How To Survive Murder

Chapter 5 - Selina

SELINA'S POV

"Get a grip," I mutter to the boy covering his face, "my mum hits me all the time, Penny will be fine."

That sentence didn't register before I let it escape my mouth. Finn lightly rubs my shoulder and sends me a small smile. He's probably the only person in the room that has realised what I've just said. He's the only one that is looking at me like I'm a human. The others though; some upset, some bewildered and some are just downright terrified of me. Even Everett looks hostile. I feel like a lion in a cage at the zoo, getting glared at like I'm going to pounce at any moment.

I look over at the damage I have caused. Penny's left cheek is burning red, she's knocked out on the ground, completely unconscious. Maybe the others' reactions are reasonable – the face punch was definitely not my best moment. But to me, Penny is dead to me. I would be happy if she didn't wake up for the next few hours so I can win this competition without her aggravating me all day.

"Okay, so that just happened," the emo looking girl finally breaks the silence. The other contestants are surrounding Penny's body, like cold people around a fire trying to get warm, in complete and utter shock.

"Ring an ambulance then Everett," a boy finally speaks up.

"Right, yes," Everett is stood still, tripping over his words, "that is good idea Caleb. One issue though," the boy next to Penny's body, who I now know to be Caleb, furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

"And what is that issue exactly? There's a girl unconscious on the floor for Christ's sake," the nerdy boy says in a distressed tone, fiddling with his thick-rimmed glasses.

"You see Zack, I'm not exactly allowed to," Everett states. He looks almost guilty – it's a large contradiction to his jolly demeanour from earlier. "It's part of the rules."

"That's bullshit," Caleb raises his tone, "we can't just leave her here."

"Of course you can." A new voice emerges. This time the voice is not coming from someone in the room with us. "Penny's body will be dealt with; she will be perfectly fit in a few hours."

"Guys, where is that voice coming from?"

"That Olivia, is my colleague." Everett replies to Olivia, the girl with eyeliner as sharp as a knife, in a badly convincing happy tone. "She's in the operating room. She's using the speakers to talk to you."

We all peer around the vast room. I notice four speakers placed in each top corners of the room. They stand out amongst the white walls.

"Thank you Everett for that underwhelming introduction," the speaker bellows louder than before, in an annoyed tone. A shriek erupts from the speakers, causing all of us to cover our ears. The audio recovers and the mysterious colleague introduces themselves, "I am Miss Mount. I will be directing you through the competition today."

The competition, yes. After all of this commotion, I have forgotten what I am here for.

Finn shuffles in his position next to mine, "When do we get started then?" he questions loudly.

"Finn, dear, the competition has already begun. Little Selina here has already eliminated one of her competitors." Miss Mount announces. I gasp under my breath and all eyes in the room send daggers into my direction.

Her voice is strange. It's almost motherly in a sense. Sweet and smooth like caramel. But it has a dark undertone.

When I was younger, my mother used to drive me to the beach during the summer. We would spend a few weeks there enjoying ice-cream, building sandcastles, and blissfully ignoring the world around us. Sometimes we would stay up late to watch the sunset fall over the sea. Those were the happiest memories I have of my mother.

Seeing the sky transform from cool hues of blue to burnt oranges and pretty pinks. My mother used to say it was like watching a watercolour painting unfold. We would sit and watch the art being created and admire its simple beauty. When the sun had set, our eyes lingered over to the body of water. I've never liked the sea. It holds too many secrets. Even so, me and my mother would stare at the vast ocean every evening of our seaside trips. I always noticed that when the sea was calm, boats floated tranquilly. But when there was a storm coming, the boats rushed to shore for shelter. I slump my shoulders as I listen to the voice echoing out of the speakers, Miss Mount sounds like she is waiting for the sun to set, waiting for a storm to brew, waiting for the boats to rush to shore and seek shelter from the disaster that is about to hit.

"Selina has the highest odds at the minute. Penny is a close second after that explosive rant. Finn, you have failed to impress me so far. Zack, those glasses don't do anything for your face structure. Caleb, stop looking so angry, that is how you get wrinkles. Olivia, you are wearing far too much makeup." Miss Mount speaks up.

As she names the contestants one by one, each of our faces drop. Whoever this woman is, she knows about us. She definitely knows our names at least. And that alone is evidently enough ammunition to cause damage to our self-esteem.

"The six of you have been gathered here for one thing only," Miss Mount continues. "Selina, Caleb, Zack, Olivia, Finn and finally Penny you all think you have what it takes to win one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. However, due to unseeable circumstances, there is now only five of you and that will simply not do. Penny is in no state to compete. That means we need a replacement."

We all turn our gaze to the only other (conscious) person in the room.

"Everett, you are now our sixth contestant." Miss Mount announces proudly.

Everett looks like the world is caving in on him. "What? What do you mean?" he yells in distress, rubbing his head vigorously. "But you're already paying me to be the host, I don't need to compete."

"Don't be so gullible Everett, young people have a tendency of being gullible."

Everett's face drops, probably realising he said the same comment to us not even ten minutes ago.

Miss Mount makes one final announcement, "Dear, sweet Everett," her voice is laced with sugar, "you need my money darling. If I am not paying you to host, then you only have one other option – to compete." Each note of her speech becomes sharper and sourer.

And with that, a creaking noise erupts from the far side of the room. Large, ivory double doors begin to open like those automatic doors at shopping centres, and we all look over in curiosity. Completely forgetting about Penny's body on the floor, we all walk over to the doors. The new room isn't as vast as the one we had previously been in. However, it is still painted the same perfect white colour and four speakers occupy the top corners of the room. There are six rectangular tables lined up in the middle of the room. Each one is a sleek, clean design, all identical to each other. Everything is illuminated by the commercial style lighting on the ceiling and I notice some items placed on the tables. I'm too far away to notice what they are though. The only other noticeable aspect of the room is the large black screen placed high up on the wall furthest away from us.

"I don't know guys, this all seems so weird," Zack quivers from behind me. I turn around and send him a smile, but I don't think my presence is particularly comforting to Zack after I wiped out Penny.

Olivia strides past me and Finn, making her the leader of the pack. I only now notice how small she is. Without her violently pink hair, I don't think I would even notice her presence. "Look, the screen," her gangly arm rises and points at the large screen I had noticed just seconds ago. White text appears on the screen. It is large and clear against the black background.

Finn reads it aloud, "Phase one: red pill or blue pill (1999)."

Caleb's presents a smug smirk, "Let the games begin."