Thanatos

  James followed two people down a dark, damp, hallway. James was getting ready to be a part of one of his college’s most top secret and elite societies. Tonight was when he would finally be inducted into the group. With him were two other boys, both his age. One looked like he was going to pee his pants. The members who were leading us were wearing red cloaks and had black skull masks on. James had zero idea who they were, he didn’t know who anyone in the group was. He just knew that one day he’d woken up to an invite to this club. The invite had been very vague and only detailed where he was to meet to be taken to the club. It was far past midnight and the campus had been very quiet when he went to the meeting spot in the woods nearby. James had heard rumors about the club but nobody knew much beyond a name, Thanatos. Even professors knew very little about the group. 

    Finally they reached a set of dark wooden doors. The two cloaked people opened the doors and ushered the three of them inside. They entered a large room with black stone walls and books and photos lining every wall. James wasn’t able to get a good look at the photos but some of them looked like they were of dead people. He tried to write it off as just strange photos of people playing dead. Probably just a way to make the room look creepier. Standing in the middle of the room were five people. Four of them were wearing the same red cloaks and black masks. One, who was standing in the middle and a little in front, was wearing a black cloak and a white mask. A small smile played on the middle person's lips. He took a step forward and looked at each of the three boys, his eyes landing on James. 

“Hello. You are here because I have chosen you to be a part of one of the most secret and selective societies this school has ever seen.” The man had a deep, commanding voice. “Tonight you will go through a sort of rite of passage. Two of you will be…denied. One of you will be accepted and become part of Thanatos. There will be three different challenges for you tonight. They will test your strength and your willpower. The third will be the final decision on if you can be one of us.” The leader turned to one of the members. “Bring out what they’ll need for their first task.” The member nodded and went through a door on the left wall. He then brought out a rolling table that had three photos on it. Each was of a girl in James’ class. There was also a knife on the table.

“What the-” James started but the leader clapped his hands and shushed him. 

“One of you will pick one of these girls and stab their photo with the knife. That's all. How about,” The leader pointed his finger at the boy to James’ left. “you. Pick and stab the photo.” The boy walked up to the tray and looked at all three photos. He stared at them for a few minutes before picking up the knife and stabbing the photo of the girl with long blonde hair and glasses. The knife went right through the middle of her face. The leader started to laugh and the boy retreated back to where he was standing originally. The doors behind the three boys opened and they all turned. The girl in the photo was escorted into the room. She was crying and begging them to let her go. She was shoved onto the floor in front of the leader. 

“What in the world is going on?” James asked and the leader grinned at him. James felt a shiver go down his spine. The smile was chilling. 

“Now, one of you will take the knife and stab the girl.” The leader pointed at the other boy with James and he shook his head violently. 

“No, please. Don’t make me do that. I won’t. I can’t.” The boy begged. The leader laughed maniacally. 

“Do it, or we will kill you.” The boy began to cry and walked to the tray. He put his hand on the handle of the knife and pulled it out of the picture. His hands were shaking and beads of sweat were rolling down his face. The girl was screaming and crying and begging him not to hurt her.

“Please, Derek, I don’t want to die.” Derek moved towards the girl.

“I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I don’t want to do this but I can’t die.” What was even worse was that Derek knew the girl. James and the other boy were crying as well. Derek held the knife in front of him. His hand was shaking so much, it was a wonder that he hadn’t dropped it yet. “I’m so sorry.” Derek whispered and cut the girl's throat open. Blood spewed everywhere and onto Derek’s clothing, soaking him with the thick liquid. He fell to his knees, sobbing into his hands. The leader put a hand onto Derek’s shoulder.

“Good job. It is hard enough to kill someone you don’t know, let alone to kill someone you do.” Derek pushed the leader's hand away and stood.

“I’m leaving and telling everyone about this. You guys are sick!” Derek spit in the leader's face. He turned and ran for the door. The members standing by the door grabbed Derek and shoved him back towards James and the other guy. “Let me leave!” The leader laughed. 

“There is no leaving. You killed this girl. They’ll arrest you for murder and you will rot in jail. We will all speak against you. Nobody will believe a word you say. Now, let's move onto the last task.” Derek wiped the blood off of his face and stood back next to James. He was shaking and tears were streaming down his face. All the boys were freaked out and wanted to leave but didn’t wanna be killed in the process. “So, now that you have all calmed your tits, we can move onto the third task. Through this door to your right is a series of tunnels. They are miles long. We are going to play a little game of hide and seek. You three will go through the door and run. You will have three minutes to run as far as you can before my men chase after you and attempt to kill you. Only two of you will survive. The other will be allowed to join us. Go.” Then a member opened the door and started a timer on a tv above the door. All of the boys looked at each other and ran. James darted through the tunnels, trying to find somewhere to hide. His lungs were burning and he could feel a stitch forming in his side. Yet, he kept running. Soon enough he heard a horn sound through the tunnels and he assumed that meant that his three minutes were up.

    He heard a scream coming from a tunnel to his right. It sounded like Derek. Footsteps started towards him and he continued to run. He was taking rights and lefts and going down any tunnel that sounded like it was empty. The footsteps were getting closer and he dove into an indent in the wall next to him. He hid as low as he could against the wall and floor. Two of the hooded, masked, members ran past him. One paused a few feet past him. James' heart was pounding and he thought that maybe they could hear it. 

“I think I hear someone down this way.” The member said to the other and they ran down another tunnel. James let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He decided to try and catch his breath in the place he was. He was trying to find his phone but realized he must’ve dropped it when he was running. He poked his head out of his hiding spot and saw three members standing at the end of the hall. They weren’t looking at him. James looked the other way and saw no one. He decided to try and escape. He hugged the wall and snuck down the hallway. He kept his eye on the other people down the hall. He was holding his breath and trying to not make a noise. When he finally turned a corner and was able to breathe. He walked through about a hundred hallways before finally reaching a door. He furrowed his eyebrows together. He figured there was no way out. Maybe there was. He opened the door and sitting there was the other two girls who were in the pictures. They had tape over their mouths and started trying to get his attention. He tried to make them be quiet but then he heard someone's footsteps towards the door to the room that they had done the first two tasks in. James looked around and saw a set of cloaks hung up and hid behind them. Someone opened the door to the room and the girls cried out a little.

“Shut up! We’ll kill you soon. Just got to wait until we find that last boy. For now, these two dead ones can keep you company.” Two thumps sounded and the door closed. James came out from behind the cloaks and also called out when he saw the other two boys dead on the floor. Derek’s eyes stared at him and James dropped down beside him. He closed his eyes and ran a hand over his own face. Then, James turned to the two girls and put a finger over his lips in a ‘be quiet’ motion. He slowly removed the tape from each of the girls' mouths and untied them. 

“Ok, you two need to be quiet. If we have any chance of getting out of here then we need to be patient and quiet. Do either of you have your phones?” He asked and they both shook their heads.

“They took them when they brought us here.” One of the girls said. James nodded and moved towards the door. He pressed his ear to it and listened.

“We can’t find him, sir.” A male voice said.

“Nothing can be done without me! You guys are useless. I’ll find him!” The leader said and he heard a few footsteps leaving out the door to the tunnels. “Come on, all of you.” James opened the door a little and saw the other door close. No one else was in the room and he motioned for the girls to follow him. They opened the door they’d entered and the dark hallway was empty. James ushered the girls through just as another door opened.

“There he is! Get him!” A voice behind him said. James didn’t even bother to look. He closed the door behind him.

“Run!” He said to the girls and all three of them started running. They heard the pounding footsteps behind them. They all were tired and hurting but they couldn’t worry about that. They were running on pure adrenaline. They finally reached the entrance to the hall they’d come down and ran out. They were in the middle of campus. It was morning and there were tons of students walking around. James fell to his knees and sobbed. Students surrounded the three of them, asking what was wrong. All James could do was cry.