“Huh, so you thought you were
finished, weren’t you?”
I struggle to open my eyes as I
look around; it seems I’m tied to a chair. I try to get out, but I stop as I
notice the familiar voice coming from behind. It continues to reverberate
across the room until I can see a heavily bearded male in front of me.
“D…Drew?” I try to make out his
face. The feeling of dread starts to invade my body; I feel like I’m frozen in
fear.
“Miss me? I don’t think I can
say the same thing.”
“W…what are you doing? Why am I
here? And how exactly did you get me out from work?”
“Patience, it’ll be clear soon
enough,” Drew replies. I see that he’s holding a remote to a monitor. As he
clicks a button, I notice various monitors turning on; there seem to be dozens
of people on them. I’m speechless; I know exactly what’s happening.
“…You’re sick.”
“Indeed I am, old friend,” Drew
looks like he’s going to cough, “physically, that is.”
“Isn’t it enough? You already
got what you wanted.”
“Yes, but the thing with human
nature is that we always want more.”
“You already have everything!
The technology for your little laser tag killing game, the DNA of the Pancakes
hybrid…”
My
best friend…
“…and you want more?”
“I’m quitting the business
Elisha,” Drew fiddles with the controller, “I’m going to pack up and see where
the wind takes me. After all, I’m graduating in a few months.”
“Oh, from criminal school?
That’s rich!”
“No, from this business
entirely. However, I wouldn’t mind dabbling in a little… game before I go.”
“You don’t mean...” I don’t have
the heart to finish the sentence.
“Yes, one final assassins game,”
Drew smiles, “I have something else up my sleeve.”
On the screens are various
people running around; I know most of them, but there are plenty of others that
seem unfamiliar to me. Unfortunately, knowing how the last game turned out, the
ones I knew are already…
“They’re not my friends, are
they?” I look down at the ropes.
“Yes, you discovered the secret
last time,” Drew rolls his eyes, “they’re all clones now based on their DNA from
before. The new ones are still technically alive though, I invited them
personally.”
“And what kind of twisted person
would agree to such a thing?” I snarl.
“You know, the type of person
that would be interested in a little… compensation.”
I notice that there’s another
screen that flashes a figure of a million. Is that a bitcoin?
“Wait… you’re offering a million
bitcoins as the grand prize? In exchange for everyone’s lives?”
“Of course, I had to limit the
playing field. These people are playing for something special.”
“Which would be?”
“Tuition.”
I shudder. Education today has
been called the neo-status of living; ever since the attack on major
universities all across the world, only a select few institutions remained. Of
course, this meant that everyone had free reign over prices, and mere hundreds
of people in the world were getting a secondary education. These people would
be known as legends, but only if they paid up.
“Yes, I might have made a little
inflationary crisis here and there,” Drew chuckles, “but that’s not important.
You’re wondering why you’re here.”
“Um, sure. Let’s say I was,” I’m
trying to buy more time, trying to memorize the people I need to save…
Trying to forget my regrets.
“Well, you’re going to help me chronicle
these events like you always do,” Drew smiles.
“How did you…”
I feel a small book on my lap as
he flings my notebook to me. I gasp; it’s a record of everything since 2013. I
had to watch my friends die because of this, and yet…
“This isn’t your handwriting
Elisha.”
He’s right; for some reason, I
remember writing this, but it’s not in my usual scrawl. In addition, the pages
from later days have ripped off, only leaving the victor on the back cover. Did
I ever finish this?
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Drew
looks at me sternly, “I know it’s the other you.”
“The… other me?” I try to feign
stupidity; I know who he’s talking about.
“Ugh, you know what? I’m done
talking with you,” Drew looks a bit agitated; I can see him brandishing a fist
at—
Whap!
**
“Ew, I hate these clothes.”
This shirt? Super tacky. Really
tacky. Who even wears dark green?
“Hey, are you there?” There’s
this really weird man in front of me; he needs to shave, big time. And wait,
why am I in ropes? I don’t remember having that
much fun…
“Hey, mister? Can you get me
out?”
“First thing’s first…”
“I’m the realest, drop this and
let the whole world feel it?” Who dat? Who dat?
“Ugh, are you always this
annoying?”
“Hey, you’re the one who has me
tied up mister! Can you let me out? I’m feeling a bit tingly, and it might be
my head, or it might be...”
“Stop, okay? Stop it!” The mean
man looks a bit sad. Maybe he needs a treat! “Elisha, are you always this
weird?”
“Elisha? Oh, you mean big bro!
Have you seen him?”
“Wow, really? Um, what’s my
license plate number?”
“How the heck would I know?
That’s creepy! Like who does that? Only weirdos and people who watch terrible
anime without irony, that’s who.”
“You really are a different person,” the man looks curiously at me.
“The name’s Ash Amada, but you
can call me Ash! If I wasn’t tied up, I’d totally give you a handshake right
now, but…”
I can hear the scruffy man
mutter something under his breath. Dissociative identity disorder? Can I eat
it?
“So very… interesting you are
Ash. You must be the person Elisha’s written in his notebook.”
“Yeah, I only see big bro when
he writes in there, it’s like he’s writing a letter to me! So I write back.”
“Brilliant! Oh, I forgot to
introduce myself, I’m Drew.”
“Nice to meet ya! I think…”
“So does Elisha know about
anything I’ve been doing recently?”
“No, but he really wants to stop
you!”
“Stop me? Ha, the time for
that’s kinda done already. Question; are you a writer?”
“Well, I try to freelance on the
side, it helps with my art addiction. Check it out, I’m a cat.”
I flip the notebook and pull out
a picture of an animal version of me. I think Drew is really confused, but who
cares!
“Perfect! Well, I have a task
for you. Would you be able to assist in writing some really sad obituaries?”
“Oh, I did that once! It was the
worst three months of my life,” I huff. Phooey, it’s 2013 all over again!
“Well, make sure that big bro
doesn’t interfere, okay?”
“H…hey, only I can call him
that!”
“O…kay?”
“I HAVE TO PEE!” I suddenly
realize that I haven’t went in two days! In fact, I don’t remember much until
now; wasn’t I wearing a striped sweater?
“Well, after I talk with Elisha,
alright?” Drew puts on a funny mask and suddenly the room starts to fill up
with smoke. I feel like I wanna nap…
“Oh, and Ash? Tell Elisha that
Anthony’s alive. But he won’t be unless Elisha records.”
“Who’s… oh? He always talks
about that guy, something about regretting everyday about sabotaging him and
how he wishes that they could rec…”
**
“What’s my license plate number?”
Almost immediately I recite it;
old habits die hard.
“Wow, you’ve changed.”
“It’s your fault!” I point at
the man who’s made me lost everything.
“It’s bad enough I had to deal
with your crazy alter ego or whatever. What happened to less crazy Elisha?”
“I’m done, I can’t…” I feel like I want to punch him and cry at
the same time.
“Oh, but you can, and you know
why?” Drew points to another screen. “It’s because if you don’t, I’m going to
destroy this facility.”
It’s the private detective
agency I’ve been working at for quite some time; I’ve kept a secret file hidden
with details of things dating back to 2012. If he were to blow it up…
“My whole life would be
destroyed,” I respond coldly, “…fine, I’ll do what you want. Just promise me
nothing happens to the building.”
“I also told your little friend
about an added bonus,” Drew smiles, “But I’ll wait until he tells you before I
rush into anything too brash.”
Drew hands me a paper and
unfastens the ropes. I grab my notebook and start flipping through the pages.
“Oh, forget what you know about
the previous games,” Drew chuckles, “I’ve made some modifications to the
rules.”
The sheet of paper tells me
everything I need to know; weapons permitted, safe zones, and even something
that puts a smile on my face.
“So you finally put people in
pairs,” I say, relieved that maybe more than one person could escape,
“Districts. Ooh, kind of like The World
Ends With You, right?”
“What’s that even?”
“…Whatever. So two people can
survive, right?”
“Haha, maybe,” Drew faces a
wall, “Let’s see if you can do this one last time.”
All of a sudden a door opens as
I get a text on my phone. Apparently it seems that Drew didn’t take it before
subduing me. It looks like the first assassination is going to take place.
“Do you think you can stop it? I
doubt it, but hey, you need details, right?”
“But how many people are
playing? And how will I know--“
“That’s on a need to know basis,
and you don’t need to know right now.”
It seems like I need to head to
the central plaza of the university. As I head outside the door, I realize that
I’m only a few blocks away from where I need to head next. Wait, today’s class organization
speeches, which means…
Connor Lopez is in danger.
My run turns into a sprint as I
think about how much time I might have left. Who else is playing? What pairs
exist? And mainly, what was Drew’s final promise? I put my notebook in my
pocket and continue to dash.
Don’t fail me now partner.
Shameless plug alert! I'm sort of working on a game with people from around the world! It's a visual novel called Bloody Chronicles, and we're working on the first part of it! Demo should be out by the end of the month, so if you love reading these obituaries, check out my writing in this game on Steam! (You can probably play this BGM while reading the above haha.)
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