CHI. She lived on the other side of the house, near Seb and Fee's room. We actually had to pass by Sebastian's room to get there and seeing his closed door made me sad.

I almost stopped to knock again but didn't. I had to focus on the task at hand, finding out if Chi was working with the thirteenth contestant. Seb could wait. If he truly wasn't guilty, then he'd have to forgive me. He'd have to understand that it wasn't personal. I was just trying to protect myself.

Chi stopped in front of her door, which had a glowing purple spider on it. The word poison pinged in my mind like an aging neon sign.

Mental note: Don't eat or drink anything.

"Does either of you have allergies?" Chi asked, key in the lock.

"Allergies to what?" Yaz asked, standing a few feet behind her with me by her side.

Chi opened her door in a grand gesture, letting it hit the back of the wall. "Nature."

A thick perfumery gust of sweet floral and tangy greenery tickled my face, almost making me moan. Soft humming bred with the breath-taking aroma, warming my soul.

"Sweet baby donuts," Yaz said, eyes brightening.

Only two words could describe Chi's room — jungle princess. The mere sight of everything stole my breath away, my fingers wanting to touch every pretty thing.

Vibrant flowers, boisterous trees, and glittering plants saturated the entire spacious atmosphere, making me think that her aesthetic must've been trying to replicate the Garden of Eden. Flamboyant butterflies swerved through the air, landing on long stalks.

A realistic portrait of thick leafy greens painted the tall ceiling. Draping herbs and vegetation ropes hung from the artwork, the occasional sprig floating down like a shimmery feather in the coarse wind. Baby pink walls contrasted with the bright greenness, adding a soothing charm to the ambiance.

Chi grinned, chest sticking out a bit. "Breathtaking, isn't it?"

"I think I just peed a little bit," Yaz said, eyes wide, taking everything in.

Her carpeting resembled white fur, the comfy gentleness making my feet sink into it like melted jelly. Towering trees, fluffy shrubs, and colorful florets filtered the perimeter, as an ivory carved fountain rested in the middle of the room. A flowy lady statue with curly locks adorned the top of the fountain, pale pink liquid sprouting out of her nipples, ass, and vagina — the perfect trifecta.

I turned to the right wall, taking in the beautiful kitchen and what looked like a solid-gold fountain machine, but instead of soda choices, there were champagnes and wines.

HATE the pink, but replace it with burgundy, and I would sell your soul to get it. Can we stay here? Just because you like it, no.

"You requested all of this?" Yaz asked, staring around.

"Yeah, but some are gifts," Chi said, pulling her hair out of her robe. "My fans love to spoil me, and I loved to be spoiled."

Yaz ran over to the fountain machine. "Is this all alcohol?"

"Yes, it's filled with all my favorite spirits," Chi said, opening her robe to fix her underwear.

"The labels are all in different languages," Yaz said, touching the wording. "Fuck it." She started to stick her head under the middle nozzle, and I bolted over, snatching her from it, making us both stumble into each other.

"Poisoner, remember?" I murmured when Yaz appeared confused.

"Oh shit, I forgot," Yaz said, clutching her hammer tighter in her hand.

"That's my beauty room and closet," Chi said, pointing to the tall white-framed doorway. "Take anything you like."

"Bet," Yaz said, rushing in there, throwing the milk at me to catch. "It's like a fucking mall! Fenty!"

"Everything with tags hasn't been worn," Chi said, going over to her bed that was on the far left. It was a gigantic, colossal thing with a shimmery pink and white canopy on top with rose petals entwined in the fabric.

While airing out the blush and ivory blankets, Chi flicked the cloth too hard, and something long and black darted into the air and fell to the floor with a plastic plop. It rolled over to me, tapping my sock.

My eyes widened when I saw it was a dildo, and it was currently touching me. I inched away from it.

"Sorry," Chi said, finishing her bed before coming over to pick it up. "I use it to kill certain bugs that I can't reach."

"Okay," I said, not knowing what to say.

Her cheeks deflated. "Fine. Judge me like everyone else. Don't believe me."

"Is this an LED purse?" Yaz shouted in a happy tone from the closet.

"It's a limited edition. It's from Chanel's 2017 line," Chi said, walking over to her nightstand and dropping the dildo inside, but it barely fit, so she had to keep it open.

"I'm not judging you," I said. "It's none of my business what you do with your stuff."

"Your face looked judgy." She buried her nails into the cloth of her robe. "And why wouldn't it? I'm Chi — the slut. The most oversexualized one here. I must devour dildos like candy, guzzle cum like a drain, use pens for butt plugs, and fuck every cock in a ten-mile radius."

"I looked awkward," I admitted, slowly. "Not judgy. And yes, you're sexy and you like to have sex, but I don't think you're a slut."

I never called people a slut. I had my own bittersweet experience with that word. It consumed my eighth-grade year. I rejected some boy at a party, and he lied and said he fucked me anyway. Of course, his girlfriend didn't appreciate that, so you can imagine that train wreck. Tini handled it though — in her own unique way. We got suspended, and Tini discovered her love for biting while I had to go through therapy sessions four days a week now because of my anger issues.

Chi's mouth formed a tight "O" symbol. "Oh," she said, nose turning a soft pink. "I guess it is kind of awkward to see a dildo just drop from the sky and hit you in the foot."

"A little bit," I said, and we both laughed.

Chi smiled, almost like that laugh we just experience together relaxed her soul. "Sorry for getting defensive. It's just been really tough lately."

"No problem." I handed her the milk, and she went over to her white marble kitchen, opening a cabinet.

Taking out a spray bottle, she poured some of the milk into it and then added water before spraying the plants.

"The milk was for your plants?"

"I ran out of supplies, and milk's a good supplement," Chi said, spraying as she moved through the room. "It prevents mildew and gives them nutrients. My grandma taught me that."

Yaz squealed from the closet, feet stomping the floor like a giddy child. "This purple Birkin is mine."

"I don't care," Chi said before murmuring, "Not like it's going to feed me." She continued to spray, slowly touching the tree leaves like they were the most precious things in the world. It was like a mother looking after their baby.

As she waltzed around the room, I mimicked her movements, taking notice of everything, looking for holes in her plant-covered walls. A long wooden pole stuck to the left corner, a vine teetering with dark green leaves enfolding the entire piece. Tiny purple berries dangled from the leaves, and I touched one, the silky texture caressing my print.

I instantly thought they were wild grapes, but from traveling with Tim in the woods I knew they could also be—

"Moonseed berries," Chi said, stealing the word from my mind, as she bent over, spritzing a shrub. "Or are they grapes?"

"Which are they?"

A gloomy, sweet grin licked her lips. "Why don't you eat one and find out?"

If it was a grape, I'd be fine of course, but if they were moonseed berries, I would be poisoned. If I consumed enough, I could die.

My hand took one of the purple fruits, squashing it between my fingers, seeing the crescent-shaped seed within the juicy core. Moonseed berry.

I flicked it away. "No thanks."

She giggled. "Smart girl."

"Have you heard anything?" I asked, trying to spark up a conversation so it didn't look totally obvious that I was snooping. "Like if requests will be coming back soon or what happened to the game?"

"When I thought Rucker died, and the footage cut off,

the internet was still on, so I started talking to one of my honeys," Chi said, touching a pink rose. "We were flirting, and all was normal for a while until he said his friends were suddenly pulling out of the game. Something about it being faked and rigged. The betting became so low that people didn't even want to bet anymore because they'd be making no real money."

"Damn." Sebastian really fucked them over.

"He didn't tell me why the betting became low," Chi said, wiping a patch of sweat from her forehead. "But he said betting used to be in the high millions and it went down to like a hundred thousand. And that's chump change for most of them." She shrugged. "After he told me that, the internet cut off, and I got that message about the game being on pause until further notice." She sucked her teeth. "Thankfully, I stockpiled food for a while and just been here by myself."

"Aries hasn't visited?"

"He's been depressed since he lost his two fingers," Chi said, spritzing a vine. "Don't blame him. His whole life was video games and now he can barely play he said."

"You got Balenciagas?" Yaz said from the closet. "Yo you really got everything. I'm taking a lot."

"Take whatever you want, I'll get more," Chi said, going back to her work. "Aries is also allergic to some of the flowers, so he can't really come in here without itching like crazy."

A bright yellow flower drooping from the wall caught my eye, and I touched it, drawing it to the side. The wall underneath it immediately caught my attention.

Unlike me who had family pictures on my wall, a professionally painted family tree with colored photos representing each family member tainted her wall. It looked like a normal family tree with connecting branches and such until I saw that many of the family members didn't have happy images. But funeral or casket photos.

Very morbid when looked at closely. This must be part of her secret. Did she murder all those family members? Probably for money. But it had to be more to it than that or Khan would've gotten the points for it at the first voting session.

What was her true secret?

♟♙♟