Erin and Sarah chatted together for over an hour in the lounge. Eventually the girls decided to go see what the boys were up to. “This plane goes on forever!” Erin said as they wound their way through the various luxurious rooms. You haven’t even seen all of Bent’s house! Sarah thought quietly to herself. And then she shuddered, thinking he likely owned more than just that one house. Once they were past the gym and spa, the girls arrived at a closed door that Sarah recalled was the game room. Erin knocked loudly on the door. “Hey, guys!”No reply. “GUYS!” Erin called. She started to pound her knuckles against the door, but it didn’t open. “Where the heck are they?” she grumbled. Sarah gave her a closed-mouth smile. “We’re on a plane. It’s not like the boys can go anywhere.” Erin rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. “Come on. Let’s crash their party,” she said, grabbing Sarah’s arm. Erin pulled open the door and the girls stepped inside. At first, the room appeared hazy, like a fog had settled. But as soon as the door closed behind them, the haziness cleared. They stood in what appeared to be a real live jungle. “Hooooly craaaap,” Erin said slowly. She looked wildly around. “Man, this is NEAT!” Sarah stretched out her hand to touch a large tropical fern near her foot. To her amazement, her hand passed right through it. “Whoa, none of this is real,” Sarah said. “It’s all some kind of illusion.” Erin stuck her finger through one of the large trees beside her. “TOTALLY AWESOME!” she said, cracking up. Sarah watched the illusion of a hawk as it sailed high above her in the sky. Looking back down, she saw Erin no longer standing beside her. “Erin?” Sarah said. She spun around in circles. “You’re really funny, Erin!” Sarah called, crossing her arms. “Think you can hide from me in here?” The silence became deafening. UGH! Sarah thought, fuming. The last thing she wanted was to be STUCK in here all alone. “FINE! I’M GOING BACK!” Sarah shouted angrily. She tried the door handle. It was locked.Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Sarah willed herself to remain calm. But the jungle looked so unbelievably real. It even had sound effects. She could hear the wind blowing through the trees. Birds screeched to one another all around her. As she listened, she heard a waterfall flowing nearby. A waterfall could be nice, Sarah decided. She silently cursed herself for following Erin in here. Erin had a bit of a dark side. She enjoyed playing jokes on Sarah from time to time. And hanging out with Trevor had obviously made Erin’s dark side ten times worse. Sarah stepped gingerly over more ferns. She ducked low to avoid scraggly vines that seemed to be everywhere she looked. While she technically could just walk straight through the illusion, it was somewhat difficult. It looked too real. It took her longer than she thought to find the waterfall. It was hidden behind large boulders. She actually had to walk through the digital rocks, like a ghost, instead of trying to go around them. With a sigh, she seated herself beside the majestic waterfall. Listening to the water cascading down into a pool below her was soothing. This is truly wonderful, she thought. I could stay in here forever and just watch this waterfall. As she sat, lost in thought, daydreaming about how warm and sunny it would be in Miami, she heard a low terrible growl behind her. Her blood went cold. “You’ve got to be joking,” she murmured. She cautiously turned around. An enormous, scary as EFF tiger was crouched several yards away from her. As she gaped in dumbstruck horror, she could see the tiger was about twice as big as a normal tiger. Its eyes glowed bright red. It’s fake. It’s fake. It’s fake. Sarah’s heart pounded so hard inside her chest, it hurt. The tiger’s lips pulled back to reveal its long, pointed fangs. It growled even louder. Sarah stood slowly. She took a step back…and then started to run. She screamed as she tore blindly through the jungle, crashing through thick trees and heavy foliage.As part of the illusion, the tiger had to maneuver around the massive boulders and trees to catch up to her. Since Sarah had run right through the digital boulders, she was able to gain some distance. But she wasn’t fast enough. As she tried to avoid a particularly disgusting spiderweb with a gigantic hairy spider in it, the tiger caught up to her. It whipped its sharp claws at her face, snarling savagely. Sarah could actually feel the wind whistle past her cheek as she ducked to avoid the blow. She noticed a pool of digital blood had appeared around her feet. “No way! This dumb game is making it seem like the tiger is hurting me!” The tiger raised its paw again. It let out a deafening roar. Sarah screamed shrilly, momentarily forgetting it was only an illusion. She cowered down, flinging her hands over her face. Suddenly, someone barreled through the thick trees behind her. “GET AWAY FROM HER, BEAST!” Sarah recognized Bent’s voice. But she would never have known it was him if he hadn’t spoken. He was dressed head to toe in camouflage, wearing a helmet and a face mask. He pointed a large plastic gun at the tiger. “Take one more step and I’ll BLOW off your head!” Bent yelled at it.Sarah could see a tiny red laser dot from Bent’s plastic gun was centered in between the tiger’s eyes. Bent crouched down low in front of Sarah, keeping his weapon locked on the creature. The tiger raised both of its paws and sprang at Bent, growling menacingly. Bent pulled the trigger on the plastic gun. The creature’s head exploded! Digital blood and guts shot out in all directions. Its massive body fell lifelessly to the ground. Bent fist-pumped the air. “TWO-HUNDRED POINTS, BOYS!” he yelled. He pounded a hand against his chest. He then spun around to face Sarah. It was somewhat eerie trying to look at him through his goggles. “I’d say our little bet has now been DOUBLED. I could have easily allowed that hungry tiger to devour you,” Bent said, chuckling. Sarah remained on the ground. She stared coldly up at him. “What kind of sick, twisted madness is this?” she demanded. Bent lifted up his goggles so only his dreamy chocolate eyes were visible. “You’re in the Game Room, Sweetheart. In here, there are no rules.” She scoffed, poking her finger at a blue butterfly that floated near her face. “You expect me to believe all of this illusion stuff is cool? You’re out of your mind,” she said. She quickly moved her hand away from a slimy snake that had slithered out of the tree. Bent pointed his plastic gun at the snake and blasted it. The snake EXPLODED right beside Sarah’s head. She shrieked, jumping to her feet. “Will you STOP that!” “What?” Bent said. “You’re in the middle of our game. And I happen to be winning.” No sooner had he said that, the other three boys, including Erin, came running up to them.”Prince! I heard a shot. Did you get the tiger?” That voice sounded like Chad’s. All the guys were dressed in the same camouflage outfits. They each carried a plastic gun.”Yeah, I got him,” Bent said proudly. “The tiger almost ate Sarah for breakfast, but I rescued her just in time.” He winked at Sarah with one of his adorable twinkling eyes. Sarah stuck out her tongue. “I wasn’t afraid,” she lied. “This game room is lame.” Erin snorted. She glowered at her friend. “Why did you run off without me?”Erin shrugged. “Trevor found me. He thought letting you venture around in here alone would be hysterical.” Sarah tried to figure out which of the other two boys in camo gear was Trevor. She wanted to swat him. But unfortunately, it seemed Dan and Trevor guessed what she was thinking and kept quiet. “Whatever. Can I please leave now?” Sarah asked. “I got up too early and would like to take a nap before the plane lands.” “Go right ahead,” Bent said, the humor evident in his voice. He gestured to the dense jungle around them. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find your way back.” Sarah exhaled loudly. “I don’t know the way, obviously. Besides, the door is still probably locked!” Bent’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. Sorry about that. Once you’re inside this room while a game is going, that door locks.” He offered her his arm, propping his plastic gun on his other shoulder. Sarah ignored his arm. She stomped right through a digital muddy puddle.”Go left!” Bent called. “Now go right.” He kept pace close behind her as she tried to hurry away. When she finally reached the door, she pulled the handle. It was still locked. “Open it,” she demanded. She couldn’t help being angry. That stupid tiger had really scared her.Bent set down his plastic gun. He removed his mask and helmet and propped them against the wall near a fern. “First things first. The hero should get a reward for rescuing the damsel in distress.” He gave her a very disarming grin. Sarah felt her insides melt. “Um, look. That tiger wasn’t real. I don’t think that counts.” Bent stepped closer to her. “Admit it. I saved your life.” He was impossible to resist at this proximity. She could see the little gold specks in his endlessly dark, magnificent eyes. Without warning, Bent dug his fingers into the top of her sweatpants and pulled her roughly up against his chest. But before he could kiss her, a ferocious growl echoed around them. Alarmed, Sarah pulled back from Bent. She spotted a giant ape swinging towards them on a vine.”The door’s open now,” Bent said, grinning like a mad man. He swung around to retrieve his plastic gun. “You better get going,” he called. “I’ve got another beast to battle.”