The Clairvoyant

Seventeen | 64 days, 9th hour

For once it felt cold as soon as I entered the building, Blake closing the door tightly shut behind me. And inside, it was like either Blake placed the whole place on 'cool mode', or winter suddenly decided to kick back in the middle of March.

I held the paint ball gun in my hand, frowning as a puff of white air left my mouth.

“You shoot them with this,” Blake instructed me just a while ago. “And it'll signify everyone else that the player is out. Of course, everyone else has a paint ball gun. It's weak punishment, but when you get hit, it still stings.”

“Remember,” He added just before I walked in the freezer. “You eliminate your members. Not mine.”

I took a small step into the darkness, the faint light of the sun coming in through various holes from the building. Stepping forward into the room, I'm suddenly zapped by a lot of paint. Luckily, I had time to shield myself behind a column.

I hear a beep.

“Stella?” I hear Blake's voice in my earpiece. “I forgot to mention, the other players aren't the only ones you have to look after. I set up booby traps all over the place. This is the training hall for my guys after all so be careful. Over.”

“Why didn't you tell me earlier?” I hiss into the mouth piece, crawling my way to the open door that's practically feet away from me. I make it safely outside the room, but this time it's another longer and darker hall.

Taking the left side, I slowly take steps to where this hall leads me.

And then at the end of it, I hear footsteps.

“Dude, we just went this way,” I know that voice. “Audrey said to come back after five minutes.”

“I can't believe they had enough time to redecorate the whole place while we were gone,” Colton grumbles as I hear another click and clack of their shoes. “But this reminds me of those deadly paintball fights we used to do.”

“It does,” Chace agrees, and then suddenly I'm snapped back to my own place when I see one of Blake's men standing guard on the opposite side of the room. There's a gaping hole in the middle of the room, and from my view, God knows how deep that hole is.

“Then are you saying it's better that my men attack them? Brutally? Without mercy?”

Blake's words hit me like an ice pack. I look into the gun's eye view and see Chace. Gripping my hand on the trigger, I pull it and I shoot him square on the back, making Chace yelp in pain and Colton running to his aid. Blake's team member has this confused expression on his face.

“Man down, man down,” Colton rushes into his earpiece.

I know he can't help Chace anymore. He's been hit after all.

Colton apologizes and helps Chace up as he covers his nose. I don't know why he's doing that, or why he's even decided to leave Chace in the middle of the battlefield, but it doesn't really change the fact that he's already been hit.

So he's done for.

Six more to go.

“Stella, over.”

Blake's voice surprises me, making me turn against the scene. “Blake, over.”

“The paint ball has this effect that when you get hit, you lose conscious.” He begins to explain. My shaking fingers tightening against my own paint ball gun. “Something like anesthetic. So don't smell it if you don't want to pass out.”

I begin to understand why Colton covered his nose a while ago. I press onto the mouth piece, asking, “If I hit your team member, what happens? Over.”

“Nothing,” He replies seconds later. “No points. You, as the fox, will only win when you eliminate your members. My men are simple rocks on your view. But, you should know, they also don't know you're the fox so be careful because you're the only hope of winning for your team. Over.”

I look back at Blake's member; however he's already gone. And I might have made a mistake to not keep my eyes open for him because he's already tackling me from behind, crashing me into this surprisingly thin wall like those action movies.

We spin around, tumble over one another, and then we've even reached Chace's place where he seems like he's dead asleep. I wheeze out as he punches my stomach, taking in a little of the medicine – and then it shatters my senses for a second, making me want to do nothing but sleep.

My world rotates around me as Blake's member points a gun at me. He's holding his breath in, and then, like the delinquent I am, I kick his shin and he gasps, in taking a huge amount of that antiseptic smell and quickly falling to the ground.

I push him off me, crawl to Chace's side and fix his position.

“Leave him,” Blake suddenly interferes. “I'll get some men to take him. Over.”

“You're watching?”

He's quiet for a while, then finally: “You should say 'over' like a good girl. And yes, I am. Over.”

I click my tongue and take the gun into my hand. But not before I take the enemies' bullets first, and Chace's gun that's similar to mine. I put it on my belt then I remember something. I look over the gaping hole in the middle of the room.

And there, practically twenty-feet below, is a pool.

“Stella?” I spin around in my place, Tristan there on my heel. He has his mouth covered with a handkerchief. “I heard a scream. Did you come with Audrey and them? I saw them a while ago, just leave Chace there and let's go.”

Suddenly everything's too quick.

He suddenly gripped my neck and I'm suddenly under him. Fast moves, I notice, his hand already on my gun. “Find the Fox,” He mutters, breathing hard. “I should know that you can't trust anyone in this game. But I'm not someone who can win for the team.”

“How would you know?” I ask, suddenly feeling nauseous as a tint of the medicine wafts around us.

“You can throw him over the pool,” Blake suddenly instructs me. “That's the same as losing.”

“Wouldn't he get hurt?” I question Blake, and he says no. “So you know I'm the fox,” I grin at Tristan, his finger still on that trigger. “Why not shoot me now so we're over it. You found the fox, kill me already. Shoot me with that gun.”

Tristan stared at me, his eyes conflicting with what he's doing.

“No?” I reply in a soft voice. “Well, you had your chance.”

And then suddenly I push myself over, raising my legs so that I hit his back and he's jerking forward. He pulls the trigger, but I've already moved out of the way. I'm already behind him, he's in front of me, ready to pull the trigger again.

But I've already pushed him over the edge.

“Give me the gun,” I call out to him, his fingers steadily losing its grip.

He hands it to me, Tristan looks down on the ground. “I bet Blake told you this is punishment, huh,” He said, making a swallow. “Let me help you. I know the 'fox' needs to kill its own members so their team wins – I was a fox before after all.”

“Punishment for attacking his hideout without my permission,” I chuckle, grinning at him.

Then I take his hand, and pull him up. “Rule number one,” I hear Tristan and Blake say in unison. “Never trust anyone in this game.” And then he's pulling me with him, down into the pool that looks so cold at the moment.

But I make it just in time before I jump on him in midair, swinging my axis to the closest level.

Barely making it, as I land onto an empty floor, I hear Tristan splash into the pool. I look over, he's already coming back up for air. When's he's there, I grin at him. “I wasn't Blake's apprentice for nothing, idiot.” I call out from below him.

“Dude, it's freezing. Tell him to come pick me up already!” He calls.

“You heard that Blake?” I ask into my mouth piece.

“Already on it. Over.”

Five more to go.

I make my way up a flight of stairs, my feet shaking from the fall just a while ago. I'd kicked Tristan's legs to help myself jump out of the water's way, but in the process, I'd bruised myself on the ankle, and I've got nasty cuts on my elbows as well.

Pushing the door aside, I see Audrey and Colton on one side. I give her a smile as she calls my name, and then she's running to me, hugging me. “Oh my God! What happened to you?” She squeals as she catches my appearance.

“I tried to help Tristan,” I lie, shaking my head. “But this guy pushed us over the ledge.”

“Into the pool?” Colton inquires. “Then he's lost already.”

“Yeah, I couldn't save him. I'm sorry.”

Audrey gives me another hug. “It's fine, totally fine. I'm just glad you're okay.” I can't help but feel a pang of guilt rising within me but I hug her anyway. Behind them I see Cain, and sigh in relief to see he's okay. “We're looking for my brother,” She suddenly says.

“Jaime? He isn't here?”

“We haven't found him yet.” Cain nods at me, readying his gun with a click. He points it at the opposite direction, squinting his eyes. That pose makes him look like he's practiced shooting before. “But we've taken down enemies already.”

Have you shot someone before?

I've gone to those shooting range, He explains, putting it down and back in his pocket.

Why?

My dad took me, of course.

“How many did you take down already?” I ask, tilting my head.

Audrey ponders for a minute. “Um, three.” She answers.

So that makes three more to go. I think into my own mind, not letting Cain read it. I've already shut him out, and he the same since I can't hear him anymore. I have to take these guys out first before they finish taking down Blake's team.

“We'll separate then,” I commence, giving Audrey a nod as if asking her it's alright. Colton and Audrey both agree, and so does Cain. “Me and Cain search that side, and you two search the other. Unless you've already gone that way.”

Colton shakes his head, and then grips Audrey's hand. “No, we haven't. We'll go.”

And then just like that, we separate. From just this, I can see that they trust me, even though I'm currently their enemy right now. Cain helps me through steady steps, passing through a broken ridge in a floor and then jumping to the other side.

When I'm sure we're already far away from each other, I turn back, readying my gun, when all of a sudden I feel a hit on my shoulder. I quickly stop breathing, well, rather, putting a pause to it and jump to the side, barely missing the second bullet.

“What the f**k?” I shout as soon as I'm far from the medicine.

“Jaime was never missing in the first place,” Cain suddenly says, eyes locked onto mine. “He was with Tristan, he reported your devious act. But as he came to us, he led those three other enemies into our lair. We lost him there.”

I gripped my gun, ready to attack as well.

“So tell me, why'd you push Tristan over the edge?”

“Punishment,” I reply, taking a step forward.

“Stop, I'll really pull this.” He says, taking a step backward. And then I'm already close to him, his bullet just near my chest, my heart. I grip it in my hand, my finger on his finger which is on his trigger. “Don't do this, Stella.”

“You need to defeat me to win,” I say though I know they only chances they have to win is by me killing them all. “Come on. Come on,” I suddenly close the gap between us, my lips touching his soft ones. His hands suddenly loosen on the grip, and like a cat, I press the trigger.

He steps away, breathing hard, his eyes looking down on the gun.

“W-why'd you,” But then he staggered forward, his eyes spinning and becoming hazy within seconds. Then he sees where his hand is already pointing at, just under my arm, that open gaping whole. I wasn't hit at all by his bullet.

I grin at him, my breath still on hold, then hold his head on my lap as they slowly close. “I'm sorry Cain,” I whisper, kissing his forehead. “It's easier to take you out than Audrey and Colton. Thank you for taking Jaime out for me.”

When Cain's hand slips away from mine, I suddenly feel this heavy feeling inside my chest.

But then the sounds of gun fire upstairs snaps me out of my reverie.

Quickly making my way through the floors, I get in time just before Audrey falls to the ground. I don't hesitate to shoot down one of Blake's members that's about to hit her. Running to her aid, she looks at me, eyes squinting.

“Cain?”

I shake my head, frowning. If Cain knew, there's a high possibility that they knew as well.

“I have to win for us,” I whisper to her, taking a gun and putting it on the side of her head. So long as she smells the medicine, she'll pass out – she'll be done for. “And by winning, I have to eliminate you guys. Punish you, so Blake says.”

“I figured,” She chuckles, pulling the bullet and not bothering to hold her breath as the medicine spreads. “Go and take down Colton before the others do. We learned our lesson. We won't work behind your back. We'll ask for your consent next time.”

I take the gun from Audrey's hand as she closes her eyes. I squint at it, then shoot Colton down.

And just like that, I hear the sound of an alarm going off.