WE ALL GATHERED AROUND KHAN AT THE BAR, EXCEPT YAZ. She stayed on her pillow, leaning back while sipping her tequila bottle, looking like a bored supermodel.

A small envelope hung from the big bow, and Khan placed the gift on the bar and ripped off the letter, opening it. It contained a red card with writing.

"Enjoy these gifts and games, my little contestants," Khan read. "A thousand points to all of you if one of you eat my cake and another thousand if you drink my juice. If you all eat and drink, you all get four thousand points each."

A nauseous expression formed on Sebastian's face. "Do we have to drink his jizz or something?"

Rucker curled his lip. "Fuck that. Ain't no points or money in the world for me to do that shit."

"I don't think he meant that," Khan said, putting the note on bar and started opening the box.

I peered around his arm, spying the back of the note. It had a small message on the back.

Khan put the note onto the bar and started opening the box. I spied the back of the note, seeing a small message on the back.

your enemies are not lost, waiting;
gone: when you look away,
whispering your fate

Was that another riddle from Jookie?

Sebastian sighed, fingering the note. "What's with this ominous poetry crap? It's so cliché."

"It must mean something," I said, turning away from the note to watch Khan open the box. He already took off the bow and was now taking off the lid.

His eyes swirled a bit, meaning he saw something interesting. A hazy glass bottle packed with glowing pink liquid rested in his hand. Glowing yellow star floated in the sea of pinkness, glittering like polished gems.

The next thing he pulled out was a plate filled with five cubes of shimmery cake. A "drink me" tag hung from the neck of the bottle while the plate had an "eat me" card. Besides those two things, there was just a bunch of party games at the bottom of the box.

Khan looked at the cake and the bottle. "What should we do?"

"Toss that shit," Yaz said, still on her pillow. "It could be poisonous."

"Wouldn't it be bad for business to kill us?" I asked. "Wouldn't the viewers think they were cheating again?"

"Especially since we made such a ruckus earlier," Khan said, agreeing. "If we're going off the Alice and Wonderland tags, the cake and the drink must be laced with some type of hallucinogen."

"Even so, the prize for consuming them is amazing," Sebastian said, eyeing the food. "For every one of us who consumes some, we each get a thousand points. Each."

"But we can fucking die," Rucker countered.

"Okay? We can die at any time," Sebastian said.

"Okay, you drink and eat it then." Rucker went over to the smoking grill and took off the newly cooked food and placed it in an empty aluminum plan. "If you die, the only one who'll miss you will be Betinia."

Sebastian cracked his knuckles. "Fuck you."

Rucker shut the grill. "Come on, lollipop. I'll whoop your candy ass up and down this pool room."

"Guys, come on," I said, standing between them. "Let's relax and eat some food and then discuss this, okay? We're supposed to be having fun and getting to know each other, right?"

Rucker muttered something and went over to the long table, opening the burger and hot dog bun packages. Sebastian snatched the bottle of Absinthe off the bar, taking a big gulp before stomping away.

Khan eyed both of the foreign food items before glancing at me. "What do you think?"

"We'd be stupid not to consider it," I said, eyeing the glowing liquid. "It would be a lot of points for us, but we don't know what's in the drink or the cake."

Wouldn't Jookie have warned me if it was poison? Was that what the riddle was about it? I stared at the words on the note, trying to decipher it, but nothing came to mind.

"But would they really poison us is the question." Khan continued staring at the food. "If they killed us, the viewers would be pissed and withdraw their money like they threatened to do earlier. So I don't think they'd try to kill us. Would they try to get us sick? Maybe."

"Let's think on it for a bit," I said, walking away.

He agreed but still kept looking at the gifts like they held the secret to curing cancer.

Grabbing my delicious drink, I joined Yaz on her pillow. My lips took a huge gulp, loving the fruity yet bright flavors on my tongue.

Yaz leaned over, looking at my drink. "That's looks good."

"We can share," I said, putting the drink on the floor and getting up. Colorful straws clung together in a package behind the bar, and I grabbed two.

I plopped them into the drink before sitting back down on the floor pillow. Bringing the drink between us, we both sipped at the same time.

"Wow, this shit's good," Yaz said, mid-sip.

I sipped for a few more seconds. "Right?"

"Food's done," Rucker called, putting out the last bundle of food and bringing out a cooler filled with soda.

Duke beat all of us to the food, swirling around under the table while barking. I went to get up, but Yaz pulled me back down.

"We're the bikinis today," Yaz said, lying back. "Rucker said we don't do shit. The boys can bring us food."

Rucker and Sebastian stared at us while Khan continued inspecting the new gifts on the bar, tuning everyone out.

Rucker placed his hands on his hips. "Really?"

Yaz gave him an innocent smile. "Hey, you said that. Not me."

Those two really loved to fuck with each other.

"You did say that," Sebastian said, turning to me. "I got you. You want a little of everything?"

"Yeah, thanks," I said, waving to Duke to come over. He galloped over, rushing through the piles of balloons to jump into my folded legs, cuddling deep before yelping.

"I swear you got that boy whipped," Yaz whispered once the boys turned away.

I sipped from my drink. "No, Sebastian's just nice."

"No guy is just nice," Yaz said, lying back down again. "They all want something — a relationship, sex, money, something."

"What does Rucker want?" I asked, watching Rucker make Yaz's plate with a menacing scowl on his face.

Yaz smirked. "Nothing. We just fuck with each other. It's our entertainment."

"Uh-huh." I took a long sip. "That's all?"

Yaz shot back. "Is that all with Sebastian?"

I paused, mid-sip. "I know Sebastian likes me. I'm not that dense, but... I don't know." It wasn't that I didn't like Sebastian. I did.

"From watching him, he wants that boyfriend title probably," Yaz whispered, watching him pile my plate up high. "But then you'd have to give up Khan and Jookie."

"I don't have to give up anyone," I said, shaking my head. "I'm just friends with Sebastian and Khan and Jookie is just our host."

"You can lie all you want girl, but everyone knows you and Jookie have something there." Yaz laughed. "Stop lying to yourself. You and Khan have a connection too."

"So do you and Khan."

"Nah, he's like a brother," Yaz said, watching Khan study the gifts. "He's a real cool dude. Very techy and cultured and interesting as fuck. And he needs someone who's going to stimulate him mentally. That ain't me. That's you."

"I don't know," I said, thinking about all three guys, making myself dizzy. "I don't date. I had one boyfriend in my whole life."

"Sis, chill," Yaz said, tapping me on the head. "You think too much. I'm just fucking with you." She glanced at our teammates. "This isn't the bachelorette. You don't have to make a choice. Shit, don't choose anyone and be by yourself. I wouldn't blame you. Death is almost guaranteed and not getting attached is probably the best thing for everyone."

"Is that what you're doing?"

Yaz let out a few harsh chuckles. "I have enough mommy and daddy issues to fill a U-Haul, okay? I don't get attached to people romantically. I date sometimes, fuck when I want and sometimes you might see set a claim on someone, but that's as far as it goes. Being here just enhanced that." She looked down. "I'm the last person who's gonna tell you to pick one. I'm the person who tells you to fuck all three and see who's the best or keep them all."

I took a sip while hearing her last statement, coughing when it hit the back of my throat too fast. She laughed while beating on my back as the boys looked over.

"You alright?" Rucker asked.

I sat up, wiping my mouth. "Yeah, just drank too fast."

Yaz drank more tequila. "Just being honest."

"I know," I said, holding my drink. "Even though having my own harem sounds nice, I don't think it's a smart idea to have a relationship right now. I just want to focus on surviving."

"Then do that," Yaz said and took another swig of her drink. "But also remember that both Khan and Sebastian could die tomorrow. Would you have any regrets?"

I took three more sips of my drink, feeling a bit fuzzy. "I think you're getting a bit too deep for me tonight."

"Sorry, tequila does that to me," Yaz said, putting the bottle down. "Drink enough of it, and I be educating people like fucking Dr. Phil."

We both cracked up like we just heard the funniest thing in the world. The boys, even Khan, glanced at us, trying to see what was so funny.

Rucker stomped over, handing Yaz her plate. "You both drunk already?"

Yaz took another swig and grabbed her plate from his hand. "Not even close."

"Here you go," Sebastian said, coming over and handing me my plate. Duke yelped in my lap, wanting some food.

"Thank you," I said, feeling my cheeks get hot. That drink might be sweet, but it must be really strong. A bubbling fuzziness clouded my head, as my skin felt like it was radiating heat.

Khan stopped looking at the gifts and called over to us. "Anybody want any more drinks before I come over?"

"Bring us like fifty shots," Rucker said, sitting down with his plate. We all sort of changed the floor pillows around so that we made a circle, leaving an opening for Khan to sit next to Sebastian and across from me.

"Fifty?" Sebastian said, jerking back.

"I'm trying not to remember today," Rucker said.

Staring down at my plate, I saw that potato salad, macaroni salad, and pasta salad were added to the assortment of meats. "Did Fee make the potato salad?" I asked, tasting a bit. It reminded me of the one we made together a few weeks ago.

"Yeah." Rucker took a bite of his burger. "He saw me making the salads in the kitchen and helped me. I asked him to join us, but he said no."

"He's so quiet." Yaz sped ate her chicken. "I sometimes forget he's even here."

"Yeah, we cooked together before and he was silent most of the time," I said, feeding Duke a piece of chicken. "But it wasn't uncomfortable. Kind of relaxing actually."

Khan waltzed over, carrying his plate and three trays of shots on his arms like a waiter. He bent down and placed everything on the floor in the middle of everyone. He returned to the bar and came back over with three more trays before sitting down.

Duke jumped out of my lap to go cuddle with Khan. Traitor.

"What are these?" Rucker asked, picking up a tan-colored shot.

"I made candy shots," Khan said, pointing to various flavors. "Girl Scout Cookie, buttery nipple, oatmeal cookie, chocolate cake, M&Ms, tootsie roll, laffy taffy and jolly rancher."

"Those sound so good." Yaz crawled forward and picked up a purple shot, gulping it down. "Oh shit. It tastes just like a grape jolly rancher."

Rucker drank his shot. "Mmm taste like thin mints."

Khan ate a hot dog. "That must be girl scout cookie."

Sebastian gripped one up and sipped it. "Taste like one of those caramel candies."

Everyone kept gulping and devouring the shots while I just ate my food.

Yaz nudged me. "You're not going to try one?"

"I'm good with my big drink," I said, nodding to it on the floor. It was actually almost gone. Probably why my every movement felt like I was floating in space.

"You're taking a shot," Rucker said, handing me one.

I held up a hand. "I'm good."

"I made them sweet for you so you wouldn't taste the alcohol," Khan said, feeding Duke some food.

Damn. Now I had to drink at least one.

"No regrets," Yaz said, nudging me.

"Which one should I try?" I asked, looking down at the various colors. Two trays of shots were gone, but we still had four left.

"Try the yellow one with the lemon," Khan said. "It's chocolate cake."

"Chocolate cake is yellow?" I asked, picking it up.

"I'm confused by the lemon," Yaz said.

"Trust me." Khan gave Duke a large piece of chicken. "Drink the shot and suck on the lemon."

With the lemon in one hand, I brought the shot to my lips. I was going to drink, but then I caught everyone staring at me. "You guys are making me nervous."

Rucker gulped down two more. "Just drink the damn shot, woman."

Duke finished his chicken and barked, almost like he was agreeing. Thanks, Duke.

Closing my eyes, I downed it, instantly tasting the chocolate-coffee flavor as it burned my throat.

Sucking on the lemon intensified the flavors, making me cough. My insides hummed with a harsh warmth that made my eyes roll.

"Yes." Yaz slapped me on the back. "Take another one." She put a glowing green one to my lips, thrusting it down my throat.

I gulped it down and hiccupped, that fuzzing feeling intensifying across my whole body. "Tas-taste like an apple-e rancher." Stay in control. I hiccupped again. Okay, still in control.

"Try this one," Rucker said, handing me a third one.

"That should be your last one for a while," Khan said, cautioning me. "They're really strong."

"Shut up and take one," Yaz said, stuffing a shot through his lips, making him guzzle it. Then tried for another, but he blocked her.

Khan coughed and licked his lips. "I think I should be the sober one. Just in case."

"Case of what?" Rucker asked. "All the exits are blocked, and no one can get in or out. We're good."

"We still need to talk about the gifts we got," Sebastian said, pointing to the glowing bottle and glittery cakes. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't think it's poison," Khan said, petting Duke. "But I'm not sure. I don't think they would try to kill us. The viewers would think the game was rigged and pull their money."

"Maybe only a couple of us should consume it," Sebastian said. "So, we can at least get some extra points."

"How about you just eat and drink it by yourself?" Rucker glared. "Since you're so damn eager."

"I'm thinking about winning here," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. "If two people consume it, that's two thousand points apiece. It's basically winning a challenge. And with these challenges getting harder, it might be good to have extra points in case we fail one."

Khan crossed his arms. "He's right." Khan paused for a second. "How about this. Only two people will consume the gifts. Someone will sip the drink, and someone will eat a speck of the cake."

"Nah ah, contestants." A flat-screen television to the far left came down from the ceiling, displaying an excited Jookie. "You have to drink a full cup and eat an entire cake for it to count."

"Asshole," Sebastian muttered.

"Fuck." Rucker rubbed his scalp and turned to Khan. "Are you sure we should do this?"

"These points will put us over everyone else," Khan said, glancing down. "I'm sure they wouldn't kill us. Not after so many viewers threatened to leave when they thought it was rigged. Killing us like this would fuck up the betting pool. I honestly think it's just laced with some type of drug."

Rucker sighed. "The points would be good," he said. "I know I'm going to regret this but I'm in."

"Me too," Sebastian said.

Yaz looked at me. "What do you think?"

"I don't know." I stood up, almost wobbling a bit. I gripped the plate of cakes on the bar and the bottle, bringing it over and sitting down. Sniffing one of the cakes, a floral-sweet scent hit me. "I smell cocaine on the cakes."

"How do you know what cocaine smells like?" Sebastian asked, looking at me through his lashes.

"Was at a party once and smelled it," I said. One of the girls on the cheerleading squad stole it from her parents and brought it along on an overnight game. I pretended to do it, faking a sniff, but I've never forgotten what it smelled like. Sweet with floral undertones.

Rucker gazed at the cakes. "How do we know it's not laced?"

"They do have cocaine purity kits and cut kits," Khan said, getting up and coming back with his iPad. "I'll request some. If it's not laced with anything but cocaine, then the drink is probably safe too."

"Cocaine purity tests?" Yaz shook her head. "I swear you can buy anything in this world."

"We're not trying to harm you," Jookie said, looking bored on the television. "Think of it as an apology gift from the creators and producers."

"Like we'd believe that shit," Rucker spat out.

We all sat in silence for a few minutes, lost in thought. A few minutes passed before deliverymen showed up with the cocaine test kits. Khan and Rucker went over to get them.

"I'll test them," Khan said, picking the cake plate off the floor and going over to the bar. It took about thirty minutes to test them, and he came back over with the cakes.

"They all contain high potencies of cocaine," Khan said. "But from the pieces I tested, it's not laced with anything. It's fine."

"It's not fine," Yaz said. "I don't want to eat some coke laced cake and some weird glowing drink." She glared at the gifts. "And you couldn't test every single piece of that cake, so we're just hoping that the piece you did test represents the whole cake."

"Yeah," Khan said. "But that's a risk we have to take." He stared at the drink. "I have no idea what's in the drink. I know it doesn't contain cocaine."

We all collapsed into silence again. I didn't know what to do. These points were too good to pass up. It would give all of us a lead, which would help make sure we all left this place together.

I spun around to the television screen, looking at Jookie. He watched me with his dark purple eyes, not giving anything away.

"Do you have a question, my little peach?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Is this stuff poisoned?" I asked him.

Jookie sighed, looking even more irritated and bored. "I already told you, it's not." Then he grinned. "I just hope you don't drink it though, my sexy peach."

"What the hell does that mean?' Rucker screeched. "Stop with this fucking peach shit. Is it poisoned?"

"I'm not answering that question again," Jookie yelled, causing me to jerk back. "You won't believe me either way."

"Then say it with a straight face then, bitch," Rucker snapped. "Stop answering the question and then laughing or answering the question and flirting."

Jookie looked shocked and put a hand on his chest. "I feel attacked right now." He sniffed. "I may be a sadistic fucker, but I do have feelings."

"You're nothing but a fucking puppet with no balls," Sebastian said, looking at Jookie. "

Jookie let out a giggling cackle. "Seriously, Sebastian? You're going to comment on someone not having balls?" He laughed. "You literally got your ass beat in front of the girl you like. She even had to come save your ass. You're such a pathetic pussy."

Sebastian blinked red, eyes like storms. "Fuck y—"

"We don't have time for this useless fighting," Rucker said. "Are we going to do this or what?"

That question sounded oddly familiar. "Yes," I blurted out, causing everyone to look at me. "We should take the risk. We might regret it if we don't."

"I knew my words would come back to bite me in the ass," Yaz said, shaking her head. "Fine."

"I'll do it too," Sebastian said.

Rucker looked so conflicted, but he finally sighed. "Alright."

Khan put the gifts on the floor and left for the bar. Duke scurried over to me on the floor, moving into my lap again like he didn't just leave me for Khan earlier.

Khan waltzed back over with a cup of sugar cubes. "We will each grab a sugar cube. Whoever grabs the one with the pink dot drinks the pink juice. Whoever grabs the one with the yellow dot, eats the cake. Whoever's left must take care of the others, agreed?"

Rucker blew out a breath. "Sure."

Yaz looked annoyed. "Yeah."

"Okay," I said.

"Got it," Sebastian said.

"Who wants to go first?" Khan asked, holding up the cup.

"Me," Yaz said, getting up. She whispered a quick, sarcastic prayer and picked the top one. A smile formed on her beautiful face. "It white. Fuck yes."

Rucker went next. "Shit," he muttered, showing us the yellow dot.

"You got the easier one," Khan said, trying to make him feel better. "We all know what's likely in the cake. We have no ideas what's in the drink." He paused. "Are you drunk? Mixing alcohol—."

Rucker cut him off. "I'm not drunk. I'm not even buzzed yet."

"Who's next?" Jookie asked, leaning on his hand, eager.

"I'll go." Sighing, I dug my hand in the cup and pulled one out. White. Only Sebastian and Khan were left.

Jookie smirked. "Only two people left. Khan and pussy ass Sebastian. Oh, who will it be?" Jookie smiled. "Don't you guys just love it when I narrate your lives? I'm like a perky Morgan Freeman."

"Shut up," Sebastian barked.

"Do you want to go first?" Khan asked, holding out the cup.

"Yeah, sure." Sebastian paused at the rim of the glass before delving inside and taking one. He turned the cube, so we could all see the bottom. White.

"Khan's the loser! Get the gulping," Jookie said and laughed.

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Rucker picked up my giant glass off the floor, chucking it at the television.

The flat-screen glass shattered, making sparks and glitter to rain down on the floor as the audio became distorted. Jookie's laugh warped into a distorted, monstrous sound, slicing deliciously threw me.

Khan opened the pink drink, sniffing. "It smells fruity."

Grabbing the cake, Rucker scrunched up his face. "Ehh."

"Same time," Khan said to Rucker.

Rucker held the cake near his lips. "Yeah."

On the count of three, Rucker stuffed the cake in his mouth and swallowed. Khan gulped down the drink for a few moments and burped.

"Everyone gets two thousand points each," Jookie shouted through the distorted screen. It then went black.

"How do you guys feel?" I asked, watching them.

Rucker tried to speak but began sneezing. Over and over and over. Body dropping to the floor like a ton of milk, gasping dry heaves escaped his open mouth.

Sweat streaked down Khan's face, as savage coughs left his lips. A squeaky sound poured from his lips, and he began clutching his stomach, fingertips digging in deep.

Oh shit. This couldn't be good.

♟♙♟