I Know What You're Afraid Of

Chapter 22

    "I don't get it," Sydney mumbled to the ceiling. "He was one of us. A player." She rolled onto her side to face Marianne. "Right? I mean, he couldn't be part of the game because I knew him before this all started. He got here the same way I did; however that was." Brad was a player; in more ways than one for sure.

   Marianne pondered the thought. In the time she's been there, she noticed one thing; the game changes depending on the way they handle things. It had been two days since Brad died and Gina went missing. The remaining of the group spent these days learning more about each other; where they came from, their friends, family and so on. The game seemed to slow down, probably because two players were down, and they were the few obstacles remaining - other than Miles. But at some point, the rules must have switched. When they started out, they had to work together to beat each level; build trust and reliability. But they never did because of Gina's planned murder with the poison - probably provided by the game to arrange conflict and throw them off. Now, it was every man for themselves. The objective still stands; be the last one standing.

   Marianne sat up and looked down at Sydney. "Maybe he was part of the game," She said. Sydney furrowed her brows. "Maybe we all are. Think about it. The objective of the game is to win. In order to do that, you need to survive. Working together would make it too easy. That's why Gina tried to poison me; to limit the competition. It was the game's way of raising the difficulty," Sydney nodded once, starting to see where this is going. "Turning us against each other, making everyone look like the suspect, would cause us go drift apart, making each of us completely vulnerable."

   "Okay," Sydney started. "So, it's every man for themselves. Like The Hunger Games?" Her eyes widened at the mention of The Huger Games.

Marianne nodded slowly. "Ultimately, yes, that is the goal."

   Sydney had a horrified look on her face. "Well, we don't want that. It wouldn't really be fair considering I could kill you all just by looking at you." She chuckled dryly. "Any idea how to stop it?"

   "What if," She sighed. "What if we just... don't? If we refuse to eliminate each other, maybe we could win together." It was a long shot. She had no idea if the game made it so obvious on purpose, so they could set them up in a trap. But if that wasn't the case... maybe they could get away with it.

   The two of them went to collect the boys to share the plan. Miles' door was cracked open. She could see him sitting on his bed, staring down at the doll cliched in his hands. You will go home to her. I promise. She knocked softly on the door, making him jump and toss the doll onto the bed. She smiled and walked in. "We need to have a meeting downstairs." She said, getting straight to the point to avoid getting distracted. Miles gave a curt nod, and followed her out the door. She felt uneasy having her back to him all of the sudden. She could feel him staring at her, but she didn't turn around and instead, she hopped down the stairs and straight to the living room.

   As they explained everything to the boys, Marianne kept her gaze on Miles. She didn't look away, not even when he caught her staring. He would stare back, challenging her. His eyes were empty; dead, but malevolent at the same time. Then she remembered... he was the shell of a demon. He was the last obstacle. She could feel her face pale, as she unfolded her arms, readying herself for what's to come. Oh god.

   Miles smirked darkly, never looking away from her. "You're all a bunch of fools." Though he said it to all of them, Marianne knew it was mostly directed at her. and what a fool she was. He chuckled, and before she could move, the lights went out, and the world went dark.

   It was too late.