Alice in Borderland

Chapter 7 - The Beach

We've been driving for almost an hour now. Neither of them is really talkative, at least they have given me their names. The man with the bald and the military pants is called Aguni and the man with the white-blond hair Chishiya. It may not be smart to just come with them, but what would be the alternative. I would continue to stay alone in foreign apartments, wake up after every nightmare and no one is there. And I just hope that this silence disappears, anyway. Otherwise I'll turn around at some point. And since I haven't found any of my friends or family, Maybe I could meet new people there. You don't have to be my friends, but I can just talk to someone. Well, the two up front obviously drop out of it.

I close my eyes and doalywn a little as we suddenly hold. I open my eyes and look around. We are standing in a parking lot and music comes from somewhere. Both get off and the man named Aguni walks to the entrance of a hotel. I take my sports bag and open the door. I look up and recognize disco lights in all sorts of colors. The hotel is quite large and is five to six storeys high.

"Are you finally coming?"

I look bewildered at Chishiya, who stands a little further and seems to be waiting for me. He just raises his eyebrows again and puts his head impatiently a little obliquely. I just twist my eyes and follow him inside. The lobby is huge and I see some people, everyone wearing their bathing suits and some looking slightly drunk. Just before the stairs up, I catch a glimpse of the pool area. It's full and people celebrate what the stuff holds. The pool is completely overcrowded and the chairs at the bars are all occupied. Some snuggle up on the sun loungers and some walk up to the rooms in pairs.

It looks silly and ridiculous, but I just have to grin. For although it is all this, it is also the opposite of what I really wanted to get rid of: silence.

I look forward again and notice that the boy with the white-blond hair just kept walking . Apparently it's annoying him to wait for me, so I get moving again and try to catch him up, which isn't that easy. He opens a double door and enters a large hall. In the middle there is a large table and there are six chairs, which are occupied. There are two women, Aguni and Chishiya and a man with glasses gathered around the table. At the end of the table sits a guy with shoulder-length hair, hippie sunglasses and a colorful morning coat. At the side behind Aguni, two other men stand leaning against the wall.

One is quite thin, has a baldness and wild tattoos that go from his arms to his head. He stands slightly curved, and in his right hand he holds a sword. The other man has black, slightly longer hair, with the upper part tied into a dutt. He has several piercings on his face, including the eyebrow and nose. Somehow, though, they stand by him. He has trained a rifle and looks impatiently and bored to the ceiling. The people at the table talk to each other until the man looks at Chishiya and then to me.

"Welcome, sit down my love," he says, pointing to a chair next to him. The man with the glasses nods and clears the space. I get moving and feel a little uncomfortable because everyone is staring at me. I take my bag off my shoulder and because it's so warm here, I take off the jacket and hang it over the chair. Some glances glide to my uniform, which still has a lot of old blood on it.

"How is your name my love," the man continues cheerfully.

"Arakida Sayuuri"

"Welcome Sayuuri, my name is Takeru Danma. But everyone here calls me the hatmaker"

"I like the name, it sounds funny," I laugh and try to see through everyone a little bit, as in the poker round earlier. His attitude seems to relax a little, which means that he was also prepared for other reactions. He walks to a bar, takes out two glasses and flips gin into it. He runs back to his place and hands me one. We drink a sip and then he continues.

"So we're talking about the beach. We have teamed up to be able to collect all the playing cards. If we have all the cards, we can send the first one home with it, and then the next and the next," he begins, and somehow it sounds logical that the cards have something to do with, "The order of who comes home and when is fixed. If you win cards that we don't already have or carry a large chunk of, you can ascend. That means a bigger room, more privileges and you'll come home sooner"

He leans a little backwards with his drink and points to the wall. All possible playing cards are painted there in the four different columns: Diamond, Spades, Clubs and Hearts. Over some are red crosses, which probably means that the other cards are still missing.

"There are three simple rules: we wear all beach clothes, no exceptions. Even if I have to say that I like your cheerleader uniform. Here only the military troops are allowed to possess weapons, they are responsible for the security in the beach. And you can't hide weapons in swimwear," he continues, "All the cards you win while playing go to the beach, that's easy. And the last rule is, you break the rules or harm the beach..."

He makes a movement and forms his hand into a weapon. I could have been told that earlier. Now I also understand why he has adjusted to every reaction. I suspect that there is no way back and I have to stay here. He waves his hand and the man who has given me space before hands him a spint bracelet.

"Here this is yours now," he says, handing it to me, recognizing the number 291. On the way I saw the bracelets of the two men. Aguni has the number two and Chishiya the number seven. Logically, the man who calls himself the hatmaker will be number one.

"Now, of course, I would ask you for the playing cards that are already in your possession"

I hesitate for a moment, then I reach for my sports bag and pick out the two cards. There's still a little blood on them, but that doesn't seem to really interest the others. The hatmaker checks these cards and suddenly laughs. He shows the other the card with the cross 6 and stands up cheerfully. He walks to the board and I discover that this card is still free.

"Thank you Sayuuri, you have already contributed to our community"

He takes the bracelet again and hands me a new one with the number 269.

"Do you still have any questions, did you understand everything?" the hatmaker asks cheerfully and brushes the card through.

"Yes, but there would be one thing," I say cautiously, because the weapons in this room make me a little nervous.

"Yeah, the death penalty may be a bit harsh, but this order keeps the beach together," he says, as if he was expecting it.

"Honestly, it's all about beach clothes. When we go to the games, can we wear normal clothes?"

He seems a little surprised and laughs at me again.

"Of course you love as long as you wear beach clothes again in the beach. Otherwise you can do and leave what you want : drink all day, take drugs, eat what you want, have fun with whoever you want"

"Reminds me somehow of my sixteenth birthday," it slips out of me, apparently saying it louder than I wanted. The hatmaker, the woman with the long black hair next to me and the man with the piercings laughing amused and to say nothing stupid anymore, I drink a little out of my glass.

"Ann will take you to a room where we store all the clothes. But I'd love to keep talking to you tonight"

Ann is the woman to me, which I recognize because she gets up and nods to me. She is wearing short jeans, a white blouse and has short black hair. I take the jacket and my sports bag in my hand and look again at the hatmaker to answer him.

"Clearly, if there is still some of the delicious gin"

"I can see, we'll get along well," he laughs. I drink my glass on a train and nod to him to say goodbye.