Let's Kill Her (Book #1)

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She looks behind her at the guards, who step aside to let six faulty members pass, including Sanrakshit, Naifu, and Yoo. Kang nods at them and they begin to move around the U like we're playing a creepy game of Duck Duck Goose, each one selecting a handful of students.

Yoo taps the girl on my left and Sanrakshit taps the girl next to Sejeong. The girls get up and walk off in small clusters, following the faulty members  who selected them, until only Sejeong, Rose, Lisa, and I are left.

"Follow me," Kang says with no warmth. I want to protest, but I don't dare show Rose that I'm nervous about whatever is about to happen.

Kang leads us two doorways down to the teachers' lounge I was kept in when I first arrived. The fireplace isn't lit like it was then, and the only source of light is a single torch by the arched doorway.

Four large guards follow our group into the room, and the X guard is one of them, which only escalates my unease. Sejeong and I glance at each other, and I can tell by the look in her eyes that she's worried, too. I want to ask her how extreme these challenges get, but no one is talking right now - not even Rose.

I immediately take in the details of the room. There are two big couches near the fireplace, with a wide, sturdy coffee table between them. Two sets of armchairs with footstools separated by small end tables. A sideboard with a pitcher of water, clean glasses, and a bowl of apples. A round table with for holders. A large fireplace with decorative stone trimming. A shelf full of books. A wrought-iron candelabra hanging from the ceiling. And no windows.

"Your first challenge is simple," Kang says, standing directly in front of the door with two guards on either side of her. "There are six objects hidden in this room. Find them and it will make completing the second challenge easier. Don't find them and you will wish you had - some of you more than others. I will be the one to decide when your time is up."

That doesn't sound remotely comforting and pretty much tells us nothing except that Kang makes the rules and unless we move quickly we'll regret it.

"Begin," Kang says, and everyone springs into action.

Lisa goes to the bookshelf and methodically starts taking down every book. Rose moves to the sideboard to inspect the apples. Sejeong drags the coffee table to the center of the room. She grabs a chair from the round table and places it on top, climbing it up to the candelabra.

I turn in a circle. The furniture is the obvious go-to and most likely contains more than half of the objects. And I have no doubt those three will find whatever is there. But there has to be at least one object that isn't hidden in the furniture. I run my eyes over the walls, looking for anything that could be shifted or manipulated. I pull on the empty wrought-iron torch holders, but they were firmly attached. I lift the tapestry, but there's nothing behind it.

I stop at the fireplace. The stones are large and seemingly mortared in place. There are no logs in the fireplace, but is some leftover ash. i sift through it with my fingers.

"Found one," Rose says with a gloating tone. She pulls a hairpin out of the end of an apple and places it on the marble top of the sideboard.

A hairpin? They hid things that small? I smack my hands togethers a cloud of soot billows out. I run my fingers along the brick-sized decorative stones that make up the mantel, looking for any crack or groove that shouldn't be there. My sooty fingers leave a trail , particularly in the tiny imperfections. Well, now, there's an idea. I scoop up the ash and smear it on all of the small stones by the fistful, painting the whole mantel with dark grey.

"Metal nail file," Sejeong says, and we all briefly turn to see her pull it from the end of an unlit candle in the candelabra.

Rose is removing the drawers from the sideboard and inspecting them for false backs and bottoms.