He gestures to the chairs. “Let’s sit. Since Brooke is new, we’ll start with introductions. It’s important you all get to know one another before we play.”
Miles avoids my eyes. Sarah stares at the fire, hollow. Jared and Emma sit rigid, jaws clenched.
Elliot stands in the center, hands folded, eyes glittering. Sophie leans against the wall. Asher rests a steel baseball bat on his shoulder. Knox flicks a dart between his fingers, spinning it lazily. The victims sit stiffly around me. We all stare straight ahead like soldiers waiting for execution.
Elliot smiles. “Okay, let’s start with introductions.”
Dead Silence. Empty. No one dares speak.
Elliot raises an eyebrow. “Well?”
No one moves.
Elliot’s voice snaps through the air like a whip:
“NAMES. NOW!”
Everyone flinches.
Sarah jolts upright. “S-Sarah.”
Emma’s voice is barely a whisper. “Emma.”
Jared’s cracks. “Jared.”
The new guy—the one I don’t recognize—speaks next. “Carl.”
Miles is last, his voice ragged. “Miles.”
Elliot claps slowly, mockingly. “Excellent. Now that we’re all friends…”
My stomach twists so hard I think I might throw up.
“Let’s begin our first game,” Elliot says, pacing behind the chairs like he is warming up for a performance. “Would You Rather.”
He stops behind Sarah’s chair. His shadow spills over her shoulders.
“Sarah,” he says gently. “Would you rather have your finger broken, or your toe?”
Before she can answer, Carl shifts in his seat. “What if we refuse?”
Elliot turns slowly toward him. “Then you’re eliminated.”
Carl stares. “What does that mean?”
Elliot raises the pistol and cocks it with a single click. “This, is elimination.”
Carl doesn’t wait for clarification. He bolts up from his chair and runs for the door.
Two shots crack through the room.
Carl’s body hits the ground face first. Blood spreads fast beneath him.
Elliot lowers the gun, unbothered. “Shame. Such an early elimination.”
My pulse roars in my ears. I can’t breathe. He is serious. This isn’t just torture. This is an execution dressed up as theater.
They are going to kill us. Not all at once, one by one. Game by game.
