Traitor

Day 1 (7:24 p.m.)

Benjamin's POV

A shrill scream filled my ears and I sat up abruptly.

I got to my feet as fast as I could as everyone around me awoke with a start and followed me, Jacob muttering a string of curses under his breath.

I froze as soon as I saw Sophia crouching over Amya.

Eliza ran forward along with Kiara, but the rest of us stayed back, watching from afar.

Sophia stood up slowly, squishing a white gooey substance between her fingers. It looked like glue or slime. Tears were brimming in her eyes, but she was fighting to hold them back.

"What is that?" Aiden stepped forward, gripping Sophia's wrist and pulling her hand closer to his face to sniff it.

His face twisted. "It doesn't smell poisonous. So what's up with it?"

Kiara stood up, the same substance in the palm of her hand. "It's coming from Amya's nose and mouth. It seems to be lodged in her throat. She must have suffocated."

Kiara swallowed as she rubbed her throat gently with her free hand.

I felt like throwing up. "But how did it get there?"

Eliza stood up as well, a jug of milk in her hand. "Amya was holding this. I think this is how she died. But it's texture seems to be fine..."

I stepped forward and gently pulled the jug out of her hand, pouring a little puddle of milk into my palm.

We all watched as it sat there in my palm. A split second after it sat there, the texture changed. It became rubbery and almost like slime.

My eyes widened. "The milk is rigged somehow! I think whenever it makes contact with heat, it's texture instantly changes. So when Amya was drinking, while it wasn't poisoned, it was enough to kill her slowly and silently."

Aiden clutched his stomach and turned away, running for the bathroom.

"I feel like doing the same. How could someone stand this? This is barbaric."

Jacob let out a long breath. "Well... at least we know the rest of us are safe for tonight."

"JACOB!" All of us yelled -even Aiden from the bathroom- and Jacob threw his hands in the air in surrender.

"Sorry! I was just trying to lighten the situation." Jacob mumbled and Eliza's hands curled into fists.

"This is so terrifying!" Sophia cried, tears falling from her eyes at a rapid pace. "I can't wrap my head around the fact that everyday one of us is going to die unless we win the game before then and we never know who will die or what time or how we just know that one of us is helping this escalate in a bad way! And to whoever the traitor is: how could you?! I can't believe you would do this! Shame on you!"

I rushed to pull Sophia into my arms and I held her as she cried. It was uncomfortable, but I had to offer some sort of comfort. I couldn't just let her stand there and cry.

As Aiden walked out of the bathroom, our phones buzzed and Aiden clutched his stomach again.

Eliza took a shaky breath and opened her phone, reading the text aloud. "Hello, players! It looks like I'm winning so far! But it's only been the first day! And it looks like you have an idea of where I am. That's exciting. I'm happy to see you're getting comfortable here! I hope you explore the house a little more! Remember, there are two more floors! This house is bigger than it seems! Poor Amya though... it was fun to watch!! Goodbye for now! And who knows? We might see each other soon!!"