Round One ~ Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

"Murasaki!" I reach out my hand, hoping they still can catch on. But it's too late. The twins fall with a huge splash into the electrified water. It's the end, the end of the twins, and they are so young! I kneel on the ground and look beneath me. I don't mind that it is this hot anymore, two people died just now, and I couldn't do anything.
"Look." Yuki whispered and pointed towards the water. I don't want to look, I can't even bare to stand up at this moment. I can't think strait. Why are we here? What is the purpose of this room and how could the boiler explode?
"Look!" Yuki said again, but louder. Instead of pointing she grabbed me by the neck like a mother cat and let me see the thing that is impossible. The two are swimming towards the ladder underneath us!
"But, how?" I ask. "Why are they still alive, the water was electrified just now!"
"The cable." Yuki answered and I looked at it. It wasn't in the water anymore; instead it lies on the floor. That means that the water isn't electrified anymore? Strange, that means we could have put that away and swim.
"Now our cloths are all wet! I blame you," Ryo said while climbing the ladder. "Really, if we went first did wouldn't have happened." She kicked me in a place you don't kick with heels and with a thud I was on the ground again.
"Okay, lets see what the bridge has to offer!" she commands and marches into the elevator. Because of the pain Yuki dragged me into the elevator and Shizumi pushed the button to the bridge.

The doors fling open and a bright light shined in our faces. It was beautiful. A gigantic chandelier with diamonds as big as my hand and Golden statues. A big TV screen was watching over the Bridge. 16 people, there are sixteen people sitting on red couches and discussing with each other until they saw us. Another twin couple, which are chained with legs and arms onto each other, stood up and walked symmetrically towards us. They have the same red hairstyle, same red cloths and same []. It's almost like there's a mirror next to one person. They bow at the same time and speak.
"Welcome to the Bridge," Left said.
"We have been expecting more people," Right said.
"If we are correct,"
"There must come more people in just a minute."
They stand up, take a 90 degrease turn and walk back to the couch they where sitting on. I look towards the others and they all nod. I nod back and we walk to the couches in silent. Most of them look at us like we are the enemy. Some keep talking with each other. And one person smiles in our direction. A girl in a wheelchair says to come and so we do. She's about seventeen and behind her a butler is chained to the wheelchair. We listen to her story of how they all got here; one pair woke up in a storage room, whereas another couple were sharing the same luxurious bed. They all heard the voice of The Ruler, who told them to choose a door, and afterwards to get to the north. They would come out of the same elevator as we were in and wait here for others.
"But isn't it strange? There are only two buttons in the elevator, but everyone was sleeping on a differed deck." I asked, wondering if we were on the E-deck.
"Clause was thinking the same. He's the one over there, with the cap on his head." Sherry answered pointing at the guy that was chained onto an old lady who smiled the whole time since we've got here.
"You haven't told us yet where you woke up," said Ryo while her brother was looking at the chandelier with his mouth open. "And if I may ask, who was the first to arrive?"
"I can answer both in the same time, I woke up in this room." Sherry answered.
Before I could ask anything further, the elevator flew open and two people came out of it, a young boy and a girl in a maid dress. The boy looked angry around the room until he saw the girl in the wheelchair. He ran towards us with the maid right behind him and grabbed the hands of Sherry. The maid and butler looked at each other and nodded.
"Sherry! I'm so glad you are here as well!" the boy cried.
"Vincent! You—"

Welcome, Welcome.

A voice echoed through the room and the TV screen went on. It showed us a masked person in a black costume, something you'll only see in the 19th century. On the mask a creepy smile was painted, the hands of the person raised and continued.

Let me introduce myself for a second time, my name is The Ruler.
Some of you already saw me; the others only heard my voice.
I see that all of the remaining people have gathered here.

"WHY THE HELL ARE WE HERE?!" Clause jumped up and yelled at the TV screen. The old lady put her hand on his shoulder and told him not to yell.

Let me explain the rules to you before I answer any questions, young man.
This game round is called "The Trust Round".
Whom will you trust and whom will you betray?
Who shall gain victory and proceed to the next round?
Who shall be the living one?
There are a total of 24 people in this ship; all willing to fight till the death.
The only problem is, that there are six of you who took the Green door.
Let us see what crosses their paths.

The TV screen went black and The Ruler was gone. It was a matter of seconds before something new was shown. We all saw the same, a rowing boat with four people in it. The two women are arguing and the men are rowing. They didn't seem to have handcuffs on their wrists. We could have been those people, we could have escaped this if Yuki didn't drag me out of that room. I hate her so much right now and give her an angry look.

Foolish fools.

The voice of The Ruler echoed across the room and a yellow-red light flashed before my eyes, and the boat on the monitor was gone. Only a few planks remained. What did he do to them, why are they gone? I wanted to shout at the monitor but then I saw that one woman survived. She missed one arm but still managed to grab a plank and swim heading towards the camera. Thank god, maybe the others are fine as well. I looked around the screen searching for the others, but the only thing I could find is a fin. So there are dolphins in this… That isn't a dolphin, that's a shark. It's drawn toward the woman because of the blood that she drops into the ocean. The screen went black and The Ruler was on it again.

Now the only thing left for me to do is explain the rules.
There are a total of 12 keys hidden in this ship.
Various puzzles and obstacles hide them all.
They can open the handcuffs that are on your wrists.
These keys can only be used once.
If they are used, the key breaks.
But, the keys can't be used everywhere.
You must be in the Bridge to use them.
The game ends when everybody is in the bridge without a handcuff, that is, if they are still alive.
Good luck with the game, and may the winners have a happy life.

The screen went black for a third game and a silence fell in the Bridge.
"That bastard," A man in business suit said. "Why do we have to do this? It's sick!"
"We can't just stand here! If you guys aren't going to find the keys I will!" A woman in a cucumber green dress said.
"I can feel it, the evil in this air." Said the girl who says she's a psychic.
"I know what you mean, I can feel it too." Her partner answered.
The comments about going or not going to find the keys can be heard for a long time. "Someone must find us eventually!" "Don't go! It's suicide!" "We must go!" and so on. One refused to go, the other tried to convince his or her partner, one person cried on the couch. It was chaos. The only two who didn't say a thing this whole time were Shizumi and Yuki. The thing that stopped this commotion was the TV going on followed by one line.

Oh, before I forget. There is a cat among the pigeons.