Caught Between Hope and Despair

Chapter 17: Fine

A/N: I AM BACK SUCKAS

LETS GET THIS BOOK BACK ON THE ROAD

(NOW WITH MORE THRILLS, CHILLS, AND KILLS!)

{and allie plz edit i know its a bit unexpected}

~

Earthquakes and aftershocks constantly shook the island, leading me to a sleepless night.

I used the provided pillows to help shield me from the noise, but it seemed that the island shook even more, causing even more noise.

After a while, I gave up on falling asleep, and sat up in bed.

I picked up my iPod on my nightstand. It was completely dead and there was no charging wire anywhere. "About time." I muttered, sighing as I put my device back down.

After a few minutes of minor aftershocks and zoning out, there was a knock at my door. I already knew who it was. "Hey Lauren." I said as she opened the door, holding a gift box in her hands.

"Hey." Lauren replied, setting the box down onto a desk.

"Is that a bomb?" I muttered, crossing my arms.

"No, silly. I don't have any plans to kill you." Lauren explained. "At least, not yet." Lauren explained.

"Excuse me?"

"You can trust me, but you don't have to. I'm going to be remaining silent for the majority of the day tomorrow, because we have . . . visitors." Lauren seemed a bit unsure as she spoke and she made no eye contact with me.

I had felt the urge to comment about something Lauren said, but the distrust I had felt towards her made me feel guilty after all that had happened. It felt weird to see Lauren as some kind of traitor in a way, but I could assume that Mono wanted us to make us feel like that. It was his game after all and it was best to not question it for right now. I decided to let her continue anyways. "

"What's the plan? What did you find out?" I questioned.

"I found him." Lauren briefly said, turning towards my door to leave.

"Who?" I asked, quickly stopping Lauren before she could open my door.

"It has become blatantly obvious on who's has been controlling all of this. And I mean all of this. The life in the mansion, the game, monogram, everything. Micah was deceived." Lauren spoke, looking like she regretted ever action she ever did in this, but at the same time, she still had a very confused look. "He's grown tired. We've all grown tired of this. I'm sorry you were dragged into this mess." Lauren sighed.

Realization hit me. After all this time, and after everything that happened, another thing was off about all this. Lauren never seemed to apologize for the trouble she seemed to have caused in such a tone. The way she portrayed herself, like another being had taken her body and used it to make her cooperate with this stupid game.  Like a writer mistaking her personality for another, I knew this wasn't the real her.

"That's not what you need to apologize for." I spoke, standing up and walking towards Lauren.

"I'm just telling you this because what needs to happen, must happen. I only have one more shot in ending all of this, and my other friends are in danger. You do realize there's not much people left on this island, right?  This is not how everyone is supposed to be, and I know how to break everyone out of this! This whole game is meant to cause hate against each other, because when you wake up in the real world, there's going to be no hope left in every single one of us."