Ace
"Hey, would you mind if I took over?" Ace asked.
He didn't really want to take over, but at the rate they were going, most of the housemates would end up with sprained shoulders and painful thighs. The exercise instructor tapped his airpods, and nodded at Ace after a few seconds, before moving to the side to give him space and watch what he did.
"Good morning. So I'm a gym instructor and those exercises aren't really good for most of you who are beginners. So how about we start again with easier exercises?" The exercise instructor grunted, not so silently, at Ace's back. Most of the housemates shrugged in response, they had done less than ten minutes of exercises so their energy level would still be high. Ace nodded, and gave the housemates directions to run twice around the wide garden that doubled as their exercise room.
"Good job man." One of the housemates said, lightly slapping Ace on the back as he strode past. Ace smiled and rubbed his neck as he sat down, rolling it from side to side to loosen the kinks. Usually, he didn't get this tired during gym classes, but then he had never instructed eleven people at once. Ace yawned as the nice scent of food drifted into his nostrils, making him hungry. He stood up and moved into the kitchen where someone was stirring up a really nice meal.
"That smells amazing." The chef rose her head up and beamed at him.
"Thanks. I can't finish it all." She pointed at the oven, still smiling. It was simple courtesy to compliment someone whenever and however you could, especially if it was the truth.
Ace eagerly nodded, not one to pass up free food. He sat down at the kitchen counter and watched the girl as she baked, the apron she wore stretched tightly around her body and as she stirred the food, she ate a granola bar, she also appeared to be his age (everyone here did) and he spotted a red rose tattoo on her exposed shoulder. Wait, was she the one who had been insulted yesterday about her looks? He raked over her facial features, he decided she was prettier than that girl, but was there another plus size girl? He decided to ask for her name.
"What's your name? I forgot nearly everyone's names after yesterday." He nearly added an apology, no one liked having their name forgotten only a day afterwards.
She didn't seem offended, "It's Penny. What's yours?"
"Ace." She smiled again and offered him a granola bar.
"Think of it as an appetizer to prepare your tastebuds for what's coming." He remembered her now, the girl with brightly-coloured hair had snickered and told everyone a stupid joke about her dog, Penny.
The girl in front of him instantly retaliated. "Your dog seems to be good at tricks, what can you do?" No further mean comments were made.
Ace shifted his focus back to the present where Penny stood opposite him holding two steaming plates. She dropped a plate at his front. "When I leave here, I want to start regular gym lessons and I think you'll have the patience to deal with me." Ace looked down, he couldn't remember eating a plate of peach cobbler that looked this good. Was she serious about gyming lessons or it was an invitation for something more?
He had to ask. "Really, what makes you think so?"
She took a bite out of her meal and shrugged. "Anyone who can handle eleven different people at once is capable of handling just me." Again with the double meanings. "So will you do it? If you're worried about locations and addresses, don't worry I will find you easily."
At this point, all Ace wanted to do was run away. He didn't remember much, but he knew ladies weren't usually this upfront. He wasn't even sure of where he was headed after this, he planned to use the the cash prize (if he won it) to go back to the hospital in Oklahoma and ask some vital questions.
"You're very direct Penny, I admire it. We'll see what happens after this."
October 19th
Mareike
Mareike sat in the hallway and ticked off yesterday's date on her calendar, adding another line at the bottom to mark the third day. She still found it hard to sleep without guards outside her door, and the fact that her mom would punish them distressed her. She gave them credit, her plan to escape had nearly backfired but her quick thinking put them in her mother's line of fire. If not for the wet floor that had conveniently appeared---
Someone walked towards her and hovered. "Can't sleep?"
She looked up into a guy's eyes and nodded her head. He sat beside her, and pointed to her calendar. "Me too, can I see that?"
"Three days, that long already huh?" He handed back the calendar and sighed. "Still feels unreal to me, I might wake up and see myself in Arizona preparing for another blistering heat wave."
"Like that is exactly how I feel. It seems like a dream, running here from another country. Thrilling, and scary, and exciting, and---" Mareike clamped her hands over her mouth and looked down at her chewed nails. She just plunged, headfirst, into revealing her life story to a stranger who currently gazed at her in amusement.
"Another country? Figures, with your name and looks. Let me guess, Austria, Germany, Belgium?" He looked at her, expecting an answer.
She wrapped her arms tighter around herself, what was wrong with her looks? She looked just like everyone here, apart from her light brown hair which changed colour depending on the season (now blonde to represent summer), her olive skin, her sapphire eyes, and wide jaws which became more pronounced when she added weight.
Mareike was sullen. "Germany. How do you know my name?" Stupid question. A consequence of thinking only after you spoke.
"We had introductions on the first day, and played the Question game yesterday, remember?" His eyes widened as he looked at her. "You don't know mine?"
Of course, she remembered him from the game yesterday. He brought up most of the questions but she could not remember hearing his name throughout, so she shook her head.
"Hi, I'm Marcello. It's nice to meet you, Mareike." He thrust out a hand, offering her a handshake. "By the way, what's the meaning of your name?"
Mareike took his hand and fought hard to conceal her blush. No one had ever been intrigued enough about her name to ask what it meant, let alone attractive guys with strong hands. "Umm, like it's the German form of Maria, but literally it means Star of the sea." He nodded, and offered no further comment so she took a leap of faith. "What about yours? Italian right?"
"Perfecto. My parents thought it cute to name me little warrior, except now I'm not so little."
Mareike laughed. "Well, it is still a cute name and it would be a waste to change it now." She looked at the clock opposite where they sat. "I think it would be wise for us to get some sleep. It is nearly three am, the first game is at noon."
Marcello got up, and held out his hand. "Which door? I'll walk you there."
This time, she let the heat creep up to her cheeks. She took his hand for the second time in one night and stood. "Room A."
Femi
Someone tapped his shoulder. "Hey, wake up. It's nearly time for the first games." Femi peeped an eye open, and looked directly into his roommate's face, instantly he scooted back earning him a laugh.
"Dude. Why are you so worked up? Get prepared, Mr. Han gave us twenty minutes."
Femi felt supercharged, and within fifteen minutes he stood prepared to get some action. Mr. Han called them out to the underground hallway at exactly 11.50am, and asked that proceed into the game room in a single file.
Femi tapped the guy at his front and grinned. "You owe me fifty dollars, man, get ready to pay up once we're out of here." His roommate sighed in defeat. They made a bet on what lay behind the closed door, and Femi guessed right.
At the front, Mr. Han opened the biometric lock and ushered all twelve of them in. The game room was large, larger than all four bedrooms put together and he was sure the end of this room went further than the front door above them. Opposite them, artificial lights and steel bars hung from the low ceiling, a small pool stood at the centre of the room as well as two hills at both ends of the game area which was separated from them by a thick red ribbon. Bells attached to ropes in the ground, a large bale of haystack and a crawl through net also featured in the game area. Femi grinned at the obstacle course, this would be a walk in the park.
Just as Mr. Han started to address them, a fist connected with Femi's jaw sending him to the ground. "You won't tell me what to do." The guy jumped on him, ready to strike again, but someone held his fist and dragged him away. Femi's roommate came to his side and helped him up, while the other guy looked on in rage.
"He wants me to forfeit the game, came to my room middle of the night and threatened me. What sort of sick joke is that?"
Femi balled his fists, he had no idea what this guy was saying but he didn't like everyone's eyes on him, even Florian seemed to take a couple steps back. Femi needed to defend himself, it seemed some racist idiots wanted to play a joke on him. "What are you talking about? I came to your room and threatened you to forfeit? Why didn't I go to everyone else then? Why only you?"
"I don't know man, you just sat on my bed and continously whispered that I leave the game. That's unfair, I need the money just as much as you do." His eyes widened and he looked towards the housemates. "Priya, Penny, you saw him right? When he entered and left in the night?"
Everyone stared at the girls who silently shook their heads, and Femi was relieved. He wanted no part of this game if it involved being blamed for something he didn't do.
"I'm sure it happened. He should be disqualified for trying to threaten a fellow housemate, Mr Han. Isn't threatening a fellow housemate against the rules?"
Femi turned to the man for help, but he avoided his eyes and looked at Ace. "We'll try to resolve this as soon as possible, Sir." What was that about? What did Ace have to do with anything?
Mr. Han left the room while someone else moved forward to stop Jasper, who looked like he wanted to start another fight. Femi shook free from Florian and sat on the floor, trying to think. He didn't walk nor talk in his sleep, neither did he go about threatening people he drank with the previous night. If cameras were installed in the rooms, his innocence would be proven except the organizers turned out to be like his professors.
Mr. Han came back a few minutes later and asked Jasper. "Are you certain Femi walked to your room, your bed and threatened you? The security footage didn't record him entering nor leaving your room last night."
"That's impossible, he must have messed with it. He threatened me, told me not to mess with the dynamics of the game." Jasper turned to Femi. "I quit. I don't want to lose my life over a silly obstacle course, just don't threaten me anymore dude. I'm leaving."
Within ten minutes, a car had arrived, on Jasper's incessant pleas, to take him to the airport. Femi knew a lie when he heard one, and Jasper wasn't making this up. Someone was trying to frame Femi and he would figure that out after the first game concluded.
Mr. Han clasped his hands and turned to address them. "Unfortunately, eleven housemates remain before the start of the first game but we must forge ahead, so let the games begin."
*****
WHAT HAPPENED TO JASPER? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.