Page 16 of Daemonium

I'm so excited for the show to go on.

So, pay up quick, and we'll move along."

A faint ticking sound replaced Kennedy's voice, and an overhead display came on with a timer counting down from eight.

"Oh, good god. Every time that crazy chick speaks people start dying," Roger muttered.

Feeling the need to defend the girl I remembered as the twins' sister, I spoke up, "If you think about it, her riddles usually give some indication as to what's coming."

"I haven't found that to be very helpful.”

"You haven't learned anything since the Coffee House then," Charon countered.

"Does that mean we have to choose someone again?" one of the girls began to panic, her voice trembling.

Ciaran kicked his legs out and crossed them at the ankle. "What's wrong? Out of people to sacrifice now that half your group's dead?"

Lana nudged him with her shoe. "Now who needs to put their claws away?"

He laughed. "I don't have claws, puppet. I use blades, have you forgotten already?"

"It's not our fault we aren't like you!" the other girl suddenly yelled. "I saw what you did to that girl."

"Did you like it?" Kyrous asked, his tone dark and provocative.

I swallowed, having a feeling she was referring to Morrigan. I glanced at Dion, but he seemed oddly disinterested in who she might be talking about. A sudden tap on my window made me jump and turn around.

I hastily wiped the fogged glass and found myself staring at another masked person. The figure outside stared back, their mask an eerie visage with eyes stretched into points and a wide, sinister grin. My heart pounded in my chest as they lifted their hand and waved what looked like a hook. The ticking continued as a constant reminder of our dwindling time.

Kyrous leaned closer and gripped my shoulder, turning me back around. "Ignore them."

They tapped on the window again, as if urging us to hurry.

“The way out of this couldn’t be clearer,” Carol stated.

She was right. It meant someone on this tram had to die. It was horrifying and unfair, but no one could say otherwise. My instinct to protect kicked in, amplified by the Helios, dulled, but still coursing through my system. I couldn't let it be one of us, one of my friends. The idea of sacrificing someone from our group was unthinkable. They must have felt the same way because a clear divide formed, each side staring at the other.

Lana snorted. "I don't know why you’re looking at us. No one over here is dying for any of you. Sorry, not sorry."

Roger's face twisted in anger. "So, we're all just supposed to self-sacrifice for the lot of you?"

"No," Dion responded, "Only one of you has to."

I was a little taken aback by his directness, expecting it from almost everyone else but him. I looked at the faces of the people opposite us, lingering on the older man whose name I hadn't had a chance to figure out yet, and then Carol's. My gut told me she would be important later on.

"Carol should come with us," I declared softly.

"What?" One of the girls sputtered.

"I agree," Mel seconded, backing me up right away.

A mix of shock and anger rippled through the other group, but I held firm. Carol’s eyes met mine with a steady gaze and she nodded, her expression unreadable.

Roger shook his head in disbelief. "You can’t just decide that!"

"We just did," Kyrous replied coldly. "This isn't a democracy."

The ticking grew louder, each second pressing on us like a vice.

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