The Stranger’s Invitation

The morning came not with sunlight, but with a sudden jolt.

Each player awoke in total darkness.

No memory of falling asleep. No whisper of dreams. Just a vast nothingness—and then, without warning, the cold glare of sterile white light crashed into their senses.

Each one found themselves in a different room.

Alone. Trapped.

---

Lina blinked rapidly, trying to shake the fog from her brain. Her head throbbed, and her arms were aching—bound tight to the arms of a cold, metallic chair with smooth leather straps that cut lightly into her skin. The walls around her were dull gray, featureless, save for a small vent in the ceiling that hummed quietly. There was a door, but no handle.

Tick-tick-tick.

A slow, mechanical rhythm echoed from somewhere above her. Before she could even form a thought, a synthetic voice crackled from unseen speakers:

"You have ten minutes. Escape, or be eliminated."

Her throat closed up. Her breath grew shallow.

No hints. No clues.

Just time—and the constant ticking, slicing the minutes into blades.

She scanned the room frantically. No windows. No shadows. Just her, the chair, and the growing sound of her heartbeat in her ears.

---

Elsewhere, Haider groaned, his body stiff and sore. His room was dimmer, lit by a single bare bulb that swung from the ceiling with a lazy rhythm. He sat tied to a chair, but unlike Lina, his chest was wrapped with thick rope. A metal table stood before him, its surface cluttered with a locked black box, a pair of blunt scissors, and a puzzle board with sliding tiles in disarray.

It clicked instantly.

This wasn't about force.

This was about speed. Precision. Focus.

He wiped sweat from his brow with a tied wrist, then twisted his hand, guiding the scissors across the edge of the table. A few calculated movements. Then—he started solving the puzzle, piece by piece.

---

Saira's room was like a soft white coffin—padded on all six sides, the light so bright it was disorienting. Her ankle was shackled to the floor with a thick strap, just long enough for her to reach a tray of objects nearby. Dozens of keys—gold, silver, some bent, others rusted—all tied together on a single string, which ran through a maze of tiny bells.

One wrong move… one careless tremor…

They'll know.

She gritted her teeth, fingers trembling as she began lifting the keys, one by one. She counted her breathing. She imagined silence as something alive—and hungry.

---

Areeba's eyes watered under the intensity of the ceiling lights.

Every surface around her reflected her back. Walls, floor, ceiling—dozens of Areebas stared at her in stillness. Her arms were tied at the elbows, but not tightly. She could move, slightly. A small candle flickered before her, dripping wax onto a piece of paper—some kind of letter, half-burned.

"Look at yourself," the voice said again. "Find the lie."

Her heart pounded.

Which reflection was hers?

Which wasn't?

She studied herself. Every blink. Every tilt of the head.

And still, the wax dripped. A clue was burning away.

---

Zayan cursed under his breath, twisting on the hard floor. His hands were cuffed behind him. His knees scraped against metal. The room was colder than the others—he could feel his breath fog in the air. On the wall ahead of him, a digital timer ticked in glowing red.

9:47… 9:46…

The walls around him were covered in riddles—smudged white chalk on dark blue steel. Some were obvious. Others twisted and nonsensical.

He growled, shaking his head. His brain ached. Too many words.

But he had no choice.

Each riddle unlocked another number. And those numbers—he realized—were part of a code.

His escape depended on it.

---

Sameena's room was silent, eerily so. Not even her breath echoed back. She sat cross-legged inside a metal cage barely big enough for her to stretch. To her side, three buttons glowed faintly on the floor—red, blue, and black.

Each button was labeled.

TRUTH.

SACRIFICE.

DELAY.

She stared at them.

No instructions. No hints.

Just choice.

Sameena's mind spun. What if each button did something to someone else? Or to her? What if pressing one ended the game—or her life?

She closed her eyes.

Think, think, think…

---

Minutes passed.

In Lina's room, the ticking had grown louder. Sharper. Like teeth gnashing. She finally spotted it—hidden under the chair cushion. A single thin pin. With shaking hands, she angled it into the leather strap's buckle, twisting carefully. The strap came loose.

She gasped.

She was free.

The vent above let out a hiss.

Three minutes left.

She climbed onto the chair, unscrewed the cover—and climbed up.

---

Haider's fingers moved with speed now. One last tile. One final click—and the box flew open. A brass key inside. He reached behind and twisted himself to cut the ropes using the scissors. His chest burned from the effort.

Finally—freedom.

He shoved the key into a tiny slot near the floor.

The door groaned open.

---

Saira's hand shook as she reached for the fourth key. No sound. Fifth. No sound. Then, sixth—

A faint ring.

She froze.

Heart in her mouth.

But the bells stayed still.

Her ankle strap released with a hiss. She stepped toward the door, exhaling deeply.

---

Areeba's eyes widened. One reflection—near the right corner—blinked late. Delayed. Off-sync.

That wasn't her.

That was the lie.

She reached into the candle, ignoring the heat. Her fingers met wax—then a hidden slip of paper.

She pulled it free.

"I lied about him."

The wall to her left slid open.

---

Zayan grinned as he entered the last code.

4-1-6-9.

The screen lit green. A metal click echoed.

But just as he turned toward the door—

The timer hit zero.

His body stiffened. Cold air burst from the vent. He screamed—

Then darkness.

---

Sameena sat in stillness.

Five minutes. Six.

Nothing.

Panic rose.

She pressed "DELAY."

A click. A metallic hiss.

"You have delayed someone else's escape. But bought nothing for yourself."

The cage's walls began to close.

She screamed.

But no one heard her.

---

Then—silence.

Across the facility, the ticking stopped.

Mechanical gears turned.

Locks disengaged.

Doors creaked open for four players.

Lina.

Haider.

Areeba.

Saira.

They stumbled out into a long, golden hallway. The floor was soft beneath their feet, the lights above warm and hazy like sunset through curtains.

Their eyes blinked against the brightness.

They were shaken. But alive.

A voice echoed across the corridor, soft but final:

"Two have been eliminated. They will not return."

No names. No faces.

But the silence behind them held the truth.

And ahead—only more questions.

Only more rooms.

Only more lies.

---