Her Only Chance

Chapter Eleven

A/N: CHAPTER ELEVENNN!

Here is a new chapter!! It's a bit shorter than I anticipated but that's okay. Hope you enjoy!

Please comment below and give me your thoughts on the new version or what you are thinking! I would love to hear from everybody!!!

Chapter Eleven:

Entering the hall, many of the long tables were already filled with people, waiting for the breakfast which was supposed to be brought out at nine, as was announced earlier this morning. It happened when I was in the shower and I almost slipped in fright from the loud noise. It was mandatory that we were all here by nine.

On the envelope we had received from the Mayor containing information about the Resdue. It was shown that breakfast would be served between eight to ten so the hall would be more dispersed. It was the same for lunch between twelve thirty and two thirty. Except for dinner. Dinner was served at one time which was seven and was mandatory for everyone to attend.

But this was our first morning here and we had completed the first test so this breakfast was mandatory. The three officials were sitting on their seats at the front yet again, and all seemed to be engaged in a deep conversation. There was no telling what they were talking about, but they paid no attention to the arriving people in the hall.

Gailsman sat in the middle, beside him on his left was Axel King again and on the right, Daliah Neera. Her bright orange hair was tied up in a sleek hair do and Gailsman listened intently to Axel talking with a sneer on his face. They were all in their perfectly pressed official uniforms as last night, and when Gailsman glanced at his watch and around the hall, I knew it was almost nine.

Looking away from them, I noticed that Carter had taken a seat on the same bench as yesterday and was waving me over with a concerned look on his face. Quickly, I made my way to him and sat on the worn out seat that creaked beneath me, disputing my weight. I wouldn't be surprised if the table's bench were to snap during the assembly.

Something seemed different this morning. Off.

I could sense it, walking through the hallways and in here. Glancing around the main hall, everyone had subconsciously grouped themselves. But what did not go unnoticed was that when yesterday all the benches were completely filled, we had more space today.

It was almost as if we had emptied out.

Suddenly, a noise from the front sent the loud hall into silence as Gailsman captured everyone's attention. People around me glanced towards him with bored, sleepy gazes and expressions from the rough night.

"It is now nine o'clock and everyone seems to be present," he looked over everyone, his dark almond eyes glinting in delight. In his hand he held a wine glass which surprised me from how early it was. "I would like to propose a congratulations to everyone. You have all officially survived and surpassed the first test!" He said cheerily, but it was clearly forced.

A rumble of chatter ignited through the hall. It was as if the words survived had served as a trigger in the response of everyone who suffered through the sickness and being locked in their rooms. There was also a grumble of poison amongst everyone that had Gailsman looking antsy.

He cleared his throat in irritation loudly as he tried to regather everyone's attention. "The first challenge was to survive. But also, another part of the challenge was to utilise your intelligence and discover a way out of the room you were locked in. Of course, it was never a core part, but highly beneficial for each and every one of you."

My blood ran cold at what he was saying. Not only was the test to make it out alive, but was to see how we could cope with the pressure of it. It was not just about surviving. But knowing how to survive it.

"Many of you proved to be more capable than I could have imagined. This was a very difficult task and I am pleased to see that some of you were more than capable of achieving the ultimate challenge of leaving your rooms and even supporting others by helping them."

Everyone watched in silence as his eyes trailed around the room and he settled his gaze on a few people, raising his glass in a toast. It was obvious he was insinuating who exactly were the people who had not only opened their own rooms, but also others. There were gasps heard across the room as everyone desperately followed his gaze.

My heart raced heavily in my chest and I hoped... hoped so bad he would not look at me. Behind me Carter's breath caught in his throat.

But when his gaze landed on mine, everything seemed to blur as a ringing noise vibrated through my ears. He lifted his glass in mock congratulations before he glanced at everyone else and continued his speech. My blood had run cold and I had frozen in shock.

People around glanced at me and suddenly I really did not like this attention. In fact, I dreaded it. It was as if the people who he had personally singled out, he had placed targets on their back. I don't think being known here was a good thing considering we were all competing for a place in the top one-hundred.

We were all desperate and willing to do anything for ten-thousand dollars.

Glancing at Carter, a deep frown was on his face as he watched people stare at us. His gaze met mine and had concern in them. His hand brushed my lower back gently and I gulped before turning back to the front where Gailsman had continued on and everyone paid close attention to his words.

"I now also have to unfortunately declare that from the first test many were unlucky. Unfortunately, we lost nine-hundred-and-thirty-six contestants, four-hundred-and-sixty-eight pairs, further eliminating them from the Resdue."

Nine-hundred-and-thirty-six contestants were eliminated!

That means we had fourteen-thousand-and-sixty-four people left.

"What does he mean by lost," I whispered to myself.

My confusion deepend. What did he mean by lost? He says they are lost as if they had died. But it was obvious this morning that some people had lost their partner but they were still alive. He says they are lost as if they had died and not been eliminated.

I could not fathom how we had just arrived yesterday and yet so many people were gone now.

I turned to Carter, "What does he mean by lost?"

He looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Why does it sound like they have died and not been eliminated?"

He glanced up quickly and looked back down at me before leaning in closely. "I don't know what is happening here. But something doesn't seem right," he whispered.

I nodded agreeing, "And it was from the Bremeliar. They fed us Bremeliar!"

He nodded sadly, seeming deep in thought. I left him with that, turning back to the front.

"Now, breakfast will be brought out in just a few minutes. After breakfast you are free to roam around and explore the facilities that we have implemented just for you. And again, congratulations for surviving the first test. Good luck for what's installed for all of you."

I gulped suddenly feeling nervous.

Facilities?