Part 7: Death Jeopardy

There was screaming, yelling, and crying all around the room as people were falling slowly into glass cubicles. About eight glass boxes were around the room, which only made people wonder what this was all about. Once every cubicle was filled, a screen turned on in the front of the room, and everyone went silent. Everyone, including Jamie, watched the screen. It was blank.

“Hello everyone, and welcome to my favorite game. Today’s precious contestants will be fighting for the right to freedom. When your box lights up yellow, it means it is your turn. You will have one minute to answer the question given to you from your selected category. If you fail to do so, there will be a consequence. May the best person win,” said a deep voice.

After it went quiet, the glass box to the right of Jamie had lit up with a bright yellow color. The man in it looked genuinely terrified as the screen began to list the categories in front of them.

There were three, Nature, Art, and Religion. The man yells out art and is given the choice of Artists or Artwork. He chooses artwork. He did not even think much about it, and he was too afraid to go against the voice.

The question pops up onto the screen, ‘How many paintings were made by the famous artist Picasso?’

The man pondered his answer and hesitated. He feared what could happen if he got it wrong. He did not think he would have a choice in the matter. If he did not answer, something terrible would happen. He was sure. Then finally yelled out, “20,000.”

“Oh my, that is incorrect. Time for your consequence. Because you have failed to answer the question correctly, precious boy, your box will be filled with all of the paint Picasso used on his paintings.”

Gallons upon gallons of paint started to pour into the man’s cubicle. It came from the same tube that he had fallen into the box with at the beginning of this. He tried to keep above the paint, but as the colors filled the box, it started to weigh him down. His shrieks of terror were enough to make a person go mad as desperate he was to get out of there. The paint gradually made it over the man’s head, and he was seen no more. Not too long after, the box was completely filled with paint, and the man could no longer be heard; he was presumed dead.

“So, what? Is our consequence to be killed? What right do you have to bring us here and force us to do this?” Yelled out a woman from the back of the room.

“My precious young lady, I have needs, and so does everyone else. It is my choice on how I deal with those needs,” the deep voice uttered.

The deep voice went silent, and just like that, the woman’s box lit up bright yellow light. It was her turn. She wanted nothing to do with this. It was unfair to put them through this. She was shown the categories, nature, art, and religion but decided not to pick anything.

After a few minutes of waiting, the deep voice said, “if no answer is given, I will just go straight to punishment.”

She thought about it. This may be unfair, but it was to answer a question and maybe survive or die. What choice did she have? She picked and yelled, “Nature.” Then she was given two options. One was animals and the other plants. She cried, “animals.”

‘What is an animal that has a very distinctive smell?’ popped onto the board. She was swift with her answer and said,  “it is a skunk.”

“You are correct, my precious girl. You may proceed to the next round,” said the deep voice.

Jamie looked over to her left and noticed an older man around 60 was in the box next to her. He looked frail and weak. It was his box that lit up next. He chose the same category with no hesitation, thinking that the question would be easy as the one before.

“Nature.” When the two subcategories popped up on the screen, he again picked the same. “Animals.”

The question given to him was, ‘How long does it take for a Black Mamba to kill someone?’ 

“How am I supposed to know that? Is it 4 hours?” says the old man. He feared what may happen, for he did not know if that was right or not.

“Well, that is the wrong answer, my precious old man. Guess it is time to find out how long it takes,” said the deep voice.

A dozen Black Mambas were released into the man’s box, sliding down the tube on top of the man’s head. There was nothing the old man could do. Jamie watched in horror as the aggressive snakes bit the old man over and over. She watched as the man lost consciousness from all of the venom that was flowing through his veins. His body went limp, and he was dead. The snakes slithered over and around the man’s body like they did nothing wrong. This sight evoked a lot of feeling among those who were left.

Jamie’s emotions were indescribable. She was unsure whether she was to feel scared of what could happen to her or relieved that she had not been the one in that box. Then two boxes to her right lit up.

Oh no, Jamie thought. The girl in there looked entirely unready for this. The category she chose was religion. She had no other options afterward. Her questions popped up on the screen, and it read, ‘How many animals were on Noah’s ark?’

The girl looked down as if contemplating her answer. She said, “there is no possible way for me to answer because I was not there.”

“That’s not the answer I was looking for, precious,” said the deep voice.

Her box began to fill with water, like the paint, but this time everyone could see that she was losing air and space quickly. After all of the air and space were replaced by water, the girl had stopped fighting. She just gave up, breathed in the water, which caused her to drown.

Next up was a man in the back, entirely across from Jamie. She watched as the man become fearful of what he would be put through. After picking the art category and picking artwork, he was given the question.

‘What is one of the most gruesome thriller movies?’

The man was unsure of the answer, so he said, “pass.” He felt like he had the right to pass it on. Why not? If this killer could make up his own rules to this game of death, so could he.

Jamie had never heard of a dumber answer than that. She wondered what would happen to the man now.

“Well, precious boy, there are no passes in this game,” said the deep voice. “this is what I think to anyone who tries to disrupt my game.”

Then a huge blade came out from underneath him and split his body in half. Blood splattered all around the box as everyone watched in horror. One girl even screamed at what she saw.

“The answer was Saw,” the deep voice said, a bit upset. The killer would not let the anger show, and he could remain in control.

Afterwards it went quiet. The screen turned off, and the lights went out. It was now completely dark. Jamie tried to make out what was happening, but it was pitch black.

Abruptly, the screen turned back on, but the lights remained off. The light on Jamie’s box lit up. She was terrified. She looked at the screen and watched as the categories showed up, but they weren’t the same as the first half. There were different categories. The options were now beauty products, food, and books.

Fearing if she did not answer, Jamie chose food.

‘What kind of food can kill you if it is not properly prepared?’ the question popped up on the screen.

Jamie thought about it for a bit. She knew the answer and was glad about that. She said, “Pufferfish.”

“That is correct, my precious girl. You will move on to the next round,” the deep voice replied.

The next box to light up was a man in the middle of the room. Jamie watched as the man was shaking in fear of what he could be put through. She was glad she moved on but hated that she wished this man did not. For if he did, she would have to compete with him. She was sure that only one would live at the end of this, and as much as she hated herself for this, she wanted to be that one.

He chose the category ‘food’ as Jamie did. 

‘What nut doesn’t have a shell?’ popped up on the board.

The man did not answer the question in time, for he had no idea what the answer was. This meant that the man received a consequence.

“You are to be crushed by falling coconuts,” said the deep voice.

It began to rain hundreds upon hundreds of coconuts on the man. He was dead within minutes because of the force and weight of the coconuts, hitting his head.

The last person was a man in the front of the room, and he looked scared to death. He chose the category of books.

‘What book revolves its whole story based on a ring?’ popped on the screen on the screen.

The man said, “The Hobbit.” with pride on his face. He was glad to be able to move to the next round. He wanted to live through this.

“Oh my precious, that is wrong. The answer was The Lord of the Rings,” said the deep voice.

The man was sentenced to burn to death like the ring. The man’s box lit up on fire, and when the fire had receded, all that was left of the man were ashes. Both girls that were left watched as the ashes fell to the bottom of the box.

It was now just Jamie and another girl. What would happen to them?

“Now is time for the final round. We will have a tie-breaker. Only one can win. Let’s see how this plays out, shall we, my precious toys?” said the deep voice. “The first one to answer the question will win.”

There was one simple question that was shown on the board. ‘What can you feel but not see?’

 Both of the women took their time thinking of an answer to the question. When Jamie believed she had the answer, she yelled, “Wind!”

“That is correct. It looks like we have a winner here,” the deep voice replied.

The other girl looked at Jamie in terror. She was unable to comprehend what was happening. First, some water is poured into her box and stopped when it reached her knees. She looked at the water in confusion. Then she felt the electric currents flow through her body. As the electro currents got stronger, her body seized in place. She was slowly fried to death by the electricity in the water.

Jamie watched and was so happy that she won, even if it meant that the others had died. She waited for the deep voice to come back and let her out, but it did not happen. Then she heard a loud noise from underneath her. She was beginning to think that this was the way out. This was until the floor disappeared, and she fell right onto a sharp metal pipe, which pierced through her body, killing her instantly.

The killer looked at his work, excellent, he thought to himself. He was really beginning to love seeing the FBI squirm trying to figure out who he was. They were all idiots. He laughed at this thought.

“I am here to stay, just wait and see what I have planned next,” he said as a creepy grin went across his face. He knew that he was too good ever to get caught. But it was fun trying to play around with the FBI and people.

Oh, how much fun this was…