This Broken City Sky

20 minutes. i have 20 minutes to find a key, or I die. And to think, this is my own father behind this. The person who is supposed to be there for me, but I can't think of that now. I don't have much time.

So first, I have to find a hammer. In the wall? Huh. Might as well. I started pushing on all the bricks I could get my hands on. I stood up slowly, managing to not get thrown to the ground again.

More, and more, and more bricks to be pushed, were pushed, and nothing happened. I checked the digital clock on the wall, the clock that was counting down the seconds to my death.

16:01

I started frantically just running my hands along the wall, applying pressure so if I passed the brick, I would press it in. "I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to-" My breath stopped short when I felt the brick beneath my shaking hand inch back.

I pushed it farther until I saw an end of a hammer. This got me excited. I kept pushing the brick until I saw the full length of the hammer. I reached in slowly, only to be cut in multiple places.

He was right. Whatever cut me was "invisible." But now that my blood coated whatever it was, I could see that it was large, and small, jagged shards of glass, sticking out every which way.

I tried to break the glass of by snapping it off the wall, but it was strong. If I wanted the hammer, I'd have to suffer the pain of glass slicing my hand to shreds.

I'll just do it quickly. Reach my hand in. Grab the hammer. And pull it out. And I did just that. The pain that coursed through my hand was unbearable. Glass was stabbed through it everywhere. I couldn't see the skin anymore, for it was ripped off, and coated with blood.

I pulled the shards out, shrieking in pain with every tug. Luckily I had my left hand in, my right hand being the one I mostly use. I checked the time again.

11:27

Now it was time to find the box. I raised the hammer, with my right hand, and brought it down onto the wall. The wall gave away a bit more than i anticipated. That was good.

I brought it down again, the wall now breaking in that spot. I stuck my left arm in reluctantly, hoping for no more glass. That wish was accepted. But no box. I broke more of the wall. About nine inches of it.

Deciding it was safe, I stuck both arms in, searching blindly for any shape that could be what I was looking for. No luck. I went on like this for a bit longer. I was afraid to check the time, but brought myself to do it.

04:09

I broke more and more. Ignoring the pain in my hand as best as I can. I mean, this is a life or death situation here. I felt around, ready to move on, when my hand came across a square object. It was a bit smaller than my palm. I grabbed it and put it close to my face.

It was the box. With a smile on my face, I set the box on the ground and smashed the hammer down on it. The box only formed a crack. Man, that's one tough box. Tougher than the freaking wall!

01:40

I slammed the hammer on it over and over again. The box slowly giving in every time. I stood up with the box in hand and chucked it at the wall. It cracked almost in half. I just have to break it once more so I could get the key.

I hit it one more time. It finally broke!

00:48

I searched through the remnants of the cursed box, wincing whenever my injured hand brushed over something sharp or rough. I finally found the key.

00:27

Now I must search for the lock. Though I had some trouble finding it in the pitch black darkness, I found it and tried to place the key into the hole. It was backwards.

00:13

I switched the key, fumbling it and almost dropping it. I held my grip on it though, and put it in the key slot.

00:03

I turned the key. Just before the time ran out.

00:01

00:00