Author Note:

I feel like I've aged so much writing this one chapter. (I started this chapter in late December and it is almost February, so it's been like a month.)

Trigger Warning: extreme/graphic violence, blood, gore?, disturbing imagery

_____

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Please make your way to the dining room this instant! Tardiness will not be tolerated."

The morning announcement seems different today.

I got out of bed and quickly got ready. Fawn didn't take long to get ready today, though she was still in her pajamas. My sister sluggishly carried herself, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Did you stay up all night drawing?" I asked, sounding more like a parent than a concerned brother.

"No. It's 5 in the fucking morning." She sleepily grumbled.

It is?

I checked my PetalPad. It confirmed Fawn's statement. The announcement had gone off around 5 am, instead of the usual 7 am.

What's going on today?

A memory popped in my brain. I pushed the thought aside, refusing to believe it was happening again.

There's probably just a new rule or something.

The dining room was different today. A massive plasma TV now hung on the wall. It was off and there remote in sight, which left the 14 of us puzzled.

"Has anyone seen the remote?" Tabitha asked.

"No." Blane replied, slightly annoyed by her question. "If we had s-s-seen it then we w-wouldn't be st-st-starring at a blank screen."

"A TV in the dining room is great and all," Rory started to say, before their voice faded out. "But why do have to wake up at 5 am for it?!"

"It's motive time!" Wolf happily announced, as it sprung out from behind the plant pot.

"You think we'll fall for another one of your stupid bribes?" The food tester questioned.

"No." Wolf shook its head. "But I'm not bribing you guys anymore. You've proven to be a little too smart for those."

No more bribes is a good thing, right?

"If you aren't bribing us anymore then why are we here?" Isaiah asked, grumpily.

"I'm going to threaten you instead." Wolf turned his head, starring at the novelist for a prolonged period of time.

"I think it broke its neck." Tabitha stated.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll shut down." The romance novelist hoped.

"It looks like he already shut down." Minerva observed the robot, before scribbling in her notebook.

"What a waste of time." Amelia huffed.

A loud clicking sound came from Wolf the Cat's direction, however it remained with its circler head hanging to the left. It was an odd sight, especially with the robot having no profound neck.

The TV flashed on and the lights shut off. The screen displayed a panicked blonde woman. She was much older, assumably in her fifties or sixties. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied into a saggy bun that rest in her head. The place she was in was dark, the only light was something off screen.

"Mom...?" Isaiah mumbled. There was no way to see his reaction in the dark, but he sounded scared.

"I could explain the motive to you all," Wolf said, no body to match to voice in the dark. "But I'm confident that you'll understand it more from viewing a demonstration."

"A demonstration?!" I panicked.

What does he mean by that?

"What are you going to do?!" The romance novelist inquired.

"You'll see." It malicious answered.

The screen changed now. A shadow fell over the light source depicted on the TV, the room going pitch black.

"What are you doing?!" A new voice, presumably the woman that was on the TV, yelled. "D-Don't come any closer!"

The shadow moved, making the lady on screen visible again. The blonde woman was backed into a wall, shaking at the sight before her that was still unknown to us viewing.

What is she seeing?! What's going to happen to her?!!

"Pl-Please don't kill me!" The woman begged, as the silhouette was now holding axe came.

N-No! Not again...! I don't wanna watch someone die again!

The shadow swung the axe, and a vibrant pink liquid splattered on the wall.

I don't want to believe what I just watched... I don't... It's not...

"Mom...!" Isaiah screamed, his throat giving out as he choked on tears.

"What the fuck?!!" Rory joined him.

Fawn grabbed my arm and held it tightly. My sleeve grew cold from her tears. I silently cried into my other sleeve, unable to stop the memories of Skyler and Vanessa that flooded back to my mind after seeing the woman get axed.

"Oh my..." Quartz reaching to cover her mouth, her hand shaking as she lifted it.

"Sh-She's still alive...!" Blane shouted, getting everyone to look back at the screen.

"Please..." She begged, holding her bloody shoulder in a hopeless effort to stop the bleeding. Tears flowed down her face like a waterfall. Losing her strength to stand, she slid to the floor.

No response.

Another swing.

"What are doing to her?!" Isaiah stood up, looking for Wolf. "Stop..! Pl-Please stop!"

"You're about to miss the best part." Wolf simply said.

The axe split her skull open, ending all her moment in an instant. Blood covered the camera and we were left with a pink screen to look at.

I began to hyperventilate at the sight screen, having to look away to clam myself down. I forced my eyes shut as I cried, not caring if the others could hear me or not.

Blood... So much blood...

"What did we just watch?!" Nikolas frantically asked, flinching as the lights flickered on.

"That was day 1 of the motive!" Wolf excitedly said, jumping on the table.

"That's our motive...?" Hunter questioned in horror.

"Yep!" The black and pink cat nodded. "Every morning at 5 am if someone isn't dead, then we'll watch one of your friends or family members be brutally murdered. How exciting!"

"We have to do this again?!" Tabitha had her hands over her eyes, sounding like she was crying.

"Not if you kill someone." Wolf reminded her. "Romance novelist, Isaiah, would be a good target with how distraught he is."

"Stop insisting that someone's going to kill!" Rory shouted, continuing to cry afterwards.

"I'm not insisting someone will kill." It clarified. "I already know one of you is going to snap and kill."

Wolf might be right...

"We won't." Gabriel spoke up, however he was much quieter than usual. "We already know the consequences of what happens if we can't win class trial."

"Why do you try saying that again after you watch someone you know getting axe to death." The robot said.

The tennis player didn't dare to speak after that. He turned away, pulling his visor down to hide his facial expression.

"In case your curious, your PetalPads have been updated with the motive information and the hostage that you could potentially watch die on the big screen." Wolf the Cat explained. "It's also updated with who has murder immunity. If you kill someone with immunity, you'll be executed immediately."

I can't stand watching another person die...

Even if it's complete stranger, I don't want to feel this horrible sick feeling. Everytime I close my eyes, I'm going to see all the blood and... and her head...

Why would you even spilt someone's head open?!

Why wouldn't you just stab them and get it over with?!

Why would you want to watch someone suffer like that?! Why spill someone's blood of you can avoid it?!!

"Felix..." Zenith tapped my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.

I look up at the orangette with face full of tears. He gently place his hand over my left one, squeezing it. A single tear rolled down his face, before he gave me a smile.

I felt the slightest bit calmer, but my mind was still plagued with the sight of all that blood and that horrific image. I took some deep breathes, trying to focus on what was going on around me instead of what I was think about.

"What are we goin' to do?" Hunter questioned, drying his tears with his sleeves.

Wolf the Cat had disappeared at some point, leaving a room of scared and traumatized people. Even Nora wore a face of disgust at what we had just watched.

"What can we do?" Amelia proposed the question.

Nothing. There's nothing we can to stop this.

Do nothing. Someone dies.

Kill someone. Either you die or you get to watch everyone else die.

There's no way to win this without death being involved.

No one said anything. We came to silent agreement that nothing we could say would make this any easier to accept.

Most of us were crying or had cried at some point. However, one of person in our group stood out. Isaiah.

He just watched his mother die.

That's fucking messed up.

"Why...?" The blonde quietly mumbled to himself, mortified. "Why did she... Why my... M-Mom..."

"Isaiah..." Rory looked to him, wanting to comfort him.

"I couldn't do anything to help her." The novelist finally managed to say a full sentence without choking. "I just watched as she died..."

"There wasn't anythin' ya could do." Hunter reminded him.

"I... I... No, you're wrong!" The blonde male snapped. "I could've not come here in first place...! Then I wouldn't have to be in this stupid killing game... Then I could've saved her..."

He's right.

"She's dead because of this god damn killing game!" He announced, standing up. "If I wasn't so petty then maybe I could be at home with my mom right now..."

Tears rolled down Isaiah's cheeks as he yelled at himself. He let out all his raw emotions, paying no mind to everyone else in the room.

The romance novelist took a couple deep breaths, once he strained his throat and could no longer yell. He wiped his glasses, before tensing up at the sight of everyone.

"I-I have to go." His eyes widened, before he ran out of the dining room.

I don't want that happen ever again...

"I'll go after him." Rory volunteered, standing up.

"We should give him some space." Minerva suggested, stopping them.

"Right..." They agreed, sitting back down.

"I think we all n-need some sp-space..." Blane said, melancholy in his tone.

"I guess today's gathering in the art room is called off then?" Zenith inquired.

"No." Minerva shook her head. "We should still do it. If not to socialize, then at least so we can all be together."

"It'll put our minds at ease if we're all together knowing that no one is dead." Nora said.

Wait, Nora said that? Doesn't she enjoy this...?

A couple people shot gameshow host some odd looks.

"I don't mean to exclude anyone, but I think we should make an exception for Isaiah." Quartz suggested. "I doubt he will want to join us today."

"He's probably safer in his room than out here with us," Nikolas commented, sounding fearful.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can make breakfast today." Rory changed the topic.

"We understand." I told them, giving them a smile.

"Uh, yeah..." Tabitha's voiced trailed. "I don't mind cooking my own cereal today."

I couldn't bring myself to focus on what anyone was saying after that. I got up, Fawn clinging to me as we left the room.

"Can I go to your room?" Fawn asked me at the volume of a whisper. "I don't want to be alone right now..."

And I don't want to be alone ever again.

"Y-Yeah." I nodded. "I've been wanting to talk to you anyways."

"What?" She questioned me, quietly. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"...I have a lot to say." I stated, revealing no further details.

When we got to my room, I leaned up against the wall and let myself slide onto the ground. My sister copied me.

What do I tell her first?

"I'm sorry." I said, starting to collect myself.

"Huh?" Fawn starred at me with a blank expression. "Why?"

"I shouldn't have made you come with me to get my talent back." I explained. "You didn't even want yours back, yet you came here because I wanted you to come with me."

Fawn didn't say anything. She reflected on what I said for a prolonged period of time, before she looked down at floor. She opened her mouth, but then shook her head and looked over to me.

"I'm sorry you had to be apart of this killing game because of me." I continued, unable to stop myself from sniffling. "I don't know what I would do if... you d-died."

My eyes watered as I watched my sister struggle to respond to what I had said.

"...I-I'm not going to die." She replied, not sounding confident.

"I know." I agreed with her, wiping my tears before they could form. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"How?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know yet..." I sighed. "But I promise that you're not going to die here. We made it through some tough things before, so what makes this any different?"

"We're in a kill—" Fawn started to say, before stopped herself. "I wasn't supposed to answer that part, was I?"

"No. You weren't." I replied.

I don't think she believes me.

And honestly, I don't blame her. I said no one would kill and then someone killed. At this point, leading us down an dark cave and I dropped the flashlight at the entrance.

"Any ideas for how we can get through the motive?" I asked her, trying my best to not cry again. "I don't have anymore ideas."

"We should check to see who our hostages are." She suggested. "Then maybe..."

Fawn didn't finish her sentence. I had an idea of what she wanted to say.

"It's our cousin, Maggie." My sister informed me.

...

Huh?

I starred at the screen of my PetalPad in horror. I hadn't braced myself for anything, yet what I saw managed to throw me off guard.

How can this be my hostage...?

"Felix?" Fawn noticed I was unusually quiet. "Who is it?"

"It's..." I opened my mouth but couldn't bring myself to finish.

You.

A picture of my sister was under the the caption ''Hostage''.

I don't understand. How can it be her? She's right here with me?!!

"Felix." She said my name again. "Am I too quiet again?"

I— I can't tell her. She'll freak out and fear for her life. I don't want her to do that.

I already promised that she wouldn't die and I'm not about to break that promise.

But...

What am I going to tell her?

...

"FELIX!" Fawn shouted, startling me. "Sorry. You weren't answering, so I thought couldn't hear me."

"Hehe, sorry." I forced a chuckle. "I had trouble identifying who was on the picture, but my hostage is Maggie as well."

"That's weird how we have the same motive." Fawn stated.

"Yeah." I nodded, adding to my lie. "Wolf probably go lazy and gave us the same motive because we're twins."

I feel bad for lying to her, but how do I tell her she could potentially get axed to death tomorrow?

I can't... She doesn't need to carry around that kind of stress. She overstimulated enough being in a new place where we're being told to kill each other.

...

"Felix." My sister held her head up. "You're the only person I can trust here. I want you to stay with me everytime we leave our rooms."

"I will." I agreed.

"Thank you." She smiled. "I feel much safer around you."

Why? You shouldn't.

"I'll go make us something to eat and bring it back here." I told her.

"Be careful." My sister advised.

"I will." I told her.

I swiftly walked to the kitchen, hoping that nobody would talk to me in the hall.

When I made it the kitchen, I began to prepare food for Fawn and I. I made sure it was nothing messy, since we would be eating in my room.

"Felix! Just the unlucky loser I was looking for!" Wolf the Cat announced its presence.

"What do you want?!" I zipped around to face Wolf, holding out a spoon to my defense.

"Surely you must be a little confused about your motive, right?" The cat peered.

"It's really confusing." I stated, not letting my guard down. "You can't kill Fawn. She's part of the killing game."

"You're right." The cat pointed out. "I can't kill her, but one of my human associates can."

"H-Huh?" I dropped my spoon in shock.

"You think someone as un reliable as Nora is keeping tabs on all of you by herself?" It chuckled. "I've got plenty of people of people helping me out and I'm sure one of them wouldn't mind killing your sister."

"Why would you do that...?" I inquired. "Why couldn't have made my hostage one of my parents?!"

"Tiger and I did our best to gather people that you talentless fuckers actually care about." Sneered the robotic cat. "And the only person you seem to care about is your sister."

Fawn isn't going to die... She isn't going to die... I promised I wouldn't let her!

"Guess what, it's your lucky day!" Wolf cheered. "Since you would never put your sister in danger, I'm offering a special motive to you. Kill someone and win the class trial, you can escape this place with your sister. She'll exempt from everyone's punishment if they lose the trial!"

No... It's too good to be true... Wolf is lying to me to get me to kill someone.

"Y-You're just making shit up!" I shouted. "You're just trying to scare me so I play your stupid game...!"

"I'm programmed to do a lot of things, but lying isn't one of them." Wolf the Cat blankly said to me.

"It won't happen!" I shouted, tossing the plate of food at the robotic cat. It dodged, the plate shattering as a result.

"Maybe you'll get lucky and someone else will kill." Wolf theorized. "But there's no guarantee... How lucky are you feeling, Felix?"

...

Wolf the Cat disappeared, leaving me in the kitchen alone. My head started to throb and my legs felt like jello. I held onto the counter with a death grip, trying to keep myself up.

What do I do? What do I do?!

I don't want Fawn to die! But I can't kill anyone either!

"Is everything alright in here?" A voice asked, approached the kitchen. "I thought I heard something break."

Without thinking, I grabbed the other plate I had been preparing. I threw it like a frisbee, feeling the cold glass slowly slipping out of my fingertips. The plate was inches away from hitting the chauffeur, who avoided it just in time.

No... No! Why did I do that?! I don't want to hurt anyone!

"What's gotten into you, Felix?!" Zenith gasped, his eyes widening in fear.

But if I don't hurt someone then... then... Fawn could die.

My knees buckled in and I dropped to the floor. I didn't care about the thud my knees made when they hit the hardwood floor. I didn't care if they had gotten bruised.

I can't let my sister die. She's done so much for me... I need to do something for her...

I didn't care about Zenith examining the broken plates. I didn't care about the food I had gotten in the floor. I didn't care about the the mess I made in the kitchen.

I need to kill someone! Grab a knife, stab them, and run. Then Fawn will be safe. It's that fucking easy!

I don't care that Zenith is trying to talk to me. My eyes focused on the butter knife that rested on the counter.

I just need to grab it and kill Zenith.

My hand shot towards the weapon, unfortunately intercepted by the chauffeur's own. He held my wrist, pulling away from the direction I wanted it to go. My muscles began to relax as I began hyperventilating. My heart was beating faster than Vanessa ran in her execution.

...

Execution.

"I don't want to be executed," I stated, wanting to cry, but my eyes were out of tears.

"Your not going to be executed." Zenith assured me. "You haven't killed anyone."

...

Zenith let go and stepped away. I dropped my arm to my side, before hopelessly looking up.

"I can't do this." I admitted. "I can't handle this game. I thought I could, but I can't."

"You don't need to handle the whole game." Zenith simply replied. "You just need to handle yourself."

"But I can't even do that..." I sighed, sniffling. "I can't do something as simple as keeping myself calm."

How pathetic... I guess my parents were right about one thing.

"I think you did good." The orangette complimented. He squatted down to sit in the kitchen floor with me. "You could've stabbed me after I let go, but you didn't."

"...why aren't you mad about that?" I questioned him, worried. "I could've killed you."

"I doubt that." Zenith awkwardly laughed. "Maybe taken out an eye, but–"

"You didn't answer my question." I interrupted.

"This game cruel. Not just to me or you, but to everyone." He answered. "We've seen something today that we can never unsee. I shouldn't hold it against you when you feel uneasy."

"I feel like you should..." I insisted. "Me being scared is no excuse to get off scot-free after attempting to stab you."

"I suppose your right." Zenith agreed with me. "How about you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" I eagerly asked.

"Gather a group, excluding Tabitha and Rory, to play games in the library with us." He demanded. "I believe that enjoying ourselves is the best way to forget about this horrible reality. Even just for an hour or so, it would help me."

"I'm busy in the library tonight." I told him. "Would you be okay with tomorrow night?"

"Of course." He nodded. "Would you like some help cooking?"

He stood up and offered a hand to me.

"If it's not too much to ask, then yes." I nodded. "Please help me."

I grabbed his hand and he helped me up.

Zenith helped me prepare food for Fawn and I. We decided on baking cookies as well, hoping it would help people calm down to eat something sweet.

"Can I ask who your hostage is, Felix?" Zenith causally brought up the subject. "It must be someone your close with, considering your reaction earlier."

"It's just my cousin." I smiled, lying to him too.

I'll clear things up later... I can't let Fawn figure out right now. Not until I have a plan.

"We used to be a lot closer when we were younger." I added for good measure.

Zenith believed my lie.

"Ah, I see." He hesitated, before continuing. "My hostage is a client of mine who has hired me to be his full time chauffeur."

"Are you two close?" I asked.

Zenith nodded.

"I'm sorry to bring up the topic." The chauffeur quickly dismissed the talking point. "I'd prefer if we parted on a lighter note."

A lighter note...

"How was the pool party yesterday?" I asked.

"It was quite chaotic." He replied with a chuck. "But I think everyone had fun."

"That's good." I said. "Are there any plans for another one?"

"Not that I know of." Zenith shook his head. "Are you interested in attending?"

"Yes." I nodded, masking any fear I expected myself to show. "I think now is the perfect time to overcome my fear."

I was scared to get my nails painted, but I actually enjoyed that and I like how they turned out. Maybe swimming will be the same?

...and if I don't like it then I'll get out of the water and leave. It's that simple.

"I hope you aren't forcing yourself to do anything." Zenith told me, before smiling. "I look forward to seeing you join us at the pool party."

"Thanks." I grinned. "I look forward to seeing everyone too."

After we finished cooking, I took the plates and started the walk down to my room. I wanted to get back as soon as possible, but another person decided to greet me.

"Bestie!" Tabitha stopped me. "Have you see— What's that food for?"

"This is for Fawn and I." I explained. "We're going to eat it."

"Oh yeah." She realized, cracking a smile. "There's nothing weird about eating food."

I took a step forward but Tabitha stopped me yet again.

"I just remembered what I wanted to ask you!" The blonde recalled.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"Have you seen Zenith?" She asked. "I tried to talk to him earlier, but he kept ignoring me because stupi— silly Rory hasn't apologized to me yet."

"No, sorry. I haven't seen him." I shook my head, lying again.

I did it again. When you get into a groove, it gets really easy.

"Why are you waiting for Rory to approach to you first?" I inquired. "They are pretty stubborn about this, so I doubt they'll take the first step."

"But it's their fault!" Tabitha argued.

"Maybe that is the case, but people like it when you tell what they want to hear." I explained to her.

"Like lying to someone to get your way?" She compared.

"Not exactly... But that analogy works." I confirmed. "If you tell Rory that you were wrong about them, then maybe they'll say the same about you. Then you two can work things out, become friends and hang out with Zenith again."

"You're a genius, Felix!" Tabitha excitedly told me, resisting the urge to hug me. "I'm getting so bored without my phone and your one of the few people who will talk to me without leaving the room."

"If you wanna come hang out with Fawn and I then you can." I offered.

"Later." She told me. "I gotta find Rory so I can suck up to them and get Zenith to hang out with me again."

Tabitha and I went our separate ways. I returned to my room, Fawn impatiently waiting on me.

"What took you so long?" She interrogated. "Did you stop and chat with everyone you saw?"

It was only two people.

"Since neither of us had breakfast, I wanted to make sure we ate a good lunch." I said, before giving in. "And I did talk to some people too."

Fawn and I had lunch in the floor. My sister was pretty quiet, so I decided I should break the silence.

"Are you mad about not being able to update your comic?" I questioned her.

"I was at first, but I'm planning to update a lot when we get out of here to make up for it." She answered, before taking a big bite out of her grilled cheese.

"How? Don't you need those things will all the colors and details on them to draw the characters?" I asked her.

"Are you talking about reference sheets?" She confusedly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" I nodded. "Don't you need those?"

"Well, I've memorized all the characters at this point, so it didn't take long to recreate their reference sheets." My sister explained. "I've already started working on the pages that I'll add when we get out of here."

"Can I see?" I asked, excited.

"Yeah. Let's go get my tablet." She agreed.

After retrieving Fawn's tablet and everything she needed for it, we sat back down in the floor. My sister proceeded to show me a bunch of pages that she had drawn while we were here.

"Holy shit." I mumbled. "You've done that many and we've been here for..."

How long have we been here?

...

"About a week." Fawn stated. "I think this is day 8."

8 days here. That's almost as shocking as the amount of drawing my sister's done.

"You really haven't taken a break?" I sighed, genuinely questioning her.

"How can I?" She shrugged. Her face then lit up with passion. "The Island Arc is so close to being finished! I'm too excited to wait for us to get out of here to work on it!"

"What happens in the Island Arc?" I questioned. "I don't think I'm caught with your comic, considering how often you update it."

"I don't update that much." She rolled her eyes, before laughing.

Says the workaholic who couldn't take a break from work during a killing game.

"What was happening when you last read it?" She asked, gauging what she needed to fill me in on.

"They fought the pirate lady and over took her ship after she threatened to turn them in to the queen." I recalled.

"Okay so right after that, they get caught in a storm and crash on an island." Fawn explained to me. "That's when Island Arc begins."

"What do they do during the Island Arc?" I questioned.

"They're stuck with Captain Johanna the entire time, since she crashed with them." Fawn began to explain the plot of her comic.

When she got further into her explanation, she showed me comic pages that illustrated exactly what she had said. Each picture was colored and shaded in a way that appeared flawless to average eye. Even though I had already read everything, the pictures kept my eyes glued to the pages.

"He dies?!" I gasped. "After 300 chapters, he just dies of a cold!"

"Yeah." Fawn nodded.

"Now I have to pick a new favorite character." I jokingly complained.

We continue to talk about her comic, but a knock on the door interrupted us.

"I'll get it." I volunteered, sluggishly getting up.

Opening the door, I revealed the hand model that stood on the other side. Quartz was surprised when she saw both of us inside.

"Will you two be joining the group in the art room?" Quartz questioned. "Attendance is optional."

"I won't." Fawn shook her head.

"I'll go." I said. "I need to talk to some people, anyways."

Fawn shot me a wary glance, however she didn't say anything to convince me to stay. I waved my sister, before going with Quartz to the art room.

"I have one more." The white haired woman announced as we entered the art room.

The turnout from today was a little less than yesterday. Isaiah, Fawn, Rory and Zenith were all absent.

"4 missing..." I mumbled to myself. "What is that like a 3rd?"

"Actually it's 3 and a half." Blane corrected me.

Blane! Where did you come from?!

"Hey Blane!" I greeted him in shock. "What's up?"

"I d-don't want to t-talk." He clarified. "You're bl-blocking the b-board."

"Oh, right." I moved out of his, taking a seat beside Gabriel at a table in the back.

I should figure out if Gabriel's still up for playing board games tonight.

I should also figure out if Nikolas and Hunter still want to play after everything that's happening today...

"Hey." Gabriel said. "It's good to see you here."

"You too." I told him, smiling.

"Are we still doing that thing tonight?" He inquired. "It's find if we aren't."

"I'm down if your down." I answered. "I still need to figure out about the other two."

"Alright." He replied.

"I'll be back." I said, before going to the other side of the room.

Nikolas and Hunter were sitting together at a table. Hunter had less cheer to him and Nikolas was completely down in the dumps with his head on the table.

"Are still playing tonight?" I asked the two.

"You still want to play?" Nikolas looked up to ask.

"Yeah!" I responded. "I don't about you guys, but hanging out with friends always makes me feel better."

And I have a lot I want to feel better about right now.

"I guess I wouldn't mind playin'." Hunter decided without hesitation. "I think havin' a good time will make me feel better too."

Hunter and I turned to Nikolas for his answer. He stayed quiet for a minute, before answering.

"Okay. I still want to play." He confirmed. "I'm a little scared, but all three of you seem nice enough."

"Gabriel and I will see you two tonight." I told them.

Then I returned to Gabriel's table.

"How did it go?" Gabriel curious asked me.

"They'll be there." I answered, taking a seat across from him.

...

I should say something.

"How–" I began to say before he interrupted me.

"Do you think anyone will kill?" Gabriel leaned forward to whisper to me.

"What...?" I blinked.

"I think that someone will." He expressed. "We should be careful."

"Uh, yeah." I complied. "Don't go anywhere without someone you don't fully trust."

"I should be telling you that." The male with a visor attempted to joke.

"I'm being careful." I chuckled, assuring him.

Should I ask who his hostage is?

No, then I'll have to tell him mine. ...and I've done enough lying for today.

...

I need something light that we can talk about. Something that won't remind us of heads splitting open.

Chills when down my spine at the thought of the motive.

"How's your writing going?" I questioned him.

"It's going." Gabriel straightforwardly replied.

I shouldn't ask if I can read it. Fawn says you should never ask to see something that an artist is working on.

"What's your writing about?" I questioned. "If your okay with telling me, that is."

"I'm not sure how to describe it." He shrugged, before sliding the paper over to me.

"Do you want me to read it?" I questioned him for confirmation.

"Yes." He nodded.

I read over his writing to best of my ability. His handwriting was so beautiful, but he used so many words that I couldn't find the meaning of even if I had a dictionary.

"It's amazing..." My jaw dropped.

"Thanks." He gave me a tiny smile. "I spent time looking over it last night."

I can tell.

"What are you working on today?" The tennis player queried.

"Nothing." I replied. "I'd rather socialize. It calms me down when I feel stressed."

"What are you stressed about?" Gabriel asked. "Is it the motive?"

"Yeah..." I turned away. "I don't wanna talk about it here."

"Oh." His voice grew quieter. "Sorry."

Should I tell him?

Do I even trust him?

...

What kind of question is that? Of course I do! We're... friends.

"I'll tell you about it during laundry tomorrow." I finally said. "If you wanna know."

"I do." He responded.

Laundry tomorrow...

"I need to go talk to someone." I explained, standing. "I owe someone a favor."

I don't know if I'll be able to tell him. I doubt he would tell Fawn, but...

No. I need to trust my friends and the others here. Nobody wants go through another class trial.

I certainly don't, anyways.

Vanessa's demise burned into my mind, sending a chill throughout my body. I took a seat at nearby table, unable to keep myself standing.

"Hey, Felix." Minerva greeted me, confused.

"What do you want?" Amelia demanded to know.

The last three people I had expected to be together at table, were together at a table.

Amelia, who didn't seem like anyone's company. Blane, who acted shy around or uninterested around most people. Minerva, who enjoyed socializing much more than the other two.

"You three are friends?" I blurted.

"Amelia calls it an alliance." The journalist said.

"It's foolish to make friends in our situation." The coroner added.

I completely disagree, but I'm too scared to argue with her.

"Why did you three form your alliance?" I curiously asked.

"S-Safety." Blane responded. "B-Because we all have immunity from being m-m-murdered, it wouldn't b-benefit any of us to k-k-kill each other."

I started at them, flabbergasted.

"If someone with immunity gets killed, their killer is immediately executed." Minerva simplified. "By use surrounding ourselves with other people with immunity, we know there's no benefit to killing each other."

"That's really smart!" I commented.

"Amelia did c-came up with it..." Blane stated, smiling.

"Did you come here to bother us about our alliance?" The pink haired girl interrogated me.

"No, of course not!" I shook my head. "I came here to invite you to play a game with Zenith and I tomorrow night in the library."

...

That probably sounded really suspicious.

"Very well then." Amelia agreed without hesitation. "I'll only agree to go if the alliance joins me."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Minerva answered.

"I d-don't have anything else to d-d-do." Blane shrugged.

"I'll see you all tomorrow!" I waved to the trio, leaving them to whatever they were discussing before I interrupted.

On my way back, I stopped by Nora's table. She was alone, messing with her Petal Pad.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"N-Nothing!" She hide her device, spooked. "The real question is, what are you doing?"

I'm talking to you.

"You've been a lot less annoying lately," I pointed out. "No more questions of the day?"

"Did you actually like those?" Nora's eyes widened.

"No." I said. "But it seemed like you did."

"I ran out of good questions." The bluenette answered. "...ᴀɴᴅ I ᴡᴀs ᴛᴏʟᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴛᴏᴘ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴀᴘᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ᴀ sᴜᴘᴇʀᴠɪsᴏʀ ɪsɴ'ᴛ sᴜᴘᴘᴏsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋ."

"Are you a supervisor?" I questioned her.

"Yep!" Nora enthusiastic replied. "Ex Ultimates get superiority within the organization."

"What about Ultimates?" I asked her.

"...anyways, how have you been?" She avoided the question by asking another. "Any murder plots lately?"

"Why ask when you already have the answer?" I frowned as I questioned her.

"I'm trying to start a conversation," She clarified. "Duh."

"Well, no." I confidently answered. "I have no murder plots and I don't plan to kill anyone."

She mumbled quietly so I couldn't hear.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing!" She replied, before eying the door. "It seems this session of creativity is over."

People began to trickle out of the room, not bothering to announce their departure. I decided I would catch Gabriel on his way out so we could wall together.

"Hey, Gabriel!" I stopped him.

"Hey Felix." He greeted me. "What is it?"

"I wanted to walk with you." I told him.

"That's it?" His face turned red, as he adjusted his visor.

"Yeah." I smiled. "We're going to the library, so we might as well walk together."

Gabriel and I arrived early, giving us time to pick out a game before Hunter and Nikolas arrived. When looking through the games, Gabriel picked up a game titled ''Game of Life''.

"Can we play this one?" Gabriel asked, turning to me.

"Yeah. It's 4-player." I confirmed.

Gabriel and I finished setting up the game just as Nikolas and Hunter arrived.

"The Game of Life!" Hunter grinned energetically. "I love this game!"

"Who doesn't?" I rhetorically asked.

"Me." Nikolas joined the conversation. "I've never played before."

"You'll love it!" Hunter assured him.

"What do you do in the game?" Questioned the ice skater.

"You just go through life." I explained. "It'll make more sense when I read the rules."

I read the rules. We then picked our cars. I let everyone else pick before me, ending up with the green car for my blue game peg to ride around in.

Of course I'm stuck with the green one. That's just my luck, isn't it?

Nikolas was hesitant to choose a peg—his hand shaking over a pink and a blue one. As he saw he was holding us up, he picked the blue one and equipped it to his blue car.

Oddly, we all chose the college path of the game.

We hadn't gotten far, but one of the most important parts of the game had come up for Hunter. He had landed on the marriage square.

"You need to spin for how much we need to pay you for a wedding gift." I informed him, handing over the spinner.

He spun, landing on 10.

"How much?" Gabriel asked me.

"10000 dollars..." I sighed. "I'm going to go bankrupt if you guys keep getting good wedding gifts."

"I don't even need to get a job at this point if ya'll are gonna keep puttin' money in my pockets." Hunter giggled, taking up his wedding gifts.

Hunter added a blue peg to his red car, before ending his turn. The rest of us added blue pegs to our cars as well when the time came; I was the only one who considered picking the pink peg.

"Fired?!" Nikolas gasped, reading his card. "All I did was being my cat to work."

"Your boss musta been a dog person." Hunter joked.

"Yeah." The skater smiled, lightly laughing.

The Game of Life continued on. Gabriel seemed to be collecting all money, while I collected all the babies.

"My car is overflowing with kids..." I sighed.

"They need to add a bigger van for the pieces to ride in." Gabriel stated.

I guess a minivan can only get you so far in life before you need to get a van.

And so the game went on.

"Apparently I've committed tax evasion." I showed off the card I drew.

"Congratulations?" Gabriel didn't know how to respond.

Taxes are such a scam.

By the time that retirement approached our pieces on the board, I had managed to become richer than one person—Hunter.

"Retirement at last." Nikolas pushed his car to end. "It feels like we've been playing this game forever."

"It's definitely been a few hours." Gabriel added on.

"I guess we should count everything and see who won." I suggested.

After counting all the money, kids, and any other assets everyone had, it was finally time to reveal the winner.

"Felix is the winner!" Hunter happily announced.

"I am?!" I gasped, shocked.

I won! I won The Game of Life!

Now, I just need to win real life haha...

"I just got a little lucky, that's all." I bashfully said.

"You are pretty lucky." The tennis player commented.

...

"That was a really fun game." Nikolas stated. "A little long, but I liked it a lot. It's really unpredictable."

"Exactly! Most board games are pretty repetitive and there's not a lot of variety in 'em." Hunter agreed.

Nikolas doesn't seem to scared to talk to Hunter. That's good.

"Hey Felix?" Gabriel leaned over to me. "How are you on time?"

Oh shit! I keep forgetting about my bedtime!

I swiftly checked the time, seeing that it was 6:41.

"Aww... I need to get going." I announced, standing.

"See ya tomorrow, Felix!" Hunter waved to me.

Nikolas did the same, only without words.

"Uh," Gabriel stopped me. "Can I go with you? Walk you to your room?"

"Sure!" I nodded, my face lighting up red.

Gabriel and I had short, but delightful walk to my room.

"Thank for walking me." I told him.

"It was nothing." The brunette replied. "Don't forget about laundry tomorrow."

"I won't." I assured him. "That's going to be the highlight of my day."

Gabriel's turned bright red and he pulled his visor down. My face began to turn red too, as couldn't help but smile around him.

"Goodnight, Felix." He said.

"Goodnight, Gabriel." I waved to him, slowly shutting my door.

Another day's gone by.

"Hey Felix." My sister greeted me.

"Hey." I did the same to her. "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up all night drawing."

"I won't." She assured me.

...

I don't want my sister to die.

I trust everyone here, but if nobody kills then Fawn could... die.

...

I got her into this mess in the first place. I should be the one to get her out of it.

But, how?

_____

Author Note:

Who do you think has the most death flags at the moment?