The projector in the classroom was turned on. Two numbers appeared on the screen for the entire class to see. Right now, the two numbers were 0s, but that would change very quickly.

A timer was in the middle. 10:00

10 minutes to beat themselves up.

Caitlin closed her eyes in anguish. “You didn’t have to do this, Katie. Just let me die.”

“Well, too late to back out now.” Katie reached inside the box and started checking out the contents. “Let’s see what we’ve got here. This looks fun.” She took out a scalpel.

“I’m not going to die here.” On the other side, Brian suddenly decided. He pulled out a small knife and dug it into his arm. Blood oozed out. The number above his head immediately popped to 12.

“Do it.” Caitlin bit her lips. “Do what you have to do.”

Katie tilted her head before letting her body urges take over.

Carefully, she pushed the table to the side and cut open Caitlin’s jeans with the scalpel. A piece of clothes fell off, revealing a large piece of clear, soft skin.

She wiped the scalpel across Caitlin's skin, cutting it apart.

“Aww!!!” Caitlin couldn’t help but feel tears coming out of her eyes and dripping down her cheeks.

“Ssss.” Katie hissed. She stared at her own thigh with widened eyes, and she was very satisfied to realize the same injury was duplicated onto her.

The number jumped to 8.

“That’s disappointing.” Katie glanced at the number before jamming the scalpel into her own leg.

That number leaped to 25.

“Ahhhh!” A fountain of blood started racing out of the leg of both Katie and Caitlin. It was more serious with Caitlin, as she didn't have the blade to fill the gap. Within moments, she turned pale.

A concerned look found its way onto Katie’s face and temporarily fought back that of pleasure. She completely forgot about Caitlin in the heat of the moment, and the scream of her friend made her very guilty.

On the side, Mr. Isaac waved his hand.

“Another addition. To keep this game going, all participants will be kept from dying during the game. You will all be healed after the game is over. The winner, of course.”

“That’s nice.” Katie glanced at Caitlin. “You ok?”

“Yeah.” Caitlin gasped. Her shirt soaked in sweat. “Just keep going. Don’t stop.” She smiled weakly. “I can take it.”

Katie tilted her head, frowned, and then gave in to her instincts.

A twist on the scalpal sent the count to 54.

“No!” On the other side, Brian slammed the table. He picked up a knife, but he couldn’t bring it down. The way he looked at Katie was full of hatred. Without that bitch, he could’ve defeated Caitlin easily. There was no way the blonde could go further than he could.

Five minutes left. If things stay this way, the girls would live to see another game, and the same could not be said for him.

But Katie had no intention of stopping right now.

“What do we have here?” She pulled out a syringe from the box.

“Something I created myself. I can it Formula 6.” Mr. Isaac added. “I thought you might like it.”

“What does it do?”

“It stimulates the nociceptors in your body. Those are the pain receptors. It can make stubbing a toe feel like you’re chopping your leg off.”

Katie grinned and turned around to find Caitlin horrified.

“Please don’t do this.”

The brunette frowned. This would be fun. Taking this drug + using all the other tools on herself + in front of everyone else + have someone else feeling the same thing? What else could she hope for? But as she looked to her friend, she understood the simple issue.

She might enjoy this, but Caitlin definitely wouldn’t. Isaac promised there wouldn’t be any lasting physical problems, but if this drug really does what Isaac says, it could break one’s mind easily.

Have fun or save her friend?

Katie finally sighed and laid the syringe down. On the other side, Brian finally dropped his knife. He turned to the girls, especially Katie.

“You want to keep playing, don’t you, you sadistic psychopath?” The boy smirked spitefully. “I’m not letting you win.”

He turned to Isaac.

“I’m not playing this game anymore. I can’t win. Just kill me and get it over with.”

“Oh come on you coward!” Katie threw her arms up in disappointment. “Just keep playing! At least have a chance to live! Participation is the key!”

“Yeah no.” But Brian has made up his mind. All the fear has broken his will to live. He just wanted to make this stop. When he was so afraid for so long, he was suddenly not afraid anymore. “Do what you can, you son of a bitch.”

“Brian!” Terry shouted, but no one paid any attention to him.

“Brian…” Caitlin whispered. “thank you.”

If Brian has chosen to die, then she wouldn’t need to.

Mr. Isaac stood to the side. He didn't seem to be offended by the sudden deviation of the game at all. But the cold-blooded smirk on his chin suggested he wasn’t gonna let this end so easily.

Minutes passed. The timer ended.

Caitlin has won.

The wounds on Caitlin were closed. All the pain she was in disappeared. Before the blonde could smile, she saw Katie pulling out the scalpel in her thigh, drawing a fountain of blood.

“Why isn’t she healed?”

“She’s not a participant. She’s an audience who broke the rules.” Mr. Isaac didn't back off. “I said I would heal all participants.”

“Whatever.” Katie shrugged and stood up as blood started soaking her jeans. She stumbled a little. Caitlin ran over and helped her up. The two started walking away from the front. The stage was no longer for them.

Everyone turned their attention to Brian. Some wept while others sighed. All of them knew what was going to happen. The only question was how the execution would happen.

“You have lost the game.” Mr. Isaac started. “And now, you’ll be…”

“Excuse me,” A voice came from the side. Mr. Isaac turned to find Katie. “quick question. Can I take the boxes?” The brunette pointed at the two boxes on the tables.

“Why would you want two boxes of torture devices?” Caitlin was almost afraid of the answer.

Katie shrugged.

“They’ll always come in handy sometime.”

“We really need to talk about this later.”

“I will excuse your transgression this time, ladies, because you have put up quite a show, but this is the last time.” Mr. Isaac realized Katie was still staring at him in inquiry. “Fine. Take the boxes.”

Katie grinned. She casually walked to the front and grabbed onto the boxes. As she went to grab the one on Brian’s table, her eyes landed on Brian. She quietly whispered something to him.

“Jessica and the others dug their eyes out. Lucy was burned to crisp. I wonder what will happen to you.”

A hint of fear appeared on Brian’s face. Katie’s lips formed a pleasant curve as she returned to her seat and emptied the content from the boxes into her school bag.

With the distraction gone, the execution continued.

“You have lost the game. And now, you’ll be punished.”

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Suddenly, a couple of girls gasped. They could see a line of red appearing around Brian’s waist. The boy looked down in horror. He tried to move, to flinch, but to his horror, he realized he has lost access to his legs.

In fact, as the red line covered his entire waist, his upper body literally fell off from his lower body.

Mr. Isaac severed him into two in the middle.

This was even worse than beheading. Take off the head, and the victim would be dead in seconds. Even if a severed head could retain conscious, it would only be a couple of seconds. But with the lower body severed, the victim would still be alive for quite a while. The head’s fine. The neck’s fine. The heart’s fine. The final cause of death would be loss of blood.

Not the quickest way to die.

Brian screamed as he crawled on the ground. A trail of bright red blood marked his journey. The blood was quickly joined by pink intestines. He moved toward the students, screaming, begging for a quick end.

Terry stood up and aimed his shotgun at Brian’s head. The maimed man looked at his friend in gratitude.

“Anyone that interrupts his punishment would take his place.”

Terry froze. His gun holding arm shook. For a moment, he just wanted to pull the trigger, reload, and then put the barrel into his own mouth and pull the trigger again. But he didn't dare to. His courage was already broken by Mr. Isaac. His spirit was gone.

“Terry! Please! Please! I’m begging you! Do it!”

Two lines of tears flowed down Terry’s face. Suddenly, he turned his shotgun to the empty floor in front of him and fired, screaming in the process.

None of the rounds landed on Brian.

Katie laid back in her seat with her legs on the table. It tormented her, but the fact was she enjoyed Brian’s screams. It was like music to her. She toyed with the idea of ending Brian’s misery. She had a handgun in her jacket. But she decided not to. She enjoyed pain, but she also had the will to live.

Brian’s screams were getting quieter and quieter. Finally, he laid dead on the ground. Lucky for him, his misery has ended.

The room was quiet for a second before Mr. Isaac declared everyone was free to do whatever they wanted.

As soon as that was said, Terry walked to Katie with his shotgun in hand.

“One day,” He looked into Katie’s eyes. “I will shoot you in the head and spill your messed up brain across the walls of this very room.”

Katie glanced at his weapon.

“Like how you shot Brian in the head and ended his pathetic, miserable life?”

Terry’s eyes reddened as he pulled his shotgun up, but Katie was ready. She grabbed onto the shotgun with one hand and yanked it to the side while punching Terry in the face with the other hand.

Bang! In the struggle, Terry accidentally pulled the trigger, and a wave of shrapnel flew out. Fortunately, they only hit the wall.

Katie twisted Terry’s arm and took the shotgun over. Before the man could move forward again, she took a step back and pointed the weapon at his head.

The smell of gunpowder made Terry freeze.

“If I blow your head open right now, will the police come after me?”

“Katie?” Caitlin said in hesitation. “Don’t do this!”

“Why? He threatened me first. Why would I keep him alive? So he can shoot me in the back tomorrow?” Katie still had a smile on, but her eyes were cold. Her finger started closing in on the trigger. She was really thinking about it.

The curse can prevent any retaliation from the outside world. Terry’s parents would barely notice their son is gone. Mr. Isaac would likely deal with the body, just like with the previous victims. The police wouldn’t know anything. Even if the other students in the class know she killed him, so what? She’s the second deadliest entity in the classroom, just after Mr. Isaac. Who would dare try to punish her?

Wait wait wait. What? Katie suddenly frowned. Since when did she think murder is fine? Killing Lucy was because someone had to die. Same thing with Brian. But Terry is a different story. Killing him just because he threatened her once was just crazy.

If she keeps on doing this, what would she become? A monster? A beast? Would she still be herself if she was controlled by her desires for blood and pain?

But it would feel so good just to pull the trigger...Terry would scream before she dies...the smell of gunpowder...the smell of blood...

Katie turned the shotgun to the floor and pulled the trigger. She kept on shooting and reloading until the weapon was empty. That was when she tossed it back to Terry.

“Don’t threaten me again.”

As Terry backed off, Katie noticed the rest of the class was looking at her in fear. Fair enough. As long as...she turned back and looked at Caitlin. She saw concern in her friend’s eyes, but no fear. She smiled inside.

As she was about to leave, a boy walked to her.

“Eric. Something’s wrong?” Katie recognized the boy. He’s one of those rich kids with fancy sports cars and the newest iPhones. She was curious about what he could want from her, especially after what she did to the last person that approached her.

“A few friends and I are going to a bar for some fun. I’m inviting you to join us.” Eric handed Katie a piece of paper with an address on it. “There’ll be a lot of good stuff. Food. Alcohol. Possibly some substances. Definitely girls. Wait, do you like girls or boys?”

“I don’t have a preference.” Katie shrugged. “Maybe I’ll come later.”

But Eric wasn’t done. He took out another thing and gave it to Katie. It was a debit card.

“This card has $10,000 in it. The PIN is 1234. It’s yours.”

Katie took it over before throwing Eric a questioning glance.

“I know you’ve got rich parents, but I don’t believe you’re just going around handing people money. Care to explain?”

Eric didn't even bother to hide his intentions.

“At this point, the class has went through two games. In both games, you were involved, and you almost single-handedly decided who lived and who died. More games will come, and in the future, I hope you can lend me a helping hand, if you can, of course.”

Katie suddenly giggled.

“I don’t know what gave you that impression, but I’m every bit as helpless as the rest of you. If that monster snaps his finger, I might fall to the ground screaming, just like anyone else.”

“Perhaps.” Eric didn't disagree. “In any case, I just want to be your friend. You’re welcomed to the party. I’m sure we will have a lot of fun.”

He gave Katie one last smile before walking out of the room.

Katie paused for a second before returning the debit card to her pocket. She quickly joined Caitlin on the way home. As she stood up, she glanced down on her leg and realized the wounds she took just minutes ago were nowhere to be seen.

Interesting.