Cascade

Chapter 2

The Next morning, after five different interviews, I'm laced into my dress. The other girls come to my room to meet up before heading down to the bus together.

Like I said, we all match. Dal-Rae's dress has no red to not clash with her pink hair. Her's has long bell sleeves, decorated with sparkles in the black silk. It has a tight-fitted bodice with streaks of silver running through it into her skirt. Her skirt is short and slick, ending an inch above her knees. Over it is layers of fabric so fine, you can see straight through it, cascading to the floor. The silver streaks run down the skirt, more and more joining them on the way down until you can't see through the fabric at the bottom. Her pink hair is loose around her shoulders, curled to perfection, while some of it is in a thick, complicated braid circling her head like a crown.

Seon's dress is red, matching her fiery hair. It's strapless, but instead of being curved at the top, it's straight with pointed corners. It's backless and has a full-length skirt, a split, and a bit of a train. It has red jewels sewn into the bottom of the skirt and the top of the bodice. But the feature that Seon was most proud of was the fact that the dress had pockets. She keeps sticking her hands in them like she is right now.

Yeosin's white dress is a two-piece with spaghetti straps and a sinched, cropped corseted bodice, with thick straps that wrap around her stomach and tie in a bow in the back. Her skirt, a separate piece, has ruffles that slip from heavenly white to bloody red with every piece of fabric. She has short gloves on her hands, ending at the wrists, lined with pearls at the hem, matching the pearls that line the top of her skirt and the top of the corset.

Binnia's dress is one hundred percent white. It has a pinched bodice with a sweetheart neckline. Layers of white silk trail down ending at her knees in the front and her ankles in the back. Vines erupt from the lace bodice and trickle down to the bottom of the skirt. Thin laces crisscross across her chest and tie behind her neck like a halter. She has finger-less lace gloves on her hands that tie with a white ribbon around her wrists, matching the one around her waist. Her heeled slick white boots go to the top of her knees. Her light brown hair is in a braided half-and-half, secured in place with a white ribbon, tied in a bow. She has exquisite diamond and pearl earrings dripping from her earlobes.

We walk out of the hotel together into screaming crowds and flashing cameras. We smile and wave to the cameras and the fans. We step into the limo and settle in.

To get to the venue, we have to cross to the other side of New York City. When we reach the venue, we enter a line of other limos. Some are even longer than ours.

When we reach the front, we exit the limo in reverse age order. Binnia first, then Yeosin, Seon, Dal-Rae, and me.

Cameras flash as I walk into the building.

Dal-Rae's been to the Gala as a solo, but this is our first time as a group. It's my first time. Unlike how I've seen in years in the past, we are immediately escorted to the stairway.

We step onto the stairway. I go first. We pose. We are escorted to the side for an interview. It all went by in a blur.

Then we are dismissed and allowed to enter. When those doors at the top of the stairs opened for us, my life changed forever.

Inside is a large reception room. There are no cameras allowed inside, so everyone feels more relaxed. Everything is white, decorated with white roses, and sparkling diamonds. Waiters dressed in head-to-toe black serve glasses of red wine and champagne. There are already a lot of people there by the time we enter. But the thing that catches my eye is the huge floor-to-ceiling screens that most people crowd around. There are small screens on stands that people are tapping at.

I step over there to get a better look.

People laugh and point at the screen while sipping their drinks. As I get closer, I can see what it is. I just can't believe it. I heard rumors about it, I just didn't think that these people were so cruel. That insane.

The rumors were true.

Inside the screen is a village, modeled after seventeenth-century America. But everything is falling apart like it hasn't been maintained in decades. Running around the streets are civilians. They are crying torches to light the night, the light illuminating their battered clothing. Some look like they have weapons, knives maybe. Most of them have skin with a blue tint to it in patches, along with red, blistering bruises that cover some of their arms.

Someone sticks their head in front of the camera frame. A middle-aged man with blonde hair. His wide grin is creepily paired with un-smiling eyes, making him look delusional, crazy, and psychotic.

He's leaning in, his head filling the frame when - BANG! His eyes glaze over and he falls over backward, a gunshot wound on the back of his head splatters blood all over the screen.

I'm the only one who screams.

Everyone else cheers.

"Number forty-three!" someone calls out.

"Number forty-three, that's me!" a man I don't recognize calls out. "I won!"

The girls run up to me after hearing me scream. Dal-Rae and Seon are holding glasses of red wine.

"What's wrong?" Dal-Rae asks me. "Are you alright?" She follows my line of vision to the screens. She gasps as this time a young teenage girl is shot and clutches my arm. "Oh my God."

"They're placing bets on who's going to die and then killing them for sport," I tell them.

Binnia and Yeosin cover their mouths with their hands.

"Where is this?" Seon asks.

"Look at their skin," I respond. "This is one of the quarantines."

"Is this even legal?" Binnia asks.

"Oh it's legal alright," Dal-Rae responds. "I heard rumors about this on the internet. Once people get sick, they sign on. They think that they're signing on for gracious living arrangements, no testing, and a peaceful way to die, but they didn't read the fine print that basically said, 'If you die it's not our fault, you came here to die anyways.' Now they're all here to be slaughtered like pigs by the rich. And more will keep coming."

Yeosin looks at her. "You read all of that on the internet?"

Dal-Rae nods. "More or less, but that's not the point."

"And the people don't even know it's happening," I comment quietly.

Binnia looks sick.