Deck of Cards

Day 43- Scarlett

Six of hearts- starvation for 4hrs hours

Scarlett's POV

1,000 people believed in the game. 1,000 people were backing the torture of innocent girls. It was a stupid thing to think about, somehow he had found 999 people that agreed with his philosophy. Sally was still shaking from the news, for some reason it had affected her more than the others who had shown their faces at breakfast with bags under their eyes.

Ava was sniffling and Hannah looked out to distance as if trying to think of a combat plan. Jen was silent.

"How?" I shouted, standing up out of pent up rage.

"There are sick people in this world," Hannah mumbled back as a weak response. I shook my head and began to pace back and forth the room in frustration. We were left caged up while he ran free. With his army.

Ava cleared her throat and my eyes were glued to hers as she spoke," I never knew it was this big. My dad used to say it was only 300. He never mentioned anyone else."

"How can we tell that he's not bluffing? He could be lying!" Jen exclaimed as she shot up.

"They sent the police a video of all 1,000. They all introduced themselves them showed a knife at the camera," the thought brought bile to my stomach.

Sitting down I placed my head in my hands and ran my hands through my hair. We were useless. The war we had got ourselves into was far too big for us to even comprehend. Everyone else sat down like me in defeat and silence filled the air.

"I have an idea," a small voice echoed through the room and I spun round to see a red faced Sally wiping her eyes from the fresh tears that rolled off her cheeks.

Sitting down she nervously looked down at her hands, "Ava, your father is a rich man. He could just be employing those 1000s of people or maybe just paying them all £100 to be part of the charade. The homeless, the desperate. If you need money, you'll do anything. Isn't that right Hannah?"

Hannah looked up and nodded solemnly which gave Sally the prompt to continue, "He could have elaborated this story about making a film or a demonstration. They would follow. He has the wool over their eyes. If we were to go and tell them what's happening then they may be swayed. We could even bribe them."

We all stared at her as she nervously picked her nails in wait of our answer. I had no words. She was a genius. Maybe she had said it a bit crudely but it made sense, the pieces of the puzzle alined.

"It is something he would do," Ava piped up,"He knows a lot about the homeless, he used to take homeless girls in the early stages of the game. He knew how to manipulate them. To make them follow him. There was a time where they even signed a contract, he could convince them to do it."

"Nobody will listen to us," Jen moaned as she went to get a glass of water; her comment brought everyone back to reality. In most people's eyes we were nothing more than traumatised girls who couldn't think straight. Even the ones that spent time with us were wary of our mental state and took everything we said with a pinch of salt. The day before I had asked for some more orange juice because it had ran out and they went to check if it really was empty in case I was 'hallucinating'.

The clocked ticked as countless suggestions were thrown around and accusations were made; Sally went back on her idea and was told she was a coward by Ava. By the end of two hours, everyone was red faced, sweating but decided. We would fight.
We would go to the battle field and pull the wool from the people's eyes, we would face our capturers in the flesh and watch as their 'army' rebelled against them. I smiled as I thought of that scenario. Watching their hypothetical faces drop with confusion as all around people cried for justice.

Maybe the idea was stupid, the theology behind it lacking any real evidence but the conclusion was all that mattered. Even those without a heart would be moved by us, that was what we were sure of. Even those who did participate in the game would turn their backs on the past.

Sally had fallen asleep on the couch when I went downstairs after a long shower and I covered her with a warm blanket. The motion woke her up and for a minute she was an adorably dazed state.

"Oh hello," she mumbled, sitting up from her position with a lopsided grin.

"Hi," I said cheerfully, sitting on the end of the couch.

"Sorry for being so distant recently," she said which made me feel guilty. I had made her feel bad for ignoring the world around her, saying that she was bad company.

"Sorry for being such a bitch," I said back and hugged her for a good ten minutes before finally letting go. We couldn't stay mad at each other, we couldn't put our friendship in the bin after a minor slip. We were sisters. She would be by my side even if 1,000 people were charging towards us.