I think it was the surprise of it all. Never would I have thought that I would stare into my mother's face again — artificial or not.

Everything that had to do with my family's past, I buried away, which meant never thinking about it. But with my current surroundings, I had a feeling, that I would be seeing my dead family a lot more, and I didn't know if I could handle that.

Jookie skipped ahead, pausing at the end of the hallway to open the double doors. "Welcome to your common room," he said, walking deeper into the room, feet stepping on soft black carpeting.

Exiting the hallway, we all piled in close together in the middle of the room, taking in the extravagant area. Comfy would be the word I would use to describe this place.

With a crimson and midnight décor, comfy recliners, bean bag chairs and giant, fluffy pillows littered the massive floor. A crimson dome structure caved in the ceiling with artificial skylights that glittered down on the polished, chestnut paneling, glass-metal tables and red-lighted corner bar.

A curved television took over the whole far wall with game consoles, Apple TV, and a Roku attached to it. Stylish abstract paintings slathered the walls, along with carved in bookcases filled with literary texts and cameras that zoomed in at all angles.

Wow. This room must have cost a fortune.

Everyone sort of broke apart, shuffling around and taking everything in. Something on the right wall caught my eyes. At the very top was the date and time: and under that it read, "Killer Board" in drippy white lettering.

"This is our point keeping board, where you can keep track of all your points," Jookie said, walking over to the wall.

On the wall, under the date and the drippy white lettering, was all of our pictures, horizontally placed. Our pictures seemed to change expressions, like a gif every so often.

Curved oval glass encased every photo with a glass pipe attaching to the bottom, leading down to a huge hourglass filled with smoky, boiling blood. Tiny bloody boba balls overcrowded the gassy pit, ready to drop into the fiery boxes below, which displayed our current point amount.

Damn, that had to be expensive.

"Isn't it cute how your pictures change with your moods? Your anklet works like a mood ring as well," Jookie said with a wink.

So, they would always know what we were feeling? Every minute of the day? All this just got sicker by the second.

Jookie snapped his fingers, and our names materialized over the top of our pictures. "Let's introduce everyone, shall we?"

One by one, Jookie made us go stand in front of our digital pictures via alphabetical order, showcasing us for the masked, all-black-wearing cameramen that wheeled into the common room moments ago, all sporting full-length video cameras.

I guess there wouldn't be just wall cameras. These people went all out.

When we all got into place, Jookie introduced us in this order:

Aries — the YouTube Gamer

Betinia — Princess Peach

Chi-Lynn — the Red-haired girl

Demo — the Brazilian girl

Fee — Gruffy-beard

Gmie — Skinny girl

Khan —-Warm-eyes

Layla — Sketcher-girl

Rucker — Rude boy

Tiran — Preppy boy

Yaz — Nerdy glasses

Sebastian — Blonde guy

Jookie grinned at one of the video cameras, twirling once. "Since we finally got introductions out of the way. Let's move onto something important — the rules!" He flicked his wrist to the ceiling and within a few seconds, bold writing appeared in list form.

"Rule one," Jookie said, waving his hands at all of us. "The most important. Do not try to escape. You really can't. Don't even try. It's a waste of your time and mine. If you do decide to be stupid, you will get caught, and you'll be killed. Instantly." He spun around in a circle. "Let me repeat myself. Do not try to escape. We are underground, and we have guards out the wazoo. So don't test me. Okay?"

We all nodded.

"Rule two," Jookie said, eyeing Rucker, rude boy. "Do not try to assault me, kill me, or mess up my hair. It's an instant death. We good on that one?"

We all agreed.

"Rule three. You must participate in all challenges assigned to you," Jookie said, eyeing Layla, sketcher-girl. "Or you will die. Refuse to do any, and it's an instant death. Understood?"

We nodded.

"Rule four. Do not touch your anklets," Jookie said, rolling his eyes. "I already went over that one earlier, but my bosses want me to say it again." He touched his chin. "I think that's it. Cheating is allowed in challenges. So is killing and..."

He grinned, twinkling his fingers at us. "Oh yeah, do drink and have sex with each other. Go fuckin' wild. I live for that shit, and so does the audience." He giggled. "I'm already shipping a few of you. Killing does have a way of bringing people together and making the heart grow strong."

Jookie scratched his cheek. "Hmmm, I think that's it — nope! Wait." He whistled, and guards barreled through the double doors with velvet baggies, giving us each one.

"Ah, let's pretend it's Christmas, and we're opening our presents together like a family," Jookie said, hopping on the sectional sofa. He gestured for us to follow.

No one moved at first, except Rucker. He sat on the floor across from Jookie. We all followed soon after. I ended up on the floor between Tiran, preppy boy and Layla. Chi-Lynn, red-haired girl and Sebastian, the blonde guy, were the lucky participants to actually have to sit next to Jookie.

Seeing us in a circle like this, holdings gifts, did seem sort of sick. We were sitting around, like a family, all covered in blood and brains because we just killed and dismembered another human being less than twenty minutes ago. And now, here we were like nothing happened.

"Inside your baggies, you will find an IPad and a key to your room," Jookie said, pointing to the bags. "Your keychain has a clue to your secret, so I suggest you hide them from the other contestants."

Tiran, quick to open his bag, didn't hear that last part until it was too late. He opened his bag wide, and I caught a glimpse of his keychain. It was a word, but I only caught the first two letters, "R" and "A." He saw me looking and quickly closed it.

Everyone else opened their bags slowly. A few people paled while looking inside.

Taking a deep breath, I peered into mine. A 12-inch IPad covered the bottom, along with a keychain that resembled a girl's face made out of pure gold. "Mommy's Favorite Girl" was written in script at the bottom, and a jagged scar cut the girl's face into two.

I wasn't sure what my secret was. My past? Or how I hide my true self away? But no one knew about Tini. So maybe they meant that I feared being like my mother?

I shifted the bag, catching a glimpse of something else. A chess piece. A pawn.

"The third item in your baggy is another clue to your secret," Jookie said before smiling. "Everyone gets to see this clue."

A pawn? What did that mean?

Jookie stared at all of us, eyes intensifying. "The IPad and all other electronics here can't be hacked, so don't try. If you do, it'll lead to immediate expulsion," he said. "On the IPad, there is a contestant app where you can communicate with each other via group or secretly to each other. You also have access to all live camera footage, except for the bedroom cameras of the other contestants. Viewers can see the bedrooms, but you can't. You do have access to the other contestants' bathroom cameras though." He grinned at that last part. "You can also go into the Battle of the Killers app and talk to the viewers. Answer their questions. Receive fan mail and even add things to your wish list for them to buy you."

A wish list? I felt like I was one of those webcam girls handing out my Amazon wish list. I couldn't imagine asking strangers to buy me things, especially when they were waiting for my demise.

"It's really beneficial to get to know your audience and fans," Jookie said, nodding. "They may be the ones that help you succeed and survive these games. They can give you hints or tell you what another contestant have planned. They see all. They might even buy you whatever you need to get away with murder."

Silence hung in the air.

"Well, that's my time then, kiddos! Explore. Have fun." Jookie grinned. "The first Bottom Doe Three voting session will take place in 42 hours," he said, pointing to the countdown clock that materialized on the Killer wall. "Tomorrow at three you must get together as a group and discuss who you might want to vote off and why. Toddles!"

Jookie skipped out of the common room but paused at the double doors. "I almost forgot. Those cameramen will be following you around these halls," he said, gesturing to the men behind the wheeled video cameras. "Do not try to assault them. They will kill you."

With a slight wave, he continued skipping through the double doors, and they closed behind him with a loud smack and click. Locked.

We all sat in silence, just staring at each other in disbelief that this was our life at the current moment.

What were we going to do now?

♟♙♟