JAZZ BERY

After 10 long years…here they were together again; Buzz, Jacob, Ben and Ryan.

They were waiting for someone in the empty guest room of Hotel Montecito, the most extravagant and prestigious hotel of its time. The Large oval room with magnificent mural painted walls, Double heighted Ceiling with delicate and antique glittering hangings which almost touched the diamond polished marble floors, the Central spiral water fountain spurting out musical shapes at intervals; all gave a feeling of massive eternity contributing to a magnanimous feeling of satisfaction.

All four felt very special and important to be invited to such an esteemed place though they were unaware of their “mysterious host”. No one knew his name or identity.

About 15 years back, in 2005 a group of enthusiastic, energetic bunch of boys met for the first time. This was at Anderson Hugh College of Creative Media and Entertainment. All four were very talented. Buzz’s singing could reach great heights of alto and soprano notes; Jacob was great with the percussion drums. Ben played hard rock guitar and Ryan was a great pianist. Together they created magic. The whole college knew them as “JAZZ BERY”.

Day and night they kept creating music. They never attended any of the classes. They enjoyed playing pranks on their class mates. They were reckless and irresponsible in their behaviour. They were least empathetic and derived pleasure from other’s dilemma.

They performed in various concerts and won many trophies for their college. This was why the college gave them a great marksheet and degree.. For these five years they were inseparable. But after completion of college, all of them went their own way, got busy with their own lives and careers and their “JAZZ BERY” was buried and forgotten….

But now after such a long time, again destiny got them together, for some weird reason...

“Hey ya! How have you all been? And how come here?” asked Buzz inquisitively.

“Well, I got this random letter, with air tickets and entry pass to this hotel. It said that I was one of the lucky chosen ones selected to play a game and get a chance to win one million dollars…The money sure was big and worth giving a try. So, I rushed at the chance and flew down here. What about you all? What brought you all here?” asked Jacob.

“That sure is strange, but even we got a letter which spelt exactly the same words that you described.” said Ben with astonishment.

“This sure is a strange coincidence All of us being called at the same place, at the same time for the same reasons…God really plays funny games...” with this Ryan started laughing and all the others joined him.

“But I must say, it is a pleasant surprise to see all of you after such a long time. Let’s make this moment memorable by giving a spontaneous performance for old times sake.” suggested Ben.

Without any delay and hesitation, all came together on the stage and gave a masterpiece of a performance. The audience were really elated to hear them and kept screaming “Once more. once more….”. The whole room was filled with joy, happiness and music….

Just then the manager came to the four of them with a sealed envelope placed very neatly on a silver platter.

“What is this?” asked Buzz.

 “Signor, this is a letter from a very gracious person addressed to all four of you. He is the owner of the hotel. He has invited you all to this hotel to be a part of a very special contest. The rules and regulations pertaining to the game have been written in this letter. The contest will start in another 2 hours. Here are your respective keys. Lunch will be served in ‘The Big Bang Room’ in another half an hour”, said the manager, handing over the letter and keys to Buzz. He then went to his office hurriedly.

“I sure am starving. Let’s freshen up and have exotic food.” said Ryan.

After lunch, everyone gathered in Ben’s room to read the letter together.

“Let me read it.” said Jacob.

“My dear guest, welcome to my humble home. Hope you all had your lunch well as we are now going to get into the game. This is called THE GAME OF DESTINY. It has only two simple rules. Number one is valuing your time. Number two is making calculated decisions. One wrong decision could prove fatal to your chances of winning. The rest of the briefing will be done once you’ll reach the game zone. I expect you all to be on time and reach the Basement floor to ‘The Square Puzzle Room’ by 4:00pm sharp.”

With this Ryan saw his watch—it was 3:45 pm. All of them ran to the lift. Kept pushing the button but the lift just didn’t arrive. It was now 3:50 pm. They rushed down 12 floors till the basement using the stairs. They reached ‘The Square Puzzle Room’ just on time, at 3:59 pm. At 4:00 pm the door opened and a voice said “Welcome my dear contenders, I am really happy you all made it on time. Please enter room number 1.”

As soon as they entered room number 1, the door on their back closed automatically. All of them were a little nervous now. This room was a bit peculiar. The entire floor was laid with landmines. The walls were rock facades with just a timer hung on one side. It displayed 2:00 minutes. Near the timer was an LED display which read “You have just two minutes to cross this room and reach the exit to this room. Time starts with the first step taken.” Jacob put his left foot forward and the timer started ticking. With sweaty palms and legs, all four tried to take precautious steps towards the other side. Suddenly Ryan’s foot fell on a land mine and it made a loud explosive noise. Ben skipped a heartbeat. Buzz saw the timer and got scared, it was racing now, only one minute was left… All of them rushed to the opposite side with all their might and not turning back. Buzz was the last to exit from the room. The time was almost over, only 5 seconds were left. The door closed and there was a loud explosion. The whole room vanished from existence.

“Phew, that was a really narrow escape.” said Buzz.

Now all the four were in room number 2. This was a huge white room with white walls, floor and ceiling. A timer showing 1 minute 40 seconds was hung on the left wall. Just below it was a door. Jacob tried opening the door…But as soon as he slid the door open, the floor started receding downwards and the clock started jumping 5 seconds in 1 second. There was a door on the right that was slightly open. Ryan threw his shoe from this door and saw huge flames of fire…The only way was to move forward. All four rushed to the front door. Ben’s jeans jacket got stuck in one of the wall crevices. He pulled it off and just made it in time to exit room number 2. Just when all entered room number 3, door closed and the entire room collapsed as if it was struck by a landslide…

“What kind of a game is this? Is this man crazy? He is trying to kill us.” said Buzz furiously and tried to bang on the mirrored walls… But just as he hit the wall he got electrocuted. “Stay away from the walls, they are wired” he screamed. Just then Ben saw the Timer on the wall which displayed 1 minute 20 seconds. This room had a floor which was slippery and was tilted to the opposite side of the exit door. It had small hooks planted on them. All four tried to climb up to the exit door, with all their strength as the timer had started and the exit was far…Ryan, Buzz and Ben reached the door in the nick of time, but Jacob was a little slow and was still a little far from the door. The timer was showing 1 minute 10 seconds. Ryan tried to give Jacob a hand but in vain. The other two pulled Ryan with a jerk as the door was about to close in a second. Buzz, unfortunately was unable to reach room number four and got electrocuted to death in room number 3…All three were very sad, shocked and on the verge of a severe breakdown.

As soon as the entry door of room number 4 closed, the timer which showed 1:00 minute started ticking and the walls adjacent to the entry door started drifting towards each other very slowly. As Buzz started walking on the floor, he noticed that the floor tiles were randomly disappearing …. “Keep your feet with utmost caution, the floor is vanishing.” shouted Buzz. With the ticking clock the 3 friends moved very carefully towards exit door of room number 4. The timer displayed 10 seconds. Ryan and Ben were now into room number 5 but Buzz was still behind. He tried to speed up but alas! his leg got stuck in one of the vacuum tiles. With the time over, the exit door closed and crushed Buzz to death…. Ryan and Ben were sweating and shivering with fear… “Why is this man doing this? What pleasure is he getting by torturing innocent people?” With this Ryan broke down and started crying.

“Ryan, now is not the time to give up. We have to come out alive from this death maze and put this man behind bars for murdering our innocent friends…buck up brother.” were the encouraging words of Ben.

Now only two people were left in room number 5. This room had a perforated floor which was infusing hot flammable gases at intervals of about 2 seconds. The Timer displayed 50 seconds. The infusion was happening in a certain pattern. Ben studied the pattern and pulled the completely discouraged body of Ryan along with him. They were both able to exit room number 5 in time, unharmed.

Room number 6 looked like a normal room with chequered marble floor and pastel blue walls. There was no timer in this wall. Both were very happy and thought the game was now over. They walked joyfully towards the exit door to be disappointed…

They entered room number 7. The walls, ceiling and floor are all dull grey in colour. There is just one door on the opposite wall. Just when they start walking towards it, a glass encasing a silver pistol and timer showing 35 seconds starts descending from the ceiling. With it was attached a note which read “Only one winner is allowed in this game. Only 35 seconds will be given to decide who goes out the door. Pick the gun and decide, otherwise both will die in this room…” After reading this, a desperate Ryan picks up the gun and points it to Ben. He tries to stop Ryan, asking him to think rationally for another alternative in which both of them could survive, Ryan ignores his heed and fires…. The bullet comes out from the back, killing Ryan on the spot…. Seeing this, Ben collapses on the floor, and starts weeping on his dead friend’s body. Just then the door opens and standing in front is a black silhouette of a sixty-year-old man.

“Who are you? Why did you do this?” shouts an angry Ben rushing towards this man, but just then his legs are cuffed by metallic rings bolting him to the ground.

“Remember George, your friend and classmate from college? You’ll used to call him ‘Skinny Scaredy Crow’, kept making fun of his fears…. For your own amusement you all pranked him. Convinced him to enter a dark room despite his fears and locked him up for eight long hours…Because of this, he lost his mental balance, went into depression and cut his wrist to bleed to death. Unaware of the fact that this poor soul was suffering from Nyctophobia and was scared of dark enclosed spaces. Very ruthlessly, just for fun, you all spoilt the life of an innocent soul…” Weeping and sobbing the man disclosed, “I am the father of this helpless child. He was my only reason to live which you all stole from me…You all had to pay for this.” With this the man’s eyes turned red with anger and frustration.

He pulled the door of room number 7 and said “You too should feel the pain my George felt before dying”, and bolted the door with chains and locks…

After a few days, Ben woke up from deep slumber. “What place is this? Am I dead or still alive? This darkness sure has an eerie fell to it.” His clothes were all torn and tattered and he had bruises all over his body. He saw a pin hole light pointing to something shining in one corner of the room. On having a closer look, he realized that it was a key. He tried opening the door ,and Eureka! It worked. He was in daylight again….

Stumbling and trying to open his eyes in this bright light, he saw three more shadows with their backs facing him. “Is it them? No, it can’t be ... How is it possible?” With all these questions running in his head he came closer to the three figures and was shocked…

“Hey Jacob, Buzz and Ryan, it can’t be true. I saw you’ll die in front of my eyes...,” said the astonished Ben.

“Not really, you saw what I made you see...,” said a familiar voice.

“A prank you all played on my dear George, cost him his life and created a vacuum in my life…that can’t be changed. But it was important to teach you all a lesson. After spending 10 long days in darkness, doubt and anxiety, I hope you will now start respecting others feelings… You all are free to live in this world with guilt forever….”   

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