Ben and Sarah

The concrete room Christmas day

Ben pov

I opened my eyes as my stomach was killing me since I had hit the concrete ledge and vomited on the floor. Sarah stood up from hugging me and then her face turned white as a ghost.

"Sarah are you okay," I said frantically as she fell to the floor.

"What the fuck I gave Ben the glass with the red liquid" Lexi screamed from the other side of the room.

I jumped up because I hadn't felt any more nausea.

"I thought you loved me you sick bitch" I screamed as Lexi sat there nervously.

"You know I thought you were a good person but you're just as sick as the guy that locked us in here," I screamed.

Christmas day 7:24 am 36 minutes before Ben's abduction

I used to run in the morning because I need to keep up my workout routine for football. I don't like noise so I usually, run on the bike trails. As I was running a man in a black cloak was standing in the middle of the trail. I stopped and just stared at the guy as I waited for him to move.

"Can you get out of the way dude" I screamed angrily as I waited for the guy to move.

The person in the cloak just stood still and stared at me in complete silence.

"Hello, are you alive asshole can you move out of the way" I screamed as the person in the cloak continued to not move?

I started to run and pushed the guy in the cloak out of the way. Then with a loud bang, I fell to the floor.

"Ouch what the fuck did you just hit me with asshole," I said as I hit the floor.

He pulled a crowbar out from his cloak as my shin writhed in pain. He pulled the crowbar back overhead and I screamed as he hit me in the head with the crowbar.

The concrete room Christmas day

Sarah started to cough and blood flew from her mouth and onto the floor.

"This is your fault" I screamed blaming Lexi for Sarah dying.

There was a crackling noise from the speakers and then a loud static filled the silence of the room.

"Well, I thought it would be too easy to just let Lexi decide who to kill so I lied" the killer laughed psychotically through the speakers.

"You should have let her kill me" I screamed angrily at the speakers.

"Whether you like it or not everyone in this room is going to die tonight" the killer yelled angrily.

"Stop hiding, come out and fight me" I shouted angrily at the camera.

"If I leave where I am right now I will shoot you to death Ben" the killer screamed angrily.

I ran over to one of the cameras in the corner room and ripped it off the wall.

"If you even think of breaking that camera I'm going to kill you" the killer shouted.

"Oops," I said dropping the camera out of my hand as it smashed against the floor.

"You spoiled rich asshole" the killer screamed as the room vibrated by how loud he screamed.

I walked over to the next camera and ripped it off the wall lifting it over my head.

"You know you're just like your mother" the killer shouted angrily.

Friday, June 25, 2021, 10:00 am 1 year and 6 months until Ben's abduction

It was my eighth-grade graduation and it was kinda funny to think that I would be kidnapped a year later.

"I would like to congratulate the class of 2025 for their high grades and determination throughout this 8th-grade year. I hope that their freshmen year shows how much growth has occurred thought the rest of their high school career." the school principal Dr.Keegan said cheerfully.

Everyone started to clap as the principal finished his speech.

"I can't believe we are graduating middle school," Lexi said to Sarah as everyone was walking off the stage and met their parents.

"I can't stand Lexi and Sarah they are probably the dumbest girls in our school," I said to myself.

I never had any friends I was always a loner. I always found it easier to be alone at that point in my life.

"Good luck in high school," Jill said to me with a big smile.

"Good luck in high school too," I said putting on a fake smile.

"Are you going to work over the summer?" Jill said nervously.

"No, I think I'm just going to work out and hang out this summer," I said hoping she would laugh.

"Well my father needs help in his repair shop this summer if you would like to work," Jill said happily.

" yeah sure," I said excitedly because I wasn't going to just sit around for the rest of the summer.

Jill handed me a resume and I quickly ran to my mom to tell her how I got hired without even trying.

When I got home I ran to my room and jumped into my bed to take a nap. Then I was woken up by screaming and arguing.

"My parents need a divorce" I whispered to myself jokingly.

"I hate you!" my mother screamed.

I reached over and grabbed my headphones. Then I put them in my ears and looked for a song.

"Please don't" my mother cried from the kitchen.

I took one headphone out of my ear before I started the song. I slowly got out of my bed and walked to the door.

"You don't need to use that" my father screamed in a nervous voice.

I twisted the door knob and snuck out of my room. The hallway creaked as I slowly walked down it. Then I heard a loud bang and an awful scream. The scream echoed down the hallway as I quickly ran to see what happened. When I reached the living room I saw my father's body hit the ground. There was a loud thump as my father hit the wood floors.

"It's not what it looks like," my mother said as tears streamed down her face.

My father gasped for air as blood oozed out from his stomach. The blood dripped down through his shirt and made a pool of blood on the floor.

"Please don't tell anyone" my mother begged.

She aimed the gun at my father's face and fired it three times.

"Your father tried to kill me" my mother screamed in a saddened tone.

The concrete room

"You know nothing about my mother" I screamed angrily.

I threw the camera as hard as I could against the ground. It shattered as it hit the concrete floor.

"I hate you! You filthy woman beater" the killer screamed angrily.

"I never hit a woman in my life" I yelled.

I walked over to the next camera in the corner of the room. I pulled it off the wall and lifted it over my head.

"That's not what Lexi said" the killer laughed angrily.

Lexi stood there in complete shock. Her mouth dropped as she stared at me.

"I never said that. I swear on my life" Lexi said nervously.

I dropped the camera in my hand onto the floor. There was a loud boom as the camera hit the ground. The noise echoed through the empty concrete room. I slowly walked over to Lexi and stopped right in front of her. I put my finger out in front of her face.

"Don't make up a lie like that ever" I screamed.

"Stop blaming me for something I didn't do" Lexi screamed.

She hit my finger out from her face and my finger flew to the side. Sarah started to cough as blood splattered on the ground. She was laying on the floor fighting to stay alive and she fell back onto the ground as she took her final breath. Her face turned white and her eyes got cloudy. The last of the blood dripped out from her mouth and onto the cold concrete floor.

"You killed her!" I screamed angrily.

"Would you rather be dead?" Lexi screamed back.

We stared at each other in silence for a second. I started to lean onto the cold concrete wall and slowly slide down onto the floor. When I hit the floor I put my hands over my face. I covered my eyes as tears started to flow down my face.

"Lexi, I'm sorry, it's just I always had a crush on Sarah" I said as my tears hit the floor.

" I mean we are both going to die tonight and we have no idea when the others are going to wake up," Lexi said as she sat down next to me.

I stared at Lexi and all I could see was a shadow-like version of her. Luckily Lexi couldn't see me because I had tears down my face.

"I'm the worst person ever," I said.

"Ben, that's not true," Lexi said with a concerned tone.

I turned at stared at her. Lexi slowly moved her arms up around my neck. Then she rolled over onto me and started to kiss me. My mind rushed from the adrenaline and as soon as I realized it was over.

"I'm sorry, I should have never tried to kill you," Lexi said sadly.

"I can't forgive you Lexi because you wanted me dead," I said angrily.

"Ben I swear I gave the poison to Sarah," Lexi said with a serious tone.

"You're lying," I said.

Lexi put the glasses onto my face. They slid through my hair until they rested on my nose. Lexi grabbed my hand and pulled me up off the floor. She walked me over to Sarah's body. Lexi bent down and rolled her body over revealing the red liquid in her mouth.

"I couldn't say in front of her that I chose you over her," said Lexi.

Lexi stood up and I put my hands around her waist. She went in for another kiss and after a few seconds, she pulled away. Then a loud cracking noise played from one corner of the room. A loud static soon followed as Lexi and I stared at the camera.

"Wow, what a plot twist," the killer said laughing through the speaker.

"Why would you lie and say you switch them" I screamed back angrily.

"Even I couldn't backstab someone that dirty" the killer laughed.

"Do you promise we will work together from now on" Lexi whispered in my ear.

"Yes," I whispered back.

We both started to giggle and laugh. Lexi and I walked over to the final camera. We both lifted it over our heads as we let it drop to the floor. There was a loud crash as the final camera hit against the floor.

"Now that this guy isn't watching us we need to find out how to escape" I said determinably.

"I agree" Lexi said confidently.

We walked over to the huge iron door on the other side of the room. It looked like the door on a bank vault.

"Do you know how to open one of these?" Lexi said nervously.

"I honestly have no clue" I said back.

"Maybe we could blow it up?" Lexi questioned.

"How are we going to do that?" I said.

All of the sudden we heard a rumbling noise. The circular platform in the middle of the table started to sink. I ran over to the table as the platform started to make its way back up to the top. There was a walkie-talkie, a cylinder-shaped object with eight small cameras surrounding it, and an envelope. I quickly started to rip open the envelope.

"What's wrong Ben" Lexi screamed nervously.

"There's a letter in this envelope," I said excitingly.

I tore the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper folded into thirds. Then I started to read what was said in the letter out loud.

Dear children in the concrete room

I am very angry you destroyed my cameras but I was prepared for this. Now if you want to talk to me you must talk through the walkie-talkie. I also sent up a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree camera so I can watch what anyone is doing. If you destroy this camera I will blow up the room. Since our other friends haven't woken up yet from the drugs I have given them I will allow you to figure out the vault door. I went to the grocery store at eight. Then I went to an arcade at one. I got home at six pm and then I fell asleep at eleven pm. You must turn it three times to the right to reset. Good luck ha ha ha

From the man in the shadows

"This guy is fucking insane," Lexi said jokingly.

I chuckled at Lexi's joke and walked over to the vault door. It had a large wheel in the middle with twelve black rods coming out of it. One of the rods sticking out from the small wheel in the middle was red.

"I guess, by destroying the cameras we unlocked the next part in this guy's game," Lexi said confidently.

Lexi took the note from me and started reading the riddle again. I watched as her eyes moved back and forth across the page. She then folded the paper into thirds and handed it back to me. I put the piece of paper back into the envelope and put it into my pocket. Lexi walked over to the vault door and started to spin it.

"Did you figure it out?" I questioned.

"Hold on," Lexi said as she continued to spin the wheel.

She spun the red rod and stopped about a few inches past the bottom. Then she spun it around again and stopped it exactly at the bottom. After she spun it around again and stopped right before the top. We heard a creak as the vault door unlocked.

"Oh my god, you opened it" I screamed in excitement.

"Yeah, the twelve rods are like a number on a clock," Lexi said confidently.

Lexi slowly pushed open the vault door. The room was completely dark and you couldn't see a single thing.

"Ben I will hold the door open so it doesn't close. Do you want to look and see what's inside?" Lexi said confidently.

"Well I'm dying anyway so I don't have a choice" I joked.

Lexi used all her body strength leaning onto the door to keep it open. The light from the first started to drift into the second room. I slowly walked into the second room and put my arms out. I felt a cold wall as I continued to walk down the thing hallway. There was a door that looked about a million miles away. Light peaked through the corners of the doors. I slowly walked up to it and put my hand on the handle. I started to turn the doorknob to the left and it wouldn't budge. Then I turned it to the right and it continued to not budge.

"The door is locked" I screamed to Lexi from the other side of the long hallway.

"Shit" Lexi screamed .

The vault door pushed her throwing her to the floor. I watched as the door started to swing shut. I began to run as quickly as possible. There was a loud thump as my shoes hit the concrete hallway floor. The door was slowly closing as I continued to run. Every inch I ran the closer the door got until there was a loud bang. I heard the door lock itself and I sat there in complete darkness.

"Lexi you bitch let me out of here" I screamed angrily.

There was complete silence. I couldn't hear anything from the other side of the vault door. All I could see was that outline of light coming through the second door. I slowly walked over to the second door and put my hand on the doorknob. I started to fight to open the door moving the doorknob left and right violently.

"Open, you piece of shit" I screamed kicking the door.

I slowly went down to sit on the floor. Even though I was locked in this room no one can kill me. I started laughing at Lexi's stupidity. I fell back laying on my back. I put my arms on my stomach and closed my eyes. Lexi must have a good explanation for why I was locked in here.

"She couldn't have locked me in here on purpose" I whispered to myself.

"Well all I can do is wait anyway" I said to myself.

I slowly started to drift asleep until I was woken up by a noise.

"What the hell was that" I whispered nervously to myself.

I knew I had fallen asleep but I didn't know how long. I pulled myself up into the sitting position and stood up. I started to limp over to the door because my foot had fallen asleep.

"Hello," I yelled.

"Congratulations Ben," a deep creepy voice said from somewhere in the room.

"What?" I yelled in complete shock.

"You made it to the final five," a creepy voice said from the darkness.

"Wait how long has it been?" I said confused.

"It's been about an hour," the creepy voice said.

"Who are you and why are you helping me?" I said nervously.

"Well isn't it obvious?" the creepy voice said.

All of a sudden I heard footsteps walking toward me. Then a person who was almost as tall as I was stood in front of me. I was starting face-to-face with this person.

"I am the killer," the killer said laughing.

I screamed and quickly ran to the vault door. I pounded on the door screaming and yelling. The killer started to walk towards me with a long object in his hand.

"Please help" I screamed desperately.

End of chapter 3