Several corridors later and a lengthy hallway opens into an evil dining hall of dreams. Eight free bodies coast into the room, shadowed figures following at their heels. Some are hooded, others more carelessly showing their face.

Demetri is the only Reaper with the audacity to show himself completely, the grandiose cloak fluttering after him dispersing into no more than a memory. Still adorning the assassin's garb, what little is revealed of him shines bright under lamplight. Midnight hair flops about lazily, his golden eyes scanning over the surface of every object and being before resting more delicately on my face.

"You're a bit more flamboyant than the rest, aren't yah?" I smirk, regarding the rest of the room with an empty glance and meeting his more cheerful expression once more. "Did it ever occur to you that a more somber approach might aide in trust?"

Of all the responses in the world, Demetri merely shrugs my words off. The facade. An intricate mask for those he must answer to.

The other contestants seem just as clueless, milling about the room without direction until food rather suddenly drops onto the table. My nerves act up though and I palm my stomach in wonder.

"Well," Demetri laughs. "Go on."

My natural instincts scream to get away. Taking a step back, I look at him almost pleadingly. "This isn't another test, is it? The food isn't poisoned?"

The Reaper thinks for a minute and shakes his head. "Nothing to worry about, Doll," he says. The confidence fades quickly though. Demetri grabs my upper arm with gentle remorse and sighs. "If His Unholiness did anything, we wouldn't know but I might advise staying away from anything with seeds."

"Seeds?"

"My Lord has a fondness for fairytales."

My brows furrow but Demetri backs up, holding his hands up in surrender. A covert gesture, masked in gloves that blend in at his hips and behind his back.

I step up to the table, secure enough in the fact that Demetri thought it was not only safe but advisable. Perhaps I trust him too much, then again no matter the stakes he'd never tried to hurt me before.

Quite the opposite.

Especially given the people I'd be sharing a table with.

No one else trusted the food before them quickly, some hovering above the benches and others a good arm's length away altogether.

Specifically, Noah glances at the table through dead, empty eyes. With no sense of light inside, a strange pit forms in my stomach. He doesn't care.

Each person has their own reason for doing this competition, but Noah is practically unreadable. Besides the reaction towards losing a life with his wife, there is no single emotion I can separate or understand. As if remaining neutral somehow benefitted his mission.

If I didn't know better, I'd assume Noah didn't intend to eat at all.

The only thing I gather is a small sentence Atticus passes on, whispering in his ear. "You might wish only to compete, but do not forget that you're not immune to human necessities here. Without eating or sleeping you will suffer for your abstinence."

Within ten minutes everyone sits at the table rather awkwardly, eyes searching for a random knife to the heart and hands protectively cradling forks and spoons as if it made all the difference. David eats like a pig in the farthest corner, a wide berth of space around him. The only other person to help themselves is little Lyric.

Given frame and build, my best guess is she's no more than fifteen. Hardly an asset and worse, probably too weak to stand a chance.

I eat my heart out eventually, minding what Demetri has said and avoiding anything with seeds. Between amazing lasagna and different cuts of steak and ham, I'm at a loss trying to shove everything I love in my mouth just to sate the raging hunger I've been harboring for what feels like hours now. Even after two full meals worth, I barely feel content. As if death hit the reset button, my body had screamed at me like I'd never eaten before. Now, I am only just beginning to feel human again.

That is until I'm interrupted by a familiar blond with sweat and blood stains crusted faintly under her nose.

Lacey looks fearfully stiff when I drag my eyes off to the side and analyze her. I feel the sudden urge to yank away my plate and find a new spot. Her chest is tight and I don't think she's breathing, but the pit in my stomach lurches again and tries to guide me away from her.

The silence is only tense for a few seconds.

She races for a napkin as blood starts running down her nose and lips again. "You got a nice shot on me," she murmurs at first. "I really didn't see it coming."

"Are you really trying to use generic movie lines on me right now?" I ask, sitting up and turning to face her. "That's the kind of bullshit the bad boy says to some nerd with a lame backhand."

Lacey laughs a little, her napkin darkening with blood. "I suppose so."

"Look, I'm really not interested."

Her face pales but the expression doesn't change. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm not interested. In alliances, in friends, any of it. I honestly can't believe I'm the person you'd try to cozy up to. Frankly, even if I wasn't the kind to hold grudges, I couldn't even pretend to trust you after nearly killing me. I think you'll have better luck with someone else."

She starts stuttering. "But I-"

"This isn't the place for a girls-stick-together mentality. Groups are disadvantages given there can only be one winner."

Without concern, I get up and walk away from the table. On my way, I snag a small brownie.

"See? You're still alive."

Demetri comes back from the hallway in much more casual attire, even if the clothes remain black. A hoodie and jeans replacing the thick armored material with places for weapons and tools. Atticus and another Reaper off to the side stare at him in shock.

He doesn't even notice them, instead gesturing for me to follow him across the room. We walk through a couple of rooms before we get to a hall with ten doors.

"As you can imagine, we were expecting more than eight," he smirks, gesturing to the rooms. "Since you finished first I don't see the harm in letting you pick whichever one you'd like."

Instinctively I walk to the very back corner and peek inside. Low and behold, there is a level of gross, frilly pink everywhere I haven't seen since my childhood. Suffering through the bile, I slam the door and grimace.

Demetri barely saw the room and still chuckles. "Too dainty for your liking?"

"Cram it," I mutter, shoving past him and to the door opposite.

We walk inside to see a floor plan simple to a hotel or flat. A bathroom on the right with clean porcelain and granite, shiny metal fixtures everywhere. Nothing gothic like the castle. On the right, a similarly dark granite countertop stretching into the kitchen. Everything pristine. Just beyond that is a small space with a couch and coffee table.

Demetri follows patiently behind, observing but not commenting. There's a massive fluffy bed in the final room. The sheets are plaid, the blankets warm and soft.

I'm smiling before I can stop myself, touching the surface of the bed.

"I take it this one is better?"

My head nods almost separate from myself. Growing tired, I look around feeling a sad sense of emptiness. "Yeah, I just wish I had some of my stuff..."

The Reaper considers this for a moment. "Hmm, why don't you let me worry about that."

I shrug and go to sit down, feeling my weight sink into the soft mattress. I glance over Demetri one more time. The gold eyes flicker back in curiosity.

"Are you still armed?"

He snorts and waves a hand at me dismissively. "Of course, I'm always armed."

My eyes narrow in on him. "You're wearing a hoodie."

He only shrugs.

"Why are you being so nice to me, Demetri? The other Reapers won't even look at their contestants."

"Maybe I'm just nice."

I laugh. "Then why was your last nickname asshole?"

Demetri sighs and leans against the doorframe, hands folded neatly in the front pocket of his sweatshirt. "Seth wasn't mentally well. A lot of different theories were passed around on what it was, but for once the crystal didn't fix it. Hell, I'd bet money that he got worse the longer this went on. Either way, he took his frustration out on me until inevitably succumbing to a fate even worse than death."

A chill ripples down my spine and I shiver, clutching at the blanket beneath me. "What happened to him?"

Demetri shakes his head and approaches me. He rests a hand on my shoulder and holds eye contact. "That's not for you to worry about, Holly. It won't happen to you."

"How do you know...?"

Pain lights up the gold eyes but he masks it quickly. "My Lord destroyed Seth's soul before it corrupted the rest of us. His insanity was a plague. I promise you, Holiday. You are perfectly sane."

I want to argue, but I'm too tired. Perhaps I'm sane enough. That doesn't mean Death, himself, couldn't find a reason to end any of our existences at any moment.

"Rest now, Holly. I'll be back in the morning."

Demetri's dark eyes look away before he releases me and walks out of the room, sure to gently shut the door behind me.

I can feel my consciousness slipping, but I don't even get under the blankets before falling asleep.

Total Word Count: 6,886

Hey guys! Sorry, it's been a little bit since I updated but with the judging session in right now, I feel like it's important to keep working on the story. Not to mention I love the plot so much lol.

I know not a lot happened, but I promise it'll pick up again soon. Thank you all for reading!