｡˚⛓˚｡⋆. APOLLO

Dark.

My eyes turned dark because of the fucking face of Hermés in front of me. I had been irritated at him since earlier because of his presence... and whatever else he was saying. I massaged my temples while waiting for the others to wake up. The seven of us were sitting in a circle.

Hermés and I were the only ones awake. Fuck this.

I had been protecting his secret for so long too. But it was so easy for him to drop me. I thought that he was smart, but I just found out that he can get stupid too.

We were both glaring at each other. If we were not strapped to the armrests of our chairs, we would have most likely killed each other. If he has a problem with me, then say it to my fucking face. Not like this.

He does not know a thing.

"Traitor." My hands balled into a fist when he suddenly talked. I knew I did him wrong... I should have told him. But I didn't know how to. I wasn't the one who decided to keep Dior and I's relationship a secret.

Dior was scared that our friendship might be ruined.

"Stop fucking with me, Hermés," I hissed. "You don't know shit."

"Was what I saw in your room not enough?" He asked, making me roll my eyes. I scoffed and decided to just watch Dior sleeping. I didn't want to wake my friends up because they all deserve a good rest.

We were all wrecked by Tiffany's death.

Ares... his life with Tiffany was all planned out. It was as if his dream was taken away from him. I didn't even tell them about what I discovered about Tiffany to protect her. Then the next thing I knew, they voted for her.

"Sorry," I said to Hermés which made him look at me. Yes, I should have apologized way before. It's just that... I was scared that he'd throw our years of friendship away. Which... now... I guess, either way, he still did. "I'm sorry, Hermés."

He was only staring at me coldly. I know that he was taking revenge... he was obvious yesterday. But now, I do not know who among us was wrong.

"The damage has been done." My lips pursed with what he said. We were both angry at each other and I was not sure if we would ever be on good terms after we got out of here. I just hoped he knew how many times I asked Dior to let me tell him about us.

But I also know where Dior was coming from. I met Hermés first so she was protecting the sanctity of our friendship. I also hoped the Hermés knew how many times Dior rejected me because she was afraid of ruining our friendship.

I know I have no excuses; I really betrayed him. His feelings were valid especially since he is my best friend... but it doesn't justify his actions.

I wanted to punch him so badly!

"You had everything," Hermés suddenly talked. "Wonderful life, loving family, you're smart, and you have tons of friends. You have no problems. But fuck... you're going to have Dior too?"

Why did it feel like a sin to love?

I didn't talk because I wanted to let him release his emotions. I became his diary way before... everything, I heard from him. I listened to how he talked so lovingly about my girlfriend, how he cried about his family, and how he tired himself to death from studying.

But, fuck, he was so wrong. I had many problems that I didn't tell him because I knew that he was stressed enough with his life. I was wrong... but his words seemed so harsh to me.

"Let's not be friends anymore." I smiled at him when he said that. I didn't want a friend like him, after all. I refused to go down to his level but at the same time, I wanted to expose what kind of person he is.

All the more I did not want Dior to end up with him.

- -

FLASHBACK

"Baby..." I shook her lightly.

"Shut up..." Dior groaned and faced the other side. My girl really was a sleepyhead, huh?

I chuckled and went to the other side where she was facing to wake her up. She was so stubborn! We slept late last night because we did the deed so... we might get late! Damn, remind me again why I'm down bad for her.

"Wake up..." I shook her again and pouted when she shoved my arm away. I laughed for a bit when I saw her brows furrow. She was getting impatient! She loved to tease but when someone teases her back, she gets angry!

"Five more minutes." My whole world flipped when I saw my girlfriend pout!

That was so cute! Dior Araceli Aurea, destroy my world. My properties are all yours. I would even kneel to serve you. Is the priest here? I'd marry her now!

But still... we're going to be late for school.

"Baby! Baby! Baby!" I jumped in the bed while shouting. Fuck, I fell when she woke up! She just jumped!

"Fuck, earthquake!" She yelled in panic.

I watched her carry her bag before running out of my room. We would often sleep at each other's place. It was a good thing that my parents were in the province. Fuck, she was only wearing a blanket!

"Hey, baby!" I followed her while laughing. I got scared when she glared at me! Lord, I'm not your strongest shoulder. I was only weak.

For Dior. No kidding.

"I'm already awake!" Her brows were furrowed while walking over to me. I squealed when she was about to choke me! My baby is violent. But of course, I knew how to calm her down.

"And this is your good morning kiss." I pecked her lips. When I pulled away, her face was red! For sure, it was not out of anger. I was confident that she liked me pecking her lips.

Wouldn't you like it if Apollo Keisuke Andigre kissed you too?

Kiss me too, self.

"You're corny," she said before leaving me to go to the kitchen. She would often say these things to hide that she was blushing over my pickup lines. It made me want to tease her more. I followed her and went behind her to give her a hug. She was slicing the fruits.

"Baby..." She called me so I pecked her cheek to acknowledge her. "Should we make a baby?"

Huh?!

Fuck, why was she making my heart race?!

"Hey, you're cheeky!" I scolded my girlfriend. I broke free from our embrace. I glared at her as she only laughed at me! I pouted and headed to the refrigerator to hide my blushing face.

"I'll cook the oatmeal," I said as she nodded. "I'm going out with Hermés and Zeus later. We're off to the mall."

"Okay." She flashed a smile. "Take care, baby. I'll go straight to my house later."

"Okay, walk safely. Oh, another thing..." She looked at me when I called. "C-can I say it to Hermés?"

I know that she's aware of what I wanted to say. We have been debating about this for a long time now. I wanted to say it already because I felt so pitiful for my friend.

"Next time, baby." She smiled at me. "Not today."

END

- -

After a few minutes, our friends woke up. No one was speaking and no one was resisting anymore. Especially Ares... he was empty. His eyes were puffy and he was only staring elsewhere, dazed.

"Bro..." Hades called Ares. "We're here for you."

Ares flashed him a small smile, obvious that he was tired of crying. His face was swelling and his eyes screamed so much sadness. I did not even know if he got any sleep. He was too wrecked to function.

My eyes darted to Dior who was staring at the nothingness. This was hard for her too because they had been friends for a very long time now. If anything, Tiffany stood as a mother to my girlfriend while her parents were in prison.

I wanted to walk over to Gucci when I saw her crying. The people special to her... were slowly being taken away. I only looked down when I remembered what Ares and I talked about earlier. We could not tell it to anyone yet... We were still protecting someone.

Even to those who don't deserve protection, he protects them.

"Gucci... breathe..." We all looked at Dior who was consoling Gucci.

Our youngest friend was having an asthma attack again. I was trying to stop my tears from falling as I looked at the state of our friend. I saw Prada look at her with so much worry.

"We'll get out of here, okay?" Ares said and with that, Gucci slowly calmed down. Ares, is that true? We're not leaving this place without you.

Come with us back to our world. We'll lose our minds there. I could not imagine life without Ares... it would be too hard and painful.

"Good morning, little ones!" I rolled my eyes when I heard Crow's fucking voice. "Are you excited for your next challenge?"

Can't we just punch each other? Crow's challenges were corny.

"We will be playing 'Would you rather'!" This was our favorite game before, especially when we were drinking.

Chanel was great at deciding... even to those impossible to decide so she was the one with the most wins among us. But now, it seems like everyone got great at it too because we decided to deceive each other in a heartbeat.

Irritating.

"A question will be flashed on screen," he explained. "You have to pick one. It may be a question or a dare. You have to answer it truthfully. We have a lie detector so you cannot get out of this nor try to trick me."

So, what was the twist?

"If you lied or failed to do the dare." I took a deep breath as he continued his announcement. "You're automatically sent to the elimination round."

"Let's start!"  I got shocked when the black walls turned red and someone entered wearing a crow mask. Fuck, who's this?! His antics and decorations were amusing me. "Your movements are caught on camera. If you try to cheat, the metal collar on your neck will kill you all. Anyways, I will now appoint the first person."

I felt the cold air embracing us all. New challenge... New death. It felt like an endless cycle. It was tiring but we had no choice. Even though we were trying hard to escape, the only thing we could not escape was death.

"First off... Hades!"

Hades sighed when we all looked at him. I felt his nervousness while waiting for the screen to flash the question.

But damn, never did I expect the question to be given to him. I did not know what to feel.

"Would you rather tell the truth about you sending Prada home the night Yves was killed or send Prada to the elimination round?"

"What..." I whispered while looking at Hades, shocked by what I heard. Hades was only glaring at the Crow watcher who was carrying the speaker where Crow's voice was heard.

Fuck... he even went to the bar with us that night! He was so wasted! Was the reason he drank to death because he was involved with the murder?! What did he do to Yves?!

I looked at Prada who was hanging her head low but I could see so well her tears streaming down her face. I knew she'd rather have Hades bring her to the elimination round.

Ares' face was filled with pure shock and dismay with what he found out. He was still too sensitive right now because he really was angry with the one who murdered our friends. No, scratch that, his friend... I don't treat as a friend that kind of person.

Meanwhile, Hermés was... still smirking.

Wasn't he tired of smiling?

I did not prepare myself for what Hades answered. It was as if our breaths were stripped away from us and a new question popped up in our heads.

"I'll tell the truth of where I am before that, Hades started. We looked at Hermés because he was with Prada that night. This was getting confusing!

My eyes then nailed to Gucci's. I did not know why... Maybe because she's the closest to Yves and I was expecting anger on her face. But nothing... It was as if she knew what Hades would answer.

"I was not with Prada the night Yves was killed," he finally confessed.

And 'TRUE' flashed on the screen.

Hades, did you really have the crow kiss Yves' death?