Gifteds: And Then There Were None

Chapter 15. II

Tess opened her eyes. She was growing numb from her migraine and it was about time. She had other things to deal with.

We are all just sitting here. She was not wrong. With only the four of them: Max, Angela, Nico, and herself, the recreation room was getting ever lonelier and the chilling silence was more than ever.

15 minutes without a word. This is getting ridiculous Tess thought. However, it was Max who broke the silence.

"This is insane, how can both Mitchell and Salwa be gone in one day? It seems like whoever is pulling the strings is now losing their cool"

"Well Max, next time you meet the people 'pulling the strings,'" Nico crudely remarked, while motioning air quotes, "I hope you strongly advise them to please keep their killing to no more one person per day. I'm sure they would be quite open to cooperation."

Max glared, "I'm serious Nico. This isn't some joke anymore."

"Are you saying that this was a joke some point?" Nico snapped.

Max backtracked, "No that's not... that's not what I meant."

Tess was losing her temper. "Neither of you are doing anything that is beneficial for us so how about you both just shut up?"

"Oh and what wonderful epiphany have you come across Tess? Tell me, I am dying to hear." Max remarked.

"OH, WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Angela shouted after observing this conversation in annoyance. She was getting quite good at shutting people up. In an instant, everyone's mouths closed.
"Oh! It appears I have walked into a bit of a quarrel" Kal proclaimed as he walked through the door. Though tone was unaltered, his face gave away a grave and sullen feeling.

"What is it Kal? Have you tested the blood?" Angela asked with genuine curiosity.

"Yes and I can confirm that both Alex and Salwa's blood have been found. I am sorry, but it is apparent that both of them have passed away"

The atmosphere became even more grim, which Tess thought was almost near impossible. However, it wasn't the fact two lives had been lost that she was unhinged, it was the fact how passive it now was. Before, there was immense sorrow and grief. It was as though calamity had struck; now, it feels almost natural and she could easily brush it away. This scared her more than anything.

"So what now?" Max thought out loud.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tess said, clearly at her tipping point.

"It is quite clear that the killer or killers are not showing any mercy," Kal interjected. "We need to take some precautions and do some further investigation into this matter."

"Oh thanks Kal, why have we not thought of that before?" Nico said sarcastically.

"There is no point anyway," Max managed to get in.

"I don't suppose you want to die here Max," Angela stated, "Your pessimism will only make things worse."

"Oh really? Then how about Salwa? I bet she would be alive had she not let her suspicions get the best of her." When no one responded, Max continued, "They know our moves Angela, no little trick will get by them."

Though Max managed to get everyone's attention, it appeared they were trying not to acknowledge what he said. Looks like they want to cling to the supposed hope we have. Tess realized.

"So about making a pla-" Angela tried to go on but Tess wouldn't have any of it.

"Did you guys not hear what Max said!? You guys think that we can somehow defeat them even though we haven't been able to since there were ten of us. You are just fooling yourselves."

"But there are only five left and we couldn't possib-"

"AND THERE PROBABLY WILL ONLY BE FOUR BY TOMORROW!," Tess released before she could comprehend what was happening.

Everyone stared at her. The realization dawned on them; the possibility that one of them might not live to see tomorrow. They finally understood that they lived in the shadow of death itself.

"I have no wish to join a alliance full of imbeciles," Tess commented, before she briskly got up and headed towards the door.

"Tess wait!" Angela called, but was muffled by the slamming of the door.

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A/N Hello there! 

Sorry about the really short updates today. We usually write up the sections on a separate Google Document, and then paste them here as necessary. But we are sort of coming to a stand still. On the Document, we have only written up to Chapter 18, and this is already Chapter 15. So just a advanced warning, the new updates may not be on schedule and may be very short. Sorry about that, but I think all of us sort of have varying degrees of writers block at the moment. We also have a whole crap load of school work to get done on top of that. 

And it is sooooo humid right now, I can't think straight. You think Canada is supposed to be cold? No, it can get really freaking hot in some places. (Ugh I'm just complaining right now because the AC isn't working, and I don't do well in the heat. Canadian right?)

So basically hang in there, but be warned about future updates. 

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