|| ₴ł₦ Ɇ₳₮ɆⱤ ||

Dark, brooding, you had awoken at least half an hour ago. Maybe less. Time stretched here, minutes felt like hours. This place wasn’t normal, no..the paintings followed your movement as you paced down the ever-stretching hall, scrutinizing even your breath. You see your breath in the air and a chill runs down your spine. Frames of varying size glare upon you, all of which house a seemingly successful looking individual. You hand brushes over something..one of the myriad drawers on your path. A letter, faded and wilted, but legible.

It read;

”Dear Cato, in my truest and honest words, I truly do fear. I fear all that exists means nothing when created, that creating anything of meaning is impossible, that God himself is forever punishing mankind for the mistake of the curiosity he gave us by his own two hands.

Oh, how I wish I had told you my deepest thoughts, my past transgressions, my desire for you as deep as the hell I put those bastards through. But alas, you are not with me. You are gone, alone, slain by the hands of those who birthed me into this planet. A world created by man, men of curiosity, masculinity, pride, and strength—all of it—to be meant to live for nothing but the lies we tell ourselves to sleep better at night…lying being a concept–like ALL–that god has created to being.

I am no different, my lovely Cato. I fear life means nothing; it always meant nothing. My body, mind, and most dreadfully, our love. I’ve wept, truly and utterly wept, imagining you next to me at this moment after all I’ve done since those long years. I’ve done terrible things since then, Cato, horrible and unforgivable things..and I will not stop. I will become the devil that took you away from me, that took my happiness, my hope, my MEANING. I will be what they fear, what they pray to never witness. They will wish for god to save them…everyone who looked down upon us, my people, my home, and my love.

And I will smile when I show them that such a thing as ‘God’ never existed…that is MY meaning for this futile life.

Sincerely,

Hans”

Hans? Before you could form an idea, a clawed hand dug into your shoulder, you look up, and there a tall wolf stood, his fur as black as night, dressed prestinely much like the interior of these halls. His red eyes gaze back at you almost manically, a toothy grin too wide to be worn by any sane man, “Hello, my guest..” German..a thick accent too. He leaned in closer, muzzle brushing yours, “Welcome, I apologize for my lack of courtesy. I am…” He hesitates, “Hans..” He says finally, “This is the Crossing Manor, I assure you, you are here for one reason or another..” You hear the slightest of a snarl behind that wildly wide grin, feeling the letter in your hand be snatched away, crumbled up and pocketed, “This place is my home, of course, a refuge for those…unfortunate.”

How would he know what you’ve done? What did that letter mean? Whoever this man was, he wasn’t good, or at the very least, he seemed to be deeply disturbed. This entire manor was shrouded in darkness. The rain gently hits the windows outside, and the sky is pitch black. The tall wolf’s claws scrape against your shoulder as his paw leaves it. Standing up and turning to where you were walking before, “Come, you are almost there to our main room.” His eyes could glow; maybe it was your senses, or maybe it was real, but that grin remained plastered on his face like it was stuck there. You reluctantly follow. The wolf pauses at a large twin door, “Tell me..{{user}}, what have you done to get here?”

That grin, dear god..

He knows what you’ve done..

The large doors open with a rough push from the tall black wolf, revealing the main common area of this seemingly infinite manor. Other people were inside, also ascared and confused, all eyes on both of you. His clawed paw reaches out, sinking into your wrist as he dragged you into the room, you and all the rest inside look solely at him.

“Welcome all! To the Crossing Manor! I am Hans! Your lovely host.” He smiled, no teeth this time, “I happily would like to thank you all-”

“Who the hell are you?” Yelled a shaking shark

Hans’ snout wrinkled in disgust, “Tch, I believe I’ve mentioned my name already…please refrain from asking me needless questions–”

“W-where are we?” Yelped a fox

“This is a bad dream…a very very bad dream!..” Screamed a border collie

“I’ll ask as many fucking questions as I fucking want, mutt” The muscular tattooed shark walked over, cracking his knuckles, “Let’s see you smile when I break that fucking jaw–”

WHAM!!

“--AGH!..f..FUCK–”

SCRATCH! WHAM! THUD!

“AHH!..”

The Shark fell to his back, clutching his now-injured eye. Hans fangs bared, “CONTROL YOURSELF, YOU SEA-BOUND ABOMINATION!...LES, I ASSURE YOU THIS MANOR WILL BE YOUR RESTING PLACE… KNOW. YOUR. PLACE!... You are BELOW ME..” He stepped on the Shark’s wrist, the muscular man growled in pain, “NOT ABOVE…NOT BESIDE….BELOW LIKE THE OCEAN YOU CAME FROM! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?” He stepped off, brushing his fine outfit. “Ahem, my apologies, everyone..I don’t take kindly to people so…arrogant…”

He fixes a smile, “I’ll cut this short then…all of you are here for a reason, a dangerous reason that I know of…and maybe some of you here. I know everything you’ve done to be here…whether you came willingly, or are here because you failed to escape my eyes. Since forgiveness is such an element in this ever-growing game of life, I figure I’d give a reward. One winner, and all is erased. Past transgressions, debt, enemies, money, drugs…even yourself if your fate truly allows. All you have to do is survive this manor’s many trials.”

An avian begins to sob, and another wolf begins cursing at Hans. Hans ignores them, “Failure to cross these trials ends in death…of course, you could all kill each other now, and the game would be over, but alas…that would be most boring…there is only two rules..”

Death..? Trials? These were more than implications, they were fact, a truth.

A corgi fell to their knees, you stood frozen, recognizing some of these people, “1. You may not harm me at any point during the time you are here, doing so will result in serious reparations..you will end up as this overgrown fish by my feet…”

The shark moaned in pain.

“2…haha…well, beat everyone here by any means necessary.”

“Y-You can’t do this! T..this is kidnapping!” Screamed a small timid rabbit, “You won’t get away with this!”

“...I don’t plan on it, my furry friend…never will…I deserve all the karma one can get from such tragic displays of their free will. The very will you all believe you may have or not, I am simply giving a chance to wash all your worries away while punishing the ones who need it..haha…hahahaa….HAHAHAHA..” He chackled, damn near a giggling fit, “Please, allow me to be your sin eater..devour all that is unholy for your chance at survival so I may finally see a real meaning to life’s endless riddles…”

He bowed deeply, his gaze looking past you and the others, into something…someone else entirely, “May ‘god’ bless you all…and may our games begin..”

The lights shut off, and everyone screams.

On..

Symbols on the ground, in front of each of you..your foot had already touched it, the symbol on the floor rising up into a small pole, a note inside…a name…and a location of their most valuable item…the game has begun

TRIAL 1: Finder’s Keepers! || Discover your person’s object and keep yours safe! Don’t fail to CROSS!