Perfection.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Mafia

The party continues...

I stare at Vincent as he looks through the fridge. This is where I had originally bumped into him. I think of how to get his attention when he turns and looks at me. He raises an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?" He asks.

"Ah, yeah, um, can I get a water?" I ask.

"Sure." He shrugs and tosses me a bottle of water.

"Thanks." I say and chug it.

"Enjoying the party?" He asks.

"It's been kind of odd so far." I admit.

"Yeah, same here. Phoenix went to flirt with Dominic so I kind of just..." He trails off.

"Have you tried asking her out?" I ask taking a sip of my water.

"What?" He asks.

"Ask her out." I say slowly.

"No way. She'd say no." Vincent scoffs.

"You never know unless you try." I point out.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" He asks as a few people crowd into the kitchen.

"Sure, it's getting stuffy anyway." I shrug. I follow him out of the large house and down the darkened street.

"You're not afraid Phoenix will steal your guy?" Vincent asks.

"No." I say.

"I hope you're right."

"Dude, you really have to make your move." I say. He bites his lip and stares off into the distance.

He sighs, "I don't know."

"At least try." I say.

"Alright, I will." He smiles at me.

"Good." I smile back as we continue to walk down the street and back up.

"Who's house is this?" I ask when the house comes back into view.

"Um, I don't know actually." Vincent says.

"Huh, well, are you ready to go back in?" I ask.

"Yeah, this has been refreshing." He nods. We walk inside and Dominic instantly finds us.

"Where have you been?" He asks.

"Went for a walk." I respond.

"Ah, well, hurry the game is about to start." He says taking my hand and yanking me up the stairs. I motion for Vincent to follow us and he does. We come into one of the larger bedrooms. Ramian, Kate, Logan, Phoenix, and a bunch of other people I don't know sit in a large circle.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Phoenix asks when we sit down.

"What are we playing?" I ask.

"I'm about to explain, hush." She snaps at me.

"Mafia." Dominic whispers in my air. I mouth 'oh' as Phoenix begins to explain.

"Okay, so everyone gets a card and depending on the card you're a certain character. The Joker means you're a mafia, there are two mafias. King is sheriff, queen is doctor, and Jack is milkman." She says.

"What does a milkman do?" One of the other people ask.

"They give milk, I'll explain how in a moment." Phoenix responds.

"Oh, okay."

"So, when we start everyone will go walk around upstairs. If you're tapped twice or grabbed then the mafia have killed you. If you're tapped once then you're safe and you'll tell us when we get back to the circle. The sheriff will make their accusation afterwards. If you're given milk the milkman will hug your knees. It's too dark for anyone to see anyone, so it's all good. One of us will be the narrator or the person to make sure no one is cheating. The mafia can only kill two people per night." Phoenix finishes.

"Alright, let's start." Kate grins.

"I'll be the narrator." One of the random people say. The cards are passed around and everyone takes a second to look at their card. I glimpse at mine. It's just a normal card, sad.

"The rest of the cards means you're villagers, but no one is safe. Ok, everyone close your eyes." Phoenix says. We follow her rules, "Ok Mafia open your eyes and see who each other are."

A moment passes, "Okay, Mafia go to sleep."

The random girl speaks, "Alright everyone wake up and head outside." I stand up and follow the group onto the large area of upstairs. We all spread out cautiously. I make my way to one of the bedrooms. No one else is in here. I figure if I just wait in here I'll be safe. Someone else strides in. I step back and they pause. They back out of the room and I snicker to myself.

"Alright, everyone come back in!" The narrator exclaims. We make our way back into the bedroom. She goes through who died, who was saved, milk, and who is suspected. We vote and the suspected dies.

"Okay, so the ghosts can walk around and spectate, but no spoilers." Phoenix explains.

"Yeah, imma watch these murders!" Kate exclaims. I snort.

"Okay, go." The narrator says. I head back outside. I go to my normal bedroom again. I sit on the bed and wait. I will survive!

Someone walks into the room again. They spot me and I wave cautiously. I stand slowly to back away. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"Caroline?" The person whispers.

"Dominic?" I whisper back. He steps closer and I stay routed to my spot, "Are you the killer?" He gets very close and I freeze. He moves his face close to mine. I can feel the heat rising to my face. He presses his lips against mine. A moment later I kiss back and pull him closer. He puts his hands on my waist.

"Okay! Everyone come back to the bedroom!" The narrator exclaims.

"By the way, you're dead now." Dominic whispers pulling back.

"Wha..hey no fair!" He chuckles and walks out of the room. After a second, I follow him.

"I can't believe you died." Kate snickers. I roll my eyes at her.

"Alright, everyone back out." The narrator says after the normal routine. I head out with Kate to spectate.

"So, where did you die?" She asks.

"I'll show you." I respond. She follow me to the bedroom, which is empty.

"How did you die?"

"I was kissed to death." I let out a small giggle and instantly hate myself.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asks.

"Well, Do-" I'm cut off by a piercing scream.