Oh, what a beautiful mornin'
Oh, what a beautiful day
I've got a beautiful feeling
Everything's going ... my ... way ...

Why does a tendency for the ridiculous exist? Why does a want for causing harm exist? Why does a want exist, a want to observe the pain of others? Why, when told of a danger, do we want to head right for it when the potential for great reward exists? Why are so many willing to risk their lives to prove how manly or tough they are or be even quicker to out something we know nothing about as not being real when in actuality it is real, and we were just ignorant of it?

Are people simply just stupid? Greedy perhaps? Possibly it is an overbalance of ignorance, some kind of blind arrogance, an ego seeking enhancement or justification, an inability to grasp alternatives to everyday life. Do we have a want or a desire to appear as something we are not?

Not everyone is this way of course but there are enough of us to engage in activities that can only go badly for the participant, ... enough of us so that those who are of a particular order or disorder can take advantage of others and create a situation of a particularly gruesome nature. Maybe at times we feel invincible, that nothing can harm us, or maybe we feel that what is being proposed is so ridiculous that it cannot be true, so by taking it on we cannot be harmed at all, and in taking it on ... easy money is bound to come our way?

We all can be the big guy or the big gal, brave with nothing to fear, we can willingly take on the world and come out the victor, the better person. We are immoveable, unstoppable, if only ...

For instance, imagine being told of a building, a building with ninety-nine purposely created rooms, each of which equipped with its own unique horror so damning, so damaging on so many levels, that if one were to enter any of these rooms then that one would never be the same again post exiting that room, then imagine being challenged to spend a night in any one of those ninety-nine rooms ...

You could pick a room, any room, without any prior knowledge of what horror awaits you. You come out unscathed then you have bragging rights, glory beyond all glory and the promise of huge financial gain ... would you want to go inside such a building and spend a night within one of its room?

Surprisingly, many people would accept such a challenge especially when a large amount of money is on offer though again, would you? What isn't known are the percentages of those who are not only successful but also escapees with lives fully intact and without a need for recovery either physical or mental.

1.

Friday, November first, 2019, and rumours were running riot through Castletown National Community College. Yeah, with it being the day after All Hallows' Eve, such rumours are being eaten up now more so than it ever has been before or would do if it were at any other point of the year. Sure, is November first not meant to be the actual day for all things nightmarishly ghoulish and supernatural? All Hallow's Eve, October thirty first – the eve of November first?

There are stories over the years of those who have taken a challenge so unimaginable that no one truly knows anything, only not to be seen again though those who apparently took up the challenge on Halloween night of this year are known to many who attend Castletown National.

Indeed, many of whom have been said to have taken on the challenge in the past have never been seen again and those who have returned have never been the same. Financial gain, if that does exist, brought them nothing for they were and still are in no condition to do anything with it.

On this particular November first, five friends sit around a table at lunch time just as they usually do with the exception being that they are about to begin a conversation which in turn will beget them each an offer to take on the very challenge they are about to discuss. Appearing to be macho and with a want to one up each other, each will accept the challenge whether or not they believe it to be an actual real thing and it will be accepted despite any existing fear.

Yeah, there is banter, pushing and shoving, laughing, and joking, slagging not all so unusual occurrences as indeed five friends come up upon and sit at the same lunch timetable. When they each initially sit on this particular day there is silence between them all, silence that only lasts as long as it takes for one of the five to burst out laughing and of course the laughter is contagious as within seconds of looking around at each other they all are laughing.

'Hey, you guys all know of The Flesh Factory, right?' asks Keith Cross who, with this question, brings the laughter to a quick and muffled end.

Now Keith can be a bit of an oddball. He can be a prankster too and he can be at times dead pan serious, and you won't quite know what you are getting with him from one day to the next, even moment to moment can be interchangeable with him.

'Sure' says Gary Arnold. 'Who hasn't?'

Gary usually is, more often than not, up for whatever may be suggested by the group and unfortunately sometimes this can work against him. If the gang get up to mischief, which they often do, then it is Gary who often is the odd man out or the last man standing, often having to take the blame for whatever mischief the group have got up to.

'Word is that none of the four who took it on last night have come in today ...'

'Well, that's understandable' speaks Alisha Kelly. 'Imagine going through all of what that place is supposed to be ... then to come in here straight after ... not happening I'd say. Most likely if any of them did do it then they have gone home to their beds. They'll all probably be in on Monday.'

Alisha is the only girl in the group and each of the guys have thought about asking her out at some point or other but what would that mean to the group as a whole if one, or more, were to ask and she were to decline or worse yet, accept one of them to be her beau. And if one potential relationship were to fail with a second to start up, what then? Would there be jealousy? General trouble within the group? Nah, some things are best put aside.

'That makes sense' Gary says, considering what it was that Alisha had to say.

'Guess what I have?' Keith asks.

'What?' asks Robert Ford, who likes to be known as Trebor, Trebor being Robert spelt in reverse, and he asks knowing all too well that some sort of adventure is about to be proposed, one which may not be all so much of a healthy one.

Keith places five golden coloured envelopes onto the table. Each has a friend's name printed upon it. One for Keith himself, one is for Gary Arnold, one is for Robert Ford and is even printed as Trebor Ford with a fourth for Alisha and a fifth for Alex Townsend.

Alex Townsend eyes the envelopes with disbelief. These can't be invitations, not for The Flesh Factory, surely not. He does not believe that such a place exists but if it does ... well, he wants no part of it. As far as Alex sees it right now, Keith must be up to his tricks with this.

Unable to outright dismiss anything, Alex turns his envelope over and straight away moves his seat back a bit and away from the table, ensuring he has not kept a grip on that envelope. The envelope, as the other three surely are too, is sealed with a blood red wax marker. Maybe this is no trick, maybe what is on the table is five invites, five challenges to spend a night in a room at The Flesh Factory. Maybe such a place really does exist.

'Oh ... hell no' speaks Alex out loud, loud enough to be heard by other students in the school cafeteria.

Alex's eyes dart around almost apologetically to those who turned towards him.

'Oh, hell yeah ...' says Keith once things have calmed a little. 'And you are doing this.'

Is he being serious or is this a joke? It is impossible to tell. There are no signs of even the smallest of smirks on Keith's face.

'Oh, no I'm not ...' responds Alex flat out; he doesn't even want to think of it.

'Chicken ...' taunts Keith not wanting to give any of the others time to properly let what is being presented sink in. 'Don't even speak' he tells the other three, especially if they too are also considering refusing the invites.

'When?' asks Alisha.

'Tonight, nine o'clock. Everything we need to know is on the invites. Ten hours in a room number of our choice. Of course, each of us will be alone within our room of choice. Survive whatever is within for those ten hours and the prize money is ours. Tomorrow is a Saturday so we can rest all we like when it's done. I need to know each of your decisions before five o'clock so I can email a response.'

'No need to wait', says Alisha. 'I'm in ...

It goes without saying that Keith Cross is in. The other three guys turn to Alisha with surprise, none more shocked than Alex. How can he turn down the invite now with Alisha accepting so quickly?

'I'm in ...' says Gary Arnold, the guy with two first names.

'Me too ...' says Robert (Trebor) Ford.

Now all eyes turn to Alex Townsend who looks more than a little ... miffed. His heart begins to pound, and his cheeks redden. He is not good in situations like this. Hell, what is it gonna be like for him when he gets to a room, if he gets to a room? If he can't handle this moment right here then how is he gonna spend ten hours alone in a room designed to scare the crap out of him with the likelihood of survival, according to so many stories, being virtually nil.

All these guys were here for him at a time he needed them most. How can he leave them in the lurch now?

'Alright ... to hell with it ... I'm in ...'

Oh, there is irony in the timing. One of those who supposedly took on the challenge the previous night, enters the school lunch hall right at the moment Alex agreed to give it a go. This arrival, his clothing is torn to shreds, his whole being is covered in soot and dust and he only manages a brief look around before he collapses. The fear he had in his face had been clear for all to see, his actions suggested something, or someone was coming after him. There is blood, quite a bit of blood and the shouts soon sound out for someone to call emergency services.

It is not good. No phone call can do anything for this young fellow. His life has been lost and no amount of prize money can make up for that. The five friends now look at one another ... are they really gonna go do this? Hell, this moment brings a vision to Alex's mind's eye, a vision of snow, a vision of the death of another ...