Another night of nightmares. Despite leaving on good terms with Henrika and Klara, my night terrors continued. I didn't know why I expected anything different. For seventeen years, the same reoccurring dreams haunted me. Over, and over, and over, stuck in an endless loop, I'd watch my mother and sister burn to death.

The only difference in that particular nightmare was the sudden addition of Darius.

The poor kid burned right alongside my family. Like before, their voices intermixed and harmonized. A hellish symphony.

Even when their bodies got reduced to dust, it didn't take long for them to take form, only for them to burn again. Whenever I tried to escape, the flames followed. I'd run for what felt like an eternity but get nowhere, at least from what I could tell. I was trapped in an abyss of darkness with hellish flames chasing after me.

No matter how fast I ran, the flames were much quicker. It consumed me.

I joined the likes of Darius and my family in the burning. It tore me apart and ate away at my skin. I conceded to the torment and hollered in excruciating pain. That was a mistake.

The fire seeped into my mouth and scorched me from the inside out. I no longer saw the point in fighting it. Regardless of what I wanted, it didn't matter. I'd die.

Eventually, the fire burned away at me until I was nothing more than a pile of ash. But, the punishment was over.

Far from it.

The flames magically restored my body to its original form, only to return to the burning. The roles reversed. Darius and my family remained untouched and unharmed while only I suffered through the hellish, unforgiving torment.

It was only fitting.

They were innocent. They didn't deserve to die.

I did.

I accepted my punishment, but even then, they jeered at me and proclaimed that everything was my fault. They were right. I brought so much pain and suffering to everyone; it was a matter of time until it was my turn.

An inevitable demise and eternal damnation in the fire and brimstone was a fitting place for someone like me.

The chime of my doorbell woke me up and freed me from the chains and shackles of my nightmare. I cleared off my sweat and opened the door.

"Good morning," Henrika barged into my room without warning as usual.

"Morning," I looked around outside and shut the door. "Klara didn't come with you?"

"No. She wants to avoid getting spotted around us unless necessary. People would find it suspicious if she suddenly started following us around." Henrika replied.

"That's true." I agreed. Klara's constructed a reputation of being a silent loner. If she came out and spoke all of a sudden, following us around, we'd rouse the suspicions of the other players.

"You ready to start?" Henrika asked. She handed over to me a blank piece of paper. "Go ahead and sign your name on it. Afterward, write down some grievances you have in staying here."

"You sound like you're getting into this," I noted. Had she forgotten about the pivotal point of the plan? "What's the point in writing down my grievances?"

"So that others can follow your example. We need the other players to write as much as possible so it'll be easier for me to point out the forger." Henrika sternly explained.

"Okay, okay, I got it." I pulled up a chair and started writing at the desk. During the process of writing down my grievances, I heard Henrika get on my bed. I jumped from my seat and turned when she cried out. "What?! What's wrong?!"

"Your bed's wet!" She angrily retorted. Her back arched as disgust spread on her face. "Did you pee in the bed?! Oh my God, I swear if I just lied down in pee--"

"It's sweat!" I interjected. Like hell, I'd allow her to make a blatant mistake. I couldn't trust that woman to keep her mouth shut about sensitive matters.

Henrika settled down and looked me over as if to confirm my statement.

"You do look like hell," She noted. Rude as ever that woman. "Did you have a nightmare?"

How did she come to that conclusion? I irritated and frightened me how perceptive she was whenever the time didn't call for it.

"It's just hot in here."

"No, it's not."

I quickly grabbed the petition paper and shoved it back into her hands. I didn't want to get sucked into her pace again.

"It's your turn," I said. Henrika nodded her head and swapped places with me.

"If it makes you feel any better, I had a nightmare too." She revealed.

"That's nice," I replied sarcastically. I didn't want to delve any deeper into the conversation about nightmares. It was gone, in the past. No point in bringing it up.

"Seeing Darius burn to death reminded me of my mother's flower shop burning down. I can't imagine what that did to you considering--"

"Drop it," I demanded. That time, it took. Henrika kept her mouth shut and finished writing her portion of the petition. Had I known being a part of the alliance would've involved her digging into my personal life, I probably wouldn't have joined in the first place. 

"I'm sorry," Henrika apologized. It felt sincere, but I couldn't be certain knowing her habit of lying. I half-heartedly accepted it with a nod of my head. I thought that would be the end of it. But, I was wrong. She continued to speak, "If you ever need to talk with someone, I'm here for you."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Good to know," I said. "Are we going to get moving anytime soon?"

Henrika narrowed her eyes and nudged her head toward the door. She said nothing else of the issue. We walked around Serendipity in search for the other players to receive their signatures. Our first destination was the Infirmary, where we were sure someone was there.

We spotted the medical personnel tending to the wound on Nicholas' torso. When they finished, Henrika and I gathered around him.

"Good morning Henrika, Ambrose," Nicholas greeted us while he buttoned up his shirt, "here to check on me? If you are, I am doing well."

Henrika didn't waste any time. She reached out and handed Nicholas the piece of paper and a pen. "I'm starting a petition. I'm gathering signatures from the others. When I have them all, I'll show it to Caius."

Nicholas raised his shades to his forehead. His gaze affixed to the petition in his hand. "What do you hope to accomplish with this? Surely, you realize that this will not deter Caius in the slightest. I know you are desperate, but--"

"We have to try anything we can to escape without any more casualties," Henrika interrupted with a curt tone. "I'm aware it's a long shot. But, it's worth a try."

It amazed me how Henrika could blatantly lie to us like that. She did it, so naturally, not a single misstep or beat in the conversation missed. Getting signatures from all the players took top priority.

The plan wouldn't work without them.

"You want to get out of here, don't you?" I joined the conversation, adding more pressure onto Nicholas. He couldn't do much in that situation. Not with us staring him down. We backed him into a corner.

We all knew that the petition wouldn't work. But, that wasn't the point of it all. By refusing to sign it; one would get pointed out as a traitor. An elaborate trap set up by us.

"Okay, I understand." Nicholas accepted his defeat and surrendered to our will. He followed our instructions and signed the petition, along with writing his grievances.

Once he finished, the man handed the piece of paper back over to us.

"Thank you," Henrika took the paper and showed her usual smile.

"Good luck," That's all Nicholas had left to say before he headed out of the room.

"That's three down," I said.

"Three more to go," Henrika declared. We wasted no time in hunting down the others for their signatures. We found them all gathered in the Mess Hall.

Henrika walked to the center of the room and took charge of the situation as usual. She revealed her intentions of the petition with sincerity and professionalism.

"The fuck is up with this bullshit?!" Melanie called Henrika out. Of course, nothing could ever go smoothly whenever that girl was around. I wondered if she figured out our true intentions. Or, did she only seek to stir up more trouble?

"It's just as I said, Melanie. I need your signatures for my petition." Henrika repeated with a professional tone. 

"The fuck is a piece of paper gonna do?" Melanie challenged. "Fedora made it clear we ain't leaving unless we vote. Trying anything else is pointless."

"We won't know until we try," Salomon flipped his coin into the air. He caught it and smiled. "Bring it over here. I'll sign."

"See? That's the kind of attitude I like to see." Henrika walked over and handed the old man the petition. He wasted no time in putting his signature down. While he did that, my attention shifted to Zoey. She kept to herself with her usual hardened expression.

I walked over to her and asked, "Are you going to sign?"

"Is there a point to any of it?" She suddenly retorted with a question of her own. "Melanie's right. Caius won't let us go just because we sign a piece of paper."

"Yeah, you're probably right." I agreed.

"You agree with me, and yet you continue with this fruitless attempt?" Her piercing gaze reached me. Had I been any less of a man; I probably would've told her the entire plan on the spot.

"We're just desperate," I answered. It wasn't that far from the truth. Many of us died in Serendipity. We had to leave before any more of us got killed.

"How many signatures did you collect?"

"Four. If you sign, it'll be five."

Before she could respond, our eyes darted to the center of the room after we heard Henrika's cry. The woman was down on her knees, scooping up shred pieces of paper. Melanie stood in front of her, laughing hysterically at the mess she made.

"What are you doing?!" Henrika exclaimed.

"Doing you a favor," Melanie dropped the remaining pieces of paper on the floor. She raised her leg and stomped on them. "This shit wasn't gonna work, and you know it, Fatass."

"You don't get to decide that!"

"Just did."

"That girl again..." Zoey heaved a sigh. 

"Can't help but cause trouble, huh?" I called Melanie out. "Henrika worked hard putting that together."

"That doesn't mean shit to me," Melanie snidely remarked. "It's a waste of time. We all know it."

"Then, do you have any ideas of getting out of here?" I asked.

"It'd be nice if you all did me a solid and dropped dead." She answered coldly, as one would expect from a psychopath like her. "That way I could get outta here with my money."

 "You're the one that should drop dead," I proclaimed. My fuse when that girl was concerned was already short. All she ever did was run her mouth. I was sick of it.

"Is that right, Scraggly?" Melanie approached, stopping inches away from me. "We've already been through this song and dance. I'm not gonna die. Not like any of you got the balls to kill."

"But you do, right?" I asked.

"That's right. I've got bigger balls than all of you combined," She taunted, "you've all bitched and moaned about wanting to escape, but you haven't done shit about it. Only two ways out. Voting, or killing everyone else. No piece of paper's gonna change that."

"It's better than the alternative."

"You sure?" Melanie cocked her head to the side and flashed her Cheshire smile. "Dumbass had the right idea when he murdered Funbags. Can't wait until it's my turn to play again. Don't care who I'm up against, I'mma kill 'em. And even if it's not in the game room, I'll find other methods."

Every word that spewed from her mouth weighed heavily on me. I couldn't count how many times the damn girl ran her mouth. But, that time I felt like she'd see through to her words. If nothing changed soon, I feared that Melanie would kill someone. She used Elena's body as a knife rack before.

Who was to say that she wouldn't resort to murder? Hell, who was to say that I wouldn't?

"Must be wearing you out, huh? Being stuck here for so long." I wondered.

The dreadful smile vanished from the girl's face as she adjusted the position of her head. "Huh? The fuck are you talking about?"

"When we first came here, sure, you talked about watching everyone die. When you captured first place, you mentioned you didn't care what happened around here. But now, suddenly you're eager to kill everyone else." I pointed out.

"This supposed to go anywhere?" Melanie shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah," I raised my hand and pointed at Melanie, "you're getting scared. People are dropping left and right. It must be terrifying not knowing if you'll be next."

Melanie smacked her lips and shook her head before she responded, "Ain't no way I'm dying here. I'm not a complete moron like the rest of you. You're all gonna die one way or the other. I'm just speeding up the process."

"Why the rush? Thought you enjoyed watching us suffer." 

"Even watching an animal bleed to death can get boring once they lose the strength to do anything," Melanie crossed her arms under her chest and averted her gaze from me for a moment. "It's been fun while it lasted, but I'm through playing games. I want my money, and I wanna get outta here. You're all in my way."

She left the room without another word. Her declarations and desires were explicit. She'd stop at nothing to kill everyone and get out. While that fact was never a secret, in the beginning, something about her proclamation raised red flags. 

Her words that time carried tremendous weight and determination compared to her nonchalant and callous tone from before. My body got covered in goosebumps at the thought of facing against a Melanie that was out on a mission. Regardless, I wouldn't falter.

No one could afford to.

We were nearing the final stretch of the games. A single mistake could cost someone their lives. And with how little of us were left around the time, it wasn't something we could afford to allow.