Darkness consumed Leslie. His clothes turned to dust and his flesh disintegrated. Soon, the only thing left of Leslie the IT Engineer was his bloody bone.
Hal froze in place. His mouth opened wide. He was too shocked to move.
Richard grabbed Hal's shoulder and pulled him back before the shadow reached him.
"Run, motherfucker! Run!" Richard shouted.
It snapped Hal out of daze and he picked up his feet to run as quickly as he could. The group was quicker than the shadow but darkness lingered behind.
It would catch them if they slowed down even for a little bit.
The sun went down lower and the moon raised higher.
The group went past Leslie's house in the second ring. They spotted the amulet above his door was broken into pieces, laying on the porch of the house.
Charles, Hal, Richard, Eric, Jody noticed it right away. Edith and Ida were too busy running to pay attention.
"Oh my… My legs are going to give up." Ida the Old Woman groaned.
Edith held Ida's hand all the way and helped the old lady move. "You need to try your best, Ms. Linfield. You can't give up."
Eric ran into his house. The barrier stopped the shadow outside.
They reached Edith's house.
"This is my house…" Edith bit her lips. She looked over to Ida.
Hal pulled Edith's hand away. "Go! I'll help her!"
Edith nodded and ran to her house.
The people of the second ring had entered their house safely. Only Hal, Mick, Richard, Ida, and Jody were left. Their houses were in the middle.
"Run, Ms. Linfield. Run!" Hal grabbed her hand and they both ran.
But Ida the Old Woman really had not a lot of stamina. She slowed down and breathed heavily.
"I can't… Just leave me…" Ida let go of her hand but Hal grabbed her again.
"You can still do it!" Hal shouted.
"Ah! These idiots." Richard went back to them and grabbed Ida in the waist. He carried her sideways and ran. "I got this! Move your butt, Hal!"
The rest of them continued running. Richard was pretty strong so he didn't slow down much while carrying Ida.
They got to the town square and got to their houses. Richard dropped Ida at her house before returning to his.
Everyone safely entered their house. The only casualty was Leslie the IT Engineer.
His body was there and his soul was still in the dream. He woke up to see himself floating aimlessly with a transparent body.
He, however, had no legs, only a floating smoky ghost tail.
Leslie looked down at the ground and saw his skeleton.
He let out a huge sigh.
"What a waste! I am a loser in life. And now I'm dead. A pointless death."
Suddenly, a loud mysterious voice came over the space. His tone echoed like bell ringing in a church
"Is that so, Leslie Norton? Is your life really pointless?"
Leslie's ghostly body trembled. He looked up to the sky.
There was no sun nor moon, only a towering shadowy figure with a pair of illuminated golden eyes looked down at him.
"You! You are?!" Leslie's tone shook.
The figure opened his palm. Leslie's ghostly body was pulled above the sky and fell into his palm.
"What I am is not important, Leslie Norton. What is important…" The figure pointed his giant shadow index finger at Leslie. "Who are you?"
"Who… Who am I? I'm dead…"
The giant figure laughed. "Do you want to be resurrected?"
"You can do that?!"
"Of course. But you aren't truly dead. Your original body is still in Naara, the city of advancement and violence.
Only your soul is in my realm."
"You… Are you a god?"
"Do you want to know, Leslie Norton? Do you truly want to know?"
Leslie's ghostly body shook. He uttered, "Yes…"
"No, Leslie. No, you don't. This time I won't grant you what you wish. Instead, I will resurrect your body so you can take part in my game once more."
The figure lowered his hand to drop Leslie back to the town.
"Wait! Can you answer my questions?" Leslie shouted.
"What do you want to know?"
"You… Are you the one who dragged us here?"
"I am."
"You… You aren't human, right?"
"I am not."
"Why did you drag us here? What is the purpose of this game?"
The figure smiled. His smile looked like a crescent moon appeared in the sky.
"You already know that. But I guess it can be confusing. This is the game of destiny. The game to show you your true destiny.
The winners of this game shall be rewarded by me. Power, influence, wisdom. The three most prized possessions any human can have.
It shall prepare you for what is about to come."
"What is coming?" Leslie said.
"Danger. Danger, my friend. Threats from outside the border of your world."
The figure shoved Leslie down back to the town. He grabbed Leslie's skeleton and fused it back to Leslie's ghostly body.
Leslie's vision was distorted and everything faded to black. When he opened his eyes again, Leslie had found himself back at his house. His coin floated gently right in front of him.
Leslie gulped and grabbed the coin.
Suddenly, a voice flooded over the entire town. It was the voice of a woman. She sounded mechanically and cold like a machine. She didn't sound human.
"First night has started.
All deceased players are resurrected to their spawn points.
No resurrection shall happen again after the first night. If you are killed for any reason, you shall stay dead.
Roles shall be distributed soon…"
Everyone's ears perked up.
After what happened, they had realized that this wasn't a simple kidnapping situation anymore. They were caught in a web of the supernatural that they could never anticipate.
"Resurrected? Does this mean Leslie…" Hal's brow furrowed.
"Resurrection… How can this be?" Charles mumbled. He had never believed in the supernatural. But now, he couldn't deny it.
"Roles?" Mick squinted her eyes.
Anna stood at the porch of her house to look out to the deep dark town outside. The barrier was still there.
Ida the Old Woman laid on her butt and gasped for air.
Jody clenched her teeth. "What is this bullshit?"
Edith was surprisingly silent. Her eyes stared into the void.
Richard laughed out loud, finding the situation more interesting.
Eric rubbed his chin. "Leslie…"