My interrogation with Melanie didn't exactly go as I planned, but, I did leave the situation with some crucial information. My threats scared her. That much I knew for sure. However, the bitch kept her wits about her for the most part. That told me that she either knew that I wouldn't see through to my threats or, there was something else she feared more than me.

Maybe someone else.

I returned to my room and lied out on my bed. That day was perhaps the most stressful out of my days in Serendipity. It felt good to let the soft mattress ease away my aches and pains. My fatigue got to me, and I dozed off.

I didn't know how long I was out, but my eyes snapped open when I heard a voice call out my name.

My eyes scanned the room in search of the voice's source. No one was around. Had I finally lost my mind? When I lied back down and shut my eyes, the same voice called out to me again.

I jumped out of bed and found the source of the annoyance. It came from the television. The visual on the screen displayed the familiar face of Zoey.

"Are you awake now?" The woman asked.

I blinked a few times before I rubbed my eyes. "Not sure," I hesitated to answer. "A dead woman is on my television screen. So, probably not."

"This isn't a dream, Ambrose. I'm not dead," Zoey revealed, although it was tough to believe her when I considered the circumstances. The first scenario that popped into my mind was that it was all some trick orchestrated by Caius. After all, he was the one that announced Zoey's death to everyone.

I wouldn't put it past him to concoct something like this as a form of cruel and unusual entertainment.

"Where are you right now?" I asked, deciding to go along with things for the meantime.

"I'm in the security room right now. I can't stay here much longer," Zoey stepped aside and showed the numerous monitors behind her. 

"The security room? What the hell? How'd you get in there?"

"I knocked out the guards when they...never mind that right now. Listen to me carefully; you're all in danger."

"Tell me something I don't know," I sarcastically responded to her warning. Since day one when everyone stepped foot in Serendipity, all of our lives were in jeopardy. It was something stated before everyone even agreed to participate in the games. "What's so different from our first day here to now?"

"They've grown impatient," Zoey replied. She pressed several keys on the keyboard in front of her. Video footage played on my television screen. It showed Nicholas and Zoey enjoying cups of coffee. That was the case until Melanie showed up and caused a ruckus.

The moment Zoey turned her back to confront Melanie; Nicholas reached across the table and put something in Zoey's drink. When Melanie noticed the slick move, she left the room, and Zoey returned to the table for her coffee. Whatever Nicholas put in her drink took effect minutes later, leaving the poor woman down and out on the floor.

"Melanie and Nicholas?" I muttered in complete shock. It was a Frankenstein combination if I'd ever seen one.

"Remember when Nicholas crashed into that medical table during his game with Wyatt?" Zoey asked.

"Yeah, can't forget that." I nodded my head.

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"Well, he stole some of the medical supplies when everyone wasn't looking and used those to drug me. It kept me out long enough to miss the scheduled game."

"How are you even alive right now? Didn't your bracelet inject you with the poison?"

Zoey rolled up her sleeve and tore off the skin from her right arm, revealing a prosthetic like mine. "I survived the lethal injection thanks to this."

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" I chuckled.

"So are you," She indicated to my prosthetic legs.

"How much have you seen from the security room anyway?"

"More than enough to achieve what I came here for," Zoey answered. "I've collected files and information on everyone here. But, I focused more on Nicholas."

"Why?"

"From the moment I met him, my database told me that Nicholas Damon was dead."

"Dead?"

"Sentenced to death by the electric chair,"

"Nicholas went to prison?" I stepped away from the television, taking a moment to process the newfound information. Not only was it surprising to hear, but some things Zoey said didn't make any sense to me. "I don't understand. What's this shit about a database?"

Zoey sighed and revealed another surprise she'd kept hidden. She parted her hair aside and showed me another prosthetic of hers.

An eye.

"Anything I scan with this eye gives me immediate information as long as there's a record of it somewhere. So, when I first met Nicholas, imagine my confusion when it told me that he was dead."

"With that gadget, you'd be suspicious immediately," I commented.

"I tried to uncover the mystery behind him as soon as I could. Unfortunately, he's caused more problems for everyone than I realized,"

"What do you mean?"

"He's behind everything," Zoey pulled up several videos of Nicholas' exploits throughout the games.

It was all true.

He forged the letters Klara left and slipped them under everyone's doors, which explained why some people had two instead of one. He hypnotized Darius and Wyatt into committing the murders of Elena and Iris. And he teamed up with Melanie to help get rid of Zoey.

"No fucking way..." I sat down on my bed and clutched the sides of my head. "Darius and Wyatt killed the others because they were under Nicholas' influence?"

"Yes, Nicholas had an occupation as a Hypnotherapist before his arrest. He used his skills to hypnotize the others into committing those murders." Zoey reluctantly revealed.

I didn't want to hear or believe any of it. In my mind, Nicholas was a good man that wanted to keep everyone alive and together. Even when the evidence played in front of me, I refused to acknowledge it as the truth.

"There's gotta be an explanation. None of this makes any sense. Why would Nicholas do any of that?"

"I can think of a million reasons why," Zoey coldly stated, referring to the million dollar cash prize. "Regardless of his reasons, it doesn't change the fact that he's a murderer and must be stopped."

"How do you plan on doing that from there?" I inquired. I figured that from her position, she had control of Serendipity. Everyone within it was at her mercy.

"I'm trying to see if I can send out a signal to my team. That way, they can come and extract us," Zoey answered.

"Wait, what? Your team? Extract? Zoey, who the hell are you?" I demanded answers.

"I'm agent Zoey Cooper," She introduced herself.

"Agent?"

"I infiltrated to put an end to these games and the organization that runs them,"

"This is insane; I can't believe this shit..." I nervously laughed and shook my head, hoping that everything I heard was a dream.

"Seeing is believing, Ambrose. You saw what Nicholas did. You and the others need to stay on your toes. Because Nicholas and Melanie won't stop until you're all dead." Zoey warned me.

That much I knew without her even needing to tell me. Melanie, I understood. Nicholas, I didn't. And that's what frustrated me the most out of everything. I didn't know much about Nicholas; I never tried to get to know him or anyone else for that matter.

That bastard flashed false smiles every day, playing the role of a good guy while orchestrating everyone's deaths from the shadows. If that's how the bastard planned to play the game, then I planned to bring him out into the light. He pulled everyone's strings long enough.

"How long until your team can get here?" I suddenly asked when I concocted a plan to take the bastard down.

"Depends on how soon I can get the signal out. Probably a day or two depending on where we are," Zoey replied. "What are you planning?"

"An endgame," I said. "I'm going all in on this gamble of mine."

"Don't do anything reckless. Focus more on surviving more than anything else," Zoey instructed, but I had no plans on listening to her.

"You should do the same," I retorted. "Make sure you don't get captured; security will know something's up sooner or later. So do whatever you need to do and get out of there. I'll take care of things on my end."

"Okay. Be careful," Zoey said before the television screen shut off, leaving me alone in silence to process my thoughts of revenge against the bastard that betrayed everyone from the very begging.