REBEL'S CRRY: House O' Slaughter

Linda's eyes narrowed as she pondered the ominous setup. "Why are fire extinguishers placed at every corner?" she wondered. Her gaze swept the room, searching for any hidden dangers.

Her thoughts turned to Emily's horrific fate. "Why did they trap her behind glass? Was it to toy with us, to make us watch as she succumbed to fear?" Linda's mind racing with questions, she wondered if there had been a way to save Emily. "Was there a button, a switch, something to stop her from being sucked down?"

Her introspection was shattered by a chilling scream: "Ahhhh—!" Linda's head jerked toward the sound, her heart racing. She frantically scanned the room, her eyes locking onto the spot where Sarah had been standing.

Sarah was gone.

A section of the floor had swung open, swallowing her whole. Linda's breath caught in her throat as she rushed toward the hole, her mind reeling with dread.

Linda, Kacey, and Fay rushed to the hole, but before they could react, a glass floor slammed shut, sealing the opening. The sound of rushing water filled the air as the underground shaft began to flood.

"Sarah!" Linda's desperate shout echoed off the walls.

The water had risen to Sarah's waist, and she was struggling to stay afloat. Linda turned to Kacey, who was already gripping the fire extinguisher, a look of confusion etched on his face.

"Kacey, hit it!" Linda yelled, her voice laced with urgency.

Kacey hesitated, recalling Linda's previous instructions to wait until Emily was almost drowning. But Linda's tone brooked no delay. With a resolute nod, Kacey raised the extinguisher, ready to strike.

Kacey's thoughts were shattered by Linda's urgent cry: "Now, Kacey!" With a fierce battle cry, Kacey slammed the fire extinguisher into the glass: "Haaaaa!" The sound of shattering glass filled the air.

Linda's hand shot out, stretching toward Sarah's. A relieved smile spread across her face as their fingers intertwined. But as Linda tried to pull Sarah up, she realized that Sarah's weight was overwhelming, as if she was pulling two bodies.

Kacey rushed to help, grasping Sarah's other hand. Fay joined in, adding her strength to Linda's. Together, they heaved, but Sarah's body seemed rooted to the spot, as if an unseen force was pulling her down.

The water continued to rise, its surface churning with increased ferocity. Sarah's screams grew louder, more desperate. With each passing second, the gravitational force pulling her down intensified.

"Ahhh!!!!" Sarah's cry was abruptly cut off as she was sucked into the darkness.....

*

EPISODE 10: UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

*

Linda, Mike, and Fay stood paralyzed, their faces ashen with shock. Though their hearts ached with the possibility that Sarah and Emily were gone, a glimmer of hope remained. The room was heavy with silence, punctuated only by the labored breathing of the three survivors.

A single, haunting question echoed in their minds: "Who's next?" The memories of Sarah and Emily's terrifying ordeals were still seared into their minds. It had been mere seconds since Sarah was sucked down, and Emily's fate had been sealed just moments before.

Linda's eyes dropped to the floor, her body tense and ready to spring aside at the slightest hint of movement. The floor seemed to be waiting, a silent predator poised to strike.

The intercom's sudden roar shattered the silence. "GAME OVER!"

Mike's voice trembled with confusion. "What game is over?"

The intercom's response was detached, devoid of emotion. "You three will advance to the next level."

Linda's face contorted in rage. "You,..bitch! Tell me what you've done to those two!" she screamed.

The intercom's tone remained icy. "Are you inquiring about Sarah and Emily? Those girls are already....."

***

Whisky's head throbbed, his mind reeling as he scanned the room. They had started with nine, but now they were six, with three already fallen. His thoughts turned to their desperate situation. "When will we send the distress signal? We've come so far, but our chances of escape are dwindling. Maybe only one or two of us will make it out alive."

A promise he had made to Sarah echoed in his mind: to be by her side, to protect her. Whisky's gaze fell upon the closed, locked door. "But how? I'm on the other side, separated from her. When we entered that room together, there were no traps. They must be okay... for now. I need to find a way back to them."

Determination coursed through Whisky's veins. He stood up, his eyes burning with resolve. "I wont let anything get in my way."

"Whisky, what's with the sudden standing?" Crystal asked, eyeing him curiously.

Whisky's tone was low and even. "I'm tired of waiting. I need to finish this."

"Look who's talking," Travis said with a smirk. He stood up, his smile growing wider. "You're always at the center of the drama, for every blockbuster lm with you, bro."

The group had been waiting for almost an hour since the gravity-defying ordeal. They assumed they were being given time to rest, a fair reprieve.

Suddenly, Whisky shouted, "Heyyyy!" The others turned to stare.

"Hey! You, in the background!" Whisky yelled.

The intercom roared to life. "Whisky!!! What is it?"

Whisky's response was laced with impatience. "I'm tired of waiting. What's next?"

The intercom crackled with amusement. "Are you missing your pals on the other side, or are you asking what's next on the bloodbath agenda?"

Whisky's smile was cold. "Bloodbath? That works too."

"Whisky," Travis said, his voice low and urgent. Whisky turned to him, and Travis nodded towards the entrance they had been sucked through earlier.

Whisky's eyes widened as he took in the sudden change. The walls, once a dull grey, had transformed into transparent glass. The door, however, remained solid and unyielding.

As Whisky's gaze swept through the glass wall, he spotted Linda, Kacey, and Fay on the other side. But his heart sank as he realized Sarah was nowhere to be seen.

Linda's eyes widened in shock as the walls in front of her transformed into transparent glass. She stumbled backward, her gaze fixed on the scene unfolding before her. On the other side, she saw Whisky, Travis, Mike, Crystal, and a few other injured students, some of whom lay motionless on the ground.

"Hey!" Linda shouted, "Over here!"

Kacey grasped her arm, his voice low. "I don't think they can hear you."

Undeterred, both groups tried to communicate, their voices raised in a futile attempt to breach the soundproof barrier. Crystal shouted, "Lindaa! Over here!" but her words were lost.

Linda approached the transparent wall, her footsteps slow and deliberate. Whisky mirrored her movements, his eyes fixed on hers. As they reached the wall, Linda raised her right hand, pressing it against the glass.

'How thick is this glass?' Linda wondered, her mind racing with thoughts of escape and reunion.

Whisky mirrored Linda's gesture, placing his left hand on the cold, transparent wall. Their eyes met, and for a moment, they just stared at each other, a silent understanding passing between them.

Linda's gaze never wavered as she pointed downward with her left hand, her right hand still pressed against the glass. Whisky's eyes followed her gesture, and he saw her mouth a single word: "Sarah."

A shiver ran down Whisky's spine. What was Linda trying to tell him? Was Sarah dead, buried beneath?

As he watched, a tear rolled down Linda's cheek, and Whisky's heart sank. 'No, please don't tell me Sarah is...' The thought hung in his mind, refusing to be completed.

Whisky's terror-stricken thoughts were abruptly shattered as the floor beneath him suddenly gave way. He plummeted into darkness, his stomach lurching as he fell down a seemingly bottomless shaft. The sound of screams filled the air, a collective "Ahhh!" echoing through the rooms as sections of floors dropped where one was standing as everyone vanished from sight.

The floor's collapse had swallowed everyone whole, erasing them from the two rooms in an instant. Whisky, somehow, remained calm, his mind racing as he hurtled through the darkness.

He then landed hard on his face."Ahh, what did I land on?" he groaned, his eyes slowly focusing.

To his shock, he found himself face-to-face with Linda, their lips touching in an accidental kiss. Whisky's mind reeled, "What's happening here?" Linda thought, mortified, "Can't he just move?"

Just then, a faint voice whispered, "Whisky." He lifted his head, his eyes locking onto the speaker. It was Sarah, her expression a mix of relief and concern.

Whisky's thoughts swirled, "What? Did she..saw.?" as he struggled to process the surreal scene unfolding before him.

*____

"NEXT TIME: HEADS-UP"