Violet

Chapter 64: First Game

I sank into the living room couch. Five hours passed and I found nothing. Nothing at all. My father was nowhere in sight, and the box was most likely to be in his locked art room. Disappointed, scared, and fearing my life, I started to think about my mom. I just wish she'd show up anytime and scoop me into her arms. I smiled at the thought, but it disappeared fast as it came.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

I looked behind me and found Abby standing right next to the couch. I was going to say something rude, but she looked sad. Not that I cared about her emotions, but she seemed to be drained out and tired. Without words, she sat down next to me.

"So, the big game is coming soon. You ready?" She said, looking ahead of herself.

I looked at the TV that was turned off. "There's nothing to be ready for. Either way, I'm stuck with you two," I shrugged. "Dad will finally get his wish."

Abby started humming. I knew what she was singing. It was her favorite song. Yellow Submarines by The Beatles. When she was done, she faced me, and both of our eyes met. It was hard to believe that this person used to be my best friend in the world. It was hard to believe that Abby was no longer the sweet innocent girl who had grown up with me.

"What happens when I die?" I asked her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Sadly you don't simply just die when you're a part of the book. If dad says you'll be one of us, then you will be."

"Can it be destroyed?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you would like to know."

"Well," I shrugged. "I'll be one of you soon."

Abby stood up and glared at me. "We'll see," she said, then walked away. I watched as she walked out of the front door. It was pitch black outside, reminding me of the game I would soon play. I got up and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water to calm my nerves. My breathing fastened to a point where I could no longer control it. Tears streamed out of my eyes and my knees buckled to the ground. I placed the cup on the floor in front of me then curled up into a  ball on the floor.

At that moment, I begged silently for all this to stop at once. There was no way I deserved this. There were millions and billions of people on Earth living there lives right now. However, mine was about to end. Not end, but be sacrificed. With my head on the floor, I let the tears from my eyes create a small puddle on the polished floor.

Footsteps caused me to look up. When I did, I saw my father walking towards me. He picked up my glass, placed it on the counter, then he grabbed me by my arm until I stood up. "Don't be sad," he said, wiping my tears away. "Now come on, the game is going to start once I explained the rules. Follow me."

I followed him out of the kitchen and into the entry room. I froze, simply because I saw my friends then something more horrifying. Mariel, my Aunt Denise, and her three children. They were supposed to be dead and here they were. Standing beside them was Jasper, Tate, and Coraline. I walked into the small circle they formed, making me the ninth player. The closer I got, the more I was able to notice their stitches. Before I could talk, stitches formed through my lips as well. Jasper moaned behind the stitches and repeatedly raised his eyebrows at me. I stared back at him, wanting to tell him how sorry I was for ever getting him into this situation. It wasn't my fault, but if I had never talked to them. If I had just gone inside before I had met them, they probably wouldn't have came to the house. Through all this, where was Ryan?

"Hello everyone," My dad stepped into the middle of the circle made by us players. "My name is Mr. Harmon, as you may know, and tonight we're going to play a game where only one player makes it out alive. Today we have four players who refused to sacrifice their lives to the book, only giving me the choice to play the game," he smiled. "Once you're in my possession, you have to play by my rules."

I looked at Mariel. She looked horrible and so frightening. Her face was gray and her veins stuck out like a bold marker on paper. She stared back at me with a blank expression her face. At that moment, I was unsure if she remembered who I was or not.

"The rules are simple," my father continued. " In this game, each one of you is, indeed, alive and will be untied then given a weapon. You will then be given a card. If your card says murderer, it means you're it. You do not tell anyone that you're the murderer: that would be cheating. Your lips together for you to say only these things: You're dead, and, I found a dead body.

I looked down at the floor and said the words quietly to see if it would work. "You're dead," I was able to say, but nothing else other than that and I found a dead boy. My mouth remained shut to any other words.

"Whoever gets the card, murderer, will search for the others. The lights will be off. Once you found someone, you simply whisper in their ear, you're dead then kill them. You may leave the body or hide it. If someone finds the body they yell, I found a dead body! Once you yell that, the lights will come on, and all of us will meet here in this room. We'll guess the murderer then the game will start over again until there's only one murderer left.  Cheating will kill you. If you are the murderer and you don't kill the person you come across in eight seconds, you'll die, and the lights will come on. If you refuse to play, you will also die. If you yell out, you found a dead body, and there is nothing there, you die. There is no escape. The doors are gone. The only way out is to win."

That last rule went to everyone except me. Even if I did win, I would be stuck with my father. The rules were crystal clear, and everyone knew what they had to do. I had planned to cheat and not kill anyone, but my father knew what he was doing when he made up the rules. I wasn't quite sure if he made up the rules, but I doubted it. 

Something appeared in my father's hand, and he went around passing things out one by one. I saw Jasper carrying a kitchen knife, Tate with a screwdriver, Coraline with a wireless drill, and Mariel with a hammer. My aunt had some type of small pipe and the children each had other sharp objects like knives or a long piece of glass and a saw. My father finally got to me and handed me a hammer. I had been hoping for something a little sharp, but this would have to do.

A card appeared in my free hand. It was blank. That meant that I wasn't it. After reading the card, the lights went off, and I could no longer see my father. I only heard his last words before hearing everyone run.

"Lights off," I heard him say. "Begin!"