COULD KHAN BE TRUSTED? I didn't know. He helped me when he could've just let me die. And he fixed my wounds without a second thought.

Could he just be warming me up to slaughter me later? Maybe.

"Don't trust people until they give you a reason to," Tim said, echoing through my head.

Khan gave me a few reasons, but I still needed to keep my guard up. But I had to admit, I liked him as a person. He was quiet and intelligent, and thoughtful. Insightful.

Very different from Sebastian.

Getting to my feet, I started to pace around the bathroom. It was identical to mine in every way, except that his was covered with tons of male products. He definitely liked to manscape.

Even though I knew the cameras were watching, I didn't care tonight. Could be that I almost died an hour ago. I had so many things on my plate at the moment that worrying about creepers seeing me naked felt almost trivial.

The warm water spilled over my skin from the shower head, feeling like a liquid pain reliever on my muscles. Everything coiled tight became loose like jelly.

Slumping to the floor, the water splashed everywhere and pooled around, creating a bath as I let myself get lost in thought.

Death was close tonight. Too close.

A tight knot formed in the back of my neck, filling with all sorts of blackness, decaying thoughts and negative feelings until it overflowed inside of me, seizing every cell and fiber like a vicious cancer, eating at my very essence until I couldn't take it anymore.

I screamed.

All that pent-up aggression and emotions flowed out of me in screams and tears. There was no hint of sadness, just relief. Relief that I survived another day.

Watching the dried blood wash off my skin and down the drain almost felt like a goodbye. Tomorrow would be better. I hoped anyway.

Drying myself off, I tore open the new packet of boxers and put them on. They felt quite comfy, but snuggly. Too snuggly. They rose up my thighs like booty shorts, and his shirt only came to my thighs so it barely hid the boxers from view. If I bent over, it'd be the perfect anime panties shot.

Reminder: Do not bend over by any means!

Wait, I had sweatpants. I went to put them on, but sticky blood covered my hands like a thick paste. They were soaked and scattered with crimson. I'd ruin his sheets if I put them back on. Fuck.

I washed them out with some soap and hung them to dry on the side of the tub. They were still ruined, but they looked... slightly better, but still unwearable until they dried.

Second Reminder: DO NOT BEND OVER BY ANY MEANS!

Letting my hair hang down to dry, I paused at the door, slowly cracking it incase I needed to go on the attack. Peeking through the crack, Duke barked and yelped at Khan who was in the corner, putting down some food and water.

Okay. He wasn't planning on slaughtering me. Just feeding the dog. Maybe he could be trusted. For now.

Opening the door wide, I dropped my dirty clothes on the floor near the bed. "You have dog food here too?"

"I'm not that prepared. It's just beef jerky." He smiled down at Duke who was eating and drinking in fast gulps. "This little guy woke up crying, so I thought he might be hungry."

"Thanks for feeding him," I said, wincing as my pain started to come back. Guess showers couldn't work miracles.

Khan came over with the painkillers and a bottle of unopened water. "Take this. I put on some water. I have this tea that helps with soreness."

He passed me the pills and water and then grabbed a towel before closing the bathroom door behind him.

I gulped down the pills and then the water as Duke continued to devour his food and water. Once he was done, he pranced over to me, jumping onto the bed and into my arms.

"Come here, boy!" I petted and scratched him, and he barked happily, enjoying my praises. I stopped to look in his eyes. "I told you to stay put, Duke."

He gave me a look that said, "So what? I helped you, didn't I?"

He did. He really did.

"Thank you."

He licked my hand and nudged me, telling me to keep on petting him. We played for awhile, until we heard the bathroom door open, and both of us turned our heads.

Scolding steam drifted out of the bathroom like an intense forest fire, forming an almost smoky halo around Khan as he stood on the threshold. His left hand held a large black towel around his lean waist.

Warm water dripped down his hard body like he got caught in the blistering rain without an umbrella. Eyes following the tiny droplets, each one licked down his defined middle, slipping down to his perfect V before disappearing from my view.

Duke and I connected at the eyes. Damn.

He gave me an apologetic look. "Forgot to grab clothes," he said, hurrying over to his dresser and then back to the bathroom. Minutes later, he emerged in silk pants and a wife beater.

"You okay?" he asked, hair damp as he walked up to the stove, turning off the kettle of water.

"Yeah, the pills are helping," I said, watching Duke admire him for a few seconds more before plopping over to a pillow and falling asleep. His first day here was a rough one.

Khan brought over a large tray that held a tea set with multiple matching containers, sitting it on the bed. "Tea?"

I nodded. "You drink tea a lot?" I asked, looking down at the fancy set.

"Yes. I spent many years overseas in boarding schools and picked up the habit," he said, filling up a teacup before handing it to me, along with the saucer.

Holding the saucer and teacup made me feel like I should be wearing pastels, heels, and pearls. "Boarding school? Did you like it?"

He poured himself a cup before adding a dab of milk. "Not at first, but my parents wanted me to have the best schooling. I learned to adapt, and it nice to travel and see new places."

I looked down at my teacup. "Shouldn't you add the milk before the tea?"

He wrinkled his nose, a playful glint in his eyes. "You're such an American," he said. "Sugar and milk should always be added as needed after the tea is poured."

"There are rules to tea drinking?" Betinia would've been polite and followed the rules, but that mask was slowly shrinking away because of the pain.

So I dunked a shit-ton of sugar in my tea and skipped the milk, making a big mess in the process. Watching me clean, Khan sipped his tea, eyes dancing like dark caramel strobe lights.

"Your parents probably wouldn't have liked me," I said, licking the sugar off my fingers.

Khan held the saucer up, sipping it slowly. "My father would have. He was a jokester, but he died when I was young."

"I'm sorry," I said, knowing what that felt like.

He shrugged. "It's alright. My mother bounced back fast. Married my stepfather a couple of years later." His tone told me he didn't like his stepfather much.

When I was finished cleaning, I picked up my saucer, holding my pinky out like SpongeBob. "When in doubt, pinky out."

We burst out laughing for a good five minutes before I drank my tea. "Ugh, more sugar." I dumped the rest of the sugar container in there, and Khan just watched me in disbelief before laughing again.

Khan picked up the remote and clicked on the television. Netflix. The message, "Are you still watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" popped up.

I paused, arching a brow.

"You're judging my television choices, aren't you," he asked.

"A little bit," I said with a laugh. "But that show is good." I grabbed the remote, shifting through the shows until I got to Breaking Bad. "You okay with this?"

His face became serious. "Only if you admit that Walt is the best character."

"Nah, Jesse," I said, waving my hands. "He taught me how to correctly use the word bitch, bitch."

That started a funny debate as we started to reference episodes and scenes. We did that for about an hour before we decided to get some sleep.

As he laid down on the air mattress, which was beside the bed on the floor, I laid back on his comfy pillows. Everything smelled like him — musky almond with a cinnamon spice.

It took me only moments to drift off to sleep. It felt incredible to sleep in an actual bed for once. But that sweet blissfulness didn't last long.

An intense alarm noise pierced the air, waking all of us immediately.

"Next challenge starts in one minute. You have thirty seconds to get to the common room, if you're late, you will be shot on sight," a mechanical voice boomed through the walls.

Khan jumped off the air mattress, and I rolled out of bed. Duke whined.

I didn't have time to grab my pants, just my boots. We were out the door within ten seconds, running to the common room. I left Duke behind in the room. He'd be safe there.

As we ran through the halls, other contestants joined us. Some were running in front while others were behind us.

We made it to the common room in time. Everyone did. All of us were half-dressed and half-asleep, hair mussed.

The guards stomped toward us, pushing us toward the middle of the room, backs to each other. Gmie was next to me, and we glared at each other.

Jookie emerged from the far door, looking wide awake and happy. Eerily happy. He sauntered over in his silk blue nightie. Peacock-colored slippers grazed his feet.

"Welcome, everyone," he said with a smile. "Looks like you all made it. Good job." He pushed a button on his phone, and the floor underneath us caved in. "And good luck."

Everyone became airborne, as we tumbled down into a dark pit. Icy decay and death filtered the air, making me cough as darkness covered everything.

I saw nothing and no one.

Until I hit the bottom, falling into something squishy, wet and semi-hard. My body screamed in pain as my many wounds ached.

I closed my eyes for a second, slipping in the wetness and darkness. When I opened them, dozens of bright red eyes broke the darkness, surrounding me in a giant circle.

Holy shit!

"Welcome to the next challenge, contestants."

♟♙♟