Inheritance

Elsewhere on the Island

"What?! No, no, you've got to be kidding me!" Olphen said, hands shaking as he looked at the blue notification screen in front of him. "It hasn't even been a day yet! How could the Vampire be dead already, Shelby even announced to the Vampire who she is! She made it so easy to avoid the Vampire Hunter! Why is the Vampire dead? No, no no no!"

Jasper, who was nearby crafting a primitive spear, looked up at him with a curious and sympathetic expression. "What's wrong, honey?" 

"I- I, I, I- I," he stammered, not managing to say anything. He looked at her, eyes full of fear, then back at the notification, and seemed to come to a decision. Then, he ran towards the buff woman, seized her by her upper arms (his hands couldn't reach even halfway around), and yelled, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

Sensing the man's distress, Jasper set down what she was working on and gave him her full attention. "Why would I kill you, honey? What's wrong? Shhh, it's alright!" She gave her most comforting smile.

The effect wasn't quite what she was going for, but it did seem to help. He spoke quietly and hesitantly. "Well, I am, uh, was, the Priest role. My job was to cure anyone who got turned into a Vampire. But, you see, the Vampire just died without turning anyone, so as a penalty… I'm the Vampire now." 

As an afterthought, he added, "Please don't kill me."

"Dawww, you lil' sweetie!" Jasper boomed. "I wouldn't kill ya over something like that, honey! Here, you can even make me a Vampire too, if that makes you feel better." She grabbed the collar of her shirt and peeled it back, exposing her neck.

"N- no, I'll be fine," Olphen said, shaking his hands vigorously to refuse. "Just you saying that makes me feel better, though, thank you." He gave a weak smile.

"Well, alright, honey! Just let me know if you change your mind." She gave him a big, toothy smile and a thumbs-up. 

With how buff she was, the pose reminded Olphen of some sort of motivational poster, and he chuckled involuntarily. He'd only met this woman today, yet she was somehow making him feel a lot better about this whole situation. Maybe, just maybe, he could survive this Game.

----

Later that evening, everyone reconvened on the beach. It had now been several hours since they'd been deposited in this Story with nothing but themselves and some (sometimes unwanted) Story roles to play, along with scant instructions. The discovery of resources had gone smoothly. Everyone had found the necessities for survival without too much trouble.

The issue was Layla's death. 

In a rather abrupt manner, before everyone had the chance to report their progress, Hallie had announced, "I found Alesha by Layla's corpse, it seems like she killed her. Guess it was an accident or something though, since she doesn't look like a killer to me; she said something like Layla just up and died after biting her. Anyway, Alesha's nice."

Several of the others had reacted unfavorably to that. The somewhat ambiguous phrasing didn't help at all, leaving some of the group to misinterpret her statement as, "Layla just up and died after Alesha bit her" rather than the intended, "Layla just up and died after biting Alesha." Shelby was the most extreme of these -- she just wanted to kill the Vampire, consequences be damned, so she ran at Alesha with a wooden stake in hand before Jasper and CJ could hold her back. By the time they did, Alesha was halfway across the beach.

It took a while for everyone to calm down enough to speak rationally with one another.

"Okay," CJ said. "Let's get our facts straight now. Alesha, please describe how Layla died."

"I was sitting by the brook enjoying the sensation of being outdoors -- the sun, the sounds of the animals and such -- when she suddenly bit my arm." As she said this, she showed the four puncture wounds in her arm, which had since scabbed over. "By the time I realized what was happening, she was already dead. I checked her pulse and for breathing but found nothing. I was inwardly panicking and trying to figure out what to do when Hallie ran up-"

"That's when I approached," Hallie interjected. "I confronted her about Layla's death and she told me essentially the same thing.

Nearby, unnoticed by anyone, Olphen realized what must have happened. He compared his notification screen to Alesha's story -- it all checked out. He felt bad, but he wasn't about to out himself as the new Vampire just to defend her; of course, if he did so, he'd be outing her as well, so he consoled himself with the thought that she probably didn't want her role to be known either. He'd make it up to her later.

CJ didn't really buy it. What were those two really up to? Were they conspiring together for some reason?

In the middle of his speculation, Hallie pulled a shovel from thin air. "This is my Role-Related Item, a shovel. I'm the Coroner. I'm in charge of burying anyone who dies, you got that? The reason I found Alesha was because I could smell Layla's corpse, and happened to be nearby. By the way, my penalty is that if anyone besides me buries a corpse, I'll die. So I hope you're grateful, Alesha; and everyone else, don't you dare bury anyone! Leave it to me."

Murmurs of surprise came from several people. "Coroner? Werewolf had a role like that? Since when?" "Woah, that's a nasty penalty. If anyone kills in secret and tries to hide it, she's toast." "I guess they aren't in it together after all?"