Blue light snakes through each and every vein in my body, tingling along the edges and stirring a deep cough in my chest. Smoke brushes against my nose when I exhale, heat swarming between The Reaper and me.

Petrified, I remain in place. My body begins to stiffen and calcify like stone, only to melt away into a light fluidity. I cannot feel my weight, my height, or the connection to the world around me.

Demetri's eyes flare a little bit when my head lolls back. Not in anger, but fear.

He removes his hand from me just in time to catch me. My suit slips in his hold a little bit, the rain and mud making a grip rather difficult.

Before I know it, I'm hoisted up and carried away, the faint feeling of my essence flickering just beneath my heels.

"What's happening to me?" I murmur, my voice a groggy mess.

Demetri only shushes me at first, eyes full of focus. Each step is as calculated as the first time I met him. "Everything's going to be okay, Holly."

The small assurance allows me to go slack, relaxing into his warm frame and curl in slightly with the only strength I have. The rhythmic steps lure me deep into a secure sleep.

I don't notice the light shifting around us and the strange realm we enter. Through slitted eyes, I manage to see a gathering of all the Reapers around Death's throne. Lyric is also carried by her Handler, Noah supported by an arm over Atticus' shoulder. Most of the other contestants were on their knees or simply limp on their faces.

Seb continues to attempt to stand but collapses all the same.

"Stop acting so tough Sebastian," Death drawls casually. "The crystals are meant to incapacitate the user, so unless you'd like to make your situation more painful I suggest you let the energy consume you."

He sneers in response and launches for the dark figure, only to fall on the ground and choke. Unconsciousness steals him in seconds.

The Wraith chuckles quietly. "You said he was a Killer, Darius, but you never told me he was stupid."

I cannot see the man who laughs next, but something thuds to the ground shortly after. "Perhaps I should've told you his last victim was the one to kill him, a young mother alone for the night and he couldn't even tie her down without getting a concussion."

"How pathetic." A shuffling sound echoes through the room as the unfamiliar voice speaks. "I suppose it is all an act then."

"What now, My Lord?" I hear Atticus ask.

With a lengthy sigh, Death takes several long seconds before presumably lifting himself off the throne and pacing. "Bring them up to Saint Azriel and leave them in the moon pool. I want to see how they fare against the-"

With the sentence getting farther and farther away, I miss the final words spoken by a fraction of a second.

The next thing I know is everything but soothing.

"Line them up now," Atticus demands in a sharp, cold voice. "One at a time."

"The Killer," Darius says, followed by a loud splash.

Another steps forward. "The Lover."

Another onslaught of water sprays everywhere.

"The Sinner."

Again, a mist coats my face and hands.

"The Savior."

Each time a new voice, each time another splash.

Demetri shifts his hold on me and takes another step forward.

"The Monarch."

Before I know anything, I am submerged completely underwater. A chaotic buzzing swarms my ears and completely washes out my hearing. Yet even now I cannot control myself. As if paralyzed, I'm drifting deeper and deeper into the milky substance with nothing but the cold glowing moon to shine through.

Two more bodies drop in a similar pattern, the masses sinking at different rates. A larger male drifts below me while a skinnier one gets stagnated by the sprawling form.

The final body drops and I know the course from here isn't up.

Our lungs don't scream or beg for oxygen, nor do I feel any sense of panic. My heart's beat is steady, slow enough to keep me incapacitated but strong enough for conscious thought.

The others all appear dead at first glance and in the murky light, it clearly didn't matter how hard I tried. They were simple silhouettes drifting in dark blue syrup.

No matter how many times I blink, I can't move a muscle beyond my eyes and a few nerves in my cheeks. Momentum sucks me down, pulling me into the bottom reaches of sand and beyond.

I barely catch a glimpse of someone else disappearing into it, like quicksand. A fast abduction into the earth and then another. I feel the mounds beneath me begin to adjust and move, notice the warm fuzzy vibrations along the edges of my skin and hold my breath.

Air bursts into me at full force, the cave ceiling spitting me out onto hands and knees with nothing but fresh seaweed tangled in my hair and full function of my limbs again.

"What-" I take a quick gasp- " The hell... Is going on?"

I'm not alone. People pile in from behind me and lean up against the cave's mouth in front. Glowing algae hangs from the sharp, jagged stones and provides a thin glow to see through.

"They probably poisoned us," David snaps aggressively, his sprawled out frame on the floor all but amusing. It's obvious the effects are wearing off at different rates for everyone. "All these stupid games and for what? Does anyone know what actually happens to us if we lose? Did anyone even think to ask?"

Wyatt attempts to stand, an unconscious Seb falling out of the ceiling and knocking them both back onto the slick floor.

Connor hovers in the background before bracing most of his weight on a wall. "What do you mean?"

"What even are we right now? Souls? Are we in our old bodies? No one explained the rules to us, no one told us what was possible. How do we even know this is real?"

Small Lyric seems perfectly normal, messing with her drenched clothes and watching everyone in silence. Slowly, she drifts to the mouth of the cave.

Wyatt groans and massages the back of his head. "Dude, relax. It's not like you have anywhere to be. We're dead."

"Perhaps we're not," I whisper. "Lacey stabbed herself through the test, that has to mean it's possible to die..."

There is an impenetrable silence that follows, suffocating those awake enough to think. Nothing truly was explained to us, nothing is for sure, and no one said what the price of winning was.

This could be the baseline for all the grooming.

Seb groans to life and as soon as his eyes open, he scrambles away from the others with nothing short of panic adorning his features. "Why are you all standing around staring at me?"

"You wish you were that special, don't you?" I retort.

He gets on his feet with wobbly legs. "What did you just say to me?"

"You probably wish you were that special," I say again, getting up steadily and crossing my arms. "You've been 'all look at me, look at me,' since we got here. Who else has the insane arrogance to launch themselves at Death?"

Wyatt snorts in the background, quick to cough it off and look more interestingly at the landmarks within and outside out landing area.

The last to gain any sort of consciousness is Noah, who opens his eyes just in time to see the dark-haired killer charge for my throat. Seb takes a quick swing for my lips and I flinch, a few others starting to intercede.

Instead, the young man punches straight into shadow, wisps curling off of and flickering away from his chest.

My frame slips down into one of the shadows below me and I feel a surreal sense of immunity course through my very being. I become the wall. The very borders of my body, even my organs are gone in a lick of smoke.

Without thinking, I reform behind the paralyzed shock in his eyes. "I know how you died," I smirk, the inner rage in me coiling up and slipping through the air in a sultry sweep of bitter joy. "A killer bested by a single mother."

He whips around, the look he gives me is wild, untamed. "How did you-"

"From what I heard, you couldn't even incapacitate her."

The others are slowly creeping in around us, but not obvious as to avoid attention.

Seb's fingers twitch, ready to strangle me. Something restrains him, whether it be the risk of disqualification or not I don't know. But there is a chain binding his fury. "How could you possibly know that?"

"The Reapers mock you when you sleep and knowledge is power," I answer calmly.

Seb unleashes on me, this time swinging for a backhand. His shot only brushes through shadowy smoke.

He tries again, aiming for me only to be knocked back with a thud. David's massive hand threw him back into one of the walls. "I don't know if you realized, but now really isn't the time."

"He's right," Lyric agrees, her voice a soft echo. "We're obviously here for some reason."

"The Crystals affected us," Noah says, now standing. "Like her-" he points at me- "we all have abilities."

Connor scoffs at him. "Oh yeah, what are they then?"

As if on queue, a wicked screech pierces the entire den and shakes the world outside.

"I think we're about to find out."

Total Word Count: 11,068

Okay, I have to say this is honestly my favorite chapter of this book so far. It was SO fun to write and I can't imagine having a better time with a contest prompt. Truly. Things are just getting started and I have to hope that I can keep things under 20-40k.

For those of you who know me, that's not an easy thing to do. Lol.

I hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think, don't forget to vote and comment!

I love you guys!