The stakes are higher than ever.
It's been months since the four managed to temporarily defeat and escape Laurel, Amber, Kali and the others but the four's problems are far from over. Forced to live with their guilt and still plagued by nightmares o...
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Edana's POV:
"Ok," Vina's quiet answer to what Kessal said shocks me. Not because of what she said since I know she values he friends above everything, but more because of how readily she agreed with what he said. Despite knowing the risks involved in it. "Ok I get what you mean but I have to let you both know that I can't guarantee that this will either work or do anything at all. It could just be a trap we've designed so we think we can solve this when in reality we can't."
Kessal sighs and I can see the torment in my friend's eyes, the emotion causing the amber to flash like an exotic gem caught in a direct sunbeam. "I know what you mean Vina, we both do, but what other choice do we have? Lose them both for good and let Amber win? Do nothing and hope they wake up on their own? We can't risk that, we don't have the luxury of having the time to sit and wait. Nor the resources since most of the people who have played this game before have either been killed or ran into hiding. Leaving us to figure it out alone."
"If you can even call it a game," I mutter under my breath, seeing how Kessal's eyes flash to mine. As with everyone else's in the room. Sighing I push my hair away from my eyes and look down at my cousin, worry clenching around my lungs and making it almost impossible to breathe. "How can someone call a twisted charade like this a 'game'? How is it fun for anyone other than the people who win? The lives lost can't constitute as fun. It's macabre and a horrible way to use someone. Not to mention all the people it's killed and will inevitably continue to do so until we either manage to stop it or pass it on to our kids."
Silence follows my words, much like the one after Kessal stopped talking before Vina agreed to what he said, but I can see that my words have had an impact and I hate that. I hate that we've lost the ability to have a laugh and enjoy our lives like kids should be able to do. All because of Amber's twisted crusade against our parents which means that she's out to kill us. Meaning we have to look over our shoulder constantly, jumpy to even the slightest difference in our environment.
"You ok babe?" Braeden's voice in my ear half snaps me out of my head and I nod halfway before shaking. Deciding last minute not to lie since that just seems to do more damage than good, even more so in this game. "Which is it, babe? Yes or no?"
Thinking over my response before I answer him I try to figure out if it is a yes or no. part of me says yes. Yes, I'm ok even with what we have to put up with. What we have to suffer given how we're tied into this game. But that part feels like a lie. Like I'm just saying something to make myself feel better. A delusion of the brain that I've engineered to make sure I can carry on until we have the chance to rest once Amber's been dealt with and is no longer an issue. And a part of me says no. No, I'm not ok. I'm not ok with what I've lost, the memories I'll now never have, as well as the ones that have been tarnished all because of how Amber decided to take vengeance for what happened to her years ago. And to the point that she has to use my cousin and one of my best friends in her twisted plan to make sure we're constantly looking over our shoulders, never able to fully relax and think about what we're doing long enough to feel comfortable doing it.
