James smiled, with a strange hunger in his expression as he surveyed the spectacle in front of him. “So far, you have seen nothing of what awaits you here. People have grown to call this ‘ground zero.’ An apt name. There are seven levels in this castle, not including ground zero. As you make your way through this fortress, you will find that the level of difficulty increases as the level you’re at goes up. If you have a hard time at Level One, you’re sure to have a lot of fun at Level Three. After every level, you have a choice- you can either give in and subject yourself to my fate…or you can go on, perhaps to leave in the next level.
“There are no mistakes permitted here, at the pain of torture. If you give up, there’s no going back. This isn’t a videogame- your afterlife doesn’t have a reset button. Additionally, if you start a level, you have to finish. The only way you can possibly get out of The Castle is if you make it past level seven. So far, no one has gotten to six.
“Once you leave here, there’s no going back. You start at Level One. You may fail there, but you’re not coming back here. I suggest you get as much rest as possible while you can. After a hundred years or so, I will most definitely force you to leave here. After all, you’ll have to start eventually.”
“I’m sure some of you might like a sip of wine- even if you won’t feel its effects, you can still taste it. I still find the flavor as pleasant as I found it during the first drink of my life. You can join me as soon as you feel ready- I’ll be in the room directly across the hallway.”
He looked directly at Angela. “See you later.”