(Earlier version) Flowerborn Part 1: The Arena

Chapter 22: Doom

I placed my hands on her shoulders: 'You cannot think like that. What happened to your brother was not because of you.' I hugged her and held her as tight as I could. 'We'll make it through this okay?'

Kate stood up. 'Maybe', she said, as she walked away towards the bathroom. She turned around as if she wanted to say something, but she made up her mind and closed the door.

-

Suddenly I saw the screen on my bedside lit up. I quickly tapped on it, to see what was going on. It showed me a bunch of numbers.

Teams left: 31
Players left: 194

More than four hundred players died. More than two hundred players were slaughtered by the dogs.

I tried to keep the memory of Emmeth's face out of my head when I read the word slaughtered.

A red button appeared on the top left of the screen. I pressed it. It said: 'Welcome. For most of you the first game was the end, but for some of you it was just the beginning. You will return to your daily schedule in two days. But tomorrow your parents, friends, loved ones, have the opportunity to visit.

I scrolled down. It ended with:

Treasure the time of silence, for this was just the beginning. 

Another notification popped up. It said that there was one person that chose to visit. That must be my mom. I was both scared and determined because I had something important to discuss with her. I pulled the soft blanket over me again, wanting those extra few hours before the sun rised. Tomorrow was going to be hectic.

-

I woke up first. At least I thought so.. Kate was no where to be seen. The door to the bathroom was open and the light was on. 'Kate?' I whispered quietly, trying not to wake everyone up. 'Are you there?'

I slowly opened the door. As I walked past the toilets, I could see water seeping out of the shower closet. The water was slowly turning red.

'K.. Kate?'