VARIOUS images of my dead mother's paper-mâché mask played in my unconscious mind like a film on a loop. Her floral scent caked my senses. Her laugh hammered my eardrums.

A definite nightmare.

Sometimes the masked figure would pull off the mask, but no face ever stared back at me. Only a black blurriness revealed itself, choking me until all air disappeared.

It felt like I was in my own slasher flick with my biggest fears costumed as the killer. Instead of the standard ninety-minute horror film, mine went on for what seemed like months, replaying over and over—

A pulsing pain etched across the back of my neck and skull, waking me from my nightmare-laced slumber. I moaned, head pounding like someone was beating me with a metal baseball bat.

Emptiness. That's the first feeling that smashed into my consciousness. Emptiness. Tini was gone. No longer could I feel her dark presence.

That's never happened before. I couldn't always feel her on the surface, but deep down I could always sense her, forever a part of me like an invincible tumor. Not now though.

Opening my eyes, they fluttered to a half-mast before white light stabbed at my corneas. A painful gasp released from my lips as my body jerked, almost falling downward, but strong arms pulled me close.

Thick eyelashes tickled my cheeks as I continuously blinked, trying to get my vision used to the sudden bright atmosphere — until fierce violet eyes blocked the light, gazing down at me with unshed emotions.

My heart stopped, the intensity of his stare causing everything to freeze for a minute. I took a breath, never letting my eyes fall from his.

Why did I desperately want to know what he was thinking right now? This — this... thing with Jookie was Tini's thing. Not mine. So why did a part of me wish that I could read his gaze? To know exactly what it meant when he stared at me like that?

Jookie spoke first, eyes never faltering. "You okay?" He loosened his arms, letting them fall around my body, which made me realize that I was cuddled into his lap.

He rubbed the small of my back, his lean fingers touching my skin, sending warm bubbles up my spine and into my stomach.

I was on his lap. His arms, so warm around me... My heart thrashed, cheeks tingling. I jerked away from him, flying onto the cement floor. Ouch.

Short pieces of his newly cut hair swept his forehead when he dipped low toward me, eyebrows rising in question. "Are you nervous?"

I licked my crusty lips, feeling the rough skin under my tongue. "Ah—um—" Every sound made my dry throat hurt more.

A smile tickled his lips as he watched me struggling on the floor. "Tongue-tied, my sweet peach?" He let out a teasing chuckle. "That's a first."

"I'm not," I said a bit too forceful, heart beating fast. "I'm just a bit disorientated."

My mind raced with thoughts of us together, reliving the past few hours. Tini flirted with Jookie — she even licked him for god sakes and grabbed his ass. She's so inappropriate.

Even though I experienced everything Tini did, I still didn't decide to do those things with him. And I didn't enjoy it either. Now that she was gone, how was I supposed to act around him now?

We couldn't exactly go back to normal, and even if we did, what the fuck was normal?

"You probably shouldn't have moved that fast," Jookie said, sitting up. "You had a big shock earlier."

Yeah, having dozens of masked figures that looked like my dead mother, cackling at me wasn't a very fun experience for me. But still, the number one question was, "was it really her?"

It felt like her — like how could someone fake that familiar feeling? It was bitterly nostalgic and intense. So intense that it made Tini retreat so deep that I couldn't sense her anymore.

In that moment, our mother was there, and Tini got scared like she always did when mother was mentioned. That's one of the reasons why she created me.

I was created in one of her lowest moments at the psych ward. I stayed and took over and even though she convinced herself that she didn't need or want me, she did. Why else would I still be here?

Long fingers snapped in front of my face, snapping me from my deep thoughts. "Hello?"

Head still pounding a bit, I positioned myself into a sitting pose. "I think that was more than a shock," I said, answering his previous statement. "More like a living nightmare for me."

Grimacing, he sat back, legs open wide. "I could tell. You don't look like you normally faint."

"I don't," I admitted, stretching. Being front and center again without Tini being here felt weird. I looked up at him, a question hanging on my lips. "The masked figure — was that her? Was that really my mother?"

Two fingers wiped his lips before thrusting them through his hair. "You know I can't say shit about that."

"Because they're always watching," I said, staring at my surroundings. Four white walls surrounded us, creating a tiny block room with bright lights and a black sectional couch in the middle, which currently held Jookie. But that wasn't all, a tiny camera plastered every corner, watching us.

"If I told you anything, they'd have my balls. Literally."

"Then why are you here with me then?" I asked, starting to feel frustrated, "if you're not going to help me?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Did you want me to just leave you on the floor out there? With all of them surrounding you like that?"

I shuddered at the image. "No. I guess not." Then a tiny bit of anger emerged in my stomach. "What was the point of that little masked performance? To just mess with me?"

Jookie turned away from me, silent. He didn't have an answer or like he said before, he couldn't tell me.

"From prior experience, I'm guessing they did it for views and to just fuck with me before they kill me, huh?" I said, feeling myself getting heated. "Just like you fucked with me in that interview."

"That interview was just part of the job."

"I bet. We all know how you just love your job. Why else would you sign up for it? Only a straight sicko would sign up to host this piece of shit show."

His eyes darkened, squinting at me. "Do I hear judgment in your voice? You don't know anything about me," he said, voice dripping with disdain. "You wouldn't be on this piece of shit show if you didn't do some fucked up shit yourself. I saw the way you dissected that body, don't get all innocent on me now cause you're not."

We glowered at each other, thick tension filtering the air like snow in a blizzard. We stayed like that for a minute or two before he said, "This is all business. My job is business. Nothing is personal."

"The creators or producers or whatever made this personal," I said, shaking my head. "Everyone knows about my past now."

"So?" he said, shrugging. "It's not a big deal. You'll know theirs too soon enough. You need to be worrying about that voting session in five days."

Five days. The knowledge hit me like lawn darts in the spine. I was in the bottom three, along with Aries and Layla.

Layla was the reason why I was here. Shivers of guilt powered through me at the thought of Tini almost killing her, but some part of me didn't care. Why couldn't she just take that one bite?

"Five days," I murmured.

"Play the game to survive the voting session," he said.

"Play it how? Convince everyone to vote for Layla? That'll never happen."

"That's just one way to play," he said, peeking up at the camera. "There are ways to get out of a voting session."

"And I'm guessing you're not going to tell me."

Something crossed his face and he went to speak, but the door opened, cutting him off.

Bae stood in the doorway, looking slightly pissed off. "Time to cut this short. We have shit to do, and you don't have time to flirt with her anymore."

Then she slammed the door.

Flirt? "Are you dating her?" I asked, not really caring if he was, but I was curious to know why she seemed to dislike me so much.

He grinned at me. "Why? Jealous?"

"You shouldn't be flirting with me if you have a girlfriend."

"I think we did more than flirt, my sweet peach." He tapped his chin. "I don't call you putting your hands in my pants flirting exactly. More like foreplay."

I choked, cheeks heating up again. "What? I did not do that."

He laughed as he got to his feet and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. We stood close, only a breath away, eyes focused only on each other.

"You're not the one," he whispered, eyes scanning my face.

What did that mean? Before I could respond, Bae opened the door again, tapping her foot this time.

"We're leaving now, Bae," he said, cutting her off before she could speak, which made Bae angrier and she stormed off.

Once she left, I remembered what she said to me earlier. "Wait, I need to ask her something."

His hand gripped me back from following her, confusion masking his symmetrical face. "Huh?"

"She said something weird earlier. Something about being in the game before."

Jookie's face completely changed then, eyes becoming saucers before his lips twisted into a dark frown. "What did she say exactly."

"Why?" I asked, curious. "It was nothing too revealing just—"

"Stay away from Bae," he said, voice turning harsh. "Don't ask her anything, alright? Just leave her alone."

I stepped back. "Why?"

His features hardened, all humor leaving his face. "I'll take you back to your living quarters now," he said, ignoring my question before walking away.

I stood there stunned for a second. What happened? Why did he tell me to leave her alone? Maybe they were dating, but still, what did that have to do with me asking her a simple question?

I hurried behind him, stepping into the dim hallway. He was stomping down the hall in long strides, and I had to run to catch him.

We walked in silence the rest of the way. It seemed awkward on my part, but not to him. He didn't seem like the type of person to ever get tongue-tied or awkward.

I let my mind drift to the contestants, thinking about how it was going to be when I returned. From that interview earlier, Gmie was going to be pissed, but I didn't care. Layla too maybe.

My cheeks felt extra hot when I thought of Khan and Sebastian. All those questions about my love life probably made them feel uncomfortable.

And after they learned about my past, they probably think I was crazy now. My tummy told me my return to the living quarters wouldn't be an enjoyable experience.

Jookie stopped outside the door, still not saying anything. He was really angry.

I went to turn the knob, but he sighed behind me, making me turn around.

"I told the guards to put the rack of interview clothes in your room," he said, staring at me. "Since you're not requesting stuff, you'll probably need clothes soon, and we were gonna throw them out anyway."

"Thank you..." I said, still feeling the tension.

"Also, remember to count. Beware the numbers," he said with a shrug before turning away.

"What?"

He let out a snarky laugh and kept walking away. "You wanted a hint right. I just gave you one."

Remember to count. Beware the numbers.

What the hell did that mean? Gosh, he was so cryptic sometimes.

Inhaling deep, I turned the doorknob, entering the empty common room. Nothing changed. Everything looked the same.

I left the common room and strutted down the hall, heels clicking. It took only a minute of walking before I heard someone scream, "Betinia is a fucking crazy bitch. We need to vote her off."

Crazy? They said my name again, but it was slightly muffled this time. But I could tell from the tone that it was Gmie, and she wasn't alone. I heard at least five other voices.

My nosiness kicked in, and I followed the loud voices. I wound up outside the kitchen door, but I couldn't hear anything because they were talking low now.

So, I decided to trek down the hall and toward the pantry to hear better, taking off my heels so they couldn't hear me. The icy wooden floors caressed my naked feet as I tip-toed into the pantry, being careful not to hit anything.

Crouching low, I peered around the open doorway and into the kitchen. All the contestants, except Layla, lounged around the large space with Gmie in the middle like a leader.

It  looked like they were having a meeting and from the earlier statements I heard in the hallway, it must be about me. This couldn't be good.

Gmie clapped her hands together. "Betinia is the one who needs to go. We all agree, right?"

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