Freedom

Mastermind

   Raven stumbled back at the...thing's words. The remains of Notch? No! This was some joke, right?! 
   "I'm in control of this castle. I make the rules. I run this game," he said. "And you may call me the Mastermind," he added.
   "Why are we here?" Jerome shouted at Mastermind.
   "Yeah! Why'd you kidnap us?" Mitch yelled.
   "Well, when you can only be in one building without going anywhere else it gets lonely. So I got up with a few old...friends...and got them to send out letters. I've been doing this for years I'm surprised you haven't noticed."
   "Stop this stupid game!" Cat said, pulling two silver daggers out. "This is dumb and we want to go home to our families!"  Mastermind laughed.
   "This is your new home. It's a killing game, you see. If you can kill one of your peers without getting caught, you get to leave. And if you get caught, you get executed! Isn't that fun!?"  Mastermind laughed again, this one sounding more crazed than before. "That's all now! Be in bed by ten!"  The white mist picked up and Mastermind disappeared. Raven had dropped the chalk when he had appeared and she shakily picked it back up.
   "Well," Seto said after some silence. "It could've been worse. He could've erased our memories." The others didn't say anything, they didn't have to. Everyone knew that some memories had been tampered with. Raven looked around. She made her eyes temporarily glow so she could look through the walls. She easily found their rooms and what looked like a Mess Hall. Raven blinked and her eyes went from the glowing white back to their regular brown. Sub stared at her or looked in her direction.
   "Where your eyes just...glowing?!" he asked.
   "Yeah, but please don't tell anyone," Raven whispered. Sub nodded.
   "I won't tell. Promise," he said.
   "Thanks," she whispered. Raven turned toward the others. "The Mess Hall is this way," she said, pointing down a hallway. The others looked at her.
"How'd you know that?" Ant asked. Raven let her bangs fall in front of her face.
"I...I just figured it out..." she said. "I...can lead the way of you want..." She began to walk down the hall. For a moment no one followed. Then Bazz jogged up next to her.
"You look familiar, so I trust you," he said. Raven smiled. She looked down at his hand. A golden ring was on his robotic arm. Raven held out her left hand.
"I think I know why," she said, showing her matching ring. Bazz's eyes lit up. He picked Raven up and twirled her.
   "Raven!" he exclaimed. He set her down and kissed her. "I was so worried about you! I don't know why it didn't click before!"
   "It's okay, dear. At least we're together now," Raven said, linking hands with Bazz. There were several other footsteps behind them. Raven looked back and saw the others waiting behind them.
   "If the cyborg trusts her I don't see why I shouldn't," Cat said. The others nodded in agreement. Raven smiled and continued to lead the others to the Mess Hall. She stopped at a pair of huge wooden doors. She pushed them open easily. A long table greeted them, along with an entryway to what appeared to be the kitchen. Raven let go of Bazz's hand and walked toward the kitchen. She could hear the others murmuring in the Mess Hall. Raven searched through the draws and cabinets. She let out a scream when she opened a drawer that was filled with extremely sharp knives. She tripped over her feet and fell to the floor. Bazz, Cat, and Mitch rushed in. Cat walked over to the drawer and saw the knives. She looked down at Raven, who was breathing hard and still on the floor. Bazz was kneeled by her, attempting to calm her down. Cat picked up one knife. Mitch came over and looked in the drawer too. He looked down at Raven, his eyes wide.
   "Were you thinking about using one of these?" he asked, his voice filled with shock. Raven shook her head no.
   "I...I hate violence..." she said, still trying to calm down. "I've hated it all my life..."  Bazz helped her up. Cat put the knife back in the draw and shut it. She mumbled something under her breath. The four looked around for food and eventually found some. They brought the food out and set it on the table. The others grouped themselves without much thought. Raven ended up away from the others with Bazz and Sub. Raven made sure to keep Sub in her vision so she could know if he needed anything. After a while, Bodil stood up.
   "I think since this is a killing game, we should make a rule," he said. The others looked over to him, curious about what he would say. "I think that we should stay in groups of three or more so no one would be alone with someone else." The others nodded in agreement.
   "That sounds like a good idea," Ty said. The others nodded again. "We could just self-divide ourselves." A loud buzz sounded just then.
   "Ding dong, It's ten o'clock! Report to your dorms immediately. Also, the water has been shut off for the night. That's all!"
   Raven clapped her hands over her ears until the intercom went off. She gripped her ears in pain for a moment. The others began finishing up and heading toward their dorms. Raven, Bazz, and Sub headed toward theirs. Raven shut her door firmly and laid down in her bed. She put one hand on her headphone.
"Spark?" she asked. There was a bit of static on the other side. Raven sighed. "Spark, I'm not sure if you can hear me or not. Me and several others are trapped in this castle thing and the only way to get out is to kill someone else and get away with it. Please don't try to save me. Just help J take care of Mystic. Cat, Fox, and Micheal are here too. Make sure that Charlie has someone to take care of him. I'm not sure how long we'll be here. I'll figure something out though." Raven paused again to see if anyone would respond. "I promise," she whispered. Raven let her hand fall from her headphone. She stood up and allowed her wings to form. She flapped them for a moment, then laid back down. She wrapped herself in both her wings and the blanket that was on the bed. Before long, she was fast asleep.