Jasmine's Choice

Chapter 10

I woke up on my own this time, and decided to immediately shower since I didn't last night. I was too tired physically to do anything but sleep. I usually don't run that much at home.

At home. I immediately thought of Mum, and began to fear that she could be dead. I would have no one to go home to if I won. Family, I mean. Julian should still be there, but my whole family would be dead.

I have to win for her, I thought fiercely.

I grabbed clothes with brown horses on them, and quickly slipped them on after taking a shower. I managed to dry my hair more than last time before the same bell rang.

"Trial 4, begins now."

The four of us seemed super prepared for whatever we were going to encounter.

The butler greeted us, as he usually did.

"Your last event is trivia. Random questions will be asked, and rankings will depend on how well you do in each round. If it becomes too close and time starts to run out, it will become sudden death. Any wrong answer will be immediate loss. Any questions?"

None of us replied to him, only absentmindedly nodding our heads. We all began to fear the sudden loss round.

"Good. Also, questions in the beginning will be common knowledge, but as time goes on it will become more difficult and lesser known questions."

Liz seemed more confident than usual, no longer worried about sudden loss. Usually she was peaceful, but the determination in her eyes changed that.

The butler led us down a much simpler path. When we arrived at our destination, he instructed us to wait until the animal we wore lit up on the screen next to us on the wall.

I wore horses, Liz had ferrets, Jacob had cats, and Bryan had wolves.

Jacob's cat symbol lit up first, and he went through the door. He revealed the backstage area of an auditorium, where the butler was waiting for him. I knew I heard cheering from somewhere, but it sounded farther away. This mansion has really decent soundproof walls. Maybe it was prepared for everything that could happen.

Liz's ferrets appeared on the screen, and she too went inside. I heard her name called and people cheering her on.

Bryan's wolves showed up. He swung the door open and left. I couldn't hear much through the walls, but I hoped they were cheering for him.

Lastly, my brown mustang glowed on the screen. I opened the door and went inside. The butler was waiting.

"Your stand is the one with the horse. Chosens take turns answering questions, like a spelling bee. Good luck."

I only nodded in response, and when he finished, I walked out into view on stage. From what I could tell, I received the loudest screams and cheers from the crowd. How they managed to fit everyone in here, I don't know.

All of the sponsors were in the front row, while spectators and others were in back. A screen with the names of sponsors was hanging from the wall behind the Chosens' stands.

"Welcome to the fourth and final event of this year's 'Do You Have Talent?' What an exciting year this has been!" Dictator Albalin beckoned the crowd to be louder.

"The rules were already explained, but there is one more that wasn't told. Chosens can now ask each of their sponsors once for the answer to a question!"

The screen with the sponsors' names shifted, adding my name and the others' names to the list. It changed from a list into four columns, with each of our names on top. Sponsors were listed below our names, the ones who had Marked us in the beginning.