SAWS. I snuck a glance at Rucker, and he looked tense as he watched the whirling saws emerge from the walls again and surround him. The one in front of him zoomed a little too close to his package again, only inches away.

Rucker sighed and turned to me, giving me an encouraging smile. "You got this. I know you do." He believed in me, and I wouldn't let him down.

We can do this. Yes, we can. We have too.

"Let's begin," Jookie said, tapping the space in front of him. "Next statement."

I SPRAINED MY ANKLE AT SWAN LAKE.

Oh, this one's easy. It's truth. Wait, how did you figure it out that fast? Well, in this statement, Swan Lake isn't a real lake. I'm thinking it's the ballet. Remember when we first got here? Jookie danced for us in the kitchen. It was a very elegant dance, and it looked like a form of ballet. So, I just put two and two together. Wait, Jookie was a ballerina?

I glanced at him, looking him up and down.

A slow-burning grin formed on his lips. "Is looking at me half-naked making you horny, my little peach?"

"Quite the opposite actually. I feel my ovaries drying up little by little."

"Insulting me is probably not the best course of action," Jookie said, wiggling his eyebrows. "I can do your punishment now if you want."

"No. I'm good," I said, making him laugh.

He does kind of have the body for it. I could see him being a dancer. He definitely likes to get pampered like one. Yeah, that water he was drinking is like 40 grand a bottle. Okay, back on topic, are you sure about this? That it's truth? You can trust me. I know I fucked up during Layla's murder investigation. I overthought everything and wasn't seeing the full picture. I learned from my mistakes, and I'm better now. Trust me.

I took in a breath and exhaled. Then, I pressed truth.

Everything blazed green. I sighed, and so did Rucker as the saws went back an inch.

"See you got this, B," Rucker said in a light tone even though he still had sweat sliding down his face as the water started to rise even more around him.

"What's the water for?" I asked, watching it come down even faster now from the crack in the ceiling. It was at his chest now.

"This is also a timed game," Jookie said. "If we don't get through the questions in time, he could drown."

"Why didn't you say that before?" I screeched.

"You never asked?" Jookie shrugged.

"Hurry up with the next statement."

"Remember one more wrong—"

"And he's dead, I got it. Go."

The next statement popped up.

I NEVER BATHED IN BLOOD REGULARLY

So, we should be looking at the word "bathed" right? Yes. They want to confuse you with the past tense and with the words "never" and "regularly." Ignore "regularly" and read the statement for what it is — he never bathed in blood, which is a lie. With his father being called the "devil" and running a cult, bathing in blood sounds like something they'd do, right? So, it's a lie. Makes sense.

Taking in a deep breath, I clicked the lie button and exhaled when I got green lights. Correct again. Yes.

"We got this Rucker," I said turning to him and putting a giant smile on my face. I was winning. I could do this. I could save him.

Rucker grinned at me. "Told you could do it."

"Don't get too excited yet, we still have one more. The hardest one," Jookie said, looking into the camera. "Just in case she gets it wrong, viewers, would you like a quick death for Rucker or a long, slow one that will make Betinia suffer even more?"

"I hate you," I said, digging my nails into my palm so I wouldn't smack his stupid ass out of that chair. "So much."

Jookie laughed and motioned to the corner where a television floated down from the ceiling. On the screen, it read: Slow Death or Quick Death. Numbers began to flicker under each pair of words until the final results came in: Slow Death 59% & Quick Death 41%.

Jookie clapped his hands. "Slow and long it is." The saws retreated all the way back but didn't go into the walls. They just whirled in place, splashing water everywhere. "Ready for the last question? Ready to decide his fate?"

"Yes," I said with confidence.

Still watching me, he tapped the air between us, and the last statement materialized in bold letters:

WE'VE MET BEFORE, BEFORE THE GAME

Looking away from the words, I glanced at his sickeningly happy face, cheeks pinching.

"Remember me, my delicious peach?" he said, leaning across the table, using his finger to play with my inner thigh. "Or maybe not?" He let out a thunderous giggle, making my heart pound in my chest.

Oh, shit, I didn't know this one.

Have we met him before? I don't know. There's no weird wording or anything. I think they made this one straight-forward on purpose, so it could go either way. I don't remember him, but I don't know. I don't remember ever meeting him either. But, before we were kidnapped, we had to have been being watched. He could've been a stranger in a coffee shop we bumped into by accident or someone on the subway. You don't remember people like that, but that is technically "meeting" them, right? Maybe, I don't know.

"Can you define meeting?" I asked him.

"Now that would be cheating..." Jookie said, cocking his head. "And I'm not a cheater, my little peach."

He wasn't going to help me. He always fucking helped me — why did he have to be such a fucking dick now?

My eyes turned to Rucker who was slowly running out of time. The freezing water rose to his neck now, as the giant buzz saws continued to spin, spilling water everywhere.

He bared the incoming streams of water, keeping up a brave face, but I saw him tremble for a moment. The small sigh of weakness caused my eyes to swell with the tears, as my chest throbbed like someone stabbed it, digging in deep. 

"Rucker." I sniffled, the pain in my chest getting worse by the second. I coughed, feeling my breath getting stuck. "I-I don't know this one. I can't r-remember if I met him b-before."

Rucker closed his eyes, shivering. He opened them a minute later, giving me a faltering smile. "It's okay. Really. Either way, you tried your best, right?"

Millions of tingles broke out over my face, feeling like someone was rubbing bee stings all over me, tears falling down endlessly like a waterfall. "Th-this is my fault. It should be me up there. N-not you."

"No. This was meant to happen the way it did. If this is my time, it's my time," Rucker said looking at the ceiling. "I did some bad shit in my life, and if it's my time to pay for it, so be it. I'm not afraid of death, just wasn't ready to deal with it yet." He took a deep breath. "I'll be alright. Whatever happens, know that I don't blame you. I never did."

"But Rucker...." A sob caught my throat before I could finish, as my body trembled, the chair rocking with me. This can't be happening. Please don't be happening. Please.

"Just promise me you'll fuck shit up when I'm gone." A smile formed on his face, reaching his eyes, making me sob even harder. "And when you get out of here — I know you will, with that head of yours and that passion you can do anything — find my little brother and tell him I love him and that I'm sorry for being a shitty brother sometimes. And tell my mother I forgive her for everything." He grinned then. "And tell my gang, I went out like a G." Then, he gave me that smile that he only ever reserved for me. "However, this turns out, I'll still love you. You're my sis. Don't forget that and never forget me."

A loud hurtful screeched left my throat, draining all my energy as salty droplets took over everything. I panted, as it felt like someone held a hand around my throat, stopping my incoming breaths. "I I l-lo-ove y-you t-t-too." None of my words wanted to form right, and I just stopped trying, closing my eyes. I couldn't look at him anymore and just buried my face into my arm and sobbed. Those sobs soon turned to high-pitched screams, coming out so loud that they hurt my own ears.

This was why I didn't trust. Why I didn't let people in because you could lose them. And what made this worse was that it was my fault. I did this. If I didn't lose my temper, and I wasn't such a hot-head, I wouldn't have attacked Demo and hit Jookie. I didn't know how to control myself. This was why I wasn't supposed to be out and why Betinia should rule. I fucked up everything I touched. I didn't deserve to be out. Betinia was right. I deserved to be locked up forever.

"Two minutes," Jookie said, leaning down on his hands. His face was blank of all emotions, not giving me an ounce of help.

The sleeve of my shirt wiped my sticky, snotty face, adrenaline spiking as my heart pounded. I didn't know what t-to do. I was utterly lost and broken.

♟♙♟