Dedication to Winning.
The lights shut off once again.
The night-time had started.
Liling stood in the dark, trying to see everyone around her. Luckily for her, she had rather good vision when it came to seeing in the dark.
"Guys!" yelled a voice, most likely Vinny's, "Guys we can still do the plan I was talking about!"
"Absolutely NOT," argued another voice, belonging to Thiago, "If there is some crazy MURDERER here, I'm not being caught DEAD near them!" his voice trailed off as loud footsteps got quieter and quieter, as Thiago walked away.
"That imbecile..." Alab muttered, "You're more likely to die when you're alone then if you were with someone else!" However, everyone else also seemed to disperse and find somewhere to rest for the night. Liling could see that some people went off in pairs but everyone else went off alone. Liling walked around aimlessly for a while. She didn't have much to do, she didn't know who to kill or if she should even kill someone. The whole situation seemed ridiculous to her, having to kill other people for some silly game. But she was determined to win. Determined to come out on top. She didn't care who she'd have to kill. If she found a way to win, she didn't care. It was better than being trapped in a broken-down facility, anyways.
Her black shoes hit the ground with each step she took. Her eyes peered around the area, looking for a target. But then the realisation kicked in. Was she really going to kill someone? Did she actually want to take someone's life away from them? What if I just... Didn't kill anyone tonight. It sounded ridiculous, the opposite of her role, but the journals nor announcement never said anything about not using their abilities. Liling certainly didn't want to kill someone. It all happened so soon; she had barely even recovered from seeing Minji's corpse less than an hour ago. Her mind was racing with violent thoughts, but she remained calm, not wanting any blood on her hands that night. Liling sat down in the corner opposite where she woke up. In the corner of her eye, she thought she could see someone else, but she ignored it.
She had no plan. All she knew was that she wasn't going to kill anyone that night and was treating Minji's death as a first kill. There wasn't much for her to do, except try to sleep. She closed her eyes. Her breathing steadied out and Liling tried to drift away to sleep. She could hear some people talking.
Almost everyone else was asleep, except for two unknown people.
"No, don't go, okay? Please, I'm really worried about that announcement..." said one voice. Liling could hear that it was a somewhat feminine-sounding voice.
"No way you actually believe that shit! Of course, we're safe here, nobody's going to die. Also, if you were correct about her being here, she'd want to see you. So, follow me!" a second voice retorted.
"It's definitely her. I can tell her voice from a mile away, we are close y'know?" the first one replied. Their tone sounded annoyed.
The next morning, Liling heard a loud voice yelling into her face.
"Hey... Hellooooo? Liling, wake up! Hey! Liling! What if I'm scaring her, Ally? I mean, she doesn't even know who I- Oh, Liling you're awake! Hello!" Liling opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a person she had never even seen before. They had long black hair that faded to red, and they had two buns at the top of their head. This person was wearing a beige and red striped top and a light beige pair of cargo jeans. "Hiya, Liling! My name is Halona! Your friend Ally woke me up and told me to introduce myself to you!" they said, smiling. Great. Liling forced a smile and waved.
"She's not my friend. But, hello Halona, nice to meet you," Liling replied. She stood up to her feet and looked around. There were no unknown faces around except Halona.
"So, turns out that Halona here was hiding for the first day! Says they were too scared to come out, which, honestly, is quite fair," Ally informed her, "There's a few more awake by the way, I'm just going around waking everyone up!" It was true: Vinny, Jonah, Alab, Omar, Thiago, Mateo, Adanna, and Arielle were all awake and stood in the largest room, on the other side of the doorway of the room Liling was currently in. It sounded like Alab and Thiago were arguing. Liling didn't want to listen to their two very irritating voices yelling at one another, so she walked over to the corridor with the four rooms. On the floor in the last room on the left, there was a body. Marley's body. She was laying on the floor with her limbs all sprawled out. But there was no blood. Liling sank down to one knee and placed her finger on Marley's neck, checking for a pulse. She was definitely alive. Feeling relieved, Liling woke Marley up.
"Hey, Marley," Liling said as Marley's eyes opened. She frowned.
"Go away, Liling. I want a lay-in!" she groaned. Liling grabbed Marley's arm and started dragging her across the floor and out the room.
"No lay-ins," told Liling. Marley groaned again before getting up off the floor after Liling put her arm down.
"My arm's red now! You grabbed my wrist so tightly it has gone red!" yelled the green-eyed girl angrily. Liling laughed and walked back over to where she woke up. Then, she continued to walk into the large room where everyone else was stood. She heard a scream. It was Ally's voice. Is someone... dead? But I'm the murderer and I didn't do anything!
Liling and the others all rushed around the large wall in the room and saw Ally hugging a girl with brown hair. The brown-haired girl had pale skin, a red fluffy top and matching mini skirt. She had two small red heart clips in her hair, a few bracelets around her wrist, a black necklace around her neck, and a red headband sat in her hair. Behind her stood a young man with black hair that faded into purple at the ends. He wore a black shirt that had purple and black striped sleeves. There was a blurry image of a landscape tinted purple on his shirt. He also wore black ripped jeans that were held up by a black studded belt. He also had a black hat on his head.
"What's the matter? We heard screaming!" Adanna asked. The black and purple haired boy answered mockingly, "Nothing. Ally here was just soooo happy to see her girlfriend, Colleen." He pointed sarcastically at the brown-haired girl. Colleen rolled her eyes and spoke, "There's no issue here. You can all go."
"Well, Colleen, care to explain where you were yesterday? Same with you, Alex, my dear," Vinny said, pointing at them both.
"You know this prick?" Thiago asked Vinny. She nodded in return. The black-haired boy, Alex, frowned and Colleen spoke up.
"I was hiding. After the announcement had woken me up, I didn't want to leave this room. I didn't want someone to kill me," she said. Ally had let her out of the hug now but was still holding her hand.
"Not a very smart idea since the murderer could've killed one of us while the lights were out," Alex mumbled, covering his mouth. Colleen shot him a look.
"Shut up, Alex. But anyway, it's not like anyone died. Or did they? I didn't hear any screaming last night," Colleen continued. Ally looked glumly at Colleen, "Wait," Colleen continued, "Someone did die, huh? Who?" The rest of the group all gestured for Colleen and Alex to follow them. And so, they all walked over to Minji's bloody corpse. Having to look at it again was challenging for Liling to do. She managed. The sight was just as bad as the first time she saw it. Blood, everywhere, all over the walls, and on the girl's clothes. Guts spilling out the gash in her stomach. It was too much for Colleen too take in. So, she ran. She ran away. She ran away, screaming at the top of her lungs in fear that what happened to Minji might happen to her. She kept repeating the same words. She kept repeating the words, "No, no, no way, that's not real, no, no, no,"
"Colleen," Liling called out, following Colleen's steps, "Colleen! There's no use running. Save your energy, there's no exit. We've all looked."
"NO! There was to be some way out of here! I don't want to end up butchered like that bitch over there!" Colleen yelled.
"You won't. That girl over there was killed before any of us even woke up, so who knows if the murderer is even here with us? Nobody even died last night, maybe the announcement was some sort of a sick joke-"
Beep, Beep.
Beep, Beep.
"Huh?"
Beep, Beep.
"It's time to discuss who you all think is Evil! Once you have all decided on a suspect, please go into the last room on the left of the corridor, one by one, and say your chosen suspect's name three times. If you don't vote before the timer is up, it will count as a vote for yourself! The player with the most voted will be removed. Now, hurry up, the timer's ticking..."
"What the..." Colleen uttered. Liling walked back to the rest of the group, followed by Colleen. She noticed a small digital clock on a shelf outside the last left room. It was counting down from 10:00, and it was now at 9:55 as the seconds ticked by.
"So, who are we going to vote?" asked Adanna. She was looking in her journal whilst speaking, and making sure nobody else could see it. She shut it and placed the small book into her pocket.
"I think Alab's evil," said Thiago. Both Marley and Alab rolled their eyes.
"OK, well, I think you're evil, Thiago," replied Alab, with their arms folded.
"Of course you think the other's evil! You've hated each other for years! It's ridiculous," Marley argued. Thiago scoffed and Alab frowned. The pair turned to look at one another.
"You're evil. I know it," Alab told Thiago. He laughed in return.
"Well, maybe, but I think that you're evil, not me," Thiago retorted. The two continued to argue until finally Thiago slapped Alab around the face. They had a red hand mark across their cheek from then onwards. Without a word, Alab turned away and left. Liling could see tears forming in their eyes as they rubbed their cheek. She heard Vinny laugh loudly upon impact.
"Thiago!" Omar and Marley both yelled in unison.
"What? They were annoying me...," laughed Thiago.
9:24
8:16
7:47
5:35
The seconds flew by, each person arguing with someone and defending themself from accusations. Once the timer had reached five minutes, Adanna walked away to go and vote. She tried to hide it, but not very well.
"Adanna, Adanna, Adanna."
She voted for herself. Many people realised this and wondered why.
"Adanna... Why did you vote for yourself?" asked Omar. He looked troubled. His words were slow, with each pause getting longer as he spoke. "Adanna, answer me."
She began sweating nervously. She laughed and said Omar's name.
"Omar, what are you talking about? I-I didn't do that, Omar. Omar, trust me. I didn't vote myself, hah, why would I want to, Omar?" Adanna spoke guiltily. The way she repeated Omar's name, trying to gain trust, made him more unsettled. "Omar," she repeated, "Trust me."
Omar didn't know who he could or should trust.
"Omar..." Adanna said sternly, taking steps towards him, "Omar, I am not a killer. I did not vote myself nor have I killed anyone."
"No one said you were a killer."
Adanna turned her head to look at Arielle. She was staring directly into Adanna's eyes, hand placed on hip.
"What?" Adanna asked.
"Nobody said you were a killer!" repeated Arielle, "You're defending yourself for no reason! We only wanted to know why you voted for yourself! Personally, I think you're guilty. That's why you voted yourself. You're a police officer, aren't you? You wouldn't want to commit a crime... You'd want to turn yourself in, wouldn't you? We don't know what happens if you get voted but based on how this 'game' looks so far, it's probably death!"
Adanna clenched her fists together.
"Just because I'm a police officer doesn't mean I'd want to KILL MYSELF!" Adanna screamed. She was directly in Arielle's face now, screaming, trying to get her point across. The rest of the people were fairly sure that Adanna was evil. Shoving Adanna out the way, Arielle walked over to the voting room. She quietly said Adanna's name. Many followed this.
"No... No, guys! GUYS! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO VOTE ME! OMAR? MATEO? STOP, PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DI-"
Beep, Beep.
Beep, Beep.
Beep, Beep.
The lights flickered off. The vote had finished. In the darkness, someone began screaming. It was being amplified by the same speakers the announcer used. The voice sounded feminine... Adanna...! Her yells echoed off every surface. They were shrill shrieks that sent a blood-curdling chill down everyone's spine. As her screams flooded the room, a sharp sound of a knife cutting skin and flesh burst from the speakers in each corner of the room.
"What's happening?!" yelled a voice. The screams continued to flood through.
"WHY ME? I'LL MAKE YOU ALL PAY, WHOEVER THE REAL MURDERER IS!" Adanna shrieked through the pain of her stomach being stabbed. The lights started flickering again. Suddenly, they all flashed on, revealing that Adanna was no longer stood where she was before.
Her corpse was pinned to the wall, fresh cuts all over her body. The main wound was in her chest; she had a large knife pinning her to the wall that was dripping with blood. Her left eye had a knife through it too, bleeding and making it seem as though she was crying blood. On her right, her arm was being pinned up by a sharp blade cutting deep into her skin. She was left in a horrible state, bleeding everywhere.
"And that concludes your first night in Flicker! I do hope you've enjoyed yourself, because this cycle will continue until one of the teams win! Oh, and, no more from me, as this is my final message to you all! Goodbye, players, and don't let the murderer bite."
"Oh, my..." Alex muttered.
"Gosh," Colleen finished. Her hand was covering her mouth and she was quivering with fear. Everyone there was stunned; too shocked to say anything, too afraid of what might happen to them if they get voted. Nobody knew what to say, or what they could say. It was completely silent, until Mateo started sobbing loudly. It was the first time he had actually shown emotions. He was crying into his hand, Omar by his side, comforting him.
"It's okay, Mateo, it's okay," he said calmly. He was shaken up, too, as was everyone else.
Liling just stood in shock and blinked. She couldn't believe her eyes. She was sweating nervously, like Adanna was before her sudden death. Wow... She actually died... I mean, come ON! She easily could have defended herself better. It was then that Liling walked over to Adanna's corpse. She saw Adanna's journal in her jean pocket and reached for it. She opened the page slowly, and read:
You are the CLOWN, you are part of the NEUTRAL TEAM, your goal is to get voted out and once you do, you can bring another player down with you. Write down whatever you discover in your journal.
"She wanted to get voted. She voted herself on purpose," Liling stated. Everyone began discussing what they had just witnessed. It wasn't long after that Alab announced they needed some sleep. The group dispersed, and Liling walked over to the same corner she slept in the previous night. Slumped against the wall, she closed her eyes. She was scared, scared because of what Adanna's last words were.
"I'll make you pay, whoever the real murderer is."