"Did you miss the memo that this was a masked party?" I said through gritted teeth, leaning towards my husband.

He pulled me closer to him. "It's a rare chance to be different. Enjoy it while you can. This opportunity will probably not come again." He replied sarcastically, and I rolled my hands into a fist. I washed to punch the smile on his gave away. We started moving towards the people still heading towards us and even though I tried digging in my heels, he just pulled me along with seemingly no resistance. How was he that strong anyway?

"Do you recognize any of them?" I asked, gesturing to the people, and he smiled at me.

"How am I meant to know? They are all in masks." He replied, and I rolled my eyes and smiled as we all met each other at the middle.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Carter. Welcome to your initiation party." The man in front said with a strange voice. Was he speaking through a voice modulator? I glanced at Jonathan, feeling a lot more satisfied that his smile was gone.

"Hello. What is going on?" He asked a little slowly.

The man laughed, and it sounded like a witch's cackle. "Thanks for honoring our invite. Every moment from the time the invitation was planned, the date it was fixed for so it would be a holiday in the US, subtly mentioning your wife was intentional. So thank you for acting according to plan."

"Were you aware of all these?" I whispered to Jonathan, and he shook his head. I ignored his tightened hand that probably meant for me to shut up. "So what exactly is going on?"

A woman took over, and she was also speaking through a voice modulator. Did everyone have one on, and what were they hiding to go that far? And just how much had they spent on this event that was gradually looking like a scene from a horror movie to me. Even the masks they were all wearing was obviously expensive. They were all glowing and detailed.

"This is why will happen." She started, sounding very excited. Were the scenarios running in my head actually going to happen? Would this be tagged the mask apocalypse? "This party was specifically designed for you two." Oh, shit.

She continued. "We've all either worked with your husband or are acquaintances that have met one time or the other in the past. We prepared a game you're both going to love." The woman moved, and the crowd parted, allowing us to see what they had been hiding. Five doors opened dramatically. You know, the slow opening that just served to make me more terrified. My heart was pounding loud enough to make music. I turned to Jonathan. "Can we leave now?"

To my surprise, or maybe not, I was getting used to the man's strange ways, Jonathan didn't look flustered at all. Jeez, the man had the heart and soul of steel. I'll add his body as another part of steel in him for good measure. I quickly brought my mind back to what was happening, cursing it for thinking about his body.

"What's behind the doors?" Jonathan asked.

"Your mission." A deep voice replied from the speaker. I glanced at it sharply. I think I was beginning to understand now. That was a lie. I was totally and completely confused.

"Do you know who is behind this?" I asked Jonathan and he shook his head.

"Not a clue." He responded and I nodded. If he didn't know, was that a good thing or not?

The woman moved to stand in front of us again and the group came together again. If I wasn't part confused, part annoyed, I would have laughed. They were acting like mannequins. Their movement reminded me of the movie ''Mean girls.''

"Don't look so terrified, love." She said, patting me. "In our world, we don't have a lot of time to play and enjoy life, which I'm sure you are well aware of. We just want to give you both the chance to have fun and unwind."

The speaker hummed again, and she looked at her wristwatch. Even though she looked a little funny with her head almost touching the watch as she tried to see from the mask, I kept a poker face. "We have just a minute left and then the game will start. This is a short brief of what is going to happen. Inside the doors you saw earlier, there are rooms inside, and they're interconnected. Once you enter the door, you cannot leave until you've completed all the missions prepared for you. There are five different rooms, and you have a total of fifteen minutes to succeed. If you spend more than that, you will get a penalty. If you're unable to fulfill the missing after thirty minutes, the penalty will get worse. After forty minutes, the doors will open automatically and of course you will both get a penalty for failing the mission. The penalties aren't pretty, so try your best not just to succeed but to succeed quickly. After you successfully succeed in all five rooms, the party will then begin. Do you understand that?" The woman asked, sounding a little out of breath.

I nodded, showing I did, but I also understood something else. Our plan to leave early to go on a tour had just been shattered. I doubted they would let us go until they were ready.

Jonathan rose his hands and all eyes went to him, mine inclusive. "Can I ask who is in charge of this?" He asked, and the woman waggled her slim fingers at him.

"Of course not, love. Just enjoy yourself with your wife. The logistics can sort itself out when you succeed. Oh, and you were intentionally not informed about the mask. You cannot envision how much fun it had been to see you both so confused the moment you had walked in."

At that moment, the speaker blared as loud as a trumpet and one of the doors opened while the others closed. She turned to the people behind her. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's applaud as Mr. and Mrs. Carter step into the tunnel that will determine their fate tonight."

I turned panicked eyes to Jonathan but couldn't say anything as we were both herded into the room. "Your time has started." Her voice followed us as the door shut with a bang.

I looked around, the room wasn't dark like. I'd assumed it would be, and that assumption was made based on the scary tactics they had employed since we'd entered the hall.

The room also wasn't small, but it was packed with all forms of props, there were two cupboards, a black small one and a red bigger one. There was a huge speaker leaning against the walls that looked thick. "Is this soundproofed? What if they forget someone inside?" I asked Jonathan, pointing at the wall, and he looked at it.

"It could be, but there are cameras up to watch, so I'm sure no one can be left here."

I nodded. If he said so. "So what game is it anyway?" I asked.

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