"Number three-hundred. One count of third-degree murder." A girl stepped out to the lone room, a courtroom. She wore an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, her black hair tied up in a high ponytail that reached almost to her waist. "Please take a seat, ma'am."
"Number three o' one. Seven counts of third-degree murder." A boy stepped out, in the same jumpsuit and handcuffs as the girl, sitting down beside her. He sighed, brushing his blonde hair from his face and smiling at the girl. She cringed and looked away.
"Number three o' two. One count of second-degree murder." Another boy, big and burly, glared at the two already sitting down. 301 flashed him a smile, giving him a thumbs up, and 300 returned his glare. He huffed, crossing his arms and sitting at the very end of the jury row.
"Number three o' three, one count of third degree and two counts of second degree murder." Another boy, clutching his handcuffs so they wouldn't fall off his thin wrists. His short black hair covered his face and he looked genuinely scared. He sat beside 301, smiling nervously. 301 gave him a salute. 302 glared at him. 300 huffed something about gender equality.
"Number three o' four, five counts of second degree murder." A girl came out, and the 300 smiled a little, crossing her arms and leaning back on her chair. 304 waved to her, grinning shyly, her short dirty-blonde hair covering one eye. She went to sit on the other side of 300.
"Number three o' five, one count of first degree murder." A short orange haired boy glared at them, trying violently to struggle. His arms were tied up behind him, and a guard kicked him down the podium to the seats in the middle of the courtroom, right in front of 303. 303 screamed, his handcuffs falling off, as he pulled his legs to the chest and tears starting forming from his eyes.
"Ahem, 303." 303 uncurled, scrambling down and grabbing the handcuffs with shaking hands, sobbing a little. 305 hissed at him and bit his hand.
"Anyway. Number three o' six. Three counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder." A pale blonde boy came out, sighing, sitting down a chair between 303 to give them some space, as 303 stared at him with the look of pure horror. The rest were silent, and had been ever since the murder counts had gotten bigger.
"Lastly, number three o' seven, with eleven counts of first degree murder." As the last boy entered, sitting in the chair between 303 and 306, (it was them or between 306 and 302, who was still glaring) 303 side-eyed him and mouthed a word that nobody else caught. The two girls on the right end sighed, 300 whispering something and smirking while 304 giggled a little. 307 flipped them off.
"All of you recently committed horrible murders and must spend time in jail, but today, I will offer a great chance to redeem yourself! To prove that you are not a menace to society! Me and my fellow teammates will test your morality through thick and thin, and whoever emerges victorious is free of any charges. Welcome to the Killing Game."
The intercom boomed loudly, cracking a little as a horrible screech came from the speakers. The man on the intercom seemed to be laughing, but the quality was so bad nobody could tell. 306 looked up uncomfortably, glancing at the others. 301 winked at him, but 306 looked away, a blank expression always on his face. 307 was hissing aggressive slurs to 303, who was crying as 305 bit his ankles, rolling angrily on the ground. 302, still angry, crossed his giant arms and looked away. He was almost three times the size of 305.Â
After around ten minutes, a female voice appeared on the intercom.
"Ahem. Excuse me, apologies for the wait. Please head to the room on the right, where you will be escorted to your dorm rooms. The first game will begin when you reach your destination."Â
They filed in silently, not questioning what was going on. The room they entered was blank white, with absolutely nothing inside. A man in a black suit handed them a wristband, and 305 was unfortunately untied and left barking, hissing, and running around the room harassing 303 as 307 taunted them with excited eyes.
301 tapped 306, smiling.
"Hey, I'm Will Harris. What's your name?" 306 looked at him uncomfortably, opening his mouth before closing it again.
"...Three hundred and six." 301 huffed, crossing his arms playfully. Or, as playfully as he could be around a man who killed four people.
"Aww, c'mon, tell me. Pleaseee?" 302 glared at them from across the room, and 300 and 304 seemed to be getting along fine, also listening to their conversation.
"...Oscar."
"Ha! You sound and look like an old geezer, Oscar. Even your name sounds old," 307 mocks from across the room.
"I'm twenty three," 306 replies. Then, in a more self-conscious manner, the rest of the room was silent for the two worst murderers, he rubbed his arm. "My parents are old fashioned."
"Ah- Will, how did you even kill seven people?" 300 asked. 301 laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, I was fighting a gang… with a gun." When suspicious eyes landed on him, he added quickly, "W-Well, I'm a policeman, so I have those things." It didn't help very much.
300 sighed, her sour expression not changing. "Anyways, I'm Emma Wang. For people who don't know, I killed one girl, and my excuse is that I was really drunk and having a fight with some bitch who told me off." She flipped her black hair behind her back. "Well, considering how people were introduced, I guess my crime was the least impactful."
"I'm Scarlett, I killed five people… On accident! I mean- not really, but I felt bad afterwards, okay? I-I didn't mean it. I mean- I did, but-" She sighed, giving up. "Anyway, my name is Scarlett. Scarlett Woods." She twirled her hair nervously, shrinking back again.
Next was 307. "I'm Ren. You already know how many people I killed… well I mean most of them I did for fun, but this one woman… ugh." he groaned, eyeing 303 and rolling his eyes. "That bitch was on purpose. Well, technically I wasn't the one who killed her." He laughed as 303 visibly flinched. He elbowed 303, pushing him towards the middle of the room to give his introduction. 303 opened his mouth but choked on something, gasping as he kneeled down and clutched his throat. 307 groaned again, muttering "little shit" under his breath.
"This," he said, kicking 303, "Is Willow. Willow Reese." He laughed at the name, which 301 thought was rather rude, but like the others, he bit his tongue.
The hissing boy was Axel, 307 introduced as well, grabbing him by his collar and prying his mouth open to speak. 302 didn't say anything.
(I give up using numbers)
The ride on the bus was surprisingly calm, with only occasional whispers. Willow still looked extremely uncomfortable sitting between 302 and Ren, who had wrapped his arm around him in a mock-friendly way. Axel had calmed down and fallen asleep on a seat by himself, and Will physically forced himself to sit next to Oscar. He was a useful person to befriend, but Will was already tired from faking his cheerful demeanor. He accidentally fell asleep as well, Oscar awkwardly nudging him away as he leaned on his shoulder.
They arrived at the "dorms," a large multi-building dormitory that separated gender by not floor or building but by sides of a floor.
"Goooood evening, comrades," the intercom blasted. "It is nine at night now, and l'game will be starting in 'hour. Please get into pairs and choose a room. Remember, don't leave your room after ten, and don't make a sound~ There will be a very tired murderer released who will kill anybody just to get a bedroom for herself."
Ren laughed, grabbing Willow by the shoulders and dragging him away before anybody could say anything.
"...if I understand correctly, there will be a girl walking around breaking into any room that makes a sound?" Emma broke the silence. "Well, good luck, boys." With no other words, she held Scarlett's hand and pulled her away. It was an easy enough game, Will thought. There was no catch, hopefully. Obviously, he hooked away Oscar, who surprisingly compiled without struggle.
Unfortunately, there was only one bed, so Will slept on the couch with the lamp that he could smash against Oscar's head if he tried to stab him in the middle of the night. Well, the opposite could happen too, but Will's hand was closer, so he tried to delude himself.
"Oscar, go wash up," Will smiled, pushing the other boy towards the exit with one of the spare jumpsuits on the bed. Kicking him out, he locked the door, taking a deep breath and collapsing on the bed.
Ahh. Shit.
That was the dumbest decision he ever made, second to beating up the gang so badly the leader's head fell off. He sighed, putting his hands on his face. He could feel them trembling.
I don't want to die.
I don't want to die.
This game… it was so unfair. How would a normal- well, not exactly normal- person who made a giant mistake be mixed in with a serial killer to have the equal chance of freedom? It was so unfair.
At least, he wasn't stuck with 307.