Chapter Text
Dark, was the first and only word that came to Ryan’s mind when he opened his eyes. He was curled up on what felt like a wooden floor, tucked away in the corner of a small room. His hand was curled tight around a small palm-shaped card, black in colour and flimsy, like nothing more than a piece of cardboard.
Slowly, he sat up, grabbing his hat from where it lay next to him. He set the hat atop his head haphazardly, promising to fix it later. Uncurling his fist, he pinched the corner of the card with his index finger and thumb, bringing it up to his eyes.
✦•┈┈๑⋅⋯⋯⋅ ⋯⋯⋅⋅๑┈┈•✦
You are the Doctor
Defy the grave. Stitch the wounded back together to keep your allies alive and outnumber the mafia.
A first-aid kit has been hidden in the room.
✦•┈┈๑⋅⋯⋯⋅ ⋯⋯⋅⋅๑┈┈•✦
…Huh?
Before he could investigate further, there was a sharp creak as the door was pushed open, albeit a little roughly.
“Oh. It’s you.”
Ryan lifted his head, his hat falling over his eyes. He crushed the card into a ball, pocketing it quickly before running a hand through his hair, fixing his hat to sit squarely on his head.
“Still a mess like always, it seems.” The speaker continued, leaned against the doorframe, hands crossed over her chest.
Ryan’s face soured, his expression turning to one of disdain. “Bella,” he muttered, averting his gaze.
His eyes instead locked onto a rectangular white box, partly obscured by a few crates piled dangerously high. Laying right next to it was a flashlight, covered in what looked to be a layer of dust.
Bella didn’t seem to notice yet. She continued on her spiel, twirling a strand of her long blonde hair around her index finger. “Like, seriously, you really should take my..advice into consideration. And fix up that mess of yours. It’ll make you much more tolerable.”
She spared him a final glance, then turned, letting the door slam shut behind her. The lights above flickered, and Ryan dove, reaching to grab both the flashlight and the first-aid kit. He wiped the dust off the flashlight with his jacket, then set it aside, sitting cross-legged on the floor, opening the small kit.
Huh. This was weird.
Inside the first-aid kit were the regular items: adhesive tape, elastic bandages, scissors, gloves, a few bottles of ointment, and some gauze. The only thing out of order in the first-aid kit was a pack of batteries, for the flashlight, he figured.
The lights were finally turned off, and Ryan was plunged into darkness. He grabbed the flashlight from where it lay next to him, hitting it twice when it didn’t turn on originally.
As it finally flickered to life, he used the light to investigate the room. The room was tiny, filled to the brim with storage crates and shelves full of even more boxes. He then turned back to the first-aid kit, staring at it for a moment.
He didn’t know how long he was looking at the kit for, but halfway through his studying of the very inconspicuous kit, his flashlight failed. He turned towards it.
“What the..” He muttered, hitting it against the floor. It flickered, but didn’t turn back on. Pushing the first-aid kit behind a stack of crates, he stood, wincing as he heard his bones creak.
He was only in his mid-twenties. Was he having arthritis or something?
“Ah- fuck!”
Ryan’s head whipped towards the door.
Was someone else out there?
There was a small pause, before something hit the door heavily. The doorknob turned, and the door was then pushed open, albeit a little carelessly. The loud creak came again, but Ryan didn’t pay much mind to it.
Because standing right in front of him, half-hunched and leaned against the doorway, was a man, holding what looked like a broom for support. The man had short, messy white hair, his expression contorted to a painful wince. There was a large bloodstain on his white shirt, the jacket stuck to his skin.
The man locked eyes with Ryan, stumbling into the room, falling to the floor with a heavy ‘thud’ as his body hit the floor, the door slamming shut behind him with a large bang.
“Oh shit—“ Ryan leaned down for the first-aid kit, jogging over to the man, who was trying his best to sit up, to no avail, judging by the way he let out a loud groan, instead turning over to lay on his back instead.
Ryan knelt down next to the man, practically tearing open the lid of the first-aid kit.
“You..know what to do..r- right?” The man spoke, and Ryan directed his gaze to the man’s face, trying his best to look confident.
”Y- yeah!” He smiled, or at least tried to, but the man didn’t seem to buy it.
“S- shit then..” The man coughed, one hand pressed tucked under his jacket, most likely pressed against the area the wound was. “S’over..I guess.”
Ryan frowned, managing to find the gloves. “What’s that supposed to mean,” he muttered, pulling the gloves over his hands a little roughly, though miraculously, they didn't break.
“Nothin’..” The man answered, but it was clear the bar was low.
As the man tried to sit up, Ryan pressed a hand against his chest gently. “Woah. Sit down. It’ll hurt more if you get up.”
His tone was surprisingly firm, maybe even confident. It seemed to surprise the man, who obeyed, laying back down. “I guess..you’re not that—“ he cut himself off with a strained cough, squeezing his eyes shut tight, his fingers closing around the shirt, grabbing at the soggy fabric.
“Hush. Do you want me to help or not?” He took the packet of gauze from where it lay at the bottom of the kit, trying to wrangle the jacket off the man with one hand.
“This..take it off.” He demanded. The man obliged, trying his best to move his arms without aggravating the injury too much, but Ryan still had to do most of the work.
Once the jacket was off, he pushed up the shirt, pulling it over the man’s chest. The man didn’t have a snide comment, surprisingly, and instead just moved his hand out the way as much he could.
The wound was ugly, spanning most of the man’s stomach, large and gaping. Thankfully, it wasn’t too deep, stopping at the muscle at most. Ryan grimaced as he saw it, biting the insides of his cheek. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little queasy when it came to blood, another reason why he wasn’t quite first-aid certified.
“Oof..” he whispered under his breath, pressing some gauze to the wound, applying some pressure with his free hand while he dug through the kit for some bandages.
As soon as pressure was added to the wound, the man let out a loud scream, grabbing at his wrist, nails digging into it. Ryan let the bandages fall back into the kit, cursing under his breath.
“Dude, s- stop that. I’m not your stress ball- shit!” He grimaced as the man’s nails drew blood, leaving dark red scratches on the sides of his wrist. He unrolled the bandages, trying his best to wrestle his arm under the man’s body, securing the first end of the bandage. He rolled the bandage over the man’s abdomen, pulling it tight, using one of the safety pins in the kit to secure it.
Shakily, he sat up, trying to pry the man’s fingers away from his wrist. “Okay, okay, I get it. Get off now. I’m done.”
The man slowly blinked open his eyes, glancing down at their joined hands, his cheeks flushing a bright red. He loosened his grip, letting Ryan move away momentarily. “S- sorry..” he muttered, averting his gaze quickly.
“S’fine.” Ryan answered, taking off his gloves, looking around in the crates, as the conversation stalled. He soon returned with a blanket, gently draping it over the man’s body. “You must be cold. I..guess. You just lost a shit ton of blood.”
The man hummed in response, but didn’t say anything else, as Ryan sat against the pile of crates next to him, hugging his knees to his chest.
The room fell to a heavy, awkward silence, neither party being too comfortable talking to the other. It wasn’t quiet for long though, as only after a few seconds or so, the lights above all flashed on.
With the lights turning on, there were also the sounds of footsteps and voices, most laced with panic and confusion.
Ryan glanced at the man, then up at the door. He then turned back to the man again. “Hey,” he started, fixing the hat atop his head, a nervous habit he hadn’t quite gotten around to stopping. “Did you see anyone else? Well, before you came to this room, at least..”
“I mean..” the man paused, then shrugged, or at least, he tried to. “I saw like..two..people, I guess..but I—“
The door then slid open yet again.
Seriously, were there no locks? Ryan was getting pretty sick of people interrupting him.
This time, the person in the door wasn’t someone Ryan recognised, and thankfully, it wasn’t someone on the verge of death.
Instead, it was a woman, tan and sporting blonde hair tied half-up. She seemed surprised, especially at the sight of the man laying on the ground, a blanket draped over him.
“Oh I didn’t-“ she suddenly cut herself off, biting her tongue to silence herself.
“Nora?” Another woman, looking almost like a carbon copy of the first woman, Nora, apparently, appeared behind her, practically climbing over her to look in. The instant her eyes laid sight on the scene, she frowned, her brain seemingly stalling as she tried to process what she was looking at.
Ryan had to admit, it was probably pretty confusing to walk in on him, and another man right next to him, laying flat on the floor, blanket over him, a first-aid kit laying to the side, bandages and gauze laying on the floor, blood-stained gloves thrown to the side.
The man went quiet, pressing his lips together into a thin line. Ryan looked away, clearing his throat nervously, intertwining his fingers together, curled into a ball.
Shaking her head, Nora pushed the other woman back slightly, shoving her hands into her pockets. “So..this makes twenty, I guess.” She muttered, entering the small room. The other woman followed, dropping down to sit right next to Ryan.
The woman turned to Ryan, holding out her hand, a large smile on her face. “I’m Athena. And that’s my twin sister, Nora!” She pointed towards Nora, who had knelt down next to the first-aid kit, looking through the items contained in it.
“I..see..” Ryan nodded, then glanced at the other man, who seemed to get the hint, holding out his hand expectedly. Of course, Ryan helped, helping move him to a seating position, as the man winced, the blanket falling slightly to reveal the blood-stained shirt.
Athena glanced at it, letting out a gasp, while Nora didn’t seem fazed at all, reorganising the first-aid kit, shutting the lid and pushing it to the side. The man coughed, taking his jacket back from where it lay on the ground, putting it back on as best he could. “I’m..Owen..I guess. Since we’re doing introductions..”
Ryan nodded, committing the name to mind. He helped Owen over to one of the crates, folding the blanket neatly, setting it aside. “Ryan.” he stated simply, his cheeks reddening as everyone turned to stare at him. “I mean..that’s my name.”
“On another note,” she started, getting up to her feet, brushing dirt off her already pristine pants. “Everyone else is meeting in..a discussion room..or something. We can show you the way.”
Ryan turned, then turned back to Owen, gently slinging his arm around his neck. Athena, ready to help, held Owen’s other arm, slinging that arm around her neck. She glanced at Ryan, her left hand clasped over Owen’s right.
“On three.” He held onto Owen’s left hand with his right, and Athena nodded.
Getting Owen up wasn’t really a problem, though. The real problem was getting to the discussion room, especially since Nora seemed to want nothing to do with them, occasionally walking way too quickly for the three of them to catch up.
—————
Thankfully, the discussion room wasn’t far away. The four of them passed by a large room with a DJ station and a dance floor, which looked scarily similar to the one in the rave, a few other small rooms similar to the one Ryan woke up in, and a room full of..couches?
The moment they entered the room, Athena guided Owen towards a chair, lowering him into it gently, before moving away to go talk to someone else, alongside Nora. Ryan sat down right next to Owen, fixing his hat yet again, running his hand through his already messy hair.
Owen turned to look at him, taking his hat from him and tossing it aside. “Your hair’s fine, y’know? I mean—”
He suddenly stopped talking, as Ryan huffed, reaching across to grab his hat. Owen moved his hand out the way, holding the hat further away from him. “H- holy shit.” Owen breathed, a small chuckle escaping him.
“Give it back..” Ryan grumbled, a little displeased, frowning, not like it really changed anything. Unfortunately for him, he had always been cursed with a resting bitch face, one that had driven away many people, one of them being Bella, who was currently very pointedly trying to ignore him.
“Hell no. You look..surprisingly..normal?” Owen tried to sit up, letting out a strangled noise as he did. “Ah- f- fuck..” he muttered, coughing, pushing Ryan’s hand away as he came to help.
Ryan tried to reach over again, to no avail, as Owen just placed the hat atop his hand, the hat tilting forward on his fist, hooking onto his knuckles, miraculously not falling.
“You’re acting like I’m some mythical creature.”
“Mythical..?” Owen let out a laugh, one that Ryan found himself liking. It wasn’t too loud, wasn’t too soft, and it wasn’t too rough or gentle either. In his opinion, the man had the most perfect laugh Ryan had ever heard.
“Yeah. You’re acting like I’m supposed to be some monster, or something.” At that, Owen rolled his eyes, a small grin making its way onto his pale face. He took the hat again, this time plopping it straight onto Ryan’s head, pressing it down so it covered his eyes.
“Well..you’ve been wearing the hat since..since we first met. I’d have expected you to hide something, y’know? Just..surprised to see you actually look like a human.”
“Alright, alright, order in my court!” A much louder voice came this time, unlike the playful mischievousness in Athena’s voice, the monotone analytical tone of Nora’s voice, or the confidence in Owen’s tone. This one was much louder, belonging to a man standing at the end of the large table, arms crossed over his chest, dressed in a white dress shirt, suspenders, grey pants and leather shoes, in Ryan’s eyes, looking like someone a part of high British society.
A woman next to the man gently nudged him, and the man glanced at her, then took his hand away gently. “Just joking.” He smiled, rubbing his wrist gently, looking towards the group.
“I’m sure we’re all confused,”
“Not me.” A man across the table raised his hand lazily, his feet propped up on the large table. That man had on a white suit jacket, a black buttoned vest, a black-and-white necktie, and a pair of trousers. His hair fell messily over his shoulders, looking way too formal for their current situation.
“I’m perfectly fine where I am.” He glanced at the man standing at the other end of the table, a small smirk forming on his face. “I mean,” he started, crossing his arms around the back of his head, “free drinks, free housing for the time being..I’m perfectly fine.”
The man on the other side of the table seemed outraged, though. He frowned, balling his hands into fists. “What are you talking about? Can’t you see? We’ve all been kidnapped, forced to play— to survive this stupid game!”
“It’s a game, no? Take it easy then.” The other man answered, cocking his head to the side. “What, we’re not scared, are we?”
“Can’t you see?” The other man slammed both hands onto the table, the action eliciting a loud bang that echoed throughout the room. “Someone just got stabbed! We’re not playing just a single game!” He pointed his finger straight at Owen and Ryan.
Ryan cringed, pulling his hat over his eyes to hide himself, whilst Owen turned away, zipping his jacket up, trying to cover the wound as much as he could. Neither man seemed to pick up on the signs though, the white-haired man took one look at them, rolling his eyes.
“Come on, they look fine. It’s probably just some dirty trick. Must be fake blood or something..” he muttered, twirling a strand of hair around his right index finger.
“Fine? Fine?! He may be alive right now, but who knows what’ll happen next time? We’re living on borrowed time right here!”
“Yada, yada. As long as we have a first-aider, we’ll be fine. I mean, have you seen him?” He pointed at Owen, “he’s still alive, isn’t he? That’s all we need.”
“Yeah, but—“
“Do you guys ever shut up?!”
There was another voice, Ryan was getting pretty sick of this whole argument.
This time, the voice was from a woman, sitting right next to the white-haired man. She took her sunglasses off, folding the two arms of the sunglasses and putting them in a pocket.
“You arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere. Stop acting like a bunch of adult children.” She rolled her eyes, glaring between the two arguing men.
The white haired man raised his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. Just some harmless trolling. I didn’t know richboy over here would be so offended.”
The other man seemed to want to retort, but one look from the woman shut him up pretty quickly. He sat back down into the chair, crossing his arms.
“Before we go at each other’s throats. We should at least know everyone’s names.” She looked around the table for any opposition. Predictably, nobody really was against that idea.
“Right. I’m Fallon.” She turned to the white-haired man next to her, prompting him to introduce himself.
The introduction process was relatively easy. If he remembered clearly, Fallon went in an anti-clockwise position.
The white-haired man was named Callum, then followed by Lily, Hudson, Georgia, Zachary, himself, Owen, Finlay, Bella, Daphne, Melania, Sean, Toby, Emma, Steven, Isaiah, Luke, Nora, and finally, Athena.
Fallon nodded as the last name was said, sitting up in her seat. “Now that that’s over with—”
“Hang on.” Bella raised her hand, her wings folded behind her back. She glanced around the room, her eyes landing on Ryan for a moment, before turning to Fallon. “I’m not being trapped here with..people like her.” She gestured towards Lily, then glanced at Ryan again. ”And I’m especially not interacting with people like him.”
“What are you—“
”People like me?!” Lily frowned, turning to glare pointedly at Bella. She crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Oh god. Not another argument.
“First of all, you dress horrendously. How did you even think it was a good idea to come out in that? You look like a child.” Bella rolled her eyes, holding out one hand to check her already pristine nails.
“Well, excuse me, not everyone wants to look like a stereotypical mean girl!” Lily shot back just as quickly, her hands balled into fists on the wooden table.
“I’d rather look like a mean girl than a child. Are you even old enough to drink?”
“Excuse me, I’m totes old enough!”
The argument was going to turn into a full-blown fight soon, Ryan could tell that much. As the two women continued to bicker, he slumped in his chair, hat pulled over the top half of his face.
“Wake me up when they’re done.” He glanced at Owen, who nodded, fiddling with the zip of his jacket in boredom.
His so-called sleep wasn’t long lasting though, as his hat was once again taken from him, this time by Zachary, who just pointed at Fallon.
Letting out a sigh, Fallon slammed her hands on the table. “Shut up!” She yelled, and silence filled the room. Ryan snatched his hat back from Zachary, who let it go easily.
“Alright. Fighting is not going to fix our..situation.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, slipping her sunglasses into her breast pocket. “I’m sure we’ve all got one of these..” From the same pocket, she retrieved a flimsy black card, the same one Ryan had gotten.
Ryan felt his own pocket. The card was still there, still slightly crumpled. Fallon looked around, then continued, “If these are our..roles, or something, we should reveal them. Makes it easier to find our attacker.”
Steven shook his head. “Do you really think that the attacker will just reveal themself? If we all reveal these..roles of ours, we’re just putting a target on our backs.”
“Won’t that just be useful then?” Toby tilted his head to the side, placing a finger on his chin. “We could clear innocents.” He smiled at the idea.
“I for one think it’s a bad idea.” Owen muttered into the hem of his jacket, pressing his fingers together gently. “Anyone could just lie at any time, and we can’t just..” he trailed off, glancing towards Ryan.
The conversation pretty much stalled after that, and the meeting was adjourned, though not before Lily practically lunged for Bella, and it took the twins to force them apart. As Ryan got up to leave, Owen reached for his wrist, grabbing onto it.
“Forgetting something?” he teased, the smile back on his face. Cheeks flushed, Ryan just let out a huff.
“Of course not.” He muttered, slinging Owen’s arm over his shoulders, helping him up. “And don’t look so smug. I still have to change your bandages. It’s not like I would’ve just upped and left.”