Chapter 7: The strange man in the dark

“Who are you, and what do you want from me?”

Joy almost shouted the words, but they died in her throat before they could escape.

Someone was standing beside her bed.

For one terrifying second, she couldn't move. Her eyes had barely adjusted to the darkness when the figure turned toward the door.

Then the stranger ran.

Joy sat upright, her heart pounding so violently that she could hear it in her ears. The figure's face had been covered, leaving only the outline of a head and shoulders visible beneath the loose, dark clothing.

“Hey!”

The figure didn't stop.

Joy threw back her blanket and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her first instinct was to chase the intruder. Whoever it was had entered a room filled with sleeping women and stopped beside her bed. That alone was enough to make her afraid.

But before she could take a step, she remembered the rules.

No contestant was permitted to leave the sleeping quarters after curfew.

Anyone caught wandering outside would face punishment from the Game Master.

Joy had heard the warnings. She had also witnessed what happened to people who ignored instructions.

She froze.

The door had already closed behind the stranger.

For several seconds, Joy stared at it, waiting to hear footsteps fading down the corridor. She heard nothing.

Taking a slow breath, she returned to her bed and sat on its edge.

Her hands were trembling, She pressed them together

She didn't know what the person wanted, how long he had been standing there, or what might have happened if she had remained asleep.

That last thought sent a chill through her.

Joy looked at the empty space beside her bed.

Had the stranger intended to steal something?

She had almost nothing worth stealing. Her identification papers, phone, and other personal belongings had been taken during registration. All she had brought from home was a change of clothes, a photograph of James, and her grandmother's old umbrella.

The umbrella rested against the side of her bed.

Joy immediately reached for it.

Her fingers closed around the worn wooden handle, and she pulled it into her lap.

The sight of it reminded her of her mother.

She pictured the small room back home, the empty medicine tin, and the way her mother had turned her face away from the food Joy had struggled to provide.

Then she remembered James.

He would probably be awake by now, wondering whether his sister had reached the competition grounds safely. He might even be reading his torn schoolbook beneath the blanket, pretending he wasn't worried.

Joy swallowed the painful lump in her throat.

She had promised to return.

She had promised to save them.

Whatever was happening in this place, she could not afford to lose sight of why she had come.

But that didn't mean she intended to become an easy target.

She placed the umbrella beside her pillow and studied the sleeping women around her.

There were dozens of contestants in the room, all of them strangers brought together by desperation and the promise of an impossible fortune. Some had arrived hoping to escape poverty. Others wanted to pay debts, rescue sick relatives, or buy themselves another chance at life.

Joy understood those reasons.

She shared some of them.

But she had never imagined that surviving the competition might require her to watch her back even when she was supposed to be sleeping.

Her eyes moved from one bed to another.

Why had the stranger chosen her?

There were other women in the room. Some were sleeping closer to the door. Others occupied beds near the windows. If the intruder had wanted to steal something, there were easier opportunities.

Yet the figure had stood beside Joy's bed.

But she could not spend every night fighting sleep.

The competition had barely begun, and tomorrow would bring another trial.

She needed her strength.

Joy closed her eyes, then opened them almost immediately.

A new thought had occurred to her.

The competition's organizers had already shown that they controlled nearly every aspect of the contestants' lives. They had cameras throughout the grounds, guards at every entrance, and rules strict enough to make even a simple walk outside a dangerous decision.

Her eyes moved toward the door for the hundredth time.

Perhaps maybe the stranger was one of the male contestants.

The thought came naturally. The men were housed in a separate building, and the person she had seen had been broad enough to be a man, though she couldn't be certain.

Maybe one of them had found a way into the women's sleeping quarters.

Maybe he had heard something about her during the first trial.

Joy remembered how the Alpha had watched her in the maze, how he had listened to her observations without trying to take control, and how he had stayed beside her until their group reached the exit.

For a brief moment, she wondered whether it could have been him.

She quickly dismissed the idea.

The figure had covered their face and ran away. The Alpha had given her no reason to believe he would behave that way.

Besides, she barely knew him.

A few conversations during a dangerous trial did not make someone trustworthy.

She would not accuse him simply because he was one of the few men whose face she remembered.

Joy drew the blanket over her legs and leaned against the wall.

The room remained silent, its occupants unaware that anything unusual had happened.

Joy rubbed her tired eyes and forced herself to think clearly.

Tomorrow, she will face the next trial. She would observe every instruction, study every challenge, and use whatever intelligence she possessed to stay alive.

Then she lay down, keeping one hand beneath the blanket near its wooden handle.

Her eyes remained fixed on the door until exhaustion finally began to pull her toward sleep.

Just before closing them, she opened them immediately.

Perhaps she thought maybe the stranger was simply another contestant who had become desperate enough to break the rules for a private reason.

Joy could understand that kind of desperation.

After all, she had entered the competition for money too.

But there was one thing she knew very well.

The competition rules had been announced to everyone. The contestants were expected to remain in their assigned sleeping quarters after curfew. Leaving without permission could lead to severe punishment.

No one who had come there for the money was allowed to move around at night.