4

Sunday, 2:30 am

Due to the chill that crept down their spines, the three tried to stay up for as long as they could. Sadly due to strain they had each put on themselves to avoid the endless amount of temps that had been thrown their way, they were all exhausted.

Maddox was the first to fall asleep after making sure Lily and Sage were handcuffed to him so none of them could leave.

Lily and Sage stayed up only a few minutes longer before they crashed just like Maddox had done. But just because they fell asleep didn't mean they were able to rest.

Maddox's dream started out somewhat normal. He was just out for a walk with the sun burning his skin, a light breeze in the air that blew his hair in face rudely. It was all so normal... until the humming started.

It was a sound he taught himself to hate.

His eyes clenched together as he held his hands over his ears, willing the sound to come to a stop. When he opened his eyes again, everything was different.

The sun was gone, replaced darkness and cold air. The air stood still, not even the slightest breeze to move it.

He was no longer outside, walking alongside the pavement but instead trapped in a dark room. Doorways were cut into the stonewalls making four different exits.

Confusion swam all throughout his mind as he walked towards his left and stepped into an identical room. The confusion doubled when he walked forward instead of to the left and was in the same exact room as the other two.

His heart sped up as he ran into the rooms at random; not even paying attention to the order to which he ran, he just ran. He began to panic after he ran into the tenth identical room and still felt nowhere near close to the end of the map.

He came to a stop abruptly when he noticed something had dripped on the floor. Though it was dark in the endless maze he could make out the words and when he did the humming came back along with the terrible irritability that had recently come along with it.

With his eyes clenched shut and his hands pressed to the side of his head, Maddox slowly walked backward until his back hit the wall behind him. He slid with his mouth open as he screamed, though not a single sound left his mouth as he stared at the wall covered in dark blood.

'Play the game,' it said, 'or die in vain'.

Sage didn't have the pleasure of having her dream start out pleasant, or even decent for that matter.

It began with the feeling of a pounding headache followed by the feeling of being restricted while also feeling something ruff and scratchy rub against her arms. Her eyes seemed to weigh a thousand pounds as she fought, and failed, to open then.

Even though her eyes were closed, she saw a light dancing in front of her face.

She fought again to open her eye, this time succeeding, opening her eyes just enough to peek through her lashes. Her vision was still blurry but she could still see the big picture around her.

The light floated in front of her face, staring right back at Sage as if it were some sort of staring contest. Her eyes grew tired and made her blink before she was able to open her eyes again.

This time the light dropped down to her side, showing her the ropes wrapped around her body, keeping her from moving. She tried to wriggle in the grip of the scratchy ropes but it was useless, they refused to budge.

Her eyes fell closed again. She had to pull all the strength she had to open her eyes again. Her eyes followed the light as it danced around the room, seemingly at random before drifting over to the wall right in front of her.

Her eyes were able to make out something in dark paint written on the walls but the words were lost on her.

She forced herself to blink several times in hopes to chase the blurriness away.

When she looked up again her heart begin to race as she realized the writing on the wall was made in blood. Of course, that in its self is a scary thing, but what made her heart race was what the words said.

'Play the game, or die in vain'.

Without thinking she opened her mouth and let a silent scream push past her lips.

The light grew brighter and brighter until it forced her to shut her eyes. Her scream tried to grow louder but still, nothing came out but silence until her eyes snapped open. She read the words over and over again until the light was too bright and it forced her to shut her eyes for good.

Lily laid with the hand connected the Maddox above her head while she had turned sideways in the bed, her head using Maddox's stomach as a pillow.

She seemed peaceful enough as she slept but her dreams were anything but.

She had just been eating with Sage and Maddox when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly to see what it was but the second she did she wished she hadn't.

The black mass that had been following her around stared at her through the thin piece of glass that separated them.

She watched it closely with hooded eyes and even though every fiber in her being told her to stay away, her body stood up and walked out the door to meet it.

It stood there, on the other side of the door waiting for her the second she opened it and stepped closer to him.

Her heartbeat rose the longer she stared silently at him. His pitch-black eyes seemed to stare into her soul; still, she continued to stare.

She somehow failed to notice when a silver knife appeared in his hand. His arm pulled back before slamming it into Lily stomach.

Her loud scream was enough to make the thing flinch but that didn't stop him from pulling the knife back and stabbing her again. IT stabbed her until all of her blood had leaked out onto the ground and her knees could no longer hold her up.

Its face had no expression or anything that resembled a face yet she felt as if she could tell it was smiling sickly at her before disappearing into nothing but air.

With nothing but her own two legs to hold her up, Lily fell forward and with nothing to catch her she hit the ground harshly. Her limbs began to feel weak as she felt her blood slowly drain out of her body.

Opening her eyes one last time she noticed her blood seeping forward and forming words that she knew all too well.

'Play the game or die in vain'.

With that, her eyes closed for the last.

The three friends lurch forward from their sleep at the same time. Maddox and Sage clutching while Lily wrapped her arms around her body.

They look between each other taking in each other's state, which was similar to the one they were in themselves. Sweaty bodies, messy hair, and pale faces were they look they were all currently sporting.

"Morning," Maddox said, his voice shaking as he tried to sit up but Sage's connecting arm kept him from moving.

"Bad dream?" Lily asked the two as if she hadn't just died in her dream.

"More like a nightmare," Sage finally spoke up.

The three laid back down as they were before. Sage starfishing all over the bed, Maddox laying stiff between the two of them, and Lily with her head on her best friend's stomach.

It's funny how quickly things can change. How things can go from chaos, to calm, to chaos again in just a few seconds.

Their bodies went from still and relaxed to stiff and clenched with just one sound.

As time slowly went on the dreams drifted from their minds. Not just in the sense of the three of them slowly calming down and pushing the dreams from their minds, but actually disappearing from their memory.

Little by little the dreams were gone, leaving only small pieces in its place.