Then—silence.

  The scraping, gurgling, grotesque sounds vanished. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

  He wasn’t in the room anymore.

  Instead, he found himself alone inside a large, rectangular mental cage, bathed in a soft, eerie light.

  Zhayne was lying in the middle of the cage. He opened his eyes slowly, the world blurry for a moment—then blinked rapidly, rubbing his eyes. Again? That was the first thought that came to his mind. He started looking around, but he couldn’t see anything.

  He got up slowly. Just like last time, he didn’t feel any pain in his leg.

  There was no light. Zhayne took a few steps forward—then stumbled over something. He raised his head to see what it was.

  It was dark… too dark. For a second, he thought it was blood.

  A quiet panic rose in his chest. He stared, unsure if he should move closer or crawl away. Then, before he could react, the shape twitched.

  Zhayne froze.

  The figure moved again—slowly, stiffly, like a machine powering on.

  Zhayne crawled back, trying to get away from it.

  A sudden flash hit his eyes. He flinched, covering them. The light shifted slightly, and then he saw the costume.

  “…oh, it’s just you,” he said, his voice shaky but relieved. A bit of tension left his shoulders, though his body still felt tight.

  The banana costume’s emoji raised its eyebrow.

  Zhayne frowned. “I can’t see it,” he muttered.

  The banana guy tilted the flashlight toward the emoji, and Zhayne finally exhaled a quiet sigh before getting up and helping him to his feet.

  “Let’s just look around,” he said.

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  The banana guy handed him the flashlight. They walked together until they reached the end of the vast cage.

  Zhayne started shaking the cage bars, but they didn’t budge. He gave the banana guy the flashlight and tried harder, but still no luck. He kept pushing, grunting in frustration, while the banana guy looked around.

  Then the banana guy put his hand on Zhayne’s shoulder, as if telling him to come look at something. They moved forward to find a weird, slimy-looking thing on the floor.

  Zhayne crouched, picking it up with one hand while pointing the flashlight with the other. It was dark red—squishy, strong, and flexible. He couldn’t tell what it was, so he sniffed it.

  “Meat!” Zhayne said, glancing at the banana guy. He stood from his crouch and turned his gaze toward the back.

  Then, all of a sudden, the cage started shaking violently, as if an earthquake had hit.

  Zhayne and the banana guy stumbled with the trembling cage.

  “Woah!” Zhayne shouted, gripping the metal bars tightly.

  He looked back and saw the banana guy crouching—then running fast toward the other side, grabbing the metal for support.

  Suddenly, Zhayne heard a cracking sound, like something holding the cage was breaking. He looked up—it felt like the last moment before impact.

  Before he could react, the cage fell.

  A blinding beam of light centered on Zhayne.

  He got up slowly, hardly believing he was alive. His eyes widened, a mix of shock and relief freezing his expression. The banana guy lay on the floor.

  Zhayne looked around—and realization struck. He knew this place. The lights, the angle, the faint sound of echoing cheers.

  It was a stage.

  He turned his head toward the sound and saw rows of seats filled with people. His companions—Victoria, Leon, Jayson, Vincent—all sitting among them.

  For a brief moment, they looked stunned. Jayson half-rose from his seat, confusion written across his face. Leon’s eyes narrowed, tense and alert. Victoria’s hand covered her mouth, frozen mid-clap, while the others exchanged uneasy glances.

  Zhayne opened his mouth to call out, but his voice vanished under the sound of applause rising around him.

  Then a voice cut through the noise.

  “Welcome, welcome my dear guests to my show … today won’t be like any other!”

  It was the clown. His voice was high-pitched and theatrical, spreading his arms wide.

  “Today is a show you would never have witnessed—if it weren’t for me!”

  The applause grew louder.

  Zhayne looked back quickly. He rushed to the banana guy lying on the floor and tried to wake him.

  “Hey! Wake up! We need to leave!” he said, shaking him desperately.

  Then he froze, swallowing hard as he heard—

  "And now… let the show begin!”

  The cage door creaked open.

  Zhayne stared, grabbing the banana costume, trying to drag him outside. But suddenly, a sharp breeze brushed past him.

  He looked back. His eyes widened, his pupils shrinking in terror.

  It was a tiger—its roar splitting the air.

  Without a second thought, Zhayne grabbed the banana guy with both hands and hauled him to the end of the cage.

  The tiger stepped in—slow, deliberate, mouth yawning wide, like it had been waiting years for this meal.

  Zhayne’s eyes darted around frantically, searching for the meat that had been in his hand just moments ago.

  There it was—but before he could react, the tiger’s paw slammed down on it.

  A rectangular watch blinked into view. 3:00 glared at him. Zhayne’s eyes darted between the countdown and the tiger — he had to act fast.

  He jabbed the flashlight in quick, teasing sweeps. The tiger snarled, ears flattening, low growl rolling into a furious roar.

  Zhayne seized the moment. He flung the flashlight out of the cage. The tiger’s head snapped toward it, eyes narrowing, teeth bared. Then it bolted after the moving light, claws scraping the floor, growling with fury.

  Heart hammering, Zhayne darted for the meat lying in the cage. He yanked it up, arm raised, ready to throw — and a fire hoop flared to life right in front of the tiger, next to the flashlight.

  Fire hoops ignited along the tiger’s path. A massive plank teetered atop a rolling ball. At the far end, a shallow pool shimmered.

  Zhayne’s eyes flicked between the tiger, the meat, and the obstacles. Timing. Every move counted.

  He froze for a moment, unsure what to do next.

  THANKS for reading.