We’re in Lily’s room, at my request.
Her body’s beyond recognition and can’t be collected; her murder site will be the closest thing she’ll have to a grave.
I say a silent prayer, and a good-bye to someone who, as she had said, I had never really known. But the sides of her I had seen had filled me with happiness and a sense of purpose.
Even though she said that she wanted me to be my own person, I will carry her with me as much as the dark creature that wraps itself around my heart.
[https://i.imgur.com/I1bfsqk.png]
[Ana]: I can’t believe the game’s over.
[https://i.imgur.com/qzMb292.png]
[Yuri]: It’s strange. It just doesn’t feel complete.
Ana then speaks in a small voice.
[Ana]: I’ll think about this for the rest of my life. So it makes sense for it to never feel over.
[Yuri]: No, it’s not that. It’s just-
We ‘won’ Death Mafia. There are no more Trials, no more votes, no more murders in the middle of the night. The rules no longer bind us, we can call each other by name. There’ll be a boat sent for us in the morning.
But maybe because of this sudden calm, I notice a subtle itch at the back of my brain. A call that something is wrong, that even though we’ve won we’ve missed something crucial.
Mafia… death mafia… mafia… death mafia…
That pair of words doesn't sit right with me. Now that I’ve finally allowed myself to look back fully, and clearly, at other people’s deaths, the itching grows stronger and stronger.
It turns into a burning, then a raging flame.
“It’s okay to stop thinking.”
“Does death mean death? The only way we’ll know is by testing the rules…”
“Everyone else can no longer stomach the bodies”
“ Y-you broke the rules!”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
And then it all stops. It’s as if my cognition had been sand, turning into glass. I almost don’t dare breathe in fear that my thoughts will slip away.
[Yuri]: Ana. Can you count something for me?
[Yuri]: Talk to me about each person who played mafia with us and how they died.
[Ana]: Is this important?
Even though she agreed to visit Lily’s room, thinking about everyone’s deaths must hurt. But I don’t avert my gaze.
[https://i.imgur.com/Em2149g.png]
[Ana]: One. The [Goat] passes out and dies.
She speaks in a quiet monotone.
[https://i.imgur.com/j19ZrZd.png]
[Ana]: Two. The [Monkey] shows his card and breaks a rule.
[https://i.imgur.com/3hBhaad.png]
[Ana]: Three. The [Rooster] is torn to pieces at night.
[https://i.imgur.com/0T3kuJV.png]
[Ana]: Four. The [Dog] vanishes into a puddle of blood
She breathes, shuddering. The reason she speaks in a monotone is that if she starts to show emotion, she’ll break again into tears.
[https://i.imgur.com/NhYWrR1.png]
[Ana]: Five. The [Pig] is forced to show her card, and is punished.
[https://i.imgur.com/7QAUlqs.png]
[Ana]: Six. The [Tiger] is murdered into pulp.
[https://i.imgur.com/4FZ2xd8.png]
[Ana]: Seven. The [Rat] is punished because he stabbed the [Dragon], preventing the [Dragon] from voting.
[https://i.imgur.com/dNiYIc3.png]
[Ana]: Eight. The [Dragon] is stabbed by the Rat, and then executed-
[Yuri]: You’re wrong about the [Dragon]. He died from his wounds, not from the execution.
This thought that I’m holding in my mind. I don’t know whether it drives me to hope or despair. But every time she continues her count it becomes more real.
[Yuri]: Keep going.
[https://i.imgur.com/JN80V6b.png]
[Ana]: Nine… the [Ox] is murdered.
[https://i.imgur.com/zGAxADy.png]
[Ana]: And ten, we executed the [Rabbit].
We’re sitting together on the bed. The lights are dim; we’ve left them low to avoid sight of the bloodstains. The air here is poor and stagnant; but I feel suddenly alert.
[Yuri]: We need to find her.
[Ana]: Even though I made the choice to vote for the [Rabbit], I’d rather not see her body. It’d make things hard for me.
[Yuri]: We’re not looking for the [Rabbit]’s body…
[Yuri]: We’re looking for the [Rabbit] herself.