My eyes close for almost five seconds at a time. It's obvious that I'm tired, but really I just need coffee.

"Daniel? Did you sleep last night?" Jasmine asks, walking over and sitting down beside me.

"Yes...?" I lie.

"That's the third night that you haven't slept... in a row..." She looks concerned.

"I'm fine, I just need some coffee!" I make sure to smile extra wide to reassure her.

"Fine... but please try to sleep tonight, okay?"

"Okay."

She smiles a little.

"Let's go get coffee!" I get up and extend my hand to her. She takes it, and I help her up. We walk into the 'food room'. I pour myself some coffee, making sure to add one part sugar for each part coffee. Stirring in the sugar, I add more to make it far more than a 1:1 ratio.

"So, are you okay now?" Jasmine asks.

"Yup! At this rate, I'll die of a sugar crash before the killer even gets close."

She shakes her head. "How much sugar did you add?"

"Let's just say there's more sugar in here than coffee," I reply.

"Daniel!"

"what?"

"You really will have a sugar crash..."

"Don't worry!" I say, placing my free hand on her shoulder. "I can handle sugar. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if my blood was just straight pixie sticks by now." I laugh a little, and she smiles faintly.

There's a slight coughing sound from the corner of the room. Jasmine jumps. I glance over to see Mia and Sebastian across the room.

"Mia, Sebastian, I didn't see you there!" I say with a smile.

"We were just leaving," Sebastian says coldly. He and Mia get up and leave. They exit The door opposite the one Jasmine and I came in.

"Well, he's got a cat-titude." I laugh, watching the cat-like boy leave.

"Did you upset him?" Jasmine asks.

"I don't think so, maybe," I reply. I take a few sips of my overly sweet coffee. "We should go back to the group." 

She nods.

I lead her to the group, back the way we came. The lights flicker slightly, and Jasmine grabs my hand.

"You okay?" I ask, turning to look at her.

"Hmm... oh... yeah..! Sorry..." she tries to release my hand, but I smile reassuringly and give her hand a light squeeze.

"It's okay. I don't mind." She smiles a little in return.

"Thank you... Daniel..."

"Sure thing, Princess Jasmine."

We just take moment of silence, comforting each other by not saying anything. The lights keep flickering, and each time Jasmine seems a little less scared. That's all I can hope for.

"I can't... I'm sorry Daniel... I can't do this to you." She says out of nowhere, pulling her hand away from mine.

"What do you mean?" I ask, slightly confused.

"I'm probably going to die. I don't want you to--"

"You're not going to die. I won't let you die."

"You don't understand... I have really bad luck. Things don't usually work out... What if you're not there...? What if you die, too...?"

"I guess it's a good thing that I'm really lucky...! And if I'm not with you, just make a pun. I have a great pun radar. Trust me. If anyone makes a pun, I will know." I place my hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She looks up at me again, so I smile even more. "Don't worry, okay?"

"Okay..." She still looks worried.

"Hey, I can't die, okay? If I died, who would tell such pun-derful jokes?"

She smiles a little, "That pun is really overused..."

"Overused? Yeah-Yeah. But, it made you smile, didn't it?"

"I guess it did...!"

"Daniel!!" Jasmine and I both turn as soon as Kelvin shouts my name. I watch his cheeks turn red. "Oh my gosh... I'm so sorry...! I didn't mean to interrupt...! I can leave... well, not really..."

I take my hand off Jasmine's shoulder, and she takes a step away from me. "Uh... No, it's okay. What's up?"

"Not here."

"What do you mean not here?"

He nods in Jasmine's direction.

"I can go..." Jasmine says quietly.

"No it's oka--" I say before getting cut off by a surprised shout.

"What's that?" Kelvin asks.

"That was James..."

The three of us go towards the shout. We arrive at a room covered in knives. Jasmine grabs my hand again. Someone stabbed knives into the walls. It's kinda creepy. James stands there in the middle of the room with Cecelia. Both of them look scared.

"I'm going to get Lyra." Kelvin leaves Jasmine and I alone with James and Cecelia. The two don't seem to notice us.

"Cecelia...!"

"Jaqueline...!"

"Oh thank god...!"

Jaqueline enters the room in a slight panic, running to her sister. Not long after her, the others enter the knife room. Everyone looks nervous except maybe Ashlynn. I don't see her long before she disappears from view.

Nobody knows what to say. The silence thickens as we all gawk at the knives.

"You'd have to be pretty sharp to take a stab at figuring this room out." I say, breaking the awkwardness. "This really living life on the edge. I can't get a handle on the situation."

A few people look a little happier. Jasmine smiles a little, though I can tell it's forced.

"Are you okay now?" I ask quietly.

Jasmine nods, though she doesn't let go of my hand. Not that I mind. Most people start to clear out.

Caspian walks over to us. "Hey Jasmine, you doing okay?"

"Yeah..." she replies.

"Daniel."

"Caspian."

We nod respectfully at one another.

"I'm going to talk to James. Stay safe, okay?" I squeeze Jasmine's hand a little before making my way to the jock. Jasmine watches after me, looking a little nervous.

"James!" I say, waving at the football player. "Can I talk to you?"

He glances at me, hostility filling his eyes. "What do you want, Daniel?" His tone is cold, but I can hear the fear hidden deep in his voice.

"I just wanted to check up on you. You seem to be finding a lot of the creepy stuff here. That can't be good for anyone." I try to be as polite as I can, but James' hostility grows.

"Are you accusing me of being the psychopath here?!" He asks.

My eyes widen at the thought. "No..! Seriously, I'm just worried about your wellbeing."

"Sure. What would you get out of worrying about me?" For some reason, his fear seems to grow with his anger that I'm sensing is fake.

"My brother idolizes you; I'd like to support his idol." It's not a lie, but it's not the complete truth either.

James' expression changes a little, and he closes his eyes real tight. "Go away." He says. "Get away from me, Daniel...!"

Cecelia notices our exchange and walks over to us. "James?" She asks in a comforting tone. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He doesn't turn to face her.

She turns to me. "I'm sorry if anything happened; he's upset over this, too. I hope you can understand that."

"Yeah, I'll leave you two alone... He obviously doesn't want to talk to me right now." I reply.

"Don't take it personally. He's like this to everyone right now."

James scoffs, finally turning away from me.

I nod. "I'll remember that...!"

Cecelia smiles at me. "Thanks Daniel."

"Sure. Anyway, I'll actually leave you alone. Sorry if I bothered you."

James nor Cecelia reply to that. Instead, Cecelia puts her hand on his shoulder and says something too quietly for me to hear.

I turn back to Jasmine and notice her holding Caspian's hand. Making my way over, I stand a little too close to her. "Thanks for staying with her, Caspian." I say.

"Oh yeah... No problem..." He takes a few steps back. "Bye, Jasmine."

"Bye..." Her cheeks are a little pink, and I take a quick step back. Caspian walks away, following the dispersed crowd.

"Sorry..." I murmur, looking at the ground.

"It's okay...!" She smiles a little even though it's forced.

My smile becomes a little more real, and I take her hand again. Together, we return to the main group.