Facing Fear.

Today is the day the new gaming system comes out. Every teen-aged kid on my block has been waiting for weeks for it to come out. It comes with a new game, 'Facing Fear'. Nobody knows what it is about; it is a "surprise game" as they call it.

My friend, Rebecca, and I think it sounds cool, so we are the first in line to get it. Behind us, a long line of boys are waiting to get their hands on the new distraction from homework. Just about every one of the boys is giving us weird looks; we are two of the very few girls in the stretched out line.

However, when we get into the store, the guy working at the register is on his phone with a worried look upon his face. After he hangs up, he looks to the crowd and yells, "attention everybody. The new gaming system will not be sold due to recall." Everybody groans and slowly exits the store.

"What now?" Rebecca asks.

"I don't know," I say with a shrug.

"Okay, let's go home."

"You go ahead," I tell her. "I need to talk to the store clerk in private."

She gives me a strange look, but nods and walks out the door.

I turn to the guy at the counter and smile, putting on my 'girl charm'. "So, how many gaming systems do you got left?"

"Sorry ma'am, they are not for sale," he says, glancing nervously at me.

"Oh, really?" I ask. "That's too bad, because I really wanted one," I say in a flirty voice.

"They said one of the game testers went missing dueing testing, so they recalled the game," he said, seeing my sad look. "It's really dangerous."

"I like danger," I whisper, leaning close to him.

"They took them all, but I can check if they missed one. If they missed one, you can have it, okay?" he asks, turning away from my face as it grows ever closer to his.

I smile. "Sounds like a plan."

He steps away from the counter and into a small room. He comes back out, a couple minutes later, holding a small box. "Here it is, the last one ever going to be sold." He hands me the box. It is just a plain box, no design, no logo, just a plain, brown box. Big enough to fit an acorn, nothing more. I am about to walk out the door, package in hand, when I notice the clock mounted on the wall; 3:30.

When school got out, I ran straight to this store to get the new game, so I still have my bag with me, filled to the brim with homework and books. My parents did not know that I was getting the game after school, they had told me that I could not get it. I am going to be in big trouble if I don't get home fast. I slip the box into my bookbag and sling it over my back. "Thanks a bunches." I turn and run out the door.

When I get home, I am out of breath and have to rest my hands on my knees. I look at the clock by the door; 3:40. Good, I think, I'm not late. I go up to my room and sit on my bed. Taking the box out of my bag, I take a deep breath as I lift the hatch and pull out a round, black ball.

Did the ma  at tjw store trick me? Did he give me a toy instead of the game, hoping to make me happy?

At that moment, the ball starts to glow until I am fully bathed in a sickly green light. Next thing I know, I black out.

When I wake up, I can feel a hard ground beneath me and hear birds singing above me. Opening my eyes, I see that I am outside. "Where am I?" I say to myself, no sound comes out. I am just about to scream, just to try and make a sound, when a speech bubble pops up above my head.

'Where am I?' it reads.

"What the hell?" I say, again no sound coming out.

Seconds later, another bubble pops up reading, 'What the *@#$?'

I start to laugh, then stop to watch for another bubble; it doesn't come. Instead, I jump as a giggle rings through the skies. This giggle does not belong to me, it sounds like it's coming from a little girl. Just to prove myself, I try laughing again, and again the same giggle is sounded. I get up and start to walk across the flat surface I was lying on moments ago. I see anothee man walk up to me. I watch as a bubble pops up above his head.

'Well, well. Look who came.' it reads, then a deep, evil laugh flows through the air above our heads.

'Why am I here?' the speech bubble reads above my head.

'So I don't have to be.' the bubble reads above his head as another laugh runs through the air. He then reaches behind him and pulls out a knife.

This is it, I think. He brought me here just to kill me.

Instead of charging me like I thought he would, he smiles at me and plunges the knife right into his own gut.

'I'm free.' the bubble reads, then he disappears.

"Player One has been removed from the game, Player Two is now trapped," says a new voice I have not heard before. When the voice finishes talking, I run forward to grab the knife that had been left behind when the man disappeared. Clutching it in both hands, I plunge the cold steel into my own gut. When I pull it free, my wound heals itself. Trying again, I notice the same thing happening. A laugh breaks the new found silence seconds later. It feels like a scratched record trying to play, and it is being played right into my head. Then, the ground begins to quake as the laugh turns into a high pitched squeal, like nails on a chalk board.

The vibrations cause the ground beneath my feet to give out. I am now falling into the eternal prison that is 'Facing Fear'.