PLAYERS
They all agreed, even without having talked about it, that everything must be a joke, some hidden camera program or some new attempt by their teachers to get their attention. It was well known that not everyone was what they were supposed to be, but something was wrong with them. They felt like the pieces in a chess game in which the kings and queens had already been chosen and the other half of them were the sacrificial pieces. They weren't just pieces of ivory, porcelain or wood, they were human. Bad students, and among them, four of the best. It was quite obvious that the positions had been taken as the room filled up, but the strange thing about the situation was that although they still believed it was a joke, no one said anything. None of them dared to ask and rather than look askance at each other, they seemed to accept the fact of being there, and just let it all happen.
First it was that strange windowless room with those twelve chairs arranged in a circle, filling to a seal with twelve of them inside. Then that cheerful, sarcastic voice appeared, firing orders from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There was no way it was coming from some hidden speaker or horn. Yet there it was. The voice came from the walls, falling directly into his ears in an enveloping way. And finally, the rules. Those that would break them and that during the game, would make them those sacrificial pieces that they anticipated from the beginning to be.
They couldn't tell anyone about it, they couldn't leave the game, and more importantly, it was forbidden to give their life away to another player.
The first to accept the game was Rob, a pale and small boy known for his short temper and little ability to interact with others as long as it was not the teachers. The second was Danielle, the youngest of the group, belonging to the first year and known for her great ability to get into trouble and end up in detention; the third was, Kris, a senior, a beam of the sport and so on until ending with Sarah, who only cared about leaving the room as soon as possible along with all that bad joke.
After everyone was on their feet, the voice released a raucous, joyous laugh, fake applause, and a cheer that plunged the room into deathly silence at the end. The air became stale and nervousness spread like a virus, since upon accepting, the following message was given: "Players. Listen carefully, because missing something means losing your life. It is buried under water, near the tower full of light. A cold boy - loaded with water like a fishbowl - carries in his grave. I couldn't help the name, although being cold isn't what rules these days. There it will float in peace, you will remember it and no one will bother it except for the clunking sound of the keys falling. Several of his things are with this corpse. Can they find it before the police do? They only have forty-eight hours.” They were Players now and to win, they had to save their own lives first.