Chapter Text
The laughter hadn’t even faded when every flashlight in the venue died.
“…EMP!” someone shouted across the room.
The cheerful mood vanished instantly. Eva’s grip on your shoulder tightened as people scattered in panic.
You instinctively reached forward. “Artemas?”
“I’m here.” His voice came from somewhere ahead of you.
You carefully made your way towards his voice until your hand brushed against his arm, with Eva still grasping your shoulders.
You heard Gabe laughing somewhere in the distance. “This stupid EMP…”
Minutes passed by. Then, just as suddenly as they’d gone out, the lights flickered back on.
Everyone blinked against the sudden brightness.
“Night 5 has concluded. Proceed to the discussion room.”
One by one, everyone began making their way to the room. The walk felt strangely quiet after all the laughter from before.
Around the table, chairs scraped against the floor as everyone sat down.
“Day 5 has begun. You have twenty-five minutes. Discuss.”
You looked around the room, noticing that someone was missing. Your eyes drifted from person to person, until you realised who wasn’t there.
Ryan.
You frowned. “…Where’s Ryan?”
The room went quiet.
Martin looked around. “He was with us before EMP, then he ran away to see if anyone needed help…”
Lily and Elisabeth nodded in agreement.
A terrified silence settled over the room. The last doctor was gone.
You locked eyes with Theo, and he gestured to his mouth, then made a zipping motion over it.
Artemas also noticed that. He frowned.
“Silenced?”
Theo nodded once.
“Oh, come on,” Gabe muttered.
Eva sighed. “Seriously?”
Theo gave a helpless shrug.
You watched him for a moment before your eyes wandered around the table.
Everyone looked frustrated, exhausted-
Except Madison.
For a split second, you caught her smirking at Theo, before the smile disappeared from her face as quickly as it came.
Your stomach twisted. “Madison.”
Her head turned towards you. “What?”
“You smiled.”
She blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“You smiled when Theo showed he was silenced.”
“I didn’t.” She denied.
“You did.” You argued.
She laughed nervously. “Vex, we’ve all been through a lot.”
“I’m completely serious, Madison,” you crossed your arms, “Did you find it funny? Or perhaps… were you the one who silenced him?”
The room fell quiet.
Adriana looked between the two of you before calling your names.
“Vex.”
Your head snapped to Adriana’s form. “Yeah?”
“I saw it.” She agreed with you.
Madison folded her arms. “So you’re accusing me because I… smiled?”
“You looked happy.”
Madison scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
Adriana kept staring at her. Adriana slowly stood. The scrape of her chair against the floor made everyone look up.
“…Adriana?” Eva asked.
Without taking her eyes off Madison, Adriana reached beneath her jacket.
Madison’s expression faltered. “…Wait.”
Adriana drew her pistol.
“Adriana-”
BANG.
The shot rang loudly through the room. Madison collapsed from her chair onto the floor.
“The voice stealer has fallen. Madison was a witch.”
Adriana lowered the pistol.
For a second, she simply looked at Madison’s body. Then she quietly slid the gun back beneath her jacket, pulled her chair out, and sat back down.
The only sound in the room was everyone’s uneven breathing.
Eva slowly looked at Adriana. “Holy shit.”
Oliver let out a shaky breath. “You were right.”
Theo stared at Madison’s body before looking over at Adriana. Unable to speak, he gave her a small nod of appreciation.
Martin leaned back in his chair, still trying to process what had just happened.
“I don’t think we’ve got anything else.” Lily spoke up.
Adriana nodded, “We’ve already eliminated someone.”
“Discussion Phase has concluded. Voting Phase has begun. Please submit your vote within five minutes.”
Everyone in the room pulled out their phone, and typed in a single word:
SKIP.
“Voting Phase has concluded.” The Game Master announced, “Results are as follows.”
SKIP: 11 votes.
“The vote has been skipped. Night 6 has begun.”
Chairs scraped against the floor as everyone stood.
“You know…” Eva stretched her arms over her head as she looked at you. “I’m never making fun of you two again.”
You laughed. “Liar.”
“Okay, maybe I will. Just a little.”
Gabe snorted. “I give it five minutes.”
“I give it three,” Oliver muttered.
Eva laughed so hard she nearly walked into one of the bar stools.
The moment everyone finally left the discussion room and gathered around the bar, darkness enveloped the room.
“Emp? Already?!” Martin muttered as you heard him back into a stool.
“Eva?! Oliver!” You shouted.
“I’m here!” Her voice came from only a few steps away. Relief washed over you.
“I’m good as well,” Oliver said, though his voice was quieter than Eva’s, so he must have been quite a distance away.
POP.
And a crash near you.
“…Did anyone hear that?” Elisabeth whispered.
Your heart was beating wildly in your chest.
“Eva?”
Silence.
“…Eva?”
“…V-Vex…” She finally replied. Her voice was weak, barely above a whisper.
Your heart stopped. “Eva?! Where are you?!”
“I’m… here…” She sounded like she was struggling to breathe.
You started walking towards her voice, your hands stretched out in front of you, bumping into bar stools.
“Eva, keep talking!” You instructed her.
You heard someone else also moving.
“Where is she?!” Martin yelled.
“I can’t see anything!” Oliver called back. “Eva!”
You nearly tripped over something on the floor. Your knees hit the wood as you caught yourself.
“…Eva?”
Your hand brushed against fabric, then something warm and wet.
Your breath caught. “No…”
Your shaking hands searched through the darkness until they found her shoulder.
“Eva!”
She let out a pained whimper. “V-Vex...”
“I’m here,” you said, panic laced your voice.
Your hands found the wound. Blood poured between your fingers. You immediately pressed down.
Eva cried out.
“I’m sorry,” you blurted out. “I’m sorry- I have to-”
“It hurts…”
“I know.” Your voice cracked. “I know.”
Around you, people were shouting.
“Vex?!”
“Did you find her?!”
“Where are you?!”
“I found her!” you yelled.
Hurried footsteps rushed towards you from every direction.
Your hands trembled as you tried desperately to stop the bleeding.
“Stay with me.”
Eva weakly reached up, and her fingers found your sleeve. “Don’t leave…”
“I’m not leaving.” You whispered, tears forming along your waterline. “I’m right here.”
She squeezed your arm with what little strength she had. “Good…”
Then, after what felt like forever since it began, the lights flickered back on.
Every head in the room turned towards you.
You were kneeling on the floor beside Eva, both of your hands soaked in blood as you desperately tried to keep pressure on the wound.
Oliver and Martin were the first to reach you, dropping to their knees beside Eva.
“…Move your hand for just a second.”
You looked up at Oliver.
“What?”
“I just… let me see.”
You reluctantly eased the pressure.
The moment Oliver saw the wound, his face fell.
Martin looked down at Eva before gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Eva.” His voice was calm despite the panic around him. “Stay with us, okay?”
She let out a shaky breath, her face pale. “I’m trying.”
You swallowed hard.
“Eva…” You said. “Did you see who did this?”
“It was too dark…”
Oliver lowered his head for a moment. “Damn.”
“But…” Everyone looked back at her
She weakly lifted one arm. It shook violently from the effort.
“The shot came from…” Her finger pointed across the bar. “That way.”
Every head turned at once. Standing near the other side of the bar was Elisabeth. She hadn’t moved. Her flashlight hung loosely in her hand, and her feet seemed glued to the floor.
Her eyes were wide with horror.
“N-No…” She looked around at everyone staring at her. “I didn’t…”
Martin slowly stood. “Elisabeth…”
“I swear!” she cried, taking a step back. “I swear I didn’t shoot her!”
“You were standing right there,” Gabe said quietly.
“I know!” Elisabeth’s voice cracked. “But I didn’t do it!”
Eva looked up at you, her breathing becoming shallower with every passing second.
“Vex.”
“I’m here.” You replied instantly.
She gave the faintest smile. “You’re crying.”
“I know.” You quickly wiped at your face with your sleeve before placing your hand back over the wound. “You’ll be okay.”
Even as you said it…you knew it wasn’t true.
Eva looked at your bloodstained hands.
“Remember…” She swallowed. “The first time we met?”
You blinked through your tears. “You stole my fries.”
“They were our fries,” Oliver corrected gently from beside you.
Eva let out the faintest laugh. “…See…?”
“I can’t believe you’re siding with her,” you said, a broken laugh escaping through your throat, though it came out sounding more like a sob than a laugh.
She looked at the two of you for a long moment. And despite everything, she smiled.
“…I got lucky.”
Your brows knitted together. “What?”
“With you two.” Her breath caught for a moment. “Thank you.”
A tear rolled down Oliver’s cheek before he hurriedly wiped it away.
“You don’t have to thank us.”
Eva gave the smallest shake of her head.
“Thank you…” She swallowed painfully. “For putting up with me.”
You let out another broken laugh.
“You made our lives miserable.”
“I know…”
“You stole our food.”
“Mhm.”
“You embarrassed me every chance you got.”
“Absolutely.”
Your voice cracked. “…And I’d let you do it a thousand more times.”
Eva’s smile widened as a tear slipped down her cheeks.
She looked at Oliver.
“Don’t let Vex…” She took a shallow breath. “…Be alone.”
Oliver’s composure finally broke.
“I won’t.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I promise.”
She weakly squeezed your hand one last time.
“I love you guys…” The words were barely audible. “My best friends…”
You couldn’t stop the tears anymore.
“We love you too.”
Eva’s smile lingered for just a moment longer.
Then, the strength left her fingers, and her hand slipped from yours.
“Eva?” You gently shook her shoulder. “Eva…?”
Nothing.
Oliver reached over with trembling fingers and pressed two of them against the side of her neck. He stayed there for several long seconds. Slowly, his hand fell away.
His shoulders slumped. “…She’s gone.”
“No…” you whispered.
The word barely left your lips before another sob escaped you. You lowered your forehead against Eva’s hand, unable to stop the tears.
Some looked away, unable to watch any longer, while other couldn’t tear their gaze away from the three of you.
Artemas stood a few steps behind you, his feet rooted into the ground as he stared at Eva with solemn eyes.
“Night 6 has concluded. Proceed to the discussion room.”
Still, nobody moved.
You couldn’t. Your fingers were still wrapped around Eva’s hand as it was grew colder.
Oliver remained kneeling beside her, his head lowered. Martin stood just behind him, staring blankly at the floor.
Finally, Artemas stepped forward.
He stopped beside you, looking down at Eva for a long moment. Then he quietly knelt beside you.
“…Vex.”
You didn’t answer.
His voice softened. “We have to go.”
Your eyes never left Eva. “I can’t.”
“I know.”
“You don’t.”
He fell silent.
After a moment, he reached out, hesitating before gently resting a hand on your shoulder.
“We can’t stay here.”
“…She’ll be alone.” Your voice broke.
Oliver stood up from his kneeling position next to you, and held out his hand for you to take.
“Let’s win this for her.”
Your hands slowly slipped from Eva’s, and her fingers fell limply against the floor.
You reached out one last time, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’m sorry.”
Oliver was still holding his hand out.
You took it.
He helped you to your feet, though your legs barely felt strong enough to hold you.
You looked back one last time. Eva lay exactly where she’d fallen. Peaceful, as if she were only asleep.
The two of you turned away. None of you looked back again.
The walk to the discussion room was silent. You kept your eyes fixed ahead, though your vision blurred every few seconds. Dried blood clung to your hands. It had begun to darken, staining the creases of your skin.
When you reached the discussion room, everyone slowly took their usual seats.
Maya, sitting next to you, slowly lifted her hand and gave your shoulder a soft squeeze.
“Day 6 has begun. You have twenty-five minutes. Discuss.”
The silence stretched until Adriana broke it.
“…This is my fault.”
Everyone looked up.
Adriana was staring at the table, her hands clasped so tightly her knuckles had turned white.
You slowly lifted your head. “What?”
She swallowed. “I was right behind Eva.”
The room stayed silent.
“When the EMP started…” she continued, “…Eva was in front of me.”
Her jaw tightened. “I was only a few steps behind.”
She looked down at her hands.
“…The Mafia knows I’m the Vigilante now. They weren’t aiming for Eva.” Her voice cracked. “They were aiming for me.”
She looked towards the empty chair, where Eva sat merely minutes before.
“I killed their Witch, and Eva paid the price.”
Oliver spoke up first. “You didn’t shoot Eva. The Mafia did.“
Adriana looked away. “That doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
Silence.
No one wanted to be the first to say what they thought. Though everyone had a guess of the killer’s identity.
Finally, Gabe sighed.
“…We can’t ignore what happened.” He said, staring at Elisabeth.
Elisabeth slowly looked up, and stared into Gabe’s eyes.
“What…?”
“Eva pointed at your side of the room.”
“I-I know she did!” Elisabeth’s voice shook. “But she never said it was me!”
“No,” Oliver agreed quietly. “She didn’t.”
Hope flickered across Elisabeth’s face.
“But you were the only one standing there.” Oliver continued.
Her face fell.
Martin let out a slow breath. “We need to vote.”
Elisabeth looked around the table. “So that’s it?”
No one answered.
She looked at you. “I didn’t shoot Eva.”
“You are the only lead we have,” you replied quietly.
Her shoulders slumped.
“Discussion Phase has concluded. Voting Phase has begun. Please submit your vote within five minutes.”
Everyone pulled out their phones.
You hesitated, but ended up typing ‘ELISABETH’.
You hit send.
Five agonizing minutes passed in silence.
“Voting Phase has concluded.” The Game Master announced, “Results are as follows.”
ELISABETH: 9 votes
SKIP: 1 vote
“By majority vote, Elisabeth will be eliminated.”
Elisabeth stayed silent, her gaze falling to the table. A single tear escaped her eyes.
BANG.
“Elisabeth has been eliminated. She held no ties to the Mafia.”
You slowly lowered your head.
You got it wrong.
Again.
A/N:
Chapter made extra sad because SOMEONE (yes, Hermit, you) kept asking for sneak peeks.
Blame them for the angst.