Age of Serial Synot

First Act (6)

Erica Monstroll, daughter of Carl and Olivia Monstroll was a 19 year old girl with a spoiled personality. 

She was born in New York, being given all she wanted when growing up. Her father who worked for a multi-million dollar company was too busy to spend time with her hence he compensated for it by giving her large amounts of money every week to splurge to her hearts content.

Her mother was even worse, having married Carl for his money and having Erica before she was ready to have children. She owned her own firm which she had started thanks to the funding she received from her husband and used it as a way ti escape her parental duties.

She too spent more time away from home, leaving a couple of maids whom she had hired to take care of her daughter's needs.

As such, Erica grew up with a rotten personality that only kids such as herself could put up with. She was stuck up and would never allow herself to hang out with people she didn't consider to be worth her time.

Her life was all fun and games until one day, she stumbled upon her mother's website and saw all the different women's products and accessories that she sold and the genius behind their creation. 

She was inspired and began using her allowance to learn different skills from fashion design to make up art. As the times changed with the appearance of super powers, she exploited a niche for women's wear that embodied famous heroes.

She created an enterprise with a couple of her wealthy friends that bloomed and took root in her area.

She became too absorbed in it after a time, her father encouraging her to continue with her schooling.

She only agreed after he and her mother reluctantly consented to her studying abroad, where she secretly planned to expand her market.

Monash University.

Melbourne, Australia.

"Oh my God! These look sooo cute!" a girl in a crop top and a black mini skirt squealed in excitement as she saw the picture of a pair of high heels with an intricate design of butterflies.

"When will these be available for me to purchase?!" the girl shook her friend with vigour.

"Come on, Nikki! Calm down! You know shoes are way harder to produce. It's still just in the designing phase. I'm regretting showing you this already," a girl in a stylish white shift dress and red heels said as she shook her head.

She had long red hair and a oval shaped face that was decorated with two hazel coloured eyes.

She was still burning with pride as she looked at her friend who was in a frenzy over her new designs.

"Fine, fine. But I want this! You better not even think of selling these to anyone else after they are done, Erica," the other girl said.

"Of course, anything for m-" 

Before she could finish, Erica vanished. Her friend was left with an shocked expression looked left and right for her. 

***

Erica appeared in a dark space where she could not see anything. Suddenly coming from the bright sun lit space of the campus to the eerily dark space of the grid box unnerved her.

In panic she screamed.

However, she panicked even more when she couldn't hear a single thing. As she screamed, she only felt the vibrations of her voice in her body. 

She felt something with a slightly heavy weight in her hands.

Her breathing hastened. She started to sweat.

'Where am I? What am I doing here?! How did I get here?! Please! Lemme out!' her thoughts spiralled out of control.

She was beyond terrified. 

She tried moving around, but she could barely feel herself. Only the hard ground underneath was a little more vivid as she walked. The terror she felt from seeing the same thing regardless of having her eyes opened or not,  almost drove her insane.

Her eyes darted to and fro as she shook like a leaf, looking for something. Anything. 

She almost wet herself.

This was her first experience with something like this. Her mind started creating the illusion that she could breathe. She wheezed, with her eyes wide open, trying to capture anything.

"Erica Monstroll," she heard a masculine voice call to her as if the person was standing next to her.

Before she could even ponder who that voice belonged to or anything else, she was already bawling out and begging.

"PLEASE! WHOEVER YOU ARE! PLEASE LET ME GO! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! I HAVE SO MONEY, I'll give you! JUST PLEASE LET ME OUT OF HERE!!" she screamed with all of her might but she could hear nothing travel through the thick darkness.

The voice that spoke to her before sounded again.

"I'm afraid leaving is no longer an option. A participant of the game with a participation token has chosen you to play on their behalf. You are now obligated to play the game until the end," the voice said.

Erica was spooked. This brought on all kinds of bad memories in her mind. All the horror movies she watched involving these 'games' came flooding into her mind as tears and snot ran down her face. Her mind was disarray.

However, she couldn't help but notice that she left out a detail that seemed.... wrong to her. Someone chose for her to play on their behalf?

"W-who...chose me?" she asked in a frightened tone.

"Participant Carl Monstroll has given their participation token to you," the voice said.

When she heard this, Erica almost collapsed. Her father? He had.... chosen her to play a game in his stead?

Even as she held on tight to the item in her hand out of anxiety, she couldn't help but wonder. 

'Wait?' she thought. 'What even is this game? Is it not as bad as I think? Maybe it's just a silly fun game...right? No way dad would... send me to some whacky death game.... right?'

Erica regained a little of her composure.

"The rules will now be explained to you. The name of the game is called....." the voice explained the entire game to Erica, whom, after every rule, her heart sank deeper and deeper.

By the end of the explanation, the chainsaw in her hand had fallen to the ground, her legs shaking vehemently.

'I have to kill?' she thought. 'Or else....I'll be.. kept here??'

She thought. She was in disbelief. Her own father had swapped himself with her, choosing to leave her in this shitty game where her options were limited.

Who would do that? Why?! 

'Why?! Why would you do this to me, dad?! Screw you! You just ruined my life in the worst way possible! Sending me here to kill my way out!' she thought as she cried out 'loud'. 

The pain ran deep. The sting of betrayal. Maybe it was all a lie?! Maybe this was just some sick game to mess with her emotions?!

She hadn't had a close relationship with her father, but he was her father nonetheless. She even created own business and escaped his budget. She got out of their hair as she was too much of a bother for them to spend even a minute of their time with her anyway!

These thoughts ran through her head.

"That bastard!! I'll get him back for this! I refuse to die here! I have a life ahead of me and I'm not giving it up!" she screamed as she held the chainsaw with trembling hands. Her rage was singing loudly in her head, but her body was quivering, refusing to move. There was no way she could fuel her fear into strength when all she saw was the darkness. The shift in her life was too sudden.

"Please note, you gave 28 minutes and 2 seconds remaining," the voice spoke.

***

Carl Monstroll appeared in his office.

He immediately fell from the swivel chair that he appeared in and threw up.

He knelt on the floor, retching.

It was the combination of motion sickness and guilt that assailed him with such a cruel sensation that made his organs tumble.

He only stopped after a little while, as he sat back down and took in deep breaths to calm himself. 

However, could he be calm after what he had just done?

Tears came from his eyes as he gritted his teeth and tried to defend himself.

'Olivia needs me! I need to be there for her! Erica can...manage somehow... worst case she can just wait for another game... one that doesn't require killing someone, right?' he thought. 

He tried to believe in his own thoughts but it turned out to be a lie. He was scared.

He was looking for excuses.

He was frightened.

He let his brat daughter carry the burden that he was supposed to.

'So what?! We had her by mistake anyway! Whatever happens, happens!' he said with am ugly grimace.

He lay his hands on the desk and glanced at the mini digital watch.

He was shocked.

'What in the world?!' he thought,  his eyes widening.

On the clock was the date and time. A red light showing them to be.....