Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Wordle, but my first five guesses are terrible! I’m about to risk my whole streak on this, but let’s see what happens.”

It was a bit past 10:30 in her hometown. The sun’s soft morning glow was streaming through her blinds, washing in warm waves over her skin. It was Sunday, and Savannah DeLullo was on a roll.

In the past few weeks, Savannah’s TikTok account had begun to gain some serious traction. As a result, she had amassed a new, large following, so it was crucial that she took advantage of this virality while it lasted.

It was a simple challenge that started it all.

“So, I think we’ll be starting with Qajaq today. This might give us an A, so I guess it’s not totally unhelpful…” she trailed off as she hit enter. No letters.

“No A. Ok. We can work with this. We’ve got to go with another unhelpful word. I think a good strategy is to avoid repeating letters. That way, we can get as much information as possible, so no Pzazz… how about Immix?”

Grey. Grey. Grey. Green I! And a yellow X?

“Hey, we got a green letter! And the other I is grey so it’s not doubled. But the yellow X? I’m drawing a blank.”

Savannah fiddled around with the letters for a moment. X in the first spot, nothing. Second? Third? X was such an uncommon letter to be in the word, especially with I in the 4th spot. She was sort of embarrassed that she didn’t have any words on standby.

“What could this word even be though? [ ][ ][ ][ I ][ ] with an X somewhere in there? We shouldn’t really start guessing yet though. Now, for the next useless word! Jeeze.”
Green E in the second spot! She probably shouldn’t be calling these words useless. They were helpful sometimes, right?

“Ok… now for one of Michael’s favorites, Phpht. Honestly guys, I don’t understand why some of these words are on the wordle list. I mean, c’mon.”

Savannah watched as all 5 boxes turned grey once again. Forget what she just said. This word was useless in all contexts.

“Only one more! I’m actually getting a little nervous. I’m definitely going to lose this game. For our next to last guess, let’s do Xylyl. I know it’s not the word because of that pesky I, but it’s technically a pointless word, and it’ll eliminate the first spot for the X!” Savannah said. She figured that this was the smartest move she could make, given the circumstances.

She quickly typed the word out, hit enter, and watched as the X turned bright green. What??

“So it’s an X word? [X][E][ ][ I ][ ] … What word even goes like that? What?” And because of this challenge, that was all she had to work with. She had one guess left, one shot at getting the word right.

“Hey, I can figure this out. Ok, no A, probably no other vowels actually. I feel like C makes sense here. It could be Xenic? Or Xeric? Or maybe it’s Xenia. I can’t believe that even with an X-E word there are this many options. Is it really a one-in-three?” Savannah looked for a second more, scouring for another word, something to catch her eye that would make sense. She saw nothing. “I guess it is just a shot in the dark. If I get this, you guys have to go tell Michael that I’m a better wordle player than him,” she joked. “I think I’m going to go with Xeric.”

Savannah typed the letters into her wordle game, sucked in a deep breath, and hit enter to see…

[X][E][R][ I ][C]
Phew!
Wordle in 6.

She’d done it.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh! This is unbelievable guys. What?! Oh my gosh. That’s actually nuts. Michael is going to LOSE IT when he sees this video. What! That’s just so crazy. I’m kind of in shock,” she said, laughing. The odds in today’s game were so heavily stacked against her, and she’d still managed to beat it!

“Ha! I mean, what can I say? It’s just easy.” Savannah smirked and hit the end button on her recording. Then, she grabbed her phone to watch the video. She’d edit it in a moment, but right now she just wanted to marvel at her unlikely win.

“Wordle, but my first five guesses are terrible! I’m about to risk my whole streak…” Savannah smiled to herself. Then, something caught her attention on her computer screen.

Her eyes darted upwards, and she saw that it was a pop-up.

Congratulations! You are the 1 Billionth winner in the history of Wordle.com! It is our pleasure to invite you to complete a bonus challenge! This opportunity is rather unique and limited, and this message will disappear in 60 seconds. Would you like to play the game?

What is this? A special wordle challenge? Savannah had never heard about anything like this before. She would look it up and see if anyone knew what this was about, but the timer was counting down very quickly. Should she accept?

42, 41, 40…

It sounded fun! Plus, it would make for excellent content. Savannah repositioned her phone on its tripod and hit record.

“Hey guys. This is going to be a very special video. I was just presented with a very cool pop-up for a bonus wordle challenge!”

17, 16, 15…

“The pop-up has a countdown timer though, so we better get started quickly.”

Savannah clicked the yes box on her screen, and the countdown stopped. Her screen flickered for a moment, and the box disappeared. Was that it?

All of a sudden, the blinds covering her windows slammed shut, blocking out the sun’s light. Her phone stopped recording, and her computer screen went black. All of the lights in her room burst, sending sparks flying every which way. In an instant, Savannah had been shrouded in darkness. she screamed.

What just happened!? The room’s temperature seemed to lower rapidly, and Savannah felt a shiver run through her.

Then, a singular line of text appeared on her screen.

Prepare yourself, Savannah.

Her blood ran cold. She jumped up to turn on her ceiling light, flicking the switch back and forth quickly. Nothing. She reached up to tug on the hanging chain for the light as well. Come on, come on! Nothing was working!

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Savannah screamed again.

Her hands! They were disappearing! Starting from the tips of her fingers, Savannah’s being was beginning to fade away. She didn’t feel any pain, but her fingers were disappearing! And it was happening quickly, too. Snaking up to her elbows, then shoulders, Savannah was fading. A tingling sensation was rushing through her body and towards her core. The feeling was all-consuming. Her mind grew fuzzy as she was overwhelmed with a buzzing sensation she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She couldn’t see anything, feel anything, but she knew she was scared.

It was then that Savannah lost consciousness.

She didn’t know how long she was out for, but Savannah opened her eyes to a pinkish sky with fluffy clouds in her periphery. Morning? She lay towards the edge of a field under a large oak tree, making the hanging branches the first thing she saw when she came to. She sat up quickly and glanced around.

Where was she?!

The field before her was laden with thick, long grasses, and if she listened closely she could hear running water somewhere off in the distance. Birds chirped happily from up above, which only made her surroundings feel more unsettling.

At least her clothes were the same, Savannah thought. Some sense of familiarity. Turning to her left, Savannah saw a small, leather backpack. She scrambled to open it.

Empty.

“Hello there!”

“Ahh!!”

Savannah was scared, and rightfully so. In front of her, a soft gray cloud appeared and within it, a booming voice began speaking to her. Yellow letters formed within the cloud, spelling out the words as they sounded.

“You’ve accepted the challenge!! Congratulations!” The speaker’s voice was surprisingly perky, unlike the impression its appearance gave off.

“Who are you?” Savannah asked, trying to hide the timidness in her tone.

“I’m not anybody, really. I mean, technically, I’m the game master! But I’m just here to deliver your instructions,” the cloud said cheerily.

“My instructions? For what?”

“The bonus challenge, silly! The one you agreed to. You’re quite the brainiac, Miss Savannah. Being our 1 Billionth Wordle Winner, we knew we had to present you with an exceptional game to play,” the cloud replied, letting out a shrill, disconcerting laugh.

“What kind of bonus challenge is this?!” Savannah shrieked.

“Miss Savannah, are you having trouble hearing me?” the cloud prompted. When met with no response, it continued. “Don’t look so frightened! This will be fun. This game has been designed just for you, and I am here to deliver your directions! Are you ready?” The voice asked.

Savannah nodded, swallowing.

“Welcome to Wordle Wonderland, where opportunities abound!
Your challenge awaits you on the path, one that will astound!
You’ve traveled to a distant land of magic, words, and charm
Though should you not complete your quest, you’ll be destined for some harm.
Fear not, dear puzzler, not all is doomed. We’ve given you some grace.
Ahead of you lie 6 fun games you’ll encounter, face-to-face.
A spooky place of magic, the voice of an angel
A dizzying space to throw you off, you’ll need a different angle.
A deceiving simple house with a displeasing short man
A game of pattern recognition, you mustn’t misunderstand.
A challenge to test your wits and strength,
Your skill to listen, to not sink.
And finally, a challenge above them all,
A familiar sound, a distant call.
Each challenge presents a clue, a key to help you beat the last
So you must work quickly, Miss Savannah, or you’ll be stuck here once three days pass.
Should you lose, or should you win,
It doesn’t matter. Let the games begin.”

It took a moment for the weight of the cloud’s final words to register in Savannah’s head. “3 days?!”

“Should I be concerned about your hearing, Miss Savannah? I don’t mind repeating my rhyme for you!” the cloud said. The voice mumbled, “I worked fairly hard on it, after all.”

“What? No, no, no, I heard you. But 3 days?! And stuck here? Does that mean I might not be going home after this?” Savannah asked, feeling her palms getting clammy.

“Well, yes, but isn’t that a part of the fun?”

“No!!” A lump began forming in Savannah’s throat. This could be it for her. What about her TikTok page? Her followers? What about Michael, Kenny, and Cam? What would they do now that she had just disappeared?

As if answering her thoughts, the cloud started speaking again. “I know you’re worried about not returning home, so we thought it would cheer you up if you could spend your maybe-last-days with the people you care about! That’s why we brought your friends here, too!”

Savannah’s fear quickly boiled into something much hotter. “YOU WHAT?!” She balled up her fists, losing all sense of fear towards this stupidly cheerful talking cloud. “How could you do that?! Now they might die out here! Why would you drag them into this? Why wasn’t that part in the riddle?! Isn’t that something important that I should know about?”

“My apologies, Miss Savannah! I ran out of time to make an extended form of my rhyme that includes the bit about your friends. As for your other question, why did you accept the challenge, Miss Savannah? Did you not consider the risks?” the cloud replied calmly. What kind of a question is that?! Of course she didn’t consider the risks! There shouldn’t be any risks!

Her anger started to fizzle out, though, and it was replaced with a sense of regret. Why had she accepted this challenge? For more fame, more clout? It was stupid anyways, this was just supposed to be fun. And now, because of her, her dearest friends were trapped out here in this bizarre place. How could she be so stupid?!

“Oh no, Miss Savannah, please don’t cry,” the cloud said remorsefully.

Savannah wiped her eyes quickly. “I’m not. It’s just this weird dust in the air, got to get used to it,” she mumbled. The cloud didn’t have a face, but Savannah could feel its pity for her in the silence.

A second later, the cloud said, “I promise all hope is not lost. If I could give you any advice, it would be to go now. You’re burning daylight hours, Miss Savannah. You must find your friends and rescue them! Let’s look on the bright side, shall we? This experience will surely be memorable!”

Savannah collected herself. The cloud was right. She couldn’t waste any more time. She had truly been on an emotional rollercoaster today, but now all of those feelings were replaced with a newfound sense of determination.

6 Challenges.

3 days.

3 friends to find.

No idea where to start.

But really, how hard could it be?

Chapter Text

Savannah swung the empty backpack over her shoulder and began walking down the path behind her. 

“Remember, Miss Savannah! Should you ever need to hear the riddle again, I’m right here! I’d be happy to repeat it for you,” the cloud’s voice called out to her.

“Thank you, but I think I’ve got it figured out!” she yelled back. From the edge of the field, Savannah strode down a thin, gravelly path. It looked like she was on the outskirts of a forest, and as she walked forward, the trees around her grew more densely packed.

The cloud’s words turned over and over again in her mind. 6 different challenges.

A spooky place of magic, the voice of an angel

The first challenge. Could it be talking about this forest? Savannah wasn’t sure that she liked the idea of it being called spooky as she walked through it. What about the second part, the voice of an angel? She’d need more time to think about that one.

A dizzying space to throw you off, you’ll need a different angle.

Savannah was even more lost on this line than the last. Nothing was distinguishing or descriptive enough to help her. “You’ll need a different angle” could be taken literally or figuratively, too! This was hopeless.

At least the third line was straightforward.

A deceiving simple house with a displeasing short man

Savannah sighed. She couldn’t believe that she’d got not only herself, but her friends, caught up in this mess.

Savannah wasn’t sure if she was in the woods before, but she was now. The trunks of the trees guiding her path were so wide and so tightly packed together that it was difficult to see past them. It was almost as if she was traveling through a heavily wooded corridor. The path was a little too perfect. It made Savannah feel uneasy.

The trees themselves also looked like nothing she’d seen before. Their bark was tar-black and cracked, and Savannah could see hints of a softly glowing golden light peeking through from underneath. The tree’s leaves were also somberly colored at first glance, but upon closer inspection she could make out vibrant hues soaking through the veins.

The tree’s branches quivered ever so slightly, despite there being no breeze. Savannah could hear the faint buzz of wildlife, but whenever she tried to listen too closely the sound was lost. Everything about this forest was elusive. This challenge would require a keen eye for detail, she reasoned.

The further Savannah walked, the more the forest seemed to be alive, and the more it made her want to exit as quickly as she could. Suddenly, Savannah heard a sound she recognized somewhere off in the distance, turning her fear into surprise.

“Your Midas touch, on the Chevy door, November flush, and your flannel cure…”

Was that Champagne Problems? But how? Savannah stopped and held her breath for a moment, straining to listen.

“This dorm was once a mad house, I made a joke, ‘well, it’s made for me’...”

Somewhere down the path ahead of her, she heard the song again. Savannah walked further, following the song intently. She came to a fork in the road, and the voice was much clearer there. The sound seemed to be straying off towards the left, and she followed it there, too.

Hopefully Taylor Swift would help guide her out of this mess.

“Hold your hand while dancing, never leave you standing, crestfallen on the landing…”

It was getting closer, Savannah felt it.

“With champagne problems.”

She rounded the corner quickly and was confused. There sat a bird, perched on a low-hanging branch, looking back at her. Suddenly, the forest was quiet again as Savannah and this bird held each other’s gaze.

The bird was nothing short of majestic. Its coloring was a fiery red that faded into a brilliant gold as it moved towards its tail, where the feathers grew longer and jutted outwards, forming beautiful coils. It resembled a phoenix that lacked flames.

The bird cocked its head at Savannah and chirped softly. Then, it shot off of the branch like an arrow and soared away out of Savannah’s sight. That bird must have been the source of the song! Now that the bird had disappeared, the woods fell quiet once again.

“When Emma falls in love she paces the floor, closes the blinds, and locks the door…”

There was another one! Savannah paced further down the path, and glancing up, she saw another bird. This one was a jade green, and she watched as it sang the next line. These birds were certainly unique, but what did it mean?

Then, Savannah heard another.

“Hold on, baby you’re losing it. The water’s high, you’re jumping into it…”

And another!

“Este’s been losing sleep, her husband’s acting different and it smells like infidelity…”

As Savannah walked deeper and deeper into the forest, her ears were filled with the sounds of many Taylor Swift songs, growing in volume. Surely she was getting closer to wherever she needed to go.

Turning a corner, Savannah came to a clearing and gasped. Before her was a magnificent tree with a trunk twice her size and layers of branches that stretched out far in every direction. It stood 50, maybe 100 feet tall, towering far over the surrounding woods. Unlike the other trees, this one’s bark glowed an illuminating blue. The branches were devoid of leaves but instead housed hundreds upon hundreds of these singing birds.

The voice of an angel! It was Taylor Swift, Savannah was a little disappointed that she hadn’t guessed that from the start. This was the first challenge! 

Although beautiful in theory, the sound of many different songs in different keys played at the same time isn’t exactly a gorgeous one. Savannah winced. It was only after a moment of admiring this sight that the birds spotted her and scattered, leaving her alone with the barren tree.

Once the birds had disappeared, Savannah noticed something else. Towards the base of the tree sat a small keypad embedded in the wood, about the size of a tablet. Intrigued, Savannah walked up to it. Was it just a keyboard? What would happen if she typed in a word?

Testing it out, she typed, hello, and hit enter. Nothing happened. Maybe she wasn’t  supposed to use the keyboard for this challenge.

But then again, surely this keypad did something. It wouldn’t be here if it was useless, right? It couldn’t hurt to try some other words. Maybe something related to her quest, Savannah guessed. This could be how to beat the first challenge! Guess the right word.

Quest, Savannah typed.

Game.

Rescue.

Still nothing.

Escape.

Stuck.

Ok, maybe not.

Story.

When she hit enter, Savannah heard a loud beating of wings, making her jump. She looked up at the tree to see a crimson bird perch along the third tier of branches. It sang only a single word: Story. What?

Was that the secret word? Had she done it? There must be more to it than that. She typed another word, alone.

This time, two birds fluttered to the tree settling on opposite sides of the tree’s trunk. One of the two chirped her word: alone. Then, all was quiet again. What could any of this mean?

Alone, the other bird sang.

“Maybe I should try common words?” Savannah thought out loud. This was a puzzle, after all. She quickly typed out I, me, and you, and hit enter.

At least thirty birds rushed to the tree. Now, rather than the occasional, sporadic word, the birds seemed to be listening to each other, waiting for their sign to sing. But what were they waiting for? What was the pattern? Savannah listened for a moment.

I…you…you…you…alone…you…I…you…me…story…

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Savannah’s brain. She was standing here guessing words, trying to piece together a bigger picture. What did this remind her of? The videos she made a while back playing Taylor Swift Sporcle! What if these were the words to a song, and she just needed to assemble the lyrics?

What song could this be though? She had story, could it be Story Of Us? Savannah typed out of and us.

Of brought one bird fluttering up to one of the higher branches, and us none. I guess not. What other song might be about a story, though? Love story? A quick check proved this false as well.

Hold on. What if it was Enchanted? The song almost felt like it was out of a storybook! Savannah excitedly typed, this, night, is, sparkling, and with each word, a few birds flew to take their place. She’d cracked the code!

She hurried to type in the words to the rest of the song. Thank God she was a diehard swiftie, or else this would have been much more challenging.

Please, don’t, have, somebody, waiting, on, Savannah typed. That was it, the last word. She excitedly hit enter, and a final few birds flew to their perches. Savannah had been right. Together, these birds assembled a song. With the guessing complete, some of the birds even began to fill in the missing background vocals and chords, creating a beautiful symphony that Savannah listened to, filled with wonder.

A bright green stripe began spreading from the tablet up the trunk of the tree. It split, creating hundreds of different pathways, webbing along the branches until nearly the entire tree had been flooded with its brilliance. All of a sudden, the tree went up in flames.

Savannah jumped back. Icy blue fire rushed up the tree, covering it in seconds and sending all of the birds shrieking as they soared away. She must have done something wrong! No, no, no, now she wouldn’t be able to go home. The branches, which once supported the weight of all of those birds, became brittle and were snapping, falling to the ground. Then, a blinding flash and a wave of heat washed over Savannah. She shut her eyes and covered her face with her hands. This was it.

In a moment, all was quiet again. Opening her eyes, Savannah saw that the tree was gone. In its place sat a small crater, still smoking. She stepped closer cautiously and saw a small scroll of paper sitting at the bottom of it. She slowly reached for it, afraid of triggering another reaction, but once it was in her hands she took a few steps away from the crater and unrolled it.

It was a map, or at least, it probably was. The paper was blank, save for an X marked slightly off-center. The label “enchanted forest” marked it, and Savannah watched as a dotted line appeared, traveling northwards before veering off to the right and marking another X. That must be where the second challenge is located.

That means she had succeeded! And this must be the clue given to her to help her beat the last challenge. Except, it wasn’t exactly a clue unless the last challenge had something to do with maps. Regardless, this would be useful.

Savannah smiled. She was one step closer to finding her friends and escaping this freaky world. There was one thing that worried her, though. It was already afternoon. She had blown nearly an entire day in this forest, and she still had a long way to go before she could go home. She’d need to pick up the pace.

Chapter Text

Not long after completing the first challenge, Savannah emerged on the other side of the enchanted forest. A fitting name, she thought, given the Taylor Swift song.

Checking her map again, it looked like the second challenge should only be a little bit further down the path. The trees quickly tapered off behind her, and Savannah walked through a grassy field not too different from the one she woke up in that morning.

All of a sudden, a new label appeared on her map above the second X. It read, “The Maze.” As if on cue, the ground shook, knocking Savannah off balance. Her eyes widened as she watched walls of stone materialize from under the ground, building towards the sky quickly. Emerald leaves and moss snaked over them, acclimating the stone to this fantastical world's environment.

The ground’s quaking stopped, leaving Savannah to stare. In front of her stood a massive labyrinth, its walls towering high over her. The maze settled, unmoving. Moss spread across it in sheets, creating the illusion that the maze had stood there for much longer than a few moments. Its walls stretched endlessly, or as far as Savannah could see, on both sides, with the only entrance being the one right in front of her.

A dizzying space to throw you off, you’ll need a different angle.

A wooden sign sprung up from the ground sharply, making Savannah jump again. She was never going to get used to this…

Savannah took a deep breath. This was fine. At least this challenge gave her instructions, unlike the last one. She leaned in, reading the words on the sign.

Greetings, Miss Savannah. For your second task, you must explore the maze ahead of you and collect five letter tiles hidden throughout it. Then, you must locate the exit of the maze, outside of which sits a panel. Unscramble the words and order them correctly on the panel to receive your second clue. But beware, do not be caught in the maze after nightfall.

Savannah’s heart lept into her throat. She was supposed to have three days to escape, but what if something took her out before that? This sign wasn’t a threat, but a warning. Whatever was lurking inside this maze could very well be the end of her.

Savannah silenced her thoughts. She didn’t have time to dwell in fear. The daylight was escaping her already, and if she wanted any shot at going home, she’d have to face this head-on.

A rush of cool air washed over Savannah as she timidly stepped foot inside the maze. Looking up, the walls loomed even higher over her than they did from the exterior. Glancing down at her map, she saw that it wouldn't be any help to her here. She’d have to do it the hard way.

Wandering forward, Savannah turned left, right, left, left, right, dead-end.

Turned around. Left, left, right, left, dead-end again.

Left, left, right… this was hopeless! This maze could stretch on for miles, and Savannah would waste all three days stuck here, assuming she survived the night. But what other choice did she have?

Left, right, right, right, dead-end... wait! Something caught Savannah's eye just as she was about to turn and try another way. Laying in a small patch of grass was an illuminated tile, maybe three inches in length. In black font, it held a single letter: V. She’d found one! The sun was still high in the sky, maybe this wasn't as impossible as she had feared. Savannah smiled softly to herself and turned around back down the path. She needed to get deeper into the maze.

In the meantime, what word could this be? V was a less common letter, so it narrowed down the possibilities a lot. One letter wasn’t much to work off of, though. Savannah made another mindless right turn and saw a long stretch of the maze ahead of her, with no more turns jutting off in either direction. Something about it felt ominous, and Savannah was wary to explore it. She walked cautiously toward the end of the stone corridor, glancing over her shoulder and all around periodically. Savannah couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

It was starting to look like another dead end, but Savannah was relieved to see a right turn at the very end of the path. Reaching it, she stepped out into an open space. 

This must be the center of the maze. In front of her stood a magnificent stone fountain with three tiers of water trickling down it, pooling at the bottom. The beginnings of moss were growing around the edges, and unlike the rest of the maze, the stone sitting here looked weathered with time. Did this fountain serve a specific purpose, or was it just for her admiration?

A familiar voice struck Savannah’s ears.

“We’ve got an A and an E, what are the odds that this word is Gamer? Wouldn’t that be crazy?”

“Kenny?” Savannah shouted. She couldn’t see him, but that voice was unmistakable.

“Savannah? Is that you?” Kenny called back, his voice filled with surprise. “Where are you?”

“I’m in here! There’s a fountain. You sound close by,” she said. Relief filled Savannah. She’d found one of her friends! But now they were both trapped here, and the sun was beginning to sink on the western horizon.

“Savannah? Savannah?” Kenny called, rounding a corner and walking into the clearing. Their eyes met, and Savannah ran up to hug him.

“Oh my god, you’re ok,” she murmured into his shirt. Seeing and feeling Kenny there with her was the sense of familiarity that Savannah desperately needed right now.

“Yeah, I think I’m ok. But what’s going on? Where are we?” He asked. Savannah stepped back, and her relief was replaced with guilt.

“I don’t know where we are, but I think it’s my fault that we’re stuck here,” she admitted. “I was offered a bonus challenge after playing the daily Wordle, and I accepted it without thinking. Then, I blacked out and woke up in a field. Cam and Michael are stuck here too, and we need to find them if we want to go home. We only have three days left, Kenny!”

“Oh my god,” Kenny replied, his tone much more serious than Savannah was used to hearing. Then, his voice softened, and he drew her in for another comforting hug. “Hey, Savannah. I don’t want you to blame yourself for this. Any of us could’ve gotten that challenge, heck, I would have accepted it! Probably faster than you did, too. The idea sounds fun,” he joked. It didn’t do much to lighten the mood.

“I woke up in here,” he said, gesturing around to the maze, “but I don’t really know what I’m doing. I found these letters, though.” He held out two more tiles for Savannah to see: A and E.

A, V, E… still too many possibilities. Wait. If Kenny woke up inside the maze, that meant that Cam and Michael could be anywhere. How big was this world they were stuck in? How far would they have to travel to find the others?

She’d have time to think about that later. Right now, Savannah needed to focus.

“Ok, Kenny. We’ve got three letters, and we need to find another two to complete this challenge. Oh, right! In this game, we have six challenges to complete that will help us escape. I already beat the first one, and I think this is the second. Also, they’re all weirdly linked to the games we play in the real world. The first challenge was like an interpretation of Sporcle with Taylor Swift lyrics, and now this one is a word unscramble. There’s a panel at the back of the maze where we need to arrange the letters correctly, and that should give us another clue to escape. The first one was this map,” Savannah said, holding it up for him to see. Kenny nodded in understanding.

Reunited, Savannah and Kenny continued wandering the maze. They found a fourth letter, R, buried in the dirt at the end of another long path, and now only had one letter left to find. Dusk was falling quickly over them, urging them to work faster. Come on, come on! Where could it be?

Savannah searched frantically for the last letter with Kenny close behind her. She could only hope that they weren't wandering in circles, they were already cutting it close on time. Her heart dropped when she rounded a corner to see the fountain again.

“Hey, Savannah. We’re going to find it, promise,” Kenny said, trying to reassure her. Savannah nodded, willing herself to believe him.

They paced more and more. Right, right, right, left, forward, dead end. Right again, left, left, left… And there it was, halfway lodged into the ground. In the growing darkness, the tile’s fluorescent glow made it easier to spot than in daylight. Kenny jogged over and grabbed it, holding it up to Savannah with a smile. 

"B!" He yelled.

B. The word was obvious! Brave! Now, they just needed to find the back of the maze, and they would be safe. 

The night was creeping up on Savannah. Her nerves heightened as the last specks of the sun's light disappeared, and her hands grew clammy in the dark. She could barely make out Kenny in front of her, his face white with fear.

Something was lurking in the shadows, waiting for its chance to pounce. Savannah could feel it in the way her shaky breaths echoed through the stillness, through the smell of rot and fear that filled the air.  

A blood-curdling howl ripped through the walls of the labyrinth. It was followed by a chorus of several others, and Savannah felt a chill run down her spine. The temperature felt like it dropped several degrees, making her shiver. They needed to get out of here, and fast.

She and Kenny bolted forwards through the maze. It would have been impossible to make out the stone walls if it weren't for the faint light the moon cast upon them. Soaked in adrenaline, Savannah ran as fast as her legs could carry her, and then she pushed to go even faster. Come on, where was it? 

They were back at the fountain again. Savannah let out a frustrated groan, and then she saw it. Small, ears perked up, and mouth drawl into a tight snarl. Its teeth glimmered in the dark, catching Savannah’s eye.

It resembled a coyote, but like everything Savannah had encountered so far, it was nothing like the coyotes back in the real world. Looking closer, its beady eyes were filled with a sense of ferocity. Hunger. A craving for the feast of the two people standing before it, frozen in fear.

A glob of slobber dripped from the corner of its mouth as it let out a low, rumbling growl, and several other coyotes crept out of the shadows. 

“Run!” Savannah yelled, and she and Kenny raced in the opposite direction. She could hear the coyotes gaining on them, the sound of their paws hitting the maze’s floor growing louder. She ran with all of her might, fighting to go faster and faster still. Her limbs ached with exhaustion, but she couldn't afford to stop. She wasn’t going to die out here. She wasn’t ready to die.

God, what could she do to throw them off? They were too fast. She needed a distraction. 

The idea hit her. Savannah glanced over her shoulder quickly and tossed one of the letter tiles. Hopefully, it’d bonk one of the coyotes in the nose, and that would be one less chasing after them. However, this wasn't what happened.

Savannah didn’t hear the pounding of paws chasing her anymore, and even though she knew she should keep running, curiosity got the best of her. She turned back to see the coyotes gnawing at each other, fighting over the tile. Oh my god! They weren’t after her and Kenny, they were after their letters. She didn’t stop to think any longer, though. She’d bought them some precious time.

“Savannah, here it is!” Kenny yelled, ushering her forward. She pushed as hard as she could, catching up to him. They reached the exit of the maze, and the panel stood a few feet outside of it.

“Hurry, let’s put in the letters and be done with this!” Kenny cried, rushing towards it and placing his A and E.

Savannah grabbed the letters she had, and immediately she was filled with a sense of dread.

“I don’t have the last one! I threw it at the coyotes!”

“You what?!” Kenny exclaimed. Savannah couldn't make out his expression in the dark. 

As if cued by her thoughts, the sound of the pack grew louder again. Savannah tensed, knowing that they were no more than seconds away. This was it.

Savannah watched in terror as the coyotes barreled towards the maze’s exit but stopped short. They stared at her and Kenny for a moment before snarling and turning back, wandering into the darkness. She couldn’t believe their luck. “I guess they don't leave the maze,” Kenny thought out loud, and Savannah nodded quietly. She knew she was only still alive by fluke.

Savannah let out a long sigh of relief. She and Kenny sat quietly for a moment, catching their breath. The adrenaline had begun to wear off, and the rush of emotions Savannah faced inside the maze were just now hitting her.

“I threw the letter hoping that it would deter the coyotes, but then they all went after it. I don’t think they were chasing us, they were just trying to get these,” she said, holding up the remaining two tiles. “I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do now that we’re missing one, though.”

Kenny thought for a moment.

“Can I try something?” He asked.

Kenny reached for Savannah’s map, tearing off the top left corner and running into the darkness. “Kenny? Where are you going?!” Savannah yelled.

“Hold on,” Kenny called back. After a moment, he appeared again in front of Savannah. He’d scrawled an R on the blank map using what looked like mud, making a replacement for the missing tile. “I know this is a long shot, but we have nothing to lose, right?” He asked.

“Sure,” Savannah replied. She and Kenny ordered the remaining tiles on the panel, spelling out the word BRAVE. Putting the last tile in place, Savannah waited apprehensively. Nothing happened, and she sighed. It was a stretch anyways.

Then, green stripes shot through the panel, just as they had in the forest.

That meant-

“Back up!” Savannah yelled, and Kenny looked at her with confusion before the panel erupted in flames. The fire's glow illuminated their faces and surroundings for a moment. Kenny lept back screaming, which made Savannah laugh. After a moment the flames died down, and in the panel's place stood something small.

Savannah reached over and grabbed it, turning it over in her fingers. A polished wooden box with a detailed pattern carved into it. It had a button, which Savannah pressed tentatively. A thin slip of steel popped out in response with a soft click. Its sharpened edge shone in the moon's light.

A switchblade. 

Chapter Text

“Dude, that was insane! How did you know it was going to catch on fire like that, Savannah?” Kenny exclaimed.

“The same thing happened in the first challenge. I think the green stripes are a warning,” Savannah replied, closing the knife and tossing it over to him. Kenny caught it and admired it.. Savannah watched as he pressed the button, making the blade pop open again.

“I can’t believe you thought to draw us another letter with mud! That shouldn’t have worked, but it did somehow,” she said.

“I know! I figured it was a stupid idea at first, but what’s the worst that could happen? It’s almost like the odds are in our favor, Savannah.” Kenny said. He gave the switchblade a funny look. “Y’know, this would have been way more useful inside the maze than out of it. Wonder why we didn’t get it before.”

Savannah nodded and watched him pocket it. That part did strike her as weird.

Four challenges left, and two days to beat them. At this rate they would make it home, but not without a close call. A bit too close for her liking.

Time was of the essence, but as the night grew later it was becoming impossible for Savannah to make out her surroundings, much less her map. Continuing was pointless, but shouldn’t they try anyway?

If they did stop and rest for the night, where could she and Kenny sleep? The options were scarce and not exactly comforting, and both of them were still on edge after that coyote chase.

Which was safer to sleep by, the grass or the forest? The grass was an open space, making them an easy target, but sleeping by the forest was almost begging for something to come at them from the shadows.

Then again, Savannah already braved the forest once, and she didn’t run into any animals aside from those weird birds. She couldn’t say the same for whatever was waiting for them on this path.

“We should break for the night and continue in the morning,” Savannah said. Sleep was tugging at her eyelids, and the idea of stopping to rest was sounding more appealing by the minute. Despite the danger, sleeping now was probably their best bet at making it home alive.

“Thank god, I was thinking the same thing. I’m exhausted, Savannah. I’ll work better tomorrow, I promise!” Kenny replied, throwing her a quick salute. Savannah laughed, and the two of them walked quietly to the edge of the woods. The gold glow Savannah had seen underneath the tree bark earlier was much more vibrant in the dark. They provided her with just enough light to find a crevice in their wide, knobby roots to sleep in.

Although unmoving, the forest seemed to be alive. It was calling to Savannah, humming softly for her to lay her head down for slumber. She sat down at the base of a tree, and Kenny closely followed, leaning backward to look up at the sky. It was speckled with stars that shimmered and twinkled through the trees’ hanging branches. In the night’s silence, Savannah’s worries finally had a chance to fester. She’d barely survived today, and she had two left. How could she even hope to make it home?

“Hey, Savannah?”

“Yeah?” Savannah turned her head to the side to look at Kenny, grateful for the distraction.

“Try not to think too hard. We’re going to make it out of here, and we’re going to find the other guys. You’re smart, smarter than whatever game we’re playing right now. Don’t let the stress get to you,” he said, glancing over at her and throwing her a goofy smile. Savannah couldn’t deny that he lightened her mood, even if only by a little bit.

“Ok, I’ll try. We should get some sleep, though. We need to start moving early tomorrow,” she replied, shutting her eyes.

“No objections here. Good night, Savannah.”

“Good night, Kenny.”

Morning came far too fast for Savannah’s liking. Her eyes snapped open to a high-hanging sun, halfway blocked by the tree’s thick leaves. Kenny was cuddled up next to her, still sound asleep. What time was it? How long had they been asleep? They needed to get going, now.

Savannah shook Kenny awake, and he groaned. He sat up and started wiping the sleep from his eyes. Savannah pulled out her map and saw that the next X had already been marked. No label yet, no idea what the third challenge entailed, but they needed to travel north.

In the daylight, Savannah was able to analyze her surroundings much better than she had the evening before. The maze spit them out near another stretch of grass, with trees forming a barrier to their left and a small creek off to the right. Savannah couldn’t tell if the trees she and Kenny slept by were a continuation of the Enchanted Forest or a completely new one.

Everywhere they went in this foreign world, it looked like she was going in circles. Was this terrain new or old? Had she seen that tree before? It all looked so similar, and they didn’t have time to get lost.

The similarity was probably intentional. Everything in there was rooting for their downfall.

That creek was where Kenny had found the mud to make the makeshift letter for the last challenge. According to the map, they needed to continue straight forward, through another grassy patch and whatever came after it.

Savannah couldn’t see that far ahead. For all she knew, another structure was going to pop up out of the ground, just like the maze had.

A deceiving simple house with a displeasing short man…

The third challenge, the only one with straightforward instructions.

Kenny stood up next to Savannah, brushing the dirt off of his pants. “Alrighty. Where are we headed today?”

“I don’t know. We need to go forward, but I’m not sure after that. We’re looking for a short man,” she replied, looking over the map again.

“Short man? That’s it? You found me, let’s move on to the next one!” Kenny joked, and Savannah rolled her eyes.

“C’mon, let’s go.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kenny said coolly. They trekked onward, entering another stretch of forest.

These woods were different from the ones Savannah traveled through yesterday and the ones she and Kenny slept by. The trunks of these trees were thinner but longer, and their branches had a much wider reach. They glowed a soft purple, crossing and stretching over each other to create a shaded canopy.

Unlike the last forest, this one buzzed with life. Glowing beetles and fireflies lingered on branches and logs, and a salty, refreshing breeze hit Savannah’s nose. There must be a shore nearby.

Savannah watched as a rabbit dashed across their path, vanishing in a small shrub as quickly as it appeared.

“Hey Sav, has your Wordle ever broken?” Kenny asked.

“Huh?”

“I remember one time I was playing Wordle, and it was not going well. I started with GAMER, which got me no letters. I think I got the word in 4 or 5. I don’t remember exactly, but when I finally got it, I was so upset that it took that long, and I did a keyboard smash. Something in the game glitched because then it gave me the score for a wordle in one.”

Kenny glanced over at Savannah and she nodded, urging him to continue.

“I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a way to break the game in here? It’s kind of like a video game, this thing we’re doing. There’s got to be a shortcut, or a cheat code,” Kenny said.

Kenny was right. Everything about this world, from the surreal scenery to the ludicrous challenges, reminded Savannah of a video game. But was there a way to break it? This wasn’t a game, it was real life.

Savannah took a moment to admire the forest’s beauty. These trees had lavender leaves that swayed softly in the breeze, making the spots of sunlight that seeped through them shimmer.

She paused to study her map. The line connecting the Enchanted Forest to the Maze was the same length as the Maze to their next challenge, but she could’ve sworn they’d walked much further. Did she and Kenny take a wrong turn somewhere?

“Hey, Savannah?” Kenny said, tapping her on the shoulder. “Savannah.”

“What-“ Savannah looked up, and her jaw dropped. What had been a path lined with violet-tinted trees a few seconds before was now a small village.

The trees and branches stretched even higher here, creating a wooded cover for the village and sheltering it from the elements. The houses were short and stout, and Savannah guessed they were built from the surrounding trees because of their purple tint. Asphalt tiles lined the tiered roofs, the windows were filled with a soft orange glow. Savannah took a couple of steps forward, still in awe.

“Dude, look at these!” Kenny said, squatting down to point at a clump of mushrooms. They were red and spotted, and upon closer inspection, Savannah noticed that they were glowing.

Savannah gasped when she noticed that the third label had appeared on her map.

The village.

They were here! Now, to find the short, displeasing man, whatever that meant. Savannah walked forward, eyes traveling over the row of cottages.

A deceivingly simple house… but these all looked the same, and there were no people in sight, no one to help them out.

One of those colorful birds from the Enchanted Forest landed on a nearby branch and started singing. Savannah watched it carefully.

“You'll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night, burning it down…”

She laughed softly to herself. It turned to her at the sound, and Savannah was taken aback by the bird’s sharp stare.

“Someday when you leave me, I bet these memories, follow you around…”

The bird’s eyes were burning into her, almost inquisitively. Savannah was puzzled. Was it trying to communicate with her? She already completed the bird challenge. There wouldn’t be another just like it, right? That would be too easy.

“Follow…you…around…” The bird sang again. It flew off of its branch, landing on the ground right in front of Savannah.

“Follow…you…around…” It turned around, running forward through the village. Once it was about fifteen feet away, it stopped and turned around, looking at the two of them expectantly.

“What was that about?” Kenny asked.

“Follow…” The bird sang again, and Savannah understood. This bird wanted to lead them to the third quest.

Kenny must have come to the same conclusion. His eyes lit up in realization and he started walking towards the bird. It quickly turned around, taking a few more steps forward and turning to look back at them again.

Savannah started walking too, and the bird gave her what looked like a brisk nod before turning to lead them through the village. Savannah was grateful for the guide, but she had an uneasy feeling she couldn’t shake. Why was this bird helping them? Could they trust it? It was because of things like this bird that they were still stuck here.

The bird led them forward, stopping in front of one house in particular before flying away. Savannah knew she was at the right place because this house looked nothing like the rest of them. Where the other houses had strong purple wood, this one was weathered and rotting around the edges.

There was some kind of brown growth with a putrid smell starting to climb the wall, and the roof was missing tiles in more than one place. It looked dilapidated and harsh in comparison to the rest of the village, which looked like it came straight out of a fantasy novel.

The definition of unappealing. Savannah wrinkled her nose.

Then, a lightbulb went off in her head. A deceivingly simple house. Did this qualify as simple? It was more dirty than anything, but it certainly was unique.

There was no harm in trying. That seemed to be a reoccurring theme for this adventure.

Savannah cautiously walked up to the front of the house and knocked on the door. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, it swung open harshly.

“What do you want?” A gruff voice snapped at her. Savannah looked down to see a stubby man about half her height holding the door open.

He glared back up at her and huffed. “Do you speak, or are you just bothering me for nothing?”

Short displeasing man…

Short displeasing man!

“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you. My friend, Kenny, and I, we need your help. We’re on a quest, and we had to come find a short man-“

“Short man?! Is that what I look like to you? You must think you’re all that, sasquatch,” He screeched, slamming the door shut in Savannah’s face She shoved her foot in the doorway, barely catching it.

“No! No, no, not saying that you’re short. You’re perfectly average height. Taller than that, even! Can you help us?” Savannah pleaded.

“I don’t do help, especially so with dumb blondes who can’t hold their tongue!” He shoved Savannah’s foot out from the crack in the door and shut it, hard.

Savannah sighed. What were they supposed to do now?

“She’s not a dumb blonde, spit wad!” Kenny yelled at the door. “She’s probably way smarter than you anyways!”

Savannah gave him a thankful smile. “I appreciate it Kenny, but he’s not worth your energy,” she said.

Kenny shot her a frustrated look before taking a deep breath, deflating. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Should we try going somewhere else?” He asked.

Savannah nodded, but she knew that was a bust. This was the third challenge, the place they were supposed to go. Leaving would mean they failed, but what other choice did they have?
Savannah’s heart sank as she turned to leave when she heard a sound from inside the house.

“Honey, who was that?” A woman’s voice, a bit squeaky and squirrelly.

“Bah, just some meddling young folk. Came up to my door and insulted me! The audacity of kids these days.”

“And you just shut the door on them? I’m sure it was an accident. Where are your manners!?” She said, scolding him. “I’m going to invite them in, and you’re going to apologize.”

What?

“You’re going to what?!” He screeched. The door creaked open, and Savannah whipped her head around. Where the man had stood a few moments before was now a woman, somehow even shorter than him.

“I want to apologize for him, miss! He’s always been untrusting of strangers,” she said cheerily. “I’m Melissa. Can I invite you in for a cup of tea?”

“Oh, no thank you-“ Savannah started.

“Of course!” Kenny said, cutting her off. Kenny, no! They were already short on time.

“We have nothing to lose, right?” Kenny whispered in Savannah’s ear. Then, he followed Melissa inside.

Savannah sighed and went in after him. Once she saw the house’s interior, she gasped. The riddle made sense. Deceiving was the only right word to describe this house.

Despite its lackluster exterior, this house emanated a sense of coziness, unlike anything Savannah had experienced before. A warmth spread through her, pushing away all the chills and uneasiness she’d felt moments before in the forest.

The woman, Melissa, walked over to the stovetop and begin boiling some water in a kettle.

“That’s my husband, he’s a grouch most times, and a grump the rest! Hon, why don’t you play your game with them?” She said, pointing over at the man from earlier. He sat in an armchair with a soft paisley print and gave Savannah a dirty look when she met his gaze.

“If you insist, Melissa,” the man said reluctantly, not taking his eyes off them. Savannah wasn’t sure when she last saw him blink. “Let’s do your little challenge so you can get out of my house.”

“So you did know what we were talking about!” Kenny cried. The man ignored him.

“Guess my name. You’ve got three shots,” he said, folding his arms. Savannah waited for him to continue, and he stared at her incredulously.

“That’s it?!” She yelled.

“You can’t expect everything to be spoon-fed to you. If you’re as smart as your loud friend over there claims, I’m sure you’ll figure this out just fine,” he replied, smirking at her with satisfaction.

Savannah was at a loss. Where could she even start? There were millions upon millions of possibilities, and she could only guess three of them. This was ridiculous! Unless his name was something crazy like Rumplestilktzken, she’d never get it.

But what if it was Rumplestiltskin? That seems like exactly the kind of sick joke this game would play. It was surely a waste of a guess, but if that name ended up being the answer Savannah would never forgive herself.

“Is it Rumplestiltskin?” She asked timidly.

The man’s eyes blew wide, and his face turned a hoarse red. “Cheater! Cheater! You stupid girl, what kind of sorcery are you using?!”

“Wait, what?!” Kenny said, choking on his tea. Melissa passed a cup to Savannah, and she tentatively took a sip.

“Savannah, how did you get that?” Kenny exclaimed in between coughs.

“I don’t know! Lucky guess?” She replied, laughing nervously. The man, or Rumplestiltzken, was fuming.

“Very lucky,” Melissa replied. “I don’t think Rumpy’s ever had someone guess it in one! Here, take a seat. We have a friend for you to meet, he looks like he’s around your age.”

Melissa ushered the two of them to her living room, and rounding the corner, Savannah saw Can sitting on the couch with a cup of tea of his own.

“Cam!”

Kenny ran up to hug him, and Cam’s eyes lit up when he saw them.

“Hey, guys!” Cam said.

Savannah set down her cup quickly and ran over to give him a hug herself.

“Have you been here the whole time? We’ve been looking for you!” she said.

“Yeah, I have. These guys are really hospitable,” he replied, nodding to Melissa, who gave them a friendly wave. Savannah had a feeling Rumplestiltskin wasn’t too happy about this arrangement, which was pretty funny.

“Ah, I see you three know each other. Your friend was very polite while staying with us. I’m sure he’ll want to leave with you now, though,” Melissa said.

“We don’t have to leave yet! Let’s finish our tea first,” Cam said.

Savannah figured that was fine. Plus, it would be nice to have a minute to catch up with Cam before moving on.

Wait, if guessing Rumplestiltskin’s name was the third challenge, why hadn’t they received a clue yet?

She was about to ask Melissa, but Kenny beat her to it. “Hey, do you have a clue for us? I think we’re supposed to get one for beating the challenges,” he said.

“Oh, right, of course! Rumpy, would you mind grabbing it for these sweethearts?” She asked, patting his shoulder. “Rumpy” grumbled something incoherent but nodded, stalking off to find whatever their clue was. As short-tempered as he was, it was kind of sweet how easily he listened to his wife.

“In the meantime,” Melissa continued, “I want to give you all a warning. It’s up to you whether or not you listen, but I’d recommend that you do.” Her eyes traveled to each of them, lingering on Cam for a second longer than the rest. She must have gotten really attached to him during his stay, Savannah figured.

“This place, although it may seem like the world you’re familiar with, could not be further from that. My advice is to trust nothing you see. Our world, my world, isn’t the same place it used to be. An evil force recently took control of it, and we think… we think it might somehow be linked to you,” Melissa said, pointing at Savannah.

Savannah’s heart dropped.

“Me?” She said, taking a step back.

Melissa nodded. Savannah felt her breath quicken. This wasn’t happening because of Cam, Kenny, or Michael. It was all on her.

“Oh, no, sweetie. I didn’t mean to upset you,” Melissa said, her voice full of pity. She put her hand on Savannah’s shoulder, rubbing it in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. “This evil that spread through my home appeared very near to when you did, but because of that, you might be the only one capable of saving us all.”

The weight of Melissa’s words sunk into Savannah. She knew that Melissa meant to be comforting, to make her feel better for causing all of this, but it couldn’t have had more of an opposite effect. The stakes were raised again. She had to win, she had to go home. Not just for her and her friends, but for Melissa, Rumplestiltskin, and anyone else who lived here.

Savannah nodded, swallowing. That was a lot of pressure.

“Hey, Savannah, we’ve got you. You’re not in this alone!” Kenny said, giving her a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, don’t look so worried, Sav,” Cam said.

As if on cue, Rumplestiltskin re-entered the room carrying something dark and cylindrical. He handed it to Cam, who flicked it on and off. A flashlight. Rumplestiltskin folded his arms and gave Kenny a dirty look, who stared at him dumbfoundedly.

“Oh, one more thing! Be careful. Those challenges are helpful, but not required for you to go home,” Melissa said.

“They’re not?!” Kenny exclaimed. “So we risked our lives with those coyotes for nothing?”

“Not for nothing. You got a clue from it, right?” Rumplestiltskin asked pointedly, and Kenny nodded.

That’s right. These challenges didn’t only give them tools. They doubled as clues for the final challenge. A map, a switchblade, and a flashlight. Something to do with adventure, maybe?

“Everything has a price. Just keep yourself out of trouble. If one of these challenges is gonna cost you your life, ditch it,” Rumplestiltskin said with a shrug. “Otherwise, I see no reason in avoiding them.”

Savannah smiled and nodded. Rumplestiltskin was rough around the edges, but she could tell he had a heart buried somewhere in there.

“Ok, we better not keep you any longer,” Melissa said. She picked up their empty cups and led Savannah, Kenny, and Cam to the door. Savannah thanked her for the tea, and they headed on their way.

Savannah’s map forged the path to the fourth challenge, and as they walked, Savannah couldn’t get Melissa’s words off her mind.

Don’t trust anything you see.

Something bigger was at play here, it wasn’t just about the challenges. Maybe she had been too trusting already. She followed that bird so easily through the village today and allowed herself into this stranger’s house with no wary thoughts. Did she have no regard for the safety of her friends?

That danger could be anywhere. Was it waiting for her, preparing to crush her at the face of the final challenge, or was it hiding right under her nose, watching her amusedly as she fought for her life out here?

Savannah couldn’t decide which was worse.

Chapter Text

It was the evening of day two when Savannah, Kenny, and Cam stumbled upon the fourth quest. They had spent another portion of the day trekking through the woods, and as they stepped into a clearing, a new label appeared on Savannah’s map: The clearing.

Very original, she thought sarcastically.

Suddenly, another sign sprung up from the ground, just like it had outside of the maze. Savannah flinched slightly, but not nearly as much as she had before. She was starting to get used to this unpredictability! 

Unfortunately, Cam and Kenny were not. They jumped back and yelled, which made Savannah laugh. Cam’s scream was ridiculous, so high-pitched and out of character for him.

Savannah took a step forward and started reading the sign’s instructions.

Hello, Miss Savannah & friends! Congratulations! You have arrived at the location of the fourth task. Looking beyond this sign, you will see a collection of sixteen items scattered on the ground in addition to four glowing gold rings in the furthermost corners of this clearing. To complete this challenge, you must identify the connections between these items and sort them into four categories. Each category should have an even amount of items and should be placed inside the glowing rings. 

However, should you make more than three mistakes, the challenge will be void, and you will fail! Good luck.

That sign was way too cheerful for the words it held. 

Savannah glanced beyond the sign and saw that the clearing, empty moments before, now held the sixteen items and four rings mentioned in the challenge's instructions. The rings, which had about the same diameter as a hula hoop, were spread out, and the items were all piled together.

Savannah swallowed. She knew on some level that they could’ve easily lost the other challenges, but this was the first one so far with such a clear-cut route to failure.

Well, this one and Rumplestiltskin’s game, but that was in the past. She’d somehow beat that one, even with how improbable it was. Hopefully, they'd be blessed with a miracle in this challenge, too. 

The premise of this task struck Savannah as familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Walking over to the pile of items, she saw Kenny and Cam already sorting through them.

“This kind of reminds me of that game, Connections,” Kenny said, picking up a grimy stuffed koala.

Ah, that's it! Savannah had to agree. This challenge had a striking resemblance to Connections, and that fact made her nervous.

One of the trademarks of Connections was how misleading the words were. They required serious outside-the-box thinking, and the categories themselves were obscure and hard to recognize. That meant none of these items could be taken at first glance, making this challenge all the more difficult. 

They needed to be especially careful. Savannah was glad to have Kenny and Cam here to help her, so she had three brains worth of ideas instead of one. 

Three… she still hadn’t found Michael and the second day was almost over.  

Savannah sighed. Surely they’d find him eventually, but not in time for him to help them win this challenge. Savannah stepped to the left of the sign and walked toward the pile, trying to mentally categorize the items.

A roll of Pillsbury dough, a brownish sphere, a water gun, a photograph of a kangaroo… none of those had a single thing in common.

“Is that an eye?!” Cam yelled, pointing at something on the ground. Savannah looked over in horror. There it was, coated in dirt. A severed eye. 

Savannah was going to hurl. She looked away, trying to tune out Cam and Kenny’s exclamations about the disfigured body part. She didn’t care if that was one of her items, she was not touching or looking at it.

Distracting herself, Savannah began rummaging around in the pile, uncovering more items. A stack of cash. A copy of The Book Of Truth. Yeah, this was going to be tricky. That book could be in the same category as the sheet of paper and the money, but that was probably too straightforward. Or, it could be representative of something, like religion. That was the topic of the book, after all. 

Savannah was worried about failing the other challenges, but this one was truly impossible. There were too many ways to interpret these items, and if they misplaced even a single item, the challenge would be lost.

Savannah reached down to grab the book but jumped back quickly when she saw the pile move. Oh my god. Was one of their items alive?!

She looked again closely, and sure enough, there was definitely something scurrying around in there. She carefully kicked the book out of the way with her feet, but she didn’t see any kind of animal. Instead, there was a tunnel into the ground with a pile of kicked-up dirt sitting next to it. Whatever was there, it had since burrowed. 

Savannah exhaled slowly. 

This was fine.

Then, she screamed as something started climbing out of the dirt at her feet, popping up from the ground. Savannah watched as a naked mole rat quickly emerged and began sniffing her legs. Savannah had a very uncomfortable feeling that this little guy was a part of their challenge.

How could they sort a living animal into one of these categories? Wouldn’t it just crawl out of the ring?

“Aw, guys, look! It’s a wombat!” Kenny yelled, pointing off toward the edge of the woods. Savannah looked to where he was pointing, and sure enough, there was a wombat hobbling around. Was that part of the challenge, too? Savannah did a quick count of the items left in the pile, she only saw thirteen- wait, thirteen?

Shouldn’t there be fourteen plus the two animals? What else were they missing?

“Hey, are you ready to start ordering these?” Cam asked, and Kenny nodded. Savannah guessed they could start now, and add the lost one later. She walked over to where Kenny and Cam stood, already starting to form piles.

“Yeah, let’s sort them out here. I think it counts as one of our guesses when we put them in the rings, so we don’t want to do that yet,” Kenny said.

“Have you guys come up with any categories?” Savannah asked.

“Just marsupials. I think we can put the kangaroo picture, the koala stuffy, and the wombat in there. We’re missing one thing, though…” Kenny trailed off.

“Yeah, I know one of the categories has to be marsupials. It’s ok, we can add the last one later.”

“Are you sure wombats are marsupials?” Cam asked.

“Yes? I mean, what else could they be?” Kenny asked, giving Cam a funny look.

Savannah found herself second-guessing. Wombats were marsupials, weren't they? It was risky to assume that if they weren’t sure. This challenge was going to take a lot of time, but that was the one thing they didn’t have! Savannah silently prayed for another stroke of irrational luck. 

“Let’s do marsupials for now. I can’t think of anywhere else to put these,” Savannah said, gesturing to the photo and the koala plush, and the others nodded. She moved those and the wombat off to the side. Hopefully, it didn’t crawl away while they sorted the rest.

“That one was pretty obvious, but I’m not gonna lie, I’m lost on the rest of these,” Cam said, furrowing his brow. He picked up a jar of chunky peanut butter and held it, thinking.

What items were left after the marsupials? A block of cheddar, a crunch bar. One of the categories could be food.

Savannah looked around, and sure enough, there were four. The cheese, the chocolate, the dough, and the peanut butter.

“Hey, I think another category is food!” Savannah exclaimed, pointing them out.

“Wouldn’t that be too obvious? I thought they were supposed to be tricky, like a play on words,” Kenny said.

“Do you have a better idea?” It was food, Savannah was sure of it. I mean, what other context could those items be in?

“I guess not,” Kenny replied, and he passed her the Pillsbury dough. Savannah grabbed it and Cam’s peanut butter and set them off to the side. After that, they were left with eight things: a brownish sphere, an eyeball, a piece of paper, The Book of Truth, a water gun, the naked mole rat, a stack of cash, and a pictogram printed out on a slip of paper. 

“Still missing one,” Savannah murmured, puzzled at what the ninth could be. 

“Hey, let me see the pictogram. I used to be super good at those,” Cam said. Savannah nodded, passing it over to him. It had a picture of a brick wall, the letter A, and a bee.

Savannah squatted down next to the pile again, skimming over it. Maybe the last item got buried in one of the mounds the mole rat kicked up. Savannah didn’t feel inclined to dig around in a pile of dirt, but they were running out of options.

She flicked the dirt around, feeling for something, anything, but came up dry. Shoot.

Wait, Savannah, rethink this. The entire challenge is about not viewing things through only one lens, that's all she'd done so far. Was she thinking too hard about this, or not hard enough?

Savannah stood up and began brushing the dirt off of her hands onto her pants when she froze. Oh my god, the dirt! It was a stretch, sure, but so was everything else.

“Guys, what if this dirt is the last item? The piles from the mole rat. There’s nothing else here, it has to be!” she said excitedly.

“I mean, why not?” Cam said, grinning.

Savannah felt reassured. They weren’t completely doomed now that they had all sixteen items, but what category could dirt fall into?

“What if we put the pictogram, book, paper, and money in a category for things that come from trees?” Savannah suggested.

Kenny thought for a moment. “I don’t know…something about that doesn’t sit right with me.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Cam said, and he passed Savannah the money. “We can always try it, right?”

“I guess, but we can’t really afford to mess up here,” Kenny said.

Savannah set those off in a pile to the side, leaving five: the brown sphere, the naked mole rat, the eyeball, the water gun, and the dirt. Savannah would be shocked if any of them could come up with a category for these. Oh, and one of them needed to go in the marsupial category, too, which didn’t make sense.

“What if the category isn’t marsupials, what if it’s brown things, and we add the brown sphere?” Cam suggested.

“If it’s brown things, couldn’t we add the dirt, too?” Savannah said.

“Dang it!”

“Maybe we should add the naked mole rat with the other animals, and throw everything else together in a category for things that come from the Earth?” Kenny asked with a shrug. It was becoming clear that all of them were at a loss for what to do.

They were spending too much time here. Savannah remembered Rumplestiltskin’s words. “If one of these challenges is gonna cost you your life, ditch it.” 

This one just might if they didn't get moving soon, but they almost had it figured out, Savannah could feel it.

“Guys, I think we should test something. We have a mistake somewhere, so if we don’t try something out we’ll probably sort everything incorrectly,” Savannah said.

“I agree with Savannah. I say we add the mole rat to the marsupials and run it. They're the only animals, right? I think it makes sense,” Kenny said.

Cam nodded. Savannah picked up the photograph and plush, Kenny the mole rat, and Cam the wombat. They carried them over to one of the glowing rings, setting them inside.

The ring’s light grew stronger for a moment, then flashed red, catapulting the items out. The animals shrieked, soaring through the air and landing again in the field. No!

They were wrong. Maybe it was supposed to be marsupials, but if that’s the case, where was the fourth one?

“Hold on, the pictogram. What if it’s another marsupial?” Cam said, running over to grab it. “I didn’t get it decoded yet, but there's no way that we have three marsupials already by coincidence.”

Savannah walked over to him and looked at the slip of paper. Wall, A, Bee. She repeated it out loud. Pictograms reminded her of the game Connections, too. You could never take them at face value.

Wall, A, Bee.

Wall, A, Bee?

Wall- Oh!

Wallaby! A marsupial, they look like kangaroos! That had to be it.

“Cam, it’s a wallaby! You’re a genius,” Savannah said, grabbing the pictogram from him and running back over to the ring.

“I try,” Cam replied smugly, and he and Kenny gathered the other items. Together, they set all four down in the ring, hope running high. 

It glowed a strong gold just like before, but this time, the ring turned green, and the four items dissolved. Then, it dissolved too.

“Yes!” Kenny yelled, giving Savannah a double high-five.

Three to go, they could do this. They could win, but they needed to be clever. 

“So that means the mole rat goes somewhere else…” Savannah wondered out loud.

“I think it’s with the dirt, paper, and cash because they all come from the Earth. D’you think there’s any shot it’s that?” Cam asked.

“Honestly, not really,” Savannah said. Maybe the first three, but the cash was too indirectly connected.

“Wait, that's pretty logical,” Kenny said. “Shouldn’t we try it?”

“I don’t know, Kenny. Something about it doesn’t feel right to me,” Savannah replied.

“If we wait to find something all three of us agree on, we’ll be stuck here all day,” Cam said, eying Savannah. “The daylight’s already running out, we’ve got to try something.”

Savannah looked up at the sky, and Cam was right. She hadn’t noticed with how gradual the change was, but the sun was sinking lower in the sky. If they didn’t finish this challenge before it set, they stood no chance. Plus, Savannah didn’t like the idea of spending the night in the middle of this forest. They needed to get done, and get out. 

“Fine, let’s do it,” she said. Grabbing the money and paper, she walked over to the second ring and set them down. Kenny and Cam added the other two items, and they waited.

The ring’s light grew brighter, and then…

Red. It shot all four items out of the ring, even harsher than before. They landed somewhere near the outskirts of the clearing.

“Shoot! Oh my god, sorry,” Cam said, holding a hand over his mouth.

Savannah took a deep breath, trying to relax herself. They couldn’t afford to lose this, not with how much time they had wasted here.

Three categories left, and they couldn’t make another mistake. This was going to take a miracle.

“Wait, wait, wait. One of the categories in Connections is always like, ‘These words describe this other thing.’ What if paper, the stacks of cash, and two others are just words for money?” Kenny said.

Hey, that was actually a good idea!

“Yeah, dough is a word for money,” Savannah said, grabbing the Pillsbury roll.

“Cheddar, too! That’s all four,” Cam exclaimed.

“Let’s run it!”

“Wait!” Savannah said. “We can’t mess up again. Are you guys sure?”

“Uh, yeah. I don’t know what else it could be,” Cam said. “You don’t need to be so skeptical, Sav. I’m 100% sure about this.”

“You were sure about the last one, too,” Savannah reminded him.

“I’m even more sure now! Let’s try it before it gets any darker,” Cam said, jogging over to the ring. Savannah felt hesitant, but she followed him.

Putting the four items in, Savannah waited in tentative anticipation. Please turn green, please…

Green!

Savannah and the others cheered in excitement. Two down, and they were narrowing the number of possible combinations. Because there were only two categories left, if they got one right, the other would be too. 

Food couldn’t be one of the categories, so that meant the peanut butter went somewhere else. Wait.

“How about products from humans? That makes the water gun, the peanut butter, the chocolate, and the book. It has to be that, I’m so sure,” Savannah said.

“What about the other four? Naked mole rat, eyeball, that brown thing, whatever it is, and the dirt? What do those have in common?” Kenny asked.

“They’re all things I don’t like?” Savannah joked, earning a laugh from him. “No, maybe it’s a group of commonly disliked things. It all fits really well besides that brown thing. What even is that?” Savannah said, turning it over in her fingers. It was small, about the size of her fist. Was it supposed to represent something?

“I like Savannah’s idea,” Cam said, grabbing the water gun and chocolate to carry over to another ring.

“Wait! We're going so quickly. There’s got to be something we’re missing,” Kenny said frantically. “I don’t want to try this one yet.”

“Hey, I didn’t want to try the animal one, but we did anyways, right? Trust me, Kenny. This is the answer,” Savannah said, trying to sound confident. There was no way to be sure if they were correct or not without testing, and it was because of Kenny that they made their first mistake. Savannah was wary to trust his judgment again.

Kenny didn’t say anything for a long time, but then he took a long exhale. “Fine, but I really hope you’re right.”

“I will be. We will be,” Savannah said. They walked over to the third ring, and Savannah carefully set the book inside. She watched as Cam added the chocolate and water gun, and Kenny the peanut butter. Then, all they could do was wait.

The ring started glowing brighter again, and…

Red. Savannah’s heart dropped.

This time, the items didn’t get catapulted away. Instead, they started evaporating. Savannah whipped her head around to look at what was left of the pile, and those were disappearing, too. No, no, no!

A voice boomed from overhead. The cloud!

“Unfortunately, Miss Savannah & friends, it appears you have failed this challenge. The correct categories were marsupials, chocolate bars, naked things, and slang for money. You may not make any more attempts. Please proceed to the fifth challenge.”

“Wait, what?! Chocolate bars? But there was only one of those! How did we get it wrong?” Kenny hollered at the cloud.

“I am not allowed to disclose information about the challenges after they have been terminated. Please proceed to the fifth challenge,” the cloud repeated. Then, the clearing fell silent again.

Cam groaned, kicking at the ground, and Savannah knew she should move on, but she was still in shock. Naked things? What? What else could’ve been-

Oh.

The naked mole rat, a naked gun, the naked eye, and the naked truth. She’d been thinking about it all wrong, no!

If they had one more chance, Savannah was sure she could’ve gotten it, but it was her idea to try that other category, the one that ended up being wrong.

Then again, It wasn’t just her fault. Each of them was responsible for a mistake here.

Ugh, knowing the answer now, it was so obvious! Why couldn’t Savannah have seen that a few minutes ago?

“Savannah, we should keep going. There’s no time to wallow here, especially if the last challenge ends up being extra hard. We want to make it there by tomorrow, so we can spend all day on it,” Kenny said, and Savannah nodded. He was right. There was nothing she could do to change the outcome of this right now, so the best option was to move on.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make up for it in the next one,” Cam said, patting her on the shoulder.

Savannah tried to muster up a smile. “You’re right. We’re going to nail it!”

“Challenge five, here we come,” Kenny said, pumping a fist in the air.

Savannah laughed, and she and her friends started walking. Following her map, she guided them northwards.

This was going to be fine. They still had time. They only failed one challenge.

Savannah tried to look on the bright side, but as the sound of rushing water grew steadily louder, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.

Chapter Text

One day left, and Michael was still nowhere to be found. The implications of that were too morbid for Savannah to think about. Darkness had begun to fall over her, Cam, and Kenny. They weren't likely to find him tonight unless he was already at the fifth challenge- a slim possibility Savannah didn't want to risk hoping for. 

The sound of water grew louder as Savannah followed her map. Odds were, the source of it was waiting for them at their next challenge. Would they need to cross a river to pass, or hike up a waterfall?

Two days had passed in here. Two whole days, but it felt like much longer. It crossed Savannah's mind that she hadn't eaten anything since she left the real world, but she wasn't bothered by it. Maybe that was a part of this world's magic, too. No hunger, no need to waste time on meals. 

This journey was beginning to weigh down on all of them. Savannah could hear it in the way their easy conversation had been replaced by the dry pounding of feet on gravel. She reeked of exhaustion, as did the others, but the deadlines were drawing far too close to stop and rest. They had to keep going, keep trying. 

“Look!" Cam said, pointing forward. Savannah looked ahead, and the sight confirmed her suspicions. Coming up in front of them was a wide, drifting river. Her map was guiding them straight to it. She swallowed. 

Approaching the river, a fifth X was marked on her map.

The River.

Another sign with instructions was waiting for them at the water's edge. Unlike the others, this one looked old and mossy. It must have been waiting here for a long time. Huh.

Kenny cleared his throat and began reading the instructions aloud. 

The end is drawing near, Savannah & friends. Welcome to your fifth task. In a moment, a raft will come floating down this stream. You must climb aboard and grab the paddles. As you float down the river, you will be met with forks in the path, where you must direct the raft either to the left or the right. A sign will stand at the fork with two words on it. One will take you closer to the secret word and success, and the other will misdirect you. 

Choose correctly, and you will win. Choose incorrectly, and you will meet an unfortunate fate. Good luck.

“It’s just like a game of Contexto…” Savannah murmured, and she saw Cam nod in her periphery. The sun was setting, making their shadows grow longer. The sky was gorgeous, glowing a fiery orange as the sun hit the horizon, but it was hard to appreciate the beautiful sight when it served as a reminder of how little time she had left to save her friends. 

“Well, are we doing this challenge tonight or tomorrow?” Cam said, folding his arms.

“Rafting at night sounds pretty dangerous. I'm not sure it's a good idea,” Kenny said, glancing over at the river. Savannah looked over, too. The water wasn't unreasonably choppy, but it wasn't a lazy river either. 

“We don't have time to waste the night away. The water doesn't look too bad, does it?” Savannah said.

“I think we should stop here for the night. What happens when it gets dark, and we can’t see the signs anymore? At that point, we might as well forfeit.”

“That’s what the flashlight is for! Kenny, you're the tiebreaker,” Savannah said.

“Better make it quick, because I think that’s the raft,” Cam said, pointing over at the river. Savannah followed his gaze and saw it.

Raft was probably the wrong word to describe it. It was long, narrow, and mustard yellow, sticking out like a sore thumb among the lush greenery lining the river. It was also gliding by very quickly. If they didn't make a decision right now, they'd miss it!

“Kenny…” Savannah said urgently. Missing the raft meant they'd lose by default! 

“I’m thinking! Just give me a second.”

“Think faster,” Cam joked, and Savannah glanced over again. The raft was drawing nearer. They weren't going to make it. 

“Let’s just do it,” Savannah said, running and leaping into it. The impact of her landing made the raft rock, and Savannah worried for a second that it was going to capsize. Luckily, it steadied. 

“Savannah!” Kenny called after her, staring incredulously as she drifted downstream. She shrugged, ushering for him and Cam to catch up, and he shook his head, running after her. Cam followed, too, and the two of them joined her. It shook again as they hopped inside, then stilled.

This would be fine. Sailing calm waters was a piece of cake. 

Savannah grabbed one of the paddles, and Kenny the other. They positioned themselves on opposite sides of the raft.

“Cam, you’re on flashlight duty,” Savannah instructed, passing it to him. He nodded, clutching it tightly. There was hardly any sunlight left in the dusk for them to see by, so this was going to come in very handy. 

Contexto. Savannah tried to put on a confident smile. She was great at Contexto, they’d be able to make up for the last challenge for sure!

“Look, there’s the first sign!” Kenny said, pointing forward.

“Where? I can barely see anything!” Cam said, squinting.

“That’s what the flashlight is for!”

“Right! Sorry,” Cam replied, turning it on and shining it ahead.

Earth                           Fry 

“Wait, that's what we're starting with?” Savannah exclaimed.

“I mean, we’ve gotta go with Earth, right? Fry makes no sense!” Cam said, holding the flashlight steady. Savannah was grateful for the river’s slow speed. It gave them time to weigh their options.

Earth, Fry. A noun and a verb, or was Fry supposed to be a noun, too, like a French Fry? 

“What if that’s the point? Maybe we should pick the weird option,” Kenny suggested.

“That’s what we did last time, and it made us lose,” Cam said, squinting at the sign. “I don’t think this is a trick. We need to start logically.”

Kenny stared at him for a long second before nodding. “Ok. Savannah, are you good with that?”

“Sure,” she replied, and she and Kenny guided the raft towards the left path. There was no way to deduce the right choice on their first guess. It was pure luck, and Savannah could only hope the universe was on their side. 

They took the left path, drifting past the sign. Savannah held her breath, but nothing happened. Wait, how were they supposed to know if they picked the right option? Were they just supposed to hope for the best?

As if in response to her question, the river grew louder. Its water began rushing with vigor, bits of foam splashing up onto her as she paddled. Ok, that either meant one of two things. They made a very good choice, or a very terrible one. The raft began picking up speed.

“Guys… I think that was wrong. We don’t want to go faster, it gives us less time to pick an option,” Kenny said, and Savannah knew he was right.

She wasn’t done yet, though. One wrong choice didn’t mean this was over.

“Next sign, coming in hot!” Cam called, and Savannah glanced up. The sky was tar-black now. Thank god for Cam's flashlight. 

Travel                         Seal   

Travel was the obvious choice, wasn’t it? For one, that’s what they were doing right now- traveling down a river.

But did that make it too obvious?

Seal could be referring to an animal or the seal on a letter. Both choices had very different meanings...

“My vote’s for Travel,” Cam said, looking over at Savannah. His face was barely illuminated in the dark, and she watched as he swapped hands with the flashlight, letting his other arm rest.

“Me too,” Savannah decided. She and Kenny steered the raft toward the choice on the left again. It was more difficult to control the water here than it was when it was calmer. 

Passing the sign again. Savannah waited in timid anticipation. Faster or slower? 

Savannah blinked as she felt a drop of water hit the bridge of her nose. Was that from the river, or was it raining now? Another hit her arm in answer, and in seconds she was hit with a cascade of pouring rain. 

The water picked up speed, making Savannah's heart race quicken. That was what, two mistakes? Judging by the other challenges, they only had one more shot. What would happen if they failed? Would the raft sink, and they’d be left to fend in the rapids?

This challenge could end in their death. Savannah wouldn’t let them make another mistake.

Savannah turned to face ahead, awaiting the next sign. A crackle of lightning shot through the sky, making her jump. Even with Cam's flashlight, she could barely make out the sign's words through the downpour. 

Sponge                           Transport

“Guys, it’s obvious. Travel was wrong last time, so there’s no way it’s Transport,” Savannah said.

“I agree. Plus, if Seal was the right answer last time, Sponge should be, too. Sea sponges, y’know?” Kenny added, and Savannah nodded. They had the right answer, but they needed to redirect the raft quickly. The sign was approaching at an alarming speed, and if they didn’t move soon, they’d ram into the intersection between the two paths. She wasn’t interested in seeing what came from that collision.

Savannah paddled harder, making her arms ache, but she couldn't let up. She jumped when she felt the raft rock and saw that it edged the fork in the river, but they’d just barely made it to the right path in time. Yes!

Savannah waited silently as rain dripped down her face, soaking her clothes and hair. She was drenched and freezing, but they couldn't afford to stop fighting. No, not yet. 

She let out a sigh of relief when the water began to slow. They’d done it! They were on the right track, finally. Cam grinned and gave Savannah and Kenny a high-five before turning ahead again, shining his flashlight out for the next sign.

Ocean                           Cake

Another obvious choice! Sponge and Seal had been right, so Ocean must also be! It’s just easy, really.

“Ocean for the next one?” Savannah asked.

“What if Sponge was talking about cake sponge, though? Wouldn’t that get us even closer?” Kenny asked.

“I see where you’re coming from, but no. It’s got to be Ocean, I just know it.”

“I don’t know, I’m leaning toward Cake, too,” Cam said quietly.

“Guys, if we mess up again, we lose!” Savannah exclaimed.

“Yeah, which is why we should pick Cake. We’ve already done water-related things, and they didn’t get us anywhere,” Kenny said. Savannah could hear a twinge of frustration in his voice, but she needed to get through to him.

“You guys are throwing this challenge. What happens if we lose? Will we drown in here?”

“I’m not throwing it, you are! We have the majority, we’re doing Cake,” Kenny said firmly. Savannah could barely see his cold expression in the dark.

God, why weren’t they listening? There’s no way Cake was the right choice, it didn’t follow the pattern of the other guesses! Contexto was a game of patterns, and pattern recognition was one of Savannah's greatest assets. 

“Guys, the sign’s coming up pretty fast,” Cam said.

“Let’s go, then,” Kenny replied, starting to steer the raft toward the option on the right.

No!

Savannah paddled harder, pushing the raft toward the left. She wasn’t going to let them lose this challenge for her, it wasn’t fair. They had the majority, sure, but the majority isn’t always right! This risk was too big to let them make her lose. 

“Guys…” Cam said.

“Savannah, what are you doing?” Kenny yelled, and she ignored him, pushing harder. She felt Kenny steer the raft more to the right again, and she paddled with all her might, willing it to go the other way. Kenny was probably stronger, but Savannah had drive. She could do this. C'mon, just a little more...

“Guys, we’re going to crash into-” Cam was cut off by a loud bang as the raft slammed into the intersection between the two paths. Water splashed onto the raft, making Savannah scream. The rushing stream smacked into them as they sat at the fork, and this was her chance!

Savannah gave a hard push with her paddle, launching them to the leftward path.

“What have you done!?” Kenny cried.

“I won, that’s what,” She replied, smiling.

"We need to work as a team, you can't just go rogue and do what you want! Now we're going to lose!" Kenny said, and it was one of the first times Savannah had seen him truly angry. It didn't matter, though. 

"You'll thank me later," Savannah replied. 

Her smug sentiment only lasted for a second. It was cut short when the river shot forward, faster than before. Savannah was knocked forward by the sudden speed change, landing on top of Kenny. She scrambled to stand up and steer again, but Cam’s flashlight didn’t catch on any more signs up ahead.

“What’s going on?” Savannah said frantically. The sound of pounding water raged louder and louder as they neared what looked like the end of a path, water sloshing at the edges of the raft. Savannah couldn't see any more river ahead. What was-

Savannah shrieked as she felt the raft fall down from under her and she plummeted toward the bottom of a massive waterfall. There was hardly a moment for her to panic in the air before she smacked hard into the foamy water below, making everything go black. 

Chapter Text

Breaking the surface of the water, Savannah gasped for air.

Where were the others? Did they survive the fall?

Savannah’s limbs ached from the impact, but she pushed herself to keep treading. It’d be pitiful to give up now. The sounds of the waterfall crashing behind her filled her ears, drowning out anything else.

Get to shore. That was the first priority. Then, she could find Cam and Kenny and figure out their next course of action.

Savannah’s breathing was heavy, but she slowly swam toward what looked like land. It was hard to tell in the dark, but a sense of relief hit her when her fingertips made contact with the cool sand. 

Savannah crawled up, coughing up water before flopping over onto her back.

They better be alive.

She was soaked, cold, and exhausted. She needed to rest, now, or else she wouldn’t be able to keep going.

No, go find your friends!

Savannah’s mind fought to keep her awake, to remain focused, to keep pushing, but it was a losing battle. Exhaling slowly, she was drawn into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Savannah couldn’t be sure how long she was out for, but dawn was breaking when she opened her eyes. She scrambled to sit up, looking around frantically for the others.

Cam was sitting further down the shore looking at the water, and Kenny scrounging for resources at the edge of the trees beyond the sand. Savannah let out a sigh of relief and walked toward them.

Glancing out at the water, she noticed the chunks of yellow wood from the shattered raft and paddles floating around.

It must have broken on impact, but Savannah couldn’t recall much from the night before.

It was yet another irrational miracle that they all were still here, alive, and uninjured. The waterfall was magnificent, at least a couple hundred feet high. It provided Savannah and the others with a few terrifying airborne moments, but now it was calmly churning water at its base as if it had never been disturbed by their presence.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Cam said, breaking the silence. Savannah turned to him, and he patted a spot in the sand next to him. Savannah noticed the way the sand was sticking to his body like glue and became aware of the way it coated her, too.

“Hey, I’m sorry about yesterday,” Savannah said quietly, slumping down next to him. It was difficult to acknowledge the weight of her actions because of the overwhelming sense of guilt they brought. She’d been so wrapped up in the chance that losing these challenges would cost her her friends their lives that she’d nearly done that exactly.

“It’s fine. Any of us could’ve done it, really. I’m not super upset, but I think you need to talk to Kenny,” Cam said, and Savannah nodded. Her mind flashed back to his face the night before, the look of frustration and  hurt on his face when she steered them the other way.

Suddenly, Savannah’s heart dropped, and she scrambled to open her bag. The map, it must have been soaked in the fall.

Ripping her bag open, she dug it out, a sense of dread settling in her at the sight of it. The once-crisp paper flopped in her hands, black ink smudged and incomprehensible. Their only guide had been rendered useless.

The sound of crunching feet against sand drew Savannah’s eyes up, and she saw Kenny walking back toward the two of them.

“Kenny, the map got ruined by-”

“Savannah, we need to talk,” Kenny said, cutting her off. He folded his arms, and Savannah’s eyes dropped to the ground, avoiding his hardened stare.

“I’m sorry about last night. I wasn’t thinking,” Savannah said.

“That’s not true. You were thinking, but you were only thinking about yourself. You completely disregarded our ideas in favor of your own, and look where that got us!” Kenny said, gesturing to their surroundings. “We’re stranded at the bottom of a waterfall and short of not one, but two clues because of you!”

Savannah narrowed her eyes, standing up. “I get last challenge, but two?! The clearing one wasn’t my fault.”

“Really? Because I seem to recall you doing the same thing there, too. You dismiss Cam and I all the time. You keep treating us like we’re stupid, Savannah, and we’re not. We’re in this together,” Kenny said, and Savannah could see his mask coming down. The pain was showing in his eyes, but he quickly glanced away, hiding it again.

“You’re not stupid,” Savannah said firmly, and she meant it.

“That’s right. But we’re not as smart as you, either, or else you would’ve trusted our ideas,” Kenny replied coldly, his eyes returning to Savannah with a greater ferocity than before. Savannah shrunk under his gaze.

“That- I… Kenny, that’s not true,” She said earnestly. “I just-”

“Knew better? You sure knew better when you sent us down that waterfall, Savannah,” Kenny said, scoffing.

“Hey, Kenny, lay off a little,” Cam said.

“I can’t. I want to go home, and it feels like Savannah is driving us into a ditch. It’s almost like- Savannah, are you doing this on purpose? Are you working with whoever’s behind this nonsense? Maybe when Melissa was telling us to be careful, to trust no one, she was talking about you. She said this whole B.S. challenge thing was your fault, didn’t she?” Kenny said, staring at Savannah incredulously.

“Do you even hear yourself?! You sound crazy! I’d never betray you, gosh! I want to go home, too,” Savannah said desperately.

“Maybe you wouldn’t, but I’m not sure we should work together anymore,” Kenny said, looking away. Savannah froze, her eyes widening.

“Wait. What are you saying?” she asked, the anger draining from her.

“Your recklessness has cost us too much. I think we need to take a break from each other,” Kenny said, turning to leave.

“Fine, be that way!” Savannah shouted. “Cam, you’re with me, right?”

Cam sighed, standing up. “I think you need to do some self-reflection, Sav.” He turned to follow Kenny.

No, no, no, no, no.

This was hopeless.

That very same thought had crossed Savannah’s mind countless times in the past few days, but this time she meant it more than any other. They couldn’t separate, that was a surefire way to get stuck here forever.

But Kenny didn’t want anything to do with her right now…

Savannah huffed. She felt tears welling in her eyes, but she pushed them away. She needed to find the last challenge and beat it. That way, she could find the others, and they could all go home.

Kenny probably wasn’t that mad, the stress was just getting to him. Yeah.

The map was ruined, but at least the other items weren’t affected by the water. Savannah rummaged through the bag for anything else she could use, but suddenly, it was snatched from her reach. Looking up frantically, she saw one of those birds from earlier clutching it in its talons, flapping in the air above her.

“No!” Savannah yelled, jumping and trying to reach it.

The bird chirped tauntingly at her before soaring away and over the trees, carrying her bag with it. Savannah groaned.

What would the her from two days ago think? The optimistic Savannah, eyes set on finding her friends and returning home? Would she wrinkle her nose in disgust at the grimy, smelly, lonely, empty-handed girl standing here now?

If there was one thing this journey had taught her so far, it was that wallowing in self-pity was incredibly unhelpful. She needed to keep going, no matter how hopeless and wrong it felt.

Savannah shook her head, trudging away from the beach and toward the forest. Even without a map, she had a strong feeling this was the right way to go. It’s the direction the bird flew in, after all, and they had yet to lead her astray.

She smothered the emptiness brought by her friends’ absence, replacing it with unwavering determination. Savannah was going to escape this Wordle Wonderland if it was the last thing she did.

Her confidence made the forest seem less scary. This wasn’t her challenge, after all. It was just the path to her final destination. Besides, it was obvious that the end was drawing near.

A high sense of tension hung in the air, but Savannah brushed it off. She was guided only by her instinct, listening closely to the lull of the forest that led her onward.

Breaching the stretch of trees, Savannah came upon the sight of another beach in the far-off distance. It was the coast of what looked like a much larger ocean, and on it sat something resembling a crystal palace.

That must be it.

Savannah could feel herself drawn to the iridescent structure like a magnet as it shimmered in the morning sun.

There was nothing else standing in her way. That was the end, right in front of her.

Had Kenny and Cam stumbled across this yet?

The thought of them brought up something sour in Savannah, which she ignored again. That didn’t matter right now. If they were so insistent on getting out of here on their own, they could do that. She didn’t care anymore.

Savannah had no doubt in her mind that this was where she was meant to go for the final challenge. She warily stepped away from the forest and began walking toward the structure.

This almost seemed too easy. Was there a trick? Something waiting to get here inside? Given the difficulty of the other obstacles, it didn’t make sense to have the final challenge sitting around in plain sight.

However, as she crept up to the palace, Savannah didn’t encounter any obstacles. The shore was still and quiet, free of wildlife and deterrents, and it left an uneasy feeling in her gut.

There was something wrong here, something seriously wrong. She should’ve never let Cam and Kenny split from her.

Michael was still nowhere to be found, and her other friends had left her behind. She was all alone again.

Savannah’s heart began to race, and she reminded herself that she needed to breath. Stay calm. Rationalize. Just because she found the final challenge didn’t mean she had to beat it yet.

She could scout this out and come back later with the others. It was barely noon on their final day. There was still time.

With that thought in mind, Savannah approached the large, glassy doors of the structure. Like the rest of the palace, its doors reflected the sun’s light like a cross between a mirror and glass, but Savannah couldn’t see anything through them.

She reached for one of the door’s handles and tugged it open. It was heavy, smooth, and icy to the touch, despite sitting in the brash sunlight for so long.

Peering inside, the palace’s interior was dark and cold. Savannah couldn’t see very far ahead of her, past where the light from outside was shining in. The hair on her arms stood up, but something about the darkness was beckoning her to come in. Swallowing, Savannah stepped inside, allowing the door to shut behind her with a soft thud.

The air inside smelled damp, much different from saltiness outside. This was dank, like a wet cave.

In front of her stood a crystal hallway, dimly lit by high-hanging torches on the walls. Savannah walked forward slowly, eyes darting around for any signs of disturbance. She didn’t find any. This hallway, this place, was all eerily empty.

“Hey, Savannah.”

Savannah jumped when she heard his voice.

“Michael?!” She said, turning to the place where the sound came from. There he was, reflected on the fragmented, sheer walls of the hallway. His figure was illuminated by a turquoise light that Savannah couldn’t spot the source of.

Savannah raced over to him, reaching her hand up to graze his figure on the wall, and he vanished.

“Savannah, I’m right here,” another Michael said, giving her a smug smile. Savannah whipped her head around, and there he was again. She ran further down the hall, but as she approached him, he disappeared again. The sounds of his laughter filled the hall. 

“Savannah!”

“Savannah, over here.”

“Savannah, come on.”

Several different illusions of Michael covered the walls, looking at her with condescension. No, no, none of them were real! Michael wasn’t here, this was a waste of her time.

Savannah shut her eyes, continuing forward. His voice sounded so real…

That wasn’t him. She had to keep moving.

The stretch of hallway wasn’t long, and soon, Savannah reached the end of it. It opened up to a large room, but Savannah couldn’t make out much of it in the darkness. Suddenly, a spotlight came down in the center, making her flinch.

It cast a pillar of light over a podium upon which a tablet and keypad were mounted. Then, everything was still again.

Was this the final challenge?

“Savannah!” Michael’s voice called out from the darkness again, and this was some sick form of torture, wasn’t it?

Savannah walked up to the podium, admiring it. The tablet’s screen lit up with a six-by-five grid.

A familiar sound, a distant call.

A game of Wordle, how clever. 

Savannah reached up to touch the keypad when a voice cut her off.

“Savannah, no! It’s a trap-” Michael again!

She ignored it but jumped back when a glass barrier shot up from the ground, encasing the podium. She turned around, eyes searching the darkness for movement.

Someone was there. Of course, the final challenge wouldn’t be that easy. She was stupid to think it would be.

Savannah’s eyes began adjusting to the dark, and she noticed a figure standing in the darkness. 

A low chuckle echoed around the dark room, and the figure began clapping slowly, stepping into the light.

“I’ve really got to hand it to you, Sav. You put up a good fight.” 

Chapter Text

Cam chuckled again at the look on Savannah’s face. “You look surprised. Why is that?”

Savannah tried to form a sentence, but she wasn’t able to with the way her mind was racing. “You- I- how… Cam, you were working with us! You were helping us,” she said desperately.

“Was I?” Cam asked. His harsh gaze bore deep into Savannah, making her skin burn. Suddenly, the truth came crashing down on her.

“Are you sure wombats are marsupials?”

Of course they were, but he made them second-guess.

“If we wait to find something all three of us agree on, we’ll be stuck here all day.”

He wanted them to rush, giving them less time to think.

“I think we should stop here for the night.”

Encouraging them to waste their time.

“I mean, we’ve gotta go with Earth, right? Fry makes no sense!”

“My vote’s for Travel.”

Liar. He knew.

He knew. 

“I don’t know, I’m leaning toward Cake, too.”

But what about the Ocean vs. Cake sign? That didn’t make any-

Oh.

“You guys are throwing this challenge. What happens if we lose? Will we drown in here?” Savannah cried.

He didn’t misdirect them in the fifth challenge because he didn’t have to. Savannah did the dirty work for him, making his job easier…

“Don’t trust anything you see.”

It wasn’t a coincidence that they failed every challenge after Cam joined them. Melissa looked at him when she said those words, she must have known! She was trying to warn them, and Savannah had completely missed it. She’d walked right into his trap.

Cam’s lips quirked up in a malicious smile. “It looks like you’re putting it together,” he said snidely.

God, Savannah felt so stupid.

“I… Cam, why?” She said, defeated.

“Why? Why do you think?” He said incredulously. “Sav, a lot of what I said out there was for show, but when I said you needed to reflect, I meant it. Don’t you get it? Think of the wordle group. There’s Michael, the brainiac. Kenny, the comedic relief. You, the goody-two-shoes. Where do I fit in? I’m always standing in your shadow, and I’m tired of it. I wanted a chance to take you down, once and for all. That’s why I brought you here,” he said, smiling manically.

Savannah didn’t know what to say. Whoever this was, this wasn’t the Cam she knew. “Cam, what are you talking about? Everyone loves you!”

“Everyone deals with me. I’m sick of being at the end of the group. Why is it that it’s always ‘Michael, Savannah, Kenny, and Cam?’ Why isn’t Cam first?”

“That’s ridiculous!” Savannah exclaimed. “Do you even hear yourself?”

Cam laughed, walking up to Savannah. “It doesn’t matter now. I’ve proven all that I needed to, haven’t I? None of you are capable of beating these challenges, of beating me.”

His face split into a smug smile, and Savannah narrowed her eyes at him. That’s when she realized what had struck her as weird about Cam. His eyes, they were blue. Besides the fact that this Cam’s ideologies were all over the place right now, one of Cam’s most distinct features was his brown eyes.

This wasn’t Cam.

“You’re not Cam,” Savannah said defiantly.

Cam grinned harder, turning away. “You really are observant, Savannah, aren’t you? What tipped you off, the eyes?” He sighed. “No, I’m not Cam. The real Cam is safe and sound back home. In fact, our relationship runs deeper than yours is with him.” He paused for what seemed like dramatic effect.  

“I’m not Cam, I’m Wordle itself.”

What?!

“Miss Savannah, how do you think it would feel to be beaten by arrogant people all over the world every day? How do you think it would feel if people dedicated TikTok accounts to crushing you? Not good, right? Well, I’m sick of it. It’s time that I gave you a taste of your own medicine.”

Not-Cam, or Wordle, gestured to the podium again, and the glass casing disappeared into the ground again. Savannah glared at Not-Cam. How dare he steal her friend’s body, his voice, for something like this? 

“I present, your final challenge. A game of wordle, like all the rest. This time, however, you will be playing for your friends’ lives.”

Savannah’s heart dropped again as two more spotlights came up at the back of the room, revealing Kenny and Michael tied up in the back. Tape covered their mouths as they stared back at her, eyes widened.

“No!” Savannah cried. She started running toward them.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you. Try to free them now, and you’ll all meet the same unfortunate fate. I’m a fair man, so I’m giving you a chance here,” Not-Cam said, gesturing to the podium. “Don’t be a fool and waste it.”

Savannah swallowed.

There was no chance that this was a fair game. Wordle was out for revenge, and there were no limits to how far he’d go to get it. She needed to play carefully.

Silence filled the room as Savannah thought. She might not have her bag anymore, but she remembered the contents. Flashlight, map, switchblade… Slowly and timidly, she typed in her first guess.

[ S ][ T ][ O ][ R ][ Y ]

Her mind flashed back to the first challenge in the forest. Story, that’s what this all reminded her of. Surely, it wasn’t a terrible place to start.

Grey, Yellow, Grey, Grey, Grey. The sound of Wordle’s rumbling laughter made Savannah’s skin crawl.

[ H ][ A ][ S ][ T ][ E ]

Haste. That’s what this Cam imposter had been trying to do this whole time, wasn’t it? Make them hasty.

Grey, Green, Grey, Yellow, Grey.

Savannah took a deep breath. She had a shot.

[ P ][ A ][ N ][ I ][ C ]

Exactly what she was doing right now.

Grey, Green, Yellow, Grey, Grey.

Ok, [ A ] for the second spot, and [ N ] and [ T ] somewhere in the word.

[ D ][ A ][ U ][ N ][ T ]

Dauntless was what they had to be. What she had to be, even though this was terrifying. One wrong move would cost her her best friends.

Grey, Green, Green, Green, Green.

Oh no. No, no, no. She’d fallen right into the trap.

“Not looking so hot now, Miss Savannah?” Not-Cam said.

There were too many words with that suffix, no! She only had three more guesses… Gaunt, Taunt, Jaunt, Haunt, they were all possibilities. 

The flapping of wings made her jump as a bird soared in. It flew over to Not-Cam, dropping her bag in his hand. He smirked at it, giving it a pat, and it flew away.

“I apologize for my bird. You didn’t really need this measly bag, though, did you?” He said, tossing it over his shoulder toward Kenny. It slid across the floor, landing by his feet.

Savannah’s mind was racing. How could she win this? Was there even a way to win? She couldn’t try every option, so there was a chance she still would lose, even if the odds were in her favor.

“Make another guess,” Wordle said coldly.

[ T ][ A ][ U ][ N ][ T ]

Grey, Green, Green, Green, Green.

“Ouch, Savannah. Is that what I’m doing to you? I don’t mean to be so condescending, I’m just enjoying this. You see, I run things here, and I can promise that you won’t be able to win,” he said, and Savannah’s heart dropped.

That was right, how could she be so stupid? It was a losing game from the moment she started playing. Not-Cam was in control here. He could change the answer, making her lose either way. It was rigged, a lost cause.

“As much as you try, you won’t be able to break this game. Don’t you see? I’ve finally beat you, for good. However, I’m far too generous, so I’ll make you a deal. You may leave now, by yourself, if you’re willing to abandon your friends.”

He smirked, making a gesture with his hand, and a portal opened up to his left. Peering inside, Savannah could see her room at home, the lights returned to normal. It felt like forever since she’d last been there… but she couldn’t leave her friends behind! Not after all of this!

Savannah glanced hopelessly at her friends as Not-Cam laughed manically again, and something about Kenny’s expression caught her eye. When he realized she was looking, his eyes darted down to the bag and back up at her, eyes widened.

What was he trying to say?

“I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a way to break the game in here? It’s kind of like a video game, this thing we’re doing. There’s got to be a shortcut, or a cheat code.”

Kenny said that back before their third challenge but now… now he was eyeing the bag.

Break the game.

Suddenly, Savannah remembered something. The items she’d been gathering at the challenges, they weren’t just clues for the last. They served a practical purpose, too. Seeing the way Kenny nodded at her, eyes gesturing to the bag again, Savannah understood.

She pretended to be thinking of another guess as she watched Kenny count down on his fingers.

3…

2…

1…

He kicked the bag forward to her with all of his might, and Savannah lept for it.

“No!” Wordle shrieked, tackling her. They wrestled over the bag, and Savannah reached in, scrambling for the switchblade and kicking Wordle away. She stood up, launching herself toward the podium.

Break the game.

That didn’t have to be a figurative statement, did it?

Savannah flicked open the switchblade and smashed the tablet’s screen, sending cracks running along it. Wordle shrieked in pain as the tablet’s screen went back, and he began writhing around on the floor.

Savannah ran over to her friends and started cutting away their ties with the knife. She glanced up and saw that the portal was starting to close, no! They needed to hurry.

She cut with a vigor, ripping away the rope that restrained them. Cutting away the last tie on Michael, she helped him up, and the three of them started running for the portal. It was shrinking as they drew closer, and god, this was going to be a close call.

Hadn’t they all been, though?

Savannah lept forward, bracing for impact. Suddenly, she felt a wave of something electric wash through her, and she landed hard on the floor of her bedroom. Groaning, she was hit with another thud, and another, as Kenny and Michael landed on top of her. Then, everything was silent again. Looking up, the portal was nowhere to be seen.

They were home at last.

Savannah sat up slowly, a smile spreading across her face.

She squealed, hugging Kenny and Michael tightly.

“Hey Sav, I’m sorry for all of that back there,” Kenny said. “Splitting up was a really stupid idea.”

“It’s okay. I understand why you were upset, I was dismissing your ideas. I just got so wrapped up in the idea that we might not make it home that I went a little bit overboard,” she said sheepishly.

“Well, it was because of you that we did,” Michael said. “Honestly, I feel like I was pretty unhelpful in there.”

“Yeah, Michael, where were you?” Kenny said.

“I woke up on the beach somewhere and ran into Cam pretty early on. We wandered for awhile before he turned on me,” Michael said.

“Shoot, I’m sorry. That must’ve been a pretty miserable few days,” Savannah said.

“Hey, it’s over now, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Savannah said, smiling. “It is.” She hugged them tightly again, and it was like she could breathe again for the first time in days.

“Gahh, that would’ve made for such great content!’ Kenny grumbled, making Savannah laugh.

“What, ‘Wordle but Wordle came after me and tried to kill me’?” Michael joked.

“It would totally go viral, man.”

Suddenly, a sound behind Savannah made her jump. She whipped her head around to see Cam standing there.

“What?! You guys are all hanging out in here without me?” Cam said, walking over and sitting down next to Michael.

“Cam? How did you get here?”

“Funny story. So, I had this weird dream where I spent three days trying to kill you guys, and then I woke up in Savannah’s house,” he said.

Kenny and Savannah exchanged knowing glances.

“Anyways, that’s all nonsense. Who’s up for a four-player Wordle tournament?” He asked, grinning.

“Y’know, I think I’ve had enough Wordle for the time being,” Savannah said.

“You could say that again.”