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Teen Writing Contest Winner: "The Game" by Sophia T.

The Game

by Sophia T.

1st Place Winner at the Avon Public Library

 

Her neck was tilted back, her bare arms glowing in the moonlight. Her clothes were soaking wet. Roger held her in his arms as he ran. Her limp body held close to his. Rain poured down on the two as they ran. A wailing scream emerged from the dark forest behind them. Roger closed his eyes tightly and grunted with effort as he ran as fast as he could away from the woods. He didn't want to get caught. Not like her. Not like her, he thought over and over. He ran to the abandoned barn which was where they started their Game. Others emerged from the trees and ran towards the barn as well. He didn't bother looking around him, he just focused on running. The rain blurred his vision as it poured from the sky. It felt as if buckets of cold water were poured over him. He tripped on a rock, but caught his balance and regained his speed. Closer and closer they got to the barn.He saw others gathering close together in the barn. They had lit a fire in the middle the fire casting shadows, making it look as if there it was there.They began closing the doors. NO! Roger thought.

"No no no!", he screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran. Although he could barely hear himself yell through the rain.He broke into a sprint as he strained to keep his strength up just to make it into the barn. Five feet, four feet, three feet. The doors were closing at a rapid pace. Did they see him, were they going to shut him out? No, I'm not going like this, not now, not here! He used the remaining strength he had and forced it all into the last couple of steps to make it into the barn. As he crossed the closing doors, they closed with a loud thud that echoed throughout the barn. He fell to his knees not able to hold himself up anymore. His hand was shaking as he gingerly placed the girl's limp body on the cement floor. His hair wet as it stuck to his forehead. He looked around at his surroundings. The fire in the middle which three or four people gathered around, and then there were him and the girl. The two people which had closed the doors walked around them and sat next to the fire. They were all soaking wet as they shivered by the fire waiting to be warmed by the heat. Everyone tried to stay calm nobody bothered to talk, they just sat and shivered, from the cold, and the horrors behind the two big wooden doors. Some people lay on the floor eyes wide open petrified of what they had encountered. It was dead silent besides the licking and spitting of the fire. Roger heard footsteps running toward the barn the gravel crunched under their feet, it was at an uneven pace as if they were limping.Then a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. There were pleads of help as the person banged their hands on the barn door. People doubled over and covered their ears as tears rolled down their cheeks. Others just stared at the door. Roger, who was leaning against the door yelped and fell forward. Almost crushing the body which lay motionless in front of him. He fell gasping for air. 

"Please, please, please! Open the door! I can't, no not now! No! No! NO!", she was cut off with an inhuman cry which sounded from all sides. She pleaded more but it did no good. No one dared to open the door. They were all frozen in fear. No one could bare anymore. The girl on the other side of the door was experiencing something horrific, something that she wouldn't survive. The banging ended when there were sounds of something being ripped apart, with the screams and sobs of the victim. Everything fell silent. A moment later there was a low laugh which escalated into a high-pitched hysterical laugh. No one moved, it was as if someone moved, the creature would discover us here and deliver us the same fate. A moment later which felt like an eternity, the laughing died down, now there was a low chuckle as there was a sound of something being dragged away. The scraping of their heels against the gravel. They all sat in the same position for who knows how long. Not daring to move a single muscle. But finally, Roger gave in and slumped to the ground. Breathing heavily he turned to see that others had followed suit. He lay on the cold cement floor next to the girl who was motionless on the ground. He closed his eyes and was unable to open them again. Despite the gruesome scene that had played out sleep overtook him. The next morning he woke up, every inch of his body ached. He grunted as he struggled to sit up. The fire had died out, and there were bodies scattered across the floor. Some were awake, others, he couldn't tell if they were dead or not. He tried to think back to how they ended up in this situation. It had been because of a Game. They had started out with at least fifteen people and were left with six or seven. He did a quick count and saw it was only to be about seven. He shifted his glance to the girl he had carried. He didn't even know the identity of her. Dark black hair covered her face. Her eyes were fixed at him, frozen in fear. Her lips were dark purple, like smeared lipstick. Makeup smudged from the rain. He didn't quite recognize her at first. But later realized that this is the girl that his friend Zack kept nagging to him about. How perfect she was, how great, how sweet and kind. He just began to calm down, before there was a scraping noise in the gravel outside the big wooden doors. His breath caught in his throat. Everyone stopped and stared. People started to get up slowly not making any noise. They steadily made their way to the wall of the barn, trying to hide behind anything they could.

"Hehehehe", a high pitched laughter muffled behind the wooden walls,"come out come out wherever you are......Don't worry....I won't hurt you...", the last words that were spoken in a low menacing tone. It echoed throughout the big building. Roger scooted to hide in a hay pile. He peeked out through the cracks in the straw. There was more laughing, and people were struggling to find places to hide.

"Come out from there little children... I know you're in there..", more hysterical creepy laughter, "If you won't let me in", it took a long breath in, "I will let myself in", now the voice sounded like a completely different person. A second ago the voice was high pitched and eerie, now it is a low, disturbing, and demanding tone. Someone in the building was running around frantically, not able to find a place to hide. He didn't recognize him. His skin was pale as snow, and his eyes were wide with terror. He paced around the building, mumbling something to himself. There was more laughter and then a hard thud against the door. The boy who was out in the open stood and stared, horrified of what would come next. There were a series of thuds, the wooden creaked as it was hit time after time. Roger heard pieces of wood flying off the door and hitting the ground. Then there was laughter, even louder than before. Except for this time, it wasn't muffled by the wood. There was the sound of wood rubbing together as something crawled through the opening. There was silence until the creature began lifting the wooden plank to open the doors. It was dark in the barn, so it was hard to see. The cracks in the roof were the only light source. But it was enough light to see what happened next. There was a sound of the wooden plank being dropped to the floor and metal against concrete. The metal being dragged against the rough material, making a nasty noise. It stopped midway and snickered.

"Ooooh, look another one I can add to my collection", the last word sounded distorted. The noise of metal against concrete continued. There was the same laughter, except it was directly in front of him. He could see the figure standing a foot away from the haystack. It stepped forward and swung something over its head.

 "GOTCH'YA!", the creature blurted out, breaking the silence, the word bounced around making his blood boil. His heart was beating fast, his breaths heavy. He began to feel sick to the stomach, his breathing distorted and labored. Then there was a sharp pain, against the top of his head, it was there only for a second, everything went dark. He fell to the ground, Roger didn't even have time to scream. It was Game over.

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