Leorio screamed at the voice of the young fair maiden dressed in black and blood. Even the always so calm Kurta was stunned just for a moment. Killua on the other hand was pissed off, at himself and at her; he was the successor of the Zoldycks, how could he not notice her? The said girl smiled and rested both of her hands on her hips, "So?"

"Ah! Pick a trap door, Raven!" Gon cheerfully instructed.

As she stood next to the nearest trap door, Kurapika said to jump on the count of three. "Guess it's so long for now."

Leorio bid goodbye, "See you on the ground."

"I sure hope I catch one, if not all of you dead when I reach the bottom." The ravenette chuckled happily, causing the air around them very uncomfortable. While the tallest man feared the girl, Kurapika was annoyed while very intrigued to this peculiar one. Even Killua was interested, but in a competitive way. His pride would not allow him to lose to a girl who has no place in the society. His Zoldyck blood would not allow him to be overpowered, by anybody.

"One.." Gon started, unaware of the tension, and dismissed what he assumed to be Reiko's joke, or her way of saying 'see you later'.

"Two.." Raven continue.

All 5 of them shouted the last number, "Three!" They stepped into the trap door and it opened, letting every one of them slip inside. Reiko landed on the floor like a squat, with her hands in her pockets. She watched as Leorio landed headfirst and snickered at how lame and untalented he was. She felt superior over him, so much that she didn't think he deserved to be in her presence. All of them looked around and found each other in the same room; Gon and Killua were happy about it. Leorio could only shiver in fear as he felt the girl's judgemental glare on him.

"Well, good thing none of us were led into traps." Kurapika spoke.

"Look there!" Killua suddenly said while pointing to the wall behind Reiko. There was a screen stuck onto the brick wall, in front of it was a tall, cylindrical table with 5 wrist timers. The 5 participants walked up to it and Kurapika read what's on the screen,

"The path of majority rules.

The five who dropped into this chamber must find their way down together according to votes."

Leorio reached out to grab the timers on top of the table. "These watches have buttons X and O on them."

"Let's put them on!" Gon said as he already wrapped it around his wrist.

As soon as every one of them put the watches on, the wall slid up, showing a door. Beyond it is another door with a screen on it. As the brain of the group, Kurapika took the initiative to read their first question.

"Would you like to open the door?

O Yes     X No"

"Obviously, what kind of question is that?" Leorio whined. The 4 contestants were wondering the same as well, who would want to stay in this room? Was this a trap? Reiko narrowed her eyes at the screen, this question was so.. stupid. She was afraid that overthinking it would cause her to fall for the examiner's trap. Sometimes, being simple minded is the right way to go.

Simultaneously, all of them hit the O button, showing all of them agreed. The screen changed and showed the number of votes:

O 5    X 0

The door opened, leading them to a T-junction, both sides were gated with thick metal rods. Again, the wall in front of the group has a screen on it.

Would you like to go to the

O Right    X Left

This question was the beginning of their little task of the third phase. This was a choice of luck. Either of it could be a trap.

O 3     X 2

"Right?? I feel nervous going to the right! Everyone knows you should take the left route in a maze!" Leorio argued.

Kurapika countered him, "According to a research, people who gets lost tend to go to the left."

"The examiner probably knows the left hand rule, so right could be the safest choice." Killua agreed.

The naive man only growled in dissatisfaction, he hated to be treated as a fool.

The right gate opened and they walked through it, finding themselves on a platform with no way out. In front of them was what looked like a battling platform in the middle of the pit. The big platform had four poles with flames burning on top of it; on the side of it was a huge screen. If they were to fall, it was a sure death. Beneath them was nothing but darkness. Opposite them was another entrance with 5 hooded figures standing. Each of them had handcuffs around their wrists. One of the biggest figures stepped out and had his handcuffs unlocked, letting it drop loudly onto the floor. He removed his cloak and revealed a bald head with many scars on it.

He said, "We are your task masters. Each of us will battle with each of you, one on one. You are free to choose to go in any order, but each person only has one chance to go out. You have to win three rounds to complete this task; otherwise, you will be held here until your time is up, thus failing the exam. The rules are simple: you are allowed to compete in any type of battles. You are not allowed to end with a draw. The opponent must admit defeat, or die. If you accept the challenge, press O if not, press X."

"Another vote?? This is ridiculous!" Leorio once again complained, low-key irritating the raven haired maiden. She did not really mind Leorio before this, but after her encounter with the wicked man, she hated weakness. She hated how she was inferior to the chairman, she hated that he was so much stronger even when they hadn't fought. She knew, she could feel it. She trembled in his presence. Hating on others was her way of comfort about her own weakness. It was to distract the hate she feels toward herself. Aren't everyone else the same? To blame on others for a person's mistake.

The 5 contestants were quick to vote yes.

O 5     X 0

A smirk stretched upon the man's lips. He called out, "Who's first?"

And the air became cold. Something about the ravenette was wrong, very wrong. The hearts of her team were beating fast and their skin became clammy, they couldn't tell why. Slowly, their eyes darted to the girl, her bangs casting a shadow across her eyes. Leorio and Kurapika were breathing hard, as though the air was suffocating them. Gon only stared at her, feeling something he couldn't understand. Although he wasn't as effected as the blonde and the taller member, he was definitely sweating. The least affected was of course, the assassin. What Reiko was releasing only fed to his bloodlust, he knew clearly what it was and it made him feel the same. It made him want to kill. But she wasn't looking for death, she was looking for entertainment. This was her chance to release all the pent up frustration and bloodlust she had felt throughout the entire exam, she let herself free.

She grinned as her eyes glowed a bright red colour. "I'll go first." Her voice was cold, full of excitement and it sent shivers to everyone's spine. The big guy knew this was a troubled one, but he was too arrogant to admit that this little girl would be a challenge for him. As soon as she crossed to the bigger platform, the bridge that appeared quickly folded back into the floor to avoid anyone from intercepting.

"How does this go?" She asked.

Answering with confidence he probably would regret, "My choice would be a fight to death!"

The corners of Reiko's lips curved higher as her eyebrows curved as though she was about to cry— but she wasn't. She was ecstatic! A low chuckle resonated from her throat, it soon became a roar of evil laughter as tears fell from her eyes. Her opponent only looked at her, questioning her actions and also angry because he felt like he wasn't taken seriously.

"GIRL!" He yelled out angrily. "I suggest you to be serious or DIE."

She stopped laughing as she wiped off her tears, still grinning widely. She looked so... creepy. It was disturbing. "Of course. Let's begin.. shall we?"

And all hell broke loose.

+++

Greetings, everybody!

Don't forget to leave horror stories on Twitter with the hashtag #RavenGhoul. I'll be selecting my favourites and posting them here! If you would like, follow me on Twitter(@joelleapeno), say you're a reader of Raven Ghoul and depending on the audience, I'll release some polls so you can contribute to the story!

You are very welcome to send me your fanarts! I received a cute fanart of Raven from phantom_reader56 Thank you so much!

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Published: 16th April 2018