Falling, Fallen (REWRITE)

Chapter 1

Norton's POV

   All throughout my life, I was never a fan of relationships. Despite that, girls fawned over me constantly. So often, in fact, that I got tired. Tired of the idea of relationships and tired of being fawned over. I have always been relatively attractive, but I've also always been poor. Poor for a large majority of my life. So poor that I was forced to get a job in the mines. So poor that when I was offered a place at the manor, in the game, I accepted. One of the biggest mistakes and one of the best decisions of my life.

   In the manor, there was a game. A game where you had to fight for your life. A game against a hunter who was out for blood. A game of life or death. Sure, once these games finished and we were sent back to the manor, everyone was back to normal. The hunters no longer wanted to kill us in cold blood. The survivors, including me, no longer had to fear for our lives. As you can imagine, it caused us all a lot of trauma, having to withstand the physical wounds as well as the mental wounds done to us. The hunters had to live and accept the fact that once they were placed in the game, they would be in a completely different headspace. A headspace meant to kill. All because we were desperate enough, and foolish enough, to accept the invitation to this God forsaken manor.

   There were upsides to the manor, though. We all love and care for each other to the best of our abilities. Sure, it's harder for some than others. Some of us were sworn enemies. Some of us were best friends. Some of us were in love with each other. Relationships in the manor varied from person to person. Me? I was in love with a man. I never thought that day would come. The day I came to love someone. Let alone to fall in love with a man. For my entire life, I had been so focused on the women fawning over me and never gave a second thought to men. After arriving at the manor, I found out I am bisexual, and I lean towards men.

   This man had arrived long before me and was much better at the game than me. He was a mercenary. He was clearly trained in rescuing and helping his teammates, unlike me. I couldn't save them like he probably could...

   Naib Subedar was different from the rest. He showed almost no interest in me, and I liked that. It was like he was hard to get, hard to obtain. I liked a challenge, but sooner than I could have imagined, it no longer was a challenge or a game for me. I was head over heels for him. Yet, even though I had fallen for him, he still showed absolutely no interest in me. Our interactions mainly consisted of him rescuing me when we were matched together and him glaring at me. He clearly did not just show no interest in me, he also disliked me. Whenever I tried to make conversation with him, he would ignore me or just straight up walk away.

   Only one other person in the manor really stood out to me, though. Mike Morton. He often would make small talk, follow me around, and was just around me constantly. It was honestly quite annoying. He was like a lost puppy that couldn't be helped. Whenever I talked to the others about him and his behavior, they would tell me he also talked about me when I wasn't around. They would say it was clear he liked me and I should just ask him out already. What they didn't understand was that I had absolutely no feelings for him. My feelings towards him were neutral. No dislike, but no like either. I couldn't just ask him out whilst being in love with another...

Naib's POV

   I hate everyone in this God forsaken manor. Well, maybe not everyone. Eli Clark... He was different, not like the rest. A kind soul with no ill intent towards anyone. I loved that man, but I could not tell him that. Aesop Carl, his boyfriend, would not be impressed, let alone be okay with it. I didn't exactly feel like tearing apart every good relationship of my own, as well as theirs.

   My most hated person in this manor though? Norton Campbell. That dumbass himbo is nothing but annoying. He constantly talks to me and never gives me a God damn break. Whenever I did end up talking to him, we always get into an argument. That's probably my fault though. I ignore him every time he talks to me, hoping he would get the hint that I don't like him at the very least and at the very most? Maybe he'd get the fact that I hate him. Maybe he already got the hint, he can't be that dumb, and yet he still talks to me as if we're friends and he still hasn't gotten the fact that I hate him through his thick skull.

   Despite having been playing this horrible game of life and death nearly every day for only God knows how long, life was alright. It was alright because I had Eli, my best friend, by my side. Being with Eli, even if it was only as friends, made it all worth it. I would never dare to tell Eli my feelings. That would be a bad idea, and a good way to gain enemies. I was not on friendly terms with everyone in the manor, but being on even more peoples' bad sides was not a good idea and would not work in my favor.

   When Miss Nightingale made the announcement to come to the main lobby, we all were curious. The manor was old and many of our rooms were basically rotting, so when she made the decision to give us all new rooms, the excitement was clear. There were hoops and hollers heard all throughout the lobby. That is, until she told us we'd all have roommates. There wasn't enough space for each of us to get a room to ourselves, at least until she could fix our old rooms.

   I let out a groan as people pushed past me to the front of the room to get a look at who our roommates were going to be. A few of the girls squealed, they must have gotten one of their friends. I just hoped that I, too, would get someone who I slightly got along with.

   The crowd slowly dissipated, so I made my way to the front of the room to see who my roommate was. I looked behind me for a moment, seeing Norton waiting to see the board as well. I rolled my eyes, turning back to the board. I read the name next to mine... Oh that dreaded name...