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The entire room seemed to follow me as I stalked back to the line and whispers filled the air as people righted themselves.

Several had been knocked down in the fray.

I stared down at the ground, ignoring them all, unable to shake the feeling that whatever I just experienced was not a normal reaction.

Even trying to avoid the glances, I couldn’t ignore the stillness emanating from the gods above.

They’d gone from being jovial and excited to reserved and quiet.

Their obvious attention on me, was the opposite of what I’d wanted.

I’d hoped to slink in and be unnoticed. A blip, not worthy of their focus, but they were focused now, and it made my skin crawl.

Having the gods’ attention could be deadly.

But something about the way my mask reacted seemed to have them on edge, and I didn’t like the feeling one bit.

I chanced another look to where they were stationed above in all their glittering splendor.

They were still, but something was amiss.

One, two, three… I counted the gods and there was one notable detail that had my blood chilling inside my veins— one was missing.

Which god, I couldn’t say, but there were only fifteen instead of the revered sixteen that usually attended.

Had they been missing the whole time, or was it a recent development?

I pushed away the thoughts and averted my gaze once more, not wanting to be caught staring too long.

People had been struck dead for less. All I wanted was to get through this competition and make it back home to my family, but I feared that I inadvertently had a target painted on my back from that little display of power.

I searched my memory of anything happening like that in prior games but came up empty.

I don’t even know what it meant— if it meant anything at all.

Maybe I was just overthinking things. It could have just been because the mask’s power was rooted in producing shadows—nothing more.

After all the masks had been chosen, we were escorted to our rooms with instructions to meet in the banquet hall in the morning.

There were three fully functioning bathrooms dispersed throughout the hallway, which made me cringe.

I was well aware of how sharing a bathroom could go, having done it all my life with my siblings.

Jean was the worst of us siblings, always hogging the room for hours at a time and leaving his hair all over the sink. It was disgusting.

The room the guard took me to that was to be mine for the next serval days, was down a long, arched corridor with flickering sconces placed at shoulder level to illuminate the path.

There were black and white checkered tiles that looked as if they were several hundred years old lining the ground, and every few feet, a skull was imbedded into the stone walls.

The contestants were all quiet as we were escorted by armed guards one at a time. When I finally made it to my room, I found my suitcase I had packed waiting for me.

“If you need anything, just pull on this cord here,” the guard gruffly instructed.

At least it was a different one than had assaulted me earlier this morning.

He left without another word, and I sighed, feeling relief sweep through me for the first time all day.

I’d made it through the choosing ceremony.

It had gone different than how I’d imagined, but now I could strategize and learn how to wield my newly gifted power.

The room was a modest one, but far nicer than the one I had at home.

There was a full-sized bed filled with plenty of plush pillows, and a regal deep red comforter that had golden tassels hanging from the ends.

A matching velvet canopy hung about the top of the bed that were tied back with golden braided ropes.

A roaring fireplace heated the space, and several light fixtures lined the walls giving me enough warm light to see my surroundings.

Despite the fire, there was still a chill that hung about the air, and a hint of damp that seemed to permeate through the floor.

And of course, because we were underground, there were no windows to be found.

It had to at least be near supper time by now, and my stomach was still a mess of nerves. Though a low pang of hunger reminded me that I should probably eat something.

There was a small ice box filled with meat and cheese tucked away in the corner of the room.

I rolled them up together and shoved them in my mouth suddenly ravenous.

It’s like I had been suppressing my hunger and finally realized I needed sustenance to survive.

As I chewed, I went over to open my suitcase, wanting to settle in and rest my feet for the night.

But when I went to open it, a large dagger sat prominently on top with a note attached at the handle.

It read:

Just in case :)

- M”

Fucking Marley.

Having this on me could get me killed or expelled from the games. Sentenced to a lifetime of servitude to one of the gods. My heart rate jackhammered into my chest as I whipped my head around trying to find a suitable place to stash it.

A knock on the door came and everything inside me panicked. The knife clutched in my hands would doom me before I even had a chance to fight.

The knob turned and my knees quivered in fear. I was a fucking goner.