After walking for a while, Warhound led them up the wooden stairwell. It was full of holes and missing parts, one wrong move could cost your life.
Because of this, Warhound had to wait for them at certain points. "You guys take too long" He threw a loose rock at one of them, causing them to fall further back.
He sighed, laying himself down "Alright, how about a story to pass the time?"
"There was once a kid named Timothy Howard" He begun.
Jim sighed when he heard the beginning, "Not again"
Warhound looked at Jim, throwing a rock at him. "No interrupting the story!"
He settled back again, "He was just about your ages. His father fairly known for being indebted to us, so he sold him off!"
He slowly moved up as the group began making progress. "His father was a fighter, and so was he"
He trailed his nails across the walls as he went up, "And so he tried escaping the hole"
"And so he moved at night"
Pheo raised his head, the story piqued his interest.
"Of course, he wasn't able to escape" He chuckled, "I'm the one who roams at night after all"
"But he ended up somewhere far worse than in my hands, no, he ended up somewhere no kid should ever be"
Warhound looked behind to see all of them, "Right in front of the cage of a beast. Beam's cage"
Pheo shook still, it was the same as his dream.
"Beam was a beast barely controllable by us, the monster under your bed, the one who rules your nightmares, and the one who Timothy faced that night"
He looked at Pheo, laughing at how scared he was. "Thinking nothing of the warnings, Timothy reached out to the beast."
"He stared him down, unknowingly challenging the monster."
Warhound reached out his hand, "And in one swift motion..."
He grasped the air and pulled as hard as he could.
"Gone, Disappeared into the dark. Blink and you'll miss it"
While others were too busy finding a way to follow Warhound, the others were genuinely scared.
Like Pheo.
Someone patted him in the back. It was Jen, the girl who pushed him earlier.
"Don't worry, it's just a story to scare newcomers" She reassured him.
If it was, then what did I dream of last night?
It felt so real, as if he was living as Timothy at that moment. But it wasn't him that was in control, it was Timothy.
Eventually, they ended up at a large cafeteria, decorated with multiple rundown picnic tables and lightbulbs that hung on loose electrical wires.
Above were wooden scaffolding where the other wardens were, watching every move they made.
"Isn't it infuriating, how it only takes three people to keep us in here?" Jug went up to Pheo. "It shows just how much of a difference awakenings make"
"Welcome to the cafeteria!" He shouted out while spreading his arms out.
Parquatz scoffed at him, he stood from the table and faced them. "Anyways, split yourselves between two groups. One cooks for lunch and the other for dinner"
"Simple enough?" He asked them one-sidedly.
Parquatz looked at Warhound "You sure that's all of them?"
"Don't think any of them could get past me" He answered while locking the group inside the cafeteria.
He squinted his eyes, then continued to eat. "Not like they can get far anyways"
"Alright" Warhound looked around, then pointed at Jim. "You lead the group now"
He then grabbed one of the many bars, swinging around the scaffolding to make his way next to the wardens.