November 13, 1980
I had to take a break from writing yesterday, a lot of things crossed my mind, but it's over so, I'll just start where we left off. The girls went up, and nothing too notable happened from what I saw. Although, I could see that together, Hope and Evelyn are threats. They communicated using their eyes, blinking if one would shoot or shoot themselves and if they should. The bewildered look of that poor smoker was probably the first time anyone has ever died with a face like that and not one of fear; Hope and Evelyn won and it was all up to me, Riley and Harrison. We sat at the table ready to begin. The guard had rolled the cylinder and placed it on the table, pointing the tip towards me to start. I took one sigh to take my nerves away, and shot myself first and got nothing. Then it went to Riley and he shot himself, nothing. Harrison went up, he shot himself and nothing. He passed the gun to me. I've never felt the tension so high before. Eyes watching me as I held the gun in my hand couldn't have been more bothersome. I already knew my goal though, it was to make sure Harrison didn't live. This was my shot and the 4th cylinder, it should have a higher chance to shoot and kill. I looked at Riley, watching his uneasy eyes, but he knew I wasn't gonna shoot him, if anything this would free him from being with Harrison. Although I fail to believe he would be happier with or without Harrison if I did kill him. I aimed my gun at Harrison had and with one shot… Nothing… My heart dropped as the empty shot echoed the room. I may have not shown much expression other than a stoic look, but deep inside I felt my heart race, because now I'm screwed between who shoots at me. The gun went towards Riley and he looked extremely nervous. He looked like he didn't even know who to shoot. His partner or his friend. It took him a while, till he raised the gun at me. My eyes darkened slightly, lead a sigh come out,
"Is that what you wanna do?" I asked him, looking dead in his uncertain eyes. I could see he felt the pressure on him of multiple eyes staring at him, betraying someone who was close to him. Hope and Eveyln's eyes were stronger than anyone's else to him. He closed his eyes and sighed… He then aimed his gun back at Harrison and shot at him, which I heard everyone sigh in relief and shock at said pointing. Although Harrison grinned as Riley shot because unfortunately. Nothing happened again. Now the gun had a one hundred percent chance of shooting. Harrison smirked as he pointed the gun to me, for the first time in a while, fear coursed through my body. This was it for me, I thought it was all over, but to everyone's surprise he aimed the gun towards Riley. Riley didn't get a chance to react before he got shot in the head and collapsed to the floor. The room was silent, no one daring to make any sound. For me, it felt like no one, but me and Riley's corpse was there. I watched as Riley's lifeless body stood in one place, not moving a muscle. It felt like deja vu in a way. Looking at Riley, all I could think about was my brother on his death bed. I held his hand and cried when he passed, his breath shortening till I heard nothing, his heart beat slowing down, till it just stopped. The tears I shedded that day always haunted my soul. It felt like the world ended there once he closed his eyes. The many games we played, the many songs we sang in the car, all the care in the world we gave each other, died on that bed with him. The silence came to an end when Harrison spoke up in this cocky asshole tone,
"Well, he was useful while he was still alive." he remarked, before throwing the gun on the table before continuing,
"I'll give it to him, he's a very good listener and follower. I can respect that." He got off his seat and walked away for a second. Before turning around and with an evil grin, he stared into my eyes and said,
"I never liked you, ever since we met. You looked so cocky and judgemental, and especially after you treated me like shit during our argument that day. I needed to humble you, badly. Now we are truly even." With that he walked off to his bed, leaving the mess he had created with a smile. As if I didn't have any more reasons to want him dead. I felt a small hand get placed on my shoulder, I turned to look at Hope.
"Franklin… I'm so sorry." Hope said, looking like any moment she could cry. Evelyn looked at Riley's bloody body on the floor, looking with so much pity.
"He was such a pure soul, I would never wish death upon a kind boy like him." she uttered. I couldn't speak, I felt my eyes water and my throat starting to sting. My grip on my jeans tightened. Was it tears? It was a strong sensation I hadn't felt in a long time. It always felt like every time I did, I'd hear my father's voice telling me not to cry and to suck it up. Hope and Evelyn had noticed my uneasiness and before I knew it, I was given a hug from both of them.
"It's ok to cry, Franklin. You can let it out." Evelyn softly said. When she said those words, they were enough to make me cry tears. The overwhelming pain and stress were all too much for me to handle. I didn't even get to say goodbye to Riley or how much he helped me, none of it. I feel a bit guilty that I wasn't able to be on good terms with Riley before his passing. There's not much that can be done anymore. After that long game, the guards had congratulated all of us for surviving the game. All we had was one more left, and we would get to leave this place. Although a normal person would be ecstatic about this news, I didn't feel that way. I thought I would, but with the unfortunate circumstances, it didn't feel like a win for me. It felt like just another check list of trauma I had to endure more of. I will admit, Harrison played a good game on all of us. I wish I could have seen through him and his games, but I was incompetent and was not thinking about my game and other strategies like I used to do. This time, I'll make sure I pay more attention when that time comes. Harrison will feel my wrath, and I will make sure what happened to Riley will be ten times as worse to Harrison and I'll feel no remorse for it. I think back to what Riley said,
"We're all murderers whether we like to admit it or not." I didn't want to admit it before, but he was right. We are all murderers. We've killed people here with the selfish goal to live and gain money. There really is no difference between us and Harrison. But that's ok. Because no matter what, Harrison will be at the tip of the gun and I'll be the one holding the trigger.