Game of Fates

Chapter VI

As Kiara had commanded, all of us showed up to the dining hall. We all sat in the same places we were last night. Katie was staring down at the empty seat beside her - Charlie's. In fact, plenty of us had our gaze fixed in that spot. Sure, he wasn't the most outspoken, popular, or smartest guy; he never really did much apart from playing video games. Yet, it still felt unnatural, knowing the circumstances.

"Everyone's here, right?" said Kiara. "Do we have a list of who's in what number?"

"I have one right here," Amy answered, pulling out a notepad. "I'll read it out loud for everyone. We don't know who 01, 08, 10, 11, 14, and 16 are, but we can be sure of everyone else. I'm 02, Katie is 03, Kiara is 04, Angel is 05, Brett is 06, Ava is 07, Austin is 09, Lillian is 12, Jens is 13, Martin's 15, Scarlet is 17, Jared is 18, Pip's 19, Jonathan is 20, and Allie's 21. We're trying to figure out who 10 is, as well as what the hell happened with Charlie."

"Fiiiiiirst of all," wailed Ava, stretching in her seat. "Who didn't speak at all in the chat?"

"Elise, for one," said Scarlet. "There's Jordan, too."

"Uh, hi," greeted Jordan. He was that one kid in class who had no idea how to handle anything serious, besides also being the stereotypical jock and vice captain of the baseball team. I guess that's also why he was really silent throughout all this.

Amy closed her notepad. "So, Jordan, assuming you got an email too-"

"I did," Jordan interrupted.

"...Then you're in the group chat, right?" Amy continued.

Jordan tilted his head, looking up at the ceiling. "I think so. Yeah."

"Mind sending a message there saying you're Jordan or something?" Amy requested.

"Sure, if you say so," Jordan agreed.

Brett raised his hand. "What do we do with Jon?"

"Jonathan?" repeated Kiara. "We're done with Jonathan. He was clearly framed. We know he's not #10."

"Who else hasn't said anything?" asked Jared. As he said that, Lillian peered to her side, looking at Amy jotting something again on her notepad. "Jordan's 14," she whispered to me. I'd imagine Amy had her notepad and phone both on her lap at the same time, leaning against the edge of the table.

"New info," announced Amy. "01 spoke up, but I don't think we'll know his or her identity anytime soon."

"Why not?" replied Jens.

"01 made a message on the group chat right now," Amy answered. "He - I'll assume it's a he, because it's mostly the guys we don't know yet - made a statement that he wasn't allowed to say anything about his identity."

"Honestly, 01, to whoever you are, just say it," sighed Brett. "Following these instructions aren't helping anybody, especially if it's about secrets or killing."

"I still think Charlie died because of deleting-"

"Just shut up, Pip!" screeched Amy, slapping her sister in the cheek.

"Yeowch!" shouted Pip. "You meanie! Daddy's gonna kill you-"

Amy sighed. "Anyway, with ludicrous suggestions out of the way, does anyone else have anything to contribute?"

"I remember suggesting this on the chatroom, but I'll repeat it for everybody," said Ava. "Angel frequently stays up at night. I think we can trust her to keep an eye out on things."

"It's too much of a risk," Kiara disagreed. "She could kill someone."

"I won't," I pleaded. "I promise." The words 'I promise' were resounding in my head. It was the same thing I replied when I first received the email. It's something I knew we were forgetting to say, probably because of how insignificant it'd be. But in a moral sense, I felt it was the most important thing to remember: Promises.

Jared huffed. "It's the only lead we have. It might not lead much towards Charlie's killer yet, but it will help preventing the next death."

"In the girls' dorm, at least," added Lillian. "And if anyone dies, well, trust us. Angel, Ava, and I have been best friends for years! I would know if Angel was lying or not."

"I agree, let Angel do her thing. It's a risk, but it's a lead," agreed Katie.

"Alright, if that's what majority thinks," Amy responded. "And it's not like any of us can stop her if she wants to."

"So, it's settled?" Ava asked.

"We still don't have much on #10," noted Allister.

"Maybe instead of figuring out who 10 is, we can figure out 10's target," suggested Lillian.

"There's not enough info to determine that," refuted Kiara.

"Or is there?" interrupted Pip.

"We can do it," said Jared. "It traces back to the instructions on our emails. Let's be completely honest, everyone, who received instructions to protect someone?" he interrogated, raising his hand, along with Brett, Katie, Edward, Lillian, Jens, and obviously me. Then he questioned, pointing at Brett, "Who are you protecting?"

"Katie," Brett answered. "Katie and I are protecting each other." Katie gave a thumbs up after he said that.

"Alright. Ed, you?" continued Jared.

"Allister," he answered. It made sense, thinking about it.

Jared continued pointing at us who raised our hands at protecting. "Ava, Angel, Pip, and myself," answered Lillian. "Pip," I answered. "Elise, for some reason," said Jens.

"Mine's on Amy," confessed Jared. "Okay, we're done. Our target's most likely Pip."

"Huh?" gasped Pip. "Why me? Oh, because people want to protect me?"

"Hey, it's not guaranteed. But yeah, you read my mind."

"It makes sense," added Jonathan. "Why would you want to protect someone that probably won't die anytime soon?"

"Wait, but most of our e-mails were 'personalized' in a way... You get what I mean? Like, if you're close to Angel for example, then you'd've gotten instructions to protect Angel. What if it's just because everybody in this room knows Pip is the most adorable person ever?!" Off, but perfectly valid!

"Agreed! There's no denying that!" Ava supported.

"Oh, hell, ya think I'm adorable? Just wait 'til I whoop y'all's asses!" shouted the most adorable person in this room according to Lillian.

"Still... Well, sure, Pip is adorable, I guess. Which gives you even more reason to protect her... Nah, I dunno. I'll have to give it more thought."

Brett tapped Ed's shoulder. "Edward," he said. "Anything to contribute?"

"Don't talk to him!" whispered Katie, grasping Brett's wrist

"Why not?" replied Brett.

"Because he's gay! You still like me, don't you?" At this point, Katie and Brett were probably holding hands under the table. I'll admit I felt a bit homophobic too at that time. Edward was short, had messy brown hair, gay, and pretty introverted. He spoke sometimes, but this time, after the FATE stuff happened and all, I suddenly felt that something was off with him, maybe because he was being eerily silent. It was like he could go insane at any moment, or something. What if he was Charlie's killer...?

"I think that's about it," said Allister. "I'll go back outside to shovel more snow."

"Yeah, we still have our lives to go on with," added Scarlet.

After she said that, we had all left the table.