Deduction, Deception, Death

3.

BENJY STRAIGHTENED up his back. He looked at the crowd around him, closely observing everyone. Most of them looked positively terrified, and even the slightly calmer ones, like Mira, looked scared. The roles list would go on to play a huge part in determining how the game would go, and ultimately, who would manage to survive and emerge as the final victor.

"Here are your TPs." Benjy handed a plain cardboard box to the spiky-haired boy sitting near him. "Take one and pass it on."

Soon, everyone had a small grey phone in their hands. Mira took a deep breath and turned it on. The screen showed merely two applications – 'Messages' and 'Roles List.'

A whimper. Mira's head swivelled to her side to find Nicolas staring blankly at his screen. She couldn't help but empathize with him. Neither of them deserved this.

Sensing motion, Nicolas looked at Mira. And then she caught the sight of him.

Mira couldn't suppress a soft exclamation. His eyes were terrifying. Displaying such a deep degree of fear, they reflected the exact look  of a frightened prey. There was the same glisten — one she recognized so well from her days of treating injured animals with her mother — a depressing mix of despair and dread but most prominently, helplessness. The gut-wrenching, heart-breaking feeling that signifies there is nothing you can do anymore, and that the fear has finally won.

Mira didn't know what to say at this point. She silently placed her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, forcing a smile on her face. "Th-thanks," Nicolas muttered. Her actions had managed to say enough.

Hoping Nicholas would be okay, Mira tapped on the plain icon of 'Roles List' with trembling fingers. There opened the classic document — yellowing pages with the occasional splatter of blood. And words that would decide whether she would live or die.

POSSIBLE ROLES LIST

ASSASSINS : the assassins win if the last person(s) standing is/are assassin(s).

1. Godfather/Godmother – Leader of the assassins. The Godfather decides who to kill every night.
2. Murderer – Second in command of the assassins. Can either carry out Godfather's bidding, or choose to not kill anyone. The Murderer becomes the Godfather/mother if the Godfather/mother dies.
3. Blackmailer – Target is unable to speak for the next day.
4. Janitor – Cleans bodies. The Janitor doesn't see role or will.

DEFENDERS : the defenders win if the last person(s) standing is/are defender(s).

5. Royal – If voted out, does not die. Person with next highest votes dies instead.
6. Agent – Picks a player to protect from harm each night. If the Agent gets killed, person being protected dies too. If someone goes to harm the protected person, the Agent kills them.
7. Trapper – Each night, can place a trap at someone else's house. Whoever visits them dies. Once in the game, the Trapper can place a trap at their own house.
8. Bodyguard – Can protect one person from harm per night.
9. Fortune Teller – Visits one person per night and gets to know 3-5 role possibilities for them.
10. Mayor – Normal person until reveals role. When does so, the Mayor's vote will count as 2.
11. Resurrector – Can bring back one person back from the dead once in the game.
12. Lookout – Sees everyone who visits their target at night.
13. Vampire Hunter – Visits one person each night. If the visited person is a Vampire or a Vamp*, the Vampire Hunter kills them.
14. Teleporter – Each night you pick 2 players. These players will swap places for the night. Everything that happens to chosen player 1 will happen to chosen player 2 and vice versa. The Teleportor can chose their self.

LONERS : loners are neither assassins nor defenders. Each has special conditions for winning.
15. Werewolf – Every odd-numbered night, goes on a rampage at someone's house (can pick own). The Werewolf kills anyone who visits picked house.
16. Witch – Can control someone into using their ability on someone else each night.
17. *Vampire – Can bite someone every even-numbered night and convert them to a vamp. The player will be notified they have been bitten (unless they were saved). Bitten people keep their role ability, they just change their team and win with the vamps from them on. They will be seen as their original role to investigative roles. If the Vampire dies, the first person they bit becomes the Vampire. But if they die and you die, your team loses. The leftover vamps lose their old role and are seen as a Vampire from then on. The Vampire wins once everyone in the game left alive is a vamp, and they or their first bitten is alive.
18. Arsonist – Every even-numbered night, can douse someone in oil and on any night can choose to ignite all doused targets, killing them all.
19. Survivor – Wins with everyone.
20. Amnesiac – Can choose to remember a dead person's role and become it. Everyone will be notified the Amnesiac remembered the role.

Some time after Mira had finished reading, everyone was done. All the faces told a different tale — some were in deep thought, some were emotionless, and some were absolutely terrified. Mira couldn't tell which category hers fit in.

Benjy cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Everyone looked his way. And something in that moment changed.

The wind seemed to slow down, but its sounds were much more prominent. The wind; as if whispering cautions and warning in the ears of all those gathered around the fire. The fire; it seemed to grow dull as it shone is Benjy's eyes. His eyes; suddenly they had taken on a dead-serious look, and one could tell this was not his acting skills at play.

"And remember," said Benjy, his eyes growing stormier with each passing second, "in the end, there is only one rule: Eliminate the others – or die trying."