━━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄!
❪ run, rabbit, run! ❫

( warning: specific descriptions of acid injuries; please be careful. you have been warned )

⋆        𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 all separated ━ the teenagers taken by the Gravedigger's phantoms struggling to escape their restraints. The cold breeze rushed against the teenagers' skins. Shackles were wrapped around the victims' wrists, and the blindfold covered their eyes, taking their sight away. They had no idea where they were, feeling dragged to a new area where everyone knew they would suffer.

William was silenced; he couldn't find his voice to protest; even if he tried to, he would be threatened with the sharpened side of the knife against his throat. He turned his head to find that Abby was knocked to the ground, but no Sedona was in sight. William turned to face the phantom that restrained him, but when he turned around, no one was around. Instead of dwelling around, he rushed over━attempting to limp as little as possible.

"I tried to stop them, but they were..." Abby said, her voice becoming silent. William nodded and helped her to her feet. He heard a muffled soft sob, and William noticed Vanya was on the ground.

William went over to help her up, trying to heave up both the sadness of Vanya and her body. He knew they had tried to stop the phantoms, but there was no hope. Hell, he didn't even try to stop them. William shook his head as he attempted to focus again. Abby helped Vanya lift her on the other side, and William now could see the fresh cut on Abby's arm. William quickly grabbed his tie and wrapped it around the cut, trying to stop the constant flow. Abby quietly thanked him, her voice not strong enough to seek a voice. Vanya wasn't brave enough to speak, and William understood.

The harsh reality was starting to settle in for the rest of the teenagers who weren't taken. Three of their friends were most likely to die.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do!" Vanya said as she whispered. William swallowed, trying to think about the situation. In a way, it would cost three lives instead of one ━ however, it didn't cost three lives, as there would always be three standing at the end. It's only a matter of whoever would stand at the end.

"I━I don't know..." Abby said as she bit her lip, tearing the mouth's layer slightly as it bled softly. Before she continued to speak, she turned her head towards the ground. It was a strange shine from the moonlight, but that didn't cause her curiosity. Abby noticed the broken glass and looked towards the two, hoping they knew what this meant.

William bent down, wincing as the knee shook when he bent it. Abby moved slightly as if to catch William in case he fell. Vanya glanced around their surroundings, ensuring no one was around to ambush them. William raised his eyebrow as he noticed the broken shards leading them somewhere. Abby pointed towards a glass trail leading to a note covered in blood. William cautiously approached the note before noticing a symbol on it. He gasped as he got up quickly, ignoring the pain in his leg. It was the Gravedigger symbol, which William had noticed on his waistcoat when he spoke to them beforehand.

"For those that aren't taken, your challenge starts now. Your friends must complete a job, and the Gravedigger wouldn't want you not to be busy. You see, you have voted three spirits into a challenge to regain their lives. But those you didn't pick are angry at losing the chance for redemption. So your challenge is to survive the night if you can... Run, rabbits, run," William said as he read the note on the ground, afraid to touch it. His right eyebrow raised slightly, wondering what it meant, before he turned to the others, eyes widening.

"Wait, they don't mean..." Abby said, looking at Vanya, who was shocked.

"Our dead friends are going to hunt us all down like rabbits.

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗜𝗗𝗡'𝗧 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 people touching him, especially if they were strangers, although the restraints on himself would only get him hurt. So he decided to quieten down, even if it was out of character. He supposed it was a chance to observe his surroundings, and it allowed him to recall most of the blueprints of the manor ━ hoping that it would provide some help. Finally, he was dragged to a stop, and Ivan had a chance to look around to see where his friends were. At first, he could have sworn that he was alone, but then he could see a dark blue dress material, and he gave a sigh of relief.

"Eleanor, are you okay?" Ivan said as he tried to turn his head, thinking the captor would stop him, but he felt nothing. It was as if they had vanished into thin air. He was confused, thinking it was merely a shadow, but he felt the fingers digging into his skin as he was dragged.

"Ivan, is that... Is that you?"

"Sedona? Are you also okay?"

"Where even are we?" Eleanor said as she shivered, feeling the cold grass graze her skin, some with sharp edges that gave little cuts into her arms. Ivan took a glance around as Sedona did the same. They were outside, but Ivan didn't know which part of the gardens they were in. He turned around, trying to find the manor to figure out their direction. Knowing that the manor was their lighthouse, it seemed hopeless, even though it was dangerous, as if they were to crash among the rocks.

"These trees, these fucking trees, are giving me bad feelings. What are we supposed to do?" Sedona said as she got up, turning around slightly on the spot. Eleanor followed her eyes, looking around at the pine trees.

"Wait, do you remember when we were out on the balcony, and we were looking out at the pine trees?" Eleanor asked Sedona, who raised her head slightly, connecting the dots. "I think that's where we are right now."

"So, what are we supposed to do? What are the rules, the challenge?" Sedona said, her tone hinting at stress, and it didn't take much to understand why. Ivan knew it wasn't hard to understand; she loved too hard for a confession to come easy.

"It's strange..."

"What do you mean? Strange?" Sedona said as she looked at Eleanor, who had her arms close to her chest, trying to stop the goosebumps on her forearms.

"Think about it, we would just have one of us die... But this is different; this is forceful. We might die without saying goodbye to our friends," Eleanor said as her lips trembled, and Sedona sucked in a breath. She was worried about Abby and regretted not telling her the words that had lingered in her mind for so long. Sedona was angry at herself for not saying these words softly to her.

"Let's not think about that; we just need to focus on winning so we can return to them, okay?" Ivan said as he turned around and noticed a note nailed on a tree trunk. He approached the tree, cautious of the ground in case traps were beneath the dirt. When he reached the tree, he suddenly had chills up his back. He tore the note from the nail as he turned to read it to the pair.

"For those that are taken, your challenges start now. You have three tasks to try to please the Gravedigger to keep your well━being. Your first task is at the back of the page... But be warned. The three spirits that have been successfully chosen are trying to regain their lives and will not stop at anything to stop you. There is only one rule that you should follow, and that is: only one person shall be in each task, and you shall not use that one person again. Good luck, and don't let the Gravedigger down; he loves a good show."

"Why do these ghosts write these letters as in the 18th century? It's so fucking━" Sedona said as she sighed before shaking her head to herself as she paused, breathing slowly. "Okay, whatever, just... What do we need to do?"

"According to this note, the first task is on the manor's main garden, a small field. The Gravedigger has a coffin out in the field. The perimeters are between those trees over there ━ the driveway, and fountains are over there," Ivan explained, and the two girls nodded before silence fell between them. They wondered which one of them was going to begin the challenge first. Sedona looked at Ivan, noticing that Ivan was rereading the note.

"There's a catch. We must do this fast; we have a head start over our friends."

"We have to do this quickly before they catch up to us. Who's good with maps?"

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 all started to run, not knowing which direction to go. Despite William's leg threatening to give out, he wasn't going to fall victim to the spirits; he wouldn't give up his last breath.

"Where the fuck are we supposed to go?" Vanya said, panic rising in her voice, hidden amongst her pants. They have yet to see the evil spirits nestled in their friends' forms, and instead, it seemed that time was taunting them with their lives; it wasn't a fun game.

"Anywhere, just away from them. Otherwise, we are dead! It's just an insane game of hide and seek, while instead of getting caught, it's getting hurt," William said before ducking behind one of the small fountains. He grabbed the others down with him as they became silent, their eyes darting around in the darkness. Abby was confused before William swallowed as his eyes froze on something behind the fountain's structure. The silhouette of a slender person was lurking around the half━stone walls of the gardens that surrounded the fountains and the structures. The eyes of the silhouette seemed familiar, as it once held peace and solitary.

"Oh my god, is that━"Abby started to speak, but William raised a finger to his mouth. His hands were shaking from fear, knowing they would see their friends again, but with no figments of their familiar personalities, and instead, rage.

Vanya didn't know who they were talking about until she heard the sound of chains. Chains were being dragged on the stone floor, scraping and creating sparks. Vanya dared to take a look. The crook on Darling's neck was enough to tell the story.

"We need to get inside; outside is too vast; they can get us easily," William said as he looked towards the others, but they weren't sure about the initial plan.

"What if she sees us and gets the others? We can't run that fast," Abby said as she looked at the pair. Her eye contact lingered on William's for a second longer before she looked away, feeling embarrassed. William's throat tightened, and he felt hurt, but then he shook his head, assuring Abby that he understood.

"Run, rabbit, run, rabbit..." Darling started to sing, but her throat was hoarse due to the adjustments from the fall. William held his breath, but he looked towards the pair, showing an urge of urgency was needed for a plan.

"It's slightly dangerous, but it will have to do. There's no other safer way than this route," Vanya said as she pointed to the stairs near the hedges. It was a path they hadn't gone through, but it did head towards the manor, only a slight difference in route. William nodded while Abby looked behind her, noticing Darling approaching their hiding spot. "But if anything, we need to go now."

Before they took one last look at Darling, whose body hadn't been fully revealed yet in the light, but they recognised the crooked head all too well, they took off. Their footsteps echoed as they ran up the gardens' stairs and across the stone━paved path. They could hear someone chasing them, but they weren't risking a chance to look back.

The path led to a small patio decorated with gardening pots and wilted flowers. William didn't recognise this area, and panic started to rise; he tried to look around to see if there was anything familiar. However, before he could check on the pair, he was granted chains around his ankles, and he fell hard onto the ground; the two girls had already run far ahead to see that he had fallen. He turned on his back and made eye contact with the person who got him.

The boy that he fell in love with stared right back at him.

"Samu, please, no, don't do this," William said as he tried to get away from Samuel, pushing his palms against the ground. Samuel's mouth was covered in black blood, some drooling onto the ground, which gave William flashbacks from the last time he had seen Samuel alive. He crawled, trying to get out of Samuel's grip.

"Samu, please, I love you, please don't━" William gasped as he hit a stone wall. His chest heaved quickly, eyes full of tears as he turned his head, waiting for his skin to be scarred again, but nothing came. He slowly turned his head towards Samuel, who had stopped moving and instead kneeled in front of William. William could see the eyes he held dear to him; they were pale but showed no sign of life. Yet, William could see the innocence and slowly raised his hand to place it on his cheek. Samuel didn't move, and a tear rolled down William's cheek.

William slowly got out of Samuel's grip as he was still, keeping his eye contact trained on William. William was confused, but he didn't give up and picked up the pace, running in the same direction as where the girls went. He looked back, noticed Samuel was standing, and then walked in the opposite direction.

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗗 to go first, seeing she had the most map expertise. Ivan had argued that he wanted to go first, but Eleanor wasn't going to back down, and Ivan finally obliged as he watched Eleanor step out into the field. Eleanor inhaled, slowly walking through the grass as she glanced at the map, trying to figure out where the coffin was. She turned around, looking at Sedona and Ivan in the distance as she pushed forward. Eleanor understood that they had a headstart, so she started to run in a direction she hoped was correct.

Eleanor knew of maps. She studied the stars and maps for astronomy to become more accessible. She swallowed her nerves as she arrived at the first point. She bent down in the grass, her dress stained with dirt, and started digging into the ground. After a while, her fingernails becoming grimy, she arrived at the first key and a map to help her with the next challenge.

She looked at the key and noticed it was inside a box, hollow at the bottom, thanks to the liquid. Eleanor sighed, reaching into the box to grab the key, but her hands felt hot before she could grab it, and she winched in pain. She looked down and realised the liquid surrounding the key was presumably acid. Then the smell hit her, and Eleanor choked back a sob: hydrochloric acid.

Eleanor bit her lip from crying out, knowing she didn't want to give up and disappoint her friends. However, she knew that her hands would suffer the fate of the hydrochloric acid. She looked away, her eyes tearing up, almost blinding her as she ran her hand over her arms. Eleanor avoided eye contact with her hand as she hovered over the box, her eye contact catching a glimpse of the box's actual size ━ it seemed as deep as she had previously thought.

She looked up and noticed something in the distance, seeing Rosalie's silhouette. It pained her to think about the unfairness of her death, but she felt selfish, wanting her life to continue more than Rosalie's.

Fuck it. Her left hand rushed into the acid. Pain immediately surged through her veins and blood, and she felt the pump throughout her arm. Her hands started to shake as she bent lower; the acid rose on her arm the deeper she went. The acid stung and ate at her skin, eroding the freckles. Eleanor cried out, growling out the pain, and gritted her jaw tightly so that her throat felt numb. The finger grasped around the key, and she lifted the key, taking it out of the box.

Eleanor covered her mouth with the non━injured hand, clenching the other out of pain. Her skin became a deep red, and she gagged, looking away as she started to get up on her feet. Instead of waiting around, she clutched the map and the key in her hands as hard as possible before making a run. Her dress, torn up at this point, flowed in the wind, her hand stinging with each contact from the air.

Ivan and Sedona could see her running towards them, and they kept excited, knowing that Eleanor had done the challenge successfully. However, when Eleanor neared them, they could see her hand clutched to her chest. Worried, they heard Eleanor whimper softly as she pushed the map and key into Ivan's arms. Sedona immediately caught Eleanor as she collapsed to the ground out of shock, and Sedona gasped softly, noticing the acid burns. Sedona hesitantly reached out, but instead, she kneeled, meeting Eleanor's eyes.

"You okay to stand?" Sedona whispered, and Eleanor inhaled before giving a slight nod. Sedona wrapped her arms around Eleanor's waist to help, not wanting to touch her fresh wounds. Ivan also reached to help, overlapping his arms with Sedona's as the pair helped Eleanor. When Eleanor got onto her feet, she gestured for Ivan to continue to lead the group to the next area.

"We need to run now," Ivan said in a hushed whisper as the pair followed his eye contact to see where he was looking. When they noticed that the three ghosts of their friends had stopped, they started to pick up the pace, running through the grass. Eleanor could see that Rosalie was holding a broken glass bottle.

Ivan turned on his heel and ran away, with Sedona and Eleanor following close behind. While he continued to run, he grabbed the clue that Eleanor gave him and opened it up. At this point, they were running in a random direction, hoping they were going in the right direction. All they knew was they needed to get away from their vengeful friends.

"Ivan, now would be an excellent idea to read the next clue!" Sedona said as the group cut the corner and headed towards a small alleyway of the manor. It was an area they didn't recognise, yet it seemed familiar.

As he reached a corner, Ivan slowed down, turned around, and faced the others. "Okay, are they close behind?" he said, his words merging as he was out of breath. Sedona gasped for air as she leaned against the wall, trying to regain her breath. Eleanor was the only one who could breathe and form a sentence.

"No, they aren't close; they are still at the field. However, we did confuse them with our pathing, but that doesn't mean we should waste our time," Eleanor said, holding her arm close to her chest. Ivan nodded as he finally had the time to read the next clue. His eyes started to scan the paper, and he sighed as he looked at the others.

"The next challenge is where the others are... On the field."

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗠 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧 up with the others, and their eyes widened as they realized they had left him behind.

"Oh my god, are you okay? We didn't know you were━" Vanya frantically asked, but William shook his head, and she immediately stopped, confused by his reaction.

"Samuel didn't attack me for some reason... It was as if he had a mind of his own and refused to attack me," William spoke, and Abby raised her eyebrow in confusion. William sighed, unsure of the confrontation; however, he wasn't focused on that, but instead the sudden pang that appeared in his leg. He had previously been running on adrenaline, but now that he had stopped running, his leg was reacting to everything.

"Where even are we? Was this even in the blueprints? Does this place make up the rooms to confuse us?" Abby said as she wondered out loud, though worry was tinted in her voice. Vanya heard her and tried to reflect on the blueprints from the first night when she saw these plans, but her mind was empty. She suddenly thought about the other team, specifically Ivan and Eleanor ━ Oh Eleanor, she could not bear her loss.

"That's the least of our worries right now. The good thing we can think about is that we are away from them," William said, calming the girls down as he noticed the silence between the two, seeing the worries in their eyes.

"I just never really had much time to realise that more people will die regardless of how we try to stop it," Abby said, and Vanya was surprised that she would say that. William was also shocked, not knowing it would come from someone like Abby. He had supposed that Sedona would speak of such things, but he couldn't put his mind to that even then. "Well, it's the truth. These keys that we are hunting down? If you understand what I mean, they are just a metaphor for 'one life, one favour'."

"Which means only three leave this place alive," Vanya spoke, and William looked at the ground.

"We better get to running now."

━━━━━━

⋆        "𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗦, 𝗜𝗡 no way in hell━ or purgatory, am I going back to that death━trap over there!" Sedona said as the group started to take another path towards the field. "This is what an idiot would do, and I get it; we have to do this; otherwise, this Gravedigger is going to replace our souls with our dead friends, but haven't we noticed that this whole thing is bizarre!" Sedona rambled as Eleanor stayed quiet while Ivan gritted his teeth before turning to face Sedona.

"Look, we can't sit down and twiddle our thumbs. It's our lives or theirs."

"I'd rather die in this hell."

"Would you rather die here without Abby knowing what happened, or even your brother? Or would you instead get the hell out of here alive? Pick a fucking choice; I know you wouldn't pick the dumb choice and instead rather escape this hell," Ivan said bluntly as Sedona's face quickly dropped, while Eleanor's eyes widened, watching the pair's altercation. "So many people━friends━have died, and they would kill to be here, in our position. You must stop seeing the worst of this and instead choose to live."

"Don't talk about my brother, please," Sedona said; her voice was soft, and Ivan knew he had hit a soft spot. He sighed and looked at the ground, slightly upset about how the situation went. He had never intended to become explosive towards Sedona. "But... But I'm sorry, I get it, I do. Let's win this fucking challenge." Ivan nodded as Sedona gave a slight smile, and Eleanor nodded as she looked at Ivan to read the challenge. However, he gave the clue to Sedona to read, hoping that it would patch up the small distance between the two.

"Sacrificial is vital in our history. In Egyptian times, when the Pharaoh died, all the living servants would be killed to serve him in the afterlife. However, the Gravedigger also appreciates the honour, as the Vikings did. Your job is to make a scarecrow, remove the organs as the Egyptians did and then burn it as the Vikings did. If one of the ghosts reaches you, they can take you and take your time━oh, shit, there's a time limit for this one?" Sedona said as she read the clue.

"How does the time begin?"

"When the moon is on display."

"Okay, so who's good under pressure?" Eleanor said as Sedona looked over to Ivan. Ivan understood what it meant, and he inhaled as he looked towards the field, preparing himself for the challenge.

"Be careful, Ivan," Sedona said softly, and Ivan was a little taken aback, especially when it came from Sedona herself, but he accepted the good luck.

Ivan ran towards the small pit, where he saw sticks, hay, and jars, and he held back the bile, knowing what was in those glasses. He looked up towards the sky as he waited for the moon to pass the clouds when the time would start. Ivan's hands started to shake strangely, but he tried to stop the nerves. When the clouds passed, he started to run towards the wood to start building the pole for the 'scarecrow'.

As he looked around, he saw that there was rope but no nails. He considered the possibility of wrapping the ropes with the poles and decided to do it, not wanting to wait around and wait for ideas. He felt the pressure slowly building up, but luckily, he knew how to handle it (he thinks).

His mind was racing with different places to do his best. On top of that, he had a time limit to try to beat, and he didn't want to lose his chance━his only chance to prove a point. Ivan didn't want to imagine what would happen if the time went out. As his hands worked with the rope, Ivan quickly scanned the field in case anyone was coming towards him. In the distance, he could see Jamie and his heart sank.

Nonetheless, he kept building. He has to if he wants to survive.

𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒!
✶ chapter twelve done and dusted!! we are now officially (i can finally say it!!) only six chapters away from completely this book! this chapter is technically part two of three, so next chapter will be the third part of the current story arc! after that, we will be getting into the nitty gritty of it all! also, i hope this chapter was good, and i had actually revamped an entire section of this chapter (which was the acid section) ━ but i hope you enjoy this chapter!

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚!