"What's happening? I don't understand." I hear a girl's voice. I don't know who it is. My head is pounding. Slowly, my eyes flutter open and close. It takes me a few seconds before I can get them to stay open. I'm in a different room. I don't know how I got here.
"Babe, just please calm-" This time it's a guy's voice. He sounds like my friend Bryson. Footsteps come my way and stop in front of my vision.
"Oh my god, Camila?! What are you doing on the ground, here let me help you up." He helps me to my feet. It takes me a second for my mind to process that Bryson is actually standing in front of me.
"Bryson, what are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were coming on this cruise." We hug tightly. We've been best friends since we were old enough to talk.
"Excuse me?" The girl pulls us apart and forces Bryson's arm over her shoulder. "Who the hell is she and why are you hugging her like that?" She's staring daggers at me, while I pay her no attention.
"You must be his beautiful girlfriend Nina. I've heard so much about you." I've been so ready for me and his girlfriend to meet, but now? Not so much. This lady has such a bitchy attitude. How in the world is he dating her?
"That still doesn't explain who you are." This is not gonna be fun.
"Nina... This is my best friend Camila." Bryson says in a nervous tone. Nina scoffs in response. I'm about to respond when the sound of a bell followed by the captain's voice on the PA system cuts me off.
"Welcome one! Welcome, all!" He says in a game show host way. "You're all contestants on our show... Disaster cruise!" There's a pause. "Sadly the first contestant has fallen... Only 5,132 more to go... Let the games begin!" The captain stops speaking and comes back on and says, "In every room, there is one boy and two girls. Boys, you have the power this time. Boys must choose who will live and who will die. Whoever you choose to save, will go with you into the next room and close the door. It will lock, and the person you didn't choose will be killed immediately!" He lets out a laugh, "Have fun." The room is silent. No one speaks or moves for what feels like hours.
Nina breaks the long silence with a laugh. "Oh, man! Camila, you're screwed, hun. I wish I could say it was nice knowing you, but sadly can't. Sucks to suck!" Nina tries to grab Bryson's arm and lead him into the other room, but Bryson doesn't budge. "Bryson hun come on!" Nina struggles to drag Bryson away. What is her problem?
"Bryson.... Listen I realize she's your girlfriend, but we've been best friends for as long as I can remember. If you choose her, you'll be throwing away all of that! Think about it! Who will you miss more? Me or her?" I'm pleading as I walk up to him and look him dead in his eyes.
"Nina..." Bryson pulls Nina to the side of the room and shoves her to the floor. He runs and grabs me, then proceeds to drag me into the room.
"NO BRYSON! NO!!" Nina is screaming and banging on the door. "I'm sorry..." Bryson barely mutters out. We hear the outside door unlock and we are silent. Nina screams followed by the sound of gunshots. Not just in this room... But in so many other places around us. There's a bell sound as the captain comes onto the PA system again.237Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gtOBg5Bxn
"500 contestants have fallen. 4,632 remain, thanks for playing."
The captain stops speaking and I turn and look at Bryson. I know he feels like hell right now. He just killed his own girlfriend to save me. "Bryson, you had to make a decision," I say as I walk over and try to comfort him. He just yanks himself away from me and sits on the other side of the room. "What the hell was that for?" I ask, startled.
"Leave. Me. Alone." He says through his teeth. I choose to shrug off his attitude and leave him alone as he asked.
The silence in the room is unbearable. I'm staring at the door as it slowly opens. Three buff dudes in all black with skull masks walk in. I back away and sit next to Bryson to get as far away from them as possible. One of the men held up an iPad and hit play.
"Hello, Camila." It's the captain's voice. "I've been watching you for some time now and have taken a liking to you. In this game, you will partake in a majority of the challenges. Including this next one. Please go into your dressing room and change into the outfit laid out for you. If you don't, my goons here will have no problem using force. See you in a few." Right as the video ends one of the captains' goons grabs me and pushes me out of the room.
I flail my arms and smack the hands of the goon off of me, "I can walk." I say. I look back at Bryson, not sure what will happen to him. But he's not looking at me, he's looking at the same spot on the wall that he has been for the past hour. The goon leads me to my so-called "dressing room" and tells me I have ten minutes to get ready then slams the door shut. I start to get dressed while thinking. Everything that's happening is weird. How does he even know my name? What does he mean by he's been watching me?! I have so many questions that will never get answered. As I finish dressing, I realize I never actually looked at what it is I'm putting on. I pause and look in the mirror and mutter "...the hell?" He's making me wear a genie costume? I have no clue why, but I know that this isn't going to be good. Just as I finish, the goon barges into the room, grabbing my arm.
"Let's go," he says.
"Okay, dude, you're gonna have to chill with all that grabbing shit you're doing." That doesn't make him let go.
He leads me to what looks like the "club" part of the ship. There's a stage in the front of the room. The goons tell me to stand in the middle and wait for further instructions. I scan the room to see a couple huddled in the corner. The girl is shaking and crying, while he's trying to comfort her, but you can tell he's just as scared as her. Hell, I'm scared right now too. But I'm not the one crying in a corner. There's another girl trying to comfort her as well. Across the room, there's a guy. Oh, it's Bryson. He's kind of just standing there staring at me. He tries to walk up to me, but one of the goons tells him to stay put and points a gun at his head and Bryson backs off.
The room is silent, except for the sound of the girl hyperventilating. "Click, click, click" A guy in a suit with a captain's hat approaches. His shoes look freshly polished and expensive. I can finally put a face to the captain.
Sauntering to the middle of the room, he smiles and clasps his hands together then begins to speak. "I'm glad you all are here. Now let me tell you how the next game will go. Let's name this one, betrayal. Rosey would you stand next to the girl on the stage please?" That must've been the girl who was crying because her boyfriend kisses her forehead and she gets up slowly and walks to the stage next to me. "Rosey has the power in this game. As for everyone else, come to the middle here and I'll explain." They all listen to what the captain says and move to the middle. "Now Rosey, you have one wish and whatever that wish is your genie here-" He nods in my direction, "-will grant for you." Rosey starts to speak, but the captain holds up a finger. "But first, I have some information you should know." He pauses and gives Rosey's boyfriend and friend a blood-chilling grin. "You've had about four serious relationships, including this one, am I correct Rosey?"
"Y-Yes." She sutters.
"And how did those first three end?"
"I found out they cheated on me." I look at her face and I can tell she's still hurt by it.
"Do you know with who?"
"No. I only know they cheated because I saw the messages. I think it was some random girl." The captain smiles at this statement.
"Oh, no-no. Not some random girl, your best friend actually. She happens to be standing right over there. What you don't know is that she's also slept with your current boyfriend. A few times I may add. Too many to count." He stops talking and watches Rosey. My jaw is on the floor. What a fucked up thing to do to your friend. Rosey looks pissed.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" Rosey screams.
"Rosey he's lying." Her best friend says.
"Shut the fuck up, you have no right to talk to me you little whore. You SLEPT with my boyfriends. And not just once, many, many times. What the hell is wrong with you?" Rosey turns to me and says, "Genie kill them both." Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold the phone, I have to kill them?!? I didn't sign up for this.
The best friend takes off and one of the goons grabs her and drags her back in by her hair. She's screaming and crying. The goon gives me a gun. I freeze and stare at it.
"I'm not gonna kill them! I understand that what they did was wrong, but do they need to die?"
The captain looks at me and says, "They've sinned and must pay. Kill them or your little friend here dies." The captain holds a gun to Bryson's head and stares me in the eyes. "Is it them or him?" I look at the gun, then at Bryson, then back at the gun. "Remember, he killed his girlfriend for you. Just return the favor." Bryson's eyes are pleading. I don't think I have it in me to watch him die after what he did to save me.
I aim the gun and whisper, "I'm sorry." and shoot. The boyfriend goes down in an instant and is dead within seconds. I can't handle this. I aim the gun at the girl and stare.
Rosey snatches the gun out of my hand. "This is taking too damn long, just shoot the bitch!" She aims and shoots the girl, she goes down and bleeds out slowly as well. The captain gets very angry.
"Rosey you aren't playing the game by the rules. Therefore you must pay with your life." Without hesitation, he takes the gun away from Bryson's head and shoots Rosey right in the center of her forehead. "Let this be a lesson to you two. Don't play by the rules and you pay with your life. Put them in their rooms while I sort out this setback." The captain storms out.
In the minutes that follow, I get shoved into the room. I slowly stand up and see Xavier staring back at me. He smiles and says "Well hello there. We meet again." But after all of that, I can't even force a smile. I want to cry, but crying won't fix what just happened. And it most definitely won't fix the messed-up situation that I am in right now. "Woah, Woah, hey what's wrong?" He walks over to me and pulls me into a tight hug. I don't fight it. I need it.
After a few minutes, I'm stable enough to be able to talk without feeling the urge to ball my eyes out. We sit on the bed and he just looks at me. "What's up?" He says.
"I just had to kill a person and watch two others get shot that's what's up," I respond. His eyes go wide.
"People are DYING?" He says. I give him a confused look.
"Have you not been hearing the PA system?" I say.
"No, I woke up around ten minutes ago." I don't say anything, I just sit there thinking about it. My thoughts are interrupted by the captain on the PA system.
"Thank you to our special contestants Camila, Bryson, Ariel, and Hazel for playing my game today. Sadly five more contestants have fallen. 4,627 remaining. Please eat what I have prepared for you and get some rest. You'll need it." The captain's evil laugh is the last thing I hear before the PA system turns off.
I start thinking again. Ariel and Hazel were not in the room I was in. So that means whatever challenge, I'm in, so is someone else. But it's also good to know that they're alive.
"How many people have died?" Xavier asks me. "I don't know. Maybe a little more than 500? I'm not keeping track." I let out a long irritated sigh. "I'm going to try and get some sleep." I walk to the other bed and climb under the blankets. I didn't bother changing. The outfit may be itchy and uncomfortable, but I'm too exhausted to care.
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