Flicker: The Game Of Chance

Chapter 2 | Operation: Farewell

Delta's body was hung through the ceiling inside of an opening, barely visible. Once we obtained his body, we discovered that his right arm and left leg have been dismembered and unable to be found in the premises - for this reason, we concluded that the murderer must've gotten rid of the evidence.

While the more sensitive ones like Carlos and Colleen backed away and looked for evidence, the more mentally able ones such as myself and Flavia inspected the body for further clues. Delta had a stab wound on his neck, and seemingly a knife pierced through his abdomen. Additionally, his left arm had scratches and bruises, as if he was tortured before death.

"Just killing him wasn't enough for whoever did this, huh?", asked Flavia, to herself. I continued to inspect the body, searching every nook and cranny. "What are we even going to achieve from searching the body?", I asked. Flavia didn't reply but gestured me to leave, if I was not interested in partaking in this.

Eventually a few minutes had passed and all of us were gathered around the same table once again.

"Well, myself, Veronica, Colleen, Austin, Carlos and Kiryomi were together the whole night", said Albert, "so we all have airtight alibis. That's already 6 of 16 suspects gone, leaving 10 of you".

"Well, Alicia and I were together the whole night too", replied Rosalie, "so we're safe". Flavia sighed and facepalmed before replying, "so, where's the proof you two are not working together? You can't just decide you're good by yourself, you know". Neither Alicia nor Rosalie replied. They looked at each other, deciding what to do about this statement.

Flavia decided to dismiss the idiocy and moved on. "Myself, Jamila and Elaina were together for most of the night. Jamila did leave momentarily to use the washroom, but it was too little of a time limit to be able to commit such an awful crime", Flavia said, "this leaves about... 7 suspects. We're making progress".

Upon hearing this, Mateo suddenly snapped. "You've ruled yourself out?! You're the most suspicious out of all of us!". Flavia looked at Mateo, dead in the eyes, and stared for a few seconds before answering back. "I have an alibi. You don't. It's only natural you'd be a suspect". She then looked around the table, at each and every person to pinpoint all the suspects.

"Chlorine?", she asked in a gentle, but intimidating tone. "Where were you, buddy?". Chlorine didn't reply. Instead, he took out a notebook and wrote down where he was.

I was in dat dere dining hall.

The room stayed quiet for a long time after reading such nonsense. Austin finally decided to break the silence, "Chlorine, we were in the dining hall. You.. weren't there". Chlorine made a disgusting noise that was probably a gasp, and then he replied, using his mouth this time, "But... I was in a dining hall! I swear! Maybe there's two?! This place is so grand, after all". Flavia looked at Chlorine again, possibly noting him down as a prime suspect for now, then looked at the next suspect.

"Miguel". Miguel turned his head and looked at Flavia. "What is it?", he asked.
"Don't act stupid. Where were you during the blackout?", Flavia replied rudely. Miguel thought for a moment, and then he replied, "I was sitting in a hallway during the whole time. I was asleep". It wasn't a proper alibi, but Flavia seemed to know that Miguel being the murderer was less likely. She then looked back at Rosalie and Alicia.

"May I hear your testimony once more?", she asked. Rosalie and Alicia both looked panicked, but then Rosalie slowly and nervously replied, "Yo. We were together the whole time... is that so hard to...", her voice started breaking and you couldn't hear it anymore. Flavia sighed and took a long pause. "How useless", she muttered, before turning to the next suspects.

"Amani, Mateo. What about you two?", she asked. They both looked nervous, just like Rosalie and Alicia, but they had a hint of guilt and actual fear. "Uhm. Uh- well...", Amani muttered. "We, uh...", Mateo muttered. Flavia looked at them dead in the eyes and gasped. "Oh. I see... didn't think you two were that close already". She refused to further comment on this situation, and she thought for a moment.

"Do you guys think we should vote Chlorine? Or perhaps we should suspect Rosalie and Alicia instead? I believe everyone else is safe". Everyone thought deeply about it. "Let me just say, I don't think any of them are the murderer, per say. In the darkness, you wouldn't notice if one person had slipped away from your group, Albert. But I'm sure that either Chlorine or Alicia and Rosalie are evil".

We all thought deeply about Flavia's remark, but no one could say anything. They didn't want to suspect anyone without any big leads, and they were truly stumped. "Can.. we just not vote anyone?", Amani had asked. Flavia flicked Amani in the forehead, signaling a "no" as her response. We must vote someone, no matter how it makes us feel. We must not let our emotions control us.

Jamila sobbed out of despair, while she wrote the individual she'd vote for. Carlos and Flavia had no expression on their faces while they wrote. Alicia and Rosalie tried to hold back their tears, but it was quite obvious to realise that they weren't in the best mental state. Austin looked like he had despairful thoughts going through his head. Chlorine... I don't know. Colleen looked lke she didn't want to, but she had to. Everyone else just looked similar, like they didn't want to do this, but as if they had no choice. They knew that the result of their votes would get someone killed, and no one wanted that, but it was inevitable, it was unavoidable.

Eventually a few minutes passed, and then it turned into an hour. Everyone had made a decision, and we were about to present it. Flavia read the votes written on the damp pieces of paper, and she took a deep breath.

"With a ratio of 10:6, Rosalie and Alicia...", she paused and looked at them, "you two have been voted out".

Rosalie had tears rolling down her cheeks, and Alicia was trying to comfort her, but she was also in the same mental state. They left their journals on the table for us to read before heading the way for the supposed 'execution'. Flavia sighed and got out of the chair, before saying, "whoever wants to read it, go ahead. I've got more important things to do, just tell me what their role was whenever you see me".

I quickly took the journal and read each word, analysing it deeply and properly.

Rosalie's Entry;
On the day before we got trapped inside of this place, it was a sunny day. Those who lived in Sunny Mead will remember... the pure peace that was felt on that day. I never, ever expected such a fate to reach me. If I were to reveal my role to the others, it'd just make us more likely to die.

"Us?". Rosalie's Entry ended there, so I decided to take a look at Alicia's.

Alicia's Entry:
Yes, the sun truly was beautiful on that day.
On that day, the rainclouds seemed to go away.
It was a day that was truly meant to be enjoyed.
While I don't want any take in this cunning game,
I have no choice but to comply to the rules...
As the people with the role of twins, we're twice as likely to die.

The twins...

Everyone went wide-eyed at the reveal of this fact. They wanted to find Flavia, they wanted to ask her what she had done, but she was gone already. Perhaps it was on purpose? People started to freak out, and some started to scream their lungs out. The fact that the result of their voting was that the twins had been wrongfully executed was not a fact that they could just easily accept. I understood how they'd felt, but I felt that they were shitty idiots who felt bad for someone they didn't know for even a day. How could it even be possible?

I didn't know how long had passed where people were just sitting there, but eventually they all left one by one. I'd been the last to leave, and suddenly, I was stopped by Jamila.

"H-Hey, Veronica...?", she muttered. "What?", I replied. Jamila jumped at the blunt response, and she started to tear up. "Ahem... sorry, what is it, dear?". Jamila wiped off her tears, and looked at me like she was annoyed, then she just rolled her eyes and left.

'What the hell? Creep', I'd thought to myself.

I stepped out of the room, and I headed down the hallway.