Contest: The Vita Trials

Host: RhodaRiley

After everything I've been through in my lifetime I have to wonder if the universe chose me for the trials simply because it thought it would be fun to watch me stumble around in an abandoned city without any idea how to survive. Honestly, there is no other legitimate reason that I would believe other than the universe is out to destroy me.

I'll bet its laughing at me as I squirm uncomfortably around in the funnel piece of the playground. Other than the fact that I was hovering maybe ten or fifteen feet off the ground in a plastic contraption with loose screws, I was also starving, cold, and simply unable to fall asleep. My brain was working a million miles a minute and nothing in this world was going to convince it that it needed to shut down and sleep if I wanted to survive. Overall, I hated what my life had come to.

I shift for the ten millionth time, trying to find a position where the metal bolts holding this thing together weren't jamming themselves into various spots along my body. My arm was the only type of pillow I had and I didn't have a blanket. To make things worse, the plastic on which I lay was freezing.

I sigh heavily, mentally cursing the universe and it's sadistic vendetta against me and try to get some sleep. But the moment I closed my eyes, I swear I see my life flash before my eyes. I was too cold, if I slept now I don't know if I'd wake up.

Abruptly, an ear slitting scream erupts throughout the entire arena. A squeal of abstract shock shakes my entire being. I'm so unsettled by the scream that I slam my forehead against the top of the funnel. The force of my sudden movements is enough to rattle the remaining screws free. A scream of my own slips my lips as the tunnel surges toward the ground. I land with a sickening thud, the tunnel breaks into its three sections and brings in a terribly cold gust of air. I knock my skull back against the tunnel hard, seeing red glitter before my eyes.

But the screaming continues, and despite the insurmountable pain vibrating through my head at that moment, I manage to scrabble to my feet and stumble along in the direction I feel like it's coming from. I walk several feet, blinded by the splotches of red before my vision clears, leaving only a raging headache in its wake. The scream hurts my suddenly injured skull and a feeling of dizziness descends over me.

I know that voice. That scream. That howl of agony. I know it, but at the same time, I have no idea.

I break out into a sprint, my heart hammering in my chest and a strange, yet strong, feeling of dread ripping me apart from the inside out. I run fervently through abandoned streets and down back alleys in a desperate dash to find the screamer. My foot hits something slick and suddenly my legs fly out from under me.

I land on my back, snapping my head back against the ground. Once again, red lights flutter past my vision, for a moment, I just lay there. Trying and failing to form a coherent thought with the sudden concussion pressing down on my skull. If I didn't have one from falling out of that tunnel, I surely do now.

Slowly, I pick myself up and glance around at my feet to find I'm standing on ice. Well, no wonder I slipped. With one hand on the back of my skull, I maneuver myself off the of ice, holding my free hand out for balance. Once on solid ground, I glance across the lake to see an observatory-wheel, also known as home to the screamer.

Gritting my teeth and taking a deep breath, I jog around the lake and come to a stop at the base of the observatory, hiding behind a truck. The screaming stops.

And just like that, I'm left with a pounding headache, a ringing in my ears, and a possibly serious concussion and absolutely no reason for being there. Someone doesn't just abruptly stop screaming mid-shriek.

A bright light erupts from my arm where an LCD screen is sewn into the fabric. I blink at the way it hurts my head and try to read the words that flit along the monitor. But there's only so much I can make out with a muddled mind and narrowed eyes. "Make...pick...ride in the wheel.....revelation....stay......feet and claim a token. Be quick...only one here."

I watch the words with a growing sense of confusion. What was I supposed to do with the wheel? Or my feet? And why should I be quick? All these thoughts bumble along through my head as three black figures dash out of their hiding places and begin ravaging a pile of black boxes set out at the base of the observatory.

Two of them go for the boxes while the other one dashes toward the wheel. More competitors begin to dash out from their safety spots, claiming boxes or heading to the wheel. A series of scuffles break out along the competitors and lifeless bodies fall to the pavement. I suck in a tight breath, suddenly very aware of the situation around me.

The first death match, gather us all together and let us pick each other off. Brilliant idea. I glance down at my wrist but the screen's gone dark, I guess I just have to follow the motions of the others. I creep out from behind the abandoned truck parked in the lot and progress slowly toward the boxes. There was one left, three of the eleven of us had already claimed some and others had died trying to take it from them. I wanted that last one, I needed it.

When I think no one's paying attention, I quicken my pace and reach the box just as someone else does too. The girl looks at me and then at the box, her eyes alert and calculating. I see her pull some sort of weapon from behind her back and my eyes widen. I dart for the box with my foot, kicking it behind me and snatch the hilt of my katana, unsheathing it with a whoosh.

The girl lunges at me, her knife aimed at my chest. We tumble to the asphalt in a tangled mess of limbs. I grab the wrist with the knife in it as she impales the tip into my stomach. I cry out, feeling a burning sensation spread through my center. A burst of adrenaline rushes through my muscles, enabling me to push her off of me. But in the scuffle, I'd dropped my sword and now, with my vision impaired, I couldn't manage to find it.

I scurry along the ground, feeling for the hilt of the sword with chilled fingers. A hot, sticky substance trickles from the wound in my stomach, luckily, it's not that deep. Meanwhile, the girl who'd almost killed me has gotten to her feet. I breathe out shakily, dread lodging itself in my chest just as my fingers brush along the blade of the katana. I gasp and quickly trace the blade up to the hilt and wrap my fingers around it. The girl gives a loud warrior cry and swings her arm down.

With my sword now in my hands, I rotate onto my back and push the blade up, closing my eyes as her knife narrowly misses my back. The force of her body swinging so violently propels her forward, right onto my blade. I choke on air as the full brunt of her lifeless body falls on top of me. My eyes fly open as a huge gulp of air is forced out of me. I gasp, shivering with the cold and the exhilaration of the moment and release the hilt of my weapon, horrified with what I'd just done.

Desperation overtakes me, I furiously wiggle out from underneath her body, feeling my heart thunder in my ears. I killed her, oh my gosh, she's dead. My entire body shakes and an empty sort of feeling descends over me, ripping a huge gap in my chest. I was covered in blood. My hands, my chest, my stomach, my thighs. Everything, hers and mine. But mostly hers. I was a murderer, I'd killed.

I futilely try to gather my frazzled mind together, I couldn't stand here like an idiot. I needed to move, I reach down with jittery fingers and grasp the crimson colored hilt of my weapon, quickly sheathing it and turning away to grab the box. I try to walk away from the girl, thinking it's better not knowing who she is. But curiosity gets the better of me, I stop and turn back, glancing down at the girl's face.

My lungs stutter, expelling oxygen I need and refusing to take in more. It was the girl from the sewer, not the one with the green eyes, but the one with the blue eyes. I didn't even know her name.

"Leah, her name was Leah." I jump, did I say that out loud? I whirl around to face a girl with brown pixie cut hair and brown eyes. She watches me curiously, her eyes full of intensity and anger. I reach back for my weapon but the girl just laughs and rolls her eyes.

"I'm not going to kill you and you're not going to kill me. I think there's been enough of that for one day, don't you?" She gestures to the girl lying dead on the ground. I gulp and release my hold on the weapon.

"Then what do you want?" She shrugs and taps her foot on the ground.

"Don't know, I'll get back to you on that." With that she turns and dart off into the night, leaving me standing there utterly confused. It takes me a moment to realize she was one of the people I saw retrieving a box earlier. So that's why she didn't attack me.

I don't waste any more precious time as I jog back to the truck and jump inside, locking the doors. I open the box, finding a blanket inside. My heart soars with joy, I pull the beautiful wonder of an object out and huddle inside it. Feeling my eyes grow heavy but I soon find sleep to be impossible. I can't close my eyes without seeing blue ones staring back, haunting me.