MASTER OF GAMES (7 Prisoners 1 Dead #1)

Chapter 3: 7 Prisoners

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"If we don't have a chance to escape, that means you don't either," Egemen said slowly. "It's just simple math. We're all on the same boat now. There are four more people inside, and if we were the kind of people who wanted to hurt you, it would have already happened."

Goosebumps prickled over my skin. We all knew what he was implying. My brows furrowed involuntarily as I stared at him with wet eyes. He returned my gaze just as firmly.

"Have you heard anything on the news or elsewhere?" Egemen asked, ignoring my glare. "Reports of missing men, kidnapped children, adults who've disappeared... It happens always." He tightened his jaw as he laughed. "Is any bastard out there even looking for us?"

When the guns creaked slightly, I gasped and turned my eyes toward the corner. It felt as if they were aimed at Egemen.

"Death doesn't like swearing," Kutay said without looking at me. "If you want fewer guns pointed at you, cursing is just one of the things you shouldn't do."

I fixed my eyes on one of the guns. Then my gaze shifted to the barred window. The sun was shining outside. Somewhere out there, people were living their day. In a few hours my mother would call me, worried that I was late.

Should I tell them the truth? Even if I didn't see malice in their faces, how could I believe a story like this? I'd rather stab myself than trust men. On the other hand, Egemen was right. If a few men wanted to hurt me, they would have already done so.

"I lied to my mom," I admitted. A few tears streamed down my cheeks. I turned my eyes to Kutay. "She thinks I'm in Kartal. She didn't know I was coming to Çatalca. But... but the police could find me from my phone signal, right?"

"All of us had phone signals," Egemen said. "They never found any of us. Death erased our traces as if we never existed."

Disappointment flashed across Kutay's face as he propped his chin on one hand. "It's fine," he said softly. "Most likely, Death even knew she would lie."

"How?" I whispered hoarsely. "How could he know I wouldn't tell my mom I was going far?"

"Where do you live?" Kutay asked.

"Pendik," I murmured.

"You came all this way for a project?" Kutay's face showed surprise.

I nodded. My tear filled eyes returned to Egemen. When he clenched his teeth, his face became sharper. I wanted to look away, but I needed to see their reactions. "My mom watches those shows about missing people a lot. This morning, she mentioned someone who disappeared. The guy had been missing for months."

Kutay's face lit up briefly but the look vanished quickly. His reaction told me I should believe their story. "That wouldn't be us," he said in a muffled voice. "Death covers his tracks well. I don't think anyone is searching for us." He gave a short laugh. "At most, they're searching for our corpses."

Egemen ignored Kutay's words. "Did your mom mention anything else?" he asked slowly. "Do you remember anything about the man?"

I swallowed hard. "The guy was kind of naive," I said, straining to recall. "He didn't have any bad relationship with anyone. And... I think he was about twenty."

"Anything else?" Egemen pressed.

"I don't remember," I admitted. My mom always talked about the cases on that show. Her words went in one of my ear and out the other. Remembering even this much was a miracle. It felt like I had lived that morning years ago.

"If he was twenty..." Kutay said, giving Egemen a strange look.

Egemen swallowed. "Hope is dangerous, be careful." Even as he said it, he himself seemed to be hoping. I didn't understand what in my words had given them hope, but my fear that they would hurt me eased slightly.

When another body suddenly rushed into the room, I almost jumped out of my skin. He was scruffy-bearded, big-nosed, brown-haired, slightly muscular. Smirking at me, he bowed theatrically.

I dug my fingers into my knees. What was this creep doing?

"I'm Çağrı, Prisoner 5. Sounds cool when you say it like that," he said smugly. "Age twenty. How old are you, darling?"

I stared at him, stunned by the word he used. The fear flaring inside me pulsed like a heartbeat. I quickly averted my gaze and fixed my eyes on the table.

The urge to throw myself over to the other side of the red line was suddenly unbearable.

"Hey, man," Kutay said. His tone completely changed; his voice was raised. "Cut the flirty talk! Act like a man. The girl's already seen enough since she got here."

"What's the problem? What's her name anyway?"

I didn't want to say my name.

Lifting my eyes from the table, I looked at the creep called Çağrı approaching us. The guns followed his every move, but he sat next to Kutay. It was as if... he was used to the guns, or confident they wouldn't harm him.

Kutay gave him a brief glance. "Afra tried to cross the red zone and get out the front door."

"Great, just what we needed—a whiny girl," the disgusting man said. My hands clenched into fists. He turned his gaze on me. "By the way, nice to meet you, Afra."

I wasn't the least bit pleased.

"The issue isn't that the girl tried to escape," Egemen said. "The issue is that none of you should even think about it."

Çağrı shrugged. He didn't seem to care in the slightest. "And I overheard your last talk. I don't think anyone's looking for us." His features darkened. "My dad probably hasn't even filed a missing person's report. After all, his biggest money digger has disappeared."

A brief silence fell. Çağrı smirked at me. "I'm rich, by the way."

Didn't do you much good, I thought angrily. I bit my tongue, forcing myself to keep my lips shut.

"You're still a prisoner here," Egemen said mockingly. As if he had read my mind. "How would your money talk here you bastard."

As the guns swiveled toward him, I just sat frozen, staring blankly at the moving barrels.

"You're scaring the girl," Kutay said sternly. "And you're angering Death. Stop it. Talk without swearing and without interrogating the girl."

Another man entered the room. The first thing I noticed was that he was limping. He was tall, with wavy brown hair and defined features. His face was striking at first glance, but his furrowed brows overshadowed it.

As everyone did when they entered, he turned his eyes on me. "Mete Bayraktar," he said, bowing his head. "I hope these bastards have treated you properly."

I didn't answer.

He seemed to notice I was staring at his leg, because he slapped it with one hand. "Oh, this?" A dark expression crossed his face. "Proof the guns are real."

"She already found that out," Kutay said with a sigh.

"Let it be once more," Mete said. He turned his eyes on Egemen. "Egemen, is your arm okay?"

"Fine." Egemen spoke through his teeth.

"Mete's been living in this house for about two years," Çağrı suddenly announced. He was looking at me as he spoke. Two years? Two years. Two. Years. "If he acts a little crazy, just laugh it off. He's totally snapped, thinks he's some kind of leader."

"Be glad the girl's here," Mete said, taking a deep breath as if trying to calm himself. "No one calls me leader, you high-class prick."

Kutay's lips pressed into a thin line. "Why haven't Sarp and Gökhan come?"

Mete leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Sarp's busy eating the canned food," he said, glancing briefly toward the kitchen. "At this rate, we'll be starving tonight." His eyes barely lingered on me for a second, which gave me a bit of relief.

"Great, he is really depressed," Kutay said, leaning back in his chair.

Mete shot him a sharp look. "Some of us have been here over a year," he said bitterly. "None of us are in our right mind."

Was that supposed to comfort me? No. On the contrary, it terrified me even more. I was trapped with a man who hadn't seen a woman in two years and was out of his mind. My best option was to die with bullets.

Kutay's hazel eyes swept over the others. "Still, someone should tell Sarp not to eat a seventh can. Now that the owner's here."

When another man entered, I thought the room was turning into a barn.

The newcomer had a slim, tall body. His skin was pale, almost white. Straight black hair covered his forehead. He looked younger than the others—maybe because his face was so clean. When his eyes found me, he tried to smile, but it looked more like his face had twisted. He quietly moved toward the couches and sat next to me. "Welcome," he said awkwardly. I noticed he sat as far from me as possible.

Now I was standing in a room with five men.

"Yeah, she's really feeling welcome right now," Çağrı giggled to himself. "Look at this guy... what's with the excitement? Or do you like girls now?"

The boy didn't even bother to respond. "I'm Gökhan. I've been here two months. Sorry about what happened to you."

"This guy' is a softie," Çağrı said. When I looked at him, I had to fight to keep my face expressionless. His way of addressing me still kept me on edge. "Like, gay. If you're going to like anyone, don't like him. He's not normal. Your type won't interest him."

He was the abnormal one.

After casting a cold look at Çağrı, Gökhan turned his eyes back to me. "Try to ignore him. Everyone here hates each other. You've never seen anyone insult someone's mother this much in one day until here." He turned his eyes to Kutay. His hair almost covered his eyes. "Please, let's get back to the subject. Showing her everyone's natural state won't help her warm up to this place. She needs to know the important things."

"We told her who Death is and that we've all been through the same thing," Kutay said. "She doesn't know the rules yet."

Finally, the last person entered the room. This must have been Sarp, the one Mete said was eating all the canned food. Depressed Sarp, according to Kutay.

His bright blond hair fell almost to his waist. He had a goatee on his thin face. Parts of his body sagged; he must have lost a lot of weight before.

Looking at Mete, who was standing at the entrance, he asked sadly, "Why'd you tell them I was eating? She's going to get the wrong idea about me."

Mete glared at him. "That's the only problem? What are we supposed to eat, rocks, brother? If you eat any more, we'll use you as a cannonball to break through the floor and escape."

"Ha ha ha" I gave Gökhan, who was laughing, a strange look.

"He's not used to laughing," Egemen said without looking at me. "Don't judge." He was resting his head in his hand, eyes closed. It was as if he was at the limit of what he could endure. Or maybe... it was because of his wound.

Gökhan took another deep breath. "Ever since the girl came, everyone's turned into a comedian," he muttered to himself.

Kutay nodded in agreement. "Couldn't agree more."

Sarp looked around with teary eyes. "I ate two people's cans, but since there weren't any names on them, you guys decide which two."

Kutay clenched his teeth. "It's fine, Sarp," he said. "Now that Prisoner 7 has arrived, they'll send new food by evening. Let me introduce you. This is Afra. Afra, Sarp..." He gestured from me to Sarp.

Sarp looked at me. "Nice to meet you, Afra. Can I eat your food too?"

I blinked. I didn't answer. I stared blankly at the table between the couches. Six. Six men. I bit the inside of my cheek until it hurt. Were they telling the truth? Was I really going to have to live here for months, even years, like them?

"Now let's explain the house rules to Afra and give her some time to think," Kutay said, breaking the silence. "She might want to be alone."

"Or try to escape again," Çağrı shrugged.

"How did it happen?" Gökhan asked. I realized he was looking at Egemen.

"I pulled her back while she was banging on the door and shouting," Egemen said briefly.

"No, that's not what I meant," Gökhan said, pushing his black hair back from his forehead. "Why are you still alive? Did the guns react too late? Shouldn't she have been shot before she even had the chance to scream? The guns move fast."

"Did you just question why they are alive?" Kutay asked in shock.

"You can ask Death when you take him on a date," Egemen said, raising one eyebrow. "Maybe the guns just need oiling. Who knows?"

"Or maybe Death didn't want to kill her because she's new," Mete said. Crossing his arms, he strode toward the couches. After sitting down on the loveseat across from me, Sarp joined him a few seconds later. "Shove your stupid theories."

"I think if I could go back to the first day, I'd prefer to die in the red zone," Sarp said. "Will she try to escape again?"

They were talking about me as if I weren't even there. At the very least, it was disturbing.

"If she finds a way to escape, let's all escape together," Mete said. He smiled as if his nerves were frayed, a faint dimple appearing on his cheek. "If she's going to try, she needs to be alone first." He was implying I would never truly be alone.

"Every room in here smells like balls, where's she going to be alone?" Çağrı said, glancing warily at the guns. "Like Mete, he's been here seventeen months. His hand's calloused from jerking off."

Mete's eyes locked on Çağrı, his face turning aggressive. "You know too much, you bastard," he snarled. "Not everyone's a pervert like you. Push me any further and I'll smash your crooked face. Maybe it'll straighten out your ugly nose, you shithead."

"Quit provoking Mete, Çağrı," Kutay said in frustration.

Shuddering, I leaned back against the couch. Gökhan gave me a sympathetic look. "They're just blowing hot air all day," he said.

"There's a fun side to it," Egemen said, running his fingers through his blond hair. He looked exhausted. "And it doesn't last all day."

"Because you sleep all day," Gökhan said, pulling his black hair back from his eyes. He raised his brows. "I hope you realize that."

"In summary," Kutay began, turning his eyes to me. "Çağrı's a pussyhunter who's pissed because he can't live off daddy's money anymore. Egemen's the type who would've ended up as a 'bad boy' in some cheap novel if he hadn't gotten stuck here. Mete's an older brother with a wrecked life. They're all parasites, mama's boys."

Egemen shook his head and laughed, showing his teeth. Swearing, he actually looked entertained. "Kutay, the respectful kid," he said with a grin. "Mr. Perfect."

Meanwhile Mete had started muttering to himself. "Idiots, you think my life was like yours? I had a future! My family had no other source of income! They barely managed to put me through school. Then fuc... fu..." He stammered, and Sarp patted his shoulder in support.

"What are you doing, man?" Çağrı asked disgustingly.

"Giving him moral support," Sarp said, flipping his long blond hair back over his shoulder.

"Uh-huh," Çağrı muttered.

Suddenly Mete exploded at him. "You loose bastard. Shut up. Your dad's companies build skyscrapers and..." He launched into a torrent of curses so outrageous it left me shocked. My lips parted slightly as I listened to his words in horror.

When Mete's string of poetic obscenities ended, his eyes turned to me. "Sorry, I'm sick in the head. About to hit my second year here. Of course, here it's like you're with a new family. I want to build stronger with this family ties by f*****g all their relatives. There's nothing to do in this house. This is how I blow off steam."

Nodding at Mete, Sarp said, "We're family."

"One big family," Çağrı continued. "Kutay's the mom of the house, Mete the dad, and..."

As Mete's voice rose again, they started bickering once more.

I couldn't think. I couldn't think anything about them.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually, they stopped arguing. We sank into a long silence. It wasn't a peaceful silence no, it was the kind where they kept sneaky glances at me, where I felt caught between disbelief and the urge to believe them.

Most of me desperately wanted this to be some kind of hidden camera prank. This couldn't be real, not something happening to me. A few words weren't enough to make me accept it.

My eyes drifted to Mete. According to what he'd said, he'd been trapped here for seventeen months. Seventeen whole months. Even if I didn't think he was lying, I couldn't bring myself to believe he was telling the truth either. If there was one thing life had taught me, it was to never trust men.

I shut my eyes again, wishing that when I opened them, I'd wake up in my own bed.

"If you want to survive in this house, you'll have to follow some rules," Kutay said, breaking the silence. I hadn't relaxed for even a second during that quiet.

I opened my eyes, but I still wasn't home. Looking into Kutay's bright eyes, I gave a small nod.

I didn't have another choice.

Kutay drew in a deep breath and pressed his palm against his neck. "During the day, we're only allowed in the kitchen or the living room. At nine in the evening, we have to go to our rooms, and we can't leave until eight in the morning. We're not allowed to enter each other's rooms." He pointed toward a hallway. "Each room has a bathroom." His gaze flickered away. "There are weapons mounted in the rooms and bathrooms. We're being watched all the time. And the weapons are with motion sensors."

"And they are sensitive to swearing," Mete muttered. The guns had been aimed at him for several minutes already.

"What about... changing clothes?" I stammered, my throat dry.

Kutay didn't look at me. "After a while, you get used to it," he said, fiddling with his hands. "Privacy doesn't exist anymore."

I didn't want to get used to it. I didn't want to spend my days in a house full of strange men, under the constant gaze of cameras, with guns pointed at me.

"Once a week, there's a food delivery," Kutay went on. "Men in black masks come, the same kind who brought you here. They don't talk to us. They leave the bags in the red marked zone by the door and leave. Then one of us steps into that zone, grabs the bags, and brings them back." He cleared his throat. "It's mostly canned food. We don't starve, but it's not like we're eating well either." He threw a quick glance at Sarp.

Sarp, on the other hand, looked very well-fed.

"About a month ago, they sent sanitary pads," Çağrı said with a smirk. Did that mean my arrival had been planned at least a month in advance? "At first we thought, you know... they were for Sarp. After some deep internal debates about his gender, we decided he was definitely a guy."

Not funny.

Sarp tossed his blond hair back over his shoulder. "He's just jealous of my hair."

"Of course," Çağrı snickered. "My biggest dream is to be you, Rapunzel."

"Silence," Kutay said sharply. He gave them both a warning look before turning back to me. "I know this is hard for you."

"It's hard for all of us," Mete said without looking at me.

"We have no choice but to endure each other. We don't know when this will end, when or if someone will find us. We don't even know why we're here. We're completely different people, yet the only thing we have in common is being trapped here." His eyes never left mine. "We screamed for days. But the windows are soundproof and tinted. No one can hear us out there, and we can't even open them."

"Are there others in the building?" I asked hesitantly.

"Whoever put us here calls himself Death. We think the whole building belongs to him," Gökhan said.

"No one can hear us," Kutay added. I noticed a faint wetness under his eyes. "There's no way out."

"We can't escape; we can't hide..." Egemen muttered through clenched teeth. "Death is always watching us."

"All we can do is learn how to survive here," Kutay said. "Maybe one day, someone will find us."

"It's possible," Mete said. "There's a chance we might get out." His eyes went distant, as if he were seeing something none of us could.

"Until then, all we can do is stay alive," Çağrı said, shrugging and spreading his hands in a 'what can you do' gesture.

Now they were all staring at me, their eyes heavy with pity. Did they know what I was thinking, what I was feeling? A voice inside me whispered that I wasn't the only one they pitied.

The cracks in my soul spread through my body, but I kept my chin high. If they were lying to me, I'd fight them all. I wouldn't just give up without trying to escape. No matter how scared I was, I wasn't going to surrender.

I wasn't about to become the headline of another woman's murder case.

I wanted to live.

---

From Death to Prisoner 1...

Rule 1: Obey the rules.

Rule 2: Leave your room at 8 a.m. Enter your room at 9 p.m. After 10 p.m., do not get out of bed.

Rule 3: You cannot enter your room before the designated time.

Rule 4: You cannot enter anyone else's room or look inside. Do not let your eyes wander where they shouldn't.

Rule 5: Do not cross the red line outside of allowed times.

Rule 6: Break the rules, and you die.

---

· ⋆ʚɞ· ⋆ʚɞ

Hey folks!

I hope you enjoyed the episode. If you've read it, your comments are very important to me!

See you soon!

Author: Işıl Limae | i********:: @isillimae | t****k: @limaeiusa

Translator: Zeynep Aizpurva | i********:: @aryarinai