Ephemeral

Second Game

I stared over at Xavier who was grinning down at me. He still hadn't answered my question. It was as though his silence was enough confirmation that what he said was true. I blinked my eyes once, taking in what he had insinuated. Then, I blinked my eyes again, coming out of my shocked stupor. "Are you...really serious?"

I didn't believe that I would have another chance at getting out of here.

Xavier was going behind Aidan's back to make it happen.

Why?

What would he gain out of it?

"You make it sound as though you're going to make it," Xavier smiled slowly, soaking in my hesitation to trust him.

I looked up at him and made some connections between him and Aidan. They were definitely family members – they found the same amusement in setting people up for failure. I don't think I would ever understand how someone could take such great joy in putting other people down. 

"These are different circumstances from when you played before."

"Different people, maybe," I nodded, thinking that nothing would change. Aidan never let me witness another one of the games that had happened. The only thing I had to go on were the screams of terror from the teenagers and the guns going off. "But it's the same game."

Xavier tutted at my explanation, causing me to take a step back. He stepped in front of me with a raised eyebrow. "Different location. Different people. Different rules. This is going to be one of my games." I furrowed my eyebrows as I listened to his explanation.

One of this games?

How different could it possibly be?

"Is it the time limit that's different?" He chuckled at my question. I felt my face flush. I was beginning to feel very small in his presence. He didn't correct me. Instead, I decided to play the humble card to try and get more information out of him. "I don't understand."

"You will," Xavier stated with a grin. He placed a hand on my back and led me out of Aidan's room. "If you do manage to escape, then I'll make sure you return home in one piece."

Damn – there goes my less than stellar attempt at obtaining information.

I glanced up at him as he led me to the designated black room. The black painted door was staring back at me. It was causing dread to grow inside of me, but I wouldn't let that affect me. This time I wouldn't fail in getting away from here, I just needed to be extremely cautious, but I'm sure that I could make it work. 

There was still the matter of being legally dead – but I could show that I was still alive when I went to a police station. This was still the United States and even if I didn't have identification, my face should be enough evidence.

It would be quite a different issue if this wasn't the United States...

What was I thinking?

Where else could Aidan have possibly brought me?

"When I make it out, I will make sure that I never see this mansion again."

Xavier merely grinned and gently pushed me inside as he closed the door behind me. I blinked my eyes as I was in the darkness and saw a collection of ten students in front of me. They all formed a line, and each of them looked like they had been beaten to an extent.

Cuts and bruises were on their arms, and that was just on the surface. Aiden's men must have beat them up all. That seemed a little aggressive – Aidan even said that he preferred them to be healthy and able to perform their best during the game.