Selena
The horn cried out across the island and I had no more time to think about Varick's warning as I started running. We remained as a pack, rushing along the pebbled beach and circling toward the next checkpoint. When we'd passed the booby-trapped beach we'd encountered yesterday, we turned inland, climbing up the pebbly ground and skirting the edge of the forest.
Heading north, we jogged on until we could avoid the woodland entirely. A silent agreement passed through us that no one wanted to return to the shadow of the trees.
The hill began to climb, higher and higher over rocky terrain. We were forced to slow down as the hem of our dresses continually snagged on the sharp stones.
Bending low, I took hold of my hem and ripped it half way up my calves. Nothing could slow me down today.
The other girls paused, mimicking me.
We stood in a circle, stakes in hand until everyone was ready to continue.
The soft braids that had been plaited into Angelina's hair were being tugged free by the wind. By the end of this round, I didn't expect any of us would look particularly beautiful.
“I look like a Disney Princess.” Briony scowled, her thoughts following mine.
“You better show them how well Beauty can kick the Beast's ass then.” Kite smirked, leading the way ahead.
We followed her up to a high ridge that overlooked the sweeping valley below.
I sucked in a breath.
At the centre of it was an enormous tower of black stone, reaching high into the sky. But that wasn't the most concerning thing. It was the hordes upon hordes of Vampires circling it, standing guard. There had to be fifty of them, if not more.
As one, we dropped to the ground, crawling closer to the edge to get a better look.
“Christ,” Cass hissed. “How the hell are we going to get past them?”
“I guess we'll just have to run through,” Briony breathed, her eyes rounding into saucers.
“Are you crazy?” Angelina spat. “We'll be killed in seconds.”
“We need a distraction,” I said, deep in thought. How were we going to shift fifty Vampires away from that tower?
A low growl made me spin around and I came eye to eye with the enormous black wolf that had saved us. Angelina let out half a scream before Kite slammed a hand over her mouth. The two of them scrambled backwards together, staring at the animal in fear.
Briony shifted forward with her stake in hand, but Cass, Sakura and I all grabbed her, yanking her back.
“He helped us before,” Sakura explained in a whisper whilst Briony trembled in her arms.
The wolf bowed its head before me and I tentatively reached out a hand. “Good...wolf,” I said uncertainly, resting my hand on its head.
“Do you think he wants to help again?” Cass breathed.
“I don't know.” I shrugged, unable to take my eyes off of the immense animal.
The wolf turned its head, licking my hand, then with a quick nip, drew blood on my palm. I gasped and Briony tried to lunge at it again.
“Wait,” I demanded, gazing at the small cut on my hand. The wolf pushed its head into my palm, smearing the blood across its brow.
My mouth parted as I realised what he was doing. “He's going to draw them away.”
Cass swiftly slit open her palm, brushing it across the wolf's ears. “Sure you can outrun them, boy?”
The wolf bared its teeth in answer and I prayed that meant yes.
Sakura helped, running her cut hand down the wolf's neck. “Why is it helping us?”
“Who cares?” Angelina hissed, rushing forward with a blood stained palm. The wolf snapped at her and she reared backwards, her skirt nearly flying over her head.
Cass snorted a laugh and I couldn't help but grin.
“He doesn't like you,” Sakura whispered, rubbing the wolf's muzzle.
He dipped his head, and moved away, padding down the hill and circling toward the Vs. My heartbeat became rapid as I watched him approach the horde.
“He'll be okay, won't he?” I breathed.
Cass clamped her hand around mine, saying nothing.
My stomach churned as the wolf padded around the edge of the valley. The Vs began to shift, catching the scent of blood on the wind.
Sakura passed out strips of her purple dress to bind our hands until all three of us had matching bandages.
“Do you trust that wolf?” Briony asked in disbelief.
“He saved our lives,” Cass said, her brows knitting together.
Angelina was muttering something to Kite that I couldn't hear. It made me uneasy. Neither of them were easily trusted. But Kite, at least, had helped me yesterday. So I had to believe she would keep her word on our truce.
A streak of lightning tore across the sky, followed swiftly by a crack of thunder. A storm was blowing in from the sea, meaning the moonlight we had to see by would soon be gone.
A howl sliced through the air, making my bones quiver. Everyone fell silent, waiting, watching as the Vs began to move. Not all of them, but many. Perhaps half, were rushing toward the trees in the direction the wolf had taken.
“It's now or never, girls.” Kite stood, her mouth pulling up at the corner before she launched herself down the hill.
“See you at the tower,” Briony called, charging after her, stake raised.
Angelina was holding back, but I didn't hesitate a second longer, running after the other girls, hearing Sakura and Cass following me closely.
My lungs ached from the freezing air, my hair dragged back behind me, and my jaw was set in a snarl as I tore toward the first line of Vs.
Cass was screaming her fury like she was charging into battle and Sakura was already swinging her stake, taking out the first Vs she collided with.
I got further than I expected as I met the throng. The Vampires were ravenous, wheeling around, desperate for blood. But in their frenzied, starving state, they were making mistakes. Claws slashed over my head and I reared upwards, bringing my stake up with force. The second the tip hit its target, I wrenched it back, wheeling around and piercing the heart of another oncoming bloodsucker. Another one crumpled to the floor, practically nothing but bones.
Through the crush of bodies, I spotted a huge figure with silver streaks burnt into his cheeks: Iskender.
My heart lurched into my throat as he spotted me. Somehow, he'd survived a stake to the back of his head. And there was vengeance in his silver-flecked eyes as he locked his gaze on me.
I started moving, ducking and darting past the weaker Vs, dispatching any I could. I fixed my gaze on the tower, now only twenty metres ahead. Nails tore at my dress, my arms, my neck, but I kept moving. Screaming my desperation, I threw myself at the final two Vs blocking my way, breaching the line.
In my momentum, I stumbled to the ground, the material of my dress bunching up around me. I rolled onto my back, desperate to get up as a hungry V launched at me. Before he could reach me, Iskender caught him by the neck and threw him aside with a cracking of bone.
I gasped, crawling backwards, trying to get up but losing my balance in the mud.
Iskender fell on top of me and the weight of him had to equal a horse. The breath in my lungs squeezed out of me in a splutter. His hands curled around my throat, twisting my neck to the side until I was sure it was going to snap. Then he lowered his mouth to my ear and whispered. “For Melinda...”
His fangs ripped into my neck and I screamed, battling him with all my might. It was no good, my arms flailed uselessly beside me; I couldn't even bend them from the way he held me. I was pinned, completely at his mercy as he flexed me like a doll to gain further access to my neck.
Snapping teeth and a sudden blur of fur announced the wolf's arrival. His jaws clamped around Iskender's entire head as he dragged him backwards.
Sakura was there, her purple and pink locks streaming about her in the wind. Her stake was clutched in her hand, her features set into a snarl worthy of the wolf's. As the animal dragged Iskender backwards, Sakura stabbed his chest with a roar of defiance.
Iskender reached for her with taloned nails, slashing her across the belly as he died. She gasped out, hugging the bleeding gashes on her stomach, dropping to her knees.
Two Vs darted toward her, drawn by the blood. Struggling to my feet, I half-crawled, half ran toward her. She'd saved me and there was no way I could leave her behind.
A V descended on her, but before he could even touch her, I lashed out, killing it with a twist of my stake under its ribs.
The second V was more cautious, circling us, her bloodshot, yellowish eyes trained on Sakura. She launched toward her and I put myself between them, taking the full weight of her and dropping on top of Sakura so the three of us were trapped in a tangle of limbs. Teeth snapped close to my ear and I jerked in fright, trying to escape the scrabbling arms and sharp nails that were trying to tear us apart.
Lifting my knee, I kicked upwards as hard as I could. She flew backwards and I launched after her, ramming the stake into her heart. Thick, blackish blood slid down my arm as she fell atop me, dead.
Sakura was still beneath me, crushed, probably unable to move. I rolled away, crawling toward her in the mud and lifting my bloodied stake to her mouth. With a jolt of horror, I found her two-toned eyes gazing glassily back at me.
“No,” I murmured, pressing the blood to her mouth. She just needed to drink. That was all. Then she'd wake up.
When she didn't move, I hoisted her arms over mine, dragging her towards the tower. The wolf was in a vicious fight with the nearby Vs, keeping their attention diverted from me as I moved.
Angelina appeared, wrenching open a metal door in the wall. Her dress was in tatters, her back riddled with claw marks. As she darted inside, I collided with the door. She was tugging it closed, making my heart stumble.
“Open it!” I screamed and the door released.
I crashed inside with Sakura's limp body weighing down my legs, shutting it behind us with a deafening clang. We were in a stairwell; the walls and floor were white-wash and clean; a stark contrast to our previous surroundings.
Angelina leant back on a metal stair railing, panting heavily.
“You tried to shut us out!” I accused and Angelina shook her head.
“I thought you were a V.”
“Liar,” I snarled, turning back to Sakura. I checked her pulse and firmly shook her shoulders.
“Wake up, you have a boyfriend to get home to,” I whispered, dripping more of the blood into her mouth. Her stomach was torn badly, her dress ripped to shreds around her belly button. She wasn't healing. And the longer I waited, the quicker my hope faded.
“What happened to the others?” I turned to face Angelina with a heavy heart.
“There are other doors,” Angelina said through ragged breaths. “I saw Cassandra go through one.”
I sagged with relief, glad at least that Cass was safe.
“Is she dead?” Angelina gestured to Sakura with her chin.
I glowered at her, not wanting to confirm it. Her tone was so cold, so uncaring. She was the last person on earth I wanted to be stuck with now.
“We should move,” she said, checking her cuff for the time and preparing to head upstairs. Surprisingly, she waited for me to join her.
With my heart weighing in my chest, I left Sakura propped up next to the door, having done my best to cover the bloody wounds across her stomach. It hadn't done much good. She looked like a broken doll, her head lolling against her chest and her skin deathly pale. An ache grew in me as I left her behind. Would I soon be like her? Adding to the Helsings' death toll?
If I ever got out of this place, I made a mental note to find out how many lives had been taken here. It seemed important now. Like every corner we turned held some ancient death. Someone's daughter, whose parents had never found out the truth about them. Perhaps even been Charmed into forgetting them altogether. It wasn't right that these women were never mourned. The Helsings had already stolen so much from us.
If I died now, would my mother continue to believe I'd been killed in some prison brawl? Would she blame herself? That's what my mum did, always shouldering everyone else's misgivings. As if she were somehow responsible for the cruel actions of other people.
It had been impossible to bear during the trial. She'd blamed herself for all of it. Went over and over all the 'what ifs' and the 'if only I'd done that's'. But I couldn't change the past. And there was no point talking myself in circles. It would drive anyone mad. I'd made my decisions and she'd made hers; all we could do was find a way to live with them.
As I climbed the staircase, the lights on the ceiling were so glaring that I felt I was under scrutiny. Which of course, I was. I was the centre of an entertainment show for a group of men who had nothing better to do with their money than to fund some illegal bloodsport. I'd envied the rich growing up, of their nice things, their easy lives. But now I despised them for it. Money bred power and power bred evil. Nothing was ever enough. And even if they'd burned the entire world down for their own entertainment, no happiness awaited them. Only a pit that could never be filled.
On the next level, we found a single, metal door that slid to the left, offering us access. Angelina headed through it, taking a defensive stance as she tiptoed into the room.
The second I followed, the door slid shut behind me, trapping us. Light flooded the space, the walls themselves seeming aglow; it took a moment for my eyes to adjust.
A door on the other side of the room opened and Cass, Briony and Kite appeared, rushing inside. They were splattered with blood and Kite's dress looked like it had been nearly torn from her shoulders.
I rushed to meet them, embracing Cass.
“Where's Sakura?” Cass asked, glancing over my shoulder.
I shook my head in answer and the light in her eyes extinguished.
“Oh,” she sighed and I squeezed her arm.
On either side of us, four white doors slid open in the walls. Eight Vampires launched at us; weak, bedraggled, but moving at speed from all sides. Metal plates had been welded to their bodies, covering their chests and necks. My heart span in my chest. It would be impossible to land a killing blow.
Everyone prepared to defend themselves, but the Vs were suddenly yanked backwards by silver chains around their necks, stalling them a few feet from us.
“Congratulations girls,” a deep male voice sounded through the room. I recognised Abraham Helsing's voice with a sick feeling in my stomach. “The five of you have made it to level one of the tower.”
We shuffled closer together, keeping our distance from the snarling Vs that surrounded us.
The white walls morphed into screens, and suddenly we were surrounded by all five of our video profiles, evidently put together by Dawn. Vs were rushing toward us in the recordings, and there was Varick, moving to save me. My cheeks prickled with heat as eyes swivelled toward me.
The other girls cut down their Vs mercilessly. There was no remorse for the starved Vampires, only hate. And something about that didn't sit right with me.
The screens faded and the walls returned to their stark white colour.
“Answer this simple question and I shall let you pass to the next room,” Abraham said and we waited for him to continue.
My gaze was continually drawn to the Vs, snapping and snarling, their hands reaching toward us with desperation. I tried not to panic, keeping my fear under control. But it was impossible.
“Which of you murdered the most people before you were sent to prison?”
Silence.
My heart rushed into top gear as I gazed around at everyone.
Kite lifted her chin. “It's got to be me.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, not wanting to find out what would happen if we got the answer wrong.
“I'm not even sure how many it is,” Kite said like she was proud.
“Okay, go ahead,” Cass encouraged, gripping the stake firmer in her hand.
“Me,” Kite said to the ceiling.
After a moment, Abraham's voice filled the room in a sharp tone, “Incorrect.”
With a rattling of metal, the Vs surrounding us were given an extra foot of chain.
Briony squeaked in alarm, pressing against me as the Vs shot toward us, yanked back just in time.
I took a few, slow breaths to calm down.
Kite snapped around, glaring at us. “Who is it then?” She scowled at Angelina. “You said you only killed five.”
“I did!” Angelina insisted.
“What about you?” Kite marched toward Briony.
“Just one!” she said and Kite's eyes slid to me.
“One,” I announced and with a pang of dread, I realised who it was. All eyes slid to Cass and her face drained of colour. Perhaps she had never seen what she'd done as murder. But now she was. All those people who had died in the fire. How many could it have been?
I rested a hand on her arm, nodding my encouragement.
“Me,” she sighed.
Abraham's voice filled the room. “Correct.”
A hatch in the roof fell open, but there was no way we could reach it without helping each other up to it.
Abraham continued, “The number of people Cassandra killed will equal the amount of seconds you have before the Vs are released.”
A red number 43 flared up on all the walls, immediately starting to run down. I had no time to process it as we smashed into each other, everyone desperate to be the first into the hatch.
We'd already wasted ten seconds when I shouted, “Stop!”
The clinking of metal drew my attention for half a second and I realised the Vs' chains were growing longer.
I held out my hands, locking my fingers together. “Angelina, help me,” I demanded. Of all the girls I didn't want up there before me, it was her. I didn't trust her one bit not to run off the second she was out.
“Cass first,” I demanded as Angelina begrudgingly locked her fingers with mine. The one person I could count on pulling me up, was Cass.
“This isn't fair,” Angelina muttered.
“We don't have time for fair!” Kite barked, helping Cass up onto our hands. The press of her boots weighed down our arms but after a beat, she dragged herself into the hatch. Turning, she immediately reached down to help the next person. Kite followed her, scrambling up with ease, before the two of them helped Briony into the hole.
“Me next,”Angelina demanded, unlocking her hands from mine.
I noted the timer on the wall. Ten seconds.
“Just go then!” I snapped and she reached up, taking hold of the girls' hands above. I readied my stake, pressing closer to Angelina as she kicked her legs, trying to get up. The Vs were just a foot away, their gnashing teeth making me feel ill.
Five seconds.
“Go!” I screamed at Angelina, allowing her to use my shoulder for purchase. With a harsh kick, she launched up into the room above.
Cass practically hung out of the hatch to reach me. I tucked my stake away and leapt into the air, taking hold of her arms.
The timer ran out and the white walls turned red.
I screamed, kicking my legs as the Vs smashed together around me. Claws snagged at my dress as Cass heaved and heaved. Miraculously, I lifted from the room, kicking sharply at the Vs below and connecting with some of their heads.
Several pairs of hands dragged me into the pitch black space above and I lay panting, my entire body trembling.
Lights flared to life around us, illuminating the enormous glass tank we were inside. Below us, the Vs were visible, their arms raised as they spotted us above.
I clambered to my feet, the glass floor making me queasy.
Abraham's voice greeted us again. “To ascend to level three you must answer this simple question.”
We waited, clustering closer together.
“How many Vs have the five of you collectively killed during the game?”
A hush fell over us as we turned to each other, trying to mentally count our kills. I reached eight, but my mind was fuzzy. It had to be more than eight.
The game was a blur, all the Vs' deaths merging into one.
“I think I killed twelve,” Briony said, which I was surprised by. She didn't seem as confident in killing as some of the others. But I saw the truth in her eyes.
“Eighteen,” Kite said proudly.
Cass looked torn, frowning at me as she tried to work it out. “Eleven maybe.”
“Nine,” I said uncertainly.
Angelina nervously rung her hands together. “Three,” she breathed.
“Fifty three,” Cass announced to the room with a shrug.
Abraham's voice cut through the muffled air. “Incorrect.”
Two enormous pipes were attached high up on the glass walls and, at his word, water poured into the tank in torrents. With a loud clank, one of the glass panels beneath our feet fell away, opening a small gap in it, falling into the crowd of hungry Vs below. Briony was closest to the fallen pane and lurched toward us. We gathered together, my heart beginning to beat an erratic tune.
“Count again,” Kite snapped as water sloshed over our feet, rushing so fast that the tank began to fill up, despite the hole in the floor.
I shut my eyes, thinking, trying to keep my breathing steady. But all I could concentrate on was the rising water, already halfway up my calves. It was icily cold, seeping into my boots and freezing my toes.
“Ten?” I guessed, shaking my head.
Kite and Angelina stuck with their answers but Briony and Cass tried again.
“Thirteen,” Briony said with a look of fear in her eyes.
“Twelve,” Cass said with a shrug.
“Fifty six!” Angelina called to the ceiling, looking panicked as the water rose to our knees.
“Incorrect.”
Another panel dropped away in the floor and I lurched aside. My foot had been right on the edge of it. The water poured in quicker and I gasped as it splashed over my midriff. The Vs in the room below us were getting soaked as water streamed through the holes in the glass floor.
“Come on!” Angelina screamed at us. “Get it right!”
I shook my head in dismay. I simply didn't know. I couldn't think straight under this pressure.
“Fifty seven!” Angelina cried in desperation.
“Incorrect.”
Another panel fell away and the water rushed in harder through the pipes.
“Fifty nine!” Angelina shouted again and Kite lunged at her, smacking her across the face.
“Incorrect.”
“Shut up!” Kite snarled at her.
The water started dragging us down, pulling us toward the empty holes in the floor.
“Think again,” Cass begged us all. “Try and remember.”
All I could see was a hundred different Vs, running at me, biting me. Blood, pain, teeth.
I shook my head, starting to panic.
“We have to guess!” Angelina screamed and Briony suddenly sided with her.
“She's right.” Her cheeks were pale as the water rose to our shoulders.
We had to tread water, trying to keep afloat as the holes beneath us sucked at our legs.
“Fifty two!” Briony shouted and Kite splashed toward her, trying to fight her.
“You're going to get us killed!” Kite barked.
“Incorrect.”
The water rose so high that we had to swim. Angelina started screaming.
“I can't swim!” she flailed in the water and I moved toward her, scooping an arm under her shoulders.
“Just kick with your legs,” I demanded and her soft blue eyes met mine. I flitter of vulnerability passed through them as she nodded, doing as I said.
The water rose dramatically until the tank was nearly full. I kicked up with all my might, keeping Angelina at my side, our heads dunking under again and again.
A metre of air was all we had left.
“Fifty one!” Cass shouted, seeing as no one seemed to have the right answer.
Kite didn't fight her this time, looking panicked as the water rose and she pressed a hand to the glass roof.
We had only a few seconds of air remaining, then we wouldn't be able to give an answer.
A clamour of noise rose as everyone started shouting answers and Abraham's repetitive tone followed again and again.
“Incorrect, incorrect, incorrect.”
I felt the drag of the holes below us, like a giant plug, tugging us into the vacuum. Just an inch of air was left, our mouths gasping, nearly pressing to the glass ceiling.
“Sixty,” I breathed as the water filled the space.
Silence prevailed as I sank under, having been so panicked that I'd forgotten to drag down one final breath.
Below me was turmoil, the water rushing through the open panels in the floor, so many of them, causing whirlpools, sucking us down.
I lost my grip on Angelina and her arms waved madly as she tried to hold on. A whirlpool took hold of her and she span like a rag doll in it, dragged down, down, down.
I wanted to scream, to cry out. I kicked my legs, reaching for her, but it was too late. Her body slipped through the hole.
Through the remaining glass floor, I watched her fall.
All eight of the Vs were loose, waiting for her. Her body writhed as she hit them, dropping to the ground, gazing up at us as we hung suspended above her in the tank.
The Vs fell on top of her and with a twist of my gut, I knew she was lost.
Suddenly, hands were on my back, pulling me up, heaving me out of the water. Cass lay me down atop the glass ceiling. A panel had opened in the roof, incredibly, freeing us.
Cass hugged me tight, her body shuddering. Briony and Kite sat nearby, their faces ashen and their eyes haunted. We were dripping from head to toe and the weight of my dress was tenfold as I rose to my feet. Evidently, my final guess had been correct.
“She got what she deserved,” Kite muttered, leading the way ahead toward a frosted glass door.
“And what do you deserve Kite?” Briony snapped.
Kite shrugged as the door slid aside and we hurried after her. My hands wouldn't stop shaking, my heart was on overdrive, pumping blood through my veins as hard as it could. I hadn't liked Angelina much, but she'd been scared, just like the rest of us.
I had no time to process her death as we entered a brightly lit, square room. Footage burst onto the walls, encompassing everything we could see. Clips from the game played all around us, showing us running, hiding in caves, taking down Vs, looking fiercer than I ever could have imagined.
Abraham spoke, calm and collected, as if he hadn't just watched one of us die. “You have all done things to survive. But who has kept their humanity? Who deserves to survive the game?”
His question hung in the air as the footage changed. I watched as Kite threw Tiffany to the V that had attacked us on the very first day. A shot of Cass played, staying hidden whilst two girls were taken down by a group of bloodthirsty Vs. Briony fleeing with Marie, away from a girl who'd been badly bitten, lying in a writhing heap on the forest floor. Then there was me, stabbing Marie in the belly, her eyes going wide in recognition.
The screens faded to white and a tense silence crept into the room. I felt Briony's eyes on me, but refused to meet her gaze, guilt washing through me.
Abraham spoke, saving us from doing so. “Only three will leave this room. You will decide who stays.”
I sucked in a breath, gazing around at the group. We were being pitted against each other like dogs.
Briony launched at me, shoving me hard. “You killed her!”
“I didn't know!” I begged. “It was the mist. I didn't know it was her.”
“Liar,” she sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Cass tore her away from me, putting herself between us. “Stop fighting. That's what they want.”
Kite was on the other side of the room, flipping the stake in her hand. “Selena killed one of us.”
“So did you!” Cass barked and Kite shrugged.
“We've all done bad things,” I tried, searching Briony's eyes for forgiveness but there was none there.
“Selena stays,” Briony snarled and my heart flipped over.
“Wait – no,” I tried but Kite rounded on her.
“Or why don't you stay Briony? Go be with your little friend.”
Briony's eyebrows lifted dramatically. “You can't be serious, I never hurt anybody!”
“But you didn't help anybody either,” Kite said with a shrug. “Why should you get to leave this room?”
Before she could answer, Cass spoke up. “We should draw straws. None of us are innocent.”
Slowly, we agreed and Cass tore strips off her sodden dress, ripping them into different lengths. When she was done, she turned her back, clamping them in her fist before facing us once more.
She offered her fist to me first and I pulled one from her grip. It wasn't too long, but perhaps long enough to survive. I tried not to pay attention to the death stare Briony was giving me, guilt already tearing at my insides.
Briony went next, taking a longer strip than me and she finally relaxed.
Kite pulled out a short one and her mouth fell into a thin line.
Cass opened her palm and the longest one remained inside it.
“That's it then, decision made,” Cass muttered and Kite glared at her, the small strip in her hand clamped so tightly in her fist that her knuckles were turning white.
My stomach flipped over as I gazed at Kite. It wasn't right to do this. How could we simply leave her here to die? After everything she'd been through?
Cass pushed me toward the door on the opposite side of the room, not giving me a moment to hesitate. As we reached it, an ear-splitting scream cut through the air.
I span around, my heart in my throat as I spotted Briony on the floor, a pool of blood forming around her. Kite's stake was buried in her chest, a sneer turning up her lips.
“Bitch!” Briony spat, trying to fight back, but it was clear she was already weakening.
“How could you?” I roared, launching myself at Kite. She shoved me back, but I smacked her hands away, tearing at her dress.
“Did you really expect me to roll over?” Kite snarled. “To give in after everything I've been through to get here?”
Briony slumped backwards and I clambered over Kite, cupping Briony's cheek in my hand.
“I'm so sorry,” I breathed as the light in her eyes dimmed to nothing.
I didn't know if she forgave me, but my heart told me she didn't and that was a bitter pill to swallow.
Tears dripped down my cheeks, pooling in the crevice of her neck.
A hand clamped around my arm, pulling me backwards.
I moved into Cass's embrace as she led me from the room. Kite was already standing beyond the door. We were in a small, four by four space and, as the door slid quietly shut behind us and Briony's body was forever concealed, I realised we were in a lift.
It sailed smoothly upwards and the tug of gravity made my stomach lurch uncomfortably.
“I'm not dying in this place,” Kite said quietly, wiping the blood off her stake onto her dress.
In a way, I understood. None of us owed any allegiance to one another. And I wanted to survive as much as she did. But would I have done something so terrible if I'd pulled the short straw?
I prayed not.