The Last Candle ~ Abby C.

I flickered my eyes open, and found myself in an unfamiliar room. I saw a bunch of other kids in the room, lying on the ground with me. "What is this?" I thought, feeling my head throbbing. One by one the kids started waking up and seemed to be just as confused as I was.

"Where are we?" one of them asked, trembling as she looked at her surroundings. Everyone shrugged and we all shuddered at the creepy room we were all sitting in.

"HEY KIDSSS!" a voice exclaimed. I looked up and saw an overhead speaker hovering over us. "So glad you could join us. However not all of you will be able to stay with us. We have a small surprise for you all. I know how much you all love cake! So we brought a special cake just for you guys! Let's just say some...effects might kick in. Delectable and tasty." the overhead speaker explained to us. Suddenly a masked man rolled a cart in the room with 20 slices of chocolate cake. "Dig in!" the overhead speaker offered, as the masked man left the room. He locked it on his way out, which was weird. Some of the kids began racing to the cake and gobbling it up. As I was about to go and dig in, I saw a kid sitting in a corner not coming near the cake.

"How come you won't with the others? They aren't gonna give us anything else to eat." I replied.

"Yeah, isn't that kinda strange? Why would they want us to eat a chocolate so badly?" he asked. "I'm Sam by the way." he introduced himself.

"I'm Liliana." I smiled back. As I began walking towards the cake, I took Sam's words a bit more serious.

"So we brought a special cake just for you guys! Let's just say some...effects might kick in."

I suddenly snapped to my senses and realized that there was something wrong with that chocolate cake. Most of the kids were still asleep and only ten kids were actually rummaging through the chocolate cake. I sat back down next to Sam and sat there. We actually became super close. We started making theories about the cake and where we were. Suddenly we heard someone hacking up food. Everyone ran over to a little girl, as she started coughing up chocolate cake along with blood all over the floor. It was a chain reaction and the 9 kids who had eaten the cake began choking to death. I stood in horror as I watched.

"I knew it..." Sam whispered to me. I clutched his hand tightly, unable to process what had just happened.

"Did we forget to mention the special ingredients that were installed into the slices of that cake? My bad..." the overhead speaker chuckled. I felt tears well up in my eyes and I couldn't control what I was seeing. I didn't want to to die...

"We're not gonna die." Sam declared, squeezing my hand. "All we have to do is not eat the cake." he reminded me. I nodded, and we both sat far away from the others. But that didn't stop some people from eating the cake. The total 20 kids went from 11 to 7. There were only 6 slices left which was weird.

"You all are getting silent. So let me tell you a story! Once upon a time, there were 20 kids and 19 slices of cake. Why 19, you ask? That's because in the end, only one kid survived. If you don't eat for a while you become delusional and you will do anything to eat! In the end only 2 are left and there's one slice of cake left. Only one will have their happy ending, and that's where the story ends! DID YOU GUYS LIKE THAT STORY? Or are you too HUNGRY to listen?" the overhead speaker, said while taunting us.

"AAAA!" one girl dashed for a slice of cake and scarfed it down.

"Why did she do that?" I asked, trembling under myself. Sam was hugging me to comfort me, but I knew that at any moment I could crack and do the exact same thing. Next thing I knew, it felt like days had gone by. The 7 kids were now down to 4. "S-sam, he said that only one will survive. That means we both can't leave." I mumbled, barely having the strength to sit up. Sam gave a loud sigh.

"Well then you're leaving here without me, I guess." he groaned. I frowned and hit him on the arm.

"Don't say things like that, we're gonna make it ou-" I froze.

"THERE'S ONLY TWO LEFT!!!!"

"H-how? There's four of us!" Sam exclaimed. I pointed at the slices and saw there was only one left. "No..." Sam fell down and I rushed over to him. "I have to save you." he bluntly replied.

"NO! You don't! I'll save you! You've been helping me all this time and now it's time I help you." I said, getting up.

"What're you doing? LILIANA! GET BACK HERE!" Sam yelled, still on the floor. I ignored him and hovered over the last slice of cake. I looked back and Sam was getting up. "I have to do this." I said, holding up the fork.

"Don't do it." he demanded.

"You'll always have a special part in my life. I think this is goodbye, Sam. I just wanted you to know that, I like you." I finished what were my last words. I picked up the fork and in the corner of my eye, I saw Sam running towards me. I quickly at the cake, and felt the crumbs fall onto my lips. I saw Sam standing in front of me and he held the back of my head.

"Lili, I just want you to know that, I like you too." Sam replied, as he leaned in and kissed me. I was shocked by this and realized there was a bunch of the cake on my lips.

"Sam there was cake on my lips!" I frantically exclaimed. He looked into my eyes and smiled. I began crying as I felt my body going into an extreme pain.

"I told you not to cry." he reminded me.

"We're gonna die, Sam.." I sobbed.

"At least you're gonna die in my arms..." he whispered. I sniffled and nodded. I glanced at the empty plate and felt my skin starting to crawl. I felt my eyelids getting heavy and felt myself falling down along with Sam. At that moment all I knew was that, this was the end. No thanks, to a chocolate cake.