All we know are that things aren't the same. They won't ever be the same. 2030 and it's changed. All they know is that there are tests. Tests that steal, eat, and consume family's. Tests that came to them, all too soon.

Four girls were in a room. One in a closet tied up, the others tied to poles. They had been unconscious for the past twenty four hours.

"Huh? Where am I?" A girl named Coleen had woken up.
"Why am I tied up?" She panicked a little.

She scanned the room and saw two other girls. Wait, she recognised one of the girls.

"Esther!" She called.

She quickly got out of the flimsy ropes that tied her down. Coleen ran over to her old friend.

"Esther.. Wake up. Get up!" She shouted, shaking the limp body.
"What? Where are we?" Her eyes were wide.

She too, looked around the room. Her eyes rested on the other girl they didn't know.

"Whose that?" Esther asked Coleen.
"I don't know."

They kept looking around while Esther got out of the ropes. Meanwhile, the maiden in the closet awoke.

"..Where am I?" She realised she was in a dark closet.

And tied up.

"What the- where the heck am I?!" She started to fidget around.

The other girls didn't hear her. Then Jamie woke up. Coleen and Esther starred at her. Jamie looked at them fiercely.

"Where am I?!" She too realised she was in a strange place and tied up.

She focused on getting out of the rope.

"Jamie?!" She heard a muffled call from the closet.
"Mackie?!"
"Jamie!" They called to each other.
"Mackie, I'm coming!" Jamie called to the girl.

The other two starred in confusion at this fierce girl and the closet. She instantly broke free from the ropes and payed no attention to Coleen or Esther. She opened the closet.

"Mackie!" She called.
"I'm over here" Mackie called back.
"Are you okay?" Asked Jamie.
"Yeah, are you okay?

They both nodded.

"Got a little tangled.." Blushed Mackie.

Jamie untangled all the ropes tangled from her arms and legs. The young girl got out of the dark closet gratefully. They hugged each other tightly. Coleen and Esther watched in anticipation.

"Who are you guys?" Asked Coleen.
"I'm not worried about who you are." Replied an annoyed Jamie.
"What's that?" Esther said quietly, pointing at an envelop hanging on the door.

Coleen and Jamie ran towards it.

"Hurry up, times running out." Jamie read aloud.

She quickly fumbled to open the envelope. Once she did, she continued to read it.

"I'm joking. You're fine." She looked at the letter with such disgust.

Esther and Mackie stood in the background listening intently.

"What is this?" Asked Coleen.
"I have no idea." Replied Jamie.

She then tried the door. It was locked. She dropped the note. They all stood in silence. Suddenly a loud speaker voice filled the room.

"Hello. You four ladies have been nominated to compete. We appreciate skills. If you get out of this room on time, you may go on missions. Don't worry, you won't get hurt. Or, at least not by us. There's a slim chance you may injure yourself while trying to escape this room." The announcer said.

He paused, letting the information sink into the girls.

Mackie spoke up, "What if we're supposed to be afraid of what's out there? What if we don't want to get out.. It may be dangerous."

The man behind the speaker answered for her.

"You have a time limit. If you don't get out in time.. You'll be demolished." He concluded darkly.

"..Never mind.." Mackie added awkwardly.
"Okay, I guess we're going to have to use teamwork. I'm Jamie and seventeen years old." The impatient girl said.
"I'm Coleen and I'm sixteen." Said Coleen.
"Mackie, your turn." Jamie hinted after a silence.
"Um, I'm Mackie and I am sixteen years old.

It was Esther's turn.

"I'm Esther and I'm fifteen." She said shyly.
".. Okay guys. I hunk these are the tests. You know the ones that are families have been disappearing to?" Jamie jumped into action.

All the girls agreed.

"I'll probably never see my family again.." Esther said quietly.
"Okay guys, look for clues." Jamie directed.

All four girls look for something. Half an hour in, Coleen found a hidden key in a slit.

"Guys!" She called.

All the girls gathered around.

"I found a key!" She held it up.

With zero hesitation, Esther grabbed the key and tried it in the door. It didn't work. They all observed the key, looking at the pattern. Jamie grabbed it. She walked around the medium sized room. She bent down at a drawer. There was a keyhole. She placed it in and twisted. A little click and she pulled open the drawer. The maidens peeked inside. Right as they were about to quit, Mackie picked up something.

"Guys, another key!"

Esther grabbed that key and tried the door. It didn't unlock. She handed it to Jamie. They kept looking. No luck for a complete hour. The four girls were looking in books now. Jamie found a clue in one book. It read: Storms.

"Hey, something to do with storms! Or um.. Rain!" She called.

Esther spotted a really thick book about London. The only thing in the room that had any image of rain. She quickly grabbed it.

"Wait, this isn't a real book." She said under her breath.

She shook the "book" and it made a noise. The three others watched. Jamie handed the newest key to Esther; and she turned the book all over until she found a hole. She placed the key in and twisted. Click!

"Yes!" She gave a happy sigh.

There was another key inside the box. Jamie grabbed it and placed it in the door. It opened.

"Yes!" They all cheered.
"Congratulations. You've succeeded with just fifteen minutes left." The man announced.

They hugged each other with relief.

"Some of the workers here will bring you some food. Once again, congratulations." The voice tuned out.

The girls stayed silent, not sure how to react. Soon enough, guards came in with spaghetti. They ate in silence. Once the ladies were done with food, there was no time to spare.

"Seems we already have a mission for all four of you. You have to guard a school. There is a relic that is trying to be stolen. You may collect whatever you feel may be useful. I see Jamie has already gathered things. Try your best. You don't want to be a disappointment to your family, do you?" With that the message ended.
"Okay guys, this may be a survival game-and I'm not being a disappointment to my family." Jamie stated.

After picking up a few objects to take, they were lead to a school. It was dark and cold out. The soldiers left them to do their job. They started to walk around the school.

"I want to know the relic." Jamie commented, checking through doors.
"I don't get this." Said Mackie.

The school was huge and looked like an old castle.

"We have to protect the relic from being stolen." Replied Jamie.

They kept looking through dark doors and windows. They were behind the school now. Mackie saw something weird.

"I wonder what my little object does.." She says.

She rubbed the white roll on the the weird grey box she saw. It exploded open after ten seconds.

".. Never mind." She kept walking.

They came to the side of the castle like school. Esther, Jamie, Mackie and Coleen were in discussion when they heard noises. They stopped in their tracks.

"Esther.. Check the doors.." Whispered Mackie.

She nodded then used the tiny device to check the door.

"Nothing." Esther whispered.

They nodded and kept walking, but slowly. All of them had an uneasy feeling. The girls kept small talk going, until they got to a black window.

"What's that? Esther, check it." Mackie questioned.

There was an orange handprint on the other side of the window, like someone had their hand pressed against it.

"That sure is a human hand print, and recent." Esther confirmed.

Jamie and Coleen exchanged looks. The air was icy. No noise was heard.

"We should move." Jamie waved to them, showing they should follow her. When they turned the corner, they saw a man. He was walking very mysteriously.

"Over here." Whispered Jamie.

They ran to a post. All their eyes followed the man like a laser. He looked their way. The girls lowered their heads and he kept walking. The man kept looking back their way. He turned the corner. The ladies decided it was safe to move up. When they got closer he turned back around the corner. Instantly they started acting casual.

"That's got to be him." They decided.

All four of them inched closer. The man walked out from the corner with a girl. She was holding a big hoop that was dark orange and had black stripes across it.

"I think that's the relic!" Jamie whisper yelled.
"Yeah!" Three other voices agreed.

Before they could approach the man and woman, a muffled voice spoke up.

"That's not it."

Jamie looked down. On her hip was this little microphone on her.

"You were listening the whole time?!" She scolded.

Another woman came out with the exact same hoop.

"I guess it's not.." She sighed.

The girls were about to take another tour of the school, when they heard the loudest shacking and most violent scratching ever. They all shot their heads to the noise. Behind them far away, were four little shacks. Bigger then them, but little.

"What was that?!" Mackie cried.
"It's sounds so creepy and loud." Esther added.
"It also sounds really close." Coleen said.
"It's not. It's those shacks." Pointed Jamie.

They all looked behind them at the shacks. Every time they heard a noise, the shack would shake violently.

"Let's go. I'm here for answers." Jamie started.

Mackie moved her long brown hair out of her face and grabbed Jamie's hand. Jamie never had that problem of hair always flying in your face. Her sorta curly just above the shoulder length blond hair was easy to take care of. Many people liked to call her goth. She wasn't goth though. Indeed, she was wearing black knee long shorts and and a black jacket, but she wasn't goth. Mackie knew that.

They started to make their way to the shacks. Esther and Coleen stayed close to each other. The noises were even louder and scary, if possible.

"You can't leave the school grounds!" Yelled the voice from the microphone.

Jamie ignored it.

"You have to go back! It's dangerous over there! Go back!"

The girls were getting pretty close to the shacks. The first three weren't moving, just the fourth. They were pretty close together. Lead he's covered them, making it climbable.

"I'm scarred." Coleen and Mackie said.
"We could do this." Jamie reassured them.

Mackie nodded then climbed up the ledges after Jamie. Coleen came after, then Esther. The noises were so loud it hurt their ears. There was a monster like growling beneath them.

"We got to jump to the next one!" Jamie said.
"You guys have to get out of there!" The speaker called out.
"NOW!" All the girls jumped to the next shack.

This one was black, the other one was yellow. It was vibrating hysterically.

"I don't wanna do this." Mackie said with fear.
"There's no going back." Jamie pointed to the first shack.

All of the ledges had crumpled down to the ground. The one they were on was starting to break too. She gulped.

"We have to go!" Esther called out.
"Hurry!" Yelled Coleen.

Everyone jumped to the third shack. There were no noises, just deep heavy breathing. It was terrifying.

"That's not human! Or anything from Earth!" Mackie said squeezing Jamie's hand. Jamie looked down to the speaker.

"What is this thing?!" She called out to the people.

Nothing. They lost communication. It was blurry and screechy.

"Only one way out." Jamie said getting ready to jump to the fourth shack. 
"Are you sure?"Mackie looked up at Jamie.

She was still squeezing her tight.

"I won't let anything hurt you." Jamie replied.
"..Ok." Mackie got into the position.
"Three, two, one!" The girls jumped to the fourth shack.

The "monster" started to shake and growl. The wood under their feet was unstable.

"AHHH!" They all yelled, trying to keep their balance.

The shack started to crack.

"Guys!" Esther and Mackie called.

The shack kept cracking and the growling and scratching became almost deafening.

"AHHH!" The four screamed again.

The shed broke completely and the girl went flying. While Jamie was falling she saw black and white things that looked like worms. She then hit the ground hard.