Corben Backstory

Juno grabbed Corben's arm and pulled his closer, voice low. "Spill. Now."

Corben brushed his hand off and rolled his eyes, before speaking in a hoarse whisper. "She and my sister used to be best friends..."

Across the room, Maylea spilled out how she knew Corben. "I had a crush on him ever since I was like... seven. His sister and I were best friends, and I saw him all of the time, but only ever knew him as this mysterious brother."

"One time Eliza decided the two of them should go into our parent's room and try on everything. I tried to stop the girls, but instead I somehow got roped into wearing one of Father's old suits. I think I was twelve."

"Eliza made me where this white sundress or something. It kept falling off my shoulders. And then with all seriousness, Eliza said Corben and I were getting married."

"I don't think Maylea was quite as uncomfortable with that twist as I was, but how could I say no to my sister?"

"So Eliza put on a little ceremony right in the closet of their parent's room, and then-"

"The little brat told me to kiss Maylea. She said that the wedding had to be perfect, and then I could leave. So yeah, I kissed Maylea. On the cheek I mean, she was only nine, and I was twelve."

"I must have turned as red as a tomato when he kissed me. I don't think I moved for another five minutes after he left. Eliza had to shake me back into reality."

"There was a letter outside my door about a week later. That was the first of... many, I guess."

Veronica grabbed Maylea's shoulders. "Wait, you wrote love letters to him?"

Maylea shrugged. "I was nine and I thought he was cute. He actually wrote me one back." She shuffled her foot. "At least, I think he's the one who wrote it." She took a deep breath. "We moved right after that happened, and I never saw him again.

Juno stared at Corben. "You wrote back?" He exhaled quickly, running his fingers through his hair. "Dude, she's three years younger than you."

Corben crossed his arms. "It wasn't a love letter, idiot. It was to say thank you." His voice thickened, and he looked down. "My sister died not even a week before, and I found out her family was moving. I wanted to say thank you."

Maylea touched her cheek gently, a wistful smile on her face. "The last line of the letter said 'I'll remember the kiss.'"

Neither of them said anything more, and Charlie raised one hand. "So, do we get to find how you two know each other, or are going to keep whispering?"

Veronica shot a glare in his direction. "Oh shut up... whatever your name is."

"It's Charlie," the boy snapped back, irritation clear in his voice.

Kai touched his shoulder lightly. "I think we all need to calm down and introduce ourselves." She pressed a hand to her chest. "I'm Kai and I'm eighteen years old."

Corben scoffed. "This isn't a summer camp where we go around the room. Don't be dumb."

Avery chuckled. "Camp Kidnapped! Experience knockout gas, suspicious rules, and collapsing tunnels!"

There was a short laugh from someone in the room, but they stopped when the realized they were the only one amused.

Blair scanned the room. "Shouldn't we at least try and figure out what we all have in common, or something that could be a clue as to why we're here?"

Corben sighed, a long, drawn out thing that, even in its completion, didn't quite seem to convey his annoyance with this plan. "Fine. I'm Corben, and this is my..." he counted off on his fingers. "Fifth time being kidnapped. Though technically, only two of those failed, so I guess those were just attempted kidnappings?"

He pointed to Maylea. "That's Maylea. Her mother ran a daycare and her father worked for my father."

Maylea blinked. "What? No, Dad worked at like, a pharmaceutical company or something."

Corben shook his head. "No, he's definitely on my Dad's payroll. At least, he used to be." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, Maylea is pretty boring. Likes books, probably has a cat or something."

He tapped his foot expectantly, before Veronica spoke up. "I'll go next. I'm Veronica, I hate this bugger right here-" she jerked her thumb at Avery. "And I've been on my own since I was fourteen. That's all you need to know."

Avery rolled his eyes. "So helpful. Here's the basics. My mum and dad are jerks, my brother is cool, and I'm genderqueer. I was walking home from school when I bumped into this really tall guy. After that was waking up in a room with Ronnie there."

Veronica practically growled. "Don't call me that."

There was a heartbeat of silence, and then it was Blair speaking. "I'm Blair. Uh, I was on my way to the coffee shop I work at, and I think someone grabbed me from behind? I didn't get a good look at who did it."

"I did," Carmen said. "He was pretty tall, wore a black hoodie, and I think there was a tattoo on his left hand. His hair was blond and short, and he had a really sharp jawline." She smiled softly. "He'd be kinda cute if he wasn't, y'know, a kidnapper."

Juno groaned. "We're getting off topic. So far the one thing we have in common right now is that we were all taken while walking somewhere. Does anyone else have a different experience."

"I think he gassed my car."

Everyone whipped their heads around to stare at Corben, who seemed way too nonchalant considering what he had just said.

"Um, what?" Azalea gaped at him, as if the words didn't quite make sense.

"He gassed my car," Corben stated calmly. "I got in after visiting the hospital and then... blank." He chuckled dryly. "I gotta hand it to him, he pulled it off pretty well. Taking me out when I'm alone, and without actually having a confrontation."

Kai bit her lip. "I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about you being so relaxed about this, or the fact that you just praised our kidnapper."

"I'd say both," Azalea said softly.

Corben tapped the inside of his wrist. "This is getting us nowhere. We need to focus on getting out of this room."

Veronica wrinkled her nose at him. "Oh yeah? And how do you suggest we do that?" She scoffed. "I bet you're just one of those jerks who just talk big and never actually do anything."

There was a soft gasp from somewhere in the room, and Corben muttered a curse, stalking toward Veronica. "You get over here and I'll show you just how much I can do."

Maylea ran up to Corben, pressing her hands to his chest. "Calm down," she hissed, her smile frame not doing much to slow him. "Getting into fights isn't going to help anyone."

He frowned at her, but stopped, turning away. "You're lucky you're right, Maylea. We need to focus all of our attention on getting out of here."

"Would it help if i said i found another button?" Juno said from the back of the room, one hand lifting the stark white paper attached to the wall.

The teens crowded forward, each one eager to see what must be the final button.

Azalea shoved to the front, swiping her hair out of her face. "So... are we going to press it, or what?"

Without a word, Juno hit the button.

End of Stage One.

Are there any character dynamics you guys would like to see? Feel free to suggest!

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The wall to everyone's right opened up into what seemed to be a very ornate dining room. Blair broke away from the group amd sprinted into the next room, the rest of the teens following soon after.

They looked around in amazement at their surroundings, until Maylea pointed at the table. "Look! Food!"

There was a collective gasp, and Charlie picked up a fork. "It looks so good," he said, practically drooling.

Juno looked to Corben, who shrugged. He shrugged back, and sat down at the table. "Right. Uh, there must be a clue somewhere."

Avery pulled out a chair next to him. "I bet it's in the mashed potatoes," he said quickly, taking a bite. He blinked. "Well I can't be sure, so I'll just check again." He took another bite.

Corben sighed, and sat at the head of the table. "Eat. We'll need our strength for whatever happens next."

With that, all of the teens sat down, and the room was filled with chatter and the clinking of silverware.

Carmen picked up a pitcher of water and passed it to Corben, who didn't drink any, and simply passed it on to Juno.

Maylea looked up from her food. "Corben, why aren't you eating?"

His brows were knitted together as he stared at his plate of food, as if studying it. "Something doesn't feel right," he muttered.

"Uh, guys?" Everyone turned to look at Charlie, who was staring at his plate and looked slightly green. "There's writing on my plate."

Everyone craned to look at the words on his dish, and that's when the wrongness of the meal finally hit them.

No final decision this time, as the poisoned plate will be decided by random generator!

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