Friday Morning. The Masonville Hotel.

After Abigail was accused on Wednesday, the only threat left in the hotel was removed. Mr. Isaac might be a sicko, but as of now, he was still a man of his words. He allowed what was left of the class, now down to 21 students, to live out the rest of the week in the hotel in peace.

This annoyed the hell out of Katie, who spent an average of six hours per day stepping out of the boundaries of the hotel. At first, the traps that Mr. Isaac set around the hotel premise were automatically activated. All sorts of terrifying beasts leaped out of the shadows and started exchanging claws and bites and stabs with Katie, but after Katie, across a span of hours, gruesomely murdered all those beasts one by one, Mr. Isaac essentially just said ‘fuck it’ and gave up.

He had better things to spend his resources on than pleasuring Katie.

This morning, after standing outside for two hours, practically screaming into the air, Katie finally started returning to the hotel in disappointment. She expected more from Mr. Isaac, but….ah well. This was Friday, and the man himself would be here to pick the class up this afternoon. In other words, she would be unbound again, not that she was that much bound in the first place.

Stepping into the main hall, Katie’s eyes quickly landed on two students advancing out of the dining hall. After the hotel’s entire staff was purged on Wednesday, the service they provided, obviously, came to an end. This forced the students to essentially feast on whatever food was left in the halls. Those remains were enough to last the class, especially with its dwindled size, for a few days at least.

But as soon as the two students looked up and saw Katie, they snapped to the side and walked away as fast as their legs could carry them. Almost out of instinct, just to mess with them, Katie picked up her pace as well. Hearing her footsteps, the students ran even quicker, fleeing onto the stairs and disappearing from sight.

Only when they completely disappeared from view did Katie come to a stop and let out a small annoyed growl.

At the same time, inside a bedroom on the second floor of the hotel, two girls were participating in a rather heated argument.

“What does Kyle think he is doing, Vivian? Don’t tell me you can’t tell he is trying to alienate Katie and me! He is painting Katie as some sort of mindless, sadistic monster! How is that going to help him against Mr. Isaac?”

In the middle of that particular hotel room, two Queen sized beds were pushed together into a single, larger bed. A number of pieces of clothing were tossed across the bed, including four black jackets stained red with blood, all belonging to Katie. Most of them were torn, worn by Katie during the last few days when she, for no real reason at all, took on Mr. Isaac’s monsters. Honestly, at this rate, Katie could find herself financially broke just from replacing all the clothing destroyed in combat.

Sitting on the bed, and on one of Katie’s jackets, was Caitlin, and she was less than thrilled.

Just steps away from Caitlin sat a familiar figure. Vivian. Hearing Caitlin’s question, Vivian couldn’t help but sigh.

Abigail was accused and defeated during that fateful confrontation on Wednesday, but even as she died, she made sure to take a final jab at Caitlin and Katie. Not a physical jab, unfortunately. Instead, she told the entire class what some might’ve suspected all along.

Katie Lockwood. She wasn’t human.

At that time, Caitlin was indeed quite concerned about this information given to the class, but as far as she could tell, this shouldn’t change that much. The class was still united against Mr. Isaac, and Katie, human or not, was still a member of the class and was still 'forced' to go through all the games. She was still her friend. That was what made Caitlin easily accept this information.

But Caitlin made a mistake. This quickly became clear as she realized, across the span of two days, that the rest of the class seemed to have united against her and Katie. After the threat of the wraith was neutralized, as the students chose the rooms, Caitlin noticed everyone avoided the floor she and Katie were on.

Katie didn't care. If I want to kill you in your sleep, it’ll take a lot more than some stairs to turn me away. But Caitlin saw deeper. Whenever she and Katie went to the dining halls or strolled across the stairs or the hallways, the students already present would all stand up and leave. From their gazes, Caitlin saw disgust, fear, and hints of jealousy.

And it wasn’t just the dumbass students! Even Vivian distanced herself from the girls on purpose! Caitlin wasn’t that close with Vivian, but she still knew Vivian enough to know with certainty that this girl was more logical than she could ever be. She should be free of such senseless conspiracies!

“Kyle is trying to do what Eric failed to. He is trying to forge his authority in the class via this group game so he can take things into control in the games to come.” Vivian replied quietly. Her expressions were stoic. “His strive for power took a huge blow after his plans almost got us all killed, but he has been able to shift the narratives to his advantage. You and Katie weren’t notified, but we have had several meetings already. Kyle claimed that purging the hotel staff was necessary to force Abigail into the open.”

Caitlin almost coughed at the theory. Wait...what? Who would even believe that crap?

“I’m sorry?”

“Yeah, that is a stupid idea.” Vivian shrugged. “But...guess what? Kyle is now the biggest and baddest boy in the room. No one cares if he is telling the truth, just that he is telling them something.”

“And Eric? I find it unbelievable that he didn't challenge Kyle.”

“Eric…” This time, Vivian found herself frowning. This was something she was confused about as well. “Something is off with him. He did nothing to even remotely challenge Kyle for power. If anything...he seems to be afraid of Kyle.”

“Weren’t the boys on his payroll both killed on Wednesday?” Caitlin distinctly remembered that part on Wednesday. Eric and Abigail were the only two students whose entire teams got killed but managed to survive themselves. Abigail...no surprise there considering she was the one doing the killing, but Eric...how did he survive when both of his friends fell? But she didn't think much of it. “He has fewer guns and support than before. I suppose that makes sense.”

“Perhaps…”

Neither girl paid too much attention to Eric as they got back to the matter of Kyle.

“Kyle can take all the power he wants, but why would he try to actively alienate Katie and I?” Caitlin pushed on. “Neither Katie nor I have any intent on being the leader of the class. We just want to survive and take down Mr. Isaac. For Kyle and the rest of the class, having our support will always be more beneficial than harmful.”

Vivian turned to the side. She glanced at the door to make sure no one was entering before shifting her attention back to Caitlin.

“Look, Caitlin. You are a smart woman, but your love for Katie has blinded you to certain...certain aspects of her. I don’t doubt that she is powerful, not one bit, but she is definitely not the selfless protector you think she is.”

“From the perspective of Kyle, as a leader...Katie doesn’t care how much authority Kyle has. If Kyle pisses her off, she will go up to him in front of the entire class and punch him in the face.”

“Yeah…” Caitlin found herself slightly giggling just from imagining the sight.

“Amusing. I know.” Vivian continued. “Either way, to Kyle, Katie is a loose cannon. She is uncontrollable. She can’t be bribed or threatened. She can’t be subdued. Now, if Kyle has the good for the whole class in mind, he may try to ignore those dangers and pull Katie to his side, but…but as now, the only thing he can do is tell everyone Katie is a monster. When trouble comes, no one will side with a monster over a fellow human being. This will cement his authority.”

“Hmmm…” Caitlin couldn’t help but agree. Kyle was fully capable of doing such a thing to exclude a threat, just like Katie was fully capable of putting a knife into his neck at a moment’s notice. But how about everyone else. “And you, Vivian? Why are you siding with Kyle? You are better than that!”

“What other options do I have?” The other girl in the room retaliated. “Side with you? Kyle will mark me as an outsider and a traitor. Now, of course, Katie can protect me. Kyle and his goons would never dare lay a finger on me.”

“Indeed.”

“But how about in the games? What happens if we’re in another game like the Telephone Game, where we have to place our lives in the hands of others?” Vivian leaned forward. “As a traitor, I will be as good as dead. Tell me, Caitlin. If you lose, what will Katie do?”

“She will be furious.” The answer was clear as day.

“Indeed. And Mr. Isaac...you know, I have wondered this for a while now. Katie is clearly an obstacle to whatever Mr. Isaac is trying to achieve, but she is still alive. My assumption is that Katie’s powers, whether they be rapid regeneration or something else, makes her difficult to get rid of. In other words, Mr. Isaac doesn’t want to piss her off.”

Caitlin bit her lips. Vivian was completely correct in that aspect despite lacking major pieces of intel.

“Therefore, Mr. Isaac will shy away from killing you. I don’t know if that grants you immunity from the games, but you will be protected.” Vivian proceeded to gesture at herself. “But me...if I die, will Katie be furious and seek to avenge me, or will she just look at my body and smile?”

“Caitlin, you are too close to Katie to see what she is truly capable of. To you, she is the most sacred and devoted protector, and I envy you for that. But to people like us, people that she doesn’t give a damn about, she is a beast. An uncontrollable, sadistic beast who lusts for blood and gore more than anything else. One who will be all too happy to watch us go down screaming.”

“Given those facts.” Vivian finally sat back. “I believe it is clear why I want to place my bets on Kyle instead. Katie...she's not that reliable when it comes to people other than you.”

For a while, Caitlin sat there in silence as she tried to organize her thoughts. Vivian waited patiently as she leaned back into the chair. She was flickering her fingernails in boredom when Caitlin finally replied.

“I don’t deny anything you said about Katie, Vivian. I admit Katie has...let’s just say she has quite a dark side, but she is definitely not all bad. There is a good side to her. Remember the set of games where Mr. Isaac forced us to fight in gladiatorial matches against the monsters he summoned? Who saved us?”

“Look, Caitlin…that doesn’t mean anything...”

“Who?” Caitlin demanded, not taking one step back.

“Katie did. She killed all those zombies and ended that set of games. We could’ve all been slain without her.” In the end, Vivian gave in.

“And...and Abigail. On Wednesday, if Katie wasn’t there, do you think half the class that ventured outside could’ve survived? Do you think I could’ve had the chance to accuse her?”

“Likely not, but Caitlin, don’t tell me you haven’t realized this! Katie didn't do those things to save her classmates. She did those either to save you or because she simply wanted some fun!” Vivian shook her head in dismay. “You are not making a point, Caitlin.”

“Grrrr…” For a moment, Caitlin really wanted to scream. Indeed, Katie’s track records haven’t been the best for her argument. Most of the things that she did were far from selfless. Nonetheless, she had to make a stand, because… “listen to me, Vivian! What Kyle is doing now is to paint Katie as a monster, and the only thing that he will accomplish is making her feel like one! You think she’s bad now? Just watch what she will become after she has truly given into her instincts!”

Caitlin stared into Vivian’s eyes, hoping she would change her mind. But in the end, it was useless. Caitlin watched futilely as Vivian stood up and left the bedroom.

Less than a minute later, Katie walked into the room. Without a word, she removed another jacket, tossed it onto the floor, and laid down on the bed in just her tank top and rested her head on Caitlin’s lap.

“You know…” She said quietly with her eyes shut and her head leaned back comfortably. “you don’t really have to worry about me. The only person whose opinion I care about is yours. Vivian is right in one aspect. Everyone else can die and I wouldn’t give a damn.”

Caitlin raised her eyebrows. Of course, Katie heard all those. She really shouldn’t be that surprised given how acute Katie’s senses have become. Either way, she simply shook her head.

“It’s not that simple, Katie...you are an immortal. You can never die, but I can. One day, whether it’s tomorrow or in fifty years, I’ll be gone...then what?”

“Then…” Katie paused. “honestly, I have no idea. Maybe I’ll try to find out the truth about my body? Maybe I’ll find a way to kill myself? I...I suppose I’ll just be lost.”

“Exactly.” Caitlin whispered as she slowly stroked Katie’s long black hair. “Katie...I don’t want to see you become another monster who goes around the world and mindlessly tortures and kills the innocent. I don’t want you to become another Mr. Isaac. I don't know what’s going on in your body, but I know there is some good in you. I know it!”

She looked down into Katie’s beautiful blue eyes.

“There is a part of you that is strong. That is compassionate to those who deserve compassion. That is determined to fight the worthy fight. It is that part of you that can use your powers to torture and slay the wicked and the wicked only, and when I die, I don’t want that part of you to die with me!”

"I don't want me to be the only reason you have a bottom line."

With that said, she leaned forward and gently kissed Katie on the forehead.

At the same time, on the third floor, Kyle let out a frustrated groan. Literal darkness was in his eyes.

His job just kept on getting more and more difficult.