Chapter 36: 14:32 – A Countdown to Second Death [09:28am]

Mir POV

I am alive.

And he is not.

And right now, my heart is a shattered clock lying in a thousand pieces on the floor.  

Tick tock.

G.O POV

I am alive.

And he is not.

And right now, my heart is a frozen clockwork that has long forgotten how to function.

Tock. Tock.

Mir POV

Two blinks and I know I am awake, and there is no going back to the world of blissful blackness. I am awake. And I am alive.

And Joon is not.

“Where am I?” the words came out throaty, obvious disuse the guilty cause.

I was lying on my back, aching all over like I’d been slung into a cotton bag and dragged down ten flights of stairs. But what hurt the most was my heart. It felt like someone had stuck their hand into my body, through skin and bones and tissue, and had clenched their fingers around my heart, squeezing harder and harder until it had shattered into a billion pieces.

Like broken pottery, I felt like my very core had been shattered and scattered.

[WELCOME TO LEVEL THREE] came the grim answer. I turned my head to see the flickering hologram of the Ringmaster appear. Ever-unchanging he stood, a shadowy figure with a draping cloak, arrogant smirk and tall top hat.

“Why?” I asked. And I meant, why am I alive? Why must I continue with these grim games? I have no reason to live, so why am I here?

[BECAUSE YOU HAVE A WISH, DON’T YOU?] the Ringmaster replied like clockwork. An automated answer. 

“A wish that I don’t remember,” I retorted, but it came out sounding tired and defeated.

[ONE THAT YOU DO NOT REMEMBER YET. BUT I PROMISE YOU, IN TIME IT WILL MEAN MORE THAN THE LIFE OF A MERE PLAYER.]

“A mere player?”

The words came out a growl.

I pushed myself up, ignoring the stabs of pain that ran through my body. “A mere player?” I repeated to his lack of response. It bordered on a feral snarl.

“Joon – no, Changsun – is not – was not – a mere player,” the words felt thick in my throat. “He will never be.”

I stared defiantly back at the Ringmaster.

[IS THAT SO?] The Ringmaster sounded curious, more so than threatened. [YOU MAY SAY THIS NOW, BUT WE SHALL SEE HOW YOU CHANGE IN LIGHT OF RECOVERING YOUR MEMORIES]

“Changsun will always be more important!” I snapped back.

[REALLY?] he stared at me and slowly tilted his head. [REALLY?]

“Really.”

[THEN PROVE IT TO ME. SHOW ME THAT YOUR PRESENT MEANS MORE THAN YOUR PAST. SHOW ME THAT ONE DEAD BOY WILL MEAN MORE THAN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE’S WORK. PROVE THAT TO ME AND I WILL TAKE BACK MY WORDS. BUT,] he smirked. [I WOULD BET MY LIFE THAT YOU WILL EAT YOUR WORDS BEFORE THE END OF THIS DAY]

My mouth went dry.

The Ringmaster took my silence as a lack of comeback and promptly turned away. His attention was raised to a more general plane.

[THIS IS LEVEL 3] he said, addressing the remaining four players. [AND YOU WILL ALL PLAY A GAME OF LIFE OR DEATH. THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: THERE ARE TWO OF YOU AND YOU WILL BOTH FIGHT TILL ONE DIES.]

G.O POV

Had there not been enough deaths already?

Was it not enough for Changsun to be a cold body stiffening god knows where? How many more of us would have to die before the Ringmaster would be satisfied?!

I threw myself upwards into a sitting position to glare at the Ringmaster. He floated, a black projection a few meters away, in the centre of what appeared to be a coliseum. The ground was soft sand, eager to soak up fresh blood. The walls were rings and rings of empty seats, eager for bloodlust.

“And what makes you think we’ll fight?” I sniped, feeling nasty.

The Ringmaster turned his sight upon me, lips upturned with amusement. [WHY G.O, DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD PLAN A GAME WITHOUT ENSURING MY PLAYERS ARE COMPLIANT?]

It was a rhetorical question.

[IF YOU DO NOT FULFIL THE GAME CONDITIONS WITHIN THE REQUIRED TIME LIMIT, ONE OF THESE TWO CAGES WILL FALL, AND THE PERSON INSIDE WILL DIE]

Cage? Person?

I looked up to where the Ringmaster was gesturing. My eyes travelled across the sand to the far end of the coliseum stage where the sand gave way to a twisted black pylon that grew tall and jagged and ended some fifty meters up in a black thorny thing. The thing was curved like a carriage, but that’s where the similarities ended. It was barred like a prison cell and intersected with serrated thorn like spikes. From here, I could make out a pair of white hands gripping the bars.

Then a face appeared. I squinted and saw.

Thunder.

I felt the vibration of the Ringmaster’s chuckle.

“If we don’t kill one another within the time limit, Thunder dies. Is that your game?” I shot the Ringmaster my most acid-filled glare.

[IS IT NOT SIMPLE ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND?] he brushed off the glare.

“You said two,” I said. “Who is in the other?” And I stared at the other end of the coliseum where an exact replica of the black thorn cage sprouted from sand.

The Ringmaster simply sidestepped and my eyes met Mir’s.

Mir POV

Level 3.

A battle to death between G.O and I. With the lives of Seungho and Thunder hanging in the balance. Quite literally. No matter what we would do, this level was going to end in another death.

A memory flickered. A knife buried hilt-deep into flesh and the blood seeping out, ever so casually.

I looked down to see my hands trembling.

I looked back up to see G.O staring right at me. Understanding glimmered in his eyes, and in that split of a second I realized that out of the three possible people who could die at the end of this level, G.O was at the top of the list.

As if reading my mind, the Ringmaster spoke. [TELL ME MIR,] he purred. [IN YOUR WORLD, WHO DESERVES TO LIVE, AND WHO DESERVES TO DIE]

I stared G.O in the eye.

Definitely not Joon.

The Ringmaster waved one hand and two knives dropped in front of us. Silvery little things with a brown-black hilt. The same knife as the one plunged deep into Joon’s back. I shivered.

I could feel G.O’s piercing eyes on me as I gazed at the knife. There was something compelling about cold metal. Behind me Seungho was shouting something from his thorny prison, but he was so high up that his voice turned into a mosquito buzz.

[MAKE UP YOUR MIND QUICKLY] the Ringmaster said. [YOU HAVE 24 MINUTES TO DECIDE. LET THE GAMES BEGIN]

Who deserves to live? And who deserves to die?

A splash of blood and a cold, cold body.

In my world, who would I choose? 

My fingers twitched and I reached for the knife. 

And a very merry christmas to you all xxx