Death Game (English) (Complete)

Chapter 49 - It's Not Fair

A frown appears on his face and he rubs his shiny bald head. 'Charlene told me to take you straight to your room.' I nod and take a step closer to him. 'Please, it's a matter of life and death.' In fact, that's not a lie. If I make the wrong choice Mira dies. He looks at me with big eyes and seems to be thinking. 'Please.' I don't think I've ever sounded so pleading. He sighs and then looks back quickly. 'Okay, but if anyone ever asks about it I took you straight to your room, understand?'

Gratefully I nod and walk behind the quickly walking man. He looks around a lot, as if afraid of being caught. Although my whole body is shaking and my thoughts are racing through each other making it a big chaos in my head, I am sure that I am making the right choice. I have to go to Sam, I'm sure he can help me.

Once again Isaac checks the hallway, then knocks loudly twice on a large door. After a few seconds, Sam's sleepy head appears in the doorway. He looks surprised, but when he sees me standing there and the stressed look of Isaac he quickly opens his door. 'Come in, what is it?' Isaac and I walk into the room. It is dark, the only light coming from a small nightlight placed next to a bed. Isaac briefly whispers something in Sam's ear and then walks back out of the room. Shit, I'm too late to thank him.

Sam turns on the big light revealing his messy hair and pajamas. He tosses me a pack of tissues and then sits on the chair across from his bed. Since there are no other chairs, I sit uncomfortably on the edge of his bed. I don't manage to stop the flow of tears and Sam looks at me with concern. 'What happened?'

I try to find words for what happened a few minutes ago, but it feels like an impossible task. 'I am not allowed to say,' I sob and slap my hands in front of my face. Why am I here if I'm not allowed to say anything anyway, I don't understand myself anymore. Sam gets up and walks to his bathroom. I hear the water running and then he comes walking back with a glass of water. 'Here, drink. That'll help.' With trembling hands, I take small sips of the cold liquid. Silently I stare ahead, while thousands of questions race through my mind.

'Sam?' I ask after a while, wiping away a few tears with a tissue. 'Yes?' I frown and crumple the piece of paper between my hands. 'Do you have any brothers or sisters?' He looks surprised but then nods. 'Yes, I have a younger brother and sister. Stephen and Rachel.' I take a deep breath and try to stop crying. If I want to think logically my head must be clear, but my head is anything but clear right now. 'Would you give up your whole life for one of them?'

He looks at me with big eyes and then shrugs. 'I don't know. Probably yes, but I'd have to think about that. Why do you ask?' I tighten and relax my hands as I stare at my lap with tearful eyes. 'Because I'm faced with that choice.' My voice sounds soft, and it feels unrealistic to say. 'What do you mean? The competition is over. Tomorrow you can go home with your sister. You don't have to give your life away anymore, right?'

Again, tears begin to fall from my eyes and I shrug. 'I need your advice, I need someone to talk to about this. You have to promise that whatever I tell you, that you'll never tell anyone because I'm afraid of what Charlene will do otherwise.' Concerned, Sam looks at me. 'Is it that important?' I nod. Sam shifts his weight in the chair and rubs his forehead. 'Then I'll listen kiddo, I promise I won't tell anyone. Tell me, then we can make a plan.'

As briefly as possible I tell him about what just happened in the room with all the fancy people. The longer I talk, the more disbelief appears on his face. When I fall silent he has a dumbfounded expression on his face. 'I didn't know they were capable of doing something like that to you. I'm very sorry that you are faced with this choice. They should never have done that.' I shrug and dry my face. The flood of tears has stopped. It takes effort to believe that this is my new reality. In fact, I can't believe it yet.

'You know what, how about you go get ready for bed. Then I can think for a while, because this is an incredible mess. So the dilemma, in summary, is between either do you take the job that will keep your sister safe, and her education founded, but it will make you work in a place where they kill teenagers every year and you have no contact with your family, or you don't take the job, you who will thereby be safe and can work with your older sister for Mira's future, but Mira who will have to compete again next year in the competition and most likely won't make it without your help.'