The Golden Hotel

Ferris Wheel

While Maxine led the way through the park, Hans was planning on getting to know more about Faith, but Theo grabbed this opportunity to speak with her. Catching up to them, he towered beside his best friend and snatched her right arm, slightly pulling her close, which startled her. This protective action got Hans frowning but his expression was unnoticeable, masking his real emotion. He nearly had her attention!

"I need to talk to her real quick." Theo darted him a stern gaze, sending warning signals.

For Hans, he seemed to be drilling multiple holes into his body until all of his blood had drained down the pipe, shriveling his skin, killing him. One thought rolled through his mind: Stay away from the lady. But he wasn't the type of guy who would easily surrender and wave a white flag during the war. Gearing up for a little challenge wouldn't hurt.

Unaffected by his hostile behavior, Hans threw a warm smile, nodded and left their side.

"So what's up?" Faith turned to her best friend. "Something the matter?"

"I wanna tell you something."

"And that is?"

"After the game."

"How sure are you that one of us isn't gonna die today?" She gave him a broken smile—a pained one. "Tell me now. I won't laugh or judge you if that's what you're thinking."

Theo dropped his gaze on his pair of white sneakers before pocketing his hands in his jeans. The only reason that he could think of was his strong gut feeling. He was just dead set on believing that their turn had yet to come as if an invisible force had been telling him the right answers, whispering every now and then. Maybe the main reason was his positive side, combating the horrible situation they got themselves into. What if one of them really died today? There were unspoken words waiting to break free but his tongue touched the roof of his mouth.

Internally scolding himself for being such a total coward, he pressed his lips together so tight that it almost disappeared. He remained silent, busily sorting out his feelings and decisions that he easily forgot about her question. Since Faith had received no response from him, she did something that she wouldn't do unless she was with her significant other. As if a daring spirit had possessed her body, she took his left hand and slowly laced her fingers around his, giving it a gentle squeeze, hoping to melt his worries away. It was effective. He looked at their connected hands before lifting up his eyes to her. There, her irresistible smile was on display, urging him to allow his thoughts to flow down the stream. He often made a habit of drowning himself in his thoughts whenever he had troubles with expressing his feelings.

It all started when he was five years old. A bunch of mean kids from their neighborhood decided to randomly pick on him when they spotted him cheerfully carrying a blue balloon. He was alone at the children's park. They attacked him with rude remarks, saying that balloons are for girls and he stole it from one of their friends. Fingers were pointed at him. The smile on his face got instantly wiped off. He couldn't defend himself as they constantly pelted him with accusing words. This made him grow timid and cautious around people through time. Of course, it didn't last long when he met Faith who had moved in with her family just one block away. She had always been sweet and kind to people, but whenever the situation called for it, defending him from those bullies preying on him had become her number one priority. In return, he would always be there for her anytime and anywhere.

Just when he was about to part his lips open, the large volume of water collected in the dark rain clouds abruptly showered down, soaking everyone wet. Faith and Theo ran off towards the group to keep up with them.

"Aw, man! This sucks." Jared removed his black varsity jacket and used it as a substitute umbrella, but it didn't help much at all. His clothes were still drenched. "How much farther are we?"

"Just up ahead!" Maxine picked up her pace, trying to avoid tripping over an uprooted root. "We'll encounter a tall chain link fence crawling with poison ivy. But there's nothing to worry about. The plant is dead."

His posture slumped. "For a second there, I thought we're gonna deal with skin rashes for days."

"That could possibly happen, but I'd rather not have it happen."

"Point taken." Jared inaudibly spoke with Hans before moving closer beside her. "I don't wanna think about searching the whole hotel for a limited stock of antidote."

"It'll be a test of trust and friendship. Before you know it, everyone's gonna point fingers at each other."

"You've been proven innocent already so . . ."

"You sure about that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no." He shook his head. "We didn't see you back there."

"Exactly." She faintly smiled. "You gotta see to believe."

Finally, the eleven players arrived at the mentioned fence. No one could see the other side due to the branches and leaves covering their only range of vision from above. Maxine voluntarily parted a portion of the poison ivy plant and an arched passage way was revealed. One would assume that the killer had grown a maze garden to quench his thirst for games. Thankfully, it wasn't the case. The minute they went through one at a time, they found themselves gaping at the sight before them.

A 100 ft. Ferris wheel built with the hardest known metal in the universe--chromium--stood proudly with its high-class round cabins surrounded with tinted glass windows. The beams supporting and connecting each piece looked sturdy enough and the exterior design made it seem like safe to ride, but, they knew the danger it held. Their feet were rooted on the muddy ground and their throats went dry. Nobody wanted to move nor approach the death machine.

Maxine wanted to volunteer on behalf of everyone but Jared extended his left arm in front of her, stopping her from going. They quietly communicated with their eyes until she gave up. Letting him the opportunity to contribute to the group, he hurried his way to the control station located at the right side of the Ferris wheel. He climbed a few steps up to get to the platform while everyone kept an eye on his every movement. In a single heartbeat, the control panel came into view. He stopped with an iron grip on the silver handrails and his insides began to churn. There was a laminated note on top of the multiple colored buttons and he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe how he had volunteered in place of her. Now that he was standing there alone, what if another trap was planted somewhere around him?

Jared hissed. "Let's get this over with!"

It took a lot of courage for him to pick up the laminated note. He speedily read the step-by-step instructions for today before letting out a staggering sigh. Eyeing the control panel, he reached out for the key inserted into the keyhole at the upper left corner and twisted it. Next, he pushed the only red button aligned with it and flicked a few switches on. Machines whirred from the distance and the Ferris wheel began to rotate clockwise, somewhat swinging the cabins as it moved. He rushed down from the control station and made his way back to the group. If he had stayed any longer up there, his fear for his life would have made him pee in his pants.

"What's next?" Daren said.

"After a full turn, we'll hear from the killer, but we gotta move fast entering each cabin, or else, we're dead meat."

"No one's gonna operate the Ferris wheel?"

"Nope! The Ferris wheel will only stop turning when the game ends. Whoever's gonna die today, will surely be missed."

Burning those words in their mind, the players unwillingly approached the u-shaped queue line with a heavy chest. As they did, the same harsh screeching noise coming from the speaker box rang in their ears; it came from one of the Ferris wheel's beams. Even though the sound of the heavy rainfall was louder, they managed to clearly hear the killer's altered voice. Jared motioned everyone to quickly fall in line as the next instruction was being dictated.

"Please proceed inside in this order: Yves, Olwen, Theo, Hans, Jared, Faith, Maxine, Klein, Kacey, Daren and Meg."

The moment the last name of the player was mentioned, the first cabin stopped in front of Yves and the door automatically opened for him. He quickly lurched himself inside, afraid to displease the killer and be punished for it. Nobody really knew what would happen if they fail to get inside the ride on time. Nobody really wanted to know.

It was given.

Olwen was supposed to be the next player to enter her cabin but the Ferris wheel skipped the second cabin. Instead, the third cabin stopped in front of her and opened its door. Through this demonstration, everyone had an idea about how far apart they were from each other. They weren't surprised nor confused. As long as they knew how the killer worked, it was fine to assume that they saved themselves from overthinking.

After she stepped inside, the same sequence was repeated until two of them remained.

"Daren!" Meg held his hand, and he turned to her. "I-I'm sorry for what I did earlier. Are you still mad at me? I was only trying to see if she's manipulating us."

"Look," he quickly glanced at his approaching cabin before looking back at her, "we can talk about this after the game, all right?"

"But what if—"

Once the door to his cabin opened, he swiftly pecked her lips and let go of her hand. Meg frowned. She badly wanted to pull him back and apologize again, but her only option was to wait before she could redeem herself. But what if her chances of survival for today was very slim? One of them could be the next victim and that deeply bothered her. It really did.

With a heavy feeling in her chest, she quietly watched him enter and disappear from her sight.

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Inside the first cabin, Yves restlessly paced back and forth while gripping his wet hair. His face had turned pale and his limbs were trembling. It was so bad that his bipolar tendencies almost clawed out, but he battled it in by taking a deep breath and slowly blowing the air out of his lungs. Inhaled and exhaled. He did this repeatedly until the tingling sensation in his stomach receded. However, it gravitated back when the killer's distorted voice reverberated in his cabin. He snapped his head upwards and found a squared-shaped speaker box at the upper left corner.

"Hello, players. Before we begin the third game, let me congratulate each and everyone of you for surviving this far. No one died at the park . . . but that will change today."

At the middle of the cabin, there was a three-foot podium with a touch screen device installed on the flat surface. But that was not his main concern. Wrist and leg shackles hung on each side of the podium and thick electrical wires were attached to it. To make it worse, he was still soaking wet from head to toe. The rest of them was. Mixing water and electricity together was a very bad combination. One could easily faint or die in a snap of a finger.

The killer did this on purpose.

While he or she continued to dictate the last instructions, Yves and the other players did what they were told to do: wear their shackles and focus their eyes on the screen. Missing out to hear one or more words could cost their lives. Every small detail was important.

"This game is very simple. Fill in the blanks with the correct letters to find the answer to your individual riddle. You only have four minutes to search for it. Begin!"

"Huh?" Yves tore his eyes away from the screen, finding the killer's words strange. "Search for it?"

Without warning, he was swallowed in darkness and he couldn't see a thing. Only the screen in front of him emitted some light. He waited for a while until the lights were switched back on, but, the color of the LED bulbs changed. The lights had turned violet and the walls were flooded with jumbled letters glowing in blue. It felt like he was having a good time of his life in a neon party.

Yves traveled his eyes around the violet cabin. He came across some scrambled letters written like this: UOY OSULHD EID, I LATHOE OYUR AKNRF OTUMH, ESE YUO NI LEHL, AYP TENTONITA OT LAESITD, UKCF FOF ITINNSIVESE HTIBC. Whoever wrote those words was full of hatred. The blue strokes were like the scratches from a ferocious cat who couldn't get what it wanted from its owner. He didn't have the time to unscramble all of it but his gut feeling was telling him that the answer to his riddle was somewhere on these walls.

Focusing his attention on the screen, he began reading the riddle aloud:

I'm the fifth born.

I'm lanky but my child has a curve.

I'm one of few produced from the lungs.

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I've been beaten and burned but for the better.

I have many descendants that have been passed on one to another.

Just beat me and burn me again.

Then I will continue to make you more refined.

Olwen occasionally chewed down on her lip as she drummed her fingernails against the screen. She read the words in red color again and again until her brain wanted to burst out of her skull. Her riddle was difficult to guess no matter which angle she looked at it from and how painfully she desired to rearrange the letters on the walls. Two words. Four and three boxes. Only the letter R on the second box of the first and second words had been given. As a lawyer, she had tons of knowledge when it came to memorizing vocabularies. If she could only open a dictionary to refresh her memory, she would have done it, but it was called cheating.