AN: Okay, I'll admit, I've been treating Davey pretty bad. I'm sorry to all you Davey fans out there, but the truth is that I just flat out don't like him…never have…and any story I write I'm going to bash him to a certain extent. I'm holding back in this one, and I hope I haven't gone too far already with the Davey bashing…anyways…moving on…
HA! Someone who reviewed guessed right about who has the criminal record. I'll give you lots of virtual hugs from my muses when it is revealed.
Also, in this chapter we will begin to see some of the friendships forming from the movie. You know, the classics- Mush and Blink, Specs and Dutchy…time to start getting our boys in their 'alliances'.
Time for the nominations- and time to hand out the power of veto. Have fun reading!
Mush
"So…you were really in a Jackie Chan movie?"
Blink raised an eyebrow at me as he threw a slice of turkey onto his sandwich. We were the only two in the kitchen, eating a late lunch after a morning poker game, and I figured I may as well make conversation.
"Yeah, I was."
Awkward silence. Oh, geez, I hate those things. "What's it like in L.A.?"
He sat down on the stool beside me at the breakfast bar, seeming to have lost his appetite a bit. "Dirty. Loud. Hectic. I could go on for hours."
"Go ahead…we've got plenty of time to spare."
Blink looked up at the clock. It was two o 'clock, and nominations were at three. "Not before nominations we don't."
He began eating at an alarming speed, as if he thought the sandwich was going to melt through the plate. I poked around at my carrots, knowing that mother had told me to eat my veggies and…well…there was a camera right there. And for all I knew, they could air this conversation, even though it was pretty boring right now. I shoved a carrot into my mouth, cursing the cameras the whole time.
"Who do you think he'll nominate?" I asked. Blink thought for a moment, actually taking a break from the sandwich.
"I don't know."
"Well, you have an idea."
"And how would you know that?"
"I just…do."
He took another bite, and swallowed before speaking. At least he wasn't a city boy with no manners to top it off. "I think he'll nominate Spot. Definitely. And I'm thinkin' the other spot will go to either Davey or me." He explained, lowering his voice to a whisper.
I nodded. "I think you're right about Davey and Spot. But why you?"
He just shrugged and took another bite, finishing off his sandwich and turning to look me in the eye. "I'm just getting vibes, I guess. I don't know."
"Well, if it came down to it, I wouldn't vote you out against Spot. Believe me."
He stood up and slapped me on the back, practically knocking me out of my stool. "Thanks. Nice to know I've got one friend here." He started out, but stopped in the doorway, turning around to look at me once again. For a moment he just stood, and I began to get uncomfortable under his intense gaze.
"You're okay, you know that? You're okay."
With that, he turned and left, leaving me to wonder just what he meant by what he said.
Snitch
Soon we were all sitting around the table in the main room, and on the table sat a box with nine keys in it. Cowboy had his key around his neck, the people whose names were in the box were safe, and Cowboy held a brown bag that contained the keys of the two people up for nomination.
I guess I shouldn't have been worried, but I was.
Cowboy cleared his throat and began to speak. "As you all know, as head of household, I must choose two people to nominate for eviction from the house. I have chosen those two strictly by the game. Nothing personal. I just picked the two people who I thought weren't here to play serious and hard. So…here goes."
He reached forward and pulled the first key out of the box, reading the name printed in large, black letters on the side.
"Blink…you're safe."
Suddenly, across the room, I caught a strange glance between Mush and Blink as we passed Blink his key. Had an alliance already been formed that I didn't even know about? What was that look supposed to mean?
Nobody else seemed to notice, and Cowboy pulled out the next key.
"Itey…you're safe."
Itey reached forward and took his key, a smile on his face.
Next key. "Snitch…you're safe."
Whew, was that a load off. Unless I got vetoed in, I would definitely make it past week one. It felt so good to put that key around my neck.
Next key. "Bumlets…you're safe."
No surprise there. Next key.
"Mush…you're safe."
Something was going on here, I could tell. Every time a person was named as being safe, Blink and Mush gave each other this look. It was like they had a bet going or something. But right now, I didn't care. I was safe, and they could bet all they wanted.
Next key. "Skittery…you're safe."
No emotion shown there. He simply took his key, throwing it around his neck and leaning back.
Next key. "Dutchy…you're safe."
All that was left were Specs, Race, Davey, and Spot. I could see this a mile away.
Next key. "Specs…you're safe."
Down to three. But Race didn't look the least bit nervous.
Next key. "Last but not least…Race, you're safe." Cowboy waited for this to sink in, and then spoke once again. "As is obvious, I put Spot and Davey up for eviction. Spot…you're just too aggressive. Nothing personal, man, just protecting my investments. Davey…well, I had to pick someone. Nothing personal."
He took the box and bag back to the nomination room, and the rest of us headed to the front hallway to hang our keys up under our pictures- where they would stay until we were nominated and ultimately evicted.
Spot stormed off to the backyard, and I didn't doubt he was going to stay there until the veto contest tonight. Nobody in their right mind would bug him. Davey was still sitting in the main room, putting his feet up on the table as he began to sulk.
But I was safe. And I could only hope to stay that way.
Race
The day went by pretty quickly- I just mainly kept to myself as some people celebrated while two others fumed. Cowboy seemed pretty proud of himself, and that just made me not like him even more. He didn't realize what kind of danger he'd put himself in by nominating the two most aggressive and moody players in the house at the same time. No matter who got evicted, the other would be out to get him and probably have the guts to do something about it.
When time came for the veto competition, Davey, Spot and Cowboy sat out- because of their respective positions, none of them could hold the power of veto.
"Hello, houseguests."
"Hello, Sarah." We all mumbled in unison.
"We're going to play a game, houseguests, and the last person standing will hold the power of veto." Sarah began. "I must ask all of you to get in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, facing toward the center."
We did as we were told, and I ended up with Skittery on one side and Dutchy on the other, waiting on Sarah to continue the explanation.
"We're going to play a game called 'murder'."
Oh, joy.
"The object of this game is simply to live…and to act well when you die. In a moment I will ask all of you to close your eyes, and Cowboy will walk around the outside of the circle twice. While doing so, he will tap one person on the shoulder, and that person will be the murderer. When I tell you to, you will open your eyes and begin moving around the backyard. Just walking. The murderer will wink at those he wishes to kill. If he winks at you, you are to die the most dramatic and loud death you can come up with. If you think you know who the murderer is, and he hasn't killed you, then you just accuse him. If you're right, he must die. If you're wrong…you must die. In order to win, you must either be the last person standing, or you must correctly accuse the murderer. Does everyone understand?"
We all nodded.
"Good. Everyone…close your eyes. Cowboy, choose the murderer."
For at least a minute, nothing was heard but Cowboy's soft footsteps on the grass, circling our group twice, as ordered.
"A murderer has been chosen. Contestants…open your eyes and begin walking."
I opened my eyes and moved, looking carefully at the people around me. Just like a card game, I reminded myself. Someone's cheating, and you've just got to look at their face to know.
A shriek burst out from behind me, and I spun around just as Itey went into violent death throes and collapsed to the ground. The murderer had already gotten one.
No, make that two. Cause Blink suddenly stumbled and fell forward onto me, sounding as if he couldn't breathe as he slid off me to the ground. If I didn't know better, I'd think he really was dying.
"I accuse Skittery!" Bumlets suddenly yelled out, and Skittery smiled, but then he shook his head. Bumlets laughed as he pretended to tie a noose, and then proceeded to hang himself.
Suddenly Dutchy stumbled, doubling over as if he'd been stabbed in the gut, and with a strangled cry he fell- dead.
Okay, okay, think…Skittery isn't it, so who's left? Specs, Mush…that was it! Cowboy was probably dumb enough to choose someone that obvious!
Just as I opened my mouth to accuse Mush, Specs screamed behind me, obviously being attacked by some kind of animal. And slowly, his cries fell dead.
"Mush is the murderer!" I accused, and at first I thought I may have been wrong just from the sweet, innocent look on Mush's face. But, ever so slowly, he formed the shape of a gun with his hand and raised it to his temple, shooting himself with a pull of the 'trigger' and dropping to the grass. I high-fived Snitch as everyone stood up, coming back to life, in effect.
"Congratulations, Racetrack. You now hold the power of veto. Which means that you can choose to replace one of the nominees with another housemate, excluding Cowboy, since he is head of household. You alone have the power to take either Davey or Spot off of the chopping block."
Oh, shit. My mind had been so far in the game that I forgot what I was playing for…
AN: Next chapter, we find out if Race uses the power of veto. And, if we're lucky, the eviction will be in the next chapter too.
Oh, and by the way, we played this game at a theater camp that I went to this summer, and it was a blast. You should get together with your friends and try it! It's great coming up with the most gruesome and loud ways you can think of to die...and scaring the next-door neighbors to death…I'm evil, aren't I?