Chapter Five: Next

I let out a scream as the blade pierces into my shoulder. As my cry fades, all that's left is a breathless gasp. I shake uncontrollably, frozen in place as I stare up at her. Her face will forever be burned in my mind.

There's something impersonal about how she killed Adrien and Chris is secret. But here she is. The lights are on. And I can see her face contorted in a scowl, but delight shines in her eyes.

As she pushes the dagger deeper into my shoulder, I weakly lift my hand to push her away. "Please," I beg in a whisper, my throat raw.

She sneers nastily. "The time for begging is over."

With a big sweep, she pulls the knife out. I cry out and I feel myself crash to the floor. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I hold my hand to my shoulder, the pain unbearable. When I glance up at her, I clench my eyes shut and wait for the final blow, for her to end it all.

But when I open my eyes, I see Rodney rush over to me, concern bright in his eyes. He puts pressure on my shoulder and I wince.

"Do something!" he screams. "She's going to bleed out!"

"Let her!" Monica seethes. "She deserves it!"

She paces, gripping her now bloody hands in her hair. "I... I need to think." Moving faster than any of us can think, she moves to the door and unlocks it. She slips through, closing and locking it faster than James can run.

"Dammit!" He slams his fist into the door.

I look up into Rodney's eyes. "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

He shakes his head. "Shhh," he puts more pressure on my shoulder, and I gasp in pain. "I won't let that happen, okay?"

"Why is she doing this?" Ximena cries, rocking herself back and forth.

"Isn't it obvious?" James rolls his eyes. "She wants revenge."

"But why?" she whispers. "What did I do? What did Adrien do?"

"Seriously?" Jen pipes in. "Aren't you - weren't you her best friend? Don't you know what she did?"

Ximena shakes her head.

"Ask her," James says, pointing at me. "They were friends. If anyone knows, it'd be her."

I inhale but it only hurts worse. Rodney holds me tighter. "She can't talk right now," he says for me.

"It's okay," I whisper. "I'll tell them."

So I do. I start from the beginning. When it all started.

Monica was a transfer student sophomore year. She was so out of her element. I remember her being this quiet, shy girl. For some reason, Adrien was interested. They became "friends" before Monica and I did. But little did she know that friendship was one-sided for Adrien.

She told her everything; all of her deepest, darkest secrets. And Adrien used them against her. She started rumors, blackmailed her into doing what she wanted, and then she did the worst thing of all. She used her feelings against her.

Monica had the biggest crush on Chris. And Adrien knew that. She told Chris to ask Monica out, which she agreed to happily. But instead of her fairytale story, Chris took her back to his house where Adrien was waiting camera-ready. She videotaped the entire thing and then put it online the next day.

She was heartbroken. She told me she has never forgiven them for that.

"That makes sense then." Jen says. "She did say that she planned on having two people die first. And it sounded like she planned on them acting the way they did. She wanted them to die first. They caused the start of her pain, after all."

"But it doesn't explain why I'm here!" Ximena exclaims.

"You were Adrien's best friend," I tell her. "You were there during the whole thing. You probably never stood up for Monica or helped. She most likely finds you indirectly responsible."

"And we know what he did," Jen sneers at James. "But what about me? Or Zoe? Or Rodney?"

James shakes his head. "Forget that. It doesn't matter what we did. She's gonna be pissed no matter what we think. What I wanna know is how the hell did we get here?"

"I..." Jen braces her head with her hand. "I don't remember. I can't remember anything before I woke up in here!"

"Yeah, me neither," James mutters the same time Ximena whispers, "Same."

I clench my eyes shut, hopelessly trying to remember something. Anything. A knot in my stomach begs for me to help. But all I see is darkness.

What was I doing before I was here? I wonder to myself. Where was I? Who was I with? How did I get here?

There's a flash. It went so fast, I nearly missed it. I get a tingle in my temple, a reminder. It's like the neurons in my mind are awakening, turning on after being powered off by something. I think harder.

Where was I!?

Then it hits me. Slow at first. I see Monica's shirt as she walks away. I look up and see people. Lots of people. In Monica's house. They're holding cups. Red solo cups? People are laughing. Then I hear music. Loud, bass thumping music. I turn and see Adrien and Chris, grinding while they dance. Across the room, there's Jen talking to some girls. She waves when our eyes meet. Separated in different areas of the room, there's Ximena and James. And then there's Rodney, isolated in a corner, clearly out of his element.

My eyes snap open as I remember. I remember everything.

"A party," I gasp. "We were at a party. Monica's party."

"Oh my God," Jen covers her mouth. "Yes! I remember now! She was having a senior-year bash or something."

James nods. "Oh yeah. I got an invite. I only went because she promised free beer and pizza."

Jen leans forward and smacks him on the arm. "Ow!" he cries out. "What the fuck?"

"You're such an ass, James."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever. You know it's the truth. That's why everyone else was there. No one really likes her. Why would they go to her party?"

I glance over at Rodney, who's still at my side, tending to my shoulder. "Why were you there?" I ask him. Parties aren't exactly his scene. Well, he doesn't have a scene at all.

Rodney shrugs nonchalantly. "I was bored. And beer and pizza sounded good."

James throws his hands in the air. "See? Thank you!"

Jen shakes her head. "You two are pigs."

"Okay, Madam President," James snorts. "Why were you there?"

"For your information," she places her hands on her hips. "I was being a good friend."

"Friend?" A new voice enters the room. We all glance over to see Monica standing just inside the room, the door slightly open revealing the hallway. But she closes and locks it. "If that's what you call friendship, I don't know why I even bothered."

Jen flinches. "Monica, I don't know what -"

"Just shut up. You're only digging yourself deeper." She walks the room, but no one tries moving towards her.

"What was with your weird party anyways?" James asks. "Was it just to get us here?"

Surprising me, she nods. "It was a ploy, yes. But how else would I be able to get you all in this room at the same time unless you were in the same house?"

Ximena cringes. "What did you do to us?"

A menacing grin spreads over her face. As if she's proud. "Oh, nothing too crazy. Just slipped a little somethin'-somethin' into your drinks, and then 'helped' you into here."

"You drugged me!?" James steps towards her. "What the fuck? My dad is going to kill me."

She laughs. "Oh, don't worry. You'll be dead before that happens."

A whole new wave of fear rushes through me. I feel Rodney's grip on me tighten as he experiences it too. We both know she's not going to stop until we're all dead.

"How 'bout a new game?"

No one dares refuse or protest. She smiles and moves to the wall in front of us. There's a large beige tarp covering something hanging on the wall that I hadn't noticed earlier. She takes it into her hands and pulls, revealing a large wheel with seven spokes with seven names.

Adrien, Chris, Jen, James, Ximena, Rodney, and... Zoe.

No Monica. I'm guessing she waited to "play" this game until she revealed herself.

She grins proudly when she turns around. "I call this one 'The Wheel of Misfortune.' How it works is simple. I spin the wheel once. The name it lands on is safe... for now. But they will play an important role. Then I spin it again. This time, the name it lands on is not safe. In fact, whoever it lands on will be the next to die."

Ximena sobs. I instinctively lean onto Rodney, covering my mouth.

"Shall we begin?"

Again, no one dares to say a word.

With a hard tug, she spins the wheel. It spins several times, circling through our names. As it slows down, I can't keep my eyes off of it. I watch intently as it comes to a stop, essentially picking a name out of a hat.

"Zoe." Monica smiles. "Winner winner! You're safe, honey, but you have a part to play. So wait."

Frozen in shock, I don't bother saying anything. She spins it again, letting it go through each name several times before stopping. My heart falls into my throat.

"Jen."

Jen gasps and staggers. Her hand flies to her mouth while the other is clutched to her stomach. "No..."

Monica jumps giddily. "Sorry, sweetie. You're next."

Then she turns to me, a wide grin on her lips and a demonic glint in her eye as she says the words I will never never forget.

"You will decide how Jen dies."