Chapter XI

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"Watch out—"

When Ava screamed that, I immediately looked down at where I had stepped, and I leaped far back. I even fell over backward, but luckily the bed cushioned my fall.

I was panicking. I didn't know what to do. I was wheezing, I was breathing too fast, I couldn't breathe, my heart was pounding. Did this shit really have to happen two nights in a row?

"What the hell do we do now?" yelled Amy tearfully.

"I really hope she isn't actually dead yet," sobbed Pip.

"Wait, didn't we do something already?" Ava panicked. "I mean, we told her she shouldn't kill herself, we paid her visits, we even gave her food, did we miss something?"

"It's all because of FATE, dammit!" Amy swore. "It turns out this shit was already destined to happen. Look, there's clearly other stuff we don't know about that's going on here. Juliet wouldn't have been able to predict even this sort of shit, much less some email bots she made."

"D-Did K-K-Katie really hang herself?" I wheezed. I couldn't think straight at all that time. I was having mixed thoughts about everything that time: About Juliet, about what I saw about a night ago, about Katie and all her smiles and fun selfies she's posted on Facebook, and about what the hell we'd do with her body now.

"I'll ask Jared tomorrow morning at breakfast if that's alright," said Pip.

"About w-what?" replied Amy.

"Y'know, Jared's the only guy that actually has some clue about the nerd shit Juliet talks about," said Pip. "He'll know somethin' for sure, since he's a techie like her. And with the thing that started this whole thing being an app called 'FATE', he's bound to have some insight."

"Jared?" asked Kiara. "I don't know... If he did, wouldn't he have spoken up by now?"

"He has," spoke Amy, holding her phone. "Check the group chat, right now."

We ran back into our rooms. We didn't touch anything going out.

======================

18: I've just dug into Brett's FATE. Bad news, it received an email about Katie's death just now...

02: We girls just heard a thump a few minutes ago. It was Katie falling off with the rope.

18: I see.

18: Well, I've been monitoring our deceased comrades' emails since a while ago. I'll come to the conclusion that even if you're dead, you'll still receive updates.

15: I mean, it's easier that way, isn't it?

01: Yeah, true.

04: We were in her room just seconds ago. Me, twins, Ava, and Angel.

07: There's no update yet on who's next...

18: Really? I've received mine already. Just refresh.

18: That's the scary part about our situation. Even if we did have an update now, since they're bots that are replying, we really have no clue what they really mean. Their vague messages could be interpreted one way or another.

19: But they do help, right?

18: Not really. In fact I believe they can be misleading.

02: How?

18: Notice, you said earlier that Katie still committed suicide even if we put up a few measures. We can't say for sure, however, that she really committed suicide. Did anyone examine the rope?

02: Unfortunately not. We're trying to get some rest here, so we request that everyone show up at breakfast tomorrow as early as they can.

Me: Additional info...

18: Go ahead.

Me: Do you have any idea why Juliet's textbooks would be scattered all over the room?

18: Not really, but she isn't normally like that. She's usually organized with her stuff, isn't she?

01: She is.

Me: True. And I doubt if it were Katie's doing, either. They were all books about psychology and philosophy, what would she be doing with that?

19: Say that again when you see a calculus textbook on the ground

13: Katie, huh... Did Katie receive an email about her own fate?

18: Not sure, I haven't opened her inbox yet, but I know for a fact that Brett did. So likely yes. Why?

13: If I were her and I knew I would die, I'd make the most of my life before I died, wouldn't I?

02: She couldn't have known, though. It didn't directly state that Katie would die next. Unless she was already planning suicide.

Me: She did get an email about it, though.

02: She did? You sure?

Me: Yeah... Remember she wanted to talk to me?

12: She knew she was going to die...?

13: Why'd she still kill herself, then?

07: If I were her, dating a guy like Brett... I'd feel guilty about it.

15: That's fucking stupid, though!

02: Well, guilt is quite an irrational feeling to have... It makes sense.

11: Can I ask, how'd Juliet predict their deaths?

20: Oh, 11 finally spoke up... who are you?

11: Me?

20: Yeah, you!

11: I'm David. Sorry for being quiet the whole time.

13: You sure? Then who's 01? 01's supposed to be David!

01: Again, I'm not David. I'm just nobody.

15: Whatever, man, you do you

18: Anyway, we still have a job to do.

04: Which is?

18: Find Edward.

15: Oh, we're still doing that?

18: Go check your FATEs again.

======================

"Hello Angel,

Katie Ashworth has died. Please stay calm.

The next person to die is #10, by the hands of someone wearing anything red tomorrow afternoon.

Over."

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