Chishiya

It was late in the afternoon when I decided to pack some usabilities from the house I had stayed in and leave to search for the metro entrance I found on the map. I packed the rest of the food and medicines and took the big map from the teenagers room with me as well.

I opened the door to leave and squinted my eyes to get used to the bright sunlight before I started to walk in the right direction. Reading maps had always been a forté of mine, so I found the place easily. However, when I descended the stairs of the metro, it seemed like I wasn't the only one. I approached the shadow in silence.

'Well, well. I knew you had it in you to escape. Sorry from earlier. But I had to stick to the plan to get the cards,' I said slowly and I grabbed some playing cards out of my pocket to wave them before his eyes. Arisu turned around towards me.

He smiled. 'Chishiya. I am glad you made it out alive as well. You definitly didn't make it easy for me,' he grinned. How was he able to always forgive everyone and smile, no matter what? Usagi and Kuina came out of the dark while Arisu talked to me. Usagi had a sceptic look on her face. She clearly didn't trust me anymore. She was a smart girl.

I smirked at them in delight. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I was happy to see they got out safely. Then I realized where we were and came to the point: 'how did you guys find out about this place?'

'You missed a lot, Chishiya,' Arisu smiled sad. 'There was chaos and Aguni tried to kill ev-e-ry-one. Even innocents. That girl, Asahi, sacraficed herself to break through the chaos and let us carry the body of the witch towards the fire. It seemed like Asahi and Momoka knew more. Can you believe it was Momoka herself after all?' he went on.

'Off course it was Momoka,' I lilled. 'It was obvious from the start what the game masters tried to do. But I must admit, it was a bit much. Even for me,' I laughed.

Arisu stared at me in disbelief for a moment. 'Right before the Beach collapsed due to the fire, we found Asahi's phone. It wasn't one like we always receive during the games. It was a different one, with more functions. We found out about the video's she had made together with Momoka. Video's of them going through tunnels to get to a place full of TV's. They led us here. We're gonna find out what they were hiding from us. Are you joining us?' he told me.

'Arisu, are you crazy?!' It was the first time Usagi had said something. 'Why the fuck should you trust this two-faced liar again? He almost got you killed!' she screamed. I smirked at her without any comments.

'Usagi, even though he did what he did, I could understand his way of thinking. He is very smart and he has the cards, that's what we always wanted to achieve together, right? He can be useful. Besides, I always give everyone a second chance!' Arisu tried to convince her.

I laughed on the inside. Did he really think I was still planning on sharing the cards with them? I thought he was smarter than that. I grinned.

'Are you really giving hím another chance? You shouldn't be so forgiving. Would you, for example, also give Niragi another chance?' she whispered madly and stroked her arm with her hand.

I pricked up my ears at the mention of his name. I wanted to ask if they knew anything more about him, but I kept my mouth shut.

Niragi

I woke up again to a burning pain on my chest in the late afternoon. I swung my legs over the bed and looked at myself in the mirror. Shit. Blood and another, yellowish body fluid dripped from the bandages onto the ground. I stretched myself and stood up. After pouring the rest of the water into the sink, I washed my hands and started removing the bandages.

I grabbed some paper towels from the counter, dipped them in the water and tried to clean my wounds as good as possible. After that, I searched the small bathroom for new bandages. Bingo! I found some and bandaged myself up again before returning to the bed and plopping down on it.

What was Chishiya doing? Was he thinking I went straight Westwards and did he went searching for me? I really hoped we'd find each other back soon. As a doctor, he'd undoubtedly know how to treat my wounds. I needed him badly... Would he also need me...?

A thought came into my mind. I jumped up and ran towards the backpack that I left at the door. I grabbed it and turned it around to empty it. All the contents fell on the ground: a clean white hoodie, scissors, some cloth, three black shirts, an unknown strip of pills and some of Chishiya's makeshift weapons.

No cards? Where did he put them? Didn't he give them to me? Didn't he trust me with them? My head was spinning as I stumbled back and plopped down on the bed. Did he pull my strings too? Did he just abandon me with nothing but this? I squeezed my eyes to make the headache go away and tried to calm my breath. No, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't...

Chishiya

'Anyways... Whether you accompany me or not, I will go inside this metro station to look for that place. It was nice seeing you all alive!' I smiled and started walking again, squinting my eyes to see better in the dark.

Kuina followed in my wake and some meters behind her, Arisu and Usagi did as well. Every other couple of meters, I compared the route on the piece of paper with reality and went on. I went through doors, walked over the metro lines and descended stairs to finally arrive in a big open space. It looked like a hall with a kind of TV-tower inside of it. It also looked completely abandoned.

'Woah...' Kuina whispered, 'this is so fucking big!'

I grinned and slowly walked towards the entrance of the TV-tower. Everyone followed me closely. When I turned around the corner of the door, I froze. Behind me, I heard a gasp escape from Usagi's and Kuina's mouth and Arisu flinched.

Dead bodies everywhere. Their heads pierced by the laser we know so well. Laying on the ground, hanging over desks and chairs, ... it really was a sad sight to see.

I stepped over a body to enter the place and inspect it more. There were desks everywhere and the bodies were all dressed very professional. I saw clipboards with papers and pictures in them. I grabbed one and recognized a picture of the Beach with Aguni and Arisu. This must've been during the Witch hunt... Were they watching us?

Arisu scrolled through Asahi's phone and pressed 'play'. I heard her voice whisper to the camera: 'this is the watching post where the Dealers can view all the games of tonight. We have to prepare the games and make sure as many people die. That's our way of gaining days on our visum. If we fail, the consequences are big...' Arisu paused the video and looked around once again. I sat down on an empty chair and sighed.

All of a sudden, the screens around us all turned on with a bright, white light. A silhouette appeared and spoke to us.

Niragi

I must have fallen asleep again, because I got awakened by an unfamiliar voice. I quickly opened my eyes and discovered the voice came from the TV. What? Why the hell did the TV suddenly work?! I uprighted myself and came closer to the screen to watch closely.

'Dear players, you did a very good job playing the games and finding all the numbered cards!'

A figure in the shadow talked to me through the TV. She was barely visible, but I recognized that silhouette and her voice. Wasn't that this bitch from back at the Beach? How was she called... Mira?

'We are so proud of you! Hihi. Therefor, we have a big surprise for you all, drumroll... Even more games! Yay! In this next stage, you will play against the Citizen of Borderland and be able to gather the face cards!'

Citizen? What was this place? And how did they become Citizen? Why where we just players?

'The next stage will commence tomorrow at 12 o'clock. Enjoy playing! Ha haaa! That was our announcement...'

The TV went black again and left me behind with a ton of questions. Even though I had always enjoyed the games here, I didn't know what to expect from this 'new stage'.

Anyways. This was an opportunity for me to get revenge. A fresh start. A goal. A new spark of hope for me to go on. And go on, I would.

[End of chapter twenty seven]

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Hii! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to reading more. I am trying my very best to write as fast as possible, but I don't want to rush this story eather since I know where I want to go with it and don't want to get there too fast without good story arcs! I really hope you understand. Anyways, feedback is always welcome. Thanks for commenting and voting! :D

Photo from the Alice in Borderland series on Netflix