Saw VII- The Inflation Game

The room was dark when Jessica awoke. Confused, she turned her head wildly, this way and that, to try and see where she was. Nothing made sense. The tall, slender brunette had gone to bed in her disgusting apartment and woke up…standing? She seemed to be strapped in an upright position. Her wrists and ankles were bound by some kind of metal cuffs, and there was a stinging sensation in her back. Panic swept her. Am I back in the hospital? She thought wildly.

“Help!” She screamed, hoping someone would hear her. “Somebody help me!” Her scared voice echoed around the dark room. No one responded. Heart racing, she tried pulling on the cuffs. They clattered loudly, but gave no intention of letting her go. She wanted to collapse, let herself fall to the floor, but the cuffs and anklets refused. Whatever was stuck in her back kept her standing as close to the wall as possible.

Suddenly, another alarmed scream echoed across the room. Startled, Jessica strained to see her unknown fellow. It was a woman’s voice, and a very familiar woman’s voice…

“Someone?!” the woman cried. “Is anyone there?!” It was her best friend, Kristen! Shock enveloped Jessica. Why was this happening?

A loud humming filled the room, and lights slowly came to life. As the dim light grew stronger, Jessica could assess the situation, and it scared the hell out of her.

Jessica was bound to the lower right-hand corner of a square room, and her blonde, slim friend was stuck to the upper left-hand corner. They were both in their pajamas and, by the look of Kristen, she too had a strange something stuck in her back. It looked like a thick rubber hose. In the center of the room were two huge cylinders full of water. They were about two feet apart from one another, and in the very center of the room. The water glowed blue, lit by something on the bottom. On the tops were large caps, and thick rubber hoses, identical to the ones lodged in their backs, led up to the ceiling and vanished. At the base of the cylinders were little consoles, and right above the consoles were doors that led into the water tanks.

Heart thudding against her ribs, Jessica looked around the room. She’s never seen a room so bland, and yet so sinister. The floor was red tiled with white between the squares. The walls were a white brick, but they weren’t plain. On the wall to Jessica’s right, in red paint, was a spiral. It spun inwards counterclockwise, paint having dribbled down the wall before drying. Up near where Kristen stood was a door. A sign was posted on it: NO EXIT. Up in the corners of the ceiling were video cameras, all blinking as they ran. A shiver of fear ran down Jessica’s spine as she realized who had them. Her fearful eyes darted up to Kristen.

Kristen was a dirty blonde, her long hair falling unbound across her shoulders. Her blue eyes were full of terror as she also surveyed the scene. It was obvious, however, she had no idea what to expect.

“Kris!” Jessica called. Surprised to hear Jessica’s voice, her friend jumped. As she jumped, her foot pressed down on a loose tile. A whirring sound emitted from a panel out of Jessica’s vision, but she could see what it did. A thin, plasma-screen TV popped out of the wall and slid forward until Kristen could see it. Looking to her left, Jessica saw a similar TV sliding to where she could plainly see it. It played static for a moment, then a terrifying face appeared.

It was a doll, a doll Jessica had seen once before. It scared her. It had a white, rounded head. Its cheeks, nose and chin protruded. The heavy cheeks had familiar red spirals on them, while the nose and cleft chin were plain. Its hairline was far back on its head, and the wiry hair was black. The black eyeballs and red corneas looked around, as though someone else was there to listen. The doll was dressed in a white dress shirt, black sports coat, and red bowtie. Kristen’s breaths were ragged. She obviously didn’t recognize the false face of the Jigsaw Killer.

“Hello, ladies,” the puppet spoke, it’s deep, husky voice scaring Kristen into silence. “and welcome to your salvation. As you both know, you have problems. I know that both of you have eating disorders. Eating disorders are only damaging to yourselves, but you both have harmed others, and it cannot proceed any longer. You both ruin your bodies by stealing away to bathrooms and re-living your meal. But, you both have taken your selfishness too far. You’ve hurt people close to you by your actions, and taken your beautiful bodies for granted. Many women would love to be like you, blessed with fit bodies, but you waste yours away until there’s nothing left…

“You both have two very large containers of water before you. As you see, the hoses proceed into the ceiling, but their whereabouts are unknown. Does your hose lead to the tank before you, or your partner’s, or is it just there to fool you? Inside your tanks are keys. The tank before you holds your own key, I promise. You must empty the tank completely to retrieve your key. You can see, there are wires in the tanks that are set to go off if you disregard my instructions. If you do not empty the tanks and retrieve your keys within ten minutes, the door you see will lock forever.

“Ah, yes, one last point. There is a chance your bodies may not hold the water that is flowing into them. You know your limits. Will you push them in order to escape this room? Let the game begin.” The TVs flashed off and disappeared into the wall. The cuff and anklets popped open. Near the center of the room, a group of tiles slid back to reveal a large, grated drain. A louder whirring emitted from the cylinders and the water began to spin slightly. Across the room, over the NO EXIT sign, a counter came to life, counting down from ten minutes. Jessica walked, legs numb, across the room, her hose following her like a tail. Kristen didn’t move. On the console was a lever, and simple instructions were crudely painted next to it. At the moment, the lever was in the neutral position. On the top was “Live” and the bottom said “Die”.

“What..? I thought…” Jessica looked from the console to the bottom of the tank. There, in the center of the swirling liquid was a large key with a “J” engraved on it. “So what do these mean?” Jessica gripped the lever with a trembling hand.

“Don’t!” Kristen screamed suddenly. “Don’t pull it yet! Maybe we can figure out where they lead!”

“But…” Jessica paused, sweat forming on her forehead. Kristen hurried over to examine the lever as well.

“So center does nothing…” Kristen looked nervous as she weighed the options. Behind her, the clock hit 9:30. “What does ‘Live’ do? Does it mean I live, or you?”

“The way it sounded, we’ll have to experiment.” Jessica said, her voice shaking. “I’m going to try ‘Live’, ok?” Kristen nodded, then backed away from her console. It took a moment for Jessica’s arms to obey, but they eventually did, pushing the absurdly heavy pole. The lever clacked with a heavy sound to “Live.” Water in Jessica’s tank bubbled and the water level began to fall. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, Kristen gave a scream and her back arched. Her pajamas could not hide the fact that her belly was swelling rapidly. It looked like she was carrying nine-month old twins. Her thighs and butt also swelled. Screaming in horror, Jessica switched the lever back to neutral. Kristen collapsed, her swollen body sloshing.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” she cried. Kristen stared at her swollen body in terror.

“It feels like so much,” Kristen murmured. “But it was so little water…” Then she looked up at Jessica. “I don’t know how we’re going to do this!” There was a moment’s pause, then with a great effort, she climbed up to her console and pushed the lever to “Live”.

“NO!” screamed Jessica, but she felt it. Water poured from the cylinder into Jessica’s body. It felt cool and at the same time, harsh. Her stomach swelled, her butt inflated, her thighs rounding. Jessica felt like a water balloon, and yet there was still so much water… “STOP! Please, Kris, no more!” Kristen paused, then reluctantly pulled the lever back to neutral. Mercifully, the flow ceased. Jessica was much bigger than Kristen. It’s so hard to move… There has to be a way.

“Jigsaw’s traps have some kind of trick,” Jessica panted, her bulk jiggling. “Maybe…”

“Don’t you give that to me,” Kristen warned.

“I’m not,” Assured Jessica. “Jigsaw made it sound like there’s a way to drop our water levels without inflating us.” She eyed the “Die” marking. “I’m going to try it. Brace yourself.” She could barely say I’m sorry. Fighting the resistance of the lever and her newly acquired bulk, she pulled the lever down. Her tank bubbled and the level dropped. However, as the two girls looked at each other, they saw no change in the other. Before they could both fell truly victorious, the lever snapped harshly to “Live” and Kristen screamed again.

“SHIT!” Her friend wailed as she doubled her previous size. Her breasts now swelled, as did her calves. Inwardly sobbing, Jessica lunged for the lever and pulled it down. It fought back much harder this time, and by the time Jessica pulled it down, Kristen almost took up her quarter of the room. Her stomach pushed against the cylinder. Jessica stared at her huge friend, glancing occasionally from her bulging friend to the key to the water level and back. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize it would do that!”

Kristen leaned forward, her face red with effort. There was no way she would be able to finish. Jessica thought Kristen realized it too. Her slightly squishy hand trembled as she reached for the lever again.

“Please…don’t do this…” Jessica pleaded, watching her friend’s determined face. Watching her hands reach for the lever, Jessica grabbed onto the console. Kristen wrapped her hands around the lever and pulled down. A moment of relief filled Jessica, but after the seconds of the water simply leaving, it flooded into her again. It felt like she was exploding without shredding into pieces. Her feet slipped out from under her, leaving her flat on her stomach. Her shirt was no match for it; at the moment, it was barely protecting her breasts from exposure. She could hear her pajama pants beginning to strain. After nearly thirty seconds, Kristen pulled the lever down.

“We’re running out of time,” Kristen croaked, motioning to the clock over the door. It read 7:13 and continued to mercilessly tick down. Jessica released her death grip of the console to take stock of herself. Her legs were huge and conical, her butt, stomach, and breasts reminding her of a water balloon. Her upper arms were slightly filled in, and Jessica even felt it in her face. “I can’t make you explode. You’re my friend.”

“And you’re mine…” Almost crying, Jessica watched the clock tick down. “It’s starting to look like neither of us will get out. We’re both too big to get through the door.” Kristen reached up with a pudgy arm and swept some of her golden hair out of her face. “What you should do…” Jessica gasped, coming into conflict with her bitchy, “I must stay skinny” side. It was her best friend. There was no other way. “Just…turn it to ‘Die’ again. Let that little water drain out, then… then force the rest of it into me.” Looking up through teary eyes, Jessica saw Kristen’s horrified face. “I won’t say it twice! Just end it!”

Seeing no other option, Kristen grabbed the lever and pulled it down. Another big gulp was taken from the tank, then the familiar cool rush flooded Jessica’s body. The room became a blur; her body expanding so she could see it out of the corners of both eyes, her foot touching the wall she’d left minutes ago, her arms stiffening and pushing out.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kristen’s tank slurped loudly. The sound startled Jessica. Shaking her recently acquired face flab, she looked around. Kristen had obviously been sobbing. She had unlatched the tank, but it looked like she wasn’t able to reach her key. Her swollen fingers were barely scraping it.

“I can’t!” she wept, her turgid fingers waving uselessly. “I have too much in me!” Her cries suddenly stopped. “Can you reach yours?” Jessica took a look at the clock. 2:00. It seemed like it was miles away. Waving her fingers was successful. She could easily place her palm on the glass, which meant she could get the key. But it would be much more effort to reach the hose. But she noticed that Kristen had made her decision. It broke Jessica’s heart to think that her best friend was going to do this, but she had just done the same.

“Yeah, I can reach it. I can reach the lever too.” Kristen sighed, and action that shook her water bed-like body.

“Just switch it to ‘Live’,” she gasped. “There’s no point.” Closing her eyes, Jessica pushed the lever. The water ran swiftly out of the tank. Trying not to scream, Kristen swelled for the last time, her top nearly ripping. Bulging flesh hung out of everywhere. Fingers wiggled in an attempt to alleviate the pressure. “Jessie, please look at me one last time.” Sadly, Jessica looked into the smiling face of Kristen. Her face had been spared the torment of water; it was just as thin and friendly as it was before this whole “game”.

With the force of a small bomb, her best friend burst. Jessica screamed and turned away as a large wave splashed over her. A sucking sound filled the air as the pink water spiraled down the drain. Over in the corner, Jessica saw the remains of her best friend and the hose still spraying the excess water. Torturous seconds past as the cylinder emptied out. Frantically, Jessica undid the latch and shoved her large hand into the empty tank. Her fingers no sooner nudged the key over and inch than the hose popped out of Jessica’s back. The water in her body began to trickle out, but slowly.

“The key…wasn’t necessary?” Jessica said in horror and disgust. “She could have lived! She could have pushed it off the plate!” The clock over the door hit 0:00 and it opened. Jessica could still feel herself deflating, but at a terribly slow rate. Footsteps approached from outside the room. “Who are you?”

“I am your savior.” A familiar voice growled. “Congratulations. You are still alive.” A tall man, wrapped in a black cloak with red on the inside strode in. He seemed to stagger a bit, and he was coughing. “I am sorry to say that, while your friend also learned her lesson, she did not survive to apply it to her life. However, you can share your experiences with everyone.”

“Will I ever get back to normal?” Jessica asked as the man approached, placing his hand on her tight, swollen stomach.

“No, but you will be much closer to the size you should be.” He pulled out a syringe and poked it into her. “Sleep well.” Darkness covered her eyes as she prepared to wake up in her new life.