Page 11 of The October Trials

Okay, I’m going to close my eyes and pretend there is anything but blood in that cup. This is just some Fear Factor shit. I’ll be okay. This is okay. Perfectly okay.

Archon watches Christian finish his cup, fingers tapping slowly on the arm of his throne. He seems to be upset about such a mild reaction from Christian. “Hm. Next. Number one.”

A girl three seats down who looks eerily similar to me lets out a scoff. “I thought you were going for mystery. What was the point of skipping one and then coming right back to it?”

“I’m going to assume you’re number one?” Archon drawls. “Name, age, and flip your card.”

She rolls her eyes, muttering through clenched teeth, “Veronica Byrd, twenty-two.” She pauses. “I’m only doing this because I’m choosing to.” Archon hums, but doesn’t respond. Sighing, Veronica flips her card.

Her brows knit together, and her lips part. She tilts her head, blinking at the card. “It’s… a skull and crossbones? W-what the hell does that mean?”

I snap my head to Archon, the rest of the contestants following.

His head tilts in confusion too. “That’s odd. Nonetheless, you’ve pulled it. Game rules: once you pull a card, that’s your fate.”

“Okay, well, what is the fucking fa—”

One of the cloaked guards steps forward. He raises a flash of metal, aims the barrel at Veronica’s head, and pulls the trigger.

The gunshot cracks through the dining room in waves, the echo seeming to shake the whole table. Veronica’s body jerks once, violently, before she slumps sideways in her chair. Blood sprays across the table, splattering the floor in heavy, wet drops.

I—I can’t—

Oh, my God.

The smell of gunpowder and fresh blood fills the air as commotion rings out from the others.

I scream, but nothing comes out. I can’t scream. I can’t move.

I can’t breathe.

“Settle down, settle down!” Archon booms, but his voice tangles with the others in my head, the ones warning me that I’ve made the biggest mistake of my fucking life.

My hands grip the edge of the table so hard my knuckles turn white. That could’ve been me. She’s only a few spots down from me. If for just a simple mix-up, I could be the one lying dead on the floor right now.

The intercom blares on, the same haunting voice from earlier. “A contestant has been eliminated. Lesson number one: some fates have no mercy.”

Holy shit. When Parker said eliminated, he didn’t just mean you lose the game. Only one of us is walking out of this decrepit fucking house tonight.

Did he know? Fuck, fuck.

I glance down at my own card, still face-down in front of me. My hands shake. The small black rectangle suddenly feels like a gun pointed at my temple.

Some fates have no mercy.

What will my fate be?

5

Blair

My fingers close around my card like it might bite back.

Everyone is watching me, thinking I might draw another skull and crossbones.

After Veronica, Susan drew another glass, this one filled with a cloudy yellow liquid. Like Christian’s, I’m going to pretend it wasn’t what I think it was. Then there was Elio, the nerdy-looking boy with glasses, who drew a perfectly cooked steak. It looked fucking delicious, and my stomach started growling the same way it does halfway through a waitressing shift.

The problem? He’s a vegetarian.