Are You The Complete Player?

DO YOU WANT TO ESCAPE?

CHAPTER NINE: DO YOU WANT TO ESCAPE?

Days after the WIC TV channel appeared on televisions all over the world, the worldwide frenzy about the safety of the professional tennis players in the competition seemed to have already died down. It was as if people all over the world were starting to accept the reality that there was nothing they could do to save the players they adored. Only the family, relatives, and friends of the missing players still talked to their respective local governments, which had been working nonstop to figure out where the WIC TV transmission was coming from, about the possible whereabouts of the missing players. They agreed for an investigation to be conducted and they consented for detectives to search for any clues from the stuff left behind by the missing players. But there wasn’t any significant progress at all. Although some players had mentioned something about an e-mail they had received, detectives hadn’t found any suspicious e-mail from anyone’s account.

           The rest of the world, however, seemed to have decided the broadcast was for mere entertainment, and a conspiracy that the professional tennis players signed a contract to join a reality contest of some sorts, but they were really still alive somewhere when they get eliminated, started. For this reason, fans all over the world started picking their favourites. Aside from the top-ranked players who already had a huge fan base, Marco Torres easily became one of the fan favourites because of the stripping challenge. It won him the hearts of many female fans, young and old, all over the world. He also caught the attention of gay men worldwide who had never cared about tennis before they saw him strip. They all agreed that Marco Torres’ body was “to die for.” 

           Over in Adelaide, Australia, Astro Lindahl’s hometown, people grieved in agony witnessing Astro’s shocking death on national television. His mother was inconsolable. People felt sorry for her, but everyone convinced themselves the death wasn’t a real one. Astro Lindahl simply had just lost and bowed out of the tournament. Ukrainians shared their distaste all over the internet for the “tennis bad boy.” For them, he was a bully, and it was his loud mouth that killed him in the end.

           In London, ever since Kathy Murray’s tragic death, her and Adam Evans’ parents had gotten close, bonded by the tragedy. Everyone in the country was hoping Adam Evans would be the one to make it out alive. Brits were beginning to adore Joanna Kaminska from Poland for showing kindness to Adam despite his lack of willingness to live. 

           People were also digging the Lucija Babic-Pietro Romano-Selene Argyros drama, and the intriguing history behind the marriage of a black French player Artem Bondar and Ukrainian Galyna Bondar. Swedish and Canadian people all over the world wept when lovers Liam Tremblay and Freja Larsson, died tragically in back-to-back episodes.

           But the two players that caught most viewers’ attention were Carmella Cortez from USA and Krytupas Pavlis from Lithuania. They felt for Carmella, who was trapped in there only because of her desperation to find her brother. Krystupas Pavlis, on the other hand, wasn’t famous worldwide for his tennis accomplishments as his career didn’t really takeoff as predicted because of multiple serious injuries that had hurdled his success. But together, they were a solid team. People had started shipping them with each other. The KrysMela tandem was gaining more fame the longer the competition went on. If Krystupas Pavlis didn’t gain much success as a professional tennis player, he was certainly becoming one of the most popular household names because of the WIC competition.

           Shortly after Astro Lindahl’s tragic death, people were already holding their breaths for the fourth official game. They could only hope KrysMela would manage to make it to the final eight....

***

           “Wake up, Krys. Come on! We don’t have much time!”

           Krystupas woke up to Akira Tanaka frantically shaking him. 

           “What?” Krystupas asked sleepily. 

           “During Liam Tremblay’s memorial, Miroslav gave us instructions. For those who want to escape this place, I mean. You want to escape, right? We need to be at the hallway in 15 minutes. I’m leaving this place whether you join me or not,” Akira said.

           The word “escape” roused Krystupas awake. Of course, he wanted to escape.

           “Who’s coming with us? Do you really believe there’s a way to escape this place?”

           “Well, we have to at least try. There wasn’t anything about the rules that said we can’t attempt to escape,” Akira responded.

           Krystupas had already memorised the rules by heart. Akira was right. It didn’t mention anything about being “eliminated” if they try to leave the place.

           A shiver ran all over his body when he realised maybe it was because WIC knew it wasn’t possible to escape. Whatever WIC was, they obviously had powers of some sorts. They could convert the place into whatever they wanted and could make stuff appear or disappear out of thin air. They couldn’t possibly be run by an ordinary, psychotic human being.

           But still, Akira was right. They had to try.

           “I’ll meet you there,” Krystupas said. He then hurriedly ran to Carmella’s bunk and woke her. She was mumbling something as if she was having a horrible dream.

           “Carmella! Wake up!”

           Finally, Carmella opened her eyes and noticed his face so close to hers. For a moment, she thought he was the ghost of Astro Lindahl, but hearing his familiar thick European accent made her recognise him. He explained breathlessly how they would try to escape, and how Miroslav was leading it. She listened to him intently seeing the desperation in his eyes. 

           “I’m not leaving until I know where Will is,” she said adamantly.

           “You’d rather die in here or do some sicko challenge than leave?” Krystupas asked in disbelief. “You can’t be serious!”

           “I knew when I boarded that flight that I might die trying to find out what happened to my brother, but it’s a cause I am prepared to die for,” Carmella said with finality. “Go. I don’t intend to hold you back, but I am not leaving this place until WIC tells me where my brother is. This is my only chance to see him alive again.”

           Carmella started sobbing, though she was trying her best not to totally crumble. “Go!” she said.

           “Pavlis, are you coming or not?” Crina Aldea spoke. They didn’t realise she was already standing there watching them argue. She was glaring at him, and she looked ready to go without waiting for his answer.

           Krystupas looked at Carmella once again, realising for the first time, that she was serious about not wanting to leave. He didn’t say anything more. Instead, he tried comforting her by placing his hand on her back gently while she cried softly. 

After a moment of silence in the air, he faced Crina, and shrugged helplessly. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. Disappointment was written all over Crina’s face. She left, whispering something that sounded like “i***t”. Carmella looked up at Krystupas, shocked and moved at the same time by his decision to stay by her side. 

           Outside the WIC lair and safely in their homes, people’s hearts were melting while watching the scene. Krystupas wasn’t going to leave Carmella alone even if it meant being stuck in that hell forever. People had started believing in their romance-filled hearts that they were watching the sweetest love story ever unfold right before their very eyes…

***

           Miroslav counted all the players that decided to join the escape plan he had orchestrated. Marek wrote the name of everyone present in the hallway. There were 21 other players who showed up, excluding him and Miroslav. Gavro, Dragan, Artem, and Galyna came as expected. Emerson, Lev, Aksel, Maxim, Eliyaz, Drew, Pietro, Selene, Lucija, Hana, Joanna, Adam, Adela, Keavy, Marco, Crina and Akira also showed up. 

           Players like Mira and Grace knew about this escape plan but chose not to risk their lives. They didn’t truly believe the escape attempt would be successful. Other players who didn’t come to Liam’s memorial weren’t informed of the plan, so they didn’t come either.

           “It’s important to note to all of you here that even if this attempt fails, we aren’t technically breaking any rule. It is why I invited you all here to join me. I’m sure you already have thought ahead. Judging by the rules, it is obvious WIC is expecting only one winner. Which means every one of us here will be ‘eliminated’ except for one…” Miroslav addressed the players in the hallway bravely. “You know me. I am very competitive. But that’s only on the tennis courts. I wouldn’t want to win a tournament at your expense. I want all of us to make it out of here alive.”

           “What makes you sure this speech won’t get you killed though? Remember what happened to the last player who tried to make a speech?” Marco asked sarcastically. He looked bored, flipping his lighter on and off.

           “Maybe you just enjoyed going naked way too much and you want more,” Keavy Filan from Ireland snapped at him. “We’re going to die here, one by one, and if it doesn’t scare you whenever you sleep at night, then you’re a total psycho.”

           Marco just laughed it off.

           “Are you guys sure we aren’t being watched right now?” Artem asked nervously. 

           “I’m really not sure,” Miroslav said. “But I figured lights off is the best way to try to escape. If the WIC staff ever sleeps, it’s during this hour.”

           There were 22 pairs of ears listening to Miroslav’s every word. They all knew what was not being said aloud. This was their only real shot at escaping, because if they fail, WIC would surely modify the rules and add something about escape attempts being prohibited.

           “Marek and I have been exploring this place by ourselves or together sometimes, and I saw a room that looked like a storage area. It is one of the rooms in this place that never disappears unlike the others. I was going to lead us all there and try to break that down. Maybe there are weapons or tools we can use there. But then Drew here came to me earlier with an even better idea…”

           Everyone shot a glance at Drew who looked uncomfortable being put in the spotlight. 

           “Tell us what exactly you found Drew,” Miroslav told him.

           “I… I saw a room. I saw a room that… it looks… it looks like it opens with a password. I was thinking maybe some of you guys would know what the password is. I mean, some of you answered WIC’s trick questions correctly,” Drew said, stammering.

           “Well, I tried to get Krystupas Pavlis to join us here but… he’s kind of an i***t. I guess everyone here already knew that,” Crina said bitterly.

           Emerson laughed at the shade. But then noticed who else was missing.

           “Maybe we can still wake Carmella Cortez,” he suggested. “She might know.”

           “No,” Hana disagreed. “We already wasted too much time. Any moment now that creepy voice will come back. There is no need to wake more players up.” Hana was surprised by her own bravado to speak, but she didn’t have any patience left for Emerson’s constant need to mention the wildcard’s name every chance he got. Hana already wanted to escape badly. WIC was making every one of them like a puppet on its strings.

           “Lead the way, Drew,” Miroslav said, seemingly agreeing to Hana.

           The players formed two lines. One was led by Drew and the other led by Miroslav. They walked in what seemed like an endless archway following Drew’s lead. If escaping was as easy as typing the correct password, it was worth a try.

           After what seemed like an hour, they finally stopped to a strange-looking room with a black door. It had a signboard that said: EXIT. But the door was locked, and a password was required to open it. 

           There was also a sticker beside it that said: “There is no room for error.”

           “Can’t we just kick it?” Dragan asked. Without waiting for an answer, he tried. But it wasn’t budging. Gavro and Marek decided to help. Then, Artem joined them hesitantly. Still, their combined strengths weren’t enough to break the door down.

           Joanna’s eyes were closed thinking of a possible password. They had to guess what W.I.C. stood for to get the door to open. But she couldn’t think of a possible meaning for the acronym.

           “Are you OK?” Adam whispered at her.

           “Yeah, I’m just thinking what the password is,” Joanna replied. “Maybe there was already a hint from all our challenges so far?”

           Adam’s face went red. If only he wasn’t too busy grieving for Kathy for most of the challenges they were forced to play, maybe he could have been more useful to Joanna.

           “I think we need Carmella Cortez. She saved Adam and Charlotte Adams once because she knows the answer to so many things,” Adela whispered. “She’s, like, a genius. Maybe she would know.”

           “Or she’s working for WIC,” Hana said. “I don’t trust her.”

           “I do,” Lucija said. “I should have woken her up before coming here. I guess I’m just as selfish and desperate as everyone here.” She glared at Selene and then at Pietro. She hated that she had to be in this escape attempt with a snake and a pig, as she now referred to them in her head. She wanted nothing to do with either of them anymore.

           “Maybe we can burn the door?” Crina suggested when she saw the guys were having no luck breaking the door down. “Torres has a lighter.” She looked at Marco and noticed he seemed to be talking to himself. She realised he was trying to think about what the password could be.

           “Let’s just try typing something. Anyone?” Drew suggested, glancing at anyone with ideas. 

           “May I borrow that lighter, bro?” Lev said to Marco. Maxim grabbed it from Marco when he didn’t speak nor make a gesture to hand it over.

           “Here, bro. I think strip king is also deaf or mute. Which one is a word about someone who can’t speak?” Maxim asked, as he handed Lev Marco’s lighter. The other guys laughed at him realising he was truly lost in thought as if he was really seriously asking that question and not trying to be funny.

           Lev took the lighter and mumbled a silent prayer for it to work. He lit it nervously and watched as it started burning the door just above its knob. For a second, he worried that maybe it was a magic door and fire couldn’t destroy it. But it seemed to be working.

           “Guys! We’re getting out of here!” he cried happily. The decorative carved wood seemed to be burning. They were going to destroy the exit door and escape! He was excitedly looking at the other players and did not notice that the fire was getting bigger and bigger.

           “Oh god, Lev, stay out of the way!” Joanna screamed when she noticed how ominous the fire had gotten and how dangerously close Lev Ivanov was close to being consumed by it.

           But it was too late. Upon glancing at the door, Lev’s life flashed before his scared eyes when he realised he was going to burn to death. 

           “Stay back!” Miroslav, shouted pushing everyone out of the way as they witnessed the fire eating Lev Ivanov alive.

           Aksel Olsen cursed hard and screamed helplessly for his friend’s name. “Lev! Somebody, help him! Lev! No! Lev! Help him!”

           Eliyaz pushed Aksel out of the way fearing the fire would reach him, too.

           “We will try again another time, guys. In the meantime, RUN!!!” Miroslav screamed so loudly it sounded like a roar.

           Everyone scrambled to their feet running far, far away from the blazing exit door.

           Nothing was left of the mighty and kindhearted Lev Ivanov from Russia…