Flicker: Part 5 (Reedsy Cast)

Author’s Note:

Hello everyone! Summer is almost over, along with this Reedsy cast! Thank you all for hanging with me on this crazy journey, and a HUGE thanks to everyone who participated. I seriously cannot thank you guys enough <3 The final part *should be* posted later this week, or next week.

Also, I’m thinking of making a sequel series to wrap up some small details and things you may have noticed (remember the symbol? That’s important, keep note of that!)

Happy reading!

~~~

-Cora-

“So… you read Camryn’s role?” I asked Ashlyn.

She nodded, “It said he was good.”

I noticed Chris shrank back, barely noticeable, but definitely there. Maddie also looked like she wanted to grab her journal and run away with it.

“So, how can we trust you?” she asked Ashlyn, looking her down. A bead of sweat went down her forehead. Intimidation? Or… was she nervous?

She seemed to think through her answer. “I… guess you can’t, if your on the opposite side.”

Maddie’s eyebrow creased, as if she’d been struck by a direct hit.

And the way Ashlyn slightly raised an eyebrow… I had to ask the question in my mind.

“Are you hinting you know Maddie’s role?” I asked, taking a quick glance at B.

“No!” she said, a little too quickly, “No, I don’t.”

“Well, then who have you read these past few days?”

“Uh, I don’t think I can answer that. Didn’t the stranger on TV say something about revealing too much could get us eliminated?”

“I… vaguely remember that,” muttered B quietly.

“Well, either way, I still don’t trust you,” Isla raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

Ashlyn sighed, “Fine, I guess that’s only fair.”

I heard static from behind me, as the TV turned on. “Well, well, well! I guess it’s time for bed,” The figure’s voice turned gleeful, “Time for the murderer to come into play.”

“Oh great, here we go again,” B muttered, turning a bit green.

“Well, I guess we all deal with things that aren’t too pleasant, don’t we?”

Maddie grabbed a nearby plant, and threw it at the TV, only for it to freeze mid-air and float millimeters away from the screen.

The figure clicked their tongue, “Maddie, do not try to make me angry.”

“Well, too bad for you. I’m done with your games. LET US OUT.”

The stranger sighed. “Scared are you? Afraid you’re next?”

“We all are victims here until we’re let out. How do we know you’ll let us out if we discover who the murderer is?”

“I will. I have no use for keeping kidnapped children trapped in a few measly rooms. ”

“Children?” B scoffed.

“Fine, teenagers and young adults. Happy?”

Isla groaned. “Let’s just… head to bed already. This discussion is pointless.”

The TV clicked off.

“Well, goodnight, I guess...” muttered Ashlyn, as she headed into her room. B was quick to follow. I decided waiting outside with a bunch of could-be killers wasn’t how I wanted to possibly spend my last few hours living, so I headed to my room as well. I was about to pull out my journal when I heard three pairs of footsteps enter the room next to mine. I quietly leaned against my left wall as I heard Maddie’s voice.

“Ok, what do you two want?” she asked.

“You… know Ashlyn is evil, don’t you?” a softer voice asked. Isla’s, perhaps?

Silence.

“You do,” a boy’s voice stated. Probably Chris’s. He and Isla had been spending most of their time together, I wonder if there-

“Yeah, I do. Why?”

“We know too. I’m the Good Mind Reader.”

There was a small gasp.

“And I’m Savior, one of the secret roles,” said Isla. “I’ve been saving my power to save the Detective whenever they’re murdered, since I can only use it once. And… I think you’re the Detective.”

My eyes widened. Then a small grin crept over my face.

Being the Assassin had its perks. You know who the Murderer is, and you have one un-avoidable kill. Even the Doctor couldn't save you. So… if the Murderer and I teamed up tonight, we could kill two of them, taking down most of good. Then we’d just have to vote out the last person. My grin grew even larger.

Time to let her know.

~~~

-Maddie-

“Well...” I muttered, “This wasn’t planned...”

“At least we have each other’s backs,” pointed out Isla, being the optimistic person she was. “And if you die or get eliminated, I can bring you back.”

Chris groaned, and hit his head against the wall, “I seriously read Ashlyn’s role last night. Just great, I should’ve read someone else’s.”

I froze. “Wait!”

“What is it?” asked Isla.

“There’s only us, Cora, Ashlyn, and B left. I’ve been keeping track of everyone’s roles we know of in my journal,” I quickly opened my journal to the page where all the roles were listed out.

“We know Ashlyn’s role,” I quickly wrote her name on the Evil Mind Reader column, “The only roles that we know are left are Murderer, and whatever last secret role there is.”

“And if I’m the good secret role… then the other secret role must be evil.”

“How do we tell who's the murderer out of Cora and B?” asked Chris.

“We use their body behavior,” I said, opening to the pages with all the clues I had received. “We can break down each of their behavior whenever Murderer is mentioned, or whenever someone dies.”

“Ok, so remember when Aiden died?” said Chris, “She looked terrible, her hair was a complete mess and she looked super tired. The first thing she asked was whether we all heard his scream. And she was the first one to check where Aiden was. She looked pale, shaken even. If she was the murderer, that’d be hard to fake.”

“And Cora...” Isla said, “She seemed a little shaken at Camryn’s death, but recovered quickly. If she was the murderer… I wouldn’t think otherwise.”

“It has to be Cora...” I whispered, “We need to go confront her, before she hurts anyone else.”

We all ran out the door, and turned back on the lights. B, Ashlyn, and Cora all exited their room, looking confused.

“Cora!” Chris shouted, “Don’t hide anymore!”

“Hide what?” she sneered.

“You’re the murderer, aren’t you?”

She laughed. Quickly, but not long enough. “Of course not! Why would I be?”

“You’ve been super calm about everything! And I’ve been keeping track of everyone’s roles, it has to be you!”

“Oh, just me?” She asked, grinning. “You know, I thought you were smarter than this.”

“What-what do you mean?” asked Isla, looking unfazed by her sudden personality change, yet hiding a small tremble in her voice. 

“Ashlyn is obviously the Evil Mind Reader. Chris is obviously the Good one. And don’t get me started on Isla’s role. A good one, like herself.”

“You… listened in on our conversation?” I shrieked. She could kill us right now. Why wasn’t she doing anything?

“Of course. After hearing all I needed to know, I paid the real murderer a visit.”

“I… I don’t understand-” whispered Isla.

Chris went pale.

Cora smirked. “Oh yes.”

That’s when I noticed the smell of burning wool. I spun to the couch, watching the flames burn higher and higher.

Ashlyn held a small piece of ignited wood as she threw it in. She glanced at me, long enough that I could see the tears.

“Well, I guess it’s fair to say I won, don’t you think?”

I slowly turned to see B standing next to the cloaked figure, grin spreading wide.

Smoke filled my lungs, making the walls feel like they were closing in. Soon, it was starting to get harder to breath.

The cloaked figure snapped it’s fingers, as Evil team faded away.

Before fading away completely, B looked down at me.

“Thank you for all you’ve done. Now I win.”

She faded away completely, as the fire surrounded us, growing larger and larger, until I finally blacked out.

~~~

Thank you to everyone who participated in my first Reedsy Cast!

Cleo/Cookie Carla: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/cookie-carla/

Camryn/Chase Dova: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/chase-dova/

B/B.W: 

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/b-w/

Maddie/Abigail Cross: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/edbcba/

Ashlyn/Wolf Warrior: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/wolf-warrior-e4a694/

Chris/Celeste:

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/0466a8/

Ellie/Anonymous:

(You know who you are ;) )

Isla/Sia Sharma:

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/42b041/

Cora/Sienna:

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/a97cef/

Word Count: 1469 words

(ps: this isnt over yet dw ;) )