Are You The Complete Player?

2/2 DO YOU WANT SOMEBODY'S LIFE IN YOUR HANDS?

“Everyone seems to be so gloomy. Maybe you guys need a little more cheering up. There have been too many deaths around here. I figure you guys need something more normal like… a dance perhaps? I’m assuming you guys brought formal attire with you when you took the flight, for events such as the players’ party,” WIC’s disembodied voice suddenly reappeared, noticing there wasn’t too much going on around the place. Most players had just been resting and everyone just looked either in so much grief or dying of boredom.

           “I didn’t,” Krystupas whispered to no one in particular. As if this tournament couldn’t have gotten any worse.

           “When you hear music playing through the speakers, it is your cue that the dance has officially started. Everyone, you should go put on your best dance attire now. I have a really big surprise for you all once the dance is over,” the WIC voice continued.

           “Why would they think we would be in a mood for a freaking dance?” Jules spat angrily. 

           “Do you remember Annika Grabher of Germany?” the disembodied voice asked.

           Everyone held their breath. Of course, they remembered Annika. She failed to answer a question and had died instantly. Nobody spoke aloud to answer.

           “Marek Cerny of Czech Republic, do you remember Annika?”

           Marek was startled upon being singled out. “Yes, I do.”

           “If she were still here today, would you have asked her for a dance?”

           “What! I don’t know. Maybe,” Marek answered nervously. 

           “Aw, that’s so sweet. I bet Annika wished she had the chance to let you know how much she had admired you from afar before she met her bitter end,” the voice said, mocking. “I thought that was so tragic. So, I decided to give everyone a chance to ask someone they care about for a dance. I’m such a sucker for love, am I not?”

           An hour later, Akira and Marco were still convincing Krystupas to dress up for the dance, because they believed it was another mind game by WIC. They were afraid WIC would eliminate anyone who wouldn’t participate. But Krystupas was refusing to budge.

           “I. Don’t. Dance,” he said. “Just go, guys. I don’t dance. I don’t ever want to go to a dance.”

           Akira and Marco exchanged a glance. 

           “If you don’t ask Carmella Cortez, I will,” Marco said.

           “Fine by me. It’s not a big deal. Go ask her if she wants to. I don’t… she’s not… whatever, just go,” Krystupas said impatiently.

           “Krys, you need to go there even in your tennis suit. If you stay here in your bunk, I’m not putting it past WIC to eliminate you,” Akira said. “Just go, come out. It doesn’t matter if you dance or not.”

           Krystupas realised Akira had a point. While everyone was in their best formal suit, he went out wearing his usual tennis attire, which earned him some muffled laughter from the other players.

           Artem was the first one to ask Galyna for a dance. Galyna looked so beautiful in her lilac evening dress. They were the first couple who went to the WIC dancefloor even before a song was played in the background.

           “I know I made some mistakes in the past, my darling, but know that mistakes don’t define who I am, or how much I love you. I’d rather die in here with you, than get out of here without you,” he whispered in her ear which made Galyna cry. Artem kissed her tears as they danced without any music playing. They were just lost in each other, remembering all their good memories before WIC tried to get in between their relationship. Nothing else mattered in that moment. Nothing but each other.

           Suddenly, some music boomed all over the speakers which startled everyone.

           “We’re the king and queen of hearts. Hold me when the music starts. All my dreams come true. When I dance with you…” the music droned on.

           “That’s the signal. Welcome to WIC’s mind game,” Akira sighed. He decided to mindlessly go towards Daniela Perez and asked her for a dance. She arched her eyebrows, surprised by either his boldness or his preference. But she smiled at him and said yes. No one dies by accepting a dance, right?

           Marco Torres stood right after Akira and headed over to where Carmella Cortez was fidgeting in her seat talking to Chloe Lavigne who was nervously clutching her watch instead of looking at Carmella in the eye while they talked.

           “Carmella Cortez, may I have this dance with you?” Marco asked dramatically. Carmella looked up in surprise. It was certainly not who she was expecting.

           “I… I don’t dance, I’m sorry,” she said, smiling nervously at him, hoping he wouldn’t take the rejection personally. “Oh, well,” Marco shrugged and headed over to Chloe. “Nice watch,” he observed. “Do you want to dance with me? I mean, I don’t even remember your name, but you will do. You have an interesting choice in watches,” Marco chuckled. Chloe glanced nervously from Carmella to Marco.

           “It’s OK, Chloe, you should go,” Carmella said to her friend. Chloe’s eyes lit up as she took Marco’s hand nervously.

           “There wasn’t really any rule that said girls should only dance with guys,” Aimilie said to Estere. “Come on, we should be seizing every moment. Any moment now, one of us could die. I don’t want to have regrets. I don’t want to have never done this with you.”

           Estere was still hesitant. Everyone seemed to believe they were just best friends. But she realised Aimilie was right. There was a very slim chance one or both of them would win the whole thing. She finally decided to dance with Aimilie which had caught everyone else’s attention. Their faces were so close to each other. It was obvious to everyone by then that they were more than just best friends.

           Krystupas glanced at them happily. He had always known that there was something between the two. He had been into a lot of pre-seasons with both, the three of them all coming from Baltic countries. 

           “We should totally dance, as friends,” Hana whispered to Joanna. She hadn’t really forgiven her for starting a group without consulting her, but she didn’t want to end up without a partner. If WIC hadn’t eliminated Aimilie and Estere for dancing with each other, maybe it was OK all along to dance with another girl.

           “Hi, Joanna. I know this isn’t the right circumstance to ask you for a dance, but I just want to, you know, use this opportunity to thank you for holding me together when I couldn’t,” Adam said. Hana realised Joanna wasn’t even paying attention to her. She was looking at Adam, face lit up, but tears all over her face.

           “You have nothing to thank me for, but yes, yes to a dance with you,” she said. She didn’t even realise Hana was trying to talk to her.

           “Jules, we should just do it,” whispered Francois. “We are in hell now.  No one would care if we are…”

           Jules shot a glance at him angrily. “Yeah? I’m not gay. Leave me alone. I’m trying to find a girl to dance with.”

           “WIC doesn’t care if we are,” Francois said. “Aimilie and Estere are out and happy. Don’t you want us to be?”

           “Shut up. You’ll do well to shut your mouth,” Jules said. He headed over to invite Grace, who was initially surprised but accepted the invitation.

           The others started to participate in the dance, too, fearing the worst that could happen if they didn’t. Borysko partnered with Mira, Aksel partnered with Jihan, Basil with Hana, Miroslav with Adela, Drew with Selene, Gavro with Keavy, and Luis with Mia.

           Marek asked Lucija whom he found crying in a corner. Lucija hesitated before saying yes. She was still grieving for Pietro, and she wished so hard she didn’t feel so empty without him. 

           Crina went over to Krystupas who was still watching Aimilie and Estere dancing intimately. “Fancy a dance, i***t?” she asked.

           “No, I really don’t dance,” Krystupas said.

           “Clearly. I mean, look at your outfit,” Crina teased.

           “Yeah, I know. Maxim, Dragan and Francois still don’t have a partner. You should go ask them instead,” he said. Crina shook her head and sighed.

           “I want to ask you something, but on the dancefloor, not here. You can still hear through the music, right?” Crina asked.

           “You mean, am I not deaf? Yes, I can hear well,” Krystupas answered sarcastically. 

           “Then, come on, dance with me. I need to ask you something really important,” Crina said. Without waiting for an answer, she dragged Krystupas over to the dancefloor.

           As the music kept blasting, Crina said, “Do you remember what Will Cortez’s middle name was? He was American, right? Don’t they have a middle name? I’m pretty sure most of them have.”

           Before Krystupas could open his mouth to speak, WIC’s voice suddenly came through the speakers.

           “As much as I enjoy watching you, Aimilie Tamm of Estonia and Estere Kavace of Latvia, you both need to pick a guy to dance with. When the music stops playing, anyone without a dance partner is automatically eliminated,” it said, amused.

           “Go ask someone else. I need to go,” Krystupas shouted at Crina. He rushed over to Carmella sitting by herself as he saw Maxim and Dragan approach Estere and Aimilie as fast as they could. 

           “To the dancefloor, come on,” Krystupas said to Carmella. She nodded, feeling relieved. Francois ran towards Crina who was still in shock with Krystupas for ditching her mid-dance.

           “That was such a close, close call,” the disembodied voice said. “Now that everyone has finally dramatically chosen their partners, let’s begin the warm up challenge for game #5.”

           Everyone held their breath. No one truly believed WIC was just being generous to them and letting them enjoy normal things such as a dance. Now, the voice had just confirmed their worst fear. Some of them would die right there.

           “This is a rather easy challenge,” the voice continued. “When the music plays, everyone will dance to the beat, when it stops, the guys will carry their partners until the music goes back on. If you lose balance and drop your partner, or if the girl’s foot touches the ground, the pair automatically loses. The last 5 pairs standing shall win 100 points each.”

           The game began without a warning. The music played and the players danced hesitantly and nervously. When the music stopped, the guys tried their best to carry their partners. 

           Marco was stunned as he lost his balance when he tried to carry Chloe. The girl was so much heavier than he expected. Lucija also failed to jump right into Marek’s arms at the pause. She was still crying. Dancing was just reminding her so much of Pietro and she couldn’t bring herself to dance in another guy’s arms. She was starting to hate herself for being a weakling now. Francois couldn’t carry Crina properly, too. When Crina jumped at him he stumbled to the ground falling hard on his butt.

           The pause stayed on for about 15 minutes. Gavro couldn’t take it anymore. He dropped Keavy without meaning to. The same thing happened to Basil who was already struggling with Hana’s weight.

           “Ah, five losing pairs right away. This is so exciting,” the disembodied voice said excitedly. A different song played on the speakers this time.

           “This is a night like none before. I knew it when you opened up the door. With a look to paint the sky, let me read between the lines in your eyes tonight…” the singer crooned.

           “This is my favourite song. I can’t believe it’s playing under this circumstance,” Krystupas whispered in Carmella’s ear. “It used to always play when something special was happening in my life, like a total coincidence.”

           Carmella couldn’t remember the last time she went to a dance with anyone. She was too young when her brother disappeared. She spent most of her adolescent life trying to find him. She missed a lot of mundane things in life growing up, such as dancing with a guy.

           “Don’t be nervous, I got you, when the music stops, just jump,” he told her. She nodded, hoping she would be able to hear the music come and go. Her heartbeat felt too loud in her ears. The music suddenly stopped. Adam and Joanna lost, followed by Maxim and Estere.

           There were only eight pairs left still competing for the extra points. 

           “What about you? What’s your lucky or special song?” Krystupas asked Carmella. “Sorry if I talk too much. I’m just nervous. I don’t really dance. I don’t even know if this counts as dancing.”

           “They must like your outfit and made an exemption,” Carmella said, chuckling. She was also nervous, but she wasn’t going to admit that. “The song Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran makes me cry each time. It reminds me of my grandmother. Does talking make me lighter?” she joked.  Krystupas grinned.

           Before the music continued, Luis lost his balance and both he and Mia fell to the ground with Mia on top of him.

           “Ew, get off me!” Luis yelled at Mia. Mia covered her nose as if Luis’ breath was something she couldn’t take smelling up close.

           The next to lose were Akira and Daniela, Aksel and Jihan, and finally, Artem and Galyna, who still both looked too happy despite being announced as losers.

           “And that wraps up the challenge, folks. Congratulations to our recipients of 100 points extra points each: Jules Bernard and Grace Brown, Miroslav Petrovic and Adela Horackova, Drew Martin and Selene Argyros, Dragan Pavic and Aimilie Tamm, and last but certainly not least, Krystupas Pavlis and Carmella Cortez.”

           Everyone else who lost the warm up challenge stood nervously and couldn’t bring it upon themselves to cheer for the others. They were worried about their fate.

           “And of course, for the final twist of this activity, this is for our king and queen of hearts, none other than Krystupas and Carmella,” the voice said wickedly.

           Krystupas and Carmella held each other’s hands firmly not knowing what WIC was up to. “Look at them, folks. They look so cute together, don’t they?” the voice teased.

           “Hmm, not really,” Selene said bitterly.

           “And for that, I would let you choose between winning 100 extra points OR outright elimination. Just complete this sentence, Krystupas and Carmella. The next person to be eliminated is _______. You have until the end of the song to decide. 100 points or elimination. Fate, my friends, is in your hands.”

           “I took the supermarket flowers from the windowsill…” the song started playing.

           “No!” Carmella cried. “Don’t use that song. You are so, so cruel. I hate you! I hate you! You have no right to tarnish my grandmother’s memory!”

           Carmella totally lost it. She didn’t want to pick someone to die while the song was playing. “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t. I can’t anymore,” she kept crying as the music played on. 

“I’m picking someone if you won’t,” Krystupas said.

“Do you want somebody’s life in your hands?” Carmella asked in between tears.

“No, but I want us to live,” he said sternly. He wrapped Carmella in his arms, as he yelled through the music.

“The next person to be eliminated is Selene Argyros of Greece,” Krystupas said.

Selene was too stunned to hear Krystupas finally acknowledging her existence for the first time. She smiled without realising that Krystupas actually picked her to die. She dropped to the ground, dead, before her mind could even register what just happened…