♢
Yuumi coughed roughly as the group emerged from the location of their game. The fire had engulfed the building, leaving them to figure out their way out. "You're a fucking jinx, Sora!" Yuumi yelled as parts of the building fell around them. Sora glared at Yuumi, trying not to cough up his lungs and pull at his wound any further. Some of the other players came stumbling out, coughing and gasping for air. "What the fuck was that?!"
"Not a Hearts game." Sora pointed. He coughed into his elbow several times. "Fuck, I don't know what kind of shit that was, but I never want to experience that again." Sora said, attempting to clear his throat.
Reika glared at the phone when it announced that the players had four days added to their visa. "I've never played a Diamonds game like that. That was scarier than the Hearts game." Reika coughed as she spoke. "Fuck, I need water."
"Here." Reika nearly jumped out of her skin when someone with a blue bracelet passed her a bottle of water. She hesitated before taking it and breaking the seal. Reika gulped down a lot of the bottle before passing it down the line. The Beach member stood there, looking for his fellow players, seeing only two coming out from the smoke. "Hey! Where are the others?"
"Dead!" The coughs were just as harsh as Sora's group was. "I don't fuck with fire, Seiji." The player grabbed another bottle of water from Seiji's hand.
"The fire started almost instantly; it was crazy! We lost over ten people in that game." Sora looked over at the way the players were dressed. He used his elbow to nudge Aya, gesturing his head to them. Aya lowered the bottle of water to see what Sora was signaling her about. She passed the bottle over to Yuumi to finish it off, seeing what Sora was seeing.
They were from the Beach. The swimwear was the biggest clue.
Seiji sighed. "I picked up the card." He looked it over. "4 of Diamonds. We've got this one already." Seiji held up the card between his fingers.
One of the players narrowed his eyes at Seiji. "Don't fuck with me, Seiji. I just dealt with fire. I'm pretty sure I shit myself back there. I don't give a shit if Hatter's already got that card, just gives us another one." The player complained, crossing his arms.
"Did you at least win the game?" Seiji looked at the building. "Because where I'm standing, it doesn't seem like it?"
"We cleared the game." The other player rolled his eyes. Seiji's eyebrows rose at the two Beach members. They exchanged looks before the second one swallowed hard. "Well..."
"He solved the puzzle." Sora wiggled his fingers at the Beach player. Seiji turned his head to look at Sora and his group. Aya stood right next to him, almost shoulder-to-shoulder while Reika leaned against something that was behind the building and Yuumi was crushing up the bottle of water. He looked over at the Beach members, keeping his eye roll to himself.
Seiji nodded once. "Is that so?"
Sora cleared his throat. He took a step forward, only to grab his side. He hissed in pain. Aya grabbed his arm. "Are you okay?"
"Maybe I am a jinx." Sora slowly lifted his shirt, seeing that the wound was red. Thankfully, it didn't break open like he thought it would after he started running. Chishiya's sarcastic tone came into his head as they made it through the maze. Sora did say he didn't want a game that made him run... yeah, maybe Yuumi was right, Sora was a jinx.
Yuumi looked up, grabbing the back of their shirts. The three of them went tumbling down to the ground as part of the roof fell. Sora moaned in pain but looked over at the burning piece from the roof. "I fucking hated that game." Sora complained resting his head back against Yuumi's leg.
"You and me both." Yuumi just let his body fall back against the ground, staring up at the sky. "But I guess that Hearts game prepared you." Yuumi said that loud enough for Seiji to hear. Seiji's ears definitely perked up.
The three members of the Beach looked at each other upon hearing that someone beat a Hearts game without dying.
Sora didn't notice their looks. He tilted his head back to look at Yuumi. "Running around a supermarket is completely different than running around a maze, Yuumi." Sora sighed heavily as he pushed himself up. He grabbed his side, "Shit..." he hissed. "Maybe I should have waited another day."
"You think?" Aya hissed.
Sora glared. "Don't give me that look, Aya. Don't pretend that I was the only one who was itching to get back out here for the games." Aya pouted, crossing her arms when she sat up. "That's what I thought."
Seiji held out his hand for Sora to take. "I'm Seiji." Sora took his hand, pulling himself up from the ground just as another piece of the roof fell off.
"Seiji! Stop making friends!"
"We need to get out of here!"
"Meet me at the car." Seiji ordered. The two others rolled their eyes, running off in the direction of the car that was waiting for them. Seiji looked up at the roof. "Maybe we should get out of here." Seiji suggested.
Aya and Yuumi stood up from the ground, dusting themselves off. For once, Yuumi was thinking the same thing as a Beach member. "Not a half bad idea. I didn't think most of the members of the Beach had brains." Yuumi commented.
Seiji's face fell, yet he didn't speak to Yuumi, he only spoke to Sora. "Do you guys have a place to stay?" Seiji was one of Hatter's recruiters. He'd go out almost every night, and bring back people he thought would do well at the Beach. Hearing someone beat a Hearts game... Hatter was already eager to hear that. Also hearing it straight from the mouths of the other people who resided at the Beach that Sora cleared the game for them... Seiji was interested.
Aya went to say something, but Sora wrapped hia arm around her head, covering her mouth. "We are actually between places right now." Sora lied. Sora didn't need Seiji to know they were looking for Beach members tonight alongside their game. The plan was to casually approach them and ask them why they were dressed like that. But Seiji had other ideas.
"Have you ever heard about the Beach?"
"The Beach?" Sora was a good actor – Yuumi knew this, yet it surprised how well Sora was playing it off that he had no idea what the Beach was. "No, I haven't sorry. You see, I've only been here for a week. So..." Sora shrugged, playing it off as if they weren't looking for anyone tonight.
Seiji looked between Sora and his little group. "Wow." Seiji grinned. "In a week, you've already made friends?" Sora knew the rules, being in a group was a bad idea, but then there was the Beach. They were a large group of people, they ran into seven of them tonight, completely different from the last games they played.
"I could say the same to you." Sora looked him up and down at his "uniform."
Seiji chuckled, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "Hatter's rules."
Sora tilted his head. "Hatter?"
Seiji smiled. "He'll like you."
♢
Sora wasn't sure what to expect when it came to "The Beach" - when he thought about it, he wasn't going to lie, he thought it was an actual beach. But what he saw when the car pulled into the parking lot, Sora was shocked. The Beach was a fucking resort. But what shocked Sora the most was that the Beach had electricity.
As Sora climbed out of the car with Aya, he could hear music being played around them. It sounded like three different songs being played in three different locations. Sora looked at Aya, wondering what was happening there. Aya shrugged as she closed the door. Seiji continued to smile at them as he led the group into the Beach. Sora was overwhelmed as he walked through the back of the Beach.
There was a pool party happening – and it looked like it hadn't stopped when the games started that evening. Sora felt Aya grab his arm. This time, he didn't mind, Sora was wondering if coming to the Beach was a good idea. Seiji walked in front of them, not even giving the looks that the players were giving the new people he brought back with him.
Yuumi leaned forward, "Why do I feel hungover without a sip of alcohol?" Yuumi whispered.
"That's being called overwhelmed." Reika whispered as the group followed Seiji. Seiji was greeted by several people in passing. He wasn't the only person who was bringing people to Hatter for recruitment. But Seiji knew that Hatter would want to hear about Sora, in particular. Not many people survived the Hearts games – and knowing three out of the four survived them, Hatter would want to meet them.
"Are you guys celebrating something?" Aya questioned.
Seiji started laughing instantly. He stopped in the middle of the lobby as people were coming and going. Some were drunk, some were almost pulling off their clothes as they made out, some were returning from their games... it was pure chaos. Seiji looked around at the insanity of the Beach. "This is how we live every single day." Seiji said with a grin on his face. Aya's face fell as she glanced around the lobby. "It's a party every day, 24/7."
Sora was shocked to hear that – they were living in a world where they had to play games to survive, yet they were partying like tomorrow might not be their last day. A smirk appeared on Sora's face. "Sounds like a lot of fun." Sora walked up to Seiji. "And what do you do?" Sora asked.
"I'm a recruiter."
"Recruiter?" Reika repeated.
Seiji nodded. "We are always looking for new members. People who know what they're doing and are willing to help the cause." Seiji said.
"Cause?" Yuumi questioned.
"To get us back home." There was a silence between the group upon hearing what the Beach was doing. Seiji continued to smile. "Hatter can explain it better than I can. It would be better coming out of his mouth anyway." Seiji gestured his head to have the group follow him up the stairs. "We still have an hour before the rest of the groups come back from their games and Hatter calls a meeting to check over tonight's cards." Seiji explained.
Aya's mind was whirling. "Why does he check the cards?" She asked.
Seiji looked over his shoulder. "Again, Hatter will explain it better than me, but we are close to getting all the cards. We are only missing about ten or so cards before we complete the numbered cards." Seiji explained.
Sora kept his mouth shut, wondering what Hatter would have to say to them about what the Beach was all about. It was curious what Seiji was talking about currently – how the cards were their way of getting back home. It sounded like utter bullshit to him, but he wasn't going to question it until he knew more from Hatter's mouth.
Seiji led the group of the meeting room. He was supposed to check in every night he went out to recruit, and if he played a game. He knocked on the door before opening the doors. "Welcome back, Seiji!" Seiji bowed his head slightly as he entered before Sora and his group. Sora entered first, seeing the man who was called "Hatter" standing there with his two personal bodyguards. "I see you've brought back some players with you. They must be special." Hatter commented.
Seiji looked back at Sora. "That one, Sora," Sora held up his hand slightly, "completed a Hearts game recently." Seiji looked at the wall that had the cards on it. Yuumi followed Seiji's gaze, he frantically tapped Reika and Aya's arms to get their attention. Aya swatted his hand away until Yuumi turned her head to show her what he was staring at.
Reika and Aya were wide at the sight.
Sora turned his head slowly, seeing what the others were looking at. Across the back wall was a white wall with all the card suits across it. There were large Xs across several of them, indicating that the Beach had already gotten those cards or played their cards. Sora couldn't believe what he was looking at – seeing how many cards that the Beach had collected before his arrival.
It was more than Yuumi's stack of cards, and he had been there for the past four months.
Hatter noticed their stares. "Impressive, isn't it?" Hatter walked over to the group. "The members of this utopia have been amazing to the cause that is our lives here." Hatter turned to look at the wall. "All these cards, all collected by me or these amazing players, coming together to bring us home."
Sora glanced to Hatter – much like the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, he was mad. Sora's eyes flicked back to the wall. With the cards that the four of them had collected, he could only cross off two out of the thirteen cards the Beach was still missing. But Sora wondered, was Seiji telling the truth?
Did collecting all the cards actually bring them home? Or was it just bullshit so Hatter didn't have to lift a finger?
There was something about Hatter that Sora didn't like from the jump, but his curiosity got the better of him.
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As of December 25th, I am on break. You guys won't see chapters until January 8th when I'm back. I hope everyone has a great rest of the year, if you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas, if you don't, then Happy Holidays.
I'll see you all in the New Year.