Hour 7

Emi felt the exact second her adrenaline blasted through her bloodstream like an illicit drug. Her fight or flight had been activated and she didn't have any urge to run. The man standing not 100 feet away from her was the one. The one that had fractured her family. Liam answered the question as he pulled at his bushy beard, "This is why I picked dare. I don't have time for pointless questions." He finished his next sentence in an affectation that cut through her midsection like a dagger: "I don't remember the names of people I kill. I have no idea who you're talking about." Emi started walking towards him, her mind lost in a haze of hatred. Richard had called out after her, "Hey, what're you doing?" Alice and Jake tried to talk to her as well, but It was no use; the words her companions projected at her were processed by her ears like useless white noise. As she approached Liam, he asked, "What do you want?" He was at least 4 inches taller than her but Emi grabbed him by his shirt and dragged his face down to hers.

When Emi woke up, the first thing she did was grab her head and moan in agony. Her head exploded with every heartbeat and the right side of her neck felt like it was ablaze. As she sat up from her place on the floor, Jake knelt down next to her and inquired, "You alive?" "I think so," Emi replied as she realized the metallic taste of blood stained the inside of her mouth. She asked, "What happened?" Jake answered "I was going to ask you that. You lost your mind and grabbed that guy, he knocked you out cold." Emi rubbed her head again tenderly and felt a sizeable welt already forming where she had been struck. "My brother, is Alex ok? Did he see any of that?" Jake replied, "No, he couldn't see what happened from this angle." Richard, who she just realized was standing behind her, said, "After you were knocked out, there was a commotion, but we made him stay where he was; we said he couldn't come over because he could ruin the game, but you were ok. Alice spent some time with him and Paul's there now." "Thanks, I appreciate that," Emi said. It was at this point emi realized Jake was missing his right ear and had a patch of dried blood under where it used to be while Alice, who was to Emi's right, was naked, her clothes folded in a pile next to her. Emi looked around and saw no one was currently playing the game and only team 1 remained. She turned around to look at the scores which read:

Team 1: 7

Team 2: -5

Team 3: 4

Team 4: -5

Team 5: -5

She looked at her team, and Richard admitted, "We won by default. Me and Paul lost a few rounds but Alice and Jake kept us in the game. The other teams began to turn on each other and only made the game harder for themselves." Jake added, "It was hard, though; at one point, someone from team 2 won and decided to stay so they could choose you, Emi. Since you couldn't play, we lost a point, but thankfully, it only happened once." Guilt flooded Emi as she thought, "They had to endure with only 4 members; it's my fault." As Emi tried to rationalize the situation she put her team in, she asked, "What happened to the other teams?" Alice answered as she covered her chest and stood looking away from the group, "When a team hit -5, their lights went out on the board, and they were instructed to sit down. After it was decided what 3 teams failed, they were asked to leave the stage." She filled Emi in on the details of what transpired next:

The disqualified contestants seemed scared at first, but then Benjamin said, "We didn't die, so maybe we still have a chance if we do what we're told." A few others agreed with him so he led the way down the stage. As they neared the audience of shadows, they were attacked, the heads of the audience rocketed off their shoulders as their necks stretched in snaking curves. Pieces of the loser's bodies vanished instantly; the only clue as to what happened was the monstrous heads above them chewing ravenously.

As Alice finished describing the horrible outcome that befell the losers, the announcer shouted "Now that all the remaining contestants are conscious, I can explain what's going to happen next. The next challenge will be team 1 vs team 3!" As Emi stood up, she realized Liam was staring at her with a look of satisfaction on his face that instantly sent her back into the mindset that got her laid out. She closed her eyes and thought, "Just focus on the game. You'll get your chance." The announcer continued, its vile voice filling the stage, "The rules are simple. We continue with the established format but with some deviations. For starters, your opponent gets to choose your challenge. For example, if team 1 goes first, team 3 gets to ask them if they want the truth or dare and then gets to present their goal. If you fail even once, you get no second chances; you will be sent to meet our lovely audience." Most of the shadowy audience had returned to normal, but some of them were still munching on the remains of teams 2,4, and 5 with their extended necks in full view. They all stopped eating in a single uncanny jerk to briefly turn and look at those still lucky enough to be on stage. They smiled menacingly to show they understood what was being suggested, blood staining their unnaturally white teeth. The announcer finished, "This time, the game will be over when there are only 5 people left. This means partial teams may advance, such as 2 from one team and 3 from another. Just remember, when you give your challenge it must be physically possible and not involve the person you're challenging dying. For example, you can't dare someone to kill themselves or ask a truth that they genuinely couldn't know, like saying something in a language they've never even heard of. If you ignore these rules then you will lose."

The squares they had stood on previously while playing the game were gone, and in their place rose 2 golden triangles from the floor; instead of facing the audience, they faced each other. As Liam immediately began his brisk walk to one Emi took a confident stride to the other. Jake called out, "Wow, we haven't decided anything yet!" And Emi responded, "I put you at a disadvantage last game, and I will make up for it." The idea of losing wasn't in her mind, she was no longer fighting for her brother and her team but for the memory of her father. The announcer said, "Since team 1 has the higher points from the proceeding round, they may choose who goes first. Emi looked at Liam with a fiery rage and he looked at her not unlike how one might look at a toddler throwing a tantrum. He said in his deep, gravelly voice, "Give me your best shot, princess." Emi asked him in a ruthless inflection, "Truth or dare?" As Liam laughed, Emi thought, "I don't think there's much I could do to make this guy lose, especially if he's going to try to prove a point. My best option is to try to benefit from him." As Liam's laughter faded, he said, "Dare. Give me your worst, little girl." Emi smiled, confident in her plan, as she told him, "Give my brother half your hours left on your phone." Liam twitched slightly, obviously caught off guard by her idea but trying not to show emotion. He asked the invisible announcer, "Is that allowed?" And they responded, "We will permit it." He said, "Fine, whatever." The announcer remarked, "It is done, then. You pass." Emi yelled to Alex, "Check your phone!" Alex looked down briefly, then yelled back, "I've got a little over 100 hours, em!" Emi threw her arm out and exclaimed, "Nice!" Liam brought her attention back to him as he said, "My turn, sweetie." Emi thought, "He shouldn't be able to dare me to give his hours back because I didn't personally take them; he'd have to dare Alex, and he isn't even technically in this phase. He could dare me to give half my hours to him, but then I could always dare them right back." Emi gritted her teeth. "This guy isn't smart; knowing him, he'll react emotionally and want to cause me pain for what I did, but I can take it. Jake took his own ear off to keep us in the game, I can take whatever this guy gives me." Liam directed Emi, "I dare you to kill your brother."