Femi

The room was eerily silent. Black curtains the colour of midnight draped across all the windows encasing the room in doom and gloom. He sat on a high chair made of iron, surrounded by huge dogs (Rottweilers, maybe?). He held a staff which pointed towards me, I can't remember if I still lay down at that point...

Femi paused his writing in the dream journal to take a huge gulp of coffee, as he struggled to stay awake. He couldn't sleep, not until this page was filled with the details he remembered. He wouldn't sleep, not until this was resolved and he stopped seeing that face.

He stared blankly at the other housemates gathered in the lounge, oblivious to their whisperings. He wasn't interested in the outcome of the games nor the drowning lady. His game had been good, and he got high points which solidified his spot among the top three housemates. In Lola's case, he felt relieved that she was gone, her absolute lack of manners and human decency had severely put him off since the first day.

Femi glanced at the half-filled page of his journal, he needed was to find some way to explain what he was experiencing to someone. But he had doubts about that idea, because some of the housemates had been behaving strangely towards him, avoiding or ignoring him.

He sighed, he missed Granny Omolola terribly. If she were here, she wouldn't hesitate to make him jollof rice and rub his head affectionately. She would take him to her pastor and indulge in prayers and fasting till these nightmares left. Being outside his home country felt suffocating most times, but what else could he do? His grandmother and brother considered this scholarship the best thing to happen to them. It was their chance to finally leave their country and seek greener pastures, they were all depending on him and here he was, playing a mysterious game in America to last for nearly a month.

He sat up on his bed and looked at the other housemates through his open door. They sat huddled together, still surprised at the turn of events but he knew Lola's accident wasn't so accidental. Someone caused it, and now they must be feeling like shit. Just how he felt last night. He ate a spicy chip and picked up his pen.

I remember something else. This man told me that he convinced and threatened, in his words, 'the talkative boy' to make him leave. So it wasn't my fault, kind of. He also said someone stopped him from getting through to the other housemates.

Femi knew someone knew about his extraordinary situation, and he could bet it was Mr. Han. The man had begun to creep him out, staring at him strangely during his Q&A sessions and asking him stranger questions.

"Hey, dude. What you writing there?" Florian asked, pointing at the green notebook with half filled pages. Femi subtly tucked away the notebook in his bag and faced Florian. When had he walked in?

"Oh, it's nothing. Just some random thoughts." He shrugged, trying to play it off as unimportant.

"Oh, are you a writer then?"

Femi considered the question. The only words he wrote at a stretch were his dreams, vivid and detailed from start to finish (in the occasion he remembered everything). But he also indulged in poems and one-shots.

He nodded. "Yeah, you could say so. Not a professional though."

"Alright, that seems nice. I haven't seen you much all day, are you okay?"

Femi was thankful for the change in topic, but he was also surprised. The thoughtfulness in Florian's words always amazed him, he couldn't count up to ten people who showed him that much attention in his school and he was already in his second year.

"Yeah man, I'm fine. There's just something I need to resolve with Mr. Han. By the way, what's up with the long faces outside?" Femi asked. It wouldn't hurt to show some concern over the incident.

Florian shrugged. "Some of them are speculating that someone was involved in her accident. Conspiracy theories and stuff like that."

He feigned surprise. "Really? Any suspects yet?"

"Kind of." Florian whispered and moved closer to his bed.

"So, get this. Marcello told me Mareike has been behaving strangely, huddled closely with Chiara all afternoon and evening whispering in low tones."

"Marcello told you that? Isn't he supposed to be supporting her, aren't they an item or something?"

Florian laughed and shook his head. "Dude, haven't you noticed? Marcello is just trying to mess with her, get some action and move on, you know. Anyway, he suspects both of them have something to do with the accident." Femi's roommate made air quotes at the word 'accident'.

Femi stroked his cheek in disbelief. Mareike causing that accident? Unbelievable. She seemed harmless,  maybe it was an accident. There were bad people in this house, but not that girl. Or maybe, it wasn't on purpose; someone else could be controlling the shots, just the way it was for him.

This nightmare had to end.

Priya

She approached the girl slowly, and tapped her.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked quietly.

The girl turned her head sideways and shook her head, while the ex-AHOH beside Mareike narrowed her eyes at the question.

"She's fine." She paused and looked down. "She'll be fine."

Priya sat down beside Mareike, and put her arms around her. Maybe it would make her feel more safe and comforted, like how it worked for her when Eryk did it.

She tried again. "Look, I get what's happening. But, you aren't even sure it's your fault so you shouldn't feel too bad."

She paused and looked at Chiara, who sat at Mareike's other side. She gave her a nod, and squeezed her friend's hand, holding it tight.

"Then again maybe if you try talking about it, we can understand it better and help you through it. What do you think?"

Mareike wiped her eyes and rose her head from Chiara's shoulder. She sat up and looked into Priya's eyes, the sapphire orbs boring deep into her memory. Somewhere at the back of her mind, Priya suspected Lola's incident was caused by Mareike, accidentally of course.

"I am pretty sure I caused it. I mean, I wished her mask would fall off and she would start struggling. I... I did not know it would happen. Oh, I can see the judgement in your eyes now." Mareike cried and turned back to face Chiara, burying her face in the girl's shoulder again.

From the thunderous look on Chiara's face, she knew she had to defend herself quickly.

"No, I'm not judging you. I'm just surprised, I mean I wish I could do that. I would have made my dad all better or broken the marriage between my sister and her no-good husband. That's badass, you know."

Mareike looked at her. "Really? But it hurt her. That was a bad thing to do. Besides, everyone else seems suspicious."

Priya shrugged. "Well, I'm not. Everyone else can go hug a pole or run into a moving car. She clearly hurt you first, I mean, she stole your track suits and gave you her uncomfortable ones. That was mean of her too. Besides you were just ranting, it's not like you knew anything would happen."

After a few seconds of silence, the girl sat up and cleaned her face. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks were really pink and swollen. Priya guessed she had been crying since after they waved Lola goodbye, which was around four hours ago.

"Exactly what I've been saying. Lola was mean to everyone, and maybe this just happened to teach her a small lesson." Chiara added, which earned her a look from Mareike.

"Hey, don't look like that. We're just saying the truth. Maybe she'll stop being mean or maybe she won't. But either way, no sugarcoating girl!" Priya said, fisting her hands into the air.

Mareike laughed. "Well, I guess so. But still, this is odd. Does this mean I have superpowers? I can control water?"

Priya went silent at that, and so did the other girls. She didn't know what all this meant, but something wasn't right. She was still wondering how Femi charmed his way through tasks and chores, and now Mareike could transfer her emotions through water. She pointed to a glass of water on the table in front of them.

"You can try it with this."

The girl looked skeptical, but she went quiet and glared at the water. Nothing happened. The water stayed just as it was and after about a minute, she slumped her shoulders and looked at them, voicing her thoughts.

"Nothing happened."

Chiara immediately responded lightly. "Probably just a one-time thing. Like I said, she just needed to be taught a lesson and maybe you were the person for the job."

Priya saw the doubt in Mareike's eyes, but she didn't comment on it. Time would tell if all these happenings had any more meanings.

"By the way, how do you know so many American words? Have you been here before?" Mareike suddenly spoke up, looking at her.

Priya grinned mischievously. "Oh, that. I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

Not all secrets were meant to be revealed within a few days. Revealing all sides of her would come naturally,  little by little.

Ace

Ace sat in the middle of the conspiracy gang, listening and absorbing every piece of information and gossip he heard. Somehow, the topic had moved from Lola's accident to the AHOH task, or lack of it.

"I'm beginning to feel the game is rigged." Marcello said.

Ace looked at him, and felt like punching him. Just a few minutes ago, he was trying to coyly convince the housemates that Mareike was responsible for the accident. Now, he was complaining about his games.

"How?" Ingrid asked and pushed her glasses up, moving forward to prepare herself for the explanation.  She loved asking questions that made people talk, and within two days, Ace knew she stored everything in her head and filed them away for future use. He couldn't trust her with secrets, if he even had one.

The guy started to explain. "Look, I get why the main games change but why the AHOH task? Okay, who's watched Big Brother here?" When no one raised their hands, he shook his head and continued.

"No one? Okay. Well, in that show, the games for the Head of House don't change regularly. It's usually the same game over and over, and it may be boring but at least there's consistency. But here, it's all changing. First, Ace and Eryk were made to choose between themselves and suddenly, Femi swipes in and takes the role. No comments were made. Then there's a cooking game and Chiara wins, I mean, what the hell is that? Now, the AHOH was just picked at random and Florian wins it. Just like that."

Ace ran his hands through his hair and glared at the guy. Now he was attacking his closest pal in the house, just who was this guy? His friends needed to see this guy for what he really was, a manipulator trying to win his way to the finals.

Ingrid spoke up. "Marcello, though you may be correct, that's really mean of you. Why didn't you say all these when Florian was here? And have you tried to talk to Mareike since this afternoon?" She stood up and grabbed Ace's hand, tugging on it.

"Let's go. I want no part of this conspiracy group. There are better ways to make friends and gossip than doing this."

Ace allowed himself to be pulled up, and they left the lounge room and went upstairs. When he glanced back, only Marcello and Eryk were left in the lounge, sitting at opposite sides. Clearly, everyone felt the same as Ingrid and himself.

"That was nice of you, Ingrid. It took guts to openly say something like that." Ace addressed her on their way up the stairs.

She let go of his hand and rubbed hers together. "It's annoying to keep meeting people who behave like that. I just hope Mareike and Florian see him for who he really is."

"Yeah, me too."

"But still, I have to ask you. What do you think about all this? Lola, and Mareike?"

Ace shrugged. "I don't think Mareike is responsible for the accident. This house is a bit strange, odd things keep happening so maybe Lola's case was just unfortunate and ill-timed."

The girl beside him walked on, touching her glasses. "Maybe, but we'll see."

*****

DO YOU THINK MAREIKE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCIDENT? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.