Playing Death |ONC 2021 Longlister

Chapter 03

I barely registered what the boy said before a swarm of people gathered around him as other men in black tried to keep distance from him. I saw Layla tapping away on her phone and her eyes widened.

"I didn't think it would come to this," she said softly in surprise and thinly concealed excitement.

I glanced at the boy briefly before looking back at her. "What do you mean?"

She turned the screen of the smartphone towards me. "Do you remember Magix? Which pairs humans and the...supposed FairFolk?"

"Yes," I frowned. "Didn't she invent it herself?"

Layla nodded. "Athena is in this too of course. I mean how could she resist building something? But we'll talk about that later. Anyway, the ones who don't-" she paused. "The ones who aren't socially attractive aren't on this. I hacked it to put your name."

I felt my mouth draw into a thin line. "Really? I mean, come on, I know your games and I love you but I have no interest..."

"Ah," she drew up one finger. "This is where it gets better! All that swiping you did was you picking people and...this boy just swiped right to you. Which means you guys are matched now."

I spluttered. "What?!" I snatched the phone from her.

"Someone likes to be dead," she sang. I scrolled past and glanced at his profile.

Vance Johnson. Pop star.

[I don't give  two fucks until  death meets me.]

Layla peeped from behind me and guffawed. "My god, no wonder, you got matched. Although the thing is controlled by algorithms to match you, it's just letting you swipe to play fair," she added air quotes.

I felt my lips curve up. "So I give no fucks?"

"Technically yes," she patted my back. "Except when she's involved, then she gets you so riled up."

I bit back a remark. Aphrodite did have a way to crawl through people's skins.

"Oh honey, I am the best kisser," she sighed one day. "I can't believe no one compares to it. Such a pity really."

"Like a leech," I retorted. "Too bad they're dead once they figure out your façade."

"You be careful with what you have now," she bit back.

I fumed. I wished I could pull her soul right out, but what use was it when she would just be reborn as another pathetic being?

I saw the boy being led back to his mansion. I had only noticed how huge and dominating his mansion was. A four floor building painted stark white that made my eyes water in pain.

I nudged Layla. "Shall we see what he's up to?"

She shrugged. "Not that I have anything else at the moment. I have a few hours before Lucifer notices I'm missing. Besides," she grinned a wicked smile that showed off her pearly whites against her painted lips. "I might just be able to seduce him."

I floated along as her wings appeared and she flew. Spotting an open window, she wedged herself in, as I waved my hand. "We could look around."

She scoffed. "Really? I'm in literal pain from not seducing anyone for like two hours."

I shrugged as she got in and I got in through the doorways.

Ornately decorated hallways with massive entrance greeted me as I stood. This was a major upgrade from anything I had seen a hundred years back. I had to give it to Athena for revamping major places but I had seen worse off and wondered what had become of those places. Some major paintings decked the walls. I walked around the corner and saw a huge marble staircase. It was beautiful but haunted in the way that it seemed only bodyguards and this boy lived here. I rushed up the steps and heard a scream.

I saw Layla towering over him and the boy looking mortified. Not at all seduced or stricken.

"I heard a sound," I directed my gaze towards Layla.

Layla laughed awkwardly. "I may have tried to imply he can come with me to hell."

"Why would he even want that?" I looked at her incredulously.

She gestured towards her body. "Do you see this?"

"I see your wicked soul spawning idiocy..." I turned towards him. "Towards...someone who is clearly not interested in you."

The boy seemed to shift between us as we bickered. "I didn't know Death was...a female."

I twisted my mouth. "I am not. I just dress how I feel every day," I said flatly. I went next to him. "So do you want to die?" I grazed his cheek with my fingers as Layla looked on.

He looked away, his lips pursed in distaste. I withdrew my hand and glanced at Layla. "I need to talk for a minute."

Layla frowned at me and then glanced at the boy. "Stay here."

As we jumped out, we could hear his words slowly glazing over getting softer. "This is my fucking home, where am I supposed to go! How dare you..."

Layla laughed heartily as we stopped on the ground. "People can't see us, can they?"

"I don't think so. Only the boy can, because we got...matched," I said it blanching at the word.

"So, what's up?"

I recounted the details of what Aphrodite mentioned, the council meeting and Artemis secretly loving my unspoken outburst.

"She just can't stop wanting stuff can she?" Layla muttered with wide set eyes, running a hand through her hair, frustrated. She tapped her foot on the ground with a speed that egged me on.

"Stop that," I said, glaring at her foot. Layla paused, muttering something.

"You would think she would stop somewhere, but nooo," she dragged out, stomping her heels, fists clenching. "What is going to happen if you don't follow her orders?"

"She will send Ares to kill him," I replied, feeling nauseated for some reason. I had never felt so helpless before, a crushing weight on my shoulders weighed down furthermore by her words: Do it or I'll kill him. She had whispered it menacingly.

She gaped. "The fucking nerve of her." Layla's voice sounded so far away, a breath of fading mist that brought an inane feeling of nostalgia and crippling fear of a past I could barely remember. 

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Hey everyone, so Playing Death is a Round 1 Qualifier for the ONC!!!!! *Screeechesss*, I'm so happpyyy! It got me so hyped up that I wrote a lot after two weeks of writing nothing. So double update! Vote and comment your thoughts, it would make my day!