JOOKIE HAD TO BE FUCKING WITH ME, RIGHT? I wasn't going to lose my finger, right? RIGHT?

Every fiber in my face deflated as my eyes broadened, blinking a billion times per second. A harsh tightening feeling crawled across my stomach, sinking deep into the inner layers of my muscles.

He had to be joking. Jookie HAD to be joking. Please tell me he's s joking. Please. Someone, please tell me he's just fucking with me. Please.

Jookie stared at me and then let out a piercing cackle, the tone digging deep into my soul and eardrums. "Your face is perfection, my clueless peach." He came in close, patting my head with the side of the machete. "You really thought you were just going to do your normal, know-it-all spiel and be right as always and win, didn't you?" More condescending and loud laughs left his lips as he held his stomach, body shaking in humor. "This is truly the highlight of my day. Your face." He held up a hand. "No, all your faces are just iconic." He whistled. "Yo cameramen, zoom in on this shit. I need this footage forever."

"You're a fucking asshole." Sebastian barreled forward toward Jookie, standing very close. Too close. "I'm so sick of you fucking with her. We all know you're lying."

"Ahhh." Jookie put a surprised expression on his face and placed a hand against his chest. "Fucking with her? Whatever do you mean? I would never do such a thing. I'm a nice church-going boy." He held up a finger. "And I'm not lying. She's wrong."

"Her whole explanation makes sense," Khan said, tapping his chin. "The physical evidence supports it."

"So? She's still wrong," Jookie sang, swinging the machete in circles. "All your pinkies are mine. I think I'll put them in a glass container and label it — idiots."

Chi sunk to her knees, tears in her eyes. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I'm gonna lose my pinkie! My nail designs will never match again."

"Why the hell did I listen to you?" Gmie screamed at me, punching the ground. "I knew you were an incompetent twit."

I didn't even have a comeback because I was still in shock. How was I wrong? Everything added up perfectly. What did I do wrong? What did I not see?

"If you had a better theory, you should've fucking said it," Yaz said, glaring at Gmie. "But you didn't, so just shut the fuck up."

"All of you shut the fuck up and let me have my fun." Jookie reached out to grab Sebastian who was the closest to him, but Sebastian hopped out of reach.

"Get away from me," Sebastian shouted, backpedaling into a wall.

Jookie shrugged and giggled. "If ya'll won't stay still, I'll just have security hold you." He whistled and snapped his fingers.

Within a nanosecond, dozens of black-shirted guards rushed into the room. Two of them gripped my arms hard, fingers digging into my skin so hard that I squeaked for a second. They both held me close in their tight grips as their chests bumped against my back shoulders.

Rucker punched one of the guards in the face, and they went down hard. Two more tried to jump him, and he roundhoused kicked one in the jaw before slapping the other.

"Wait a second," Rucker said, holding up his hands, trying to halt the next wave of guards from attacking.

"You have five seconds to speak before I shock the hell out of you for assaulting my guards," Jookie said, holding a cell phone in his hand.

Rucker positioned his hands into a fight stance. "I'll stop, but I want to see the rest of the footage first."

Khan, who had two beefy guards positioning his hands behind his back, cleared his throat. "If I could interject, I would like to see that footage too. We have a right to see how she really died."

"Yes, I n-need to see it too," I said, voice coming out breathy and soft. My brain buzzed with unanswered questions and useless theories. I should be concerned about losing my finger, but I needed to know what I missed. How was I wrong?

"Sure, whatever. It won't change anything." Jookie waved his hand, calling off the guards. "Let them go for now."

My body wanted to groan when the guards released me. They had me at the weirdest angle, and now everything hurt.

"Here's the footage you so desperately want to see." Jookie snapped his fingers and a television descended from the ceiling. The screen played Layla's last moments. It started from where it cut off, with her looking behind herself and running down the hall.

She wasn't running from anyone though, but she heard Demo not too far away, and she staggered into an empty hallway, breathing hard, barely holding herself together as she whispered to the walls.

Once Demo disappeared from view, Layla wobbled until she got to my room, knocking again as she called my name.

"I'm not-not he-re to hu-rt you," she slurred. "I-I j-ust d-don't w-want to-to be a-alone anym-more. I-I don't want t-to hear h-her any-anymore." She knocked on my door and it slipped right open.

Duke barked and jumped at her feet, licking her.

She wobbled into my room, almost falling but caught herself. She bent over for a moment, petting Duke with a soft smile on her face.

Then she called my name again until she suddenly gargled and threw up all over the floor. Duke whimpered, licking her ankle.

Layla wiped her lips with her free hand and kept forward until she stumbled over herself and went down hard on her right hand that held the pen.

She screamed, pen sticking out of her eye, reminding me of Demo earlier. Soft blood droplets swirled down her cheek, as she continued hollering. Seconds later, thick vomit poured from her mouth in large waves until she began to have a seizure.

Duke ran to the door, barking up a storm before running back over to the shivering Layla. He licked her trembling body until it flopped over and stopped moving moments later.

Duke whined, nudging her with his nose for a while until he just laid beside her, head on her back, almost like he was protecting her.

That brought tears to my eyes for a second. Duke was there for her, the last innocent thing in this house. I'm glad she wasn't alone.

"Wait, you said Betinia was wrong," Rucker said, moving forward. "But everything she said happened, happened."

Yaz pointed to the screen. "Layla clearly just killed herself."

"I told you guys he was an asshole," Sebastian said, almost growling. "He's a liar and a sadistic fuck who just wants to see us suffer."

Jookie charged across the room and slammed Sebastian into a wall. He sliced the machete across Sebastian's arm. Not hard enough to cut it off but enough to warrant a nice gash.

Sebastian cried out, tumbling to the ground. He placed a hand over his open wound, thick blood dribbling between his fingers.

Jookie giggled and licked the edge of his machete before gazing down at Sebastian with hatred. "Don't ever call me a liar. Know your fucking place."

Sebastian gritted his teeth, hand still holding his wound. "Fuck you."

"Sorry, I don't do charity work," Jookie said, walking away.

I wanted to go over and help Sebastian, but some of the guards blocked my path.

Jookie swung the machete over his head. "Does anyone else want to call me a liar. Huh? Anyone."

"From the footage, it looks like Layla killed herself," Khan said, phrasing his words in a nice manner. "If she didn't, then who killed her and how?"

Jookie tsked his tongue before grinning. "Layla did kill herself."

"Then how are we wrong?" Rucker asked, looking like he was getting angry.

"Someone manipulated Layla into killing herself," Jookie said before his lips slipped into a giddy grin.

"Okay?" Rucker said, fingers clenching. "Layla still killed herself. Doesn't matter who convinced her to do it."

"It does matter," Jookie said, swinging the machete. "Yes, she killed herself, but someone planted the idea in her head and convinced her to do it." He chuckled. "A killer in this house killed Layla without getting their hands dirty or getting caught. Very impressive." Jookie zeroed in on me. "Even my precious peach couldn't figure out who did it."

"Who did it?" I asked, my brain humming with confusion. How did I not figure it out? What did I miss? How did I miss it? Nausea flooded my tummy, and my head started to thump with pain. I couldn't focus at all.

"Can't say. The true killer must reveal themselves," Jookie said with a shrug. "I said that at the start of the game. You guys had to find the murderers." He smiled. "Ya'll not knowing just makes this more utterly delicious. You'll forever have to look over your shoulder, never knowing who did it. Was it your ally? Your close friend? Who knows?" He laughed again, clapping his hands. "Time for your pinkies to go bye bye now."

"Wait," Sebastian said from the floor, still holding his bleeding arm. "This isn't fair. We did what you said." He glared at the machete-swinging Jookie. "Your exact words said to find her killer, which we did. Her. You never said anything about finding out who manipulated her."

"I don't have to be specific," Jookie said, rolling his eyes, coming forward.

"People are betting on us, right?" Khan said, folding his arms. "Probably betting millions of dollars on who would guess right, right? I don't think the losing viewers find your vagueness very funny. They might see it as unfair or even say that this game's rigged."

Jookie chuckled. "Rigged? Really?"

"I've bet in gambling rings before," Rucker said, eyeing the camera. "If they pulled some shit like this, I would've killed them. This looks like you're cheating and trying to trick people on purpose so you can keep their money or sway the game so someone else can make money."

Khan pulled out his iPad, showing us the live chat. "People are getting really angry. They think you're rigging the game, and that this is all fake and we're actors."

Staring closely at the tablet, I began reading the comments.

"I bet a mil that she would get it right, and she did, and now they're saying she didn't? BULLSHIT."

"This shit fake. I ain't watchin no more."

"Fuck this game."

"ACTORS. This fake."

"Show me dem titties."

"RIGGED. I want my bitcoins back."

Khan cleared his throat. "I'm inclined to agree with them. It does look rigged. We found the killer as you requested, but now you don't want to give us the win because we didn't find out who manipulated her? Which is not what you asked for? It sounds like you guys planned this in advance, knowing we would lose."

"That's what it looks like," Rucker said, agreeing. "Like they phrased it that way, so we'd look for the wrong thing on purpose and lose. This way they could control the betting pool. I bet the creators probably bet against us and won millions."

"And all those millions are probably the viewers' money," Khan said, shaking his head, eyes darkening.

The chat went wild. People cursed and threatened to withdraw money and support. Wow. Khan and Rucker were totally getting the viewers on their side. Viewers were actually talking about boycotting the game.

Jookie let out a screaming laugh. "I just gained a whole new respect for all of you. Maybe you're not idiots." He lowered his machete and put a hand to his ear, listening to his earbud. Letting out another laugh, he waltzed over to the cameraman in the corner, smiling into the giant camera.

"Hello, viewers! I know everyone's a bit shaken by recent events, but the producers have recognized their faults and decided to go with Betinia's theory of events since it does follow what we asked for," Jookie said with a giant, fake smile in place. "Layla did kill herself, and it's our fault for not specifying and going into details on what we wanted the contestants to actually do. We will never make this mistake again. Please be assured that everyone who betted on the winning contestants will be awarded the correct amount of money. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email or call our hotline."

Jookie waved to the camera before turning back to us. "You really have a sadistic angel watching over you, my lucky peach," he said before cackling. "Everyone, except Aries and Demo, will get points for guessing correctly. The true killer will also get awarded their points as well, but their points won't be publicly added to conceal their identity." Turning to me, he smiled. "And you are no longer in the Bloody Doe Three."

A wave of relief rushed through my chest. Thank you. I should've been more ecstatic, but my heart still thumped with unanswered questions. Who really killed her? Who manipulated her? Why did Jookie and the creators think I was a killer?

"Don't get comfortable people," Jookie said, eyeing everyone. "This might be a victory, but the game is far from over. You pissed a few people off, so prepare for the worst. You get some free time now, but the next challenge will be soon. Very soon."

Snapping his fingers, a bunch of men charged into the room, picking up Layla's body before rushing out. The medics picked up Aries who was passed out now, and Demo who was starting to pale and moved them out of the room as well.

Gmie followed behind them, but not before shooting me a death glance.

Jookie walked past me. "You get your room back now, but you have to clean it yourself." Then he was gone.

He's such a dickface.

I turned my head a bit, seeing Gmie not following Demo but backtracking and flagging down Jookie. He looked irritated at first, but then she started talking and his eyes filled with curiosity and amusement before smiling. His lips split into two, creating the most monstrous, happiest yet creepiest smile.

He nodded for her to follow him, and she did. I couldn't see where they went, but they walked through the doors together, out of the contestant area. Only I've been that deep into the house before.

What the fuck was going on between them? What did she say to him?

♟♙♟