Game of Fates

Chapter XVIII

"Ladies and gentlemen, do you recognize this knife?"

"That's—!"

"Pip!" shouted a frightened Amy.

"Pip, put the knife down!" demanded Elise. "Now!"

"Hey, hey, now!" laughed Pip, holding the blade to her sister's neck. "We're all in a game where lives are at stake. Don't get me wrong... I don't wanna do this. But a girl's gotta survive, man—"

Ava lunged forward and held Pip by the wrist. After some struggle, the knife flew sideways and hit the wall near the door.

"Amy, you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she answered, stern as always. "Pip, let's go."

She softly chuckled one last time before they both left.

"Pip..." said a shaken Elise. "She scares me sometimes."

"Now I'm beginning to believe Pip really is Ed's killer," admitted Kiara. "Unless someone else confesses too, I..."

"Well... Like you said before," I added. "If she confesses, then we know who to protect from the next killer."

"Protect Pip...?" repeated Ava. "I know she's our friend, but—"

"Ava, you're not seriously considering it, are you?" Elise interrogated. "Because if you are—"

"No, I wouldn't harm a soul, even when all this is happening," said Ava. "Still... If she's gonna do something to someone else, I kinda have no choice, do I?"

"Another big worry on my mind," said Kiara. "Y'know, we have Pip sorted out at least. But what if something already happened on the guys' side?"

"Oh, fuck—" I blurted.

"Hey!" Elise called out, pointing to the door to the dining room. Jens was peeking through. Perv. (I'm kidding.)

"Jens? You need something?" asked Kiara.

"Something happen in there?" he asked. "I heard some shit going on—"

"Pip killed Edward, that's all," I said. "Nothing else happened here!"

"Y-You sure about that?"

"Don't worry, dude," said Kiara. "We're fine. We're still trying to discuss."

I swallowed. "Anyway," I said facing back. "What now?"

"Can someone get the knife, please?" requested Elise. "I think we should take a closer look."

Kiara rose and fetched the scratched blade from the edge of the room. "The heck, you know what I've found fishy just now?"

"Spill," said Ava.

"Why ain't the knife bloody?" she spoke. "No way someone cleaned it, right?"

Ava raised her voice. "So it's Pip again, right?"

"Or, what if the knife wasn't used at all?" suggested Elise.

"No, a red herring? No way the knife wasn't used," I countered. "I saw it myself, that must've been what Brett used. And it's not like they faked it or something, right?"

"They could've, but only if they knew you were there, which I doubt," said Kiara.

"Also, another thing that's off," Ava pointed out. "Where'd it come from? It's not like Brett would casually carry a combat knife like that around, right?"

"Wait a minute," said Kiara. She gripped the knife by the handle upside-down, right above the back of her hand, and jabbed it straight down, fast.

No blood — in fact, not even a cut. The dull blade pressed against her skin

"I knew it," she said. "Pip... Even she wouldn't hold a real weapon to her sister's neck."

"So what's that, then?" asked Ava.

"I don't know," Kiara admitted. "If anything, it's prolly something we can't figure out in one sitting."

"True," I remarked. How disappointing, I thought.

Elise rolled back a few inches. "I guess I'll go, I'm a little tired."

"I'll help you upstairs," said Ava, standing up.

"Thanks, Ava!" replied Elise, with her hands twitching on her lap.

Kiara also stood up herself and exited, turning left. Though I followed her, we split shortly after. Kiara walked across the dining hall as I hesitated to move up the stairs. At first I didn't know why, but it was pretty clear after a bit.

Of course, I was scared of Pip. She was upstairs, after all. Not to mention, Amy — though she could keep Pip under control, they were still close. Who knew what shenanigans they could be up to?

Still, I took a step forward, and another, and another.

I didn't know what to expect after that.

Surprisingly, but also thankfully, nothing. Nothing happened.

Nothing happened, even until night struck.

We breezed through as usual — we chatted casually together, and we all ate dinner as we normally did.

But of course, that just meant something was waiting to happen. Something bad, I would've thought.

======================

"Thump!"

"Crack!"

Then I closed my eyes.