    "I''ll go south then. No use standing around all day. Anyone wants to watch my back for me?" A carefree guy said.


    "Well, I hope we all find something useful once we gather. Serve us something good by the time we get back!" Said Edgar to the four standing.


    "Sure, you can count on us!" The big guy answered confidently.


    After that, we all went our respective ways to search for information.