Chapter 2: Sane or Plain?

Belle's P.O.V

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#Belle Franchester: This better be good..

#Sharp shot: I assure you. But why did you use your real name?

#Belle Franchester: The mascot pissed me off..!

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I looked through our text on the crappy farm game again while waiting out the front of my house. It had been about thirty minutes since I got back and I told mum I was worried about Laura.

A black car park in front of our lawn, making mum's mini Jeep look like some scraps from the junkyard.

The tinted glass from driver's window slowly lowered. "What are you waiting for?... Get in...", Laura gestured before I managed to drag her feet into the passenger's seat. "Nice ride..",

"Yeah, and it wasn't cheap either.."

After those two sentences were silence. Taking a deep breath... "Hope you're not doing anything illegal?... Aren't you underaged to drive?... You'll fail if you don't come back to school!... Where have you been!"

Laura smiled lightly. "Nope, yup, I know and... I've been playing the game", she'd managed to answer all that as shortly as possible.

"What's up with that lame game anyway?... I think they sent me a stupid hoe for some reason..."

Laura's eyes widen. "Why did you pick the hoe?!... Who does that?"

"What?... It was named 'The Harvest!', what else was I supposed to pick?... A fu*king gun?!", I shot her a questioning look.

"Yeah!... That's what I picked!", She brought out a gun from under her seat.

"Don't tell me you carry that around?.. what if the police see it?"

She just waved off the question. "You're only allowed to work with the tool you chose, unless you won't get any points"

"I don't really get what you mean..."

"Arghhh!...", she took in a deep breathe before going on. "The game is a man hunt sort of thing....Whatever body part appears after you 'start game' is what you'll have to find and scan into the game!"

Her words sounded like a joke me, couldn't help but chuckle. "Now I know why Bev asked if you were drunk"

Seeing her words weren't getting anywhere, Laura grabbed me by the shoulder. "See that guy that lost an arm at school?"

She wasn't even in school, so how did she know that?!

Belle nodded slowly.

"He's a player in the game, if you don't get the body part you were asked to.... Your's will go missing!"

My eyes suddenly widened at those words, I tried to take it as a joke but the serious look on Laura's face kept me silent. "Are you for real?"

"I am!.. I won't lie about something so serious!", Her hands dropped to her side. "What body part did you see when you started?.. and at what time did you join?"

I gulped. "Eyes.... And around 2am."

"Let's go...", The engine suddenly roared to life, "go get your hoe.."

"Why?...don't tell me we're gonna pluck someone's eyes out!?"

"It's the only way Belle!", The distress in Laura's eyes made my heart pound hard against my chest before I found myself jumping out of the car.

"You're crazy!...", I screamed while running towards the front door, my eyes were getting blurry. "I'll call the cops if you come here again..", were my last words while slamming the door without looking back...

Laura didn't waste a minute before leaving.

All I could do was stand helplessly by my window watching her drive pass. My hoe was still in the yard...

And for some reason, seeing it made me believe all she'd just heard.

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Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I let out a frustrated sigh before deciding to talk to Beverly.

Poor connection.

My phone had never acted that way, after trying the number a few more times... I ended up checking on the farm game.

"Howdy!", The stupid mascot came up once more. "You can read the rules to know more.."

It was almost asif the stupid thing had known what I'd been thinking.

It took about fifteen minutes to read all the rules. Some of them were what Laura had explained for me...

1. Players must collect the allocated items within 24hours or stand a chance of losing theirs.

2. Players must not talk about the game with outsiders.

3. For every item found, the money reward increases!

4. You can only use tools picked in the game.

5. Harvesting a body part from another player is paramount to getting a bonus!

I paused a bit. Could Laura have been after me...?

"No!", I slapped my forehead for even thinking that.

6. Every one month, you have to invite a friend.

7. The only way to exit the game is to complete it.

Those were about the most important rules, the other part made no sense whatsoever. And what did they mean by completing the game anyway?

The rules were short, but with every line I'd read, many thoughts flowed through my mind. Was this for real or maybe just a game Laura made up?

Laura loved to pull pranks and all, but what if...?

I shook her head in doubt..  "impossible..", throwing my face flat on her bed. It was still about 6pm.

"I'm just gonna sleep and forget it all..", I shut my eyes decisively... My mind wandered off to Trevor and our date tommorow.

When sleep found me....

"Ahhh!", I heard mum's voice after a loud thud startling me as I jumped off the bed.

I groaned.

Hadn't it just been seconds ago since I blinked? I yawned lazily as my eyes moved to the wall clock.

Two hours?!

And that scream....

"Mum!", I rushed downstairs to find her tied up, her mouth was tied too as she struggled on the floor beside the front door.

"Try anything stupid, and I'll shoot", It was Laura's voice which slowly appeared from the kitchen.

I felt tears build up. "Why..?"

"I'm doing this for you Belle!... You have to do what the game says unless you'll suffer the consequences!", She opened the front door halfway, the gun never wavering from her Mum's head. "I won't hurt her Belle, just come with me"

Monica shook her head Asif to tell her daughter not to obey.

But she didn't really have a choice... Laura looked dead serious about pulling the trigger.

"Okay..", I threw my hands up and slowly walked to the door. I couldn't overpowered Laura, who worked out almost everyday.

But maybe she could outsmart her?

Managing to smile at her mum. "Don't worry mum, it'll be fine". I slowly walked out with Laura's gun pinned to my back.

We ended up walking towards her car without causing any fuss. I couldn't believe my eyes... my head was really spinning...

Did Laura just threaten my mum and I?

"Where are we going.. I told you I won't play your stupid game but you had to drag mum into this"

Laura didn't reply.

"The police will find us.."

"That's good..", Laura finally speaks up, her eyes fixed on the road. She still hadn't let go of the gun.

"Huh?"

"More body parts for us..", she smiled wildly before laughing like a lunatic.