• *NOTE* This is Chapter 5 in a story called Broken, please read Some Kind of Nature, Sweepstakes, Plastic Beach, and Broken first

    A few feet up the mountain, Jack saw another sign this one said "First Challenge Ahead". Jack scratched his head as he tried to figure out the meaning of the sign. Soon, Jack just continued up and stepped into an invisible portal, by accident. The sky changed green and there was a gap in the hill, another sign was in front of him. "Test of Stamina, cross the gap without falling in and you may pass" the sign said, Jack laughed because the gap was only about three feet across. He stepped over the gap onto the land on the other side, but to his surprise the gap grew and he fell in. Before he could react, Jack was back next to the sign.

    "What a weird hill" Jack said, as he ran at the gap. He jumped a great distance, but the gap grew to match it. Back at the sign Jack tried to figure out the trick to this challenge, but couldn't figure out anyway to jump the gap. An ax soon caught Jack's eye, it was propped against a nearby tree. He walked over to the tree and picked up the ax, his eyes seemingly sparkled as he figured it out. "The sign never said anything about jumping" Jack said as he began to cut down the tree, which was made of plastic. The tree fell down, so Jack rolled it over the gap and crossed. The gap never grew, Jack had passed. As he continued forward he walked through another portal, this one had a purple sky.

    Again there was a sign waiting for him, this one said "Test of Memory, answer all questions perfectly and you may pass. But get one wrong and..." the sign was torn at the bottom.

    A voice boomed across the area startling Jack, it said "Question 1 What is your wife's name?"

    Jack quickly replied "Maria", but the voice responded "And her maiden last name?". Jack was stumped he didn't remember much, and her first name was one of the few things he did remember. Then, a sharp pain hit Jack, it was like a headache as more memory rushed into his head.

    *FLASHBACK*
    Jack fell to the ground, out of nowhere a girl's hand came down and helped him up. "Sorry for knocking you over, My name is Maria Swan" the girl said as he got up.

    Next, Jack was standing in a room of people holding a gun. He shot the gun up into the air and said "NOBODY MOVE!". People around him looked frightened, he said "WHERE'S JIM?"

    In the final scene, Jack walked up to a mirror and his image was shown. The reflection of Jack warped into a reflection of Tobi smiling, the mirror shattered.
    *FLASHBACK END*

    "Maria Swan" Jack yelled, the voice responded "Correct". "Question 2 Who killed your wife?" the voice said in a depressing tone.

    Jack was shocked at what the voice said, he had just seen his wife earlier. After pondering for a little bit, Jack responded "My wife is not dead!".

    The voice took a deep breath and boomed "INCORRECT", after that the ground started to shake, and a large creature fell from the sky. Jack picked up a nearby knife, and got out of the creature's way as it landed. Jack climbed the creature's leg and up it's body, in a quick motion he sliced it's throat open. As the creature stumbled, Jack jumped off and proceeded up the hill. It was no surprise to Jack, that there was a third challenge. As he entered the third portal the sky turned blood red and a few feet in front of him was Tobi looking back at him smiling.

    Tobi laughed and said "Welcome Jack, your third test is to KILL Me!" Tobi ran at Jack fast, so he pulled out the knife he found in the last challenge and went on the defensive.

    TO BE CONTINUED...