Silent Deception

A lonely groan escapes my mouth, echoing through my nearly empty room. Everything has been packed up into boxes except for the calendar on my wall. I slowly unfold a black pullover, stretching it over my unusually large amount of purple hair. Grabbing a black pair of jeans, I notice the smell of bacon floating through the air conditioning, into my room. It’s enticing but I know that my mother is most likely holding the pan up to the vents, luring me to come downstairs, also known as a trap of despair and false love.

I splash water over my face, trying to wake myself up. Small bags under my eyes reveal a sleepless night, full of lingering thoughts, nervousness, and anticipation. I step over the birthday gifts on my floor, unopened. They mean nothing to me, they’re just full of pity for what I’m about to go through. Every other sixteen year old my age has the same meaningless gifts lying on their floor, except for the ones who have loving parents. What morons.

Finally, when I build up enough courage to face my family, I grab my POD and walk downstairs. They’re gathered around the bottom of the staircase, offering skittish smiles. 

It’s not easy for them either.

My mother seems to be tearing up already and my father stands there with a wavering smile. He regrets it, I know he does. Either that, or I’ll make him.

~~~

We drive in silence, like always. Signs on the side of the road exclaim about today, they’re bright and colorful, unlike my clothes. They’re ready for initiation, unlike me. All of them say the same thing in big letters, catching my attention with their greed.

It’s game day.

I step out of the car, my feet landing on the cracked pavement. The windowless building looks down at me with intimidation. I ignore it, because I know I’m going to face more when I walk inside. I’ve looked at this building all of my life, wondering what it would be like. Is it more than just a cement torture-house that stares at useless children until their day comes, haunting them in their dreams? I used to be impatient for my sixteenth birthday, ready to compete, but now I’m not as naive.

My POD rings.

This is where we say goodbye. We love you, Col. Good luck.

My mom looks up from her POD with sorry eyes. I get no message from my dad. I type a half-hearted text to my mom, a message from my mind and not my heart.

Miss you already.

I refrain from saying the three big words. 

I walk into the only door on the outside of the building. The sound of people fills the room, silence. To say it was nothing like I imagined is saying nothing. Inside the building, neon signs cover the walls, most of them directing kids to where they need to be. Pictures of President Childres are hung up on the wall, saying “You’re helping the future of Skeld,” and “Surviving is winning, silence is obeying.” Really they mean “I have all authority over you, your freedom is gone, die for misbehaving.” I follow the sign that points towards the waiting room. Blue chairs fill the room where we’re supposed to wait for our fate. There are guards in red suits, scanning the rows of kids, most likely making sure no one escapes. Most of them are staring down at their PODs, occasionally glancing at the person they’re talking to. I sit down by myself as my hands start to sweat, rubbing them on my jeans that have suddenly become too tight around my small thighs. Hoping I blend in to the wall doesn’t work, because a boy dressed in the same monocolor clothes as everyone else sits in the seat beside me. He wears gold-rimmed glasses that cover his green eyes. His face is covered in freckles and I can’t help but be reminded of my dad. Red-stained cheeks, like my mothers. He looks down at his POD.

Cole: Hey. I’m Cole.

Colette: I’m Colette. But people usually call me Col. 

Cole: Name twins!

Col: Haha.

He doesn’t say anything back, so I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes.

~~~

My POD buzzes in my lap.

Cole: Time to go Col.

Col: oh, sorry.

I stand up and my name is flashing on the board above a red-colored door.

Game time.

Cole grabs my arm, hauling me over to the next room, The Ready Room. Eight other teenaagers are in the dimly lit room, waiting for death or destiny, depending on their attitude. I’m waiting for destiny and death, that’s possible right? I take a seat next to Cole and look at my POD as it lights up.

We don’t waste time here! So all of you listen up! There’s ten of you and one Deceptor among us. If you are a Crewmate, you have to finish your Dues before the game ends, or before the Deceptor kills everyone. If you are a Deceptor, you kill. But don’t get caught, or you’ll be voted out. The others will win the game, you’ll be kicked...Easy as can be. The goal is to make it as far as you can without dying, or becoming one of the destitute. You’ve been assigned a color, put on your suit and goggles that correspond with that color. The game will start in ten seconds. No cheating, no Due “Dates”, don’t spare anyone. Hopefully you haven’t made any good friends. Every man for himself.

My screen lights up with a lime green color. As I’m putting on the lime-colored suit, I see Cole putting on a pink suit. I memorize it, just in case. Soon enough, the room lights up with a red light and a screen on the ceiling begins counting down from ten. 

Every moment from my life comes back in a flash. I remember my parents’ disappointed looks when I accidentally ran over our dog with the car. It was an accident, but I didn’t feel guilty. The time that I asked a kid in my kindergarten class to a knife throwing contest makes me smile. My dad didn’t smile, though. That was the day him and my mother discussed my future. And here I am, my future. You proud dad?

A man in a red suit enters the room, his index finger held over his mouth, as if to tell us to be quiet. He then leaves the room and I can feel the stirring of something inside everyone. The yearn to be Deceptor, to make a name for themselves, to not die. The only reason I want to be Deceptor is to kill.

We walk through the door, blank faces scan the area. It’s a cafeteria, like the kind we’d eat in at school. We’re gathered around a table with a red button in the middle of it. Now that I can see everyone’s faces, I take a look around. I recognize a few of them from school but most of them I’ve never seen before. That’ll help me if I’m Deceptor. My name twin stands across the table and when we meet eyes, he offers a small smile from under his foggy goggles. The glasses and goggles combo looks silly on him, I can’t picture him as Deceptor. My POD lights up with multiple chats from the group.

Ghost: anyone wanna be allies?

chillie: he said every man for himself...

Ghost: oh.

Quinton: i’m gonna dominate

Finn: lol not unless i vote ya out

Quinton: whatever

Cole: Good luck, name twin.

Col: good luck to u too!

My screen suddenly goes black and it feels like someone has punched me in the stomach. All of the signs on the side of the road, all of the calendars marked with the same saying never seemed real to me until now. But now, I know it’s real, It’s Game Day.

DECEPTOR.

The red letters flash on my screen and immediately, I know it was meant to be. Weapons show up in my hand, invisible to the other players. My name above my head is red and I smile a sinister smile, nothing and no one can stop me now. All of the players start to run off in different directions. I head towards a room that controls oxygen, and pretend to be fixing the wires. That’s when someone in a yellow suit walks in. He ignores me and enters a pin on the side of the wall. I fumble with the wires in my hands, and turn to walk out of the room. The thing about Deceptor, is you deceive, make them think it’s not you.

My feet echo on the metal floor, my suit swishes around my ankles and my gun clicks in my hand. I’m facing someone in a pink suit, they’re turned around and working on calibrating the Reactor. Once they hear the click of my gun, they turn, but I don’t shoot. Cole is facing me with his gold-rimmed glasses, wide, green eyes stare back at me. There’s no chatting during the game so I wave my hands in front of me, trying to tell him that I’ll spare him if he doesn’t tell anyone. 

“...don’t spare anyone.” The words of the instructor send a pang through my body, and the gun rises in my hands. I line it up with the center of Coles head. I don’t know him, I don’t. He’s just a kid I met today, who was somewhat friendly. There’s a big chance that these positions could be reversed in the later rounds. For a minute, he just stares, not moving an inch, and I’m almost convinced that I’ve killed him with just the sight of a gun in my hand. But then he moves towards me, grabs my arm and points me out of the room. I turn to face him, trying to make it obvious that I’m confused. He brings his hands up to his eyes and covers them, shrugs, and then turns away to continue working on his task.

I’m tempted to stay with him, but I’ve taken too long, it’s time to kill. I head to electrical, the only room without a camera that the other players can watch you from. I look around the room as the whirring of machines fills my ears. Someone in a dark-green suit is working right next to the vent, so I walk over to them, near enough so that I can use my knife. I fumble with the wires while they occasionally glance at me from the side, suspicious. The suspicious are the worst to deal with, but luckily I can solve that problem. I pull out my knife as soon as they start walking towards the door. Keeping my eye on the vent, my escape route, I drive the knife into their back, twisting until they fall onto the ground. They make no noise as the blood starts pooling on the ground, our nonexistent rights to speak make this easier. I stare at their limp body for one second until I realize that I need to leave before someone sees me. I jump into the vent, and it’s only a few seconds before the body is reported. My POD instructs me to run back to the cafeteria table, so I do, meeting everyone else, their suits are dirtier now and sweat stains a few of their faces. I make sure there’s no blood on my suit, that would be a major giveaway. I look over at Cole to give him a gracious smile but he avoids eye contact with me. The chat lights up on my POD.

eggy: where

Cole: Where?

Finn: who

Ghost: where

chillie: electrical, but i didn’t see anyone

Col: me either

I: yellow is sus

Col: no i was in O2 with yellow and he didn’t kill me

fritter: yeah it’s not lime either

eggy: well we gotta vote, Quinton was my friend

Cole: Let's just skip, no one is suspicious. 

Ghost: ok

chillie: ok

Col: alright sounds good

No one was ejected. (skipped)

I smile under my goggles, I got away with it this time. I wonder how many more times I can get away with it?

~~~

Eight. That’s how many more times I got away with it. Leading me up to find Cole, watching the Cams as I snuck up behind him with poison. It would kill him slowly, giving me time to get away before I had to watch the life drain out of him in a matter of minutes. I pull the poison out, along with a ratty rag that smells like puke. The poison seeps into the rag like roots from a tree, infecting it with death. I thought it would be odorless but I can smell the sharp smell as it stings the hairs inside my nose. I drop the bottle purposefully and the glass shatters on the floor, catching the attention of Cole who seems to have a sincere mask of calm on. We make eye contact, his eyes become pleading and if we could talk, I know he would be begging me for his life. I ignore the guilt, I’ve become quite good at that, and situate the rag in my hand. Then, I pounce, covering his face with the rag. He gags for a second and I think I’ve won. I think I’ve become victorious. I can already see my name on the wall of fame. Colette Handel, Deceptor of 2080.

But the name disappears.

It falls off the wall, replaced with a similar but different name.

Cole Gordon, Deceptor of 2080. 

The gun fires, little black dots appear in my eyes and his face is the last thing I see. Actually, the last thing I heard was his voice. I’d never heard a person speak in my life, and this voice shattered me. It made me cave in on myself. I shake with fear, I want to have the last words. But I can’t get any out over his and the measly thoughts circling around in my mind. Rebel, he’s a rebel. I wonder if he knows that I would have joined him, that I would’ve helped him escape Skeld, to overthrow President Childres. This place is horrid, our rights are gone, one voice speaks for us at all times. I want the world to be different, I do. But it’s too late now, Cole throws off his glasses and puts both of his feet on either side of me. His face is calming, even when he was the one who killed me. There’s a tear dripping down the side of his face, the guilt will eventually destroy him if he’s already breaking. I close my eyes, waiting to hear him speak

“You coward. You really thought you could be brave by killing me?”

I did. I really did.

Inspired by: (Yes, you guessed it) Among Us. (but in a dystopian world).