House of Trap

06 | Deadly Number (Part 2)

Despite the disintegrating trust among them and the fallen desire to stand united as one, they still came to an agreement to play the game. No one wanted to waste any time, and after being relayed that there would possibly be a total of seven games altogether, they sped up the process.

"Who goes first?" Mark asked as they headed towards the kitchen to sit around the dining table. He took the Russian Nargant M1895 handgun from his safekeeping and placed it on the table as everyone was finding a seat.

It seemed such a casual thing to do, but the position of one's seat could aid in the strategy to win the game of Russian Roulette.

"Are we going anti clockwise?" Ethan asked, drawing a seat.

"Sure." Mark shrugged, his main interest was still on Ginny who had successfully convinced others the number was fifteen. He was curious to see what would happen next.

"You sit here," Ethan gently pulled Madison by the wrist to sit her down. He then took his place on her right side.

"Why aren't we scattering?" Madison whispered to him.

"If other players got you checkmated and forces you to say the number, you can just pass it to me," Ethan said.

"But then you will die," Madison remarked, giving him an incredulous look. Was he even thinking his plans through or was he trying to act like a hero?

"Alright! Let's start the game!" Oliver spoke and took a seat on the left of Madison, making it impossible for Ethan to change seats now. Everyone were more or less seated with the ones they had formed an unspoken alliance with. The division had never been this magnified to the naked eye.

"As long as we know the number, it shouldn't be a problem," Ethan reassured her. His eyes fell to her hand, hesitating to grab them in his grip. Maybe he should lay off the overly friendly skinship first.

"I am suddenly not so sure anymore," Madison whispered faintly, almost inaudible when the others started making a ruckus about who to start. It could either be advantageous or not.

"Let's start with the oldest!" Bree spoke. She stretched her arm out to fetch the gun from the center and handed it to Shirley who was the oldest among them.

Everyone had guessed a possibility for the appointed number; the number when the real bullet was supposed to go off. The first round should be easy, it was what came afterwards that made it hard.

Shirley did not say a word and took the revolver in her hand. It felt so foreign and weighed heavier than its small appearance. Though she knew the gun would be fired at the fifteenth turn, the trembling fear remained when she slowly directed the gun to her own head.

"I can't watch," Natasha squirmed, quickly hiding herself behind Jay in the hope he could shield her from the gruesome image.

Click.

Shirley's hands slowly regained its balance after she had pulled the first trigger. Nothing happened, simply because the game's suspense wouldn't end during the first turn. There was no way the Game Master would let it happen. And based on their clue, the number was fifteen. So she braved herself, squeezed her eyes shut, and continued to pull on the trigger two more times.

The click was heard twice, and Shirley opened her eyes in relief. Her shoulders were rising along to her short breaths, terrified of her own action. She let go of the gun and slid it over to Jay, the player on her right.

"Shoot," Jay cursed as he picked up the gun. Similar to Shirley, he also knew the gun would not go off during the start of the game. But due to Shirley's bravery, the count was already at three.