The First Redemption Games (1-5) & The Writer Games | 6 - 7

Interview: Sycamore

Everything is dark and quiet and calm. No lava. No tigers, no weapons, just nice dark. And then there is light again, too bright, and everything is white and something keeps stabbing my arm, and there are voices too, lots of them, and I can't move properly and then things keep fading again, so I go to sleep. The voices keep saying my name, asking if I can hear them. "Sycamore, are you there? I'm not sure if it's worked..." And then things start happening again. I am back in the room with the woman who smells like peaches. Something jabs me in the arm, the stuff that makes me dizzy and sleepy, and far away somebody says "...totally necessary...remember what happened last time?" And when I wake up, somebody is pushing me, and I'm back in that cramped room and there are people there, people my age, and they are all dressed up and I have a really, really bad feeling about this. The last time I was here... I want to be back underground again, where people don't stare at you. I'm glowing again, like radiation. At least this time I know what I am meant to do. Go out there and talk to the lady. Don't punch people. Punching people is for later. Yuki said that. Where is she? Some of the faces are familiar. That girl with the long blonde hair. And the boy with his fingernails painted black. And the girl with the long scar down her cheek. So why is Yuki not here? "Where's Yuki?" I ask the girl. She looks back at me. She doesn't look happy. The scar creases when she frowns. "You don't remember?" she snaps. "Remember what?" "Sycamore, you're up!" someone calls. Up? Up where? But I don't have time to ask because somebody else pushes me. There are so many somebodies here; I don't like it. I don't know anybody. I need Yuki. She always tells me what is going on. "Where's Yuki?" I ask the girl with the scar again. She knows. She said she does. She says I don't remember and I don't like that, I don't like not knowing and not remembering. She just shakes her head and points to a chair.

"That's not an answer!" I shout, because I want her to give me an answer and last time I was here I ended up in a volcano and it was too hot and people are staring at me and I want them to leave me alone. I want to be dark again. And then there are lights flashing in my face, making little black blotches when they fade. Even when I shut my eyes and screw them up tight and try and be dark again, they still flash red and yellow on my eyelids. And there's noise, shouting and screaming. And through the noise I can hear a familiar voice calling my name. "Sycamore? I know this is a bad time, but how does it feel to be back from the dead?" What? That's all, just a bit word 'what' in my head, flashing in every colour. I shake my head to get it out of the way. No. No no no no no. "I can't be dead. I'm alive. Look!" I wave my hand in the air and two people, dressed all in white, appear between us, glaring down at me. They look strong and cross. Everybody looks cross. The woman peers between them. Oh. These people must be here to stop me punching her again. But she was asking so many questions and the lights were so bright and I had to make her stop. I can't be dead. "Okay..." she seems confused. Not as confused as me. What is going on? And where's Yuki? Why am I here again? I have so many questions. "So, Sycamore...why do you want to make it through to the decade?" she asks, from behind the people. It's weird, trying to listen to someone who is hiding. And she's got that wrong; wasn't the decade a few years ago? And what a strange question anyway. Where will I be going after here? Please not another volcano. It was too hot and people killed people and... That's why Yuki isn't here. She's dead. She's dead and the girl with the scar killed her. I saw her do it. That was what I don't remember. Didn't remember. The girl is looking at the floor.

The woman is trying to talk to me but I can't listen. Yuki is dead and I am apparently dead even though I'm not and the only thing I can think of to do is run straight at the girl, make her hurt for what she did. "You killed Yuki!" I shout, and somebody grabs my shoulders so I can't move and shouts "Sycamore, calm down!" The boy with the nail polish holds up a hand. He's frowning, looking from the girl to me and back again. Her face is blank. "Sycamore, listen," he says, "We'll look after you, Becka and I. We'll help." He sounds calm, like he knows what's going on. Voices are muttering and the person holding me says "Get security." "She killed Yuki!" The girl – Becka? – looks up at me from her chair. "I'm sorry about that," she mutters, "I really am. I was just trying to stay alive. This time...Trust me, Sycamore?" This time? I have to do all that again? I have to watch people die? And will I die? All the other people my own age, are watching with big eyes. Why are they here? What's happening? So many questions. They make my head hurt. A big voice, the woman's voice, booms "Unfortunately, Sycamore is no longer able to continue with the interview..." And I don't understand what's going on and why I am apparently dead and I don't want to go back into the volcano and I don't want to see anybody die, not even the girl who killed Yuki, and I just want to be on my own and in the dark like back home, and it's been so long since I've been home that I feel dizzy and I need to sit down. But the man keeps hold of my shoulders and I'm not allowed to punch him to make him let go. My eyes are blotchy. Two people drape my arms around their shoulders but I can't see properly to see who. I don't care; it's going dark and that's what I want. "It's okay, we'll look after him," says the voice of the girl who killed Yuki, from right next to my ear. Why? "Just trust us, Sycamore," mutters the boy's voice, and I suppose now I don't have any choice. And then everything is blissfully black.