Phantasmagoria
The Fifth Level - Finders Keepers

I goover to the side of the Andromeda and see that there is no water anymore, no more 'Cascade Continuum'. Below, all I can see now is adense forest. I see row upon row of great and tall trees. But whereis the level keeper?

''Doyou know what the name of this challenge is called?'' I hear a femalevoice say from the sky ask.

''No,of course I don't. You didn't tell me,'' I reply back to her. Howcould I know since she vanished into thin air as soon as she gothere?

''Finderskeepers,'' she says. Finders keepers?

''I'mguessing that I have to replace you. What happens when I do replace you?''I ask her.

''Iget to tell you any of the information I keep,'' she answers. So,when I replace her, she will tell me anything I want? Will she tell meabout...Wraith? About who is left in the game?

''What'sthe catch?'' I ask her. This is Phantasmagoria we are talking abouthere. Anything can happen in this game. And I mean anything.

''Well...,''I hear the voice say, before I see the sky above me begin to turndark. It's getting darker and...black. As black as...

Space.

Outerspace.

Aboveme, the sky has become a thick blanket of darkness, dotted with a fewstars that are barely giving off any light. I look over again to theforest and see that I can barely make out the tops of the trees inthis pitch black atmosphere.

''I'llbe down here if you need me,'' I hear the voice of the level keepermuse. The voice is no longer in the sky above me, but in the darkforest below me.

''Alrightthen,'' I say, before I sigh outwardly. I prepare myself to go downbelow, but I don't know whether I should equip myself with somethings first.

''Oh,by the way, I've put a few Nevers in the forest,'' the level keepersays. As if it wasn't harder to see in the dark already, I have tomake sure I don't mistake her for a Never? This is going to be somuch fun.

''Youwon't be able to replace me from that ship, will you?'' she says to me.Of course not, I was getting ready to co-

''AARGGHHHH!''I scream as the Andromeda disappear from beneath me and I replace myselffalling.

Aaaaaagain.

Alwaysfalling.

Andnow it's into trees.

Iimagine that this is going to hurt. What can I do to break my fall?What can I use? What do I see actors use in movie scenes like this?

Ah!

Iknow!

Aparachute!

Iquickly conjure one on my back, pull the cord from it and try andmanoeuvre it so that I will land safely. But man, I can't see athing! I wonder how the other participants are faring in thisannoying darkness.

SHASH!SRASHSHSASHHSH!

Irustle the leaves of the tree I'm using to break my fall on as Iglide down it. I'm coming in a bit too fast, so I know the impact ofthe landing is going to be a slight bump.

FTUMP!

Yep.

Thatlanding was a bump alright. I land on my back and roll a little tothe side. My parachute's become tangled in my body, so I slowly getup and untangle myself. I chuck the parachute to one side as I lookaround my surroundings. I can barely see my body in this densedarkness. I wish I had that glowing rabbit from the second levelagain.

Ohyeah!

Duh,Nash! Why didn't you think of it before?

I openthe palm of my right hand and imagine that there's a bright flashlight in it.

Thiswill be veryhelpfulto me.

Ipoint it all around me, so that I can get a good view of where I am.

Whichis...no where.

Idon't even know where the level keeper could be. I don't know whichdirection to take. Left? Right? North? South? Does it even matter? Istart walking forward, trying to imagine light coming in the sky, butI know we are not allowed to mess with the level keepers' proposedclimate and conditions for the level, since it belongs to them. Ijust have to use this flash light as best I can.

''Howam I supposed to replace this girl? There must miles and miles of treesaround here,'' I say to myself as I traverse through the woods andtry to replace my way through it. It's deadly silent out here. I do hearthe rustling of trees at times, but it may just be...

My...

Imagination...

I heara lot of rustling behind me. I stop and slowly turn around and Ishine my flash light in the direction of the noise.

''Well,you're not her,'' I say to myself as I lay my eyes upon a big, Neverguy. He's black, balding, and looks as if he weighs 220 pounds. I'mglad his eyes are bandaged, because I can imagine the look he'sgiving me right now.

Idon't think it's a very nice one.

Wantto know why?

Becausehe's starting to charge after me!

I turnand run as fast as my legs can carry me. I use the flash light toguide me through the trees, so that I don't run into one. I look backonce in a while, and I see that he is right on my tail. This guy isfast for a large person. Well, being in this game probably helps.Maybe he's been granted with speed.

''Ithought Iwasthe one being chased,'' I hear the level keeper say from inside thewoods. Yeah, yeah, whatever. This level is getting on my nerves withthis annoying Never chasing after me. Let me see if I can imagine himto stop.

Nope.

That'snot working. He's still hot on my heels. I think I'm getting furtherand further away from the level keeper now. But then again, I don'teven know where she is in the first place. I can't see how much timeI have left. Where is the timer...

I seesomething glowing in the black sky above me. I can't see it fullybecause of the trees being in the way, but I get a slight glimpse ofit.

It'sthe moon...with the time on it.

Whatdoes it say?

16...

No...

15minutes 34 seconds.

Great,I've wasted over four minutes, and many more will probably be wastedif I don't lose this Never. What would also be nice is if I couldjust...avoid...these trees somehow. Go through them, or-

''Gothrough them?'' I repeat aloud what I had just thought. Yes, whydon't I just go through them? Like Kitty Pride would?

Iimagine myself with the ability to go through solid objects and Istart running into the trees instead of around them. This feelsso...weird, but at the same time, so...exhilarating!

I runback on myself whilst I try and shake the Never. I run back towardswhere I believe I landed and continue running. I imagine I have somuch stamina and speed, so much so that I turn to see I have gained aconsiderable gap between me and the Never. I keep running as I tryand flash my torch around to see if I can spot the level keeper.

Sheshouldn't be too hard to replace. I remember what she was wearing...

Ohno...

I justremembered something else.

Whatif she...changed her appearance? Like Saya did? What if I can nolonger identify her?

''Timeis ticking, Mr Williams!'' I hear her say. Yeah, I know that. That'swhy I'm trying to replace you.

Butwhere are you?

Whereare you hiding?

Wherecan you-

''ACH!ARGGH!'' I hear a female voice scream.

Isthat...her?

What'shappening to-

''Help!AHHHHH!'' she screams further.

I runfaster now, and try and see if I can replace out where these screams ofhelp are coming from. I think it's coming from...

''AHHH!''I hear the scream getting nearer. Good, I'm close. Shouldn't be toofar now...

''MrWilliams!'' I hear the level keeper say as I come across her. Shelooks as if she is being...held hostage. I shine the light on her,then on who is holding her-

Noway.

''Davenport,''I say as I see the sharp, vehement eyes of Vaughan Davenport staringat me through the flash light. What on earth is he doing? Why has hegot her?

''Finderskeepers,'' Vaughan says to me in a menacing voice. Hesounds...different. Like he's more...evil. He's...gotten worse. Awhole lot worse than before. I didn't know he could be so ruthless asto hold a girl in a choke hold.

''Lether go, Vaughan,'' I say to him with conviction. I look him squarelyin the eye before he bursts out laughing.

''No,Nash, I won't. I've caught her, so I've won the challenge,'' Vaughanreplies. Oh yes, that's true. But then...why is she...

''It'snot Vaughan, you idiot! It's-,'' the girl begins to say beforeVaughan tightens his grip around her neck to shut her up. I look athim strangely. Why was she saying that he's not Vaughan? My eyes mustbe deceiving me if it isn't Vaughan Davenport. If it's not Vaughan,then who is it...

Oh.

No.

Itcan't be.

Itcan't...

''Wraith,''I simply say to myself as I realise that it is him. He's pretendingto be Vaughan. But for what purpose?

''Whatdo you want, Wraith?'' I ask him directly. He shouldn't be allowed toattack the level keepers, should he? The level keeper squirms underhis firm hold.

''I...want...revenge...,''Wraith speaks to me in my mind again. Revenge? For what I did to himin the last level?

''Andthis is your revenge? It's pathetic,'' I say back to him in anger. Ican feel my whole body becoming hot with anger.

''It'sonly a matter of time before I get rid of you...,'' Wraith says tome. Get rid of me? He really does hate me, doesn't he? Well I hatehim too. So I will get rid of him now.

''Argh!''the level keeper shouts before she is let go by Wraith. She falls tothe ground as I keep Wraith at bay.

''What...areyou...doing to me?'' I hear him say as I imagine Wraith has becomestiff as a stone and I raise him up from the ground. I suspend himhigh up in the air, before I force him back down to the earth withsuch speed that he cracks into many pieces. My anger begins tosubside as I see that he no longer here to threaten me.

Thelevel keeper and I look at each other. I go over to her to help herup.

''Areyou alright?'' I ask her.

''Yeah,thanks,'' she responds.

''Ishe going to-,'' I begin to ask as I look at the broken pieces ofWraith.

''Yep.He always comes back,'' she interjects. ''But...he's never done thatbefore. He's never pretended to be another participant. He mustreally have it in for you,'' she replies back.

Yeah,he does.

''Ididn't know he could directly attack you,'' I say to her.

''There'sa lot of things you don't know,'' she says to me.

Yeah,there is.

''So...nowthat I've found you, I guess you're going to have to tell me what Iwant to know now,'' I say to her as I smile. She looks up at me,knowing that I'm right.

''Rightyou are, Mr Williams. So tell me, what would you like to knowfirst?'' she asks me.

Whatwould I like to know first?

''What's...yourname?'' I ask her. She gives me a strange look. Not what she wasexpecting, perhaps.

''Kelsey.Kelsey Tate,'' she replies. ''What else would you like to know?''

''Who-no,whatis Wraith?'' I ask. She smiles in silence as she regards me.

''That'san excellent question,'' she replies.

It isindeed.

And Ihope there's an excellent answer.