¶. I stood on my knees too afraid to make a move. Suddenly, I heard a hollow knock pierce the silence. It was faint, but as consistent as a metronome, I heard those three hollow knocks lead me to a small gap. The walls separating the gap felt unnaturally smooth, and the space between the walls was about the size of my torso, but only if I hugged a wall and sucked in my gut.
¶. I stood there for about seven minutes staring down the darkness contemplating if I had the courage to enter the gap. I had no other options, so I did what I needed to do. I was unable to move my body in a meaningful way. I could only scoot forward in the darkness. The air was suffocating while clostrophobia never left my side. Every time I took a breath, my chest would touch a wall, and my neck stiffened. No matter how long I inched forward, it never stopped. My breath became rapid, but because of the position of my neck, every breath became jagged. Regardless, I inched forward, following the rhythmic knocking. Until finally, my legs gave out.
¶. Before I could reach the floor, my knees hit the wall in front of me, I tried thrashing wildly at the walls but in exhaustion, but I rested my face against the wall. I rubbed my eyes, I thought if I did, I would wake up from this hell. Needless to say, when I opened them, I was still wedged between two walls.
¶. I screamed as loud as I could, but I couldn't even hear an echo. With much less strength, I inched forward, I was too afraid to stay trapped in this place. As I inched forward, I heard the masked man's voice. "Just stop, Reeling". I tried darting my head in the direction of the voice, but all I accomplished was hitting my chin against the wall.
¶. I grabbed my chin with one arm and screamed, "where are you"! He spoke again, "you're not accomplishing anything by doing this". It sounded like his voice was projecting from an old speaker. "Reeling, you're struggling for nothing. This whole endeavor is pointless, ask me to set you free so you can leave already". I felt my eyes widen, my voice was trapped in my throat but I managed to squeak, "we can leave"? After a small moment of silence, the man said, "No". I blurted out, "but you sa-"! He cut me off with a seemingly somber voice, "Just you".
¶. My voice shrunk, "I-i can't leave them". "They're together, trying to solve their own puzzles, they'll be fine". I shocked myself by shouting, "Then why am I here! I felt my voice weaken, "why am I alone"? There was a distinct click sound that signaled the end of our talk, and again, I was alone. I didn't bother with so much as a sigh. I felt the weight of my legs drag as I inched forward. Something about the distinct lack of light and the immovable wall made my nerves unsettled. The darkness made me question what, if anything, was real. Was this all a dream? All the while, the wall grounded me in reality. No dream could feel this real. This smooth, almost metallic, wall griped my hands and reminded me, this is reality. This is real. I heard my steps fall into a rhythm, and as if I was in a trance, I lost all track of time.
¶. A flash of green neon pierced the void and woke me from my trance. A color so familiar, and so comforting I couldn't help but feel at ease. After a brief flutter of blinks, my eyes settled. It was almost like a door of green light. I rushed as fast as I could, and when I broke past the lights, I fell on my knees. I let out a loud laugh, and fell onto my back. I can't describe how freeing it felt to stretch out all my limbs. I gave my limbs one more solid stretch and took a deep breath of air. The room smelled like stale popcorn, and fresh pizza. It reminded me of an old arcade myself, Lucas, Ancel, and Jack would go to everyday after school.
¶. I jumped to my feet and softly asked, "Hello"? I heard no response. The room was empty, but you wouldn't know it with all the blinking lights and random bits of 8-bit music. I saw a row of skee ball machines, and above them there was a weird loop, a skee balls would follow the track and create the mechanical metronome sound. I turned my attention to the arcade cabinets and in the corner of the room, I saw a sillouete.
¶. Of all the people that might be trapped here, I prayed it won't be Jack. I wouldn't wish this fate on my worst enemy, none the less my adopted brother and best friend. I felt a pit in my stomac, a part of me can't help but feel my prayers will be all be in vain. I walked up to the person and contemplated grabbing his shoulder, but settled with saying, "Hello"?
¶. "Hm"? I instantly recognized his grunt. I couldn't help but be overcome with joy, "Jack, what are you doing here"? His eyes were glued on the machine and he instantly brushed me off, "gimmie a minute". He patiently played through the maze game. He manuvered past the mice and got to the next act. With his game complete, he popped his fingers and stretched out his arms, then turned to look at me. I was about to ask him another question but he yawned louder than a boar and asked his own question, "alright, how long was I playing the game this time"?
¶. I looked at him bewildered, "Jack, do you know where we are"? He smiled at me like I was crazy, "the arcade? You okay there, or do you got a screw loose"? I grabbed the ridge of my nose and quickly explained everything that happened. "The only question I have is, why weren't you in a pod"? I could tell he was trying to see if I was pulling some cruel prank or telling the truth, "I-i don't know, I just remember getting lost in the game". I patted his back, "it's okay, we just have to find a way out of this room".
¶. He pointed at the wall opposite me, "I think that's the exit". I was surprised to see a thick steel wall with an arc over it. It had to be the door. I let out a tired sigh, "alright those doors aren't going to open themselves". Right as I said that, the door hastily swang open.
¶. Lucas triumphantly stood with his body away from the door, "see I told you, if you follow me, it'll be smooth sailing"! While he spoke, Meredith covered her mouth with her hands and let tears fall from her evergreen eyes. She ran past Lucas and into my arms. She griped my sides and she whispered, "I thought you were dead". Jamie offered me a smile then shifted her eyes to Jack. Her face turned scarlet, her usual cool demoner melted into a nervous wreck, and immediately threw her eyes to the ground, and settled for a small wave. Jack immediately grabbed her into hug and swung her around like a child. He didn't say a word, but he didn't need to. After he set her down he grabbed, Lucas, Ancel, and Evan by the shoulders and had a loud round of laughter.