Play to Win

"Game? What game?"

I ask King Bael, he brushes off what I'm saying and walks out the door. The strength in my legs is starting to come back, but they aren't strong enough for me to walk. A dark figure walks over to me and helps me stand and walks me over to King Bael.

"I know I already told you I would help but I need more than just your allegiance, I need to test you to make sure you are worthy."

He waves his hand in front of him as three doors appear in front of him. One door was black with golden trim, the other was oak with scratches on it and the last door was white with blood splattered across it.

"The goal for you is to walk through the right door."

"Just walk through a door, that's it?"

He nods his head, "yes, that seems simple enough does it not?"

I look down at my legs and over at the dark figure holding me up. I can't help but wonder if this is some kind of trick.

"Yeah, yeah it seems simple enough, but what about my legs?"

"Oh that, don't worry about something frivolous right now, just decide which door you would like to walk through."

I stand there thinking what door would be the best, I'm still not sure what kind of game this is, there has to be more to this than just walking through a door. I try to think of a way to get out of this situation but I can't possibly see a way out of it.

"Do I have to decide right now or am I able to choose at a later time?"

He starts to chuckle as he laid his hand across his face.

"You amuse me, human, I'll give you 2 hours to decide which door to take, but no longer."

He walks over to me and shags my hair. The dark figure holding me walks me back to the room I was in and sits me on the bed. He walks out and closes the door. I can hear the door lock from the other side.

"What am I going to do, there has to be a way out of here."

I lay back and start to think of a way out.

"If only I could see Brittany, she would figure this out in a heartbeat."

I lay there on the bed with my hands covering my face. I remember the doors and try to think of which one would be best to go through, trying to remember all the features of each door.

"The first door was black and gold, nothing too out of the ordinary like the other 2 but it could be a trap."

"The second was a wooden door, with scratches. The scratches on the bottom of the door were diagonal, which could mean someone was trying to fight their way out of the open door."

I lay there trying to weigh out my options.

"The last door was white with blood splattered all over it. I could just be the design but where ever I am, it could be anything."

A knock interrupts me from the other side. The door slightly opens as a hand appears wrapping around the edge of the door frame and pushing the door open slightly. I can see what appears to be the top of something's head appear to peek in on me, we make eye contact as it quickly pulls away slamming the door shut.

I spring up and stare at the door wondering what that was. I'm still unable to move so all I can do is watch. After some time I can hear footsteps on the other side of the door. I can hear the footsteps stop outside of the door and the doorknob jiggle. My body tenses up as sit there shaken up.

"Whos there?" I yell out

I get no response. I wait for a few seconds before yelling out again.

"What do you want!?"

The door abruptly opens up as King Bael walks through the door. He wore a black suit with a white shirt underneath. He wore shiny black loafers and his hair slicked back.

"So I would assume you're ready?"

I look at him puzzled.

"It hasn't been 2 hours yet?"

He looks at me amused. He slicked his hair back with a smile on his face.

"I must've forgotten to tell you, time moves faster here, that's because I control it."

I was perplexed. I was in total paralysis, I couldn't even look in the direction of King Bael. My eyes were heavy, my body was tense.

"Let us go and see if you can pass this game."

"My legs, what about my legs?"

"They should be fine now, no need to worry."

I turn my body so my feet are hanging off the bed, I skooch forward so my feet are touching the floor. I lean over and stand up. I lift one of my legs at a time so my knees are touching my chest.

"I can walk now, what was that you gave me?"

"Never mind that, just follow me so we can begin."

I follow him out of the room and down the hallway. We go back to where the door appeared. All 3 of them are in the same position, nothing about the appearance of either door changed.

"Is there something I should know about these doors?"

He looks over at me amused, he waves his hand out in front,

"Why don't you find out?"

"Can you tell me where it is I am exactly before I choose?"

"Well, you have lots of questions," He lets out a small laugh, "You're in the House of Shadows, in this particular realm each door is either a prison or a way to freedom. Don't think you are safe even if you happen to pick a door with no danger. Danger lurks in every direction here."

I look at him with conviction. I can hardly believe he wanted me to pick a door that could potentially kill me, but then again he's a demon and only wants what amuses him most.

"So no matter what door I pick, there's a chance I could get hurt or even die?"

He looks at me, he takes a few steps toward the doors so that he's in my view of the doors.

"You overthink, your task is simply picking a door and walking through it."

I gather as much courage as I can and start walking toward the doors in front of me. I stop inches away from them and start to think about which one I should go through. I walk over to the black and gold door and stare at it for a few seconds. I look behind me and see King Bael standing there with a smirk on his face.

Around him, the scenery changed drastically. It wasn't the mansion anymore, all around him the walls were on fire, and the floor was dark stone with cracks in it. I can hear faint screams but can't pinpoint exactly where they're coming from. I start to fill with fear but I turn my attention back to the doors.

"There isn't any right answer here is there?" I yell back toward King Bael.

"There's only one way to find out."

His voice changed into a menacing tone. I can hear the anger in his voice as he stood inches behind me unexpectedly.

"Pick a door."

I reach out to the black door in front of me and turn the knob. I walk in as the door slams shut behind me. startled I look behind me, the door is no longer there. I stand in a dark room, I can barely see my hand in front of me. All around me I can hear whispers and faint screams. I can hear footsteps walking inches away from me.

"Where am I? What kind of door did I go through?"

Instantly I hear loud grunts followed by piercing screams. Unable to go anywhere I walk toward the grunting and screams. I slowly take steps with my hands in front of me trying to feel around for anything. My hands find a wall as I start walking with my hand dragging on the wall to guide me.

The screams grow increasingly louder. I have to cover my ear as I attempt to walk forward. My body tenses up as I come to a door at end of the hallway with light glowing from under it. I get closer as I feel heat emanating from the door. I reach out and touch the doorknob but the handle is too hot to keep my hand on it to turn.

"Help!"

A scream blares out from the other side of the door. It sounded like Brittany. I quickly grab the handle ignoring the burning pain from the doorknob. I burst into the room throwing the door to the wall behind it. The room was empty, there were no lights and no heat. The room felt as if it was in the middle of winter. I look out the doorway as a piercing scream comes from behind me in the room.

"Jason! Help!"