Snippet #1644321

Once upon a time there was a teenager named Oblio who was having a pretty good life stealing from people's back pockets until he was kidnapped by some crazy guy in a hat. He suspected the person to be some sadistic murderer, but the place he had been taken to seemed pretty innocent so far. The crazy murderer soon decided that he was sick of the person not doing anything in the mansion that was interesting, so let him out. His life went on as normal, and he lived happily ever after.

God damn, he wished his story could go like that. But of course that wouldn't happen, now would it? This crazy 'Mad Hatter' guy would keep him and whoever else was here until he was satisfied, then kill them all. According to the note, this guy couldn't care less if they were eaten by wolves or whatever animals were awaiting outside. Also according to the note, he was here because of something, for what reason, he didn't know. What a hypocrite this man was. Apparently he was here for doing something bad, but had been taken against his will to this place in the first place. Just as he had memorized though, the last rule stated that he could not leave until the guy said so. Maybe if he did as he was supposed to, he could survive and get out.

That was his viewpoint on the whole thing. It was some silly, fairy-tale version of Saw. He had seen the movies before, and he learned that you should do what the physco guy says. Even if it meant putting on some mask and a loosing his prized red hoody, to switch it off for a suit. Black jacket and pants, white dress shirt, the usual colors. But he left the jacket off, finding that the place was quite warm already. There was a blue tie, but he had no idea how it work, so just left it. Now the mask. Why did he need a mask on? Oblio had found out (or thought he did) everything else, but the mask puzzled him. This whole experience was ending up to be a puzzle that he had to solve, put the pieces together and figure out what was happening.

He held the mask in his hand almost carefully, his gray eyes running over the diamond pattern on it, each one a different, shining color. Blue, gold, black, white, lavender. There was a blue ribbon attached to the back of it.

"You must leave the mask beside this paper on at all times while around others. Failure to do so will result in punishment."

Oblio set the mask down on the table, breathing out a quiet sigh. The note was still on the table. He had read it over a million times, but not even bothered to touch it. He had memorized each word, considered what the punishments would be, and how long he would be here. "Here, you will hopefully find your soulmate."

Soulmate. He wasn't looking for someone before, and wouldn't be looking for someone here. All he had to do was go along with it, and as far as he could tell, the only way to get a punishment was to take off the mask near people, or try to get out. It was easy to avoid both. So the thing that was bothering him was...why was this Mad Hatter doing this? To watch them interact? Oblio knew that places existed, they would watch human activity. Maybe he was some sort of person researching human nature and psychology, two of Oblio's favorite subjects. He was part of an experiment, maybe? He just had to be himself. He considered this idea over the murderer one. If the guy was a murderer, he would have killed everyone here already.

Possibilities just continued to list in his mind, dozens of them. But he had only found one conclusion. Just go along with everything that came his way, and he would be fine and possibly get out. Then report this man to the police, or something like that. The first thing he had to do though...

Was put on the damn mask.

Oblio reached for it again, turning it around so that the silver-gray back faced him. Reluctantly, he raised it towards his face, taking the blue ribbon and lifting it over his head as soon as the mask touched the skin on his face. The the string of fabric shimmered, one of the stray pieces rested behind his ear, matching the blue on the mask. It fit like it was molded to fit over the gentle features of his face. He stared at the room around him, his vision fine. As long as he could see out of it, he was happy. It was just a few seconds after he had put the mask on, did he hear someone at the door. Was it the crazy hatter guy? He had some questions for the man, and quickly bolted for the door, pulling it open. He could still briefly remembered what had happened.
He was fishing for wallets and no one had seemed to notice him reaching into their back pockets. It had been like he was in a trance, the crowd around him a blur. Weaving through the people, he could only hear his own thoughts, and the quiet murmur of voices surrounding him. That was until he saw the man in the hat, staring at him. Oblio had panicked. Had he seen what he had been doing? Was this guy going to report him to the police? The last thing he wanted was to get in trouble, the only reason he was doing this was for survival. In an attempt to get away, he had began the other way down the sidewalk, to a more remote area of the city.

A gentle smile came across his face as he remembered. He had put up quite a fight, as he recalled. Not only tried to get away, but tried to throw a punch or two as well. But to no avail. He was here. And he hated to admit it, but he was kind of...happy about it. Every day before had been the same routine, day in and day out. This was a change. Not necessarily a good one, but different.

No one was there. The hallway was empty. Oblio leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest, tilting his head to rest it on the wood. Did he have to go outside of the room he was in? Surely that was why there had been the knocking at the door. To lure him out. Oblio looked down at the floor, searching, for some pair of shoes to slip himself into. Along the ground, lined up, were mostly dress shoes. But he managed to find a pair that seemed comfortable enough. They were black, and looked more like sneakers than dress shoes. Stepping away from the empty hallway, he turned to put the shoes on, and managed to catch a quick glance of himself in the mirror. He thought he looked like an idiot, wearing a mask. But this was how it was supposed to be. If he followed along, he would get out. Simple enough.

He was as calm as could be as he stepped out the door, letting it shut quietly behind him. The hallway was rather narrow, the walls covered with one single color of paint. Pictures in frames were lined up along the corridor, and to distract himself, he looked at a few of the paintings, interested with the style of each artist and the color pallet used. Oblio had a habit of procrastinating when he really didn't want to do something. And he really didn't want to do this.

Going down the hallway, and towards the large room in the large room in the middle, he figured that was the place to be. And he was right. Rather than noticing the things in the room right away, or the elegance of the large space, he saw the man at the top of the staircase. Still hidden in the shadows caused by the hallway, he felt himself filled with hate, and dread.

'Bastard.' The thought ran through his mind, yet he didn't speak it out-loud (he often mistakenly did that). He stepped out of the hallway, finding a comfortable place near the wall, and pressing his back up against it, crossing his arms over himself. Waiting for something to happen, he noticed someone else in the middle of the room, standing there awkwardly, but his attention didn't linger on her for long. Hopefully the guy would start talking about what was going on here. He wanted clear answers rather than the vaguely written note he had gotten earlier.

More importantly, he wanted out.