24 Keys

"Wake up," the voice calls, but I don't want to answer. My eyes feel like they're glued shut; I need a crowbar to pry them open. Finally I can see the rays of sunlight filtering through the heavy dust that seems to cover everything.

"Finally, you're awake," said the voice, causing me to jump. I frantically look around for the source, my eyes finally resting on a computer screen across the room. I try to stand up and walk to it, but my legs were chained to the dusty floor. I heard laughter as the person watched my attempts to get free.

"You're never getting out of here, my dear," He crooned, "Unless you solve the puzzle. Every hour something will come into this room and terrorize you for as long as I please. After 24 hours you must have taken 24 puzzle pieces in order to solve the puzzle which will undo your chains. If you don't solve the puzzle or fail to collect all 24 pieces, you will be left here to die." He laughed. "Good luck my dear." The voice cut out, leaving me completely alone.

Minutes passed slowly, feeling like hours. I tried to think of how I arrived here, but all of my memories were locked up in a box to which I didn't have the key. All except one. My dead family. I can easily visualize the sight of the bullet shattering my father's skull; puncturing my mother's heart. It makes me sick to think about, and I almost retched at the first thought. Suddenly I heard a ding, and a hatch opened in the ceiling, releasing a stench so horrible that I would've puked this time if I had something in my stomach. I felt weight on my legs and I opened my eyes to see the glassy ones of my mother staring back. I screamed and tried to get away, but my chains stopped me. I looked at the other bodies. They belonged to my father and brother. My family.

Gotta get the piece, I thought. I have to get out of here. If I miss even one piece, I am sentencing myself to death. I look over every body, all in various states of decay, searching for the piece. A shiny object caught my eye, hidden in the folds of my father's brain. I would have to reach in and take it out. Disgust settled in me, but my will to live was more powerful. I reached in, cringing at the squishy feel of the dead matter, and pulled it out. Then the bell dinged and the bodies were whisked away, and I was left alone.

I collected the puzzle pieces in the same fashion every hour on the dot. Some were fairly easy to get, while others almost caused my demise, ranging from a dog with rabies to having to drink half a vial of poison in order to reach the piece. Each one was in the shape of a key, and were made of various materials, some gold, some silver, some brass, some were even made of wood. The pile of keys grew bigger and bigger as the hours passed, and so did my sense of hope. As I collected the last key, I felt as if I was going to survive. Once the hour had ended the mans voice crackled to life through the screen.

"Well it seems that you have collected all the pieces, haven't you? Let me tell you, that is only half the battle young lady." He chuckled.

"Just hurry up and tell me what to do so I can get out!" I spat.

"Now now, it's not very wise to talk that way to the man who is responsible for your life, is it?" I gulped, but said nothing, for he was right.

"Very good. Here is what you have to do. As you can see there are many doors. Each door has a key. You will have to get the right combination of doors and keys in order to make it out alive."

"Doesn't sound too bad," I said to myself.

"Oh, but there's a twist. For every door you get wrong, you will get a small dosage of poison in your body. If you reach the end, there will be an antidote waiting. Good luck."

The chains binding my feet unlocked and I immediately scrambled up, scanning my surroundings. There were 4 doors to start from, but I suspected they branched off from there. "He seems like a man of finer tastes, so let's use the gold keys first," I said to myself. I tested each gold key on the four doors, and laid the corresponding key in front of the door. Luckily there was only one door that belonged to the key, the one on the far right end. I placed my hand on the doorknob, bracing myself for the poison, and opened the door. Nothing. I walked a bit farther, glad that I had picked the right door. 20 more to go, I thought. I came to an intersection with two doors. When I tested the keys, one was silver and one was brass. "Let's go in the silver one," I thought aloud. I opened the door and it shut behind me, almost knocking me out of the doorway. That wasn't a good sign. I walked further and suddenly felt a stabbing pain in my arm that soon coursed throughout my body. The poison....

"It's fine," I tried to reassure myself, "It's not a lethal dose." But as the world spun and started to turn black, I knew it was. The man's voice crackled through an unseen loudspeaker.

"Ah, your first mistake, and quite possibly your last. Did you really think I would make it this easy? Anyone could survive this, even if 24 small doses were given. But a very large dose would surely kill almost anyone, and what better reward for a wrong decision? You're going to die here, my dear, and nobody is going to know. Have a nice life, er, I mean last seconds." The loudspeaker turned off, and I was left alone to die in a room to which only I had the key.