I return to my room. The mini-bar hadn’t been restocked so all I have left are the dregs. Do people really enjoy ‘bacon cheddar potato chips?” I sure don’t, but I’m eating them anyway.
*crunch* *snap* *crunch*
[Yuri]: Intriguing…
To take my mind off the flavor I think about the game.
There’s only four of us alive. The [Ox], who is town. And the [Rabbit] and the [Horse], one of whom is a villager and one of whom is Wolf. Based on how they’ve voted and acted these past days, I already know which is which.
Do you really need me to tell you? If you want to reflect on these past days, I’ll wait a little longer. My main worry for now is surviving the night.
[Yuri]: Hmmm…? The bag’s already empty?
Maybe these chips aren’t as bad as I thought. I pick one of the sodas; this one is ‘lemon-lime-orange.’
*pop*
I snap open the can. And glance at the facts on the label.
[Yuri]: There’s no actual fruit in it…
I’m not concerned. About the game at least, the Wolves should go for the [Ox]. Since I’m not the Healer or the Seer, there’s no reason for the Wolves to kill me.
Since I’m not the Seer…
I pour the ice-cold soda on my shirt.
[Yuri]: Ah!
I know I’m not the Seer, but everyone else still thinks that I'm one!
I pretended to be Seer to protect the [Rat]. However, now the [Rat] is dead. And I’m stuck with a great big target that I can no longer disprove, locked in my bedroom and soon-to-be tomb.
It had been fine for before everyone to think I was Seer, because the [Dragon], a Wolf, was also pretending to be Seer. He would have been exposed if he had murdered me.
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But now there’s nothing stopping the final Wolf from ripping me apart. I bury my head in my pillow.
The Wolf is coming to murder me. The Wolf is coming to murder me. The Wolf is coming to-
I take a deep breath. It’s not as effective as it could’ve been, because I inhale a good deal of pillow-lint and start coughing. But a second, third, fourth, a fifth breath, stretching to however many I need - to slow everything down - it’s enough for me to cope. For now.
I start moving furniture.
I push the sofa centimeters at a time until I manage to put it against the door. I dump the ottoman atop of it and stack a few more chairs until they’re leaning precariously against the entrance.
The hotel-room door opens outwards into the hallway so it won’t be very effective as a barricade. But if someone enters, then the furniture will tumble down upon them. It probably won’t do more than bruise, but maybe it’ll strike them on the head in just the right place; that would hardly be climatic but it would be very effective.
[Snake]: Maybe if I make it too difficult for her, the Wolf will just give up…?
I enter the bathroom, and look into the make-up mirror. I stare back at myself and mirror-me’s expression is incredibly stressed. Then I slam the mirror violently into the sink.
*crink*
I carefully collect the broken shards with a damp bathtowel and return to my ramshackle tower; sprinkling it with the sharp pieces. If someone isn’t paying attention when they climb over, their hands and feet will be sliced open.
I back away.
It’s not enough. I know that it’s not enough; I doubt that the game’s Gods would design this in a way that allows a Town to avoid murder just by fighting back against the Wolves.
But Wolf or no, any human walking through that threshold will get hurt. I take my wrench with me to bed like it’s a teddy-bear and lie awake, staring at the doorway.
12:05
Time passes. My eyelids grow heavy and a haze clouds my thoughts.
12:10
12:15
I’ll hear if a wolf breaks in. Even I’m sleeping, I’ll hear and wake up…
12:20
12:25
If I need to be at my best, then I’ll just take a short… rest…
Soon I drop off, asleep like the dead.
[https://i.imgur.com/fiBRDRm.png]
And then I wake.
[Yuri]: Come at me!
I fling off the covers and ready my wrench. And the clock catches the corner of my eye.
8:00
[Yuri]: Oh…?
The wrench slips from my hands.
Nothing had happened. The chairs still teeter precariously against the door. Toxic gas had not flowed through the vents, no poisoned dart embedded itself into my veins.
8:05
Surely a Wolf wouldn’t be this late.
I’m alive. I’m alive! But my exhausted joy gives way to confusion.
She allowed the Seer to survive. Why did she make that mistake? Is she just that stupid?
“My partner might pretend to be dumb during the day,” the Dragon said. ‘but at night they play to win.”
I shiver. If I don’t understand why they spared me, that means they’ve either blundered or that they’ve reasoned several steps ahead.
And even then, there’s still one pressing problem - one that I created for myself.
[Yuri]: How am I going to leave my room?
The tower-barrier creaks and groans.