Chapter 15 #2
Why exactly had we only been given five minutes to get ready? I quickly stepped onto the metal platform beside Tyler and Claire, and Sadie and Parker both gave me small, nervous smiles.
The full minute hadn’t even gone by yet when the disembodied voice spoke again.
“There is one final trial left. The trial will begin tomorrow morning.”
Only one last trial?
Excitement rose up inside me. Did that mean if we survived it, then we were free?
I was suddenly hit with a wave of nervousness as well. The last trial was sure to be the most difficult, and I didn’t look forward to seeing what was in store for us.
But that also led me to my final question. If the trial was tomorrow, then what were we supposed to do today?
“You will be transported to a place where you can relax and regain your strength before the final trial,” the voice answered my question a moment later. “Enjoy your day.”
Transported to a place where we could relax?
My body began to hum, and I quickly shut my eyes for the flash. A few moments later, I opened them again and looked around.
We were in some sort of large, open room. Almost everything was white, except for a couple potted plants in the corners and a few strategically placed photos of flowers.
Directly in front of us was a large reception desk, and a familiar little robot was manning it. Just to our right was a long hallway, and on the wall next to it was a sign with several words and arrows pointing in different directions.
I read down the list.
Pool area, snack area, mud room, sauna, bathing area, massage parlor…
To our left was a different sign with more words and arrows.
Theater room, sports center, lounge, bedrooms…
Was this some sort of resort? It certainly seemed like it. Were we actually supposed to relax, or was this another situation like the beach day? We all thought we were supposed to relax, but it was actually, secretly, one of the trials.
I did another quick sweep of our surroundings, and I certainly didn’t sense anything off about this place, and there were no feelings of warning in my gut… so maybe this really was supposed to be one free day to relax and forget our troubles.
I’d been so deep in my own thoughts that I hadn’t realized the others were silently watching me, waiting to see what I thought of all this.
Even Kyle lingered in the area, though he tried to pretend he was simply looking around.
“Well, what do you think?” Tyler finally asked when we made eye contact. “Do you think it’s safe? Is it actually what they claim it is?”
“It definitely feels legitimate,” I replied with a shrug. “So, I guess go have fun, but remain vigilant.”
Tyler shot me a grin and gave me a quick nod before he quickly tugged Claire away toward the sauna.
“Do you want to go check out the bathing area?” Parker turned to Sadie with an excited smile. “I don’t know about you, but I could go for a good cleansing.”
“Sure,” Sadie agreed with a look of surprise and delight. “A bath sounds really nice right now.”
“Liam, would you like to come with us?” Parker offered, and she raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips to show she was only teasing.
“You two go on ahead,” I chuckled. “I want to check everything out first before I get too comfortable.”
They both nodded at me before they ran off down the hallway together.
Which left me and Kyle.
I wasn’t about to try and have some weird bonding moment with the guy, so I quickly made myself scarce and wandered off down the left hallway. The corridor was extremely long, bare of any decoration, and just as white as the lobby area had been.
The first door I came to was to my right, and it had a small sign next to it that read ‘Theater Area’. I pushed open the door and stepped into the room.
The inside was massive, and it didn’t maintain the same sterile color scheme as the outside. The walls were all decorated with red, velvet curtains, except for the very back wall, which was completely dominated by a massive, white screen.
Along the wall closest to me, there was a counter filled with various snacks, chips, and candies. Beside the counter, I saw a machine for fountain drinks, as well as a popcorn machine filled with freshly popped, buttery kernels.
In the center of the room was a long, cushioned sofa, complete with blankets and plush pillows. And the sofa’s dark color was in stark contrast to the soft, red carpet that covered the entire floor.
The room looked like any movie lover’s dream, and I was eager to see what else was in the resort.
I exited the theater and continued down the hall. To my left, I found another door, and this one led into what looked like a basketball court. I opened the door, stepped inside, and then realized there was a lot more than just that.
Beyond the basketball court was another court with a massive net at the center, and off to the side were various balls and other sports equipment: rackets, badminton birdies, a volleyball, and tennis balls.
I quickly left the room and continued down the hall to see what else I could find.
I hadn’t gone very far before the hallway opened up into a space that looked suspiciously like our common room on the space ship. It even had the same styled sofas and positioning.
Was this supposed to be the lounge room?
Past the open space, the hallway continued, and I quickly moved through the room to see what else was down there.
The next section of hallway had a series of doors on either side, and I was sure I’d found the bedrooms.
The doors were positioned exactly how our bedrooms were on the spaceship, except there were only six here instead of twelve. Either way, I expected the inside of the rooms would look the same as our other rooms, but when I opened one of the bedroom doors, I was surprised to see they were different.
For starters, this room was far bigger than the one I was used to, and the bed was much larger as well, easily a king-sized mattress. The room wasn’t sterile white, either, but instead it was a soft, baby-blue color.
Along with the basic bed and dresser combo, there was also a lamp and rocking chair in the corner of the room and a small bookshelf along one wall. This room also had an attached bathroom like my other one had, but this restroom had a larger shower and more grooming supplies than the other.
Even though it was still a foreign place to me, it felt far cozier than the room I’d been staying in had.
I poked my head inside each of the bedrooms, and they were all styled exactly the same, except each one had a different color scheme. I wondered if we’d actually be staying the night here or if we’d get transported back to the ship to sleep.
I kind of hoped we’d be allowed to stay here because those massive beds looked insanely comfortable.
I continued down the hall, but I didn’t see any other doors, nor did I recall seeing anything else listed down here on the sign in the lobby. And yet the hallway just kept going.
Why have a hallway if there was nothing it led to? Wasn’t that a waste of space?
I was just about to give up and turn back when I noticed something strange ahead. It almost looked like a soft glow, but it was really thin, like light that slipped through a crack.
I paused and carefully shifted to the right slightly.
The light disappeared.
I shifted back to where I’d been standing, and I could see it again.
Then I shifted slightly to the left.
The light disappeared again.
I shifted back into place, and there it was again.
There was something behind that wall, and if I hadn’t been exactly where I was at the moment, I wouldn’t have even noticed it.
I slowly approached the strange light, and as I moved closer to the wall, I could hear muffled sounds coming from the other side.
It almost sounded like talking.
I pressed my ear to the wall to see if I could make out what was being said, but I couldn’t pick out anything I understood.
What was this, some sort of hidden room?
I couldn’t find any obvious spot for a doorknob, and there weren’t any other doors around that I could see.
Could this wall panel be slid open somehow?
I moved to the spot on the wall I’d seen the light slipping through, and when I stretched out my hand to touch it, a strange, warm feeling tingled at the tips of my fingers, and the entire wall slid open.
What the hell? What had just happened?
The voices I’d heard were much louder now, but they all spoke at the same time, overlapping each other, and a lot of them spoke in a foreign language.
I peeked my head past the doorway, and I was surprised to see a massive room that was empty except for one, lone chair at the center. There weren’t any windows or decorations inside, and instead the room was filled with wall to wall monitors. Each one was sleek, thin, and obviously alien tech.
But the stuff playing on the screens wasn’t.
I moved further into the room, and as I studied each screen, I realized they were playing news broadcasts from all over the world.
I stood in front of one screen and watched as a burly man sat in front of the camera and spoke Russian. A few seconds later, the camera switched to show nine people, four women and five men, as they ran for their lives away from a massive avalanche.
A few screens over, it looked like a news report from Brazil was being aired, and it showed two women sitting above a massive glass dome. And below them, it looked like three different men were fighting for their lives against small creatures that looked suspiciously like viscerids.
As I looked at each monitor, I slowly realized that I was watching the contestants in the alien games from other parts of the world.
I’d heard a rumor that the aliens had made the same announcement about the games in every major city everywhere, but until now, I didn’t realize how big this actually was.
I guess it was also safe to say the broadcast the aliens had mentioned was not only for themselves, but for everyone in the world to see. How else would news outlets have gotten this footage?