Chapter III: Ghoul

"What took you so long?" Luke asked upon their arrival.

Kaya looked over her left shoulder as she pointed at Eurus behind her with her thumb. "We bumped into this guy," Kaya replied.

Luke then approached Kaya. He looked at Eurus, then back at her. "Who's him?" He asked.

Eurus paused for a moment. He suddenly recalled and realized that he did not introduce himself yet. He then approached, lowered his hand as he opened his palm. "I...uhh... Eurus." He stated, introducing himself. He was confident. "You must be Luke."

Luke just scanned his face up and down. He then tapped on his left shoulder, looking at his face while shaking his head as he smiled. "all alright, squiggy then." Luke stated. Eurus' hand was left hanging, slightly awkward for him.

Eurus then stared at him blankly for a few seconds. "Squiggy?" he said to himself. Luke gave Eurus an arrogant impression of him, seemingly irritated with his behavior.

"Who does he think he is?" He thought to himself, unable to spit his words. He kept it to himself, and he eventually ignored it and focused more on his current situation.

He surveyed their surroundings. He saw Four folding beds, slightly separated from each other, and just above it, was a camouflage-designed tarp that serves as their sun shading material. And in the middle, a round table with two chairs just beside it.

The roof deck of the apartment building was not that big, but it was spacious enough for the four of them.

Guess this would be my temporary shelter, he thought to himself.

Eurus then scanned Luke's body and took notice of his left arm, wearing the same bracelet, with the same ancient symbol carved onto it, a circular symbol that depicts a snake devouring its tail.

He was mesmerized, but at first, he thought it was just a coincidence.

So he then scanned Kaya, Cashew, and Peanut's left arm, only now did he notice that they were wearing the same bracelet, with the same ancient symbol carved onto it as well.

He looked at his bracelet, then stared back at them. He was hesitant to ask questions, but his mind was pushing him to find more answers to their current state-his mind was restless, searching for more answers.

He stopped for a moment as he hesitated, but his curiosity overcomes.

"Why does the bracelet we are wearing look the same?" Eurus asked, giving him a look of puzzlement.

Luke then stared at him. "That.. my friend is a symbol that you are a prisoner of this world," Luke replied.

Eurus is becoming more and more confused. His mind was searching for answers, but eventually, he was left off with more unanswered questions.

"Prisoner?" He asked. "What do you mean?" Tons of questions have been gathering on his mind. He could not stop himself from seeking answers that he needed to know.

Luke just stared at him. He grinned as he nodded. Luke spread his arms, he opened up his palm as he rotated in a small circle. "We are in a game, squiggy. We are a prisoner of this game," Luke said.

Eurus was shocked upon hearing those words. He tilted his head as his jaw dropped slightly. "I...i d-don't understand," said Eurus.

He recalled the moment when he met the man. The one who gave him the bracelet, he suddenly remembered his words.

"I-uhh. So we're not dead?" Eurus asked, his voice laced with fear.

Luke shook his head as he replied, "We're not dead, nor alive, Squiggy."

Squiggy. His mind was tired of hearing that name over and over again. He just couldn't bear calling him like that.

Eurus suddenly reacted with irritation. "D-don't call me squiggy," he said with a low-pitched voice, afraid of what Luke might have reacted.

"What?" Luke replied, giving him a ferocious stare. "What did you say?"

"Don't call me squiggy," he replied with his word much clearer than before.

"What?" Luke repeated. But by this time, his voice was much higher than expected.

Eurus was intimidated by him. His eyes were on the floor, barely even looks at him. He just stood and didn't respond at all.

Luke stared for a moment and suddenly chuckled. "Nah, I'm just messing with you," Luke said.

Eurus didn't respond, and he just shook his head and rolled his eyes, thinking that this is no time for puns. In his mind, there are still tons of things he needed to know.

"T-the shadow-like creature that we have seen a while ago, w-what was that?" Eurus followed up with another question. He murmured as he was unable to put more energy into his words, still terrified of what he has seen.

"Those are shadow demons." Kaya suddenly interrupted, "and because of you, we could have been dead by now. You have put Cashew and Peanut's life endanger." Kaya added with an irritated voice.

Eurus again felt a squeezing twinge of confusion, hearing so many words that he could not comprehend. Shadow demon, Prisoner, Game, even.

Different emotions have been mixing around in his mind, confusion, fear, and anxiety.

He just paused for a moment upon hearing those words. "I-uhh. I'm sorry about that," he replied, apologizing.

As a response, Kaya just stared at him blankly with a fierce look on her face, her eyebrows lowered and drawn together. While luke was just behind her, chuckling-it did not seem that he was mad at Eurus.

"Why did you guys wait for me to wake up?" Eurus asked.

"It was Peanut's idea." She replied, looking at Peanut behind her. "You should thank her," she added. "We were looking for supplies, and we saw you under the shade of the willow tree, unconscious. It was her idea to wait for you to wake up."

"I-uhh. How long was I out?" Eurus followed up with another question.

"Four hours," Kaya replied. Her answer came in short.

"Four hours?" he thought to himself, shocked. He paused for a few seconds. It was unbelievable for him. It only felt like minutes.

"Because of you, Squiggy, they were not able to gather supplies," Luke interrupted. "And for that, you'll come along tomorrow with me," He added.

It was a Supply of food, a Supply of Water, a Supply of necessary things that they needed.

Eurus recalled that moment he first encountered the creature, just by thinking of it which terrifies him. He hesitated and wanted to oppose the idea, yet he had no choice but to feel responsible-though he was quite aware that he might just be a burden to them. "O-ok, I'll help then," Eurus responded.

Minutes stretched into hours. And complete silence settled over them.

Luke then sat on a chair with his right leg on top of the other. Staring at the clock on top of the small round table, seemingly waiting for a specific time.

Cashew and peanut started lighting candles which they put on top of the small round table. Kaya was just surveying their surroundings, especially down the street.

Meanwhile, Eurus was just observing their actions, he was confused. He didn't bother to ask, yet he wonders why there are candles lit when the city has already enough lights for their surroundings.

Minutes later, Luke stood up from his seat. Then he approached the railings on the roof deck. He then called Eurus' attention. "Hey Squiggy,  check this out," Luke stated as he tilted his head slightly to his right-gesturing to Eurus to come closer and take a look.

The sky is already dark. 6:58 p.m is displayed on the clock on top of the round table. Luke grabbed his binoculars then handed them to Eurus.

"Look around down the street," Luke stated.

Eurus just stared at him for a moment, dazed. Yet he didn't hesitate and promptly followed Luke. As he was using the binoculars to survey all over their area, he sees only the normal people walking along the streets. He sees nothing unusual, not even some hideous-looking demons.

"What am I looking here?" he asked. A few seconds later, and the time was at 7:00 p.m, he sees the people around the street completely vanish one by one. "What the hell is happening." He thought to himself, confused. He adjusted the grip on the binoculars, holding on to it with intense grip as he was astounded upon seeing it.

He then surveyed more and more on their surroundings. He noticed that their surroundings were slowly changing into something like a post-apocalyptic scene.

The beautifying facades of the building have changed and look abandoned. Some of its windows have shattered, the other buildings look burnt, the others seem to have been demolished.

The debris of the abandoned buildings has scattered onto the concrete floor.

Vehicles that somehow seemingly looked new, changed into something that seemed abandoned and in disrepair.

Some of the lights have completely vanished. Some were flickering. But the city wasn't covered in total darkness. The full moon helps as their main source of light.

"What the hell is happening?" Eurus asked, his eyebrows lowered and drawn together, looking confused.

Moments later, tons of growling sounds was heard-maybe hundreds of them.

A monstrous slumped, humanoid creature suddenly showed up. Seemingly looks like a decaying corpse, covered in blood. Its rib cage was exposed-its organs can already be seen because of it.

It crawls on fours as he moves. It has hideously elongated fingers and toes that ended in wicked-looking claws. Drooping from its mouth is its long tongue, With its jaw dropped, exposing its sharp teeth.

His mind rattled as he felt fear upon seeing it. He took steps back from the railings-just enough for the creature not to see him.

He thought that the shadow demons were the most disturbing creature he has ever seen since he entered the game, but boy was he wrong.

"W-what was that?" Eurus asked as his face turned more white, scared, and confused.

"That's is a ghoul, my friend," Luke stated. "It moves fast-faster than a human. Even a single drop of blood would attract that Hideous-looking demon." He added.

Eurus completely felt different now that the scenery has changed. His feeling of worry worsen, and fear gripped his mind once again. The thought of it alone made his serene mind disappear as his mind was thinking of any other possibilities of some scary creature might as well exist in their world-a world of the game, rather.

"W-what exactly is happening?" Eurus asked, his voice stirred up with fear."

"Well, when 7:00 p.m strikes, the city shifts into something apocalyptic, and creatures like that becomes more aggressive," Luke stated. "Although they can be seen at morning time, more of them come out every 7:00 p.m."

"This-this is the real willow city." He added.

Luke's words left him with an intense feeling of dread. Eurus said nothing. He positioned both of his hands over his head, turned away, and took a deep breath. He couldn't believe what he's seeing.

His stomach began to growl, famished. He wondered why would they feel the hunger inside the game. He didn't bother to ask, thinking it is stupid to ask questions like that. So he politely asks for something he could eat.

"Do you have some spare food that I can eat?" He asked politely.

Luke took out two biscuits in his pocket, then he tossed them to Eurus.

With his extreme ravenous, he could eat a horse! He then quickly opened the biscuits and devoured them in a few seconds.

"Alright, squiggy, after that rest, if you have to," Luke stated. "We have a big day tomorrow."

He was hesitant at first as his mind was feeling restless. In fear that the creature might come to them while he is fast asleep.

He battled his mind from his drowsiness. He ended up deciding to sleep as he felt his body heavy. He was fatigued.

He laid on the folding bed in complete silence, Staring absently above him-having deep thoughts about his current circumstances.

As he was laying down on the bed, he positioned himself on his side as his thought deepens even more, "why did I end up joining this game," he mused to himself. He could not imagine himself participating in this kind of game. He knew it himself that he is not brave enough to enter such a game.

Because of his extreme exhaustion, Sleep became much more easily than he'd expected. He fell asleep in just a couple of minutes.

On a usual night, Luke and Kaya were the ones that stay up all night to guard their post, taking turns every night.

Their surroundings were in complete silence. Ghouls were roaming around the city, searching for their prey.