Chapter Three: Killer

First Adrien. Now Chris.

Two out of the eight people to wake up in this room are dead.

"Oh, God," I whisper. "Rodney. Is he... Is he dead too?"

Chris is dead and he chose to betray. That means Rodney must have betrayed too, effectively getting Chris killed for voting to kill him. Monica got her wish. But from the look on her face, she isn't entirely happy.

I move across the room to sit beside her. Her eyes flicker up at me as she rubs the tears away from her eyes.

"Are you alright?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"No," she cries. "He killed him. Rodney is dead because of that selfish -"

Click. The lights go out. I feel a hand and a set of fingernails sink into my arm. I instinctively jump, but quickly realize it must be Monica. I reach out and put my hand reassuringly onto her arm. We essentially hold one another while we wait for the lights to come back on.

The sound of the door slamming shut and a loud thump echoes through the room before the lights come back. As I squint, I see a figure by the door. One I didn't expect to see standing, let alone breathing.

Rodney stares back at us, a cut on his lower lip and a bloody bandage on his foot. He hobbles towards us before collapsing onto his knees.

"Rodney!" Jen exclaims and rushes towards him to help. "What happened?"

"I-I..." he struggles to form the words. "I'm not sure. All I remember is the lights going out, then somebody hit me over the head. I woke up in a dark room and was told to play the game with Chris."

Before, I didn't understand why he was still here and Chris wasn't. Then the realization dawns on me.

"You chose 'ally', didn't you?" I ask.

He meets my eyes and nods slowly.

Jen realizes where I'm going with this. "The rules said one would die if someone betrayed and someone allied. They never specified who would die. We just assumed that the person who allied would die."

Monica sighs, her tears still dripping down her cheeks. "Thank God." She gazes up at Rodney. "I thought you were dead."

"Well I say good riddance," James says abruptly. "He got what he deserved. Betrayal for betrayal."

Betrayal for betrayal. Why does that sound so harsh? Like an eye for an eye. So dark. So medieval.

Rodney nearly falls over again while trying to sit down. This time, I catch him. I feel his weight under my hands. His eyes stare into mine, and I see him - really see him - for the first time. I notice the green flecks in his brown irises. And how kind they are. For a second, I forget where we are and what we're being forced to do.

I help ease him down to the floor. He holds out his hand for me and puts a note into my hand.

"What is it?" I ask as I turn it over.

"I was told to give it to you before they shoved me in here."

My heart leaps. "Me?"

He shakes his head. "No you specifically. You, as in the group."

As I unfold the paper, my hands shake uncontrollably. I don't know how Jen does it; the leader stuff. To have a group of (now five) people watching you as you read something meant for all of their ears.

"The games must go on. Return to the hat. You will play the game 'A Hat of Secrets.' If there are any further interruptions or refusals to play, there will be dire consequences. Follow the regular instructions for this game. When it comes to the secrets of the deceased, read them before continuing until all secrets are out of the hat. Why should the dead be protected from their secrets?"

"Who the hell gave you that note?" James steps menacingly towards Rodney and towers over him. "Who was out there with you?"

Rodney shrugs as if he's not afraid of him, whether he's pretending or not. "I have no idea. They wore a mask."

James scoffs with disbelief. "And you didn't recognize their voice?"

"Why are you so bent out of shape? Is there a secret you don't want revealed?"

A gasp comes from behind them. Ximena stands and points down at Rodney. "What if it's you? Are you doing this?"

James narrows his eyes. Rodney looks more annoyed than mad. "No, of course not!"

"Prove it!"

He sighs. "Why would I cut off my own toe? How would I cut off my own toe?"

"Maybe you didn't," James taunts. "Take off the bandage."

"Fuck off!"

"Ximena, hold his arms," he instructs as he lunges for Rodney's foot. The second he touches his foot, Rodney cries out in pain.

"Stop!" I shout, my voice cracking. "You're hurting him!"

James growls. "He's faking it!"

I look pleadingly at Jen, who is watching in shock. "Do something!"

When she doesn't, Monica steps forward and grabs James by the arm. Clearly much stronger than her, he pushes her off, sending her to the floor. Before I can help Rodney or Monica, the bandage is completely off of Rodney's foot.

The proud smirk fades from James's face as he stares down at the bare foot. We all do. And it isn't pretty.

Rodney's third toe is completely gone, clearly recently amputated. It doesn't look extremely choppy, say for instance, if he did it himself. The skin is blood red, and the skin where the toe used to be is black. Did someone cauterize it? It's as if whoever cut it off wanted to make sure he wouldn't bleed out, to possibly continue playing this messed up game?

With all the energy he can must, Rodney leans forward and decks James across the face. I slap my hand over my mouth in shock, and both Jen and Ximena gasp. James is propelled and lands on his side. He cradles his face as he glares back at Rodney.

Rodney gives him one last look. "Touch me again and I'll fucking kill you."

Ximena looks guiltily around the room. "If it's not him, then who is it?"

Jen seems like she's trying to hold back tears. "It might not be any of us in this room."

"No," James grunts as he slowly stands. "It's someone in this room. Someone who wants us fucking dead."

The lights overhead begin to flicker. A nasty feeling twists in my stomach.

"Guys, I think we should play before anyone is penalized."

Jen nods. "She's right. That might be a warning." She grabs the hat we were told to play with earlier. There's something so haunting about it knowing that's the object that essentially killed Adrien.

"So as the rules say, we each take turns pulling out a secret. We have to read each and every one. We have to guess who it belongs to. If we're wrong, there's a...penalty. Hopefully not a deadly one." She takes a deep breath. "Leader goes first, and then it goes to the left."

She puts her hand into the hat and closes her eyes. The second she touches paper, she jumps an inch. Hesitantly, she takes it out and unrolls it before reading.

"I tricked a girl who liked me into sleeping with me. I taped it and uploaded it online."

For a second, her eyes land onto James. He flinches. "Don't look at me, it wasn't me!"

Her eyes fall onto the table where Chris still lies. "It was Chris, I'm guessing."

A loud ding rings through the room. Everyone holds their breath. When nothing happens, Jen exhales.

"Okay, I take it that I was right." She hands the hat to the left. To me.

It's my turn. The hat seems so menacing although it's a normal hat. It was probably intended for a fun party, but here it is, threatening to expose the secrets we're hoping to keep to ourselves. My stomach is in knots as I wonder what could possibly be in there about me.

I uneasily take a slip of paper from the hat. My hands shake as I open it. I open my mouth to read it.

"I -" the word jams in my throat as I read the rest silently to myself. The words jump out at me as I realize I know who's secret this is.

It's mine. This is mine.

Oh God. What do I do? Do I read it or refuse? I clench my eyes shut as I think about my options. Do I want to die for my secrets? If the book is telling the truth, they'll just read it either way.

"Zoe?" Jen reaches out to me. "What's wrong?"

My lip quivers. "It's ... It's mine."

Her face falls the second she realizes. "Oh, Zoe. You don't have to read it."

"Yes she fucking does," James snarls. "Unless she wants to die, she has to read it. And who knows if the bastard will hurt any of us too."

I nod. "He's right. I just need a second."

The lights flicker. Shit. "Okay, okay," I whisper. I inhale sharply before I look down at the paper and prepare myself to read it.

"I got an abortion after my boyfriend impregnated me. He pressured me but broke up with me anyway."

By the time the words are out, I feel as if part of my soul has been exposed. I feel naked and bare, and not in a pleasant way. I can't stop the tears from streaming down my face. All I want to do is curl up and hide from everyone.

"Oh, Zoe," Jen scoots over to me and puts her arms around me. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

I wipe the tears away with the back of my hand. "It's mine," I say aloud before handing the hat to Ximena. The same ding sounds, and she takes the cue to read the next one.

"My parents pay the school to look the other way when I'm accused to bullying." She sighs. "It's Adrien's." She says without a second thought before balling the paper and throwing it.

Another loud ding, another right answer.

Rodney takes one. "I bribed my classmates to vote for me in the student body election." He says it with such ease but when he's done, his eyes fall reluctantly onto Jen.

She shakes her head. "No..."

"You're the only one here who's been student body president."

She puts her face into her hands. "No, no..."

He says her name before handing over the hat.

Monica takes it. She is clearly scared as she pulls a slip from the hat. With a sniffle, she reads it aloud.

"I sell test answers to pay off my mom's debt."

Without giving her a chance to guess, Rodney visibly reacts. His eyes widen and he gasps. "How did -"

"I'm guessing this is yours?" She asks him.

He nods grimly with a clenched jaw.

Before she could move on, James reaches over and takes the hat from Monica. Maybe he's impatient or worried.

His mouth falls open as he reads to himself.

"It says: 'I am the killer.'"

James slams the hat down, causing the other pieces to go flying. "I knew it!" he shouts. "I said it was someone in this room!"

There is a visible shift in everyone. This has gone from a game of spilling secrets to one of horrifying reveals.

Jen moves away from James. "It's you, isn't it?"

He scrunches up his face. "No!"

"You were so eager to say it's someone in the room, and you haven't had a secret be read yet."

Oh my God, she's right. Given the people who have had their secrets revealed, I can say it's not Adrien, Chris, Jen, Rodney, or me - the first two are obvious though, given that they're dead. That leaves James, Ximena, and Monica.

I can't imagine why Ximena would do this. Why would she kill Adrien? I can't see her doing that.

James or Monica?

The lights flicker.

"Uh, guys?" Jen says uneasily. "I think we still have to say who's secret that is. Or else."

It suddenly all clicks. The hints that have been planted. The suggestions. The strange coincidences that can't be coincidences.

First Adrien dies for refusing to let her secrets be shared. Then Chris has the word 'whore' written on his chest along with a secret about tricking a girl into having sex and sharing a video of them. But the most convincing is that there is a single secret that no one else knows. A secret only one other person knew about.

My secret.

All three of those things relate back to one person.

Monica.

"It's you..."I whisper, half out of fear.

She meets my eyes and wipes away the "tears." She ditches the wounded act and her mouth spreads into an evil smirk.

"Yep."