"I'm already a killer, that's why killing again would not change my name as a murderer."
LOCATION: Mansion TIME: Afternoon
Level 2, stage 2 was over. Four had died—Rochedan, Karson, Nadine, and Myriana. Rochedan and Myriana were killed by Seyah. Karson had fallen off a cliff accidentally during the fight. And Nadine… she was killed by…
Heavien never thought this would happen. What a tragic turn of events. When Nadine died, Author appeared, and the bodies of the four disappeared, then Author announced that the Health Level was over. It was all so sudden that it left her dazed. She had lost her best friend, Myriana, and three close friends.
When would this all end?
The agony was excruciating because she was having a nightmare in daylight.
"Are we really going to live here?" Trake wonders as he looked up at the whole mansion.
"That's what Author said. It's better than nothing," Brenille replied while wiping his foggy eyeglasses.
"I checked the kitchen, and there was food. On the 2nd floor, there are three rooms for girls. On the 3rd floor, there are four bedrooms for boys. The bedroom door has been named just like in the castle," Trake reported after searching the mansion.
They were now in a mansion that had just emerged from where their little tent used to be. After the last game, Author ordered them to live here. This one was smaller because there were only six of them, the survivors from the actual fighting game. She always remembered the steel castle. It had been way bigger and more complete, in contrast to what they had now.
They had supplies of food and water, even though the things inside the mansion were not as grand compared to the steel castle. There were not much furniture and equipment, so it was spacious. They first investigated the mansion before entering their respective bedrooms. Everything was normal, as in an ordinary house or mansion.
Everyone wondered why there was one extra room on the 3rd floor. On the 2nd floor, her room was first, next to Rochevel's, and the last was Seyah's. On the 3rd floor, L's room came first, followed by Brenille's, then a vacant room with no name on the door, and the last room was Trake's. They thought that the boy's third room would be by number names again, like in the castle.
But what was the boy's third room for?
After the investigation, they went to their rooms.
Heavien turned the doorknob, and there was nothing out of the ordinary. When she entered, there was a small bed and a cabinet. She opened the cabinet and found two pairs of replacement uniforms. They no longer had their own comfort rooms, so everyone would share the common comfort room on the ground floor, where the living room and kitchen were also located.
She took a shower and threw away the long black sleeves and jeans she had been wearing after the fight; the others did the same. Gradually, their wounds from the battleground were healing, but she could still feel a bit of the pain. She went straight to her bedroom and dried her hair before going to bed.
She remembered her journal from when they were still in the castle. She had written everything that had happened to them inside the castle. She also missed her sketch pad. If she could just retrieve it, she would have a memento of her friends. She missed them so much. She wanted to see their faces, but only her memory could serve as their pictures. Even though they had become enemies and betrayed each other, they still shared a lot in common. No matter what, she would never forget them.
When her hair was dry, she went to sleep, hoping to fall asleep after what had happened recently.
***
"The food is here," Rochevel said briskly as the food was prepared on the table.
She could see that Rochevel forced herself to smile and be okay. Rochedan and Myriana had just died. They were grieving, but she was showing them that she was trying to be resilient. Rochevel was becoming stronger than ever.
Heavien watched the others, and they seemed to want to forget all that had happened. Rochevel told her that it was Seyah who had killed Rochedan. It didn't shock her when she found out because of what Seyah had also done to Myriana. She had killed the two in just one game.
How vicious could she be? Who would've thought a quiet girl could have something up her sleeve?
She didn't apologize to her or Rochevel, even though they were Myriana's best friends. Rochevel had cried in front of Seyah and begged for an apology for killing her brother and friend, but Seyah's response was provocative.
"I am not sorry. That was the mechanics of the game, so I have nothing to be remorseful for. I just did what I had to. But those people failed to do something they should have." Seyah responded with a blank expression on her face and walked out. No sign of guilt at all.
Heavien couldn't help but be dismayed by what Seyah had said.
She didn't even have the conscience to feel sorry for what she had done. Brenille also had something to do with Rochedan's death, and Seyah had finished Rochedan off.
Their leader, whom they trusted the most, also had the drive to kill someone. Trake and L were silent. She didn't know if they still carried something from the fight they had. Sometimes, she caught them glaring at each other. She wouldn't ask L because they hadn't talked since the end of the game. He also avoided looking at her. She wondered about Trake. Earlier during the fight, they had fought, but when she had been blown up, he helped her, then L came and punched him. Maybe Trake had just been being nice, which explained his unexpected gesture.
After the food was prepared, they ate together. There was a number name engraved on the dining chairs, so they sat down according to their ordinal number names. She noticed that there were seven chairs in the dining area. There was a vacant room on the third floor and a vacant chair.
***
Dinner ended, and the others took a bath. Heavien had showered earlier, so she would just rest a little and go to sleep. She felt the wound that Nadine had caused on her back. It hurt, but it couldn't match the pain she felt when she saw Nadine lying unconscious—the same thing had happened to her friend, Myriana. She remained silent in her room for a while and prayed for their souls to be at peace. Wherever they may be, she was sure they were in a beautiful place with no misery.
*tok tok tok*
Someone knocked on her door. She stood up and opened the door, averting her eyes when she saw him.
"May I?"
"Mm," she nodded.
She tapped the left side of the bed to offer him a seat. They were now side by side on her bed, staring into space.
"Are you mad?" he asked without looking at her.
She shook her head, saying no.
"You are."
"No way."
"I'm sorry," she nodded when he apologized.
Because he had said that, it brought back the memory of how Nadine had died in her arms.
"It's okay. It already happened."
She saw in her peripheral vision that he was staring at her, so she looked at him as well. In his eyes, she could tell he was apologizing sincerely.
"But other than wanting to protect me, do you have any other reason why you did that?" she asked.
"Actually... yes..." he answered hesitantly.
"What's that?"
She knew he must have a reason. When he killed Nadine, his eyes had gone blank. There was no trace of annoyance, anger, hatred, or regret, which only deepened her questions.
"I know you can't kill anyone. You won't kill anyone. I already killed Sectwen. I'm already a killer, that's why killing again would not change my name as a murderer." His words cut deep into her.
"I don't want you to feel tormented that you killed someone... so I killed her."