*ding dong, bing bong*

"Please make your way to the dining room this instant! Tardiness will not be tolerated."

The morning announcement seems different today.

I got out of bed and quickly got ready. Fawn didn't take long to get ready today, though she was still in her pajamas. My sister sluggishly carried herself, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Did you stay up all night drawing?" I asked, sounding more like a parent than a concerned brother.

"No. It's 5 in the fucking morning." She sleepily grumbled.

It is?

I checked my PetalPad. It confirmed Fawn's statement. The announcement had gone off around 5 am, instead of the usual 7 am.

What's going on today?

A memory popped in my brain. I pushed the thought aside, refusing to believe it was happening again.

There's probably just a new rule or something.

The dining room was different today. A massive plasma TV now hung on the wall. It was off and there remote in sight, which left the 14 of us puzzled.

"Has anyone seen the remote?" Tabitha asked.

"No." Blane replied, slightly annoyed by her question. "If we had s-s-seen it then we w-wouldn't be st-st-starring at a blank screen."

"A TV in the dining room is great and all," Rory started to say, before their voice faded out. "But why do have to wake up at 5 am for it?!"

"It's motive time!" Wolf happily announced, as it sprung out from behind the plant pot.

"You think we'll fall for another one of your stupid bribes?" The food tester questioned.

"No." Wolf shook its head. "But I'm not bribing you guys anymore. You've proven to be a little too smart for those."

No more bribes is a good thing, right?

"If you aren't bribing us anymore then why are we here?" Isaiah asked, grumpily.

"I'm going to threaten you instead." Wolf turned his head, starring at the novelist for a prolonged period of time.

"I think it broke its neck." Tabitha stated.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll shut down." The romance novelist hoped.

"It looks like he already shut down." Minerva observed the robot, before scribbling in her notebook.

"What a waste of time." Amelia huffed.

A loud clicking sound came from Wolf the Cat's direction, however it remained with its circler head hanging to the left. It was an odd sight, especially with the robot having no profound neck.

The TV flashed on and the lights shut off. The screen displayed a panicked blonde woman. She was much older, assumably in her fifties or sixties. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied into a saggy bun that rest in her head. The place she was in was dark, the only light was something off screen.

"Mom...?" Isaiah mumbled. There was no way to see his reaction in the dark, but he sounded scared.

"I could explain the motive to you all," Wolf said, no body to match to voice in the dark. "But I'm confident that you'll understand it more from viewing a demonstration."

"A demonstration?!" I panicked.

What does he mean by that?

"What are you going to do?!" The romance novelist inquired.

"You'll see." It malicious answered.

The screen changed now. A shadow fell over the light source depicted on the TV, the room going pitch black.

"What are you doing?!" A new voice, presumably the woman that was on the TV, yelled. "D-Don't come any closer!"

The shadow moved, making the lady on screen visible again. The blonde woman was backed into a wall, shaking at the sight before her that was still unknown to us viewing.

What is she seeing?! What's going to happen to her?!!

"Pl-Please don't kill me!" The woman begged, as the silhouette was now holding axe came.

N-No! Not again...! I don't wanna watch someone die again!

The shadow swung the axe, and a vibrant pink liquid splattered on the wall.

I don't want to believe what I just watched... I don't... It's not...

"Mom...!" Isaiah screamed, his throat giving out as he choked on tears.

"What the fuck?!!" Rory joined him.

Fawn grabbed my arm and held it tightly. My sleeve grew cold from her tears. I silently cried into my other sleeve, unable to stop the memories of Skyler and Vanessa that flooded back to my mind after seeing the woman get axed.

"Oh my..." Quartz reaching to cover her mouth, her hand shaking as she lifted it.

"Sh-She's still alive...!" Blane shouted, getting everyone to look back at the screen.

"Please..." She begged, holding her bloody shoulder in a hopeless effort to stop the bleeding. Tears flowed down her face like a waterfall. Losing her strength to stand, she slid to the floor.

No response.

Another swing.

"What are doing to her?!" Isaiah stood up, looking for Wolf. "Stop..! Pl-Please stop!"

"You're about to miss the best part." Wolf simply said.

The axe split her skull open, ending all her moment in an instant. Blood covered the camera and we were left with a pink screen to look at.

I began to hyperventilate at the sight screen, having to look away to clam myself down. I forced my eyes shut as I cried, not caring if the others could hear me or not.

Blood... So much blood...

"What did we just watch?!" Nikolas frantically asked, flinching as the lights flickered on.

"That was day 1 of the motive!" Wolf excitedly said, jumping on the table.

"That's our motive...?" Hunter questioned in horror.

"Yep!" The black and pink cat nodded. "Every morning at 5 am if someone isn't dead, then we'll watch one of your friends or family members be brutally murdered. How exciting!"

"We have to do this again?!" Tabitha had her hands over her eyes, sounding like she was crying.

"Not if you kill someone." Wolf reminded her. "Romance novelist, Isaiah, would be a good target with how distraught he is."

"Stop insisting that someone's going to kill!" Rory shouted, continuing to cry afterwards.

"I'm not insisting someone will kill." It clarified. "I already know one of you is going to snap and kill."

Wolf might be right...

"We won't." Gabriel spoke up, however he was much quieter than usual. "We already know the consequences of what happens if we can't win class trial."

"Why do you try saying that again after you watch someone you know getting axe to death." The robot said.

The tennis player didn't dare to speak after that. He turned away, pulling his visor down to hide his facial expression.

"In case your curious, your PetalPads have been updated with the motive information and the hostage that you could potentially watch die on the big screen." Wolf the Cat explained. "It's also updated with who has murder immunity. If you kill someone with immunity, you'll be executed immediately."

I can't stand watching another person die...

Even if it's complete stranger, I don't want to feel this horrible sick feeling. Everytime I close my eyes, I'm going to see all the blood and... and her head...

Why would you even spilt someone's head open?!

Why wouldn't you just stab them and get it over with?!

Why would you want to watch someone suffer like that?! Why spill someone's blood of you can avoid it?!!

"Felix..." Zenith tapped my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.

I look up at the orangette with face full of tears. He gently place his hand over my left one, squeezing it. A single tear rolled down his face, before he gave me a smile.

I felt the slightest bit calmer, but my mind was still plagued with the sight of all that blood and that horrific image. I took some deep breathes, trying to focus on what was going on around me instead of what I was think about.

"What are we goin' to do?" Hunter questioned, drying his tears with his sleeves.

Wolf the Cat had disappeared at some point, leaving a room of scared and traumatized people. Even Nora wore a face of disgust at what we had just watched.

"What can we do?" Amelia proposed the question.

Nothing. There's nothing we can to stop this.

Do nothing. Someone dies.

Kill someone. Either you die or you get to watch everyone else die.

There's no way to win this without death being involved.

No one said anything. We came to silent agreement that nothing we could say would make this any easier to accept.

Most of us were crying or had cried at some point. However, one of person in our group stood out. Isaiah.

He just watched his mother die.

That's fucking messed up.

"Why...?" The blonde quietly mumbled to himself, mortified. "Why did she... Why my... M-Mom..."

"Isaiah..." Rory looked to him, wanting to comfort him.

"I couldn't do anything to help her." The novelist finally managed to say a full sentence without choking. "I just watched as she died..."

"There wasn't anythin' ya could do." Hunter reminded him.

"I... I... No, you're wrong!" The blonde male snapped. "I could've not come here in first place...! Then I wouldn't have to be in this stupid killing game... Then I could've saved her..."

He's right.

"She's dead because of this god damn killing game!" He announced, standing up. "If I wasn't so petty then maybe I could be at home with my mom right now..."

Tears rolled down Isaiah's cheeks as he yelled at himself. He let out all his raw emotions, paying no mind to everyone else in the room.

The romance novelist took a couple deep breaths, once he strained his throat and could no longer yell. He wiped his glasses, before tensing up at the sight of everyone.

"I-I have to go." His eyes widened, before he ran out of the dining room.

I don't want that happen ever again...

"I'll go after him." Rory volunteered, standing up.

"We should give him some space." Minerva suggested, stopping them.

"Right..." They agreed, sitting back down.

"I think we all n-need some sp-space..." Blane said, melancholy in his tone.

"I guess today's gathering in the art room is called off then?" Zenith inquired.

"No." Minerva shook her head. "We should still do it. If not to socialize, then at least so we can all be together."

"It'll put our minds at ease if we're all together knowing that no one is dead." Nora said.

Wait, Nora said that? Doesn't she enjoy this...?

A couple people shot gameshow host some odd looks.

"I don't mean to exclude anyone, but I think we should make an exception for Isaiah." Quartz suggested. "I doubt he will want to join us today."

"He's probably safer in his room than out here with us," Nikolas commented, sounding fearful.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can make breakfast today." Rory changed the topic.

"We understand." I told them, giving them a smile.

"Uh, yeah..." Tabitha's voiced trailed. "I don't mind cooking my own cereal today."

I couldn't bring myself to focus on what anyone was saying after that. I got up, Fawn clinging to me as we left the room.

"Can I go to your room?" Fawn asked me at the volume of a whisper. "I don't want to be alone right now..."

And I don't want to be alone ever again.

"Y-Yeah." I nodded. "I've been wanting to talk to you anyways."

"What?" She questioned me, quietly. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"...I have a lot to say." I stated, revealing no further details.

When we got to my room, I leaned up against the wall and let myself slide onto the ground. My sister copied me.

What do I tell her first?

"I'm sorry." I said, starting to collect myself.

"Huh?" Fawn starred at me with a blank expression. "Why?"

"I shouldn't have made you come with me to get my talent back." I explained. "You didn't even want yours back, yet you came here because I wanted you to come with me."

Fawn didn't say anything. She reflected on what I said for a prolonged period of time, before she looked down at floor. She opened her mouth, but then shook her head and looked over to me.

"I'm sorry you had to be apart of this killing game because of me." I continued, unable to stop myself from sniffling. "I don't know what I would do if... you d-died."

My eyes watered as I watched my sister struggle to respond to what I had said.

"...I-I'm not going to die." She replied, not sounding confident.

"I know." I agreed with her, wiping my tears before they could form. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"How?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know yet..." I sighed. "But I promise that you're not going to die here. We made it through some tough things before, so what makes this any different?"

"We're in a kill—" Fawn started to say, before stopped herself. "I wasn't supposed to answer that part, was I?"

"No. You weren't." I replied.

I don't think she believes me.

And honestly, I don't blame her. I said no one would kill and then someone killed. At this point, leading us down an dark cave and I dropped the flashlight at the entrance.

"Any ideas for how we can get through the motive?" I asked her, trying my best to not cry again. "I don't have anymore ideas."

"We should check to see who our hostages are." She suggested. "Then maybe..."

Fawn didn't finish her sentence. I had an idea of what she wanted to say.

"It's our cousin, Maggie." My sister informed me.

...

Huh?

I starred at the screen of my PetalPad in horror. I hadn't braced myself for anything, yet what I saw managed to throw me off guard.

How can this be my hostage...?

"Felix?" Fawn noticed I was unusually quiet. "Who is it?"

"It's..." I opened my mouth but couldn't bring myself to finish.

You.

A picture of my sister was under the the caption ''Hostage''.

I don't understand. How can it be her? She's right here with me?!!

"Felix." She said my name again. "Am I too quiet again?"

I— I can't tell her. She'll freak out and fear for her life. I don't want her to do that.

I already promised that she wouldn't die and I'm not about to break that promise.

But...

What am I going to tell her?

...

"FELIX!" Fawn shouted, startling me. "Sorry. You weren't answering, so I thought couldn't hear me."

"Hehe, sorry." I forced a chuckle. "I had trouble identifying who was on the picture, but my hostage is Maggie as well."

"That's weird how we have the same motive." Fawn stated.

"Yeah." I nodded, adding to my lie. "Wolf probably go lazy and gave us the same motive because we're twins."

I feel bad for lying to her, but how do I tell her she could potentially get axed to death tomorrow?

I can't... She doesn't need to carry around that kind of stress. She overstimulated enough being in a new place where we're being told to kill each other.

...

"Felix." My sister held her head up. "You're the only person I can trust here. I want you to stay with me everytime we leave our rooms."

"I will." I agreed.

"Thank you." She smiled. "I feel much safer around you."

Why? You shouldn't.

"I'll go make us something to eat and bring it back here." I told her.

"Be careful." My sister advised.

"I will." I told her.

I swiftly walked to the kitchen, hoping that nobody would talk to me in the hall.

When I made it the kitchen, I began to prepare food for Fawn and I. I made sure it was nothing messy, since we would be eating in my room.

"Felix! Just the unlucky loser I was looking for!" Wolf the Cat announced its presence.

"What do you want?!" I zipped around to face Wolf, holding out a spoon to my defense.

"Surely you must be a little confused about your motive, right?" The cat peered.

"It's really confusing." I stated, not letting my guard down. "You can't kill Fawn. She's part of the killing game."

"You're right." The cat pointed out. "I can't kill her, but one of my human associates can."

"H-Huh?" I dropped my spoon in shock.

"You think someone as un reliable as Nora is keeping tabs on all of you by herself?" It chuckled. "I've got plenty of people of people helping me out and I'm sure one of them wouldn't mind killing your sister."

"Why would you do that...?" I inquired. "Why couldn't have made my hostage one of my parents?!"

"Tiger and I did our best to gather people that you talentless fuckers actually care about." Sneered the robotic cat. "And the only person you seem to care about is your sister."

Fawn isn't going to die... She isn't going to die... I promised I wouldn't let her!

"Guess what, it's your lucky day!" Wolf cheered. "Since you would never put your sister in danger, I'm offering a special motive to you. Kill someone and win the class trial, you can escape this place with your sister. She'll exempt from everyone's punishment if they lose the trial!"

No... It's too good to be true... Wolf is lying to me to get me to kill someone.

"Y-You're just making shit up!" I shouted. "You're just trying to scare me so I play your stupid game...!"

"I'm programmed to do a lot of things, but lying isn't one of them." Wolf the Cat blankly said to me.

"It won't happen!" I shouted, tossing the plate of food at the robotic cat. It dodged, the plate shattering as a result.

"Maybe you'll get lucky and someone else will kill." Wolf theorized. "But there's no guarantee... How lucky are you feeling, Felix?"

...

Wolf the Cat disappeared, leaving me in the kitchen alone. My head started to throb and my legs felt like jello. I held onto the counter with a death grip, trying to keep myself up.

What do I do? What do I do?!

I don't want Fawn to die! But I can't kill anyone either!

"Is everything alright in here?" A voice asked, approached the kitchen. "I thought I heard something break."

Without thinking, I grabbed the other plate I had been preparing. I threw it like a frisbee, feeling the cold glass slowly slipping out of my fingertips. The plate was inches away from hitting the chauffeur, who avoided it just in time.

No... No! Why did I do that?! I don't want to hurt anyone!

"What's gotten into you, Felix?!" Zenith gasped, his eyes widening in fear.

But if I don't hurt someone then... then... Fawn could die.

My knees buckled in and I dropped to the floor. I didn't care about the thud my knees made when they hit the hardwood floor. I didn't care if they had gotten bruised.

I can't let my sister die. She's done so much for me... I need to do something for her...

I didn't care about Zenith examining the broken plates. I didn't care about the food I had gotten in the floor. I didn't care about the the mess I made in the kitchen.

I need to kill someone! Grab a knife, stab them, and run. Then Fawn will be safe. It's that fucking easy!