"Everyone, get close to me," I order as soon as they can hear me.
The others don't react at first, blinking in confusion.
"Now," I roar.
We've been positioned with a couple metres space between us – easy targets for Predators. But there is safety in numbers – they'll have a harder time killing a tight-knit group of us than they will picking off individual Prey.
Taffy moves, first scurrying to my side.
"What's going on?" she cries.
"Welcome to the Trials. Any moment now, people that we have known our whole lives are going to try and kill us."
Stunned silence greets my words.
"W – what?" Priya gasps.
The lift is only a few metres away, and even though I know it won't work, I make a run for it anyway. There's a button on the wall next to the metal door, and I jam my finger against it, over and over again, but nothing happens. Of course it doesn't. The Handlers aren't going to risk anyone escaping.
I slam my hand against the lift door.
"Caia?" Taffy says, her voice trembling.
I rejoin her and the others; they haven't moved from their little huddle in the middle of the room.
"I don't understand – what is happening?" Taffy cries, clutching my hand.
I wish I had more time to explain it to her. But some deep-rooted instinct prickles at the back of my neck, and I turn around, facing the entryways that the Predators will come through.
Gavin appears first. He's actually smiling, and my skin crawls with ice.
Some people, like Cole, will kill because they think they have no choice.
Some people, like Gavin, are actually looking forward to it.
I don't understand how people like him exist.
Five others follow him, three girls and two boys, and though none of them are smiling like Gavin, they all wear hard, set expressions. I assume that they have been told exactly what's going on.
Prey obviously don't get that option.
Gavin lifts his hand; he's holding a knife.
They all are.
My mouth runs dirt-dry.
I hadn't thought that the Predators would be armed.
Obviously the Handlers and whoever else is orchestrating all this really want them to get their hands bloody.
Light flashes off the Predators' knives as they move down the ramps towards us, and I freeze in place, hit with the memory of another knife, slashing at my face, the blinding agony, the raw screams that I hadn't even realised were coming from my own throat.
Taffy whimpers and clutches my sleeve, dragging me back to the present.
We can't get to the ramps, so there's only way out of this room, and even though we don't know where it leads, the alternative is staying here.
"Stay with me," I say, and start backing towards the opposite entryway.
I expect Gavin to move first, but one of the other boys, Benny, darts forward, leaping off the edge of the ramp and blocking our way.
We should have moved faster.
I was trying not to panic anyone, but maybe that was a bad decision. I try to quell my own panic.
Benny stares at us, blinking rapidly. The hand holding the knife is shaking.
"Run," I say to the people around me. "Run."
The message finally seems to hit home, and a couple of kids break formation and race past him, but the rest of us are slower, and another Predator, Bianca, gets in our way. Unlike Benny, she doesn't hesitate.
She charges straight at one of the girls in our group and knocks her to the ground, wildly slashing at her.
Blood sprays on the air.
"Taffy, get the others out of here," I yell, then I throw myself at Bianca.
She's not expecting it, and I lock both arms around her waist and wrench her away from her victim. I don't know where the other girl is injured, but she scrambles to her feet and runs, so I hope it's only a flesh wound.
Bianca tries to throw me off, but I have the advantage of longer arms, and I pin her wrist down. She screams, desperation and fury rolled into one, and I wish that I didn't have to hurt her, because even though she is trying to kill us, I don't blame her. I blame the people who have forced her into this position.
The she throws her head back, catching me on the chin, and though it's only a glancing blow, it's still enough to dislodge me and cause me to lose my grip on her wrist.
She swings her hand up, and I throw myself backwards just in time to avoid the knife. The blade flashes too close to my face, and my heart falls out of my chest, because I've never felt fear like this before.
I know what these knives are capable of.
I know what the pain feels like.
But her swing was clumsy, and momentum carries her too far around, so that her back is almost to me. I seize my chance and barrel into her, twisting my fingers in her hair and slamming her face into the floor.
There's a distinct crunch and she goes limp.
The knife still gleams in her limp fingers, but at first I can't bring myself to touch it.
Until I look up.
Most of the Prey have escaped, and the Predators have gone after them, but Gavin is still here. He's backing Sonny and Priya into a corner.
As I watch, Priya throws herself in front of Sonny, trying to shield him with her tiny frame, and Gavin's lips twist in a smirk.
It breaks my heart.
Priya is small and fragile as a bird; she doesn't stand a chance in this place, but she will die for Sonny, and in my mind that makes her stronger than any of the Predators.
I won't let it happen.
I grab Bianca's knife and climb to my feet.
Sonny pushes Priya out of the way, just as Gavin brings the knife down. It slices a line across Sonny's arm, and blood wells up, bright against his pale, freckled skin.
He yelps and stumbles back, and Gavin raises his knife again, but then I'm there. I press the tip of my own knife to the back of his neck.
"Don't," I warn.
He goes very still.
"Put down the knife," I say.
I think he's going to do it. He lowers his arm, his shoulder angling down as if he's going to put it on the floor, but then he spins, quick as lightning, and I try to duck, but the blade catches my ear.
Pain is hot and quick, and blood splashes onto my neck.
There's no time to see how bad the wound is.
Fury boils through me, and I welcome it, letting it fill me up so there's no room for fear or doubt. I jab forward with the knife, and Gavin bats my arm aside with his free hand, toying with me, but he's not paying attention, and I promptly kick him in the knee.
As he stumbles, I swipe the knife across his chest, opening up a long, deep gash.
Shock flashes across his face and he actually backs off, one hand holding his chest, the other holding his knee.
Gavin has always been a bully, but maybe making the transition from bully to killer isn't as quick as I was starting to think; Gavin seemed gleeful about the idea of cutting down Sonny or Priya, but he's less sure of himself when facing someone who will fight back.
I point my knife at him, and a drop of his own blood falls to the floor.
"If you come after us, I will kill you," I say.
Maybe I should do it anyway, but when he's not trying to kill my friends anymore, it's a lot harder to contemplate killing him.
I'm not a Predator.
But I'm not Prey either.
Sonny and Priya move behind me, and as we make our way towards the back of the room and the entryway where the others disappeared, Gavin doesn't come after us. He just watches us with unreadable eyes.