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Chapter 24: A Taste for Blood

Rob's voice comes over the speaker and Daniel can practically hear him slobbering as he defines the terms of the next contest.

"This one's pretty simple," he says. "The first person to take off all their clothes, jump up on the table and squeal like a piggy wins."

Melody is glaring at Daniel as she prematurely pops open the first button on her shirt, and it's a cold comfort that the audience notices this little bit of cheating and she receives a few thousand votes for it.

Daniel is over 950,000 now and he knows that if he has a snowball's chance of making it out of this Elimination Challenge, he's going to have to win. He can't do it, though. He has a hard enough time standing naked in front of a mirror, and he wonders how much the Elimination Game producers know about him - it feels like this challenge is specifically for him.

"Ready?" Rob asks. Melody leans forward in her chair, and Daniel puts his hand hesitantly on the hem of his shirt. He can't. "Go!"

Melody stands up, the force of it throwing her chair against the back wall and nearly colliding with Erica. She's pulling her shirt off so fast the buttons are flying all over the table, and beyond her, a few more people are hurriedly undressing. Taylor is one of them, and Brody, but most of the girls sit this one out - they can afford to be modest because no one's voting for them this week.

Daniel can't possibly catch up to Melody now. She's ripping her clothes off like they're on fire and he can't even stand the idea of removing his shirt to reveal the swollen buds on his chest where several months without testosterone have begun to take their toll.

Melody scrambles up on the table in her underwear and socks, nearly slipping and falling over the other side of it in her haste. Daniel watches his number keep ticking up while she struggles with her socks.

989,251.

This is it, then. This is how he'll die.

Then suddenly, Sasha is on the table, stark naked and squealing loudly. Daniel's mouth drops open and he looks away from her, shocked and confused. The safest place to look seems to be the wall in front of them, and he watches as votes drain from Sasha's name and pour into Melody's in equal numbers.

Daniel's on the other hand, are still steadily coming in. 991,385.

Above them, Rob is practically screaming as he says, "You go, girl! Now that's how you degrade yourself on national television in front of ten million viewers!"

Melody drops one sock on the table in front of Daniel, defeated, and Meredith says demurely, "Claim your prize, Sasha. You earned it."

She jumps down and Daniel wants to look away, but Melody is just as exposed on his other side, so he watches Sasha lunge for an envelope. She's racing the audience - he's at 994,836 now, and while he's amazed at what she just did for him, it doesn't look like he's got much of a chance.

Sasha doesn't hesitate and she doesn't wait for the game to be played out like Rob and Meredith intended - she picks up Melody's envelope and tears it open, reading the secret herself.

"Melody's secret says, 'I eliminated my brother,'" she shouts. "'I knew it would be him or me, so I gave The Elimination Game information that they used to orchestrate the challenge against him.'"

Sasha puts her hand to her mouth as soon as she finishes reading and Melody slumps down in her chair, tears streaking down her face. Everyone in the room is silent, watching her, and watching her number skyrocket while Daniel's steadily falls and the tides turn against her.

Melody puts her head down on the table as she and Daniel switch places on the wall, and Daniel retrieves Sasha's dress from the floor. He hands it to her and she takes it, but she doesn't put it on. She just holds it in front of her while they stand together and watch Melody inch closer and closer to a million votes.

A buzzer like they use at basketball games sounds when that seventh digit appears beneath her name. Daniel jumps and Sasha shivers beside him, and Melody finally raises her head again to look at the wall. The other twelve names all disappear and Melody's is splashed across the entire wall in foot-tall letters. The number below it is replaced with the simple but taunting message, "You lose."

"Well, that was a thrilling Elimination Challenge," Rob says overhead. "Talk about a twist ending! I have a feeling this will be an elimination that goes down in the history books."

"Balance has been restored to the house," Meredith says, her voice just as emotionless and steady as always, "Melody, please remain seated. Everyone else, return to the house and enjoy your evening."

The door swings open again and the wall in front of them goes blank. People start filing out of the room, with the exception of Melody, and Sasha looks at Daniel with alarm.

"That's it?"

"Let's go," Francie calls to the two of them. "There's nothing you can do here. Let's get some dinner."

"Dinner?" Sasha asks.

She drops her dress on the floor and Daniel scoops it up for her again, moving mainly on reflex because he's having a hard time connecting any of what just happened to reality. Sure, they'll march out of this room because the voices on the loudspeaker told them to. Sure, they'll eat dinner because it's about that time of night and his stomach is rumbling despite everything.

"I don't think we have a choice," he says gently to Sasha, trying to lead her out of the room, but she shrugs his hands off her shoulders and goes over to Melody.

"Come on," she says, trying to take Melody's hand. "You don't have to stay here just because-"

"Leave me alone!" Melody screeches, and the sound is unearthly. It curdles in Daniel's ears and Sasha recoils.

Francie comes back over to the table and leads Daniel and Sasha out of the Elimination Room. They go reluctantly and Sasha takes her dress as they walk over the threshold into the living room. Then the door swings shut and Melody is alone, mostly naked and staring at the table with tears running silently down her cheeks.