Frankie didn't like the tension in the air. The argument had broken apart hours ago, but the players were split into groups around the campfire, El desperately whispering to Nellie, Ryder listening to a comforting Li, Maeve laughing at something Maisie said. She felt the divide more than most, especially since she had no-one to turn to. It was a dangerous game, and she wasn't ready to let someone else manipulate her like that, but she was in dire need of a friend.
"Hey," Nellie sat down beside her, picking up a twig next to them and snapping it in half. "How are you?"
This surprised Frankie so much that she laughed. "Apart from this whole murder thing, I'm good. You?"
They smiled. "Nothing can bring my mood down."
"This is all so wild, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Nellie shook their head. "Before I got picked, I was living a good life with my two Dads and my younger brother. We'd go for picnics in Hyde Park every weekend and we'd play a game where we'd decide whether someone was a tourist in London, or they lived there."
"Ohh, you're English!" She chuckled. "Makes a lot of sense, with the accent and everything. Where would you say I'm from?"
They sat back, examining her. "Hmm, Canada maybe?"
"Close."
"I know," they exclaimed. "You're American."
"Born and raised just outside of Las Vegas," Frankie pretended to tip a fake hat. "I had a brother too. I hope I'll get to see him again."
The mood became solemn, and Nellie put their hand around her. "I know how you feel." They paused, almost as if they weren't sure if they should say what they were thinking aloud. "What if... we just didn't play?"
Everyone around them went silent, turning to look in their direction.
Frankie frowned, laughing nervously. "W—What do you mean? It's not possible."
"Except maybe it is," their voice grew louder as they saw that they were holding everyone's attention. "They can control the text we receive, and the environment around us, but they won't come in here. That's the one thing we have. We have control of ourselves, and we don't have to do this. Nobody else die."
"You're right," Ryder nodded fiercely. "There must be a way we can all survive."
"You're all idiots," Maisie scoffed. " I'd like everyone to live, but that's not how this game works. You know that as well as I do."
"We can always try," Frankie offered, siding with Nellie despite her hidden pessimism.
"You're forgetting one thing," Li looked Nellie up and down, their face an unreadable mask. "Sol was voted out today, and she won't miss her chance to take one of us down with her."
Flick, flick. The darkness is coming...
Goodnight players.
Frankie swore she heard Nellie say something else into the darkness, but by then it was too late. Whatever they'd said, she'd have to ask them in the morning.
Hello, <<Frankie>>. Who would you like to protect tonight?
She chose Nellie, hoping it that it would make a difference like it did when she chose El.
A voice whispered in her ear. It was probably just Nellie again, talking about their family to calm themselves.
The night passed quickly, and she let out a gasp when the lights flicked back on and both herself and Nellie were still alive. Then the knife came.
She couldn't see the hands wrapped around it, but it was through her stomach before she had time to scream. Her small intestine was skewered, and the worst part was she couldn't find the words to say something, anything as she bled out on the floor.
What didn't surprise her was that as she was falling, she could make out the figure of Sol above her. Tears were threatening to fall from the other girl's eyes, but her face was fiercely determined as she looked down on Frankie's body one last time.
Frankie didn't have time to dwell on what that meant: she was floating, her soul separated from her body. She had become a ghost.
A/N
hi!! it's been ages since I updated this but my writing goal for this month is to finish this, so I'm going to be updating it a lot (lots of deaths coming soon, if you want your character to be alive/come back please vote and comment!)