Chapter 2 As I ran, my mind went back to the event that led to this. My sister was kidnapped and the police had done nothing to help me. I saw a box on my porch and picked it up just because it said "To find Amy open" That was the worst decision ever even though I was helpless. *****Flash back****** "I know how much you love your sister. You have just one week or the next message you would get would be her corpse. —T I stopped breathing. “T?” I whispered. “No way.” My heartbeat punched my ribs. I read it again. “T… Thomas?” A sharp, bitter sound escaped my throat. “You’re dead, man.” "How do you know what happened to my sister?" Thomas died two years in a car crash and his body was never found. “So who’s fucking with me?” I snapped, turning the headset over. “Dave? Rob? Judy? This is expensive for a prank. Even for tech assholes.” I searched for a brand but there was none, it just hummed in my hands. “What the...?” I tossed it away as a small blue glow lit the

Chapter 4 “Alex, move!”Dave’s shout barely hit my ears before the stone in my hand slammed into the Howler’s skull. I felt everything—bone crunching under the impact, the creature’s weight crashing into me and its rancid breath melting my face.“Get... off... me!” I choked, shoving my knee upward.The thing didn’t care. Its jaws snapped so close to my face I felt the wind brush against my throat.“Alex, roll! Roll left!” Dave yelled.“I’m trying!” I pushed harder, swinging the stone against its ribs. “Why is this thing so heavy?”“It’s sewn together, remember! Aim for the neck!”“I am aiming for the neck!” I shot back The creature made that awful, childlike cry as it tore away from me. I scrambled backward unable to stop my chest from heaving.Dave appeared above it, gripping a huge stone.“Stay down!” he snarled and smashed its skull until the thing stopped twitching.“Don’t stop! Alex, back up—back to me! They’re never alone!”“Yeah, I’m getting that!” I gasped, moving toward him

Chapter 6I ran as fast as my legs could carry, dragging Dave with me. We kept going until we reached the end of the cave. The exit was so narrow the stone scrapped my shoulders as I squeezed in. Rock tore at what was left of my hoodie, and by the time I stumbled back into the dark, it swallowed me whole. Behind me, Dave’s breathing echoed through the cave like something stalking us.“How far back does it go?” I whispered before I could stop myself. The Howlers already knew we were here, but something about the darkness demanded quiet.“Maybe thirty feet,” Dave murmured. His voice came from somewhere to my left. “Then it fans out but only one can fit through the exit at a time.”I turned toward the exit again, and I could see the alien sky stretched in purple and green streaks, auroras twisting between two moons. As I watched, a Howler’s head slid into view, blocking the color. Then another. Then a cluster of them. Their clicking language bounced against the rock.“They can’t rush us,

In the blink of an eye, the castle vanished. Then I was thrown into the void and I could feel my insides trying to escape through my mouth.I tried reaching out for something—anything—but my hands just went through the emptiness and my heart rate tripled.I can’t breathe. Damn it...why can’t I breathe?A bright light shone and thin red emergency strips blinked alive along cold metal walls, outlining a narrow corridor suspended in the void. I sucked in a desperate breath as oxygen rushed back into my lungs.LEVEL 3: DEEP SPACE STATIONObjective: Reach the escape pods before station destructionTime until destruction: 02:30:00Current Respawn Tokens: 2Warning: Zero gravity environment“Of course,” I muttered, my voice echoing off the metal tunnel. “Why would anything be easy?”When I tried to move, my body twisted out of control and I was thrown down the corridor like a loose screw. I slammed into one wall, bounced into the other, then started spinning end over end.“Damn it...!”I th

LEVEL 5: UNDERWATER RESEARCH FACILITYObjective: Reach the surface before drowningTime until oxygen depletion: 30:00Current Respawn Tokens: 3Warning: Increasing water pressureCold water creeped up my legs and it swallowed my knees in no time. It kept rising until it soaked my clothes, the only thing that wasn't submerged under water was my head. Blue-green emergency lights flickered through the murky water while I heard scratching of metal somewhere in the distance.Every step I took sent ripples crawling across the hallway as icy liquid sloshed higher. The walls gave an uncomfortable groan as glass shattered. "You are not alone,"I reminded myself as Lisa's voice echoed inside my skull and Dave’s courage burned in my chest.I forced myself forward, searching for stairs, ladders, any sign of something going up. The water reached my neck, and panic clawed at my throat, but I swallowed it down and kicked forward.I would not disappoint them again.The lights flickered harder now as