Weeks went by and I played other Games, discovering that Spades were the ones I was best at. Besides running every day and being fast, I had great stamina and having practiced Karate for two years when I was younger came in very handy.
I'd only ever seen weapons in the movies, but here I was forced to learn how to use them...or at least let's say I did learned to load a gun and shoot. And that was enough for now. I also got myself some knives, three to be exact. I had two in my backpack and the smaller one was always tied to my belt.
My goal of becoming invisible worked great, I blended in, I stayed behind the scenes and when it came to teaming up I never showed all my skills. Even if you played together, it could happen that you were betrayed by your own teammates, even though it was a Game of Clubs and not of Hearts. I saw teams team up to take someone out; it didn't always require the survival of all team members to win, and those were the most dangerous games; so I never showed myself too good or useless. I always stayed somewhere in the middle and this strategy seemed to be perfect.
My Visa expired today so I walked to the nearest Arena. Judging by the size from the outside, there must have been very few players and as soon as I entered I had the confirmation of that. I grabbed the last remaining cell phone and looked at the other four people.
There were two boys a few years younger than me, who appeared to have just arrived by their confused faces, yet they hadn't asked any questions. They were probably still in shock. Then, there was a man in his fifties who looked like he was about to fall over from how drunk he was, and finally a girl with dreads, jeans and a blue bathing suit top and a chopstick in her mouth.
I acted as usual and waited in a corner, blending with the enviroment. The metallic voice broke the silence and the screen lit up.
Difficulty: 3 of Clubs
Game: Dead or Alive
Rules: Select the correct door within the stipulated time frame. Clear condition: leave the building within the time limit.
We weren't told the time, so I assumed that once the game started, a timer would appear somewhere.
Then the lift's door opened and I saw a sign with the word START, inside of it.
"Where are we?" One of the new boys asked.
"What does all this mean?" His friend questioned.
"It means we have to play or we'll die." The girl with the dreads answered. "And since it's a team game, you better get a move."
She was the first to get into the lift, followed by the drunk man and me. The new boys were the last to enter and they were visibly terrified.
"If a test is needed, I think we have someone who's right for us." The girl pointed her eyes at the drunk man.
I nodded silently.
"Are you voiceless?" She asked me.
"I see no point in wasting my breath before the Game starts." I replied, pulling up the hood of my black sweatshirt.
"You're weird, but I think you and I will make it out alive."
Of course I'll make it out alive. I have to survive at all costs.
The lift opened into a square room with grey walls where there were two doors; on one was written Alive, on the other Dead. The phones lit up and the voice reminded us that the time limit for this room was 2 minutes.
There wasn't much time, so the girl said, "Does anyone have any idea?"
I was thinking and didn't answer.
"Well, since you're clearly useless, let's do it my way." She took the drunk man and told him to open the door marked Alive. "I present you the test." She said addressing only me.
"I take it if it's the wrong door he will die."
"Exactly, and since it's the first room and I think there will be more, I wouldn't want to risk it."
I watched as she dragged him towards the Alive door. The two boys started crying and gas started filling the room.
"See, we have to move. Open this door!" She ordered him. The man didn't even know where he was and was about to open it.
"Wait." I said and an idea came to me. "The voice just said to pick the right door, it never forbade us to try the wrong one to see what happens."
"Huh?" The girl looked puzzled.
One minute remaining.
"I mean we don't necessarily have to sacrifice anyone. We know one of the doors will kill us if we go through it, but the rules didn't say that a person has to go through it to verify that." I took a piece of paper from my pocket and crumpled it up.
The girl seemed to understand my plan, but before I could throw the ball over the door, the drunk man staggered through it. He was hit by the red laser beam in the head and died instantly.
The two boys screamed.
"Guess he was too drunk to figure anything out." Said the girl. "At least we have our answer."
20 seconds remaining.
"This way!" I said opening the door Dead and finding myself in a room identical to the first one.
As everyone entered, jets of fire poured from the floor of the first room. One of the boys closed the door.
The time limit for this room is: 1 minute and 50 seconds.
"So the time decreases every time we enter a new room?" He then asked.
"It seems so." I replied. "And if we follow my plan, we'll all get out of here alive. Do any of you guys have anything to throw like a piece paper or something?"
"I have a notepad." Said the other boy.
"Let's prepare some balls then." The girl told him. "Do you want to do the honors?" She then said to me.
I went to the Alive door, opened it and threw the ball. Nothing happened, no lasers.
"Let's go." I told the others.
We all walked into the other room and, as we figured, the time had decreased by 10 seconds in this one.
"Time won't be a problem, come on give me a ball." The girl took one and threw it into the Alive door.
The laser beam charred it instantly.
"Good, then this time it's Dead." She said smiling.
We used this technique for the rooms to come until we got in the alley outside the building.
The metallic voice announced Game Cleared and we picked up the card with the 3 of Clubs.
The girl with the dreads briefly explained to the new guys what the Visa meant and how the Games worked.
"Thank you, you saved our lives." One of them told me.
"No worries." I said as I walked towards the main road. "See you."
The girl with the dreads came after me.
"Wait."
I stopped.
"I owe you." She told me. "Have you ever heard of the Beach?"
"Yes, but I'm not interested."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I work alone."
"I have a friend who is exactly like you, I think you two would get along very well." She laughed, then noticed I didn't add anything, so she said "Think about it, if you change your mind consider this offer as my way of repaying you and remember that only the talented ones enter the Beach." She winked at me and started walking, putting the chopstick back in her mouth.
Actually, the idea of going to the Beach was tempting; I had heard that they had electricity and the thought of having light and being able to take a hot shower, perhaps it was worth the risk of being in the middle of a community. You can be alone even being among people. Maybe I really would have accepted her offer, if I ever saw her again. In addition, I doubted that someone could be "exactly like me" and now I was curious to see it with my own eyes, to be able to prove her that I was right.
Having mentioned a friend of hers, I deduced that he too must be at the Beach, so if I wanted to test my theory I had to go there, but before taking this step I wanted to think it over and now I had three whole days to do it.
After the next Game I would have decided what to do. Little did I knew it would have been a very cruel 7 of Hearts.....
Hi there again!
I know Chishiya hasn't make his appearence yet, but let me give you a hint...my version of the 7 of Hearts is slightly different from the series.....just keep on reading ;)