Chapter 7 - Ren

That guy is insane, Ren thought. Absolutely insane. Will stood in front of the girl, a wry smile on his face as he caught his breath, wiping the sweat on his forehead. Oscar was hunched in the corner, the glass wall his only support, as he wiped the blood from his face with a sleeve. Will's eyes glanced at Oscar, then met Ren's, who gave him a glare and turned away.

It was clear to Ren that that was not a person who "accidentally" shot seven gang members in self defense. Will was the one lying about his murder. He was sure of it.

Ren sighed, looking forward and continued walking. Their plan was good, and it seemed by the workers of the game that the hole in the game was correctly discovered. Anybody with years above fifty five would kill as many people as they can, since if they win, their years will be decreased to fifty four anyways, so it wouldn't matter. The only problem was morality, but Ren thought of himself as a moral-less person, so he was fine with it.

"See anybody?" Hannah asked. Ren rolled his eyes.

"Of course I do. There are people everywhere. I just don't see the path to get to them." Hannah shrugged.

"Well, what can you do?"

Something about Hannah always annoyed Ren. Well, he was always angry, but seeing her face just made him more mad. Perhaps because she reminded him of his obnoxious little sister, constantly with her long ass nails and five layers of foundation. Even though Hannah didn't have those things (currently), she gave off the same feeling.

It was so annoying how Ren was always getting attached to people who reminded him of dead siblings. He had come into a game with a firm resolve and fresh blood on his hands, swearing that he would just murder everybody and win, but the game was too slow for his liking. Will and his roundabout way of getting people to do his bidding, Willow and his sobby pathetic self, and now Hannah, with the personality of his dead sister.

Speaking of Willow, he disliked uprooting past conflicts. There was no special story to them, they were simply good friends in high school. Until Willow went to jail for murdering his bullies, they were friends. Ren hated how he had become attached to Willow again, but it gave him a faint sense of joy. A small happiness. Even though Ren was disgusted by his feelings, he was always listening to them.

"Hey, there are two people over there," Hannah whispered in his ear unexpectedly, making Ren flinch. He looked over, two identical blondes, a girl and a boy, were bent down by a flower pot. The girl was busy sprinkling them with water while the boy rubbed their petals idly, smiling at the girl like a father staring tenderly at his child. They didn't seem to notice them yet.

"Man, what's with bringing your siblings into your murder games?" Ren whispered back, clutching the nearest rake. He could already envision the holes in their heads, their screams and the pale expressions on their faces. The fear and shock as realization dawned in their eyes that they were done for. They were as good as dead. As he sunk the iron points in their flesh, he would feel the blood splatter across his face, the familiar sickly smell of metal and the adrenaline rushing through his body once more. He could already envision it.

Silently, Hannah gave him a countdown with her fingers. Three.

Two.

A scream erupted from behind them, making the twins spin their heads around. Surprisingly, it didn't sound like Willow screaming, but another voice. A deep but desperate scream, and the sound of metal hitting skin. A loud thump, then footsteps.

The blonde girl had noticed them, but it was too late. Ren lunged towards her, grabbing her head and bashing it on the ground. She yelped as Hannah lifted a whole table, sending the boy flying and crashing into a painting of a daisy with a smiley face.

The girl kicked Ren in the balls, making him flinch, enough time for her to roll over and grab desperately for a potted rose, throwing it against his skull. Ren felt the dirt in his mouth and nose as his rake hit something soft – her stomach. He didn't have time to check on Hannah as the girl branished a knife from her pocket, swinging it without hesitation and cutting off and chuck of his ear and hair.

"Ay! Chill!" Ren exclaimed, falling back as she caught him in a choke hold. He was losing, even a fool would know that. He hissed, throwing a desperate punch and inevitably missing. The girl had her now, the knife pressed against his neck.

"Hey, girl. Look, touch my brother and I'll kill your friend here." Hannah had pinned down the male twin, who had fallen unconscious, a giant dent on his forehead slick with blood. Ren looked over, glaring at Hannah when she stifled a laugh.

"Hmm, would be a real shame, yeah?" Hannah asked, putting a hand to her chin. "Miss, see, I don't care if he dies."

"What?!" the girl exclaimed, as if she hadn't thought about that option yet. Hannah nodded enthusiastically, her brown hair bouncing on her shoulders.

"That guy is a suuuper creepy murderer that everybody haaates. It would be better if he died, so we wouldn't have to deal with him anymore."

She curled her hands around the blonde boy, who had paled, sweating despite his eyes closed. Always the neck. Why was everybody going for the neck?

"I'll count to five, okay? Drop Mr. Murderer here and I'll let go of your brother."

"Hah! So you really do care about him!" the girl laughed, her knife digging deeper into his skin, making him bleed. Despite that, she could not kill him, Ren knew. If she did, her brother would die. If she let go, she would die too, along with her brother. Infact, she would probably die either way.

"Four."

The girl's face looked conflicted of emotions, her hair covering her wide green eyes. Her hands trembled slightly with the knife, squeezing Ren's shoulder tighter. Ren could fight back, but he was too lazy.

"Three-"

"No!" the girl shouted. "I-I won't let you kill him! Eliah… He… please. Please, ma'am." Hannah's face was unchanging.

"Two."

The girl let go, tears falling down her face. As she did, she lunged for her brother, shoving Hannah away and wrapping her arms around him. With one hand, she held her knife out, in a meager attempt to fend off anything coming at her.

She reminded Ren of Willow.

Weak. Powerless. Yet still fighting, for no goddamn reason.

She should just give up. Sacrifce her brother and run away. In the state he's in, theres no way he would survive when six other murderers were after them. 

It made him mad, her scared but stubborn eyes, the trembling knife pointing at them. 

"Hey, Ms. How about you come to our base with us?"

Ren didn't even register his words until after he said them.