Jay held the silver key in his hand, observing the tiny item as if a secret was hidden beneath it. How many doors could it open? Would it lead to their ultimate freedom?

"I know where it is," Ethan uttered. His index finger tapped the X mark indicated on the map. "It's close to the door leading to our freedom."

They had assumed the door that required seven letters was their escape route. Based on the architectural design, Ethan had suggested another basement to be located there. They were playing along to these sick and twisted games in order to open that one cursed lock.

"Are we going there now?" Natasha questioned hesitantly. The fear clothed her trembling voice.

Instead of gaining sympathy, Ashlyn mockingly scoffed at the girl. Every action by Natasha was met with disapproval.

"Can't we wait?" Maddie questioned, seeing Natasha's face brighten a little at her suggestion. She wasn't the only person who was mentally unprepared. Though they had defied death once, playing another round of the game usually led to the loss of someone's life. And Maddie was closer to finding out the truth now the diary was in her possession—she couldn't let this chance pass.

Ethan's weakness had always been her. Along with what had happened last night, and the way Maddie's eyelashes seemed to flutter everytime her eyes landed on him, he became more self conscious.

"Yes, let's wait," he agreed, much to the relief of others.

Jay was about to put the silver key back on the table, but a swift motion grasped the key away from his fingers in a jiff. He had no time to protest and only the remnants of Ginny's giggles resonated in his ears.

"Hey!"

But Ginny was already hopping her way out of the dining room. Apparently Damon had already been waiting for her, and the two headed to the indicated room.

"Hey! We decided to go there later," Jay called out. He should've known it was a useless attempt. Those two were probably the ones too stubborn to argue with. When put together, none were bound to change their mind.

"Huh, might as well play the game now," Ashlyn shrugged, flashing a shrill look towards the girl she despised the most. "The faster we get rid of nuisance, the better."

No one had to think twice to know she was referring to Natasha. Ashlyn strode off ahead while the others gave reassuring smiles to their friend.

"She's still upset over what happened. Please bear with her," Bree tried reasoning. She was a neutral party, trying to keep things in balance as much as she could despite knowing Natasha's sin. Shirley would've done a much better job at this, probably knowing what to say to Ashlyn to calm her down. But without her, there was no one to calm the rising calamity.

"It's gonna be okay." Jay took his friend's hand in his own, squeezing her palms gently. He let her hold unto him during the entire walk as they migrated out of the kitchen to follow Ethan.

They walked through the long corridor that extended all the way west of the vast mansion. They passed the large painting of the Last Judgement, along with other smaller ones on the wall that bore similar gruesome messages.

Bree couldn't help but pay attention, wondering why the painting was in one way or another, always depicting victory and defeat, loyalty and betrayal, rising heroes and the falling enemy. Could all these paintings perhaps lead to a bigger idea she was unaware of?

"There it is." Ethan stretched his arms forward to point at the three who were standing in front of the door. He remembered passing through these doors multiple times, always finding it locked. But now, Damon was inserting the silver key inside the olden style lock.

It clicked open.

"I wonder what's inside," Ginny hummed to herself. Her brazen attitude was once again observed by Maddie. In the past, Ginny would not take initiative to push the door open. She would not be the first one to enter the unknown chamber. And yet she did.

The childlike grin faded from Ginny's face, struck with a mixture of fear and amazement at the peculiar sight in front of her. She had never seen anything like it before—none of them did.

The room was dark lit and completely empty and barren on the sides. The heat and grimness made them feel trapped in some sort of a torture room, though they genuinely hoped they were wrong. Surprisingly, it did not smell like old dust and spiderweb. It was clean and fresh, like someone had gone here to maintain its cleanness. The Game Master?

In the center of it all, however, was a large square grid that resembled the board of a chess game, magnified to a full scale. Light seemed to be radiating from it, and it looked digital despite the olden style chamber they were in. It was perhaps the most advanced piece of technology they had seen in the house—aside from small invisible CCTV cameras supposedly hidden from their sight.

The podium or grid was surrounded by four seats on the left of the grid, and four more on the right. The chairs weren't designed as ordinary chairs—it resembled deathly electric chairs found in prison for its upper part, and the lower part looked like a massage chair whereby one would bury the feet within some cushions. Only this was much more modern, made out of wood, and bigger.

"It has our names on it," Natasha remarked. Every chair already had their individual names carved into the wood of every headrest. Her hands trembled and her legs weakened at the possibility of what could happen. She nearly tripped over if it weren't for Jay upholding the last bit of strength she had left.

"Come on, we can do this," he spoke to her like he was cradling a little baby. Her fear saddened him. Her tears haunted him. Her silent cries tormented his heart. None of them deserved this mental brutality.

"It's as if the Game Master knew we'd be the final eight remaining," Maddie wondered out loud. She had so many questions pumping in her brain, and it became harder to take a mental note for each of them. Hopefully, she'd have the chance to survive this game and discuss her theories with someone.

"Maybe he did," Damon uttered darkly. He scanned the chair's entire anatomy, seeing many hidden latches and possible openings. He did not dare to imagine what could possible be hiding beneath it.

Bree had taken the mission card along with her when they left and read the mission once again.

Two people are united to find the matching cards to be sighted.
Each contains a deadly method; hurting your partner in a way you suggested.
Find a match thrice in order to end this vice.

"We have been paired up." She looked up from the card, mentally counting the eight chairs present. Whoever sat in the chair directly in front of them would be their partner in the game, she logically assumed.

"So we can hurt our partner?" Ashlyn read along to the mission, frowning hard at the ambiguous sentence. "What kind of a sick game is this?"

"Find the pair," Ethan answered, always being good at identifying the games based off the mission cards. "I think we are going to play a memory based game."

"So no clues for this game? I like this game already. My head was so dizzy trying to solve the clues earlier," Ginny cheered to herself delightfully. She lightly hopped over to the chair that had her name on it. She admired the engravement for a moment before plopping down on the seat. Then she realized she had to take her shoes off to bury her feet within the chair's cushion at the foot rest, and simply did so.

"There's a seatbelt." She then laughed at the ridiculous addition to the cool looking chairs. As soon as she buckled herself, the seatbelt suddenly constricted itself tightly so that Ginny barely had any room left to breath. She placed her hands against the armrest for support to break herself free, but steel chains appeared out of nowhere, clasping itself around her wrist like a cold bracelet. The machines within the cushion changed position and locked her feet in place with no chance of retracting it back.

Everyone was overtaken by panic, yelling out her name as they ran to her rescue. They exerted all strength to break the chains, but its durability was impossible to surpass. Chaos emerged when Ginny began to wail. Some uttered comforting words, whereas others instructed new ideas to get her out.

Despite all the chaos, Damon was the only one who didn't waste his time doing what he knew was not the way out. He walked to the seat with his name on it and sat down. Once he buckled the seatbelt over his waist, the exact same procedure occurred. He was prepared for it.

"If you want to help her, I suggest you all partake in the game," he informed them. His voice sounded rougher and mightier as it echoed against the rocky walls of room.

They all halted their movements, surprised to see Damon seated and all ready to play the game. For once, they agreed that he might be right, and obeyed. Everyone sat down in their respective seat out of blind obedience towards the Game Master's will. Jay sat opposite of Ginny, meaning they were partnered. Ethan and Maddie were conveniently paired up. Damon was paired with Bree. Lastly, the archnemesis Ashlyn and Natasha were also partners.

When everyone was locked in place with nowhere else to escape to, the grid stage in front of them began to light up and transform into a digital screen. Familiar big red letters appeared on the screen below.

"Player one, pick your card," Ethan read. They saw a swirl of light creating a path on the digital screen which led to Ashlyn's seat.

"Am I player one? How do I pick a card?" Ashlyn tried moving her arms or legs, but was met with failure when it was chained in place.

"Maybe you have to say it out loud. There are letters and numbers along the side," Maddie suggested.

The digital grid was very much like a chess board indeed, except that every square was now occupied with a digital card. There were a total of six rows and columns, indicated by the letters and numbers beside it, creating a total of 36 cards.

The idea seemed ridiculous, but it was worth a shot. "A1," Ashlyn called out, loud and clear.

They saw the very first card on the monitor flipping open. It now revealed a short text consisting of a brutal action: Cut off a finger.

There was a moment of silence. Ashlyn kept her eyes on the game board, trying to process what exactly it was they were playing and what she would have to do now. The instructions on the mission card rang in her head again. Could it be that the cards she had selected was going to be demonstrated on her partner?

Ashlyn looked up, right across her own seat to remember the partner she was assigned with was Natasha Heath.

"Call another card," Maddie prompted.

"D6."

Another card on the grid opened, and this time it revealed another command that wasn't as cruel as the one before: Slap on the face.

The red text reappeared, indicating player two's turn. The same path of light appeared towards Damon whose seat was next to Ashlyn. They were going counter clockwise.

"So there are commands that can hurt the other player, and some that aren't as dangerous," Ginny stated the obvious they had all come to realize. "Do you think there is a command that can kill you?"

They avoided thinking of that gruesome possibility. Every pair of card probably had a different level of intensity and danger to it. Each game they played so far was designed to kill another player—the possibility of a murderous command being included among the 36 cards was a big probability.

"The mission card told us to find three matching pairs. Do you think we have to find the match per partner or as a collected group?" Maddie posed a good question.

"I am hoping it refers to a cumulative total. Or else we'd have to work together and help one pairing obtain three pairs," Ethan answered.

Damon scoffed at this. A twisted smirk played on his lips as he watched his helpless partner, Bree, glaring back at him. They both knew he would do nothing to lessen her pain—instead, he could very well become the cause of her death.

"A2 and A3." Damon preferred to do things in a neat and orderly fashion. It was much easier to memorize the location of the most dangerous cards this way. In the end, it was still a memory game.

Two cards flipped over to reveal the commands. One stated electric chair while the other was harsher, walling.

Bree's chest heaved in relief after his failed attempt. Her only chance at survival was if she killed Damon before he could get to her. But she had not fully made up her mind regarding the resolution to take someone's life. It didn't quite feel right.

"What does walling mean?" Ginny questioned, cocking her head in confusion.

Damon let out a small sigh when everyone else stayed silent. "It's a torture method commonly used by the CIA. A collar is placed around the person's neck, and their head will be slammed against the wall."

The rest made a disgusted face at that visual, trying to get it out of their head. It seemed the game was packed with terrifying torture or death methods.

The third player was Jay who sat opposite of Ginny. He wanted to make sure no one got hurt. "Are there any cards that provide healing actions instead of damaging ones?" He asked.

"We'll have to find out. Pick a card," Bree told him.

Jay shared a glance with Natasha who kept staring at him from the far end. Even if there was a healing option, he could not use it to protect her nor himself. He had nothing against Ginny or anyone. He was playing for the sake of progressing through the game.

"B2 and C6," he called.

Two cards flipped over digitally on the board. It stated music torture and cut off tongue respectively. Another two addition to the collection of gruesome commands. Just the mere reading of the action made them cringe in disgust.

The light indicated the fourth player to move, which was Maddie. She looked up to meet Ethan's eyes. He did not look worried at all. Perhaps he was maintaining his calmness to not arouse any panic in her. She had to find new commands, but at the same time try to avoid hurting Ethan. She wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to him.

"A4 and A5," she called, going along with Damon's plan to open the cards in an orderly fashion. She needed to memorize as much as possible to prevent any damage from being dealt.

The cards faced up, displaying the two commands. The first card stated acupuncture, and the second one was a slap on the face.

"Oh! We read that one before," Ginny realized, looking excitedly at the second command. They would now be a step closer to obtaining three pair of cards to end the game.

It was the fifth player's turn, and the light indicated Natasha's seat. She seemed to be deep in thought, but not for the right reason.

"Which one was the slap on the face one, again?"

"A5," Damon answered calmly, proving his great memorization abilities. As long as any of his opponents were going to be at a disadvantage, he would gladly help out.

"You can't be serious," Ashlyn began yelling to her partner, knowing she was going to fall victim soon. She tried to release her body from the cold chains, but her wrists remained locked in place. "Do you realize what you're doing?"

"It's just a slap in the face, something you should be more than familiar with," Natasha said with feigned innocence in her tone. Everyone knew she was referring to the humiliation Ashlyn had put her through when she was slapped in front of everyone else.

"That's different! We don't even know what kind of twist the game will come up with. What if I die?"

"There's only one way to find out." Natasha's usual cowardly persona now morphed to that of a fierce woman who was ready to make a stand for herself. The games were doing things to people; some had gone lunatic, some unleashed the evil inside, and to Natasha, it fueled her confidence with anger.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Even Jay was surprised to see this bolder sight of Natasha. To the public eye who knew her as the school's star performer, this brazen and strong attitude was what she usually allowed them to perceive her as. Never during their stay in the mansion did she display such behavior. The glint in her eyes darkened.

"A5 and D6."

Everyone held in their breath in an anticipating stretch of silence. Time seemed to elongate when the cards flipped over, both revealing the same command: Slap on the face. A light halo appeared to outline the matching pair as the command was highlighted with the same glow.

Ashlyn's chair suddenly began to quiver like some hidden machinery inside was activated. A hidden compartment was revealed when a latch of the design detached itself from the chair's built. A mechanical arm appeared, dark silver in color, and long and modern in design. Attached to its end was a fake hand. It neared Ashlyn's face, and she soon noted the hand was a cut out mannequin hand.

The fake hand was positioned next to Ashlyn's face, showing its remarkable censors as it knew exactly where its target was located at. There was another stretch of a pregnant pause, waiting for the assault to happen. Ashlyn shut her eyes and felt the adrenaline rushing through her.

Smack!

It was loud, hurried, and extremely painful. It wasn't the girly kind of slap, but a quick whoosh of movement that went unnoticed to their untrained eye. The smack boomed through the chamber, along with Ashlyn's cry of pain. Her jaws felt dislocated, and she thought she had lost some teeth in the process. A large red spot stained her clear skin, nearly ripping her flesh apart.

"So all the the commands written on these cards are actual punishments," Maddie remarked. Honestly, she had wondered how some of these could even be carried out. But knowing what these chairs were capable of, everything began to make sense.

Ashlyn pressed a finger against her cheek and hissed at the pain caused from the slight contact. Her eyes pierced through Natasha darkly and vengefully.

If this was how she was gonna play, might as well play by the same rules.