1 Prelude

Cher spent her class break time staring at her palm. The teacher just left the room, and no one really liked her that much, so all the students became rowdy and rambunctious, as if to rebel against that teacher in particular who told them to spend their break time in silence. She was incredibly strict, and had a terrible temper, so no one could really object to her, or even say anything to her while she was in class, so the only way they could rebel was when she wasn't anywhere nearby.

But Cherry Williams, instead of making noise or talking to her classmates during this, simply stared at her palm, as if trying to understand something.

"Cher? What're you doing?" Kiana, who sat in front, called to her worriedly. "You've been staring at your hand for five minutes now."

"Nothing, it's not too serious." Cher showed her right palm to her. "Since I woke up this morning, this mark has been on my hand."

Kiana inspected the mark, puzzled. "Why exactly do you have an X on your hand?"

"Beats me. I asked grandma about it, but she doesn't really know either."

The red X mark on her palm seemed like it was ink that was painted on with a brush at first, but it looked like it was actually part of the skin, like a birthmark. She had tried to wash it away, but to no avail. It seemed permanently stuck on her skin.

"Should I see a doctor?" Cher said.

"It doesn't look all that threatening to me. If it's not painful or anything, then it's probably safe to just leave it. Maybe it'll disappear on its own."

Cher stared back at her hand, doubtful. Though not often, there were times when the mark felt painful. She had a feeling that it wasn't going to go away anytime soon. It felt connected to her skin, and she might have to rip off her skin to get rid of the mark (which she obviously didn't want to do).

"It doesn't bother me too much, to be honest," Cher said.

The day carried on, and throughout, she tried to force that thought back into her mind. <It's just a weird bruise mark or something, it'll go away>, she thought, and carried about her day. Still, she couldn't help but think about where she could've gotten it. A random X-mark appearing on your hand one day is definitely not normal, and the thought of going to a doctor was beginning to sound attractive.

Some hours passed, and all the students silently rejoiced as their favorite teacher, sir Brown, came in. He was the calculus teacher, and he was generally laid-back and got along with the students. Everyone simply calls him by his first name, Lucas, instead of some formal title or anything. His round glasses and unkempt hair, as well as his sassy attitude probably helped in making the students warm up to him.

Though, another reason that everyone loves him was because he dismisses classes earlier than usual. His teaching ability wasn't phenomenal or outstanding, but most of the students didn't really care much about that. He wasn't strict and was fun, and that was all it took to capture their hearts. Cher herself was quite fond of him, and it was hard to find anyone who wasn't. Though, she did find it weird that he always wore gloves.

20 minutes before the actual dismissal time, and sir Brown finished his class. "Ah, almost forgot. Miss Williams, see me at the office later," he said.

"Huh? Why?" Cher spoke up.

"You can guess, and you'd probably be right. Also, try not to space out in my class next time. I like to think of myself as a saint, but my feelings get hurt if a student of mine refuses to listen to my lectures."

With that, the teacher left. Deep down, Cher knew why she was being called in, but secretly didn't want to admit it. After one more class, the school day finally ended. Cher went to the faculty office, just as Lucas had asked earlier. And she already knew what he was going to talk about.

Lucas held up an exam paper in front of her and smiled. "Excellent midterms score, Williams."

"Thanks," she laughed nervously, scratching her head. Of course, her midterms exam score was not, in fact, excellent. Far from excellent. She was never good at maths.

Lucas sighed, "Maybe you take pride in how hard you work, but as I said before, try to tone it down a bit. Working too hard isn't very healthy. What's the point of staying up all night studying if you're just gonna be sleep deprived on the test day?"

"You noticed?"

He smiled smugly. "You're pretty good at hiding it, but I know a sleep deprived idiot when I see one. There are a lot of mirrors in my house."

"Well, it IS true that I was sleep deprived, but…"

Lucas suddenly had a serious look on his face. "Are the nightmares back again?"

Cher nodded.

"…Well, I'm not a therapist or anything. But these things can happen sometimes. There's no need for you to panic."

"It's fine, I'm not panicking. It doesn't affect my life all that much."

Lucas raised the exam paper again, which made Cher avert her eyes in embarrassment. "Well, as long as you're okay," he sighed, then held out the paper. "Here, take it. Reflect on your mistakes or whatever."

"Well, that's harsh," Cher laughed as she received the paper. Then, as he noticed her hand, his eyes widened.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, this? I don't know. It's been here since this morning." She showed her palm to him, revealing the red X-mark. "It's strange. Do you think I should go to the doctor?"

Lucas stared at the mark curiously for a while. "…No, there's no need. It's probably just a bruise or something. You can go home now."

"Alright, then."

Cher placed the paper in her bag and headed for the door, but then Lucas called out to her. "Do be careful," he said, and nothing more. When she tried to ask what that meant, he didn't really elaborate on it. It was strange, but she didn't dwell on it too much.

Her footsteps echoed in the quiet hallways. The faculty room was quite far from the classrooms, and there really wasn't much noise or activity. The hall was dyed in the red light of sunset, which made for a really nice aesthetic feel.

Suddenly, there was a painful burning sensation on her hand, which made her flinch. This wasn't the first time this has happened, but it didn't happen often either.

Then, her lonely footsteps became lonely no more. She could hear another set of footsteps get louder and louder. In front of her, walking to the opposite direction, was a boy. Cher recognized him, since he was in her class. His name was Jericho Davis, and he's the student that gets yelled at by the teachers the most. He somehow gets into a fight with another student almost every week, and always wears a black jacket, no matter how much the teachers reprimand him. The two of them never interacted much, so she didn't know him very well. Though she had heard that this was his first time in this school.

Passing by him, she noticed how rough and aggressive he looked. His eyes, partially covered by his long brown hair, displayed some kind of deep-seated anger she couldn't describe. For sure, she didn't want to involve herself with him, since he looked dangerous.

She managed to get home before it could turn dark. Her grandparents had already cooked dinner for her, as they always did. After eating, she went to her room and studied. Then after that, she laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. She was scared of falling asleep. Some nights, she would stay up, and other she would have to brace herself and fall asleep. As she stared at the ceiling, she silently decided on which she would do. The previous night, she hadn't slept, and she noticed that the bags under her eyes were slowly starting to return.

So that no one would worry about her, she decided to bite the bullet and sleep. It wasn't hard to do so. In fact, it was incredibly easy, since she was so tired. But it didn't make her dread the nightmares any less.

But this time, it was different. Before, she would always get the same nightmare. The same scenario, repeating over and over, as if her past was stuck on replay every time she slept.

But now, she found herself standing in complete darkness, and in complete silence. It wasn't the same nightmare that she used to always have, but the dreadful feeling in her chest didn't convince her that this was a happy dream either.

Then, after what seemed like forever, there was a noise. A very loud one, which made her bones vibrate.

Lub dub. Lub dub.

Lub dub. Lub dub.

The sound of a heartbeat pulsated throughout her body, and it wasn't her own. It felt too heavy to be her own. Then, from the darkness, it emerged in front of her.

A giant heart floated before her. Though it was a heart, it was made not of flesh and tissue, but of metal and clockwork. For every beat, the metal heart expanded and contracted, just like an actual heart would. But it wasn't a real heart, even though blood seeped through its gaps.

It wasn't a real heart, but she could tell it was alive.

"ARE YOU AFRAID, SINNER?"

A voice rumbled from within the heart. Cher, in her shock and confusion, could only stand there with her mouth agape.

"DO YOU WISH TO ATONE?"

"…Atone?" Her voice was weak, but she managed to get it out.

"THEN REJOICE. THE TIME FOR FORGIVENESS HAS COME. ATONEMENT THROUGH JUSTICE. PENANCE THROUGH BLOOD."

"W-what are you?!" Cher shouted in fear as she started backing away, yet there was nowhere for her to run. The heart suddenly stopped beating, and everything fell into silence. The air became cold.

"PERHAPS YOU COULD CALL ME GOD."

"God?"

"SINNERS LIKE YOU DO NOT DESERVE THE GIFT OF LIFE. SINNERS LIKE YOU DESERVE THE ETERNAL COLD OF HELL. YET, I SHALL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO ATONE. I SHALL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO LIVE. ONLY DEATH DO YOU DESERVE, BUT GRANT SUCH DEATH TO NINE OTHERS DESERVING, AND YOU SHALL BE FREED. YOU SHALL BE GRANTED AN INSTRUMENT. USE IT WISELY."

The heart which called itself God started beating again, and the world around Cher shook. It was slow, but it felt deep. The bleeding metal heart started drawing back into the darkness once more.

"FAREWELL, SINNER."

The darkness swallowed the heart in an instant, and it screamed. Then, in almost a blink of an eye, Cher saw the ceiling of her own bedroom. The darkness and silence was gone, and was replaced with the soft sounds of morning. She was sweating heavily, and her heart was racing. After calming herself down, she tried to get herself up from bed, when she felt something heavy dragging down her right hand. Something oddly familiar. Something cold. When she turned to look at it, her heart nearly stopped.

Screaming, she threw the thing out of her hand and towards the floor. It landed with a deep and heavy thunk. Like dealing with an irrational fear, she crawled all the way to the other side of the bed to try to distance herself from it.

Laying on the floor was a revolver that had a black and red color scheme. The sight of it made Cher's skin crawl, though the unusual color scheme made it a bit easier for her to look at.

"Cherry?" her grandmother called from downstairs. "What was that noise? Are you okay up there?"

She took a deep breath to calm down. "…I'm fine, grandma! I just … fell on the floor! I'm okay!"

"Also, hurry up! You're almost late for school!"

Cher, surprised, checked her phone's clock. "Ah! Right, I'll be right there!"

She got up from bed and cautiously approached the gun on the floor. Despite her fear of it, she steeled herself to pick it up. Grabbing it by the barrel, she quickly placed it inside one of her drawers. For a moment, in her rush, she forgot about the strange dream she just had. After all, it was just a dream. A nightmare. While it was different from what she usually dreamed about, it was no immediate cause for concern.

Randomly waking up with a gun was what was making her worried. After all, people usually don't wake up with guns in their hands. Still, she decided to leave it for now and head to school. Her heart was still racing, and she couldn't think straight.

While walking to school, she thought about the events of that morning. That time, she just woke up, so everything seemed hazy. In fact, she had doubts that it all happened at all; if it was just her half-dreaming. She hoped that when she returned home, that gun would have never been there in the first place.

"Hey, you alright?" Kiana asked her when she arrived at class. "You look kinda pale."

"I'm fine, really. I just panicked after I woke up late."

And yet, hours passed, and her heart was still pounding. The fear she still felt the lingering fear and dread from the nightmare. While she knew that nothing was wrong—the class was proceeding as usual, nothing was out of place, and she felt generally fine and healthy—there was something making her feel unnerved. The ticking wall clock made her uneasy, the slightest shuffle in someone's posture always caught her attention, and the smallest noise made her jump a little. She didn't know what was wrong, with her environment OR with her, but she didn't feel safe.

Clink.

A small noise. Barely noticeable. But somehow, it made Cher jolt up in shock and surprise. She immediately turned to the source of the sound, and on the ground beside her was a pencil. A pencil had fallen.

<That's absurd>, she thought. <A pencil dropping made me jump? Just what is wrong with me?>

Cher picked up the pencil from the ground and looked around to see who it belonged to. The guy next to her was in a pose where he was about to pick it up, but she managed to pick it up first. It was Jericho Davis, the delinquent, the scary guy she thought never to associate with. But she thought it would be rude to just stop now, so she just handed it over. It's not like she hated him.

"Here, this is yours right?" she said.

"…Yeah. Thanks." He received it.

<Wow, he can say thanks. I thought he'd be the kind of guy who'd seldom apologize>.

Then, as she drew her hand away, he suddenly grabbed it with force, dropping the pencil to the ground again. Her hand twinged with pain at this.

"Hey what're you…!" she exclaimed. But Jericho didn't respond. He just kept staring at her palm, then raised his eyes to meet hers, giving off a malicious glare.

"Eh? W-what's wrong?" Cher's voice softened in fear, thinking <I was right>.

But, fortunately for her, after a few seconds of glaring, he sighed and released her hand. "Go die for all I care," he said in a low voice as he stared back in front.

<Wow, he's rude>, she thought. She picked up the pencil that he dropped again, but was hesitant to return it to him, given that he was in a bad mood at the moment. It didn't feel right to just put it back on the ground, so she just placed it on her table.

After some hours, English class finally came, and along with it, everyone's least favorite teacher: Mrs. Hannah Robins, the teacher with the shortest temper on campus.

"Get your homeworks out!" she shouted with her usual frustrated tone. The entire class simply complied in silence, as they feared making her angry.

"Ah!" Cher gasped as she shuffled through her bag.

"What's wrong?" Kiana whispered from in front of her.

"I was in a rush this morning, so I left all my homework!"

Suddenly, a loud footstep made the both of them jump. They raised their heads, and saw the teacher stand over them. "Left homework, miss Williams?"

To that, Cher nervously laughed. "I accidentally forgot it at home."

"And is that MY problem? Huh?"

"…No, ma'am."

The teacher started staring at Cher's hand, and her brows furrowed. "Is that a tattoo?"

"Ah, no, it's just a bruise."

"That doesn't look like any bruise that I've seen. You know students aren't allowed to have tattoos." Her voice seemed deeper and more serious, and her glare was more painful than usual. However, after that, she simply went back to the board, much to her and Kiana's surprise.

"Well, that was close. I'm glad it ended there," Kiana said.

"Yeah," Cher replied.

"Miss Williams," the teacher's voice suddenly boomed, as if she heard them. "Meet me at the gym at 9, if you want to make up for your homework."

Leaving it at that, she continued class.

"Thanks for jinxing it," Cher said to Kiana.

"Welp." She leaned back against her chair and sighed. "Still, 9 PM? That's pretty late, don't you think? What do you think your punishment's gonna be?"

"Cleaning, most likely."

Cher noticed that, for a while now, Jericho was glaring at Mrs. Robins, with his eyes slightly widened. She thought that maybe he noticed something she didn't.

At any rate, the day continued on as usual. The hours passed, and the bruise mark on Cher's hand would occasionally twinge with pain. She ignored it, and after classes were dismissed, she lounged around the school, waiting for the time to pass by. Once 9 PM came, and the sun had set, she walked to the school gymnasium. It was quite far from the main building, and Cher never really went here much, save for PE class. She did know that the students who use this building to play sports aren't really the best at cleaning up.

This was the first time in a long time she stayed at school so late. The mood of the school at night was something she wasn't used to, but actually quite enjoyed. The wind was cold, and the place was quiet.

"Mrs. Robins?" Cher called out as she entered the gymnasium, which for some reason had the lights turned off. "Hello? Ma'am?"

She called, but no one answered. She looked around, but it was too dark to see much. The place was so dark that it was actually scary. She really didn't want to be here long. Cher took out her phone and turned on the flashlight.

"I need to find the light switch," she said as she started shuffling around the dark room.

Then, suddenly, a sharp pain surged through her right palm, as if it was burning. The same pain she had felt numerous times before. The sudden sensation made her drop her phone to the ground, and just like that she was shrouded by darkness. The only light was the faint one from the door.

Before she could pick up her phone, the sound of footsteps startled her. She could see it clearly, but there was a figure in the darkness, walking towards her.

"Mrs. Robins? Is that you?" Cher said. "Why didn't you say anything? And why are the lights off—"

Clunk.

A very heavy and loud noise filled the room. It sounded like steel hitting concrete. Then, that sound was followed by a screeching noise; steel being dragged across the ground. The footsteps got closer and closer, and from the darkness, Hannah Robins came out. In her hand was an ornate axe with a black blade. The way she looked at Cher made her feel terrified. She could only describe the look in her eyes as "filled with bloodlust".

"U-um, Mrs. Robins? What are you doing…?" Cher's voice was starting to grow weak as she slowly walked backwards.

Hannah didn't answer. She raised her axe from the ground and held it with both hands. At this point, she was already close enough.

When Hannah raised the axe above her, Cher immediately knew what she was trying to do. As fast as she could, Cher jumped to the side and dodged the axe, which just barely missed her. A loud clunk echoed, and the axe lodged itself into the ground. It was dark, but Cher could see the ground around the axe start to crumble and turn black. Her body froze for an instant, unsure of what just happened. Fortunately for her, Hannah had a hard time removing her axe from the ground, which gave Cher just enough time to compose herself and dash straight for the exit.

Her heart was pounding, and her entire body ached. She was terrified beyond her mind. Someone had just tried to chop her in half with an axe. Someone had just tried to murder her.

"Get back here!" Hannah's voice felt a hundred times more malicious in this situation. It was the same voice which would usually make students freeze, but it only spurned her to run even faster.

However, when she was almost at the door, there was another loud metallic sound, and the ground under her vibrated. Hannah had thrown her axe at her, and it barely missed her leg. Still, it ruined Cher's balance, and she fell to the ground, just meters away from the door.

"Help! Please, someone help!" She shouted as loudly as she could, even though there was likely no one outside.

She tried to stand up, but Hannah had caught up to her and pinned her back down, knee on her back. She tried to struggle out, but it was all futile. She grabbed the axe on the ground and raised it above her head again, ready to strike down. Cher thought that this was it.

She was going to die here. She was going to get killed by her own teacher, without even knowing why. At that exact moment, only a single thought flashed on her mind.

<Is this my punishment?>

Her body relaxed. At that single thought, she was ready to accept death. No, rather than accept it, she felt as if she had no choice. She watched Hannah prepared to swing down.

Suddenly, the sound of running footsteps grew louder and louder. Hannah stopped and immediately looked at the direction of the sound: the outside. Hannah jumped back, releasing Cher from her grasp. Then, just as Cher was trying to assess the situation, a figure dashed by, passing her and heading straight for Hannah.

"You…?!" Hannah said, surprised.

There was the sound of two metals clashing. The figure, holding what appeared to be a knife, tried to stab Hannah, but was blocked by her axe. The figure swung two more times, and at the second, managed to land a cut on Hannah's arm. She screamed in pain, dropping her axe on the ground as she held her arm. Cher could see Hannah's arm turn blue-ish around the area she was cut.

The figure ran straight to Cher while Hannah was still reeling in pain. He grabbed Cher's arm and pulled her up.

"Quick! We have to get out of here!" he said.

"Jericho…? What is…?"

"Shit, I don't have time for this!"

Jericho dragged Cher away from the gymnasium, running as fast as he could towards one of the main buildings. The two of them ended up inside one of the empty classrooms, where Jericho locked the door.

"W-wait!" Cher said to him as she tried to catch her breath. "What's going on? What just happened back there?!"

"Quiet! She might have followed us!" he whispered.

"Why did she try to kill me?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"You mean you DIDN'T get that dream?"

"Dream?"

Jericho forcefully grabbed her hand and showed her own palm to her. "This mark right here means you're one of the ten. You should've gotten that vision from 'God' or whatever he called himself. The bastard was cryptic about it, but I'm pretty sure he just asked us to kill each other."

"What are you talking about? Start making sense already!"

"God, why did I even bother saving your ass?!" Jericho rolled up his jacket's sleeve, showing his own palm to Cher. On it was a red mark just like the one on her hand, but spelling out "IV". He continued, "I'm Player four. Whether we like it or not, we have to play this game now."

"Game? What game?"

"A sinner's game. Kill all others and be the last one standing. That bitch of a teacher is one of the Players. That's why she tried to kill you."

"W-well, what do we do now?"

"That's obvious. We kill her first."

"Kill…" Cher stiffened at the thought.

Jericho took a peek from the door's window. His eyes suddenly widened. "Get down!" He grabbed Cher by the arm and dragged her under one of the tables.

"Eh? What?"

"She's here," he whispered.

She heard the sound of the door opening, and held her breath. Hannah Robins was here to kill her. Cher's skin grew cold when she realized that in order to survive, they had to kill her first.

Cher wondered if her own punishment wasn't death, but something far worse.