Chapter 4

     “Please step on the square now.” The host’s voice can be heard through the speakers in the arena. The women followed the instruction given to them with slight hesitation.

     “Brace yourselves! Tomorrow will be your first game and as the leaders you will play a very important role. But before that, some of you will no longer be part of tomorrow’s event.” The women looked at each other in confusion. They all have the same question, “What does that mean?”

     However, before their question could be answered, several women among them saw the square lines they’re standing on light up in blinking, bright red. In a second, the ground opened and all of them fell into their death, swallowed by raging fires below, the same death their members experienced earlier.

     “AHHHHHHH!!” Karla screamed in fear. That was her last words. 

     Gasps of surprise and fear resonated in the arena followed with sighs of relief knowing they did not share the same fate.

     “Congratulations to the women standing! You are qualified to play the first game. “The host energetically announced as he claps his hands and then he proceeded to explain the first game.

***

     The day of the first game…

     The players are inside a yacht without their knowledge, although they knew they’re in a floating vehicle in the ocean because of the familiar scent of saltwater. They are blindfolded and their wrist clasp with handcuffs. Aside from that, they can also feel the bar of metal cinched around their wrist and ankles. They are all seated in a long sofa. Each sofa is seated with 50 players.

     The leaders are separated in round tables, no cuffs or blindfolds.  And only they are informed of the mechanics of the game. They also have the bar of metal clasp on their wrist and ankles.

     When the yacht arrived on its destination, the handcuffs are automatically unlocked from the players’ wrists and they removed their blindfolds. Their eyes fluttered a few times to adjust to the brightness of their surroundings. They glanced around the yacht and upon seeing the leaders, their anger rose inside them.

     Someone stood up, picked up a bottle of wine and smashed it in half on the table. He slowly walked towards the leaders table with noticeable fury in every step. Everyone stared, curious as to what he’s going to do next. They froze in shock and terror when the man, without hesitation, attacked his team’s leader and stabbed the broken glass wine into her neck. Blood flowed out of her neck but he wasn’t satisfied, he twists the bottle and tug it out of her neck, causing blood to spurt in many directions.

     The woman dropped on the floor, dead. The cruel man grinned from ear to ear and he then he did the same thing to the woman beside her. Yekaterina, who is right next to their table, couldn’t just watch it anymore. She stood up and kicked the man’s head, causing him to fall on his face for the unexpected attack behind him.

     She crouched down, reach for his head and twist it, breaking his neck in the process.  The man laid there, motionless and unbreathing.

     Yekaterina kicked him and said, "You dumb, f*ck!”

     “Ohhh! She’s cool!” Zayden said in awe.

     “Not bad for a leader.” Andrik added.

     “Get them, girl!!” Jade cheered like a fan girl. While Ahrio and Blaize raised a toast in the corner and sipped on their wine as they watched the chaos unfold.

     “The leaders deserve to die! They weren’t there for the first challenge!”

     “What kind of leaders would not inform their members and let them die?!”

     “They’re useless leaders!”

     Men from the group remarked. “We should kill all of the women so that we can choose a new leader.”

     “You don’t know anything! Leaders who lost all their members were burned alive yesterday!” Yekaterina yelled. 

     Silenced followed as they realized how wrong they were. In that moment, a total of ten men started quivering as they were electrocuted, the metal on their wrist activated. In just a few minutes, they all dropped dead on the ground.

     They stood there, gawking at the dead bodies, and it dawned on them. The unspoken rules: A leader without members will be disqualified. Members without a leader will also be wiped out.

     “See? That’s what it means to be a team. We share the same fate and we should protect each other.” Yekaterina said in the midst of tears.

     From then on, each members vowed to protect their leaders at all cost. Yekaterina glanced at her team members and she stared at them for a few seconds. Then she walked towards them, grabbed the wine glasses from both Blaize and Ahrio’s hands.

    “Stop drinking if you don’t want to drown later!” She snapped.

     Blaize and Ahrio just stared at her mad expression, waiting for her to explain what she just said.

     Yekaterina sighed and started telling them about the game. The game is held on water, specifically the sea. The leader stands on the finish line as her members will swim to reach her. Sounds like a piece of cake but with the metal on both their wrist and ankles it would be like swimming in a quicksand being pulled under and drowned.

     “How many glasses of wine did you drink?” Yekaterina asked.

     “Don’t worry, it’s just one…bottle.” Ahrio responded.

     “Don’t believe them. I saw them finished off two bottles!” Jade whispered to Yekaterina.

     “They’ll be dead in a few minutes.” Zayden remarked.

     “I’ll kill them first.” She threatened.

     Ahrio sent dagger looks to Zayden, “If I die, you’ll die before me.”

     “Your vocabulary is consisted of only two words: die and kill.” Zayden insulted him.

     “You must be a serial killer.” Blaize added.

     Ahrio was taken aback and for a moment he became speechless. Then Blaize and Andrik started laughing because of his reaction. They thought his reaction is cute. Even the angry Yekaterina can’t help but smile. Ahrio felt relieved and laughed together with them awkwardly.

     The others watch as this particular team started forming a strong and deep bond…