Going Money Mad

Somewhere unknown in the middle of the Indian Ocean, with no other signs of human civilisation clearly visible, a small looking boating vessel is continuing to rip through the cobalt blue sea. A group of friends are all enjoying the fresh summer air and partying like there is no tomorrow. As the party continues, a group of the girls decide to sunbathe outside as the rays of the sun grow ever more intense.

"Geez, it's definitely the hottest day of this vacation so far," Cerys announces, before stretching to lie down on the lounger. She places a towel next to her and applies suntan lotion onto her arms. "Oh, Inca, could you put my sunglasses on my face? I forgot to get them before I covered my hands in this damn lotion, haha."

The girl to her right, Inca, raises her glasses, "Sure, no problem." Inca grabs Cerys' glasses and places them on her head slightly wonky on purpose as a joke. "Haha, kidding." She jolts the glasses onto her face properly and lies back down.

"Thank you, I'm so glad I'm not entirely pale this year. There would be no way I'd survive ten minutes out here in this heat, whew." Cerys explains, and the girls laugh in unison.

The girl to her left, Esme, also lifts her glasses as she begins to speak, "I so get that. I would be literally dying in this heat. It's a good thing that Warren remembered to bring sunblock, I forgot mine when packing." She explains and laughs nervously.

As if he were summoned, Warren, dressed in a black tuxedo, approaches the girls, "Hey girls. You parched? I made up a batch of iced tea if you would like some."

"That's awesome, thank you so much!" Esme states, before giggling and blushing a little bit before realising Warren's still there. "U-Uh, also, why are you still wearing that tuxedo? It's easily 85 degrees out here."

Warren shrugs, "What can I say? In the most modest way possible, I think I look amazing in a tuxedo." Warren chuckles and the girls join in. "Alright, I'll bring out three iced teas for you ladies."

"Dankeschön darling, it's much appreciated," Cerys replies, with a put on posh accent compared to her normal voice. She also blows him a kiss before picking up a magazine from the ground called 'Fashion Digest', and begins to read it as the other girls bask in the hot sunlight.

The camera then follows Warren into the inside of the boat, where a relaxing lounge area is revealed. The camera fixates for a second, showing the open plan lounge and kitchen, as Warren makes up some more iced tea for the girls, we pan to the sofas where more people are talking amongst themselves.

"Wait, you're kidding right!? You did a backflip off of a tree house!? That's wild." Toya replies in shock, as Taron laughs.

"Oh yeah, you think that's wild? Have you ever gotten so drunk off your ass that you adopted a pet Ostrich named Clementine?" Taron replies, trying to stop himself from bursting with laughter, and Toya remains shocked.

"I haven't even dreamt of a situation as crazy as that!" She replies, slapping his arm, "What's your next prank going to be then, prank master?"

"You see, I already have it planned out," Taron explains, and looks up at Warren winking to confirm her suspicions.

Toya laughs cheerfully, “You’ll have to make sure I’m around to capture the moment on my phone! Especially if Y'all are gonna prank those girls outside. The reaction is gonna be epic!”

“Oh don’t worry, it will be very publically orchestrated.” Taron chuckles, as Warren finishes preparing the drinks. We follow Warren around the boat once again through a panned camera. We land at a room in the back of the boat, where two geeks are hanging out.

The girl keeps nudging the boy to try and win the game on the small retro television which illuminates the room. Suddenly, the room erupts into cheer and anguish as the death music from ‘Pacman’ plays solemnly.

“Ugh, whatever, you may be better at Pacman than I am, but I’ll kick your ass at Space Invaders AND Poker. And you call yourself a man…” Phyllis throws the controller at him angrily, still irritated by her loss.

Marley chuckles, “I’m surprised you haven’t punched me yet. Why do you keep challenging me when you know you’re going to lose? Do I need to give you the grand tour of my trophy room filled with my video game achievements??” He continues to push her buttons further with more related jokes, as she gets more annoyed.

Phyllis storms out of the room and Marley follows her panicking he pushed her too far. We follow them down the hall into the kitchen where a girl and two boys are preparing some snacks.

The girl sneezes, “Ugh, I hate having a cold out at sea. What’s the point of coming away on this luxury yacht if I’m just gonna be sick the entire time?”

“I’m not sure but I swear to God if you keep sneezing around the food I will be escorting you out of this kitchen post-haste,” Alfie informs, before crossing his arms with a scorn directed at Lavenia, who grabs yet another piece of tissue for her nose.

She sighs, “I can’t help it okay!? But everyone wants these hors-d'oeuvres and you already know you couldn’t do them all by yourself. Plus, they’d look pretty shit if just a man was assembling them, your kind doesn’t have the finesse or precision women are born with, mate.” Lavenia puts her hands on her hips, as Alfie is left speechless.

Just moments later, Lavenia is stuck in a sneeze daze. Alfie shouts at her to stop, but it’s too late, she sneezes loudly and one of the tissues she stuck up her nose falls onto the tray of food.

Alfie screams at the top of his voice, before coughing, trying to retain any shred of masculinity, and in a deeper voice than usual, he states, “...Get out.”

Lavenia walks out of the kitchen and heads back to the front room, where now Toya and Darius are conversing on the couch, she decides to join them.

Toya gestures Lavenia to sit with them, “You look glum, what’s up?”

“Alfie kicked me out of the kitchen on hygiene grounds...I just wish I could get over this cold already. I’ve had it since the day we’ve come out here.” She mentions, tearing up.

“It isn't that serious girl, calm down. We’ve only been out here for what, three days now? We’ve still gotta whole ‘nother week to go and you’re gonna complain about being kicked outta the kitchen!? Girl, go outside and get some sun rays.” Toya explains, whilst holding Lavenia’s head comfortingly in her arms against her chest.

“She’s right.” Darius buts in, “It’s so bright outside, so why aren’t you enjoying it?”

Lavenia sits back up, wiping away the tears, “You’re right. I should be outside soaking that sun in, shouldn’t I?”

“That’s the spirit girl! Now go!” Toya states, pulling her up off of the couches. She pushes her in the direction of the door and continues her conversation with Darius.

The camera follows back outside onto the decking of the boat, as Warren emerges from the inside with the iced tea beverages. The camera pans overhead to where we can see Taron with a bunch of water balloons. He signals Warren and he hands out the drinks to the girls, before joining Taron overhead.

The pair already commence chuckling, “Shh, be quiet, they’ll hear us.” Taron explains, leading to the silence between them. They mentally count to the number three, before unleashing several water balloons down on the girls, now including Lavenia, who become drenched in water.

Cerys jumps up from her seat upon the impact of the water, “What the hell!? TARON! I swear this was you!!” She grabs a towel from the benches at the front of the boat before heading back inside to her room, as the two boys continue to laugh hilariously.

Suddenly, the waves around the boat begin to shake viciously. The chipping noises of a helicopter begin to fill the air as paranoia and fear begin to set in for the teens. The teens inside begin to flood out onto the outside decking of the yacht as the helicopter gets closer.

Cerys finally emerges last, “Okay, I get that Taron can pull off some dumb prank, but how the hell is he making all this no-” She stops talking as a rope drops down from the helicopter, and a being with bright red hair begins to descend from the vehicle. Upon being close, she jumps from the rope and the boat rocks slightly.

She clears her throat before jumping into a more action-filled pose. “Oh wait, mic please!?” She shouts as a microphone drops from the plane, which she catches precisely in her hands in a very over dramatic manner. “Congratulations you twelve castaways, you have been chosen for the newest reality show to hit Great Britain!” She explains, as the teens express even more confused looks, except Cerys, who is cradling her damp hair between a towel with a scorned look on her face.

“I hate to be a negative nancy, but we didn’t sign up for any reality shows…” Darius explains, looking more confused than ever.

Lia laughs, “Sure, but your school decided to endorse the programme and as a result, the cast must come from your year group, you twelve were randomly chosen, and here we are.”

Everyone continues to remain confused, “What do you mean? This trip was organised between us twelve, and we’re all decently good friends so I don’t see how your ‘random’ device could pick us all at random?” Toya interrupts.

“That’s irrelevant right now. The important thing is, you all have a chance at becoming reality television superstars and you will win a prize for winning the game.” Lia explains, as the interest of the teen's peaks.

Lia, sensing the increase in interest, continues, “Yes that’s right, it’s a televised reality show. Luckily for us, you’ve all signed contracts at the school to be on so you don’t really have much choice but to participate anyways!”

“...Fun. Oh well, what could go wrong.” Darius mutters.

Cerys scoffs, “You think you can force me to play into this game of yours? If I have to, I’ll leave this boat.” She affirms.

“It’ll be a long swim for you sis...as you may or may not have noticed, you’re surrounded by the Indian ocean. It’s not exactly small or swim-able for someone of your stature…” Lia comments.

Cerys whips her ponytail in frustration, which makes contact with Alfie’s face, making him flinch in the background.

Lia coughs, “Anyway, as I was saying, you twelve have been selected to play a new reality television show called Sanctuary. It’s an elimination-style game where you must win challenges to give yourself or your team immunity for that week. Every episode, a voting period will occur where you will have to vote off one of your fellow castaways, with the person gathering the most votes becoming eliminated from the game. This process continues until only two of you remain, where a vote will occur to determine an advantage given to one of the final two in The Final Challenge.” She pauses for breath over dramatically, “Is that enough explanation for you all?”

Lavenia sneezes to break the silence, “Yeah sure, it sounds fun. I was getting bored of this trip anyway.”

Lia smiles over dramatically, “With that said, it’s time for the first challenge! As a surprise twist, this week is a double week, which means we will have two challenges and two eliminations!”

Mixed gasps are emitted from the crowd of twelve; “That’s right, and the elimination method is going to be a bit different too to kick this season off! Whoever out of you twelve is the LAST person to complete the challenge, your ass will be going home almost immediately before the semantics of the game have even set in!”

Another, larger gasp erupts from the crowd. “So, continuing on, your first challenge is to get to the island in the distance.” She pauses and points at a large island that is barely visible to the castaways, “And to climb to the highest peak of the island, which can probably see from here, is the hillside. It’s not a cliff or anything, it’s a leisurely hiking area, so you shouldn’t need support equipment. Whoever is the last person to check in at the top of the hill will be immediately eliminated from the competition. Understood?”

Multiple castaways nod as they prepare to dive into the water. “If everyone’s clear, go!”

Cerys and Taron dive into the water immediately and begin to swim ahead of everyone else who lacks behind them. Esme struggles to swim while Lavenia and Phyllis fight whilst trying to make any progress. The camera spins around and focuses back on Lia.

She chuckles, “Looks like I just inherited me a yacht! Stay tuned to watch these twelve moronic young adults become accustomed to three months of solitude on Benguerra Island in the Indian Ocean. This is Lia Kills of BTV, and you’re watching Sanctuary!” She introduces the show, as the official introduction video plays through.

We return to the island shore as some of the castaways begin to reach the thin sandy beaches, as the hot sun continues to pelt down upon them. Cerys makes the shore first, but Taron pulls back on her leg, causing him to overtake her as she falls to the ground. Warren grabs her hand and picks her up, being the third to the island.

Cerys brushes the sand off of her legs, “At least we all haven’t gone money mad.” She smiles at Warren wholeheartedly.

Inca and Esme are swimming in the ocean, discussing their love lives.

“So...I can’t believe I’m having to play a reality television competition against Taron.”

Inca sighs, “That’s really rough. I’m sure it’ll become normal eventually, I still haven’t spoken to Riley in months.”

Esme frowns as they reach the shore. She pauses for a moment to pat Inca on the back, who smiles in retaliation.

“Thanks for being there for me. Us girls gotta stick together, well, when Cerys gets first in this challenge anyways. She’s wayyy too into this for someone who didn’t wanna play from the get-go.”

Esme chuckles, “She’s determined alright.”

The girls notice Nightwolf approaching quickly, and begin to run up the mountain. The camera pans out showing some of the beginning of the incline of the mountain, showing Taron in the lead, with Cerys and Warren not far behind, with Esme, Inca and Nightwolf trailing behind them at the start of the mountain.

Meanwhile, swimming, are Alfie in seventh, followed by Marley, Toya, and Darius, leaving Lavenia and Phyllis in dead last as they continue to fight in the water. Lavenia notices that nobody is left in the water, and immediately tries to pull away from Phyllis, who then also notices the empty waters and does the same.

Alfie and Marley finally make the beach, Marley struggling to breathe from the impact the swimming had on him.

Alfie looks concerned, “Are you okay?”

“I’m not the strongest swimmer, to everyone’s surprise,” Marley remarks, before becoming aggravated. He flings his body off the sandy beach to help him stand upright, before taking off running ahead of Alfie, who chases him, stunned.

Meanwhile, we see Cerys overtaking Taron on the mountain climb. She continues to run into the lead, but she stops suddenly. She notices a scroll is hidden in a tree trunk close by.

We fast forward ahead an hour as some of the castaways get close to the top of the mountain.

Warren continues to run at a decent pace, eventually overtaking Taron and Cerys. Upon noticing, Taron decides to pick up the pace as the two men get close to the finish line. Despite his efforts, Warren crosses first.

Warren, panting heavily, falls onto the floor grasping as much breath as possible. “Heh, t-that was a tough challenge.” Taron crosses seconds after him, not even breaking a pant.

“Hmm, that’s interesting. Good job though, bro.” Taron states with an annoyed look on his face. Despite this, he picks up Warren from the ground and gives him a pat on the back.

Cerys crosses in third, disgusted at her ranking. Nightwolf crosses fourth, Inca fifth, and Esme sixth.

Cerys smiles as the girls cross, “Well done ladies!”

They smile, “Thank you, girl. It’s gonna be interesting to see who’s last. Any bets?” Inca inquires.

“The two computer dorks who never leave their rooms, it’s DEFINITELY one of those squares,” Taron states, trying to control his laughter under his breath while muttering that statement.

Cerys shrugs, “Despite the poor performance of your speech, you’re likely onto something.”

“I didn’t really notice anybody as I was swimming away back in the ocean. Some of them must be really far behind at this stage.” Esme interrupts, as the rest agree.

Taron continues laughing for another second. “Anyways, you ladies wanna go soak in this sun? May as well take advantage of this weather, it’s gonna be nighttime before we get to any sorta conclusion.”

Esme claps her hands together excitedly, “What did you even think the answer would be!?” She becomes ecstatic, and the girls leave with him, leaving Warren and Nightwolf.

Warren shrugs, “So, uh, how’s it going?” He states, awkwardly. To which Nightwolf shrugs.

Esme decides to return from the sun and she instead sits with Warren.

“Oh, you’re back? Didn’t fancy the sun?” He questions.

Esme shrugs, “There are some things better than the sun...like finding out who’s getting gone!” Warren chuckles.

Moments later, Toya crosses the line in seventh, carrying Darius in her arms, landing him in eighth place.

Toya drops Darius onto the floor and chuckles, “I guess I carried this one through the challenge. Is that how you use that shady term?”

Alfie crosses in ninth, panting relentlessly, “Y-yes, it i-is.” He falls onto the floor and falls asleep.

Esme looks shocked, “Hey Warren, I guess you were right about the gamers.”

“Yeah lol, I guess they really didn’t have enough athletic ability. I kinda assumed this would be the kind of outcome in this challenge. I’m surprised at how well you did though, you really held your own.”

Esme blushes, “Aw thanks, you did too. Well done on getting first!”

“Heh, thanks.” He replies, smiling. Cerys suddenly comes back from the beach and stands for a second, noticing how close the two of them are. She immediately frowns and makes it her mission to sit between them.

She smiles overdramatically, “Hey guys! Warren looks like your prediction was bang on!” She states, gleaming.

“Haha, yeah. I wonder where the other girl is though, she seemed to be quite a determined person on the boat, especially when she was insisting on making the food.” Warren states.

Cerys thinks for a moment, “Oh, Lavenia? Yeah, she’s like the head of the student council back home. Did you not remember her?? Lmao.”

“I remembered her face which was plastered all over the school walls, yes. I’ve never spoken to her though, she seemed too uptight for me to really vibe with her.” He replies.

As the two continue to talk, Esme walks away to sit with Toya and Alfie, slumping onto the floor with her head in her arms.

The night begins to fall as the three stragglers begin to make their way to the finish line.

“I can’t believe it’s taken SIX HOURS for them to climb this stupid mountain.” Taron remarks, frustrated with them. “How long did it take us even, like three hours?”

Lia shrugs, “You really think I was keeping count? That’s on you if you’re trying to train for some sort of marathon and are going for personal bests, mate.”

Esme shrieks, “Thank GOD I finally see somebody!”

Suddenly, Marley crosses the line and passes out completely on the ground, falling with a smack, landing himself in tenth. Lavenia and Phyllis can be seen only a few metres from the finish line as the tension grows.

“Come on Phyllis, you can do it!” Alfie cries.

Toya stands up with a jolt and begins to scream at the top of her lungs, “Come on Lavenia, let’s go, girl! Get them running legs working!”

The two girls continue to run into the finish line is in sight. Phyllis pulls slightly behind.

Phyllis thinks to herself, “Come on Phyllis, you didn’t do all of this social activity to just go home and continue your pitiful life as a dork. You can do this if you think you can!”

Phyllis begins to pick up her pace, as dust from the ground begins to fling into the air. Lavenia looks over her shoulder, her expression growing in concern by the second as Phyllis overtakes her and passes the finish line, falling into eleventh place. Lavenia finally crosses, last.

Lia cheers, “And we have a winner! Wait, no, I mean loser. Lavenia, you have failed this challenge and fallen into last place, which means you have been eliminated from the game.”

Taron chuckles, “Adios!”

Lavenia begins to tear up, “You’re kidding me!?”

Lia pats her on the shoulder, “I’m sorry Lavenia, but you’re the first person eliminated from the Sanctuary competition.” She gestures to a guy behind the camera, “If you follow this intern, he’ll take to your boat home.” Lavenia is then escorted from the mountain by the intern.

“And with that, it’s time for a commercial break! After Lavenia’s shock loss and elimination from the competition-”

Taron scoffs, “For the record, we expected it.”

Cerys rolls her eyes, “You said the nerds would be going first, no offence nerds.”

Lia scowls, “ANYWAYS, After Lavenia’s shock elimination, we’re down to eleven players. The competition is officially starting to kick off in a very dramatic fashion, and after the break, another one of these young adults will be saying bye to their friends in eleventh place! Our challenge will leave them all ‘gasping for breath’, haha.”