SURVIVAL 35: SO LONG, MY FRIEND

SECOND'S / HEAVIEN'S POV

"S-Seyah?”

My feet were glued to the ground, not taking a step when I saw Seyah's knife pointing at my neck. She’s standing behind me.

"Do you think you can escape?" She threatened me.

I sweated coldly as I stared at the tip of her sharp knife. If I'm right, her knife is the second biggest. I looked at her mark on the chest, but I could only see half of it.

“Saturn,” she said "You want to know my mark, don't you?” She is lowering her knife. "Be thankful for sparing you.”

"You won't kill me?”

"You want me to?” she asked sarcastically.

"No, of course not." There’s no telling what this girl can do.

"If you don't want to, you’d better run. I might change my mind.”

I immediately left and ran away. I really thought I was totally done for.

"First, Jecko, and Seyah are missing!" I was shocked by what I heard when Trake shouted.

Leonthan? Where are they?

When I can finally call him by his name, then he disappears. I got suddenly nervous and had a hunch. As I recall the comics I wrote, something bad will happen.

“I met Seyah earlier near the kitchen,” I let them all know what happened a few minutes ago.

"Search the whole mansion." Brenille ordered us to look for the other two.

"The door is open!" Rochevel reported.

For some unknown reason, we are no longer trapped here. Author must have let us out to expand the place of killing.

"What?" Brenille gasped. "Trake and I will search outside. The two of you will search inside.”

"Roger!" we chorused.

"Rochevel, you search for them on the ground floor. I’ll go on the second and third," I commanded Rochevel. She agreed.

I ran upstairs while holding my small knife. I entered the boy's room one by one, but I saw no trace of the two. I went out of the last bedroom but left with nothing. I saw Rochevel. We have the same report. We gathered back in the living area. Trake and Brenille returned while panting.

"What happened?" Rochevel questioned, and we approached them

"Do not go out," Trake suggested, catching his breath.

I was about to run out when Brenille stopped me. "Wait! It's dangerous outside. There's-”

"What's in there?" I could no longer restrain myself from worrying about the missing two.

"There's a corpse! Over there, near that acacia tree. It's dark so we can't really identify who it was." News by Trake.

I backed away from my position. The corpse of whom? That can’t be.

"Can we go and find out whose body it is?" Rochevel suggested.

"Right now-"

I cut Trake off. "Can I go? Please," I begged, especially to Brenille.

"Alright. This is a risky decision, but we need to confirm coherence. Rochevel, you'll stay here. We will identify the corpse." Brenille permitted.

We ran out of the mansion.

"Is there a flashlight?" I asked. It’s dark outside with only moonlight that lights the area.

"There are no tools inside except for cooking tools," Brenille replied. He adjusted his eyeglasses.

"There," Trake pointed to the acacia tree he mentioned.

I saw the silhouette of a body lying on the ground beside an acacia tree.

"Did you go near the corpse or touch it?" I questioned the two.

"No," they both answered.

We slowly approached while covering my mouth and nose with my hands, and... for sure, I would not be able to handle such a scene.

"Gosh!" I shrieked.

C-Cut off head! There’s only body, but the head is nowhere to be found. There’s a stab in the chest where our markings are located. The tattoo on the chest is not very visible because it is dark, and there’s a knife stuck in it. The knife used was... the biggest one!

I cried, kneeling over the corpse lying. Trake stood me up and embraced me.

Why him? Tell me I was imagining things.

The school uniform worn by the corpse was the same as the school uniform of Leonthan's. The knife used was the biggest, whose owner was none other than Jecko’s.

"I'll go get some leaves," Brenille left us for a moment.

He cut off the banana leaf just next to the acacia tree. He and Trake covered the corpse with leaves. They blocked it with stones.

"Let's go back," Brenille told us.

We went back inside the mansion and sat in the living area.

"The culprit is on the loose. We must not let our guard down," Brenille warned us. "He can't get away either because we're in the middle of the island.”

"Island?" I asked.

"Yes. The settings of the game changed. We just noticed it earlier when I heard the sound of waves. This mansion is in the middle of an island, so the culprit is not that far from us.”

That is also what was written in my comics. That the place where we are right now will be different. Everything I wrote in my comics is almost identical to what is happening today.

But it comes to me too late that I could not prevent the bad events from happening. If ever I started this game, I should be the one to end it.

Seyah appeared in front of us.

“And don’t forget about her,” Brenille warned us about Seyah. No one knows where she went, but I hope she won’t attack any of us. “Beware of her too.” He’s right. We should be careful with Seyah too.

“For now, let’s take a rest first.” Trake recommended.

Trake and I couldn't sleep, so Rochevel, Seyah and Brenille went up to their respective rooms. We stayed in the living area, sitting on the sofa.

I looked at the clock and wondered why the seconds hand was not moving. Aside from the fact that it might no longer work, the three hands of the clock stopped at number 1, and all hands are evenly pointed. If the clock is just broken, the game started at 6:30 PM. It was only about thirty minutes ago when the game started but why is it pointing its three hands at number 1?

"Trake, can you grab that clock?” I asked him to do it.

He took a chair from the kitchen and stood on it. He came down from the chair and handed me the clock. He then sat down next to me. I checked each side of it. It cannot be opened, meaning it does not hold a battery.

"Maybe it draws power from the sun. You know, solar panel type?" Trake thought of that possibility, too.

"Before the game started, we were just confined here with no doors or windows open like in the castle." The sun cannot simply penetrate this part of the mansion.

Confused, I just put the clock on the coffee table.

"Hey! There’s something in here!"

Trake and I were surprised to hear some news from Seyah from the second floor.

"Let’s go!" Trake ran.

We hurried upstairs and saw Seyah sitting opposite Rochevel’s bedroom door.

"Seyah, what happened?" I questioned her. She looks astonished as she points to the slightly open door of Rochevel's bedroom.

I slowly opened the slightly open door, and my eyes couldn’t believe what I saw. My surroundings slowed, and I stared at the body that was seen.

"Roche...vel?”

She is sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. Her chest is bleeding from a sharp object and was stabbed using it. I approached Rochevel and embraced her while crying. I held her wrist, but not a beat was heard in response.

"Rochevel!”

Two of my closest friends are gone in one night.

"What happened?" I heard Brenille's voice. "What the?!”

"Who did this?" Trake is puzzled.

"Could it be that boy Jecko? He's been missing for a while. I was asleep so I didn't notice anything strange. But he's the one with the highest chance of doing that." Seyah stated her opinion.

Jecko again. He is becoming too greedy.

"We must cover her corpse," Brenille suggested and instructed us to do.

Brenille and Trake took a tablecloth from the kitchen and covered Rochevel's corpse. We first hid her in her bedroom and closed the door.

"Why do the corpses not vanish like in our previous games?" Trake pondered.

In previous games, the corpses suddenly disappear and are dispatched automatically by Author, but now, a few minutes have passed their bodies are still here.

***

"Let’s sleep here for the meantime," Brenille's stated.

We are in the living area. We’ll sleep together to avoid Jecko’s murder intent. Trake and I took the mattresses from the second-floor girls’ bedroom. They laid it next to the sofa. The boys slept on the sofa. Seyah and I will sleep on the mattresses. I volunteered to stay awake for a night watch since I can’t fall asleep after all this has happened.

***

I need to pee. I get thirsty. I hurried to the comfort room. I entered the comfort room and safely did what I needed to do. I went out and went straight to the kitchen to drink water.

It’s quite dark here because we only turned on the light in the living area. I took a glass and opened the refrigerator, drank some water. I opened the refrigerator to return the pitcher when I saw a human shadow.

"Trake? Brenille?" I stuttered.

*glass breaking* *splash*

I felt pain in my back. It was as if someone had pierced something so sharp on my back. I let go of the pitcher, so it broke. The water spilled. I sat down on the floor because of the pain, and it got worse when I forgot that the glass pitcher had broken. My right hand got wounded from the broken glass pieces. I immediately stood up and composed myself. The killer is here.

"Who’s that? Who are you? Show yourself!" I’m threatening whoever it is, but I have an idea who— Jecko!

I picked up a glass on the floor and pointed it at whoever attacked me.

"You shall die." I heard a voice... that voice was... "Argh!" Seyah?!

I heard a sound like there was a fallen, fallen body. I stepped away from the refrigerator and flicked the switch. Trembling, I turned the lights on and screamed at what I saw.

"Cy, what happened?" I heard a voice, it was Trake.

He approached me and turned to the body I was staring at, lying in front of me. My hands and feet trembled as I stared at Seyah's body. Her left side is bleeding. Her eyes are open. But before she stumbled, because there were glass shards on the floor, it severed her left chest and sank into her flesh.

I looked around the kitchen to see if there was a first aid kit. “She’s still breathing. We can save her.”

Trake clenched both of my arms. “She’s a killer. This is a survival game. She planned to kill you.”

“What happened?” Brenille squinted. “Are you alright?” He has woken up scratching his eyes.

"Seyah is dead," Trake told Brenille.

They only slept for a few hours, but another incident happened. I washed the wound on my hand and back. I wrapped the wound on my back. Trake wrapped my right hand with a clean cloth. We went to Seyah’s body in the kitchen.

We covered Seyah's corpse with whatever cloth we could find in the mansion. The three of us gathered in the living room to discuss. I took the clock from the table. Its three hands are now pointing at number 6.

"I also noticed something earlier..." Trake stood beside me. "Before we went to sleep, the hands were pointing at number 4.”

I already know what this clock means! Its three hands point to who has died. The first to die was Leonthan (1st), so it pointed to number 1 earlier. A while ago, it was number 4 because Rochevel (4th) died. And now it is pointing to number 6 because Seyah (6th) died.

"I will now discuss with you why I didn’t predict the death of Miaje, Seyah," Brenille began. "It's because I know that she killed Rochevel.”

"What?" we both asked Brenille.

"I know you won't believe me, but I have my evidence." We listened to his deduction. "We all thought that Jecko killed Rochevel. By that kind of mindset that Rochevel's real killer planted into our minds, it will be his or her opportunity to kill all of us without suspecting him or her.” Brenille has a point.

Brenille continued. “First, how did the killer get into her room? Second, when we saw Rochevel's body, there was no knife stabbed in her chest. Brenille, Seyah, Jecko, and I were the suspects for killing Rochevel because I and Seyah stayed in our rooms. We have no alibis. We deduced that Jecko was the one who killed First and is on the loose."

"Rochevel knew the killer, so she let her come into her room easily. Seyah and Rochevel have known each other for a longer time or that she trusts her more than Jecko. If Jecko knocks, Rochevel will immediately shout for help because everyone knows that Jecko is the missing killer.” Brenille ended.

"But Cy told us before that Jecko had a drill tool, so he got into Cy's window. He could also open Rochevel's window grilles by chance." Trake has something on his mind.

"That's right. But if Jecko drilled the grilles, Rochevel would wake up to the noise of the engine and still shout for help, so it's not possible." Brenille is right.

"Seyah may have stabbed Rochevel after she lets her in. Seyah is someone that Rochevel trusts even with the slightest chance compared to Jecko. Next, she stabbed her in the chest and killed her. Her room is adjacent to Rochevel's room. She called out to you and acted like someone who’s seen a corpse. She also deliberately opened the door slightly to pretend to be passing by Rochevel’s room. If she meant to go to Rochevel for any reason, she would be accused of being a killer. This explains why there’s no knife left stuck in her chest. Unlike in the first crime scene, where the knife was still stuck in the chest. Why didn't she do that? It's because Seyah still has a task to do...”

“She’s coming after us,” I added.

"You got it. She plans to kill all of us, and that's when she tried to attack you, Heavien." Me?

"You were her second victim.”

"But when I went to the comfort room, I saw her still asleep." Before I left my post in the living area, she was sleeping beside me.

"Acting is just a piece of cake. I think she was supposed to attack you when you exited the comfort room. But you entered the kitchen without turning on the lights, and that's when she tried to kill you.”

"How did you know the light was turned off when I went to the kitchen?”

"There's blood on the light switch. When you went to the kitchen, you weren't wounded yet. Seyah attacked you, so you got injured. That was the time you turned on the light."

I was amazed at Brenille’s deduction.

"Also, the stab on Rochevel was not big and long enough, so the knife used wasn’t big enough either. Jecko was not the killer because his knife contradicts the size of the wound on Rochevel’s chest. That proves that Seyah is Rochevel's killer, and the other proof is when she struck at you.”

"Does that mean there are two killers?" Trake pondered.

"Maybe, or maybe more than two. We still don't know Jecko’s whereabouts, whether he is dead or alive. But there's something peculiar about that jerk.”

"What is it?" Trake asked.

"When he killed First, he left his knife then, how will he kill the rest of us?”

He was really going to target all of us, but how is he going to do that when he left his knife on Leonthan's corpse?

"He could have taken that again from the corpse." Trake hinted.

That can happen. But what for? He could’ve just grabbed it immediately after he did that to Leonthan. Is he that reckless to leave something so important?

Brenille crossed his arms. He rested his chin on his right hand. "But one thing is for sure... One of us is the other killer.”