The Funny One Dies First

- 12 -

― Emma ―

Two deaths. Not one, but two deaths were witnessed here today.

This is so not how I imagined my weekend going. Being trapped in someone else's house, being threatened to play a game, which in turn could lead to many of us dying, all for someone's sick pleasure to protect me. Yup, so how I wanted my weekend to go.

Some of the kids gathered around the boy from earlier and noticed that the hole in his head was a bullet hole. A bang didn't go off so from my expert knowledge gathered from the CSI series, I would have to say the shooter used a silencer and the powdery black residue forming around the entry wound must also suggest that the shooter shot from close range, maybe at most five feet away. To make sure the body was preserved, some boys pulled it over to the side and draped a white couch blanket over him.

Anna piped up. "Guys, I know we should grieve over our friends, but unless we all want to end up like this dude here, I suggest we do as the scary voice guy says."

'I need you to find three things for me. The first is hidden in a room where time has stopped, the second is hidden in a room where entertainment is, and the last is in the forbidden room. You have thirty minutes to find them.'

"Okay, I hate saying this but we need to break up into teams. There are about thirty of us here, break up into groups of ten and have a buddy. Always stayed glued to your buddy and make sure everyone can keep an eye on each other. I hate to do this, but we don't have much time left to search." Everyone scattered into their group.

"Team one, I want you to go to the... the, uh, forbidden room. Ky, that has to be your dad's study, right? Good. Find something that looks odd or misplaced; something that shouldn't be there. Team two, go to the entertainment room, the movie room. It will the room close to my team's room. Team three, we are going to the hangout room from when we were little. Everyone has their parts, meet right here. Be safe."

As I tried to run off to the hangout room, someone called me to a stop. "And why should we listen to you? We are in this mess because of you, Piggy."

"Chica, I really hope you die from starvation before the killer gets you." I faced Emmett, a little shocked he would say something like that. He got along with everyone, if he tried.

"Honey, you ain't making it seem like you shouldn't be targeted." Seline looked at her hand.

"Can we leave her? She's only going to die either way." Airen announced.

Kyle smiled. "Bye, bitch."

I jumped in. "Okay, it isn't my fault some rando wants to kill the people who are bullying me, and Trish, you happen to be very high on the list so if your life is even worth keeping, I suggest you shut your Jeffree Star Daddy painted lips and bitch, be humble, sit down. Everyone go!"

Annoyed at the amount of time we had already wasted, I zoomed over to the hangout room and began searching. There had to be something that wasn't supposed to be here. Emmett spotted something on the pool table and hollered us over. A red envelope that wasn't there earlier was now on the table. Opening it, I began reading it allowed.

"Roses are red. Violets are blue. Something in this room looks a little funny. Can you figure out what it is before you do too?" I scanned the room. "Okay, according to Ky, no one has been in this room for years. Grab your buddy and search."

I looked at everything that could be a clue. Everything looked normal and in its correct place. I watch Emmett dive under the pool table as Airen checked the pockets. Ky and Trish checked the mini bar area and Seline and Anna tore the sitting area apart. I turned and observed the disorganized bookshelf. As I did so, a memory came back to me. It was a memory of little Anna bending over so I could climb on her shoulders to get a book.

"Something looks a little funny... Holy shit! The books! The books are what looks funny! They used to be placed in order of color and height!" Ripping books from the shelves I began filing them according to their correct positions. In a matter of seconds, hands joined me and we began tossing the books to the person in charge of that color.

Giving it one last look, I snapped a pic of it and ran to the front hall. The other two teams rushed to meet us there all at once and we discussed what could have been the correct objects. Not knowing what number to call, I clicked on Ean's name, assuming since he had his phone, it would just work. After a few rings, I heard a voice.

"Nice job everyone. I guess no one dies this round." We let out a sigh of relief. "Except for Johnny."

The light haired brunette from Team Two stiffened. His blue eyes flickered all about the room as he back right towards his death. We didn't even see it coming but just as it fell from above, its large fangs snapped shut into Johnny's neck. He screamed in pain as he ripped the slithering reptile from his body. The pumping of his blood further pushed the venom deeper into his blood and soon enough it killed him all the while the snake twisted and turned as foam spewed from its mouth. We all stood there cold and numb; frozen and unable to do anything but watch as they both died.

Three. Three were dead and the numbers were just going to keep rising.
A sigh blew through the phone. "Well, that bites. The price you pay when you don't help. Learn from young Johnny boy here, pull your weight before you become the weight."

"We played your game, why did you have to kill him?" some random girl cried.

He sighed again. "Is this girl deaf? I just said why. Multiple times. If you don't want to play my game, you DIE!"

A thought slipped my lips. "What's your name?"

He sounded dumbfounded. "What?"

"Is this guy deaf?" I repeated his line back to him. "What is your name?"

He chuckled. "Mmm, do you really want to know, Emma?" he teased. I could hear the smile in his voice. It was like he wanted me to ask.

"Yes. I can't just keep calling you 'The guy who wants to kill me' everytime I'm referring to you." My blood was heating to a boil.

"I feel like Emmett could come up with something better."

Emmett made a face. "Why? Because I'm Latino?"

"Chill out there, Cisco Ramon. It was because you happen to be good with nicknames." He was stalling.

"I give those to my friends. You aren't my friend but I'll make an exception. 'Psycho' is really starting to look good on you right now." I nodded in agreement.

"Wow! Such nice. Much creative. Do good. Emma, stop mocking me." I stopped moving my head around in a mocking manner. "My name is Jason. Now that you know, everyone meet in the living room. The second round is about to begin."