Alice in Borderland

Chapter 114 - Witch hunt I

For ninety seconds, my watchful eyes observe the glowing red light of the laser barrier against the black canopy of the sky that rises around the hotel grounds, turning it into an impenetrable barrier, before the light dims and eventually fades. These deadly lighting effects make the hotel, where we lived together as a community, not only a unique location, but also a prison from which no one can escape until the game is successfully completed.

I close my eyelids for a moment and take a deep breath so that my lungs fill with fresh oxygen and my chest heaves slightly. While my muscles remain motionless and relaxed, my heartbeat starts to accelerate and I feel a sensation on my skin as if the air is charged with electricity. I guess this is what the calm before the storm feels like.
'It's going to be pretty uncomfortable in there,' Kuina says and from the tone of her voice I can tell that she is indulging in her habit of chewing restlessly on a plastic straw.
'In any case, it will be interesting,' Chishiya says and I open my eyes to see him nod slightly and his eyebrows rise. The corners of his mouth twitch upwards arrogantly and his gaze is focussed on the main building of the hotel.

'What are our chances?' Kuina says slightly nervously, but to be honest I think she's keeping her composure in an impressively controlled manner based on her body language.

'The majority of the inhabitants are spades and clubs players, most of them will panic quickly,'
Chishiya shares his assessment aloud, 'I guess hearts players are very rare in the Beach, which might be to our disadvantage. I only know the Hatter, but his body is on Ann's autopsy table in the basement. We can't trust Mira and I guess Arisu won't trust us after that eventful evening. That just leaves...'
Chishiya turns his head back towards me and Kuina follows his gaze before her eyebrows furrow critically. Forgot, I hadn't mentioned it to Kuina about how I revealed myself to the leadership.But I recognise Chishiya's intention behind it. I have to stay calm for my friends. I tense my jaw and take a step forward to come to a halt between the two, pulling myself together to face the upcoming match calmly.
'Damn, I never wanted to end up in a heart game with you again,' I sigh bitterly sarcastically, feeling my game mode starting to kick in. My face grows colder and my shoulders slump as my hand reaches for the only item I wanted to take from the beach - my black rubber ball.

'What, do you regret our first kiss so much?' Chishiya says sarcastically, grinning cheekily, and I immediately sense Kuina's curious sideways glance.

'Shut up,' I say back emotionlessly and yet my façade crumbles as an amused grin flits across my lips.
'Shall we then?' he says after a short pause and as he pulls up the hood of his white waistcoat and puts his hands in his waistcoat pockets, he strolls slowly towards the entrance and I exchange an eye-rolling glance with the woman with dreadlocks next to me before we follow him.

As soon as we enter the interior of the building, the air suddenly feels stuffy and the yellowish light from the ceiling lights gives the scene a whole new atmosphere. We don't know the rules of the game yet, but it makes this place seem darker. The three of us reach the entrance area and maintain our synchronised pace as other residents run past us to a small white table piled high with countless participants' mobile phones.

With an obsessively steady hand, I grab one of these phones and as I stride away from the table, I raise the screen to eye level to run facial recognition. Strange, a game where everyone knows how to do this... all experienced players...

Participants are registered, it says on the screen, and I can also hear the short melodic music playing from the people standing around as they hold their faces up to the camera.

More and more residents gather in the lobby and get their entrance tickets through their phones. I stick to Kuina and Chishiya and together we position ourselves in the crowd at a point where we can still keep an eye on the action. I had already noticed it when I came in, but everyone else seemed to be ignoring it for the time being in anticipation of this complicated game.
A girl, maybe two years younger than me, is lying in the middle of the lobby dressed only in a bikini and the handle of a wide kitchen knife is stuck deep in her left breast. A crying girl kneels at her side and everyone watches as she trembles and clasps her cold wrist with her fingers.What does it all mean, is it part of the game?
'What happened, is she dead?' Kuina asks quietly and I just nod silently in confirmation. The girl has a knife in her chest, but if you were to expect a trick behind it, the stiff and motionless wrist also leads to that theory.