Seeing my parents, I forgot about the game and rushed toward them. As I reached the iron bars, the door closed shut with a loud bang.
But I didn't even react to it since I had seen my parents.
"Mom! Dad! Are you okay?" I shouted, my voice trembling with panic.
They didn't have any visible injuries, but I wanted to be sure that they were safe.
"We are okay, but happened to you? What happened to your arm?" Asked my mom with a worried expression.
"Your leg, it's injured too. What happened? Did something happen?" My dad started to question following my mom.
Then both of them started to ask questions at the same time for a few seconds until I interrupted them.
"I am okay, it's no big deal. Where were you all this time? I was looking for you. Why are you behind these bars, and where are the others?" I asked in a single breath.
"We will find them," my dad replied with a serious expression,
You could read his worry from his face even though he tried so hard to hide it.
"We don't know where we were or where the other kids were. We randomly appeared here at the same time, and we don't know why and how." My mom followed up.
I stopped for a second to think about what I should do. My parents were here, but behind bars. I just noticed that they also had bars between themselves, so they were separated as well.
"You need anything? Food? Water? I can bring it." I said as I turned to look at the door I just came through.
When I turned, I saw nothing but a white wall. No door or no door handle.
"Hey, where did the door go?" I asked, coming closer to the wall.
I touched and slipped my fingers on it to see if maybe my eyes are deceiving me. But no! There was nothing. No door or door handle.
"I am talking to you! Where did the door go?" I asked, lifting the paper I was holding.
The text on it started to change with the same noise.
"You won't need it. You are going to play your next games here from now on. I give you 10 minutes to talk to your parents before the game begins."
As I read the text, I felt uncomfortable with the situation. Not for myself but for my parents.
"They won't play the game, right?" I asked as I looked at the text.
"What game are you talking about?" My dad asked me.
"I will explain. Just give me a minute," I said.
While the text was changing, my dad's question hit me. With fast steps, I went next to them.
"You didn't play games, did you?" I asked.
"What game? We just came here and don't remember anything," my mom replied.
"Same here. I was at work, but now I am here." Dad continued.
"Good." I was relieved.
At least they didn't play any games.
As I moved my gaze to look at the paper, I remembered something.
"Dad, did your uncle die?" I asked, remembering my mom's note.
"No."
"But Mom left a note saying you guys went together to the funeral." I suspiciously questioned, trying to understand where everything started.
"No, I didn't. Why would I do that?" she replied.
"It was you, wasn't it?" I asked as I looked at the paper.
I haven't read what was written there yet, but I saw a new text appear at the end.
"Yes."
This was proof that everything had started even before I expected. Even before I thought I was in a dream. Probably when I went to sleep in the afternoon.
I looked at the paper again to see what was written there earlier.
"Your parents haven't played games. And don't worry, during the game, neither you nor your parents will get hurt. As I said before, this game is going to be a question-based one."
This gave me slight relief, not just for parents but also for myself. Getting hurt is not something I have ever been fond of.
Remembering that I have a few minutes before playing the game, I sat next to my parents and started talking about my crazy adventure.
How I felt like I was in a dream, how I ended up here, and of course, the game. I didn't mention getting hurt after flying and dying multiple times during game one. I couldn't worry them about something that already passed.
I also explained to them the rules of the games and the question I should answer. They didn't have any idea, but I could not blame them.
After a few minutes, the paper started to make that writing noise again, giving new instructions.
When I looked at the game name, I saw what I least expected.
"Game #2: Who do you love more?"