I was driving smack dab in the middle of the California Desert in the heart of summer, blasting the AC and singing along to the radio. I slowed my vehicle to a crawl when I took notice of a man holding up a sign in the middle of the road.

I squinted to read it, but the heat waves caused the words to swim, making it incomprehensible from my distance. I drove forward just enough to read the sign.

“DASH LIFE!”

What is this guy doing in the middle of the road?

I honked my horn, but was met with no reaction from the man. I rolled down my window and yelled:

“Get out of the way man!”

I was once again met with no reaction from the man. I decided I was just going to swerve around him on the road. I began to drive, when suddenly the man put down his sign and spread his arms out, as if to embrace being hit with my vehicle.

Is this guy fucking insane?

I stopped my car and checked my phone. I groaned when I realized I didn't have any cellular service.

Guess I have to take care of this myself.

I stepped out of the vehicle and made my way in front of the man. I stopped directly in front of him, but his arms were still spread out, and he was looking into the sky.

“I’m not going to hit you. Get out of the road.” I stated calmly yet sternly.

“Would you like to play Dash Life?” the man replied, but still keeping his position.

“If it will make you get the hell out of my way, then sure.” I responded.

“Lovely, oh just lovely.” the man responded.

He broke his embrace position and turned to me with a wicked smile. His face was severely deformed and looked like something out of a failed lab experiment.

“We will bring you there now.” the man continued.

“W-what? Bring me where? Look man, I’m not-” I started, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of Black SUV’s appearing and driving towards me from every direction.

“What the hell kinda trap is this man?” I asked.

My only response was a sinister laugh.

The Vehicles came to a crawl, and dozens of agents came out at once, charging towards me. I began to run towards a small opening, but I was caught by one of the agents.

“LET ME GO!” I belched as they handcuffed me.

The last thing I remember was the agent pulling out a syringe, and before I knew it I was catching some z’s.

I awoke some time later in a dimly lit room, a putrid smell quickly made itself known. I tried to sit up, but quickly realized my legs and arms were handcuffed.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” I heard a familiar voice call out.

“Please just let me go…” I asked while crying.

The man began to roar with laughter at my plea.

“And what makes you so special to be released on the first day?” the man questioned.

“Look man-” I started.

“YOU SHALL ADDRESS ME AS SIR AARAV!” The man screamed, sounding extremely offended.

“Look, Sir Aarav.. What do you want? I’ll give you anything, please, I just want to get out of here..” I explained.

“I don’t owe you an explanation. The game will start in 30 minutes.” Aarav calmly stated before walking away.

What game is he talking about?

I sat in pure mental agony for the next 30 minutes, hoping that I would somehow, someway be rescued, even though I knew the desire was fantastical.

Suddenly, the lights flickered on, illuminating the room I was in. It was a small, all black room. I stared in horror at the pile of 3 decaying bodies in the corner. I turned around and saw Aarav staring at me with the most sinister smile.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!” I screamed.

“Oh, no, I didn’t do anything! You see, these are our contestants who failed the game. That's on them!” Aarav explained before letting out a chuckle.

I gave no response other than staring at him in horror.

“Anyways, it is time for you to start the game!” Aarav stated.

“I’M NOT DOING THAT GAME!” I screamed in frustration.

“Oh, how cute! You think you have a choice!” Aarav teased before pulling out a syringe and injecting the serum into me.

I awoke some time later to loud cheers. I opened my eyes and sat up. I was in the middle of an incredibly large audience. In front of me was an absolutely horrific path littered with sickening obstacles, such as dead bodies, incredibly sharp knives poking out of the ground, and pools of a red liquid, which I suspected to be human blood.

“It appears our contestant has risen! If he can dash through the obstacle within 2 minutes, he wins the grand prize of $10,000, and he gets to be set free! Aarav spoke.

Set free. All I have to do is run through this, and I'll be set free.

*“*Alright folks, get your baskets ready! The game starts in..

FIVE…”

I looked to the audience and saw that each individual was holding a basket which contained large knives. My stomach churned at the sight.

“FOUR..” Aarav continued.

Shit! How am I going to do this? Has anyone ever even survived this game?

“THREE…”

“TWO…”

“AND… ONE!” Aarav screamed, and the crowd went absolutely wild.

I instantly started to dash for my life as fast as I possibly could while still being able to dodge the obstacles. I flinched nearly every second as a continuous downpour of knives was being thrown at me.

I screamed in pain when one of the knives grazed my shoulder, although I didn't dare stop or turn back.

“ONE MINUTE REMAINING!” Aarav yelled. I realized I was already more than halfway through the course.

My whole life.. It all comes down to this.

I picked up my pace twofold and continued to jump over the obstacles.

“THIRTY SECONDS REMAINING!! It appears that our contestant has a good chance of winning!”

Suddenly, the knives stopped being thrown at me.

They must have run out.. Perfect!

The finish line was just a few dozen paces in front of me, life felt as if it were going by in slow motion. I passed the finish line, and the crowd went wild, mixed with cheers and boos from people who betted against me or betted on me.

“OUR CONTESTANT HAS WON!” Aarav screamed.

I instantly collapsed on the ground beneath me, gasping for air.

After a few minutes, Aarav was staring down at me.

“Ya’know, i was really hoping you would lose… but a deal is a deal!” Aarav stated before pulling out a syringe and injecting me once more. I awoke some time later back in my trunk. I looked around and saw that the sun was now beginning to set, and that I was in the same general area I was before I had been kidnapped. I looked at my shoulder and saw it had been perfectly dressed with a bandage.

I turned to my left and gasped when I saw Ten-thousand dollars in cash sitting on the passenger seat.

It has been a little while since this incident, I reported it to the police but they said they were unable to find anything. The first few weeks after that were hell. I spent a lot of the money on therapy appointments and whatnot, but I'm luckily doing alot better than I was, and I would NOT say the money was worth it.