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Everything had blocked out around her. It was silent; dead silent.
She couldn't think. She had no thoughts. That was what she wanted, right? To forget about the trauma already built up inside her.
This is the time she should regret laughing earlier. So much for hope.
Anybody else could see she was just staring down at the sandy floor, her broken honeycomb haunting her.
She wasn't staring at it though.
Aera couldn't see; her eyes had blacked out and she wasn't able to move a muscle. Her body has gone into complete shock.
Time seemed to slow down. Breathing was non-existent; not taking in a breath in what felt like an eternity. Goosebumps covered her whole entire body as her eyes completely unfocused from the world.
She thought she had fainted, the symptoms too similar. The girl had the impression she had fainted, and was dreaming about what had just happened.
Mi-sun had been tapping her shoulder and whispering her name for the umpteenth time, but no response came from Aera.
It was almost as if her body was in a coma, she had completely stopped working.
From the other side of the room, a guard was observing the situation, glaring at Aera's still body and Mi-sun trying to bring her back into reality. He glanced at the floor, noticing what Aera was staring at. Broken honeycomb. A smirk formed under his mask, as he began to walk over to them both.
Two black-booted feet arrived into Aera's vision, pulling her out of the trance she was in. Her head slowly lifted, meeting the tip of a gun which was inches away from her forehead. Aera's eyes widened, hearing a click; the sound of the gun being re-loaded.
She'd never expected to die in this way, she wouldn't have even thought about it. There was no room for improvement in her life anymore; she'd lived through corrupted years, never having any intention to do something about it. And now, she no longer had the chance.
After the first game, Aera had made a promise to herself. If she survived, she would change. She wouldn't be selfish anymore and she'd repay those who helped her.
Memories flashed before her eyes, flooding her mind. It was difficult to recall the good things that had happened, because there weren't many. So she was stuck with everything she'd done wrong, looking back at all of her mistakes.
It was inevitable. This was a punishment.
"Gun down." to her surprise, a stern, recognisable voice spoke from beside her. "Now." he finished, inching closer to the guard holding the gun.
The guard lowered the gun from Aera's forehead, confused as to what was happening. "I- what? Sorry sir." He apologised, bowing to the superior in front of him.
The square mask glanced down at the broken honeycomb, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Pick it up, and go."
The guard bent down, grabbing the pieces of candy. Before getting up, he glanced at the number on the girl's shit: 227.
A sudden realisation came to him. Shit.
He quickly got up, bowing again. Swiftly walking away, he shuffled his feet against the sand in regret.
"Player 227, pass."
What? But I-
Briskly, she's pulled up by a large hand, which moves to tightly grip her own. Aera's eyes avert from the ground, relocating to the person holding her. The bright jumpsuit becomes all too familiar as it engulfs her vision.
Aera tried to pull her hand away, but the man's strength overpowered her own. He gripped her hand tighter, letting her know she won't be going anywhere. His grip made sense, there was nowhere for her to go. She was supposed to be dead, after all.
"MI-SUN!" Aera screamed at the top of her lungs, straining her voice so hard it hurt.
A guard stood next to Mi-sun, holding a gun to the side of her head. She wasn't able to look, or say anything. All she could do was continue with her honeycomb, or else she'd be joining the bodies scattered across the floor.
The square mask and Aera near to the entrance of the room, being dragged closer and closer to it. She noticed that all of the players were gawking at her, different to before when hardly anyone looked up when the first woman died. Aera didn't want to be the distraction. The clock was counting down the minutes immensely fast, and as much as she didn't want to die, she wanted everyone to have the best chance they could.
Contrastingly, not one guard looked over at her. Each one continued to patrol the area, not bothering to pay any attention to the scene she was making. It was almost if a girl getting falsely cleared of the game was a normal, daily basis thing. Surely one of them would have at least looked over, even if the man was one of the head guards, capable of doing whatever he was doing.
The girl had practically cheated, not that she had intended to. She didn't even know what was happening.
Before she knew it, Aera had been dragged out of the room, no longer in the eyes of the curious players. She began talking, wanting to know what the hell had just happened, and where he was taking her. "Wha-"
The guard wouldn't even let her get a word in, not letting her finish. "Stop talking, will you?" he tightly squeezed her hand, causing her to wince in pain. It was definitely the man from the bathroom, recognising his assertive and cocky attitude.
The both of them turned a corner, the guard pulling her around it as she swerved the wall. He dragged her down the stairs, Aera almost tripping over every one. The guard kept her up right though, not letting his grip loosen at all.
Soon succumbing to the feeling of tripping down every stair, Aera knew she wasn't going to get out of this. She looked around the room, her vision jolting every time they went down a stair. She'd been in the room multiple times before, it was the one filled with the staircases that seemed to lead to nowhere.
She wanted to get her words out this time, so she spoke quickly but enough to make an impact. "What the hell is going on?!" Aera yelled, her voice echoing in the empty room, bouncing off the staircases.
The man took a sharp breath in, pulling her closer to him, "Didn't I tell you not to speak?" Their faces were close and Aera could hear him grit his teeth behind the mask.
She hadn't realised they'd come to a halt, the both of them at the foot of the staircase. Aera had gotten distracted by how close they were to each other, the square on his mask so close to her face.
The girl pulled herself back, pushing his chest away. It was more her pushing herself away than him, his strong stance failing to move from her pathetic attempt at getting away.
Aera looked behind him, noticing they were stood beside where all the players first took their profile photos. The screens were all turned off and the lights on the lowest level of the staircases had been dimmed.
Not liking how she'd pulled away, the man roughly slammed her up against a wall, her head harshly hitting against it. Mimicking his actions from yesterday, he grabbed a fistful of her shirt, pulling her closer to his mask again, "Are you fucking serious, Aera?" he raised his deep voice, clearly infuriated with her.
It couldn't have been anyone else, and she knew it was him. But with him holding her shirt and his face inches away from hers, secured her knowledge of who it was. She knew that tone of voice, his anger giving him away.
She seethed, wanting to push him away again but was unable to due to her obvious weakness against him, "What is it that you want from me?" she sounded calm, but her blood was boiling.
The man abruptly let go of her, the impact causing her to hit her head once again. Aera felt her head starting to hurt, being hit on the head once was enough but the second time she had started to feel dizzy.
He wasn't going to answer her, deciding to ignore her demanding questions. Turning away, the sound of his footsteps paced up and down on the hard flooring. The guard looked at her, inspecting her dishevelled physique. Instantly noticing the piece of paper half hanging out of her pocket, he walked over to her, pulling it out.
The guard held it out in front of him, close to both of their faces, "Did you figure out who gave it to you?"
She rolled her eyes, realising she was going to be ignored no matter what. "You." she narrowed her eyes at him, wanting him to stop getting so close to her every time they were talking.
His face formed a smirk, swiping the piece of paper away from her face before shoving it into his pocket. A frustrated sigh came from his mouth, "I helped you, to which I could have gotten into trouble for. I also gave you the easiest shape out of the four, and you broke the damn honeycomb."
Aera widened her eyes at his attitude, scoffing loudly in his face. Of course, he would blame the victim. He didn't understand what she'd just been through, or what it felt like to be on the brink of death. "I don't think you understand, the lengths of the situation I'm in." Aera tilted her head to the side, getting in his face, "In the past two days, I've seen nearly 300 people die right before my fucking eyes. Sitting in a room trying to focus on the task and then suddenly gunshots are being fired every few seconds, to which could be me next, it's not the best situation to be in, is it?" Aera grit her teeth, growing more and more aggravated that he didn't understand.
The guard stayed silent, not bothering to listen to her little rant. All you could hear was his angry huffs from behind his mask. "You're not playing the games anymore, Aera." he firmly stated.
Aera smirked, "Clearly. I'm supposed to be dead." she remarked, feeling her own anger growing and wanting to cause a scene all of a sudden. "Why did it say I passed?"
"Did you forget what I said yesterday? Stop asking questions." The man had no intention of answering them, but she still continued to try. He turned away, pacing up and down the room again.
"No, I deserve to know. What the hell is going on? Why am I still alive? Why-" Silence interrupts her.
The guard stopped pacing, "Aera, I told you to stop-" He was about to scold her again before consecutive thuds came from behind him.
The man skilfully swivelled his feet around, curious to know what the noise was. He instantly noticed Aera on the floor, her eyes were closed and her body was limp in an uncomfortable position.
He ran over to her unconscious body, bending down. "Aera?" the guard shook her shoulder a few times, trying to wake her but failed as she wouldn't move.
Shit.
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A/N: Before anyone asks, 'Aren't they going to get caught?' or 'The front man will look at the cameras', there's a reason behind all of that. There's a lot of plot holes as you read on, maybe some will go unnoticed, but they're intentional. It'll all make sense in the end, I've (hopefully) planned this so it all adds up. Happy reading ;)