The Angel of Death

III

"Congratulations, Emilia Min and Katsuo Taikan. You have advanced to the next round. Please leave the room for a quick cleaning."

I looked over my shoulder to see Katsuo standing behind me, his face reddened with exasperation. My ear was bleeding from the ringing of the pistol. 

"Why did you do that," I asked, "I wanted to die." Tears pooled in my eyes as I struggled to blink them away: slowly sliding down my cheek before falling to the floor in wet dandelion splatters.

He let out an exasperated sigh, "Look, it's going to seem awfully suspicious if I was the only one that came out alive from this fiasco. I mean it's not like I wanted to save you anyway. You're the most suspicious person here."

"Why didn't you guys believe me," I cried struggling to get my words out through my tears, "w-why did it have to end like this?" My hand moved to my face to brush away my tears. I could still feel the ever-so-slight touch of the bullet as it briefly grazed my cheek. 

"Can you stop complaining," he answered, "what was done was done." He walked towards the door and clutched the handle. 

"I'm not leaving till you answer my questions!"

"Fine, I did believe you. Did you think I would believe what that lunatic said anyway? Stop lumping me in with everyone else here." He held his hand out toward me. "Let's leave now."

I turned away from him, "No."

He scoffed, "What else do you want now?"

"I just don't want the others to see..." The others! I had been so dazed that I almost forgot that we were not the only ones who had to go through this event. Would they be subjected to the same fate as us? 

"I'll wait for you then," he said, sitting down, "I don't want you to do anything stupid." I shot him a look of irritation but decided not to argue with his decision. I would rather not be left alone in a room with two freshly dead corpses. 

"Did you see what happened to Tajana?" I asked as I dried my eyes with the cuffs of my pajama.

"Yeah, you shot her straight in her forehead," he huffed, "just like she said you would."

"It's not on purpose," I retorted, " and I meant her decapitation." He looked up and gestured toward the ceiling.

He answered, "I thought you would have noticed but I guess it happened too quickly for you to even see. Something very sharp came down from the ceiling and sliced it off."

"Where's the weapon then?"

"It disappeared up there."

I shuddered to think that this very room we were in was laden with death traps, ready to pounce on us at any given second. Perhaps it would be better if we left sooner than later. However, the idea of just casually waltzing out of the room without acknowledging their deaths repulsed me.

I asked almost absurdly, "Should we hold a funeral for them?"

"Why," he said, "you do realize the situation we're in right?" 

"I know but I just want their souls to rest in peace."

"Alright, what do you suggest we do then?"

My glance landed on Tajana's head. Her eyes were wide open and still hungry as if she was not ready to be dead yet. I would have liked to close her eyes to give it the illusion that she was just merely sleeping but I didn't want to touch her. It was impossible with her disconnected body anyway.

I reached out my hand, "Give me your scarf." Katsuo remarkably complied with no qualms. I chanted a small prayer and laid the scarf over Tajana's face. May she rest in peace.

Now for Sophie. Unlike Tajana, her face was unexpectedly tranquil as if she had decided to willingly leave behind the world. I noticed a small glimmer in the corner of my eyes. Her glasses. The lenses were broken but the frame was still intact. I took them and chanted a small prayer before placing them in her hands. Goodbye Sophie.

I turned away from them and headed towards the door where I caught sight of a smile plastered on Katuso's face. 

"Why are you smiling?" I questioned him. His expression quickly reverted back to its usual stoicism. Ignoring my inquiry, he opened the door and headed out as I trailed behind him. 

The door closed with a distinct thud. And my eyes wandered down the hallway to the room where we had previously assembled. It seemed everyone had already gathered there. I quickened my pace to join them.

My heart fluttered when I saw the gaps in the table. There were seven in total: Tajana, Sophie, Zhen, Isabella, Apollo, Lilith, and Rahim. Tajana and Sophie were in my group. What about the rest?

Jun stepped forward, "What happened?" I glanced at Katsuo but he seemed content to keep quiet. I explained our situation as the others readily offered their sympathies.

"What about you guys?" I broke in. 

"Zhen was chosen as the sacrifice in our group," Asher said, "and as you can guess it did not end well but we were immediately released after that."

"So if the sacrifice is killed they would not have to kill anyone else," I asked, my voice flushed with guilt. 

"I think so," he answered, "of course, I don't mean to insinuate anything."

Jun held my hands and added, "We're all glad you're alive. It must have been a difficult experience."

"What about you Jun," Katsuo interjected, "who was in your group?" She took a step back and turned to Alexander. The older man cleared his throat before answering.

Alexander replied, "Isabella was chosen as the sacrifice which resulted in the unfortunate deaths of her and Rahim."

"Is that so?" Katsuo asked.

Alexander sighed, "I should not think that you would want the details of their deaths?"

"Of course not," I answered, "it's best to leave the past behind where it belongs." Katsuo lowered his eyes and took a step back with his fists clenched. Hoping to distract them I questioned them, about the missing twins. There was enough violence today without an unnecessary fight.

"They're downstairs," Asher responded. He gestured to the space where the bed I slept in had previously been. "Since we were the first ones out, we were looking around this place and found a secret hatch that led downstairs. I wanted to wait until everyone came back to fully explore it, but they were too excited and ran off."

"Why didn't you go after them," Jun lashed out, "and why didn't you tell us this earlier."

Asher sheepishly replied, "I'm kind of a scaredy cat so...besides who would be here to tell you guys if I went."

"The young man does make a good point," Alexander noted, placing his hand on Jun's shoulder to calm her down. 

Out of nowhere, a piercing beep rang across the room. I instinctively held my hands to my ears.

"Congratulation you've made it past the preliminary stage. Now the commencement of a brand new game. Every day, one person amongst your group will be killed. The killer will be generously rewarded and if there isn't a death, everyone will be killed at the end of the day. You have 21 hours left today...One final tip, the bedrooms are soundproofed."

I expected complete chaos to erupt but instead we were statues frozen in time. Nobody dared to move or speak. Our eyes were lowered as if to avoid any contact about the taboo subject.

"Let's find the twins first, we can worry about this thing later." 

Asher's words freed the flow of time and everyone unanimously agreed to this decision. Jun volunteered to enter first and Alexander followed after her. I was the last one to go down the hatch and waited till everyone left.

A sort of primal fear engulfed me as I submerged myself in the empty pitch-black space below. 

"Where are you guys?" I called.

"I'm here!"

I took a hesitant step toward the sound of the voice. Another one. And another one. Until the ground beneath me suddenly vanished. I let out a desperate scream that stopped abruptly as their hand closed around my mouth.