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Chapter Ten: Cards and Chase:

Anna sat at the kitchen table.

"Alright," she said. "What are your rules?" Tweedledee and Tweedledum grinned at the opposite end of the table.

"We each get ten cards," Yuma's double answered. She divided up thirty pink cards among the three of them. Anna reached forward to turn hers over.

"No!" the twins yelped. Anna froze and glanced up at them.

"No?" she asked.

"Nope!" they sang.

"Not yet," Dee said. She set down a key in the center of the table. "The object is to grab this key. It's a chase card game." Anna looked rather perplexed.

"Chase… card… game?"

"Yep, yep!" Dum cheered. "We chase you around the house!"

"Wait!" Anna said. "I'm the…" Her jaw dropped and her face went pale.

"Yes!" Saya and Yuma's clones answered. Anna gave off a nervous laugh.

"Uh… I don't think I want to play," she said.

"But you must!"

"Why?"

"You want to go home, don't you?" Dee asked.

"Don't you?" Dum asked.

"Well… yeah…" their guest answered.

"Then play with us!" they sang. "Play! Play! Play!" Anna's fake smile turned into a frown.

"And there's no other way?" she asked.

"Nope!" Dee and Dum cheered. Worry filled Anna's expression. Oh crap! Saya and Yuma have me trapped!

"You can use the cards for escape," Dee explained.

"What?" Anna asked.

"Each card has a method of escape, defense, or attack."

"But you can only use them once," Dum commented.

"And the same goes to you too?" Anna questioned.

"Yep, yep!"

"Right," she said. "Anything else?"

"You have three hours to make it back to the table and grab the key," Dee summed up.

"Starting in five," her sister said. Anna looked around confused.

"Wait, what?" she shouted.

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!" the twins shouted. They grabbed their cards and lunged at Anna.

"Shit!" She grabbed her cards and took off running. "I didn't expect it to happen now!" Anna yelled. The twins laughed behind her.

"Run! Run! Run!" they shouted. Anna looked left and right in desperation. Shit! Where do I go? Anna bit her lower lip. She turned the corner on the left. The twins laughed and sped up. Dee drew out her first card.

"Loop!" she yelled. "Activate!" The card sailed up from her hand and hit the ground. Anna ran back into the hallway. She looked around bewildered.

"What the…?" she yelled. "Why am I?"

"Found you!" Dee shouted. She and her sister ran toward their target.

"Damn it!" Anna shouted. She took off to the left only to end up back in the same place.

"Shit! How the hell?"

"Surprised?" Dee asked. "You're stuck in a loop if you keep going left from here." Anna's mouth moved, but no words came out.

"How?"

"Loop card!" Dee chirped. Anna bit on her lower lip. So this is how they're playing it, huh? She took a step back before turning right.

"Ha!" she shouted. "You can't get me this way!" The twins grinned. Dum drew out her first card.

"Choice, activate!" she commanded. The card hit the ground and dissolved. Anna ran until she froze in her tracks, for before her stood five doors. She examined each one carefully./Another trick, huh?/ Anna smirked to herself. Okay, challenged accepted. She tried to scan for the right one.

/I can't go left/, she thought. Anna's eyes moved to the doors on the right. Her finger pointed to the far right one.

"There!" she shouted. Anna raced over and opened it. However, a giant purple hand reached out for her top.

"Gah!" Anna screamed as she tried to swat the swirling clouds away. The fingers grabbed her white shirt.

"Get off!" she yelled. "Damn it!" Anna finally managed to tear herself away, panting. I've had enough of this! She drew out a random card and flipped it over. Relief flooded her face when she saw a fan on the front. Anna quickly read the title.

"Fan Dance," she commanded. "Go!" The card hit the floor and flashed a hot pink light. A huge red and gold fan floated over to her hand.

"Good enough," Anna said. She grabbed on and swatted away the clouded hand with all of her might. The harder she fanned, the faster the hand disappeared though the door, but not before stealing her white cover shirt.

"Hey!" she yelled as the door slammed shut and vanished. "Come back here with that!" Anna frowned in frustration.

"Well done! Well done!" the twins cheered behind her. Anna whipped around to see Dee and Dum clapping at her.

"You're getting it!" Saya in red cheered.

"You're getting it!" Yuma in blue echoed. Anna put her hands on her hips.

"Can we cut the crap now?" she asked.

"No!" the twins yelled. "Two hours and thirty minutes! Two hours and thirty minutes!" Anna rolled her eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Yep, yep!"

"Chop, chop!" Dum pressed. Anna dropped back her head and groaned.

"You guys are annoying," she complained.

"Tick-tock!" Dee shouted.

"Tick-tock!" Dum added. Their target rolled her eyes and took off running.

"Which door will she choose?" the twins asked. "Which door will she use?"

"Shut up!" Anna yelled. She ran straight for the one in the middle. The twins giggled as their target disappeared down the hall.

"There she goes!" they shouted. "There she goes!" They drew out their cards and ran after her.