Deck of Cards

Day 46- Jen

Five of diamonds- isolation for 0hrs

Jen's POV

We were to leave the next day, go off around the globe with new names and new faces; the concept was so alien. So strange. The thought of not being Jen anymore scared me but not enough to lock myself away like some of the others- the most surprising being Ava.

The house had fallen silent as some wept confined in their rooms whereas others like me walked around in slight disbelief, trying to make sense of it all. I could see the reasoning behind it, it was much smarter than anything we had thought of but I was detached from the idea. The reality of it was so surreal that I couldn't quite understand it, maybe that's why I didn't cry like the others.

Suddenly Hannah rushed in, her face bright with a smile and her cheeks rosy from tears; honestly I thought she had finally lost her mind.

"Turn on the TV," she almost shouted at me before running over to it herself and flicking to channel one. A stern faced news reporter was sitting behind a desk with a her hair perfectly preened and lipstick applied.

"The big headline today- the cold blooded killer who headed the disaster that is being called 'the game' has finally turned himself in. Mr Onti..." She trailed off as she squinted at the teleprompter trying to read Ava's surname. This made me laugh harder than it should have, maybe it was the overwhelming happiness that came from the news that made me lay on my bed for minutes just smiling and laughing. In my eyesight,blinded by happiness, I could make out a crying Sally and Scarlett as well as a beaming Ava walking in and hugging me tightly.

A lull fell over the room as we listened to the news reporter again, trying to find out as much information as possible.

"The man in question was found walking into a police station in South London at six pm last night. The man wearing a suit was far from the pictures provided by the police, the sleek hair and good looks were almost unrecognizable to the haggard man on the poster. We have the chilling footage of what happened next," my breath hitched as I watched, waiting to see the face that had haunted my nightmares. Haunted my very existence.

The clip started off as a fuzzy picture which cleared as the camera zoomed in on the man wearing a black suit and polished shoes. The receptionist gives him a gleaming smile, unaware of his past or name- he doesn't respond. Instead he stands waiting for a minute, he looks at the door as if considering what he was doing. Placing a hand to his mouth he coughs and then leans on the desk.

"I have come to turn myself in," he says in an clear voice which startles the woman who suddenly grasps her phone in horror. She knows who he is now. She can see his face. She knows what he has done.

"Security," her petrified voice calls out in an almost whisper but it is enough for two burly men to rush to her assistance. They glare at him with eyes that could kill, he doesn't respond. He is dragged away and the film stops.

It was Ava who moved first, reaching out to turn off the TV that was blasting in the corner of the room. The happiness had faded from inside me, it was replaced with an empty feeling. It was over, the war, the battle. Every part of my existence had been around the Game, I wasn't sure how to live again now that it was gone.

"Wow," Sally breathed out, for once she didn't have tears rolling down her cheeks. She was staring blankly at the black screen, as if trying to understand what had so clearly been showed to us. I was expecting to wake up and be told that it was just a dream, that he was still prowling the streets.

"Why?" Hannah choked out, everyone turned to her to see tears rolling down her cheeks in rapids.

"He couldn't face the guilt," Scarlett suggested solemnly.

"His people left him more likely," Ava muttered bitterly from the back of the room. She was glaring at the blank space; it was clear to see that she wanted to hunt him down herself. She wanted to seek revenge herself, she didn't want him to have this easy option which cleared his name slightly. He would now be known as the man who killed the faces of many innocent girls but at least he turned himself in. At least he still had an ounce of goodness in him. Or that's what people would think.

"What does this mean for us?" Someone said in the silence, shattering the walls we had already been building around us.

"I don't know," Ava said almost incoherently.

We were left with that, uncertain of what was to happen to the five girls who were now safe from the man who had shaped their lives. The poor girls that everyone pitied. The poor girls who had to be protected. I balled my fists and vowed to never be weak. Never be as weak as him, copping out by taking the easy route. He could have been hunted down, we could have taken him down. Instead he chose to run away from us, hide behind metal bars.

At least, finally, he was the one in the cell.