The diner felt small but not claustrophobic, a quaint little place that could easily make a nice hangout place for most. Screaming kids running around or complaining that they didn't get what they wanted to eat didn't exist, making the atmosphere more peaceful than most diners. Mostly, the patrons were adults or teenagers chatting happily in quiet voices.
"So, what did you want to talk about, Rowdy?" Leighton asked him before I could, and I gave a grateful smile. Rowdy intimidated me, and probably many other people, too. Leighton sat at my side, while Rowdy lounged across from us in the surprisingly spacious booth. The waiter came up and took our orders, consisting of an order of fries to share and drinks, and then walked off to another group of customers.
"Look," Rowdy sighed when he moved out of earshot, rubbing his temple as if he really had to think about what he was going to say next. He looked up at me, brown eyes piercing and surprisingly understanding. "I get that you're excited to be a part of this, but don't do what you did today again, okay?" He frowned, and then let out a sigh that seemed too calm for what he looked like in general. "The outcome of today turned out in a best case scenario. I'm friends with Arthur, and that's probably the only reason it worked out like it did. There are other teams that it wouldn't have worked out nearly as well."
Leighton snorted as he took a drink of his coke. "What she do, follow you in unprepared? Badgers would absolutely shred her." I felt my face heat up, learning that what I did apparently wasn't the right thing at all. Thanks, sheep-dude, I thought you were on my side.
"Exactly." Rowdy mumbled, frowning. Seeing the heat in my face, for just a second, I could spot some guilt in his face. "No, no, sorry, Fey, it's not you." He breathed in, rubbing his forehead as if it were hard to explain. "All of us play because it's fun, right? It gives us something to do. But a lot of the Badgers play because it gives them an excuse to play brutal characters and sometimes even take that to reality." The Moderator mumbled, starting a sentence with Arthur's name but not finishing it. My mind shot to the boy that was the Administrator of Bronzed Syndicate. "We got into a spar last year with the Badgers in the final event they got to organize from having the most points the previous year. They rented out the fair grounds and built this maze thing. Have you seen those indoor horror houses? Like that. Easy to put up, easy to take down. We had a pact with Syndicate that year, so Arthur and I teamed up to see if we could find the exit key. We ran into the Badger's Advisor."
"Ezekiel?" I asked, leaning in forward on my elbows. The waiter dropped off the tray of fries, and when he left, Rowdy continued.
"Yeah, Flynn." Rowdy's words stung like a bitter wind in a perilous winter, seeming to make everything more dastardly. "He attacked us, but we didn't expect any less. It's part of the game. But you can never, actually hurt anyone, you know?" His eyes darkened, and he picked at the fries despite the fact that he didn't eat any. "Well, he, uh, tripped Arthur and before I could pull Zeke off, he drove a box cutter into his eye. Not fake, not in the game, the guy stabbed him for real. Miles and Rory showed up and we ran Zeke off. We took Arthur to the nurse, and Syndicate had to drop out of the final event because of their top three people being out of the grounds. She sent him to the hospital. They tried to fix it, but mainly all they could do is make it look less gruesome. He can't see out of it anymore." Rowdy took a sip of his drink, a guilty look passing his face. "No cameras inside that thing, so no one could prove who did what; we couldn't even press charges. Didn't help that the Superintendent really tried to smooth it over. She didn't want people to think of her school as 'violent'. Pathetic."
"Don't forget about Roe." Leighton grabbed a handful of fries from the small basket. "First team transfer in years." He looked over to me, making sure I still listened.
I chewed on my straw and cautiously drank soda, completely interested and listening. How did everything get this crazy? Were they just trying to psyche me out?
"Oh yeah, freshman year. The previous Administrator accepted Roe into the Badgers freshman year, before Abigail gained the position. The person appointed her to Administrator because they wanted to get in good with the Superintendent, Abigail's mom. Turns out the Superintendent didn't care, but Abigail already had her position. She kept Roe as Advisor. I guess she figured he's a pushover, which he's not, so she decided he could stay. Then she appointed some kid at the time that seemed like they would never amount to anything as her Moderator. In fact, no team accepted their application besides the Badgers." Rowdy's next sentence stuttered, laced with his own guilt over the situation. "To be honest, I still feel a bit guilty for not giving them a chance." Rowdy rubbed the back of his head, and produced a deep sigh.
"She kinda treated them well when they started, like royalty. Then she just slowly began to degrade them, and when new kids started to apply, she proposed a new entrance policy. Abigail had Roe come to the screening for Flynn, before she admitted the latter. That witch refused to tell Roe the new process. When Flynn came in, she looked him dead in the eye and told him to kill Taylor Erickson, the kid appointed as Moderator. Flynn took one of the swords off of the wall- the ones for decoration, mind you- and acted like he intended to stab Erickson. Cut some of the kid's hair he got so close throwing it next to their head. She let him in. Roe dropped out of the Badgers that very day, and Abigail promoted Flynn to Advisor in Roe's place."
"Roe says he's never seen someone cry in terror until that day." Leighton murmured, pushing the plate of fries back.
I seized a fry from the stack, but now my mouth felt dry and my stomach lurched. She really did give that test to anyone. While the person didn't actually hurt Taylor, they acted like they willingly would to earn Abigail's favor. That's what she tried to get me to do. It felt like a cruel test of 'would you do anything for me?'.
"She tried to get me to do that." I murmured, swiping up a few more of the fried potato sticks with a drowned look on my face. "I applied for the Badgers before I knew, and she told me to do that. I can't believe she meant it." Of course she couldn't actually get me to hurt Taylor, but no wonder they acted so scared when she said that. Who knew how many false attacks that person had endured?
"Jeez. You saw it, then? You didn't do it, right? I kinda feel bad for Taylor. They're the only good member the Badgers have." Leighton sighed, finished off the rest of the ordered food and leaned back as a concerned look flitted across his face. "So crazy."
"No! Of course I didn't. They treated me so kind when I walked in, I couldn't imagine doing something like that. I couldn't imagine doing something like that to someone I hated, even." I frowned. "I did get to see her request it, and their reaction, though. That image will never leave my mind."
"No kidding." Rowdy grumbled, eyes narrowed. "I'm glad you ended up with us instead of them. I couldn't imagine being on their team and being led by that tyrant." He gritted his teeth. Everyone took all of this so seriously, and honestly, it pulled me in. As the players coerced me into their world of fantasy and faux death, I felt so overwhelmed and yet so oddly interested. Maybe it reminded me of the feeling you recognized when you stood on a very tall bridge. Of course you didn't want to fall off, and yet, a tingling sensation swarmed through your bones, daring you to do it for the rush of adrenaline you'd get before you'd hit the water. That temptation now stared me in the face, and I desperately wanted to take the plunge. "So please, Felicity. Be careful. I'd rather not see something like that happen again. Arthur's still bitter about it, for good reason." Rowdy answered.
The door to the diner opened, letting two people in.
"Speak of the devil," Leighton coughed, voice low as his eyes skimmed the two new patrons of the Badgers.
The first person towered above her companion, and the first things my eyes locked onto were her bracelets, earrings, anklets, and belt. The coin like discs on the aforementioned apparel all jingled as she walked, making tiny noises and shimmering sparkles of gold. Around her neck, a pretty necklace dangled, adorned with an ancient lamp-looking fixture. Her raven hair bounced in beautiful curls around her face, accented by the burgundy lipstick she painted onto her face. Her deep brown eyes examined everything with a determined demeanor.
The second shrunk beneath the first's height, but he looked just as intimidating. Not because he looked as beautiful as she, but because he seemed to have a different air about him. A determined, cautious and analytic green-eyed glare surveyed the room through wire-framed lenses. His shirt resembled a forest, with a collar of leaves. His somewhat short blonde hair pulled on the elastic of a ponytail band, only barely long enough to manage fitting through.
"Jacy Ramsey the Jinn and Dexter Praxton the Leshy, both proud Badgers." Leighton whispered to me quietly, eyes darting across the two people. "Jacy is the Genie type of Jinn, and she's bound to Dexter. He's basically her "owner" in a way. I mean, she can do what she wants, but if he commands something inside the game, she has to do it."
So many people to keep track of made my head spin, but I nodded anyway. Roughly fifty or more students ran with each group, if not more. After all, I'm sure they wouldn't all be in one place at once to count them.
Dexter talked to the person at the counter, and oddly, Jacy remained silent the entire time, only smiling. The cashier looked down to watch his face as he talked. After Dexter finished his sentence, the cashier shook his head, and they exited the building almost just as soon as they came in.
"They're probably looking for an artifact that Spiefer left in town somewhere. We got the hint in our student emails, but no one found it yet." Rowdy grumbled, running his hands through his hair. Then, under his breath, he muttered. "Abigail could probably just ask her mom where it was and get it without thinking anyways."
"Can you show me the hint? My student email hasn't been set up yet." I asked, squirming in my seat and finishing off the soda. Leighton pulled out his phone and brought up his email. Two seconds later, the phone lay in front of me, and curly letters swam on the screen.
'Inspect me from left to right, up and down.
The wings are outstretched, filled with whispering voices
asking about lights and sounds and time.
Underneath creaking boards hides
a sparkling gem of blood and July.
Rows and rows of velvet blood keep eyes on my head,
while the smell of food wafts through the back.'
The Ruby Gem of Valiance is worth 200 points and grants Vampirism immunity to the owner. Have fun!
-Ms. Spiefer
" I'll think on it. It doesn't look like it's here, even though it mentions food." I muttered, leaning back in the booth and sighing.
"The wings remind me of rafters, and the creaky floorboards of a barn. There are no farmers around here, though, and it's definitely not in our barn. Maybe the thing's talking about a storage barn? It says many people look in it. But that doesn't explain the food." Rowdy grumbled, obviously frustrated that he couldn't figure it out. My eyes caught the number in the corner of Leighton's phone.
"Sorry, guys, I gotta get home." I said simply, frowning. "It's after six, and my dad is probably expecting me. Thanks for inviting me out, though." I slid out of the booth, and we said our goodbyes. After that, I headed out the door, ready to head back home and read my book. I also had to think about the hint, and try to figure out where my new hobby would take me.