Killing Game Quarter

Chapter 4: Burning Questions with No Answer Part 5

"...If you think that anyone has forgiven you for your crimes, that you are disturbingly naive." She finished, walking off. Her words stuck with me, but I tried to get away from them by going into my cell. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to escape the thoughts from in there, even as I buried my head in my mattress.

Does anyone actually forgive me?

Does Poppy? Does Urkstin?

Do they all think that it's my fault?

My brain swelled with these horrible thoughts, until I eventually fell asleep from using all of my brain power thinking. My nightmare that night didn't help any of my horrible thoughts go away.

"AKA PLEASE-" Jimju's voice cried out, his body on the floor, sobbing in his knees. That was before it jumped to his corpse, hanging limp from a rope, because I figured out his accidental murder.

"Wh-what about me?" Céaser's voice was next, his body watching me leave him behind, looking terrified. Everything then jumped to when we found his corpse, bloodied and bruised from an escape attempt I caused.

"I thought you said he was alive!" Came from a distorted, gargled voice, as I stared down a dozen shadowed figures. Their eyes felt like they were stabbing through me, each with a contorted smile as they questioned me about Céaser, Jinju, and everything that happened.

All of them knew what happened, and they were all mocking me, dragging me closer and closer to the darkness around us. I couldn't fight it, and I couldn't fight them, and as I cried out for help, they all waved a small, taunting goodbye, as I was pulled into total darkness.

"Meh Meh Meh Meh Meh Meh MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH" A loud screaming sound pulled me out of my slumber, and I opened my eyes to see Poppy again invading my personal space. She was on top of me, and making what I can only imagine were supposed to be alarm clock sounds with her mouth, getting louder and louder.

"Alright alright, I'm up, you can stop." I answered, slapping her face like an alarm clock, getting her off of my bed.

"Ow, not my fault that ya can't hear the announcement." She replied, overreacting to my light slap, "Ya were busy having some more… interestin' dreams."

"Ugh, they aren't those kinds of dreams Poppy." I shot back, getting up and stretching, "Just another nightmare."

"Uh huh, uh huh, suuuuure." Poppy said, grabbing me and pulling me out of the cell block, and down the hallway once again.

"So, are ya ready for the motive?" Poppy questioned.

"Yeah, most likely." I answered with a sigh.

"What do ya think it's gonna be?" She asked back, leaning forward in curiosity.

"No clue," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "Most likely something too deprived for us to be able to guess."

"Yeah, ya got a point." Poppy said, looking slightly disgusted.

"By the way, how was your first shower here?" I asked, trying to break the tension of the motive. Poppy instantly gave into that conversation.

"Welllll, maybe ya would've known that answer if ya took one with me." She said, with a wide grin.

"Welllll, I didn't, so that's why I'm asking." I quipped back, mockingly mimicking her.

"Hmph, I'll get you out of the closet eventually," She said, looking upset in a joking way, "It was good anyways, it was nice to not be greasy and stuff."

"I bet it was. Did you bring an extra pair of clothes to change into?" I asked, remembering that there weren't any towels in the showers.

"Y'know… I'm not all that smart Aka." Poppy replied, sounding ghastly.

"You didn't bring any, did you?" I shot back with a growing smile, and Poppy simply shook her head.

"I had to use my old clothes as a makeshift towel." She responded, looking away, embarrassed. I saw my chance to strike and took it.

"Did anyone see you?" I pried, closing the distance and growing my smug grin wider. Poppy shook her head again, before looking deep in thought.

"Actually, I think….Miamight'veseenme." She spat out, looking even worse.

"What was that?" I pried even harder, loving the feeling of being able to make fun of her.

"OH HEY, WE MADE IT TO THE CAFETERIA!" She shouted, stopping me from continuing and sprinting into the cafeteria. I laughed to myself, before following her in.

Inside the cafeteria, everyone seemed to be eating normally, even though there was a feeling of tension and fear in the air. That feeling was almost instantly diminished by Poppy's embarrassed nature, grabbing herself breakfast and sitting down, without any quippy one liners or jokes.

"What's up with that chick?" Jambo questioned, pointing to Poppy.

"Don't worry about it." I answered, sparing her the even harder embarrassment.

"She's right hun, we have a lot more important things to worry about." Risa said, obviously alluding to the motive. Her words caused that fearful feeling in the air to return.

"When do you think it'll be announced?" Urkstin questioned.

"I am not sure. I predicted it would be when we all arrived, however that hypothesis seems to have been incorrect based on the fact that we have all gathered, and there is no announcement." Liam overly-explained.

"Well, maybe they're giving us another day off for doing such a good job in the trial." Akira said, optimistically.

"Maybe…" Mia said, quietly. We all grabbed our food and continued to eat, silently waiting in anxious anticipation for the loudspeakers to come on.

Ten minutes passed, nothing.

Twenty minutes, still nothing.

Almost half an hour passed, and we were all seeming hopeful that maybe we were getting a break. But right as our time in the cafeteria was about to end, the Loudspeakers turned on, sending us all back down into the anxious hole we were in previously.

"Good morning Contestants. I hope you all had some good rest after the trial." Within ten seconds of speaking I was already remembering why I hated this asshole so much. Everyone had shut up and looked towards the Loudspeakers, preparing to hear the next motive be announced.

"Is it time for your dumb motivation?" Joseph spoke up, sounding as irritated as the rest of us.

"As you might have guessed, it is time to announce the motive." They said, completely ignoring Joseph, "This one took a while to set up, so my apologies for waiting this long to announce it."

"Just get on with it, we don't have all day." Mia said, looking extremely agitated.

"This time around, your motivation for murder will be in the form of videos." They started, causing a wave of confusion to wash over all of us.

"... Videos? What does that mean?" Urkstin asked, seeming more confused than worried.

"Allow me to explain. These videos are now lingering in your cells, and are meant for your eyes only. You are not permitted to share your video with anyone, however I cannot stop you from speaking about it."

"What the hell's on these videos?" Jambo called out, while the Loudspeaker continued as if no one had said anything.

"I cannot properly disclose what is on each of your videos, as each person may receive a different kind of video. But I will tell you that everyone will have something on their video that will motivate you to murder." They continued, with the same amount of confidence as when they first announced this game.

"I doubt this will be as effective a motivation as starving us was." Liam spoke up, sounding much more uptight to the Loudspeaker.

"You may not think that this motive will work, and I cannot stop you from thinking that way. However, there is only one way to find out if it will be a proper motivation." They continued, laughing at their depravity, "Good luck Contestants."