The Hunt

“Ouch!” Sarah exclaimed, as she hit her head trying to sit up in a small, dark room. She looked around and tried to make out objects or shapes but couldn't see anything. She reached her hand in front of herself, and was surprised that she couldn’t even see it. Even more surprising was when she realized the room she was in was nothing more than a 4 by 4 foot box with a small door. She rolled onto her stomach and crawled to the door, which was surprisingly unlocked. 

As she crawled through, she was able to see portraits on the hallway walls, which had peeling, beige floral print wallpaper. Everyone in the pictures held some kind of farming tool, whether it be a pitchfork, shovel, scythe or hoe. The ceiling was extremely tall and held an electric chandelier which was pulsating dim yellow light, casting the hall in unnatural and menacing shadows. To her right, there was an opened door through which she could see dusty and worn out kitchen appliances. To her left another door with a worn leather couch and a matching recliner. She decided to go into the kitchen, it seemed to be less dark. 

As she walked through the doorway she noted the same monotonous wallpaper that had been used in the hallway and living room. She also saw a boarded up window, through which she could see only a sliver of the sky, which was a pukish yellow-red colour. In the centre of the room, there was a circular table with five chairs around it. As Sarah walked further into the kitchen, she noticed a small folded up piece of paper that looked like it was put there recently, as it didn't have a layer of dust on it like the rest of the room. She picked it up and carefully unfolded it. The note read:

“Congratulations! 

You have been chosen to compete in the decennial Man-Hunt! 

There are four other contestants, all of whom have been put in a different room. 

The rules are simple, kill or be killed. 

Before the day runs out.

If more than one person is alive once the sun goes down, everyone dies.

If only one person remains they will be released and rewarded handsomely.

Anything goes so long as you stay inside the farm house. 

The second you step outside you will be terminated immediately. 

Happy Hunting! 

You will find weapons and shields inside the refrigerator behind you.”

“This must be a joke” Sarah whispered to herself with dread as she finished reading the note. “Even so, it sounds legit. And I don't plan on dying today” 

As she turned around to open the fridge she heard steps coming from the hall. She opened the door to the rusting fridge as fast as she could and her eyes bulged as she saw rifles, handguns, katanas, bulletproof vests, shields, and cases upon cases of ammunition. As the steps got closer she grabbed one of the handguns. 

The person making the noises slowly came around the corner, Sarah aimed the gun and fired. She hit her target. Not really a surprise, as her dad owned multiple guns and brought her along when he went to shooting ranges. Blood poured from the downed person’s corpse, they seemed small of stature, leading Sarah to believe them female. They had lots of armour on, including a helmet obscuring their face. Sarah knelt over to remove the helmet. As she did so, she got a clear view of their face and stumbled back in shock. Staring unseeingly back at her was her best friend, Claire. What was going on here? 

Quickly, she loaded three of the handguns, put on the safety and shoved them into the army backpack on top of the refrigerator. She also put in multiple cases of ammo. Grabbing a bulletproof vest, she walked past her friend and with a sorrowful glance backwards, she proceeded into the living room down the hallway. 

In the room there was a trunk and a small coffee table with a note exactly like the one in the kitchen. Inside the trunk were the same weapons that were in the fridge, minus the ones that Claire had on herself. There were two other doors, each on opposite sides of the room. She started towards the one to her left, but heard a noise coming from the right door. She put on the bulletproof vest and pulled out one of the hand guns and a flashlight from her bag as she slowly walked towards the other side of the room. She turned the doorknob and cautiously opened the door. Turning on the flashlight she aimed it into the small closet-like room. It created odd shadows on the walls and ceiling. She took a step into the room but tripped on something soft. She aimed the flashlight down at her feet and couldn't contain her gasp at what she saw laying there. Another body. She knew this one too. Darien, Chloe’s ex-boyfriend. He must've made the noise she had heard as he died. She checked for his pulse but, unsurprisingly, didn't find one. She turned back around and went back to the door she had originally planned to go through. 

Slowly, she pushed open the door and noted that the door led to another hallway. It was longer than the other and had three doors along each side and one at the end. Opening each door as she went along, she found that they were all nothing but empty closets. When she made it to the end of the hall, she opened up the last door. Through the door frame wasn’t a closet like all the others, but a large room with dark red walls. The red was the colour of fresh spilt blood.

She took a step into the room and immediately regretted not scanning it more or having her gun up, as a searing pain tore through her lower leg. She brought her gun up and aimed it in the direction the bullet had come from. She fired as soon as she saw the slightest movement and heard a grunt of pain as the bullet hit its target. She looked down at her leg and breathed a sigh of relief once she saw the bullet had only grazed her calf and that she would be able to walk. She started to walk over to the person who had shot her when she heard a maniacal, harsh laugh reverberate throughout the room. It sounded, almost… familiar?

“Sarah” said the same disembodied voice that had laughed. Now you KNEW you had heard him before. But from where? “I should've known you’d be the one to make it through. You're tougher than the rest of the lot I had brought here”

“Who are you?” Sarah asked, not expecting an answer

“You dont recognize my voice, Sarah? I’m disappointed. After all those late night calls I would have expected you to remember. I remembered your voice after all. Even though i haven't heard it for six long months.”

Suddenly the dots connected in her head. “Sam” she said, her voice hoarse. 

“Bingo,” he said, stepping away from the shadows “Got it eventually there”

“B-But, why? Why did you do this?”

“Come on Sarah, you know why”

“Wait. You're still upset that I broke up with you? Even though we had never even met? Our ‘relationship’ was a handful of phone calls and texts”

“Keep telling yourself that. We both know the truth though. I loved you, Sarah. And you told me you felt the same. Until you met Liam at least” he spat liams name with venom. But had such a hurt look on his face that Sarah felt a little bad for him. He started towards her and pulled something out of his pocket. A scrap of cloth. He pulled a small, clear bottle out of his other pocket and poured a bit of the liquid in it onto the cloth. “Now you know what it feels like to have the only thing you love taken from you” 

He covered her mouth and nose with the cloth, which she realised was chloroform too late, she wasn't even able to try to fight him off. The only thing she could do was drift slowly into unconsciousness.

When she opened her eyes she was in the kitchen, tied up to a chair. As she looked closer, she tried to scream but realised she had a gag in her mouth. Sitting in three of four chairs were corpses. Chloe, Dairen, and Sarah’s boyfriend, Liam, who she realized with a shock, must’ve been the one she had shot in the red room. Deranged laughter came from the hallway and Sarah heard the click of a loaded gun. She looked to the door and saw Sam stride through the door. He looked directly at her with a sad smile. Aimed his gun and said 

“Goodbye” 

Then fired the gun directly into her head.