The Lights Flickered Away for the Last Time.
Soon, the lights flickered down once again.
Night had arrived as quickly as a flicker of light.
Adanna, Vinny, Alab, Omar, Mateo, Alex, Thiago, Marley, Colleen, Halona, Adanna, Vinny, Alab, Omar, Mateo, Alex, Thiago, Marley, Colleen, Halona, Adanna, Vinny, Alab, Omar, Mateo, Alex, Thiago, Marley, Colleen, and Halona.
Arielle, Jonah, Ally, Arielle, Jonah, Ally, Arielle, Jonah-
Liling's guilty conscience had started to kick in. She repeated the names of the deceased in her head, before shifting her focus to those who were still alive.
Arielle. Jonah. Ally.
Arielle. Jonah. Ally.
Her mind was in ruins at this point. She was twiddling her thumbs around, slumped against a cold, metal wall, trying to think. Scraping through the meaningless thoughts in her head; trying to block out any excess ideas. The pressure was building up inside her mind until she finally settled on who would die that night. She steadily rose to her feet, wiping away a few drops of sweat on her forehead. It was always oddly warm in the facility, everything except the walls and floors, yet a cold chill crawled down Liling's spine. Her trembling feet timidly stepped to the ladder, which she promptly climbed down. It was hard to navigate in the dark, but Liling managed to figure out her surroundings pretty well. She had surprisingly good vision in the dark. Liling plunged her hand into the acid, retrieving the knife she had left there the night prior. Saying it hurt was an understatement. However, it wasn't the first time Liling had put herself through unimaginable pain. The acid burned her skin yet it left no visible marks.
"Oww..." she mumbled to herself, gritting her teeth as she pulled the knife from the weird green liquid.
After making her way back up the ladder, Liling begun her journey towards her helpless prey, relentless and determined to see their mangled corpse laying on the floor in a pool of their own blood. The girl continued her steps against the hard, metal floor, her nerves started to fade away. All the rooms were as silent as a graveyard. Not a sound could be heard except the quiet tapping of the soles of Liling's shoes pecking away at the floor. A silhouette began to form in her eyesight; their shape becoming clearer and clearer. Only...
They were walking around. Roughly four inches taller than Liling; hair put up in pigtails; an almost knee-length skirt. Jonah.
"Who's there?" called out Jonah in an unamused voice. As if that would help. They said it again, "I said, who's there?"
"Tut, tut, tut, Jonah... I'm pretty disappointed. You do know that asking who's there will still result in the same, painful demise as if you had kept your pretty mouth shut?" Liling smiled tauntingly, keeping a firm grip on the knife.
"I thought you were- Oh, never mind, it's you, Liling. Sorry, you just sound-"
"A lot like someone else? Funny, isn't it?" Liling threw the knife in the air and caught it, taking steady steps towards Jonah.
"Is... is that a knife, Liling? You're not the murderer, are you? I swear your journal said you were a survivor on the good team..." Jonah stuttered a little, taking a step back from Liling after their eyes had finally adjusted to the low light.
"You are stuttering a little bit, Jonah. Are you scared? Don't be. I am simply putting this knife somewhere where Arielle cannot find it," said she. Liling took a slow step forward again, but Jonah didn't retreat this time. They were intrigued.
"Wh- huh? Arielle?" repeated Jonah curiously. Liling laughed.
"Have you not figured it out? Like you said, I am a survivor, and you give people muffins every night. You gave one to Ally yesterday, correct? Well, Ally revived me, meaning she is a saviour of some sorts. Arielle is the only one left who is not cleared. Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that, Jonah." she laughed again. Jonah walked over to Liling and asked her, "Well, where are you going to put it? And how did you know where it was?"
Liling frowned and furrowed her eyebrows, her gaze as cold as her heart. She didn't really know what to say.
"I... wanted to catch Arielle red-handed. I remember seeing the knife yesterday down by the acid pools, so I hoped it was still there. I wanted to stop her from killing someone so we can vote her off."
"Yeah, right. Drop the fucking act, Liling. I've been onto you from the start. I never believed your shitty excuse for a journal when you died. If only that bitch, Ally, never revived you... I'm surprised nobody else noticed the fact that Thiago was killed with a gun the only night you weren't alive, oh, except Halona. And don't think I didn't notice that you stopped wearing your gloves yesterday. Presumably because you got blood on them, right? Would make sense, considering that Colleen got her head smashed against a wall, wouldn't it? I'm gonna wake Ally and Arielle up and we're gonna make sure you suffer as much as everyone you killed did," Jonah angrily spluttered. They were much more perspicacious than they seemed. Liling began to laugh quietly. "What, huh? What's so funny?" Jonah yelled. Liling's laugh got louder and louder, and more and more maniacal.
"You really think that's gonna to happen, huh? Unfortunately for you, Ally's a pretty deep sleeper... she couldn't even hear her own fucking girlfriend get butchered last night! Do you think she'd give two shits about your pathetic, worthless life?!" Liling's voice had completely changed. It was harsher, and sounded less posh than usual, "And Arielle... well, let's just say that she... doesn't have the same goal as you. Also, don't think I don't know. You five all knew. You're not like the rest, though. I admire that about you. Adanna, Mateo, Omar, Vivienne... they all knew, that's why I had to kill them. But you're special."
"Know what?" Jonah whispered, trembling, their face pale, and eyes as wide as an owl's. Suddenly, Liling punched Jonah square in the face. They fell straight to the ground with a loud shout and thud. Her knife was still in her other hand's grasp, but she wasn't going to use that yet. Surprisingly. Liling sunk to the floor to look at her prey. Her face contorted itself into a smug smile.
"Funny. Your stupidity and innocence almost make me feel bad." Liling took the blade and ran the edge down Jonah's cheek, "You really are shaking a lot, Jonah. I'm not going to kill you just yet. I know you've figured it out, though. You've seen me before, haven't you? I saw the way you looked at me at the start. I'm surprised you never outed me to anyone except Vivienne. You don't actually hate her, do you?"
"Vivienne?" Jonah trembled. Liling shook her head.
"You know who I'm talking about."
"Liling, please... please don't do this. I-I can help you! I can help you win! I'll betray my team! Just, please, don't kill me." Jonah's face began to run with tears as the knife continued to move its way across their skin. Liling's expression switched to a more emotionless, empty one. She leaned over the now-sobbing Jonah, the knife poised and ready. "PLEASE! NO, LI-"
Liling pushed the knife into Jonah's chest. It barely pierced the skin, but it was enough pain for Jonah to scream out in howling agony.
They shrieked, their voice going hoarse. Liling furrowed her eyebrows and began her work. Jonah put up a small fight, trying to push the blade away from themselves. At one point, Jonah had the knife in their hand and was wrestling Liling on the ground, jabbing the knife into Liling's shoulder, very lightly, but still enough to leave a cut. A sharp gasp left Liling's mouth. Soon, she regained a grasp back on the knife and pinned Jonah to the ground. She plunged the knife at full force straight down again into Jonah's bleeding chest. Liling let out a groan as she pulled the knife out and instead darted it into Jonah's stomach. She twisted the blade around inside, cutting open Jonah's guts. She used a lot of both mental and physical strength tearing their body apart. So much so, that she was unable to think of how to make this death different from the others. She scanned the room as much as she could with the limited amount of light. Where could she put the body? What could she do with the body? Trying to stay on one gruelling task at a time, she stabbed the screaming person beneath her a few more times in various parts of their body. They were crying and begging for Liling to stop, their words becoming choked with their own blood. Liling brutally brought the knife down again- a butcher chopping their produce up. One of Jonah's teeth had been knocked out by the sheer power of Liling's punch and had been spat back up. It lay covered in red liquid on the floor beside Jonah. Blood. Their blood. It was a bright scarlet colour, and it stained every nearby surface, including Jonah's very clothes and the soles of Liling's shoes.
Liling heard footsteps.
They were getting louder.
And louder.
And louder.
She turned her head and saw that someone was stood there, frozen. Due to the lack of light, Liling found it hard to figure out who it was. They seemed taller than Ally, so Liling assumed that the shadow was Arielle. Liling, knife still in hand, pressed her finger against her lips and waved at Arielle.
"Help... me... please..." stammered Jonah through violent coughs and cries. Their body was mildly convulsing from the pain. Silently, Arielle slowly left the scene, not doing a thing yet feeling a little uncomfortable. Liling's head snapped back towards Jonah, who was starting to go quiet. It was clear that they were losing life. Liling suddenly had a flicker of guilt, and stabbed Jonah directly in the forehead to bring their suffering to an end. A single tear rolled from the inner corner of her eye. She wiped it away and got up. It was a miracle that she had yet to get any fresh blood on her dress. She still had the blood from her now-healed stab wound, but that had obviously dried. She groaned and rose to her feet lethargically, stretching her arms high above her head, dropping the knife, and slowly walking away to go and find a place to sleep. She didn't want to sleep in that same dismal little corner again but thought it might make her seem suspicious if she woke up in a different place to where she went to bed. And so, she made the same journey to that stupid, uncomfortable corner as every other night and sat down. Her head was throbbing and aching. It was extremely tiring, for her, to be trapped in a facility with a bunch of idiots, day after day. For her, it was better when everyone was dead. For her, it was almost better when she was dead.
Liling woke up next morning. There was nobody around. I guess someone always ought to be the first one awake. After rising off the floor, Liling strolled around a little, just thinking and observing the scene. Her stomach quietly grumbled- a repercussion of not having eaten in a while. Eventually, she reached a body. A body of someone who was alive, lying next to Colleen's dead body. Dressed in a red cropped shirt, blue jeans, black fishnet tights, a pair of white trainers, and a brown hat upon her head. Ally. Liling sighed and sunk to the ground beside her.
"Ally! Wake up, Ally! Ally!" Liling said, shaking Ally around. Ally's eyes opened lethargically and yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.
"I'm up. I'm awake," she mumbled, sitting up, "So, where are the others?"
Liling shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't seen them yet."
The two got up and walked around a little before Ally spotted Arielle, sleeping on the ground. Then, she knew who the unfortunate soul who passed that night was. She hoped it wasn't true, and that everyone was still alive. Sadly, hope wasn't enough. Her and Liling ran over to Arielle's sleeping body. Liling started to shake Arielle's body the same way she did to Ally.
"Wake up, Liling! For fuck's sake, wake up!" Liling yelled aggressively. Needless to say, the sudden aggression in Liling's voice caught Ally off-guard. Arielle didn't stir.
"Is she dead?" Ally asked worriedly. Liling shook her head.
"No, she's breathing! I guess she's just a deep sleeper," she responded. Soon, Arielle's eyes began to open.
"I'm... awake," she uttered, still very tired. The entire facility had a horrible smell to it. A remarkably familiar smell now, that of fresh blood. "Where's Jonah?" Arielle asked. Ally and Liling looked at each other uncertainly.
"Where's Jonah?" repeated Arielle, more sternly than before.
"We... don't know. We assume that they're dead. Hopefully, that's not true, though!" Liling told her, "But we should find out."
All worried, they darted around, trying to find Jonah. Nobody could find them, dead nor alive. The tension was extremely high. Ever since the discovery of Minji's body on the first day, the tension had risen day by day, along with the number of corpses. They all emitted a disgusting, rotting smell.
"Guys, there's some blood h-"
Drip.
A drop of blood landed on Ally's forehead. Wiping her head and checking her hands, Ally's face was as blank and pale as a fresh canvas. Her head would slowly tilt upwards and let out a terrified roar, covering her mouth. Jonah's body was hanged on the ceiling light. It was hard to tell, but their body was still bleeding pretty heavily, a sign that there was a multitude of deep cuts. There was a tiny pool of blood beneath the light, dark red in colour. Their tan skin was stained crimson. Liling, who was now the tallest alive, got a particularly good sight of Jonah's corpse, but having already seen it, she wasn't surprised with its appearance. On the other hand, Arielle got a good enough glimpse for her eyes to become big, round, glassy spheres. Her and Jonah hadn't exactly gotten along, but they hadn't fought much. This was enough for Arielle to class Jonah as a near enough 'friend' throughout the game, or whatever this traumatic experience was.
"Ally, may I talk to you?" Liling asked, unexpectedly. It seemed as though Ally was still not past the initial shock of finding Jonah's body.
"No offense, Liling, but we should read their journal first. I'd suggest either taking their body down or just reaching u-"
"No offense, Arielle, but I wasn't speaking to you."
"Uh, okay then. My apologies, I guess," Arielle said softly.
"I don't think I want to take their body down. I'll just-" Liling felt around with her hand and grabbed Jonah's journal from their pockets, "-grab this."
She opened the pages and scanned them with her eyes before announcing to the other two:
You are the MUFFIN MAN, you are part of the GOOD TEAM, you can deliver a muffin every night to a person. Your goal is to eliminate the EVIL TEAM. Write down whatever you discover in this journal.
Better to help people than be completely and utterly useless. I'm so glad I'm not evil. At least I don't have to watch people starve.
I don't really trust anyone now that Vivienne's gone. I mean, I didn't like her, but I didn't think she was evil or anything. I know Liling's journal said survivor, but some part of me doesn't trust her. I think it's because she looks an awful lot like someone I used to know.
It's just me, Ally, Arielle, Halona, and Liling left. Out of everyone, Halona and Ally are the ones I trust least. Which is weird. Ally was confirmed to be a saviour of sorts, right? I don't know why I'm asking questions. If you're reading this, I'm dead, so it's not like anyone can answer me.
I actually think I trust Arielle. I don't know why. I don't remember ever meeting her before this 'game', but she seems genuine. I like how she always speaks calmly. Sorry if you're reading this, Arielle. I don't mean this in a weird way.
Arielle chucked slightly, choking on her tears a little bit. Liling wasn't sure if she was crying because of Jonah's death, or because she knew she was going to die. Maybe she didn't know she was going to die, but Liling did. To Liling, everyone here was just an obstacle. An obstacle blocking her way to a magnificent victory. And for that, she didn't care who died. Her teammates, her enemies: neither mattered to her. She was only alive because of the pity of another, but she believed it to be fate that brought her back.
I don't have a lot more to add. Tonight, I'm going to give Arielle a muffin, probably. I've already given everyone but her and Liling one.
"And that's it. How do we know Jonah didn't change their journal to make it say they were good, but they were actually evil? This whole muffin man role seems useless to both the evil team and good team. It'd make sense if Arielle were evil too, considering how much Jonah was defending her," Liling began.
"Oh, will you stop leading the fucking debate! You're supposedly a survivor, and you have no abilities! What gave you the right to take control like this, huh? The detective's fucking dead, and the next most useful role is too. All we know is that one of us here is a murderer, and it sure in Hell isn't me! There's something you're not saying, what is it?" Arielle yelled. Liling stayed silent. "Answer me! Answer me, you bitch!"
"Leave her alone, Arielle! She doesn't have to respond to you!" piped in Ally.
"Oh, be quiet, you pathetic excuse for a woman!" Arielle irascibly snarled, her voice dripping with venom. And that Ally did.
"There is a common theme I have noticed these past few nights," Liling spoke, "There is always one person who starts to act highly aggressive all of a sudden, no matter how calm and collected they were before. And that person always seems to be evil. Alex, Marley, Halona... Tch, what a coincidence, right?" she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. Ally rested a finger on her cheek, confused.
"Are you saying that Arielle is evil?" she asked. Liling placed her face in her palm, as if what she had just heard was the most stupid thing ever spoken.
"Yes, that is what I am saying, Ally."
"WAIT-"
Beep, beep.
"You seriously CANNOT be about to do this, Liling! Ally, please-"
Beep, beep.
"-she's lying! Vote her instead! She-"
Beep, beep.
"-is the most suspicious, not me! I've-"
Beep, beep.
"-not done a single thing wrong, please, Al, you've got to trust me!" Arielle pleaded, a clear sense of desperation in her quickly spoken words.
"So what role are you?" Ally questioned. The accused went silent. She began stuttering and stammering something that sounded like 'survivor'. Placing an uncertain, untrusting hand on her hip, Liling laughed.
"Of course you are, Arielle... And you say I am suspicious? That is so sweet coming from a girl who can't even force a lie out of her mouth. You are as believable as you are fun to be around. Sadly, that is not a lot," she gave a small tut and pulled a sarcastic frown, starting to walk away, "Well, since the timer just started beeping, I'd like to go and vote-"
"NO!" Arielle screamed, clawing her nails against Liling's clothes, trying to pull her back and away from the voting room. To Liling's aid, Ally shoved Arielle off her, but with a little too much force that she fell to the ground with a yelp.
"Ally, please. Please trust me..." she began weeping, wiping her puffy, glassy eyes, "Please, Ally, I'm innocent... I haven't done a thing. I-I would never- I could never kill anyone... Please, you must believe me!" She offered a hand to Ally as a plea for her to lift her off the floor. Being the kind girl that she was, Ally sighed and lifted Arielle of the cold, metal ground.
"But I trust Liling, Arielle," she said softly, a sense of sympathy in her tone. Arielle's hand met the side of Ally's cheek abruptly.
"WHY? WHAT HAS SHE DONE THAT MAKES HER SEEM SO- SO ANGELIC TO YOU, HUH? WHAT HAS SHE DONE THAT I HAVEN'T?" screeched the desperate Arielle. Ally gently rubbed her face with a sad frown upon it. Clearly surprised by the outburst of the usually sweet Arielle, she stayed silent. "ANSWER ME! WHY DOES EVERYONE IGNORE ME?" despaired tears poured from Arielle's eyes.
"Liling... Arielle does seem... really, really genuine. I-I'm not accusing you, but... I'm starting to think that you might not be as innocent as you proclaim, Liling..." Ally sadly whispered. A lack of a response from Liling followed. "Liling!" Still, no reply. "Come on, Liling! It's you, isn't it? You're the m- the murderer!" Even saying that word in itself, Ally felt shivers running down her spine, but she continued to rant, "It's all starting to make sense, Liling! You're the murderer, aren't you? Admit it now or come up with some amazing reason why it's not!"
"I died," Liling emptily muttered, but her voice soon transformed into a harsh yell, "I DIED. SOMEONE DIED THE NIGHT I WASN'T HERE, DID THEY NOT?" as did Arielle, Liling soon landed a violent smack on Ally's face, "Use your common sense, Ally! Pray tell, how did Thiago die by my hand if I was busy rotting away! Gosh, and I was starting to think that we were becoming friends of sorts."
Ally had a look of guilt upon her face (that was now red from the two hits she had taken) of which Liling acknowledged.
"Sorry, Ally. I got very scared that you were indeed going to vote for me. I did not think properly," Liling sighed reluctantly. She insularly turned away and started to walk up to the voting room. It didn't even register in her mind just how many fetid corpses she walked past on her way- she was numb to it all now. To no surprise, it was Arielle's name that she would speak thrice in that small, cold room. When she turned back around, she saw Ally, sorrowfully looking at the floor, standing Infront of the doorway with her arms crossed.
"I think we both know who I'm voting for," Ally muttered, head still aimed at the ground. Liling looked down the corridor into the other, larger room, to see Arielle sat in the corner, her head on her knees, wiping away any tears that began to dribble down her bittersweetly beautiful face.
"Al, if you think it's me, I'm not mad," assured Liling, placing a hand on the uncertain Ally's shoulder, a twinge of understanding and an ounce of sympathy leaking through her otherwise remorseless voice. Ally slowly took a step into the room as Liling left and continued her way down the corridor to see Arielle, who was still sobbing uncontrollably.
Arielle mumbled, "This is ALL your fault, Liling! I saw what you did last night! Why do you think I didn't snitch? Why didn't I speak up? Because I'm actually a decent person!"
"If you were a decent person, wouldn't you have saved Jonah?" Liling whispered into Arielle's ear before backing away and standing against the wall.
Feeling truly beaten and destroyed, Arielle did the final thing of which she could think. She ran. She got up to her feet and started running around, scraping every inch for any sign of an exit. She seemed like a completely different person to the day prior. Perhaps she had a steady downwards spiral that plummeted the second she got accused that day. She hadn't been the same from the beginning. And she would never be the same woman she used to be again. That was a truth everyone had to face at some point. The unnerving realisation that they will die. In Arielle's case, it was just a matter of when. She believed if she could find an exit, she would be free. She would live. She would win.
No.
That wasn't going to happen.
Ally soon made her way back to Liling, watching as Arielle darted from room to room hopelessly trying to find an exit. She was in the voting room now, presumably doing the same.
"Arielle."
No reply. Just loud wails and angry sighs. Liling turned to Ally.
"Ally, are you okay? I know how much this is taking a toll on you. It's almost over."
"Yeah, I'm fine, Liling. Just waiting for these ten minutes to end," Ally responded. It was rare to see this girl without a smile on her face, yet there she was, stood next to Liling with her mouth contorted into a frown. Arielle slowly walked to the two girls.
"No need," said Arielle, tears still flowing and a sad smile on her face.
The lights flickered.
Off, on, off, on, off, on, off.
Nothing unlike the other nights, the sound of loud, echoing screams and pained screeches engulfed the room. Anguished cries from sharp cuts left Arielle's choking mouth. Her coughs and splutters didn't go unheard, either. It was torture, for both Arielle, and the two survivors, left there with no way to stop listening to the grating sound of Arielle dying. The speakers only made it worse, amplifying the harrowing noise. Arielle's voice, through chokes and sputters, managed to say two last words before ceasing.
"S-sorry... Liling."
The lights turned back on, and, expectedly, Arielle's bleeding body was held up against the wall with several blood-covered blades. Her abdomen was leaking with crimson liquid very severely, as were her arms, shoulders, and one of her legs. Her head had been left untouched, however. Her white collar was now a deep shade of red, the same with her socks. There were many drops of her blood on the floor, and even more dripping down her skin. A small puddle had formed at her hanging feet.
And then there were two. Ally and Liling were left there to digest the scene, as silent as the corpse in front of them. Ally's face could be described as both scared, sad, and hopeful all at once. On the other hand, Liling's could be described as victorious.
"I did it... I actually did it! I won!"
"Liling... don't you mean, 'we won'?"