Game of Fates

Chapter VII

"G'night, Angel," said Ava, closing the lamp. When she said that, I knew it was time. I was jittery. I was leaning against the walls, quivering on my bed. I was hearing a conversation from the outside the walls of our room, but it was extremely muffled, and I couldn't make much out of it yet. Luckily there wasn't any shouting or anything.

I climbed down from my bed - We were on a bunk bed, with Ava sleeping at the bottom - and silently traipsed to the right side of the room. I placed my ear next to the wall.

"I told you, I'm sorry," said the first voice.

"Hey, sis, it's okay, but it really hurt," replied the second. They were definitely the Hawthorne twins, but their voices were still too unclear to make out who was who for sure. After all, they were the only ones who called each other 'sis'. Even if Pip was one of them, though, until I heard something only the 16-year old 6-year old would say, I couldn't tell the difference.

"Yeah, I promise not to do that again," affirmed the first voice. "Anyway, you know the instructions on my email. I'm not supposed to be caught, but the email said I'm allowed to let you know the details. So, yeah." Although I wanted to say this was definitely Amy, Pip's also really good at sounding like other people.

Wait, did one of them just say, "I'm not supposed to be caught"?

I twist the knob out of our room, and snuck out to the hall. It was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything at all. Then I felt around for the knob to the Hawthornes' door, and knocked thrice. "Hello?"

Amy opened. "Oh, hi, Angel, what is it?" she asked.

"So, I heard your conversation from the other room... Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine. You're actually gonna scout at midnight, huh?"

"Might as well. Why are you both up this late?" I interrogated. They were definitely plotting murder, I just hope it's not me.

"Hey, Angie, it's not that late! It's early in the morning!" responded Pip. I guess that's so, if you count twelve thirty to be morning. "Anyway," Pip continued. "Ah, nothing's going on, really. We're just, ya know, paranoid. Cuz Jared was, like, 'Hey Pip, more people wanna protect you, so like, ya know, somebody's bound to target ya.' He's smart and all, but he's boooring."

"Oookay, then-" I replied. I was interrupted, kind of, when I heard footsteps behind me. They sounded like somebody was running in the hall. I even felt a small bump on my back.

"You heard that, right?" asked Amy.

"Sure did," I answered. "Who do you think it is?"

"Dunno, it could be anybody but us," she said, then yawned. "I... think I'll head to sleep now," Amy ended. "Thanks for the chat, Angel."

"Good night, Amy. You too, Pip." I left. It was past one in the morning when I looked at the clock in the hall, so at least I could see things a bit better. Anyway, I was intrigued by that sound. Who the hell was that, and where was she headed off to, I thought? I followed that person out of the hallway, down the stairs, into the girls' lounge, but I decided I'd stop there. I didn't know why at first, I just did.

Some cellphone light lit up, with somebody holding it out like a flashlight. I hid behind the wall and peeked. "Hello?" she asked. "Brett? Are you there?"

"Katie, I'm right here," Brett replied, holding her by the shoulders. "How are you?"

"Ah, well, I'm fine, I guess, but I'm scared," confessed Katie. She turned around to face the tall man, and put her phone back in her pocket. Katie had her long, slender fingers wrapped around Brett's huge, rough palms. She held tight, with her fingertips and long, light-blue polished nails. She liked the way his hands felt, I imagine. Gee, I wish I was like that.

"I'm scared, too," replied Brett. "Let's just pray we'll survive the night together," he continued. "Anyway, what'd you call me here for? Is there something you want to give me, or...?"

"I guess I was just really paranoid, since people like Kiara and Amy like checking our phones a lot, so I didn't think it would be safe to text," she said. Well, I was there listening to them, so it was equally as unsafe, but whatever.

"What is it?" Brett queried.

"What were your real instructions?" Katie interrogated.

"On the email?" Brett replied. "Okay. I'll confess it, but please don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Of course I won't!" Katie promised. "Even if it said to kill anybody. I promise I won't tell anybody."

"Yeah, I'm supposed to kill Ed," Brett confessed.

Katie gasped. "What? Really?"

"Yeah, that's right. That's why you shouldn't tell anybody," said Brett. "Well, I'll admit, I was asked to choose between you and Ed to kill. But the choice is obvious. Why would I ever want to kill you, Katie? I love you."

"I love you too," responded Katie. She took a step or two closer to Brett, started hugging him very intimately, moving her whole body closer, gazing up at his face, and tiptoed. I immediately looked away as soon as she did that, and I don't think I have to know the rest, nor would I want to.

I kept hiding behind the walls waiting for something to happen. The couple were doing small talk and all, or at least stuff I wouldn't find important. More footsteps came. Katie suddenly ran away from me for the light switches, and flicked them on. Meanwhile, Brett had his hand in his pocket, and I saw a shiny black handle come out of it. Those young lovebirds had their arms wrapped around each other, ready to protect one another, but at the same time they were shaking a lot, like I was. Some guy was moving towards them from behind, but he had his back turned and I couldn't see his face. Finally, Brett looked back and saw the man approaching them.

He took the small knife out of his pocket. It was tiny, but it was sharp and glimmering. One stab in the vitals by that blade, and I feared you'd be dead for sure.

I couldn't. I couldn't. I couldn't anymore.

I couldn't stand any longer having to see this. I wouldn't even bother to be there. Whoever that man was, it was surely a classmate of ours. I sprinted off, immediately. On my way to the stairs, I kept running. I didn't care how noisy I was. I could hear screaming from the dining hall. But it wasn't a man's, it was a woman's - Katie's screaming. Then she started panting harder and shouting even louder, "AAANGEL! AAAANGELLLLL!"

But I chose to ignore her. Somebody was dead at this point, and it was clear Katie knew I witnessed it all.

I dashed through the second floor hall, back into our room. I stumbled and fell, but I got up quickly - I had to. Then as I reached our room, I went in and slammed the door shut, and locked it.