Deck of Fate

Chapter 12

The screen lit up and had Game will now commence written across it. Niragi got off me to get a closer look at it.

"The Beach is a game arena?" He questions.

"Difficulty Ten of Hearts."

"The last card we need, it finally appeared!" One of the guys said. I take this as my chance to get out.

They were about to run after but the rules were being explained, idiots the voice can be heard over the speakers too.

"We will now be explaining the rules. All players are to assemble in the lobby."  The voice said, that's good cause I am headed that way anyway.

"I repeat. All players are to assemble in the lobby." It was a mad house people were running through the halls trying to figure out what was going on.

I am too, just trying to be a bit more calm and watch out for militants. Usagi and I run into each other, and I follow her to the lobby. We hear paniced voices and we grab our phones.

I can't see Arisu anywhere, that must mean they still have him locked up.

We push to the front only to see a girls body, she's been stabbed through the heart. She's one of the girls Arisu scared away right before we found those other bodies.

And before we were betrayed, I think bitterly.

"Momoka! Momoka!" A girl came through the crowd and sat by her friend. She's the other girl. "Why..."

Our phones light up. "Game, 'witch hunt.' The evil witch who took the girl's life is hiding among you. The role is not limited to women." People start whispering.

"Among us?" I hear Usagi whisper next to me. We look around warily.

"You clear the game if you find the witch and burn them in the fire of judgment. Time limit, two hours." The voice finishes.

A fire lights up in the back and people start pointing it out.

"Find the one who murdered Momoka and burn them in the fire of judgment." I hear Ann say from somewhere in the crowd.

Then I hear another voice and grab Usagi.

"A witch hunt? This sounds interesting." Niragi comes up.

"The game had already begun." Usagi whispers and I check my phone.

"Hey princess," Niragi says to me getting close, I grab Usagi's sweater a little tighter. "All right, let's search for the witch!" He then yells.

Ann  comes up to look at the body.

"Hey you," A girl asks the friend of Momoka. She turns, "Why weren't you with her today?"

"What?"

"Why we're you late? Weren't you always with her?" A man asks.

Niragi grabs his gun, "Is she the witch?" He taunts with the gun in her face.

"It's not me!" She says backing up.

"We'll know once we throw you in the fire!"

"I was in my room! I'm not lying!" She insists.

"You two were always together. But today you just happened to not be with her?" Another guys asks from the crowd.

Niragi then laughs. "All right, it's decided. She's the witch! Drag her to the fire!"  People rush at her picking her up.

A few people including myself and Usagi block the path.

"Calm down." Mira says. "Let go of Asahi."

"There should be other suspects." Usagi pipes in.

They drop her and she looks up at us.

"Where were you guys, and what were you doing? Can you prove it?" I ask raising my voice.

"Both of us were having a good time in my room, right?" Niragi says leaning forward, his group smiling, knowing that they were in the clear as well.

"Everyone will take turns reporting what they did in the past hour." Ann says taking charge.

"There's blood on her." A girl points out.

"Don't get the wrong idea."

"Now this is getting interesting." Niragi joins in. "Could she be the witch?"

"You're wrong! This is Hatter's blood." She holds up the napkin. She must've been working on the body.

Everyone starts murmering. I thought they all knew.

"I was checking Hatter's body. That was when the blood got on it."

"His body?" A girl asks. I guess they really didn't know yet, well surprise.

"Hatter was murdered."

"Why'd you keep that from us?" Someone yells.

"The executives believed this would throw everyone into confusion."

"Are you hiding anything else from us?" Another yelled. "Stop whispering among yourself.

" Calm down!" Former Number two yells.

"This bullet was stuck inside Hatter's body." Ann explains holding the bullet in the air. "The firing marks align with the firearms we have here."

"What?" Niragi asks. Oh please like he doesn't know, it had to be one of the militants.

"This means someone at the Beach killed Hatter."

"Maybe the witch did it." A girl suggests. "I mean, doesn't that sound reasonable given the timing of these events? The witch must be among them." She points and then was stabbed. Last boss was there and everyone backed away.

"How troublesome. Let's just burn everyone we find." He says.

This is great, everything will break into chaos again.

"If someone among us is the witch, then everyone other than the militant member is the witch." Aguni walks in with other militants. "Who's the witch? Come forward. If nobody does, then I'll throw everyone in the fire."

Niragi screams with joy and shoots into the air.

Then it's chaos.