[Brix's Point of View]
I woke up with a headache from being hit by a baseball bat. I can still feel the dizziness it caused. I thought it blinded me, but I realized the whole environment is just dark.
I knew I am lying on the floor and I felt a rope tied around my neck. I immediately felt and realized that it was tightly tied.
I massage my own head for a moment because it still hurts a lot, I touched some liquid and I knew it is my own blood. I was about to try to get up when suddenly the light came on.
I was momentarily dazzled by the white light coming from above. When it disappeared, I quickly looked around and I found out that I am in the theatre building and I was currently on the back stage.
I immediately shoved the rope around my neck and check if I could remove it. I was disappointed that the tie was probably tight and even padlocked to the very knot.
I looked around again and the source of the rope caught my attention, it is long so I just followed it to find out where it is coming from.
It comes from the stairs of the back stage, it leads to the upper part of the stage where background props or any other decorations are being arranged. I reached the top where the stage can be seen.
I was confused when I saw something strange on the stage itself, it was a rectangular shape formed of an aquarium, and the only difference was that it looked like a giant aquarium because of its size and it almost covered the entire stage.
It contains water, but it smokes.
Wait.
The smoke that is coming from the water feels hot, isn't that hot water? That container is full of water and I think its height is 8 ft.
Fear suddenly prevailed my entire body when something crossed my mind. What is this thing for? And why is the rope coming from that container? Wait, I noticed another strange thing.
There seemed to be a narrow bridge with no handle facing right above that container, it is connected at the other end of it. What is this? I'm worried about what could happen.
I stepped back but when I looked back, a man wearing a black cloth and mask is already in front of me. He is still holding the baseball bat. I was careful with my steps because I could fall into that container.
"Looks like you understand now what you're going to do later when the little show I've prepared starts" he said between his resounding laughter. I couldn't move my body because I was horrified by his laughter.
"W-What are you talking about?" I stuttered between my words. He's still laughing like an asshole piece of shit. "It's simple, you need to cross to the other end. Once you did, you are safe" and he laughed again so I just shook my head.
"I don't want to, do it on your own---AHHHH!" I wasn't able to finish what I was about to say when he hit my right knee with a baseball bat. I barely collapsed on standing and I felt that my right knee is now broken.
"Will you follow my command or will I hasten your death?! You should be grateful that you have a choice!" He was about to strike my right knee again but I raised my right hand to stop it. "D-Don't don't, I will follow your command, just don't hit my knee again"
He laughed again and then came a little closer to me and stroked my hair. "Good boy"
I was startled when he pulled the rope around my neck. "Now, let's replace it with a shorter rope HAHAHAHA!" I stopped talking and remained silent because he might hit me with a baseball bat again if I talk too much. I don't know the purpose of why he replaced the shorter rope around my neck.
"Now, stand up. As soon as your friends arrive, the show will start" he added. I did not immediately gather my strength due to the pain felt in my right knee so I could not stand immediately. "AAAHHH!" I screamed again in pain when he kicked my right knee. "Hurry up!"
I couldn't stand the pain I am feeling, it feels like my right knee is being smashed over and over again. I felt that the man leave so I got up immediately.
"Our show is about to begin, audience, come in" The man's words into the speaker and that echoed throughout the theatre building.
I looked at the entrance door and I see my friends entering one by one and that's where I feel the hope that they could save me. "I-I'm here! Save me!" I shouted and they all turned in my direction.
They were all about to take a step when the man spoke again. "Oops, one more step and someone will be shot by a gun" I suddenly froze when I heard that.
Does that mean they can't save me?
Dexter who is in front of them tried to take two more steps and a gunshot rang out. It hit nothing but Dexter barely backed away. "That's a warning sign, you are all aware of what I can do, just relax there and watch"
I was completely hopeless. I could do nothing but follow what he told me to do. Holding my right knee, I slowly approached that narrow bridge.
I took a deep breath before deciding to step my right foot on that bridge. That's when I noticed that there is an oil on it and that made it slippery when I stepped on it.
Fuck it!
He is so cunning! He would really do anything just to make me fall into those hot water!
"You have 30 seconds, timer starts now"
At this point, I knew I'm about to face my death, he was the one who decided for my fate. I really have no choice because everything is just a pure deception.
But I can't allow myself to just die, I must have done something before I disappear from this world, the deaths of Sierra, Alliyah and my beloved Shane shouldn't just be wasted, the death of me must be mean of something.
I fondly remember what the man said to me. I will never forget that he said Keisha was one of the deceivers, they need you to know because otherwise, they will continue to be fooled by her.
I was ready to shout but I stared at them for a while, they were all complete and Keisha was also there. Who is the man in the speaker? It's impossible for her to get back there quickly, how many deceivers could there be among us? Two?
I shook my head, my own mind could not defeat me. Keisha may have done many ways to fool us all.
"Listen! Keisha is a deceiver! Kill her before she kills all of you ---" I stopped screaming because I felt a strong blow at my back and I was hit with a great force, then I fell into the container.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
I screamed as my waist to toe was soaked in hot water, while the rope around my neck slowly preventing me from breathing. Now I know what the purpose was, to torture me before I finally died.
My eyes are dimming but I can still feel the pain of burning half of my body. It was as if I am slowly melting away, I feel the most pain in the private part of my body.
I feel like some parts of my body are bursting with grains due to the extreme heat. Why is it that I haven't lost my breath right away so I can't feel it anymore?
It took a few seconds and I slowly descended hard into the hot water. "AAAAHHHHHHHH!! FUCK!!! I CAN'T STAND THE PAIN ANYMORE!!!"
The lowering reached up to my neck and there I feel that my breathing won't last, this is okay than being in the pain for longer time. And at least I can be with my dear Shane again. Somehow, it's a relief that I was able to say those words.
My body went numb and my vision went black.
[Dexter's Point of View]
I could hardly look at what had happened to Brix right in front of us.
Sorry Brix, we couldn't do anything to save you.
Brix's whole body was eventually torn apart and it melted. We were all saddened by Brix's death while others couldn't help but cry. Do we deserve to be tortured like this?
"Second clue: His family has many connections, they are rich but his parents' work is illegal" The man said to the speaker and we all looked at Daniel. He looked without expressing any emotion.
At that point, we knew he was lying about the clues he gave. Obviously, he knew what we were talking about yesterday when Daniel admitted his secret. He can't fool us, if there's a deceiver here, it's him and not one of us.
But I suddenly remembered the last words of Brix before he died.
"Listen! Keisha is a deceiver! Kill her before she kills all of you"
"Keisha, why were Brix's last words like that? You're the deceiver? Is that true? And wait, does that mean there's not just one possible traitor among us? But that's impossible, isn't it?? None of us can do that" I confusedly asked and they all looked in Keisha's direction.
She just shook her head as her tears start to flow. "That's not true, I-I can't do that"
"But why did Brix always mention your name? Keisha, you have to admit that it's now over! Stop fooling us!" Lexis suddenly intercepted, so Keisha cried even more.
"W-Wait Lexie, we don't have solid evidence ---" Alexis couldn't continue what she was going to say when Lexie cut it off. "What more evidence do you want?! What Brix said earlier was very clear!"
"We can't just believe that statement. It's possible that he made Brix believe that Keisha is a deceiver so we can blame her. Stop being dumb Lexie, don't you think that he included in the rules that we can point who the deceiver is because he wants us to kill each other? Or maybe because he knows we can't do that" Nicole explained at length but Lexie did nothing but walk out of the theatre room.
I immediately approached Keisha and hugged her. "S-sorry Keisha if I asked you those questions" I said further and tried to calm her down.
A few minutes later, we decided to go back to the room to continue the conversation. Lexie, Clay and Clark weren't there, maybe they didn't like how the conversation went.
We calmed Keisha down before talking to her again. "Keisha, we don't suspect you but if you want to say something we don't know, it's okay to say it, we'll listen" I calmly said to her, she didn't say anything because she is still dumbfounded.
I looked around and paused in Daniel's direction. He looked confuse but I just smiled at him. "Maybe Keisha needs to be encouraged to say what she's not telling us. Daniel is right in his idea, we need to tell our secrets"
They all looked at me and I noticed that Clark did not agree with what I was saying. "I'll be the next to tell my secret" I continued and I was startled when Clark suddenly pulled me.
"What are you doing? Don't let them know you. We're the only two who understand each other here" he whispered to me but with emphasis on every word. I put away his hands and just smiled at him sparingly.
I was about to speak but he pulled me again and stopped me. At that point, I felt a great annoyance at someone I'm closest with. "What's the matter with you?! Let's just cooperate, Clark! It's not hard to tell our friends, isn't it?! It's not hard to say that you almost killed your father out of anger! That's the only secret you're keeping, right?! We're all friends here!" I loudly said and I didn't realize that everyone heard that.
I was stunned because I realized that I shouldn't have said those things, his secret even came from me.
I felt his fist hit me. I'm not surprise.
"Fuck you! I accepted you as my friend even though you're a fucking gay and then this is what you're going to do to me?! I can't stand your presence, you faggot! You're a piece of shit!"
There is no case against me that he also told my secret, but the insult I received from him, it cannot be compensated.
There's nothing wrong if he revealed my secret too, but I can't believe he just insulted me, he insulted my personality. I've been friends with him for several years, I never thought we could hurt each other this much.
A few tears escaped from my eyes before I accepted a series of his punch.
List
The following are the list of people who are involve in Eliminate the Deceiver Game. Will they be slowly eliminated? Or the game will slowly stop? It's up for you to find out.
Eliminated:
Sierra (was eliminated before the game officially starts, Sunday)
Alliyah (eliminated, Tuesday)
Shane (eliminated, Wednesday)
Brix (eliminated, Thursday)
Remaining number of players: 10
Dexter
Daniel
Clark
Kean
Xander
Clay
Alexis
Keisha
Nicole
Lexie