I Want to Play a Game
Written by TwistedSnakes
Commissioned by Anapnea and Frostywuffy
WARNING: CONTAINS DEATH BY FREEZING AND ASPHYXIATION.
NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
Maxwell groaned as he slowly woke up. A headache pounded the inside of his skull as he tried to get up.
Wait.
This wasn't his room. As his vision cleared, the brown, banded mongoose looked around him. He was sitting on the dusty floor of an abandoned warehouse. Light streamed in from the grimy windows of the warehouse, illuminating motes of dust floating in the air. Half of the windows were broken, others boarded up with wooden planks nailed over their frames.
"You're awake," a voice called out, interrupting his thoughts.
Maxwell spun around to see a blue wolf sitting cross-legged on the other side of the warehouse. As he moved, the sound of clinking metal around distracted him. There was a steel collar with a chain around his neck.
"What's this?" he asked indignantly at the sight of the collar. "And who are you?" he turned angrily towards the wolf.
"Name's Frosty," the wolf shrugged, nodding at a similar chain around his neck, "And don't look at me, I've got one too."
Maxwell turned to look at Frosty and saw that the wolf was indeed collared and chained. The chain snaked along the ground behind the wolf, leading to the internal roof of a glass tank that held together by a riveted metal frame. It was big enough to hold just one person if he were standing. Its ceiling and floor were made out of metal, but its four walls were made out of glass. The closest wall to them was open like a door, allowing the chain to connect the ceiling of the tank to Frosty's collar.
The mongoose turned around to see a similar contraption behind him.
"What's up with this?" he grunted.
"Hey, slow down there," Frosty snorted, "Let's start with the introductions first. As I've said earlier, I'm Frosty, and you are...?"
"Maxwell," the mongoose responded, taking a deep breath as he tried to clear his mind of the confusion and frustration.
"Well, nice to meet you then," the wolf gave up waiting for a further explanation as he remained seated on the dusty floor.
"So what's this about? How did we get here?" Maxwell asked indignantly.
"Beats me," Frosty shrugged. "Walking down the street when suddenly," he slammed a fist into the palm of the other hand creating a loud smacking sound, "And then I wake up here. And you?"
"Don't know," the mongoose lied. He wanted out as soon as possible and this line of interrogation was going nowhere fast. "This doesn't answer why we're here, either," he changed the subject.
"Try that cassette player then?" Frosty nodded towards a small rectangular device on the ground behind Maxwell, almost hidden by the shadows of the room.
"You didn't check this earlier?" Maxwell asked gruffly.
"Chain's too short," Frosty answered, unfazed by Maxwell's crude demeanour.
With a grunt, the mongoose went over to the device and picked it up. A static sound began playing from it as he hit the "play" button on it, clearing up as a voice spoke through it.
"Hello, Maxwell. I want to play a game," a deep, raspy voice announced, "Remember Emmanuel Alvarez?"
Maxwell immediately pressed the "stop" button and the device went silent.
"Hmm?" Frosty raised an eyebrow.
"N-nothing," the mongoose tried to shrug it off nonchalantly.
Frosty got to his feet and took a few steps towards Maxwell until the chain went taut behind him.
"So, really," Frosty asked again, "Why are you here?"
Maxwell glared at the wolf but didn't say a word.
"You're going to have to play the tape anyway, and I'm going to hear everything it says. Might as well hear it from you first," Frosty reasoned.
The mongoose's eyes fell to the ground. He didn't want to have to face this. Not now, not ever. And especially not when he was kidnapped and locked away in an abandoned warehouse with another stranger.
He took a deep breath.
This tape was their only clue.
And it would reveal his dark secrets.
Better him than a voice recording explaining the situation.
He took a deep breath again.
"Fine."
"Fine," Maxwell repeated again.
Frosty silently watched the mongoose pace around in circles as he worked up the courage to talk. If he wanted to find out more, the best way to do it was to let Maxwell initiate it without prompting from Frosty's side.
"Fine, so about this Emmanuel. I used to call him Manny. He is, was, my...ugh!" Maxwell threw his hands into the air, "Where do I even begin?"
He paced around the room again.
"So I'm a hitman, alright?" he glanced at Frosty to watch his reaction but the wolf seemed unperturbed. "And Manny," he continued, "he's my partner in the business. Helps me settle the logistics side of things. Makes sure everything's in place for the hit."
Frosty nodded understandingly, a subtle nudge for Maxwell to continue, "And then we got caught. See, we weren't supposed to get caught. But Manny didn't do a background check on this contract. Or maybe he did, I don't fucking know. It was a setup, okay? A sting operation. And then we were caught."
"Obviously I ratted him out. I wasn't going to take the fall for his mistakes. He can take the life sentence. Not me! The long story short, I told some lies, pull some strings, he's in jail now, and I'm here. Wherever 'here' is," the mongoose huffed, sighing as he finished, "So what, am I a monster to you now?"
"Maybe," Frosty gave a cold look. He half-wanted to say yes. That they were all monsters for being here in the first place. But if he wanted to keep the upper hand, he would have to play the next few steps carefully.
"And if I'm here for Manny, then you've probably got some dirt on you too!" Maxwell challenged the wolf.
"No clue what you're talking about," Frosty scoffed indignantly, "I didn't do anything wrong."
"Then why are you here then?"
"Still no idea, waiting for you to play that tape to give me that answer," the wolf snarled.
"Gah! Fine!" Maxwell pressed the play button again.
The voice continued where it left off, "Your lies and deceit have made your best partner and closest friend take the punishment that was meant for you. But that was not enough for you. You wanted to silence the truth completely so you arranged for a gang inside the prison walls to stage a fight, getting Emmanuel killed in what was written off as an accident. You are a despicable one.."
Frosty raised a suspicious brow at Maxwell who averted his gaze and ignored the wolf.
"Today," the voice explained, "You will learn the meaning of cooperation or die trying. Around the warehouse are six keys, one of which will grant you freedom. But freedom does not come cheap. Each of them is guarded by a trap made out of weapons you have used in the past, except this time you will be on the receiving end.
"The timer will start counting down two hours," the voice continued. As if on cue, a giant numerical display against a wall lit up with the numbers "2:00:00", counting down the seconds.
Frosty and Maxwell turned to the timer with wide eyes before looking back to the cassette player as if they could make the voice speak faster through their sight alone.
"If you do not escape before the timer runs out, the chains will drag the both of you into your tanks where ice-cold water will fill up and freeze around you. Try to pull the collars off without unlocking it and you will face the same fate. Will you learn the value in partners or will you die alone? Make your choice."
"What the fuck?" Maxwell yelled, "Which sick fucker came up with this?"
"No clue. Let's work fast. I've taken a look at some of the traps earlier. They do not look good," Frosty explained.
"What traps?" Maxwell snapped.
"Those," he pointed out weird contraptions set up around the warehouse. Two of them were to his left and right, two were on either side of Frosty's tank, and two more were on either side of Maxwell's tank. "We can start with that one," Frosty suggested, pointing to the one on the left, just beneath the timer.
The both of them hurried over to the first contraption.
If not for a label that said "Key" followed by a square that was crudely painted on the side of the machine, Maxwell would never have guessed it was a trap. It looked like it was part of a factory processing line. A chute made of thick, clear acrylic protruded out of its side, slanted down as if expecting something. It was long enough for a person's outstretched arm to reach through before barely touching the inside of the contraption.
The machine's sides where a control panel and opening were supposed to be were covered with a sheet of hard steel bolted down, making the chute its only opening. An arrow drawn in the same red paint pointed down the chute. That was where the key was.
"Who's gonna do this?" Maxwell asked hesitantly after they've circled the machine a few times in careful examination.
"The way I see it, it should be you. I haven't done anything wrong, but here I am in this trap to serve as your 'cooperation training'," Frosty said the last two words scathingly as he snorted towards the mongoose.
"Ugh, fine," he huffed, "Just reach into that and get the key inside?"
"That's what it looks like," the wolf nodded.
"Here goes nothing then," the mongoose stepped up and reached his hand into the chute, peering into it as he watched his fingers crawl down the slanted chamber and into the darkness of the machine. He felt around the inside of the machine and within seconds the top of his hand bumped into something metallic, sending it swinging as if it hung from a string.
Feeling his way around, Maxwell reached up and grabbed the swinging object. It was a key suspended on a string. The darkness didn't give anything away; he couldn't see his own fist.
"Found it," he huffed to the wolf.
"Yeah? Pull it out then," Frosty instructed, watching the mongoose with an intent but dispassionate look.
Maxwell turned back to the chute and got ready to pull.
But...
Maxwell let go, pulling out his arm and jumping back from the machine as if it were trying to swallow up his arm.
"What the!" he shouted.
"What's wrong?" Frosty raised his eyebrow in annoyance and impatience. The timer was down ten minutes as he gave it a glance.
"I...I thought I saw a gun. It was pointed up the chute. At me!" he mumbled.
"A trap I'm guessing," the wolf rolled his eyes, "But we got to get it either way."
"But this machine is trying to kill us!" the mongoose argued back.
"So are the others," Frosty snapped back, "Do you think this is a walk in the park? We do a fun little treasure hunt where we prance around the fields and look for easter eggs? And after you've found all six, then what, you get off scot-free for your murders? Wake up, Maxwell. This isn't a game."
Frosty's words stung like a slap to the face. His ego didn't want to admit it but the wolf was right. This was meant to be a test and he needed to face it.
He reached back into the machine, this time steering his head clear of the chute. His arm would be in the line of fire...but...
He didn't want to think about it.
He pressed his arm close to the bottom of the chute as he reached for the key. Would the gun fire at him? Would he get hurt? Was this all just some elaborate prank? He sure hoped it was. But the timer continued its countdown and he didn't want to test that theory on the off chance that the voice would make good on his threats.
He took a deep breath.
And then he pulled hard.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The string holding the key snapped as he yanked on it and there was a loud gunshot. There was a shot of pain coming from his knuckles and he let go of the key as he pulled his arm out. The momentum of the key carried it out of the chute and it dropped with a tinkling sound on the ground.
"Argh!" Maxwell gasped in pain, panting as he grabbed his hurt hand. The pain and confusion made it hard to see anything.
"Just a scratch," Frosty gave the wound a cursory glance before going over to pick up the key.
In the meantime, the mongoose calmed down as he took a look at his knuckles. A streak of shiny, raw flesh was exposed, the skin and fur having been ripped off from the spin of the lead bullet. It could've been worse.
"Doesn't work," Frosty grunted in annoyance and threw the key to Maxwell. The mongoose caught it in midair and felt for the keyhole in the collar. He slid it into the hole and it sat inside snugly but refusing to turn.
"Wrong key then," Maxwell wanted to swear but he held his composure. His temper wasn't going to help them here. He examined the key for some sort of clue but there was only a square printed on it, matching the painted square beside the trap's label.
Maxwell turned from the key to look Frosty in the eye.
"You do the next one."
The next contraption was marked with a hexagonal shape beside the word "Key". It was just slightly taller than them but spanned more than their arm spans combined. On each end were openings on the ground with conveyor belts leading into the machine but one end of it was bolted close with a metal plate. The other opening was marked by another painted arrow.
"You're up," Maxwell reminded Frosty.
"I know," the wolf retorted. Maxwell did the first one so it was only fair that he did the second. Besides, he couldn't come up with a reason to get out of it.
Frosty stepped onto the unmoving conveyor belt and bent down. The opening was just high enough for him to crawl into. The inside of the machine was dark, illuminated only by a thin slit of light let in by a gap between the other opening and the bolted plate.
Taking a deep breath, Frosty crawled into the opening. He made his way forward gingerly, his eyes and ears alert for signs of movement or anything that could be a trap.
He half expected something to shoot out at him and mortally wound him, but somehow he made it to the end unscathed.
Where was the key?
He looked around, using whatever little light that was coming in through the slit to help him. His eyes fell on a painted arrow that pointed up. Lo and behold, above him was a key hanging from a string.
Deep breaths. Was it excitement or fear? He didn't know.
But the previous trap was triggered by the key. He would be a fool to reach out and grab this one without some precaution. Frosty slowly and carefully got to his feet to take a look at the key. The string suspending it was loosely knotted around the key's circular hole meant for a keyring. If he were to hold the key in place as he undid the knot, he wouldn't have to pull on the string at all.
Steadying his shaking hands, Frosty held the ridged end of the key with his fingers. His other hand reached for the loose end of the string. If he pulled it out, the knot would come undone and the key would be free.
Deep breaths.
He slowly tugged on the string, undoing the knot. Suddenly, as the knot came undone, the tension in the string jerked it out of his hands. There was a click. Then something big swung at him from above.
His instincts taking over, Frosty ducked but he was too slow. The side of the object grazed the side of his head and the momentum threw him toward the metal wall of the machine. His temple hit the solid steel and everything went white. The impact of the swinging object hitting the metal wall filled the entire chamber with a gong sound as the wolf collapsed on the ground clutching his head in pain.
It felt like his skull was cracked down the middle and pressure inside was just waiting to burst through the gaps. He squeezed his head together trying to contain it. Contain the agony within him. His breaths were laboured and his spit splattered on the ground with each exhalation.
How long had he been here? The gong continued to echo around him. Or was it just in his head? He couldn't tell anymore.
"Hello? Frosty? Still alive in there?" Maxwell's voice called into the machine.
Frosty grunted in pain.
Ugh...
The bright stars in his vision slowly faded away and his eyes fell on the key, lying on the conveyor belt where he dropped it. After picking it up, he looked above him. A heavy hammer was slowly swinging over his head and the metal wall beside the hammer was dented in. If his head was there...
He didn't want to think about it.
"Frosty. Hey," Maxwell called again, "Stay with me."
"Yeah, yeah," the wolf called back. Holding the key, he crawled out of the machine. Once he was safely out, he stood up unsteadily. He took the key and tried it on his collar. Nothing.
"Here, you try," he held the key out to Maxwell, who took tried it on his own collar. It didn't work either. Grunting in annoyance, the mongoose handed it back to the wolf. Another round of efforts wasted.
Forty minutes had already passed since the start of the timer.
"Fuck" Maxwell swore.
"Yeah..." Frosty grunted, rubbing the side of his head. "So there are two traps on my side, two on yours," he pointed to the two contraptions on either side of the room, "You're up next."
The mongoose felt a tinge of annoyance as he turned around to look at the traps, one on either side of the tank that could very well be his coffin. He picked the one on the left and made his way towards it.
The contraption seemed simple. A clear L-shaped tunnel with the key at the end; he would have to reach his arm forward and down the bend to pick up the key. This would've been an easy task of not for the presence of rows of syringes that lined the first half of the tunnel. To reach the key, he would have to press his arm into the tips of the needles.
He shuddered to think about what was in those needles.
"What are you waiting for?" Frosty prompted as he watched the mongoose hesitate, "Time is running out."
With a hint of annoyance and reluctance, Maxwell nodded and reached his hand into the tunnel, leaving a wide berth between his arm and the needles. Once his hand was at the bend of the L, he slowly manoeuvred his arm, watching carefully as he reached down into the chamber where the key was sitting.
The key was still some distance away as he slowly lowered his arm. His upper arm was barely touching the tips of the needle but his fingers were nowhere close to the key.
He didn't have a choice. He'd have to let the needles pierce him. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his arm down, feeling dozens of needle tips break his skin and pump some kind of toxins into him. There was a burning sensation spreading up his arm and he gasped in pain.
Fighting the spreading discomfort, he reached for the key. The needles pressed deeper into him, aggravating his agony. The toxins were slowly reaching his brain, making his vision swim. Trying to keep his focus, he felt around the glass chamber until his fingers grasped the metal of the key.
Holding on to it tightly, he slowly raised his arm, freeing it from the needles before pulling his arm out. It was just in time too, for the poison took a strong hold on his mind, making him drop the key and collapse on the floor as he held his head in anguish.
"Are you okay?" he heard Frosty call for him.
"Yes. No. Just...give me some time," he grunted, not sure if the wolf heard his reply.
Out of the corner of his swirling vision, he spotted a broken cassette player on the ground just a short distance away from him.
Was it another set of instructions?
Careful not to give away his intentions, he unsteadily crawled towards the cassette player. It lay smashed on the ground as if someone threw it with force with the intention of destroying it. The cassette tape within it, however, laid intact among the pieces of broken plastic.
Maxwell hurriedly lowered the volume on his cassette player and slotted the tape into it and pressed play. The voice came out barely louder than a whisper, but the mongoose didn't want to risk Frosty overhearing this tape.
"Hello Frosty, I want to play a game," the same raspy voice whispered through the player.
This was Frosty's instructions!
"For years you have got away with the murder of innocent lives, all of them for your own sick pleasure. It started with your colleague at work, making her death look like an accident. From there you committed murder after murder, some of them people you knew, some of them total strangers."
Maxwell took deep breaths as the pain in his system slowly subsided.
"Today, you shall prove your will to live with your final victim. In front of you is Maxwell, a hitman who has, like you, taken countless lives in cold blood. There are keys in this room, each of them hidden behind traps. But none of them will unlock the collar; only through Maxwell's death will your collar unlock.
"The timer will start counting down two hours. If you do not succeed in killing Maxwell before the timer runs out, the chain around your neck will drag you into your tank where ice-cold water will fill up and freeze around you. Trying to pull the collar off without unlocking it will subject you to the same fate. Let's put your will to live to the test."
There was a click as the recording ended. Maxwell squinted his eyes suspiciously. Frosty had been lying to him about the key. Understandably so, seeing that the wolf had to get him killed in order to escape.
Cooperation. Maxwell scoffed. Someone wanted to teach him a lesson in cooperation but instead, he was paired with someone whose salvation was to see him killed. How was that a lesson? Or was the point of this game to give him the experience of trying to cooperate with someone who would betray him?
He didn't like the sound of that. But if Frosty was going to betray him, he was going to play the same game back. He took a closer look at the key: it had a circle printed on its handle, but otherwise, it looked like the rest of the keys.
He tried the key on his collar. Nope, it was the wrong key.
"Hey. Are you done?" Frosty called again.
Carefully standing up, Maxwell turned around to face Frosty. There was just a little over an hour of time left.
Maxwell took a deep breath.
"This key has your name on it."
"Huh?" Frosty looked confused. There wasn't supposed to be a key for him. Not according to the instructions.
"This key," Maxwell repeated, this time slowing down as if he were talking to a child, "Has your name on it."
This didn't make any sense. But if this was his way out, he'd take it.
"Hand it to me," Frosty demanded.
"Hmm, not quite yet," Maxwell responded.
"And why not?"
"If you get the key, who's to say you won't run off and leave me here?" Maxwell reasoned, "Get my key and then we'll talk."
Frosty's eyes darted around the room as he thought of a way around it. The only reasonable course of action was to do as Maxwell wanted.
"Fine," he conceded. Time was running out and they had no time for petty squabbles. He made his way over to one of the contraptions on his side and examined it.
This contraption was in the form of a chamber the size of a telephone booth, marked at the top with a painted diamond. Its entrance was lined with numerous sword-like blades that crisscrossed each other, guarding the key within the chamber.
Frosty would have to reach between the blades to get the key hanging in the middle.
The steel blades reflected the light from the grimy windows, threatening to tear at his skin and rip him to shreds. He had to be careful.
Gingerly, he stretched out his right arm between the blades. He could almost reach the key but his body was already touching the edge of the blades. He turned himself to face the side so that his right cheek was pressed against the metal.
Frosty could almost grab the key. But almost wasn't enough. He needed to get closer. Steeling himself for the pain, he pressed himself against the sharp edges of the blade, letting them cut his skin.
"Gah!"
Warm blood trickled through the cuts and down his face. Some of it dripped onto the blades, staining them red as he swung his arm, trying to get the hanging key.
He still wasn't far in enough. He inched his right foot forward, letting the razor-sharp blades push deeper into his wound.
"Hgnn..." he stifled his groans of pain.
He could feel the blade press against his cheekbone as he pushed in deeper. And...yes! The key was in his hand.
He gently extracted himself from the contraption, dripping blood all over the right side of his face as he did so. Bits of his cut fur floated to the ground, blue stained fluff mixed with crimson stains. His face hurt, but he had the key.
As expected, the key had a diamond print on it. He tried it on his collar, only to be disappointed when it didn't unlock. But at least now he could get his key from Maxwell.
"This key has your name on it," Frosty declared. The right side of his face was marred by deep cuts than ran across his face, causing Maxwell to take a few steps backwards.
Regaining his composure, the mongoose pondered.
Was the game set up so that the keys had the owner's name on them? Or was it all supposed to be shapes?
Was Frosty deceiving to him?
He had no way of telling either since he was the first one to lie about Frosty's name on the key.
"I don't trust you," Maxwell challenged.
"What do you mean?" the wolf sneered, "It's here with me."
"Hand me the key to test that theory then," the mongoose demanded in response.
"Not until you give me my key."
Maxwell shifted his feet. If he gave Frosty the key, the game would be up. He wouldn't get his key because the wolf would find out about his lie.
"You know what," Maxwell squinted at the wolf, "I think you're telling me a lie."
"Then why don't we trade-"
"So," the mongoose interrupted, "I want you to get the other key from your side too."
"What?! That's crazy!" Frosty protested. "And if I die, you won't get this key either. You know, the real key that has your real name on it," he reasoned, putting emphasis on the words "real".
"I'll take that chance," Maxwell shrugged.
"And how do I know that you're not lying about my name being on that key?"
"You don't. You trust that I did find a key with your name on it and that I now hold your life in my hands."
With a roar of anger, Frosty took a few steps towards the mongoose, only to be held back by the collar around his neck as the chain pulled tautly. He turned to look at the chain with an expression of ire before turning back to Maxwell.
"If I find out that you're lying, you'll get it from me," he snarled.
Maxwell had to hold back his impulse to flinch as he glared at Frosty with a poker face.
"Fine by me," the mongoose lied.
Frosty stole a glance towards the timer. They had thirty-five minutes left. Grunting, he stormed towards the other trap on his side.
The next contraption was a large metal box which was bolted to the wall at eye level. At the top of the box was a painted star, and beneath it was two holes: a large one about the length of his forearm, and another one a quarter of its size.
Cautiously, Frosty peered through the large hole into the box. Within it, he could see barbed wire winding around its insides. However, no matter how he looked around, he couldn't see the key within.
Frosty didn't like the thought of what the trap needed him to do but there wasn't a way around it. He'd have to put his head into the box to look for the key. Begrudgingly, he pushed his muzzle into the larger hole, careful not to catch his skin onto any of the barbed wire. Once inside, he took a look around, spotting the key in the corner of the box.
He would have to navigate his hand through the other hole and around the maze of barbed wire to reach the key.
It looked simple enough...
The wolf took a closer look around him. There was a rope circling the hole that his head was poking through, looping around to form some sort of...
A noose!
Picking up the key would probably tighten the rope around his neck with no way out.
"Gahh!" Frosty thought out loud. He was risking his life for the stupid mongoose.
Maxwell watched the clock countdown as he waited for Frosty.
Thirty minutes.
One could argue that thirty minutes was still plenty of time but with Maxwell's life on the line, thirty minutes was way too close for comfort.
The clinking of chains made him turn around to see Frosty rubbing his neck. His face was still bleeding although not as profusely as before.
"Got the keys?" Maxwell asked threateningly.
"Yeah. They're here," Frosty raised up his hand to show two keys.
"Hand them over and I'll pass you your keys," the mongoose demanded.
"I'll pass you your keys after you give me mine," the wolf refused to concede.
"Well, looks like you won't get your key then."
Frosty rolled his eyes.
"Look, let's stand on opposite sides and put the keys on the ground. After that, we'll swap places and get our keys. Think you can manage that?" he asked Maxwell scathingly.
"Fine," the mongoose agreed. He'd prefer more time to try the keys on his collar before Frosty figured out his ruse but he didn't exactly have a choice. He set the key down on the ground, making sure that the wolf did the same.
Following Frosty's lead, they circled each other to where the other person left the keys. Maxwell hastily stooped down and picked the two keys up, trying one of them on his collar.
"You fucking liar!" he heard Frosty shout.
Before he could react, the wolf's weight was suddenly thrust against his back, throwing the mongoose off balance onto the ground and pinning him there.
"I'll kill you here and now!"
Frosty rained blows on Maxwell, aiming for the mongoose's temples and spine as he tried to kill his rival. Maxwell turned around, throwing Frosty off him as he tried to defend himself. The two of them fought on the ground, exchanging punches at their vital points in a show of aggression, each one trying to kill the other in a vicious battle to the death.
With a swift motion, Frosty wrapped his arm around Maxwell's neck, trapping him in a chokehold. Maxwell flailed his arms, trying in vain to escape Frosty's hold. Without air, it was only a matter of time before he ran out of strength. If only...
Wait.
He tried to reach behind him, trying to make his way around until his fingers closed around a hard, metallic plate.
Frosty's collar.
He tugged hard against it.
"You can't break free, so don't even try," Frosty warned.
Maxwell ignored the wolf. He gave the collar another hard tug. And another. Anytime now...
Suddenly, there was a loud beeping sound as the chain around Frosty's neck jerked backwards.
"What the-" Frosty gasped in surprise and confusion, letting go of Maxwell who quickly scrambled to safety.
The mongoose had tricked the collar into thinking that Frosty was trying to remove it. Now, it would retract back into the tank, pulling the wolf back with it to his death. Maxwell watched in morbid curiosity as Frosty frantically grasped at his collar.
"H-hey!" he pleaded, "Give me another chance!"
He struggled against the chains, trying in vain to stop himself from being pulled backwards.
"Come on! Please!"
The chain refused to give, continuing their progress as it retracted into the ceiling of the tank. Frosty was now in the tank, kicking and screaming desperately.
"Help! Help me please!"
The glass door closed with an ominous boom, sealing him in the tank.
"Let me out! I don't want to die like- ack!" he was interrupted as the chain lifted him off the ground, dangling him by his neck.
Water gushed through holes in the floor of the tank, filling it up. Frosty felt the icy-cold water bubble around his feet as he frantically kicked his feet. His fingers were at his neck, trying to give his windpipe some leeway to breathe.
Thankfully for him, the water level reached his waist, allowing him to somewhat swim and support himself so that he can breathe. But that was soon about to work against him. The water level rose up to his chest, shoulders, then up to the ceiling of the tank.
Submerged in the tank, Frosty held his breath in an attempt to survive for as long as possible. Escape was feeling less and less likely but he had to try. Without warning, nozzles around the tank sprayed jets of cold air against the glass. Almost instantaneously, the water in the tank started to freeze over.
Frosty could feel the solidifying ice creep over his legs. He kicked his feet, breaking the shards of ice for a brief respite. But the ice was relentless in its spread, gradually surrounding his feet and abdomen until his lower body had no space left to move. It hardened around his legs, encasing him in its solid prison.
Cold...
So cold...
Frosty shivered. Partly from the cold, partly from the hopelessness he was feeling. He wrapped his arms around his chest and leaned forward, trying to conserve his body heat as the freezing ice spread upwards, encasing his chest.
He looked out of the tank through the glass for any bit of hope that he could cling on to, but there was nothing. The rest of the tank froze over, keeping him in his pose as he watched the world through his unmoving eyes.
The cold ice around him was getting painful. Even shivering to keep warm was no longer an option for him. His mind wanted to retreat.
Retreat into someplace warm.
But he had to focus. He needed to hold on.
His consciousness was gradually fading away. His vision slowly blurring. It was getting hard to hang on. Just a little break...
His mind slipped into a deep sleep, escaping the cold world around him for the last time.
Maxwell stared transfixed at Frosty's demise. Only when the wolf's body was fully frozen solid in the block of ice did he realize he was not out of the woods yet. The timer, now at fifteen minutes left, was still counting down for him.
He tried on both keys that Frosty left behind. The first key didn't work. He hoped for the best as he tried the second key. And...
Nothing. It was the wrong key.
That left him with the sixth and final trap. He made a dash for the last trap on his side. This one had a triangle painted on top of another factory machine. Like one of the previous contraptions, this one had all but one of its openings boarded up, requiring Maxwell to crawl into it to reach the key inside.
There wasn't a lot of time left. Without hesitation, the mongoose jumped onto the raised conveyor belt and crawled in, feeling his way around in the dark. He could feel some kind of metal grill beneath his palms and shins. While it was uncomfortable, his mind was focused on finding the key.
It wasn't lying on the floor. It wasn't stuck against the wall. Where was it?
Suddenly, Maxwell's muzzle touched a cold piece of metal dangling in front of his face. Without thinking, the mongoose pulled down on it.
There was the sound of a metal mechanism clicking and almost immediately, long metal spikes pierced through the gaps between the grill. There was a flash across Maxwell's vision as some of the spikes pierced his body. One impaled him through his torso and another through his right forearm, holding him in place as he instinctively tried to bend over in pain.
"F-fuck..." he gasped, almost dropping the key as he tried to assess the damage. He didn't want to die here. Not when the last key was in his grasp. Using his free hand, he grabbed the spike that ran through his abdomen, feeling his warm blood trickling down its shaft. The spike had pierced his flesh, narrowly missing his spinal cord as it came out the other side.
Groaning as he mustered his strength, he slowly pulled the spike away from him. His adrenaline was holding back the pain as he slowly made progress.
Just a bit more...
With a clang, the spike fell back between the gaps of the grill, releasing his torso. Careful not to further aggravate his wounds, he lifted his left hand until it was free of the spike piercing it. He clutched his stomach wound as he cautiously backed out of the contraption into the cool, outside air.
There were five minutes left. Trying to push away the pain that was threatening to render him unconscious, he tried on the key.
This one should work. After all, the other five keys didn't.
And...
Nothing.
It was the wrong key.
"What the?!"
He tried the key again to the same effect. It was the wrong key. Trying to keep his cool, he ran over to the spot where he left the other keys. There was the square key from the first trap, the circle key from the third. He traded the circle for the diamond key and the hexagon key...
Wait.
The hexagon key was from the second trap. That meant that Frosty never did the fifth trap.
He had been tricked!
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," he swore.
Three minutes left.
He tried to make a run for the trap that Frosty didn't complete but the chain stopped him in his tracks.
"Gah!"
Two minutes left.
He had to do something. Clutching his abs, he hobbled over to one of the contraptions, prying a loose pole free from it. With his makeshift weapon, he went over to the glass tank and tried to break it apart.
The glass cracked with the first hit but didn't shatter. He tried again. And again. The tank's metal frame wasn't going to give so easily. He threw the pole onto the ground and ran back to where the keys were.
"Come on, come on," he muttered to himself, trying on all the keys again. The first...no. The second...also no.
Thirty seconds left.
The other keys didn't work either.
"Fuck, no! Please! I don't want to die!" he pleaded.
The countdown timer hit zero.
With an ominous clang, the chain mechanism began to reel Maxwell in.
"No, please! Help!"
The mongoose was forced to stand up and take a few steps backwards as the collar pulled him into the tank. He kicked his legs and pulled against the collar, fighting frantically for his life. But the chain wasn't about to let him go. Within the next few seconds, he was pulled into the tank.
The collar lifted him up so that he was suspended by his neck, just like Frosty was only mere minutes ago. His hands clawed at the collar on his neck as he kicked his legs as if trying to tread on the air.
His abs were screaming in pain as his wound felt as if it was going to tear apart at the tissues. His mouth was open, trying to swallow the much-needed oxygen.
The water!
The water would give him some respite.
The doors to the glass tank slowly swung shut. Suddenly, the metal pole that he brought over was sitting at the entrance, jamming the door and keeping it open. Water gushed into the tank but instead of filling it up, it spilt all over the dusty factory floor.
No!
Maxwell wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to die like this. His entire body weight was supported by his windpipe, compressing it to the point that he couldn't breathe. His jaw was wide open, gasping for air that wouldn't come. His arms and legs were flailing, more from instinct than from trying to escape. Cold jets blasted from the nozzles on the ground, chilling the air around him with sub-zero temperatures.
Help!
Please!
Anyone!
He needed a miracle. His vision was slowly blurring. He couldn't hang on for much longer. Black spots started dancing over his eyes, slowly growing bigger until he wasn't sure if his eyes were open or closed. His hangs hung limply at his sides and his legs were no longer flailing.
His burning lungs, however, continued to fight. His wrists twitched a little but otherwise, his body was hanging slack.
He...
...had to fight...
Maxwell jerked awake with the remaining energy he had. His shivering arms clasped at his collar, already unable to support himself. The frigid air was making it hard to focus. Through his swimming vision, he could barely make out shapes through the frosty glass. A figure was standing in the middle of the warehouse, wearing a black hoodie and an eerily painted mask.
"You!" he wanted to shout accusingly but he was barely hanging on to dear life. He could have sworn that the person was smirking at him as his eyes closed.
He could barely make out the sounds around him. There was the faint sound of police sirens.
Was help coming?
He opened his eyes to find the mysterious figure gone. Just a bit more. If he could stay alive until someone found him, he could be saved.
But his will to live was slowly fading away with the last of his strength. His body swung back and forth as the last of the cold jets subsided, leaving his corpse there for the police to discover.
~ End ~