Clash Of The Worlds: A Strange Universe

Chapter 9

"And then there were four of us." "Guys, the light is coming in. It's almost morning, you know what that means. It means we're all going to die!" Oli said. " We need to work fast here and we just need to get this over and done with, okay? We need to look at this book and figure out what we need to do," Eva announced. Michael opened the journal and flipped to the next page. "Who is it?" Joey asked. Michael read aloud. "Vincent Wells is a madman. He sees impossible things, horrifying things. He would stare endlessly at light bulbs. I never knew what he saw, but it seemed like he was trying to burn holes into his eyes. 

His sanity may be gone, but his heart is good. He hid something in the dining room. I was never able to find it." "He sounds like a psycho," Colin said, confused. Everyone agreed. "Oh, look what I found! There are four numbers and this box," Oli told. "Look, look, there are colors; there's black, gray, green, and yellow. I don't know what that means, but-" Joey gets cut off by Justine. "That's blue," Justine replied. "Guys?"  "What?" "Well, this light bulb isn't on.." Oli unscrewed the lightbulb from the lamp. The guests look for other lightbulbs, and unscrew them. They realize the lightbulbs and find the numbers on them. Then, they put in the code. 

Eva puts the code in, and they grab the keys as they open it. They went upstairs with the key to try and find Vincent. They go into the room. He looks at the group. "Who are you? How long have you been there?" Vincent asked. "We just got here," Joey said. "Colin... Where's Calvin? He's alive, isn't he?" He looked at Colin. "Used to be. I took care of him. He was going to murder Michael.." Colin replied. Joey's eyes went wide. "After.. my brother?" Joey was so confused. "What does Michael have to do with all of this?" Oli asked. "Michael is the key to helping us. You need to keep him safe," Vincent replied. Arthur glared at Vincent.

"Can you help us get out of here?" Eva proposed. "Be careful of this house. When I first came here, I thought it was going to be like the home that I never had. I thought I would show the world that what I see is real. I know that now. And this house has become a dark and unfriendly place that has locked me in this straight jacket so I never leave it. There are three keys needed to unlock this jacket, but you're going to have to dive inside my hallucinations to find them. 

If you go to the landing, there's an inkblot card. It's gonna show you my most vivid hallucination. You have to go now. Go now. I'm getting a vision and you don't want to be here for much longer. Go, please go! Now!" The guests leave and find an inkblot. Colin looks at it. "That's the inkblot," Colin said. 

Eva flips it to the other side. On the backside of the inkblot card, is a map of where the hallucinations are. The guests head over to the greenhouse and open up the door. There are loads and loads of plants all over the place. "Hey look, Aloe Vera!" Justine pointed at the Aloe Vera. "Are you gonna take that home, Justine?" Joey asked. "Maybe......." Justine replied, taking the plant. Joey chuckled. 

Suddenly an infected human busts his hands through the greenhouse.  "Right, right. Listen, listen, listen. I believe there is a way to merge plants and flesh to create an entirely new species, a swamp man. I made a mistake with my first subject in creating an abomination, which I must soon destroy before it destroys me. I devised a new method for burying the flesh so it merges with the root system of the plants."

Everyone starts looking in the Greenhouse. We need Romulus. Where's- Romulus is over here. Okay," Joey said. "There's something in there. We have one of 'em!" Justine screams. "I found a hand!" "Okay, we've got the head. Let's put all the pieces together." "My hands are dirty. Is there any more shovels over.." "We found a hand! Put a hand there." The zombie gets angry. Colin points his gun at it. "Oh my god! Piss off!" Oli yelled.  Eva digs. "Alright, we got a foot-" "A foot! Ewww!"

"Abtenia Cortofolia. What is this language?" Joey questioned. "I hate plants. I didn't even think you could hate plants, but I hate plants," Oli stated. The zombie growls. "Growl again, and I'll blow your brains out," Colin said. "You know what? Screw the freaking plant. Just dig wherever you can. Destroy this freaking greenhouse," Joey announced. Everyone started smashing plants. "Ow, that landed on my head!" Eva yelled. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to hurry up!" Justine said, giving a kiss to Eva. "I am never helping my mum garden again," Oli stated. 

The group finds all the body parts and they start burying them in the compost heap. A swamp monster emerges, and the guests run away. "No one told me a green monster lives here!" Colin screamed. The zombie and the monster fight, and the monster wins. They take the zombie somewhere else. Colin digs with his shovel and finds a box. The others run over to Colin and open the box. One of the keys is inside.  

"We need to go to the second location. The second hallucination." Oli pulls out the map. They head over to the back of the estate. In front of them, they can see massive boulders with loads of masks on and in the middle, is a woman with a spiky mask on with a samurai sword.
Shane read aloud. "The face is really the mask and the mask is really the person. Unravel the five identities hidden behind the masks. One will lead to the next and the order must be perfect. If an incorrect mask is taken from the wall, she will come for blood. To protect yourself from her deadly blade, you must be wearing a burlap sack. Begin with the demon who is dreaming." Everyone grabbed a sack. 

They find 4 masks. Colin rips off the woman's mask, and they run to the lounge before she can slice them. Eva takes a key. "The final hallucination is buried in the darkest part of Vincent's psyche. Unlike the others, the consequence for failure now is pain and death. Two of you must be selected by vote to sit in the chairs of a mad man. Then those two must select a partner of the opposite gender to aid them. You will find the hallucination waiting for you in the basement." The guests put their names into the hat. "Oli and Shane," Arthur announced. They picked their partners, and went downstairs. Joey looked at Michael, worryingly. Matt put his hand on Joey's hand. "We're gonna get out of here, I promise," Micheal said. Joey nodded with a tear in his eyes. Colin sighed.

In the basement, Oli, Shane, Eva, and Justine look at the electric chairs. Shane reads aloud. "My name is Dr. Price and I have developed a unique treatment for overcoming hallucinations. Each voted for guest needs to take a seat in their respective learning chair. Their partner must then lock them into the chair by securing the straps. Located across from the learning chairs are crates containing metal rings. Each of you must stand across from your partner, behind the chalk mark on the floor and toss the rings into the five electrical rods. Missed rings will give their partner a little shock. The first guest to have three rings around any of the electrical rods will complete the circuit and cure their partner's hallucinations. However, the guest who failed to learn will suffer a severe shock which will end their life." Eva and Justine put their partners into the chairs and strap them in.

You both have thirty minutes before the chairs short circuit on their own, killing both guests. The timer will now start." The timer starts. Eva and Justine start tossing the rings. Oli gets shocked a bit, and so does Shane. "Ow!" Shane yells. "You got this. Come on, you can do this!" Oli said. "I got one! Eva!, I got one, I got one!" Justine said as she lands a ring. "Oh, come on, Eva, you can do this. You can do this," Oli told. "I'm trying! It's so hard when you got two people screaming and you got the electric shocks going on. It's really nerve-wracking!" Eva yelled. "Yeah! I got a second one!" Justine smiles. Justine and Eva get two rings.  The pressure is on. "I can't stand any more of this, Eva! Please, please!" Justine gets her last one, and Oli gets electrified to death. Eva gasps. Justine gets Shane out of the chair. Eva grabs the key, and they go back to the lounge. 

"Let's head upstairs now," Colin announced. Everyone went upstairs. With the three keys, Joey sets Vincent free. "I'm free. My hallucinations are gone..." Vincent said. He looks at Michael. "You. I don't envy the road that lies ahead of you, the owner of this house is a monster! You can have it all. The house! The hallucinations... You need to be careful, Michael." "That will be all, Vincent!" Arthur yelled. "You don't control me anymore. I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen. One among you in league with the evil of the house. If I were you, I'd run,"  "Run!" Colin yelled.