Chapter 2: The Eight

While the grinding, yet not that loud sound filled the air, as the hidden doors were opening, through the crack slid an unassuming individual. Undoubtedly a nerd, with black, bowl-cut hair. A pair of glasses on a small nose belonging to a boyish face. A thick gray hoodie and simple jeans completed his look.

He stopped right after escaping the confinement of his temporary prison to stare at Sam, who returned the gesture in silence. Seconds flew, as both refused to say a word, only glaring at one another.

„Hi," Sam finally decided to speak. The curiosity of finding the answers gnawed at him, yet the cold, hard reasoning told him this youngster was in a similar situation to his, which meant he had no answers. Still, there was no harm in trying.

„Hi. Who are you?" The teenager asked, measuring his words.

His face expressed a reserved mix of curiosity and anxiety. Eyes wide open, tensed muscle, slightly opened lips. Even more said his fingers, tightly clenched on the sleeves of his hoodie.

„Sam. My name is Sam. What's yours?" Slowly relaxing, Samuel decided to take the lead.

„Evan. What is this place? Who are you? Why am I here?" The boy clearly found some courage, as the question burst out of his mouth. He even took a few steps forward, before stopping, realizing that the stranger he was speaking to, could be a potential danger in this unknown situation.

„I have no idea. I just awoken there," Sam pointed toward the room he escaped, making Evan look there as well. „I barely got outside, before this door opened," his finger moved to the still-opening entrance of Evan's confinement.

This caused the teenager to frown. His eyes wandered down, to the cobblestone, generously sprayed with sand, right under his feet. He was thinking. Trying to find a solution by going through the sparse intel both of them collected, but as nothing emerged, he raised his eyes, once again focusing on Sam.

„I think there might be more people. Judging by how big this wall is, and the fact that our rooms were all the way to the right. There is enough space for eight in total if you look at the gap between mine and your rooms," Sam pointed out. „ I know you are scared-"

Although Evan originally followed the described observations, looking over his shoulder at the wall, as the last words reached his ears, his eyes moved once again to Sam. „I'm not scared," he interrupted. „I don't trust you. I don't know who you are. I have no idea where we are, or what is going on. I only met you now. How could I trust you? You could be dangerous," he pointed out with a voice as cold as an iron sword, beheading the conversation, and causing the silence to fall upon them.

They stared at one another for a moment, which was interrupted by the familiar noise of a gasping mechanism, followed by a metallic moan, clanging, and finally the grinding of stone against stone. The third room had opened.

Spooked, Evan moved further away, to his right, trying to maintain the distance between himself and Sam, while constantly looking at the slowly opening part of the wall. Soon, shaking, bundled up, as if she wished to be as small as possible, a girl emerged.

She was a blonde, with slightly wavy hair reaching her shoulders, a cute face, and blue eyes. She wore a school uniform over her fragile frame. Short grey, checked skirt, with a beige, deeply cut, sweater which would show her cleavage if not for a white shirt poking from underneath it. A red, loosened tie was wrapped around her collar, with white, thin diagonal lines creating a pattern. Above her black shoes, she wore leg warmers. Her hands were hidden in the long sleeves of her sweater, and she held them together, pressed against her chest.

„H-helo?" she squealed with a voice so weak, that Sam barely was able to understand the word.

„Hi. I'm Sam, and this is Evan. We just awoken here, so if you want to ask us where we are, or what is going on, you might save your breath. What's your name?" Sam said, taking the initiative. His voice was rather harsh, hinting at the frustration born from the lack of understanding of the situation.

„M-my name is Mia," she replied, focusing her eyes on him before she looked at Evan, who confirmed the words with a slow, but clear nod.

Then she looked around, for the first time taking in the magnificence of the glorious reliefs surrounding them. Her mouth opened involuntarily, showcasing her awe, then a shiver shook her body, as she realized the grim situation. Fortunately for her, the feeling was chased away by more primal fear born when the gasp of mechanism. It hit her from the left, causing her to jump.

While turning, she took two steps back, witnessing the fourth hidden door slowly opening.

All three stared at it curiously. Soon, the gap became wide enough to squeeze through, but only a head popped out.

As the blonde individual looked around, spotting them looking at him, he decided to emerge from his room. „Hi there," he threw with confidence.

He was tall, with broad shoulders. An unbuttoned pink shirt allowed them to see the outline of his chiseled chest. His long legs were wrapped in white suit paints, ending with also white loafers. His blue eyes were set in the handsome frame that his face undoubtedly was. A few earrings in both ears completed the picture.

„I'm Sam, this is Evan, and her name is Mia, what's yours?" Sam repeated the slightly modified greeting.

„Jordan. I'm Jordan. Would you mind telling me what is going on?" He asked with a disarming, wide smile while scratching the back of his head.

„Oh nothing, we just casually decided to teleport to another world to have a tea party," Evan informed, keeping a blank expression. Anybody could tell he didn't like the guy from the moment he saw him.

Sam partially shared his feelings. Strangers could never be deemed trustworthy, no matter how nice they looked, so he also kept some kind of reserve toward everybody, but contrary to the younger teenager, he was trying to avoid showing it with any blunt displays. „Nobody here has any idea what is going on. Or at least that is what they said," he explained

„I see..." Jordan said, looking around, seemingly ignoring the sarcastic reply from Evan as he witnessed the magnificent, epic art surrounding them. He didn't show any signs of astonishment, which hinted at his indifference toward this type of expression. „Are you sure?" His gaze returned to them, stopping at the first target – Sam, who seemed like the most suitable person to hold a conversation with. Mainly due to him taking charge in the form of the greeting.

„Why would I hide it, if I knew anything? Just like you, and the rest of us here, I awoken in a room," he pointed at the place he emerged from. „Then I approached this fountain as I was looking around. There was nobody here to greet me. I was the first, but that doesn't mean I know any more than you."

„Relax. I'm not trying to interrogate," Jordan raised his hands as if he was the one surrendering. He smiled, and his words were laced with empty laughter as if the previous sentence was only some kind of joke. „I'm only trying to figure out what is going on."

'He is so full of shit…,' Sam noted in his mind.

„Maybe if all the doors open, we will be able to figure something out," Evan mused, looking at the rest of the relief covering the wall.

As if to answer his call, the mechanism gasped, spooking Jordan, who jumped, spinning on his heel to witness, the slowly opening hidden doors, accompanied by a measured clang of gears, and grinding of stone against stone.

All four watched in anticipation until the gap became big enough for somebody to squeeze through, but this time nobody did. They had to wait a moment longer until the space became wide enough for the one trapped inside to simply walk through.

It was a man. Brunette in a white shirt and black suit pants – clearly a salaryman. Tall and at the same time thin. A blue tie was wrapped around his neck, and a pair of glasses decorated his rather plain face.

„What is this place, who are you?" He asked, with a tone of voice laced with anger, as he scanned through them all. „If this is some kind of stupid joke, I'm warning you..."

„It's not a joke, Dad," Jordan interrupted him, „so there is no need for scolding. Apparently, nobody knows what is going on, so ease your anger. Besides, we aren't your kids to dump your frustrations on us. Now… What's your name?"

The rude response, caused the salaryman to squeeze his fingers into a fist, as his brow frowned simultaneously. He even bared his teeth, only to hide them, as the fury subsided.

„A bit rude, but he is right. Nobody knows what is going on… At least not yet," Sam decided to speak, to ease the tension. „My name is Sam, This is Evan" he pointed with an open hand toward the teenager with the bowl cut, before his hand switched to the girl, „and this is Mia. The rude guy is Jordan. Now, what is your name?"

Taking a deep breath to fully calm himself, the man spoke. „I'm Kenji. I would say it's nice to meet you, but there is nothing nice in those circumstances," he pointed out, his gaze shifting to Sam. „Did you try to look around? Maybe there is some way out of here?" As he asked, his eyes moved around, causing him to raise his eyebrows, as he witnessed the splendor of art decorating the surrounding walls.

„Not yet. We only got out and started talking, when the doors began opening, and more people came out," Evan informed. His expression relaxed a bit.

As if to confirm his words, another door opened, announced by a gasp of mechanism, followed by the moan and clang of gears, before the grinding almost overtook the realm of surrounding sounds.

As soon as the gap became wide enough a woman squeezed through, groaning, as she had problems with fitting in the gap due to her substantial bosom.

She was a blonde with a mane of wild hair, partially covered by a cowboy hat she wore. She was beautiful. Her face seemed to have been carved by a master artist. Full, pink lips, shapely nose. Earring with a small red stone in both ears. She wore a white shirt with a red checked pattern, partially buttoned but not enough, so that her white bra could peek over the open clothes. The shirt was tied at the bottom to show off her sculpted stomach. Full hips tucked into tight denim shorts and sneakers on her feet completed the look.

„H-hello? Where is this place? Who are you people?" she asked, her brow frowning. The jumping gaze hinted at the fear she must have been feeling.

After a deep sigh, Sam responded. „My name is Sam, this is Evan, this is Mia, this is Jordan, and that guy over there is Kenji. Before you ask for any answers, we know nothing. We don't know where we are, nor do we know what is going on," he recited.

„You should write that down. It will be easier to show than to repeat it over and over again," Evan murmured with a grin on his lips.

Everybody ignored him.

Sam's words lured the girl's gaze. She responded after a brief pause to digest what he said. „I'm Lily," she informed shortly, before crossing her arms on her chest, squeezing her bosom while she looked around at the magnificent art.

Her visual exploration was disrupted by a mechanical gasp. Moan, clanging, and grinding, all announced the next door opening. Soon a shaved head popped out through the gap.

Shocked, the owner of this head stared for a second, before squeezing the rest of his body through. This individual was handsome but had a rather square face, with a sharp jawline. He wore a green, obviously military T-shirt, draped over a sculpted body. If that was not enough of an indication of his line of work, his long, khaki-colored trousers and sturdy boots definitely were.

„Who are you people?" he asked.

„Nobody knows what is going on here," Lily informed.

„My name is Sam, this is Evan, this is Mia, this is Jordan, that is Kenji, and this is Lily," Sam reiterated his mantra yet again, pointing at every person. „We don't know what is going on. Right now we are waiting for all the doors to open. Judging by the available space there is only one more. Hopefully, then we will learn what is going on," he ended with a sigh.

Evan snorted upon hearing the litany of names yet again. He shook his head in disbelief.

Swallowing nervously, baldy nodded. „I'm Bradley, but everybody calls me Brad. Have you looked around? There has to be a way out of this place," he concluded sweeping the surrounding massive walls with his gaze.

No one was able to answer his questions, as the mechanical gasp lured their eyes toward the last part of the wall. With a moan, followed by a clang, the gears began turning, soon filling the area with the sound of stone grinding against stone. The gap appeared, but this time they were forced to wait much longer until the door opened fully. Only then a tall man in a black suit stepped out. A blue, wide tie was disappearing under the jacket. His black hair was adorned with gray, suggesting his advanced age. Polished patent leather shoes on his feet and a gold watch on the wrist hinted at wealth.

„Where am I?! Do you have any idea who I am?! There will be consequences to this joke!" He said with a loud, beaming voice, laced with fury.

„This is not a joke, you corporate asshole, and we all are on the same boat," Lily snorted, giving him an angry look.

„Nobody knows what is going on here, sir," Brad spoke out in an attempt to disarm the rising tension, that was inevitably going to lead to an argument. „Your room was the last one. Maybe now something will happen?" As he asked, he also swept the surrounding walls once again.

Sam did the same, and so did the others.

„Who the hell even are you people? Who kidnapped me?" The suited-up individual asked, ignoring the words he just heard.

„Are you deff? Nobody knows," Jordan said. „They said that maybe something will happen if all the doors open, but they clearly were wrong. We should look around."

„My door opened when I approached it. If it was the same in your cases, maybe we should approach other walls?" Sam suggested, taking the first step to immediately pause.

The ground started to shake.