• I wrote this in 8th grade. There are similarities to the movie Saw, but I hadn't realized it until someone pointed out. This story is also told in first person, and I hope you enjoy.

My name is Selby and I am a liar. I'm sitting on the cold, moist floor of a concrete cell. I found a few pieces of paper and this nub of a pencil. Instead of just sitting here, worrying about how I ended up in this cell, I thought I would write. For starters, I had reddish brown hair that hit just below my collar bone, it was shaggy and windblown. It was my second best feature. I had vibrant gray-blue eyes, navy on the outside... silvery star burst around the pupil. My number one feature, now dull and glassed over. I am small, 5'2" last time I checked. I was in good shape, I used to always swim before I woke up in this musty pit. My skin is creamy and white; My eyelashes thick and black; My lips curving, pale and pouty; My wrists bony. I was attractive. They shaved my hair off and I haven't eaten since the night I was kidnapped; However long ago that was. They call me the Skeleton... They always wear masks. They always wear these twisted, contorted faces with stitched, menacing grins. I can only tell they are masks because every person I've seen has had one on. They make my stomach sick, but They aren't scary anymore. Vaguely, I remember the night I was taken away... I had just walked out of the local mall and it was around eight, the sun was low. I began to walk towards my car when I overheard a man say, "...Pig Council..." to another in a raspy voice. The next thing I knew, something hard hit me in the back of the head and the last thing I saw were two blurry figures above me. Pure black silence swept over me. My head was on fire and my eyes forced themselves open. There was a blinding light in my face, but once my vision cleared and my other senses came-to, I realized I was in the middle of a circle. Every person looked the same with their ebony robes and gruesome masks. Their height and weight varied, so I only assumed there was a variety of male and female members. I was scared whenever they began chanting, "Un... Lucky..." at the same time with the same tone. Two female-looking figures slowly slinked up to me. One carriedd a tall metallic tank with wheels and set it behind me. I don't know why I didn't struggle or scream for help, maybe I should have. Before I knew it, the other female slipped a mask over my nose and mouth... it was attatched to a flimsy plastic hose that connected to the tank. Almost instantly, a gas began seeping into my fragile airways. Now I was struggling. The air tasted old and felt sharp against my lungs. In a matter of seconds I was out again. That's how I ended up in this cell... bald, cold, hungry... alone. I can only imagine it's been a few-- I have to go. They're at the door.

Dark. They came back and took me away from the cell, They had new masks this time... bloody pigs masks. I hope they were masks. They looked so real, like an actual pig's head. They put me in a brightly lit room with chains and meathooks hanging from the high rafters. It looked like a warehouse or a meat packing plant. They tied me to some kind of dead animal, it smelled and felt like rotton flesh. I never wanted more than to go back home in that moment. A Pigmask wearing a red robe walked up to me and spoke... she sounded just like me. With a calm voice, she asked me what I knew about the Pig Council and I told her the truth.
"Nothing." My voice was feeble, but I could almost feel a smile forming from behind that sticky pig snout. My skin crawled. She told me that even the word 'Pig Council' was too much, and that I was one very... VERY unlucky girl.
"Cleanse her." is the last thing she said before I was roughly escorted and tossed back here into my cell. My Cell... this place is becoming home. Yet, I'm scared. No food. It's dark... I'm cold. Good night.

I think it's morning now. They took me in the middle of my sleep and ziptied my wrists and ankles so tight. I bled so much, my wrists are purple now. They laid me next to a very dead pig. I struggled to hold the emptiness of my stomach down. It was gutted and it's eyes were missing, but I could still feel sorrow from it's mangled sockets. I stared at that poor beast all night. I couldn't fall asleep because I didn't want to dream about ending up like the grey mound of rot before me. When they brought me back to My Cell, I felt relief. When the bonds were cut, I realized how silently they work. It's so surreal.. Hold on, I hear something.

From what I just found out, I'm going to die. A Pigmask came into my room and removed the dreadful pig head. He was beautiful. Unkept black hair and hateful green eyes that pierced me like an acidic needle. He told me with a deep voice that today I was being cleansed. My heart didn't know whether to fly or to drop. He began to apologize that someone as innocent as me had to go through this, I forgave him with my eyes. He told me he wished he could help, I wish he could too. Apparently he's also being cleansed though, he attempted to sabotage the council and clearly failed. Whenever I asked him what the 'Cleansing' was, his eyes became fearful and he sighed. I will never forget his brief explanation.
"They set you before a meat grinder... they cut off our eyelids so you have to watch the people in front of you turn into a screaming, crunching, meaty pulp. You are last, Selby. Seven people are joining us today." In the short moment before the other Pigmasks began banging furiously on my door, I wished that I could just be the first person to go.
I wish I could give you more information... to write more...
But my name is Selby and I am a liar. Tomorrow I will continue to live with my friends... and my hair.
I am Selby and I am the leader of the Pig Council. You know too much.

Prepare to be cleansed.