Rabbit Games,

"Okay class, I know you are all excited about winter break, but here is one last question before you go," Mr. Miller asks his college students. " If you throw a penny at 15mph out of a car moving at 100mph, how fast would the penny go?" A while goes by after Mr. Miller asks this question "Does anyone have the answer for this question?" Mr. Miller asks his class. Then a student raised their hand.

"The penny would go at 115 miles per hour since the energy from the moving car would be transmitted into the penny and if the penny goes at that much speed it could break a wall made of wood," said Ellie. She was a smart kid who didn't have many friends except for her roommate. As the class looked at her as if she was Einstein the school bell rang.

"Okay kids that's the bell, have a great new year," said Mr. Miller. "Ellie, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Ellie responded.

"I want you to go have some fun over the break. The last question was supposed to be next the lesson. You're spending too much time studying and not enough having fun. Trust me, it will drive you insane later on. Go take a break," Mr. Miller advised Ellie.

"Okay. Sure," Ellie said, not really convinced of her teacher's advice. She headed out to her dorm room to put her stuff away. Then there was her roommate, Mary. Mary was outgoing and empathetic towards Ellie. She has always been by her side and supported her.

“Whatcha ya doin Ella?” Mary said as Ellie walked in. “Where are you going for winter break?” She asked.

“Staycation,” Ellie responded.

“Why should I even bother asking. You always are doing a staycation for every break. You should get out and explore. I overheard you and Mr. Miller talking, he also said to go out and explore,” Mary complained.

“I promise you I’ll have fun in staycation,” Ellie tried to defend.

“That’s what you say every vacation. And you always stay in your dorm and study,” Mary said.

“I said that I’ll have fun, and studying is fun for me. Learning all these new topics,” Ellie said trying to keep on defending.

“Well, I want you to have fun of what regular people think, not what you think is fun,” Mary tried to convince Ellie.

“I’ll think about it,” Ellie replied.

Annoyed Mary said, “Well you better think about it and not just ignore it,”

“Okay, fine,” Ellie finally surrendered. “Want to go get dinner, it’s already 8:00?”

“Sure,” Mary said. “Let’s go to QDOBA, I heard it’s a good Mexican place,”

They both went out to dinner and came back tired with their stomachs full. “I’m going to sleep,” Ellie said drowsy.

“Me too,” Mary also said. They both went to bed, but Ellie had a thought stuck in her mind. Would she go anywhere, or not? Had she finally overcome her fear? These thoughts made her mind more tired and finally went to sleep.

She woke up. It was eight AM, but she didn’t have a lesson. She got up and realized Mary wasn’t awake yet. She went to the breakfast center and got breakfast for herself and Mary. She came back to the dorm room and found that Mary was awake.

“There was this in the mail for you,” Mary said showing Ellie the box. The box read for the mentally strongest of the young blood.

“Did it say who sent it?” Ellie asked.

“No, it looks like it’s anonymous,” Mary said. “I suggest you open it,”

“No, what if it is for someone else?” Ellie denied.

“The parcel says, “For Ellie,” it’s probably yours. If it’s not yours then just tweet about the missing parcel and check the neighbors.

Just open it,”

“Fine, I’ll open it,” Ellie gave in.

“Hello Ellie, you have been chosen to participate in our very own personal game room. Solve this last puzzle to prove you’re worthy,” a robotic voice said in a little dome shaped bell from the box.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s for you,” Mary said sarcastically.

“This is creepy. What game and what does it mean I’ve been chosen?” Ellie said in shock.

“Woah, that’s one cool puzzle,” Mary exclaimed. The puzzle was blue and the shape of a queen that had locks, numbers, and woodblocks that seemed to fit into each other when solved. “You should try to solve it. Mabe you’ll get tickets to Disney World, or Paris,” Mary said.

“I’ll get started on it then,” Ellie said. She spent a lot of her afternoon working on the puzzle. The puzzle was going click, clack, click, clack as it was getting solved. Then finally the puzzle broke open. “Mary, come look,” Ellie exclaimed. There was a piece of paper with a hexagon and a rabbit going down it.  Underneath the logo it said, “Rabbit Hole Games,”. “It’s a piece of paper,” Ellie said.

“Ooh, does it have a ticket to Disney World or Paris?” Mary asked hopefully.

“No, the card says, “Congratulations, you have opened the puzzle. You may now participate in our special event this year. The location and the date are on the bottom of the card,” It says the date is 12/12/24 and the location is on 6^th avenue road in Main Street, building number 666.” Ellie read out.

“Isn’t the twelfth tomorrow?” Mary pointed out.

“You’re right, it looks like a 15min drive there,” Ellie said.

“Can I come with you?” Mary asked.

“The card says no,” Ellie answered. She went on with her daily routine and kept thinking about the game room.

The next day Ellie woke up and went straight to have breakfast and go to the location. She found out the place was a large building with many floors. She entered the building and found the main counter. “Hi, I’m here for the games,” Ellie said.

 “Congratulations on coming here. I’ll be taking your phone,” The man in the front counter said.

“Why?” Ellie asked curiously.

“Well, we don’t want you spoiling or putting answers for others,” The man replied.

“Okay,” Ellie said as she gave him her phone. She walked into an elevator that led her up to what she thought was the waiting room. She sees that there are other people there. There is a boy that seems to be in his mid-20’s. A girl that has a big jacket covering one of her arms. A tall muscular man, a black man, a girl with glasses, and a guy who looks broken and is smoking. “Were all of you invited here by a puzzle?” Ellie said.

“Yeah,” said all of them.

“I smashed mine up and got the message. Mine was red and the shape of a rook,” said the guy who was smoking. “Names Darren by the way,” said Darren.

“I’m Abby, I got a puzzle the shape of bishop. It was pink,” said the other lady.

“I got a puzzle piece in the shape of a knight. It was yellow. The name’s Jack,” the muscular man said.

“I also got a knight, but it was green. My name’s David,” said the mid 20’s man.

“I also got mine the shape of a rook. Mine was grey. Name’s Davey,” said the black man.

“I got a bishop, it was purple. My name is Katie,” said the girl with glasses.

“I got a queen, it was blue. My names Ellie,” said Ellie. “So, I guess we’re a team. Where did you guys come from?” asked Ellie.

“I’m a zoologist. My specialty is reptiles,” said Katie.

“I’m a computer business owner. One Republic,” said Davey.

“I own a truck repair company, Auto Fixed,” said David.

“I’m a boxer,” said Jack.

“I am in the army. My team told me to take some time off,” said Abby.

“I’m a mechanic. Not very popular company,” said Darren.

“Well, I’m coming from a college on physics,” said Ellie. “I’ll be right back,” Ellie headed towards the door. Then the doorknob broke off. Suddenly the whole room started shifting.

“Welcome to Rabbit Games. Here you will be competing against each other for a prize of 10’000 dollars. In some you may each other’s help. Remember, you were all chosen to be here for a reason,” said a mysterious voice from the ceiling. “The first competition is Snakes and Ladders. The last 5^th, 6^th and 7^th will be eliminated if there are any. The games have now started.

“This is exciting,” said Abby. The room changed into a giant snake and ladder board. They each took turns rolling the die and moving. Then Jack landed on a snake.

“Guys, I know I landed on a snake, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be real,” said Jack. There was a real snake in Jack’s square. It was looking at him dangerously.

“That’s a very poisonous snake, don’t stare at it or react to it, if launches or hisses at you, pretend you never saw it,” Abby tried to warn. But Jack didn’t listen. The snake went in front of Jack. Then he started punching and kicking the snake. His fate was unchangeable. It took one bite to kill him. The snake bit him on the arm. Then in a matter of seconds, his body began to inflate, he fell to the ground. The group watched in terror as his soul left the body. They knew now that this game wasn’t a normal one.

“Everyone be careful and ignore the snakes,” Ellie said to the group. Then she realized it was each man for themselves. Since the 6^th and 5^th place were eliminated, they all ran for the finish line. They kept rolling the dice for a high number and kept running. Katie and Ellie were going to the same square. They both were one square ahead of a snake. Then suddenly, Katie tried to push Ellie into the square with the snake. But Ellie barely dodged, and Katie went into the square with the snake. The snake devoured her alive. She realized how close she was to death. She continued making it first there. Second was Abby. Third came Darren. The last two were David and Davey, both on the edge of finishing. Both on the verge of death. Then on the last square as they both jumped towards the finish, David tripped Davey. Making Davey come last.

“Oh no, oh no,” Davey whimpered. Then suddenly two massive metal plates smashed Davey’s head. The whole group stood there in terror. “How could you trip him?” Darren angrily said to David.

“It’s called wanting to live idiot. You got to do what you have to do,” David replied. The whole group stared at him in disgust.

“Your next challenge is Chess,” The robotic voice said over the ceiling. “You all will be on the same team. You each control the piece or pieces you were given since some members of your group were eliminated. If your piece or pieces are eliminated, you will be eliminated. If you lose the game, your whole group is eliminated. The king will be played by the Rabbit People,” Suddenly the room started shifting again. The question, who are the Rabbit People pondered in everyone’s head. They all started playing. Making their moves one by one. Sacrificing one of their pieces if needed. A bishop from the other team forked Abby’s and David’s pieces. Everyone was telling David to go and sacrifice his piece since Abby had one of her pieces left and David had but. But he didn’t listen. He let Abby get killed. Suddenly a sword cut Abby’s head clean off her body. They finally won the game. They all sighed in relief. Darren and Elli both stared down at David. They both knew he was no good.

The ceiling spoke once again.” The last game is the last one standing game. The last one surviving wins. The room is filled with obstacles,” Darren and Ellie both teamed up on David. Killing him by puncturing him into a spike in the wall.

“Can we both agree not to hurt each other?” asked Ellie. “Mabe they will stop the games.

“It is a big risk, but I’ll do it,” said Darren. They both stood there still not doing anything.

Then the place went dark, and a voice said, “so this is how you want to play,” ….