Treacherous Hearts

Chapter Four: The Round Room

Just as I was about to collapse into a gibbering mess of mortification, the gong sounded once more. I counted the players once again - twenty-two, including myself. Was there a surprise being thrown into the mix? I didn't think I could handle any more shock in one day.

Looking around the room, confusion and panic was etched into every face. Well, at least it wasn't just me. Whispers began to fly, and from the corner of my eye I saw four cloaked figures enter the room, and stand in each corner. I felt my heart begin to pound. Although I knew that it was only a game, I couldn't help but feel just how creepy these guys were. I mean, seriously, they were like something out of a horror movie - this place had Eyes Wide Shut written all over it.

The gong echoed through the hall one more time, and in unison the masked guards raised their right arms. Hidden in each of their sleeves was a long gold tube. I was standing nearest to one beside the door, so I reached out and grabbed the scroll. As I did so, I felt the guard's fingers grip my lower arm. I jerked my whole body backwards in surprise. Thankfully, everyone else in the room was too engrossed in this newest mystery to notice my discomfort.

The tubing was heavier than I thought it would be, and cold - I had expected cheap plastic, but I should have learned by now that this game did not do anything by half. Was this real gold? The lid of the tube popped open like a cork, and I was almost sent flying across the room with its force. Inside, was a neatly rolled scroll of paper, tied with a blood red ribbon.

I slowly unfurled the piece of paper, bracing myself for what I would see there, and found that it was.... Totally blank. I turned to question the Guard that had given it to me, but found that they had already disappeared through the bookcase. It seemed, looking briefly around the room, that the others had done the same.

At once, the room erupted into a cacophony of confusion. A younger man,probably mid-thirties but with hair already starting to grey, was gesticulating wildly with a scroll in one hand and the gold container in the other. Watching how the other players reacted, I knew I needed to keep my cool. If I became the voice of reason for this competition, I figured, I would have a chance of staying in until the end.

I strode confidently to the centre of the room and cleared my throat with more assurance than I felt. The chatter stopped, and for the umpteenth time that day, all eyes landed on me. I cleared my throat again, to stop my voice from shaking, and began to speak.

"Hi guys, I'm Ali", my voice came out much more powerfully than I intended, and I noticed people begin to take me seriously. Suddenly, I was not just the little girl from the corner. I was a real competitor. Emboldened, I continued, "I think we've been given a challenge. I assume all of the other scrolls are blank?" I asked the room with a raised eyebrow. I was greeted with nods, and a few murmurs of "Yes".

'Good," I went on, "That means there is a common thread here. Does anyone have any ideas?" A small, mousy-looking woman in her late forties raised her hand, and I pointed towards her.

"H-Hi", she began softly, "I'm Midori. I work as a cryptographer on the outside". This revelation surprised me; she didn't seem the type. I silently admonished myself for making assumptions. I had to treat everyone like a threat in this game, and it was high time I came to terms with that. I nodded encouragingly to Midori, and she continued, "Try holding the paper up to the light."

A flurry of activity followed, as I and three others crossed to the various sources of light scattered about the room. I pressed the flattened scroll against a lamp, and gasped as words appeared on the page. In bold lettering, it stated:

Congratulations. You have unlocked the Secret of the Scroll. Tonight, you are immune and cannot be Assassinated. Inside the lid of your container is an Amulet that will protect you from the murderous Sabateurs. Use it wisely.

I reached inside the long golden tube and, sure enough, resting just below the lid, was a tiny object. I pulled it out, carefully looking around to make sure I wasn't being watched. The Amulet was a small, blood red stone with a clasp attached. I hooked it gently onto my bracelet. Not perfect, but it would do for now. I felt slightly more at ease now that I knew I had this protection, and my first instinct was to tell the room about my find. But something told me to keep it quiet, at least for now.

Across the room, I heard a shout of triumph. A short, bespectacled man held his scroll out for the other players to see.

'They're directions! It's telling us to go down that hallway", here he pointed towards the hallway that Marcus and I had walked through, "And then turn left. We'll have arrived at the Round Room, where we will take a seat at the table. There, the Saboteurs will be chosen. Is that the same as the others?". He looked around at me, and the other two players who were holding scrolls. The man that I had seen earlier, with prematurely grey hair, gave a curt nod. A woman who I had not seen when I came in, wearing a hijab that perfectly matched her long blue dress, nodded also. Without thinking, I followed their lead.

Slowly, we filed out of the room, one by one. I found myself once again beside Marcus. He leaned over and whispered to me; the group had fallen into an almost reverent silence, and he didn't want to interrupt.

"Hey", he started, "I didn't mean to run off on you earlier. Sandra just had the funniest story to finish telling me, and by the time I looked back around, you had already gone. You look incredible, by the way. This place suits you". He shoved my arm playfully, to ease the tension, but the look that he gave me still made me weak at the knees.

I laughed, a pitch or two higher than usual, and replied, "Oh! Don't worry about it. I've just been getting acquainted with some of the other contestants. It is a competition, after all". This answer took him by surprise, and we walked the rest of the way in amiable silence.

We were separated once we got to the Round Room, which lived up to its name. The room itself was a perfect circle, and in the centre was a large, intricately designed circular table. As we took our seats, indicated by placecards, exactly twenty-two Guards joined us. They each took up a place behind us, and passed a black velvet eye mask to the seated player.

We all knew what happened next. This was the event that would change the game forever. We entered this room as Innocents. But leaving this room, some would be Saboteurs. If we were tapped on the shoulder by the Guard at our back, that was it. We had been chosen for the road less travelled. God, I hoped it would be me.

Putting the eye masks on, the anticipation in the room was palpable. Did everybody else feel the same way I did? Did they all have the desperate need to stand out, to be different, to do something? After Jake's infidelity, I had to be the one in power. And the only way to gain that power was by slipping on the guise of a Saboteur.

Within the mask, the world was pitch black, and my other senses heightened. I could hear every squeak, feel every breath, smell the sweat on my companions' skin. We waited there for what felt like an age. And just when I was sure that it was over, I felt it. A squeeze, harder than I expected, against my shoulder. Every hair on my body stood on edge. It had happened. I was in charge now. And it felt damn good.