Chapter 24: 18:44 – First Death [05:16am]

G.O POV

“Chang…sun…?” I whispered, taking in the white body limp in front of me. White skin, grey clothes and a red, red blossom of flowers where his shoulder blades. The spot above his heart. It took the red to register what had happened.

My hands started trembling. Then the rest of my body. My lips whispered his name furtively and then my knees gave way and I was on all fours, crawling over to his body. I barely saw three blurry figures in the distance, but one staggered over to Changsun’s cooling body.

“Changsun. Changsun. No, no, no!” I whispered, my hands exploring his cold one. It touched the silver knife and its ice-sharp touch made me flinch. “Please don’t be dead!” I sobbed, tears already flooding down my cheeks. “Why now!”

Then Mir was crying and screaming and yelling Changsun’s name over his dead body. But I couldn’t summon the strength to scream. Only to cry.

Thunder stumbled closer, his face pitch white and looking like he wanted to throw up. He turned to one corner and dry-vomited. There was no food in us to do so.

Seungho forced himself over, grimacing but put two fingers to Changsun’s throat. Feeling for a pulse. I wanted to tell him, don’t bother. He’s dead. He’s definitely dead. No one can be so cold and so still and be alive.

I knew the answer before he removed his fingers.

“Hyung!” Mir grabbed Seungho’s withdrawing hand. “Tell me this is a lie! This is a dream! He’s a hologram and Changsun-hyung is somewhere. Tell me!” There was desperation in his voice, madness tingeing the edges of his wide, wide eyes. “He can’t be dead!”

“He’s dead,” I said roughly. I was so tired. I had failed my brother yet again. 

“He’s not,” Mir growled, his eyes locking onto me. I was shocked at the sudden change in tone, so vicious it was that I could not stop to think it was possible from our maknae.

“Mir,” Seungho knelt and took his hands. I could see it was taking a toll on him to forget his own feelings and worry about Mir’s. “Mir…he’s dead. Touch him. He had no pulse.”

Mir tore his hands away with a wretched cry and curled up. “He can’t be dead. He said he loved me!”

“Mir,” Seungho was reaching for Mir, but Mir was batting away his hands and curling up to Changsun’s body. Seungho pulled away sadly.

“Hyung…” huffed Thunder, wiping spit away from his mouth. He still stared at Changsun’s body with horror etched there. “Who…killed him?”

All four  of us were silent as that question took its toll.

“Thunder-“ Seungho said wearily. He didn’t want to think anymore.

“You,” came a vicious snarl. Animalistic. Mir. “You killed him.” He pointed one trembling finger at me.

“What?!” the words came out blurry and shocked. “Me?!”

“Yes you,” Mir advanced on me. “You were the only one with him before he…he died...”

“Why would I kill him!” I protested. “Changsun was my brother!”

“But he nearly killed you. And he stopped you from being a pirate and –and I don’t know!” he yelled, hands in fists and slamming down onto the floor. And then Seungho was there, tugging Mir backwards from his shoulders and hugging him tight.

“Mir, shhhh,” he whispered to the crying boy. “Please calm down.”

“How can I calm down!” Mir yelled. “Changsun is dead! Dead!”

“I know, and…there’s nothing we can do about it…”

“No!” Mir twisted in his arms. “There must be something! He can’t be dead! It’s just…not possible!”

My heart was torn into two. I completely understood what he meant. Only moments ago I had made up with the brother who I had thought had betrayed me, and then who I thought I had betrayed. We had come to some sort of understanding and with a flick of a button, he was gone. Torn away. A missing page preventing the completion of a book. I wanted to scream at the unfairness of the situation.

“Mir,” I said. “Please believe me. I had just made up with Changsun! There is no way I would want to kill him.”

“Then who did?” his voice slashed across the air and I flinched.

“I…”

“Who else could it be?” Mir stared at Seungho and then spun to face Thunder. My eyes widened as I understood his thoughts.

“No Mir!” I exclaimed. “It can’t be one of us. It must have been the Ringmaster…”

“It can’t be,” he shook his head. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know!” I wanted to pull my hair out. “But look at all the stuff he did earlier. It’s unnatural. He could have easily killed Changsun-“

[OH? BUT I DIDN’T.] A horrific voice. What we needed least of all right now.

Mir stopped crying and turned to glare at the flickering, red hologram standing at Changsun’s feet. “You,” he snarled.

[AND SO THE COUNTDOWN TO FIRST DEATH HAS COME.] The ringmaster bowed forwards and ever so slightly took of his hat, tipping it to Changsun’s corpse. A mockery of goodbyes to the dead. Fury like I had never known before rose in me. It was like filling a jug and then the water spilling over, crashing to the ground and swamping what was below. It was like a fire, burning out of control and spilling out, and tasting new ground.

“YOU!” I got to my feet and stomped over. “Stay away from Changsun!”

[MY, MY. TOUCHY] The Ringmaster replaced his hat and looked at me, amused. [WHY SO UPSET? THIS IS BUT PART OF THE GAME]

“Joon did not die for your games?!” I snapped, the rage boiling and erupting. “Tell me, did you kill him?”

[I DID NOT,] he said solemnly. [I DO NOT TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN THE GAMES. I MAY DESIGN OBSTACLES AND TRAPS TO TRY TO KILL YOU, BUT NEVER DO I ACTIVELY KILL YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS.]

“Hiding behind your tools and tricks,” I sneered and turned away. “But then-“

The Ringmaster was implying that the killer was one of us. I looked at the other three. No way…it was impossible! Mir was crying, he loved Changsun. Thunder was throwing up, he didn’t have the guts to kill. And Seungho looked so pale. These three people who I had come to think of family. No… No!

[WELL THEN,] the Ringmaster’s voice rudely cut through my terror. [SHALL WE PROCEED TO LEVEL THREE?]

“What?” I spun, confusion clear. But suddenly the floors beneath us were moving and four platforms were shooting us upwards.

“NO!” screamed Mir, reaching out for Changsun’s cold corpse left behind. I too was prepared to jump, to rejoin my brother down there.

“Changsun!” I yelled and lunged. But suddenly a wall appeared in front of me. The floor grew walls and a box formed, trapping me in a cube of darkness. I hammered against it, ing my fists against the wooden panels till they came away, slick with blood. “No…” I sobbed, thinking of Changson so cruelly left behind. “How could you?” I whispered and slid to the floor, the completely darkness swallowing me whole.

Somewhere far away I could hear a grandfather clock chime and the final tear slid down my face as my consciousness slipped away.

[…]

[…]

[…]

[AND SO THE COUNTDOWN TO FIRST DEATH STRIKES ZERO]

[FIRST DEATH]

[DEAD: 1, LIVING: 4]

[A COUNTDOWN TO SECOND DEATH BEGINS NOW.]

[LET LEVEL THREE BEGIN]