"Presentation was judged by the ghost faery children. A sample of each dish was given to their living duplicates to judge taste, texture and consistency," the host Mubry said through the PA system as Stevfan, Violynn and Monasugar sat in the lounge. "Now we'll here from the judges." There was a pause. Childish whispers. And a spokesperson with a clear voice began.

"Monasugar yours was a bit overbaked and still a bit doughy on the inside and didn't give that crunch factor it should've. Taste was underwhelming, the spices were overwhelming in texture and layers were sloppy and inconsistent. Maybe it was the timing that got the better of you. An hour isn't as long as it seems when you take into account preparation, thought and execution."

"My head wasn't in the game anymore," Monasugar said with a sigh. "I do want the money. I just didn't want to have to bake to do it. And I didn't think about what I wanted to bake prior to. Everything was rushed because I didn't have the mental preparedness. I was focused on the game show and not the baking. I'm an exceptional baker mind you. This seems to have all been a brainteaser challenge. One I have failed."

"Yes, it was that sort of challenge," the host Mubry confirmed. There was another shorter pause before the spokesperson spoke again.

"Violynn yours was simple but quite impressive in detail but a bit overdone in that same aspect as well. Taste was superb. The consistency was too consistent. I didn't think that was possible but I think you were overthinking the possibilities, which you should be aware of in the future. Stevfan your dish was a bit strange but piqued our interest nonetheless. Taste was dynamic and left us speechless on consistency and raised a curious brow on detail. Texture was exquisite as well, but left us baffled at the same time. The winner of the baking competition and the $10,000 cash prize is ..."

"Does anyone smell smoke?" Stevfan asked turning his head looking over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

"No," Violynn and Monasugar answered in unison.

"Was anything left on?" Stevfan said racing to the kitchen, checking the stove. "No, that's not it. Hmm, where's the smoke coming from."

"Maybe it's all in your head. Sit down. Stop causing a distraction!" Violynn shouted.

"If there's a problem, we'll have it inspected. But, please everyone compose yourselves," the host interjected.

There was a third longer pause.

"The winner is..."

"I smell smoke, too," Violynn broke in. The spiky tentacles inside the suckers in her nostrils struggled searching through the air. "It's so faint I can barely sense it neuropathically.

"The smoke?" Monasugar asked.

"No, of course not," she glared at him, her tentacles still searching the air. "Don't be silly. You know better than that." She let out a guttural groan. "This is so frustrating. And everyone else's nervous systems in the room are causing more confusion. Usually I can decipher between numerous nervous systems because they emit not only a neuro-musical scent but they glow in my powers automatic dark mode. And one will stand out the most. There are too many neuro-musical scents and too many glowing for me to choose at this time. But I haven't fed since we've been here. That may be adding to the screwing up of my body systems," Violynn said retracting her tentacles back into her nostrils.

"We're on live broadcast people. Let's get on with it. The winner is Stevfan DeHart. Congratulations."

Stevfan stood up and bowed towards the camera.

"You liar. You had no intention of splitting the money with me. I should've fed on you when I had the chance," Violynn murmured. Her tentacles shot out from her nostrils. Stevfan turned quick in mid-bow and grabbed her tentacles with both hands.

"I played the game as it should be played. This was a game of wits, darling. But you were too busy with sustenance to know how the game is really played."

"You and Monasugar both starved me to death. I wasn't thinking clearly. I wouldn't be surprised, if you two didn't mastermind this plan together," Violynn said glancing at Monasugar and trying to wriggle away from Stevfan.

"No, I didn't have the pleasure of teaming up with him. I think it would've been a bit of fun. But this is quite amusing," Monasugar said pointing back and forth between Violynn and Stevfan with a grin on his face, propping his chin on his knuckles and his elbow resting on his folded arm across his chest. "Well done," he said nodding towards Stevfan.

"Give it a go, love," Stevfan said pulling her closer by her tentacles. He took his hands away from them. The spikes tried to latch on but were incapable.

Violynn raised a furrowed brow and retracted her tentacles. "Ow. The inside of my nose is going to be a bit sore," she said with a nasally sound moving her nose as if she was sniffling from a cold. "Your brain isn't metal. If it was that would explain why I can't penetrate your skull. But there is something different in your neurosystem particularly in your serotonin levels. You wouldn't have satisfied me anyway. I think you knew this already."

"I was betting on it, yes. But I wasn't sure."

The blue sun in Crystal Façade darkened. Monasugar, Violynn and Stevfan retired to their rooms to get some sleep before their journey home tomorrow morning.

"I'm so glad it's over," Monasugar thought out loud with a peaceful sigh as he lay his head on the pillow.

"I don't know if I'll get a good night's sleep. But I'm going to give it a go. Ten-thousand dollars that might just do the trick," Stevfan smiled propping his arms under his head as he looked upward, imagining what he'd do with his cash winnings.

Violynn was already asleep. I'm so hungry, she thought in her sleep. She tossed and turned, growled and moaned. Her eyelids' muscles are weak and can't close and she always slept with her eyes wide open, a condition called nocturnal lagophthalmos hereditary to all demi-muses.

Her brows furrowed and her face crinkled from disturbance. Her spiky tentacles made gurgling noises like a human stomach that hadn't had food in days. The gnawing physical pain made her sleep more restlessly. She scowled. The suckers housing her tentacles hissed and whispered like a ravenous beast. Her body had been degenerating for days and she was in the last stages of this process.

An invisible cockle entombed her. She wiggled trying to get out of its imprisonment, but she was too weak from starvation to do much. Her body slowly quieted out of exhaustion. She lay there supine like a trapped animal.

Her last breath was an act of kindness as something asphyxiated her violently with her own suspended consciousness like a garrote only in her dream state making her dreams physically lethal to her existence causing an anaphylactic reaction. Her throat was tightening.

She tried to scream for help but it was a struggling whisper. She tried again and nothing. Her skin broke out in a rash. Her stomach was nauseated. She wanted to breathe and throw up at the same time but it was madness. She was in her own private hell.

There was a slightly sweet odor in the air. "Asphodel," she called out in her mind; a flowering plant in Elysium. She smiled inside feeling a since of calm and peace as she went into shock. "The food of the dead," she thought referring to the immortal flower. Her spiky tentacles even though paralyzed to move hissed, groaned and inhaling its scent. She'd been to Elysium but her species never tasted anything outside their usual sustenance of nervous systems. And such a plant where there was no nervous system to feed on was like starving all over again, but in death. But somehow she was drinking it in like a bee to nectar.

There was a rapping on the door. "Wake up. The limo will be coming to pick us up to take us to the airport in about an hour," a male voice announced.

The door flung open. Stevfan's hand was placed flatly on the door. Violynn was faced down on the floor, her spiky tentacles extended from her nostrils lying there like Medusa's head of snakes albeit there was only a pair of them. Stevfan rushed to her side. He searched for his flip phone but didn't find it in his pocket. "It's in my suitcase," he thought.

He ran back to his packed suitcase to get it. He called emergency. He knocked on Monasugar's door but there was no answer. He knocked again. He listened. No sound. He opened the door. Monasugar was in bed, flat on his back. "Monasugar, wake up! I think Violynn's dead! Monasugar?! Stevfan shouted. He walked into the room. "Hey, didn't you hear me?" he asked, reaching his hand out, he stopped in mid-air before he touched his shoulder to stir him awake. He called emergency again. "Two people are dead. Please hurry," he said during the phone call. After hanging up, he called one of the producers.