Chapter 20: "Deceptive Truth," ───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ──── ║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 08 - 2027 ║ ║ Friday║ 2nd Midnight ║ The sinister atmosphere in the room seems to grow longer and darker with each passing minute. Hushed whispers and muffled giggles fill the air, as my nervous glances and the flickering glances of lights I am perceiving gave me an exchanged of fear around the table. Yet, no matter what I do, I knew deep inside me a raised awareness of the fact that I had willingly walked into this situation where my deepest secrets could be pried from me, my darkest desires manipulated. So, this was all on me. Again. A wrong turn for me, again. These just means that I had walk through a scene where there would be no escape for me once the game began, and no way to refuse a truth or dare handed down from on high land. With these thoughts wildly creeping up on my veins, the room feels like a trap now, one I am unsure I will be able to escape from with my so
Chapter 21: "Graywood's Gone,"───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ────║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 08 - 2027 ║║ Friday║ 2nd Midnight ║Staring at the card laying in front of my perception — where a question yearning for my truthful words is, I can't help but to feel that the words it inject on me seemed to glow in the darkness, as if mocking me and leaving me with fear and tense, and as if taunting me with its demand for the hidden truth.I sat in silence, knowing any words I chose would be twisted and used against me. The cold shadows in the corners of the room grew, crawling slowly towards me, making my whole body tremble with mixed emotions. In my peripheral view, I could sense the card dealer's dark presence watching, waiting eagerly to see what I would say. For some damn minutes, I just sat there immobilized, staring at the question, and the scarlet ink on the parchment shimmering in an unearthly light. The words on it seemed to squirm before my eyes, the letters twisting i
Chapter 22: "Dirty Suspicions,"───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ────║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 11 - 2027 ║║ Monday║ Class Day ║The whispers began as soon as I walked through the school grounds. Eyes followed me down the corridors, people stopping mid-conversation to stare. I tried to ignore them, focus on the mundane tasks of getting to class on time, but the sinister glances and hushed voices filled the air like a miasma. In between their murmurs I could clearly hear their own versions of the twisted situation on the carousel scene last night. After the last night's sinister truth or dare game, when I found Lilian's body on the carousel, everything had changed.That certain midnight events were shrouded in a darkness I could still feel gripping at my soul. I saw the looks the others exchanged, heard the edge in their false innocence. We had all crossed a line together into a place where nothing would ever be the same again. The carousel sat silent and still, its painte
Chapter 23: "A Gift Beyond Enigma,"───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ────║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 13 - 2027 ║║ Wednesday║ Class Day ║The dusty chalkboard in the dimly lit classroom seemed to glow eerily in the moonlight. As the moon rose higher, casting its pale glow upon the scene before me, the faces of the words I was perceiving began to take on a strange, sinister glow of their own.The clock struck midnight, but the classroom was still abuzz in dead silence with activity. The dim candlelight cast eerie shadows on the walls as I feverishly scratched out symbols and jotted down notes. Our weird professor paced between the rows, peering over students' shoulders and muttering under his breath. He watched over us like a malevolent crow, urging us to go further down this dark path of forbidden knowledge.While strangely enough, as if without minding anything in their surroundings — the rest of my classmates sat silently, poring over their own coded puzzles. The flickering
Chapter 24: "Abscond,"───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ────║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 13 - 2027 ║║ Wednesday║ Class Day ║"Finally that fucking class ended. I can get into the warmth of my bed now..." Cursing like it's something to calm me off, I sauntered as the eerie glow of the fluorescent lights cast shadows across the empty hallway. I stepped out of the classroom, my mind swirling with ciphers and codes, riddles and puzzles. A feeling of unease crept over me as I walked through the deserted corridors, the silence broken only by my footsteps echoing off the walls.The night air felt cold against my skin as I stepped outside the school building, trying to calm my nerves. All was quiet except for the distant hoot of an owl somewhere in the trees that lined the courtyard. The halls I walked every day now seemed sinister and foreboding in the dim moonlight filtering through the windows.As my feet echoed against the tiled floor, I wondered what secrets these hallways held a
Chapter 25: "Taste,"Warning: R+18───── ❝ K I L L I A N W I L D E' S P O V ❞ ────║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 13 - 2027 ║║ Wednesday║ Class Day ║"Mind if you light me up, too?"I asked as I approached Ruby on the rooftop. The sun had set hours ago, leaving only the pale glow of the half moon and a few scattered streetlights below. It's past midnight already and the dark forest lay beneath us, a sea of blackness under the pale moonlight. Ruby turned to face me, in surprise as her newly-lit cigarette was still sitting between her fingers. And although her features were barely visible in the darkness, I see her lips curling into a sly smile as she took in my figure."I didn't know you smoke," She replied, her voice smooth as velvet in the darkness. I approached her, as she eyed me curiously, the night air felt heavy with anticipation. She sat at the edge of the rooftop, silhouetted against the inky sky as she exhaled a plume of smoke. I shrugged and walked closer holding out my hand
Chapter 26: "Truth Hurts,"───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ────║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 14 - 2027 ║║ Thursday║ Class Day ║The sun dipped below the horizon, casting the hallway into shadows. A warm breeze stirs my hair, carrying the scent of honeysuckle from the bushes below.Sinks of low embers in the sky, painting the horizon in brilliant hues of crimson and gold, I trudge up the steps to my dorm. I had stayed late at the library studying, hoping to block out the strange events of the past day. My day has been long and exhausting after all that happened, and all I want now is the comfort of my room.And so, feeling like collapsing, I made my way through the walkway of my dorm. The fluorescent lights of the automatic front main gate, flickered above me, their buzzing the only sound in the unnatural stillness that cloaked the hall. It was then I realized as I taunted through it that, the dorm was quiet, unnaturally so. I expected the usual sounds filtering through the wal
Chapter 27: "A Librarian's Secret," ───── ❝ R U B Y F R I D A Y ' S P O V ❞ ──── ║ Gregorian Calendar ║ 01 - 15 - 2027 ║ ║ Friday║ 3rd Post Meridiem of the Games ║ The library was quiet and still. Dust motes floated lazily in the air, illuminated by the soft glow of the lamps. The shelves were lined with rows upon rows of ancient books, their spines worn and faded with age. And though it's just been days since I had ventured here, I'm fucking sure many of these tomes contained secrets long forgotten by modern man, hidden knowledge that could reshape one's view of the world. The towering shelves of books stretch as far as the eye can see, filling the cavernous library with their musty scent and promise of knowledge. I wander deeper into the library's labyrinthine aisles, running my fingers along those timeworn shelves as I go. The air is still and quiet, filled with secrets waiting to be uncovered. I select another volume and add it to my ever-growing pile. The worn leather sp