"Looks like you were right! You're first class trial went in favor of the spotless! The blackened responsible for the deaths of Helen Kibby and Jayden Hutchinson is none other than Evelyn Sanford!" Monokuma shouted out happily before getting a sly grin on his face. "I will admit though it was almost a gray area deciding who the true blackened was between Evelyn and Jayden."
Paul looked at him with intrigue. "How so?"
"Well Jayden was the one to kill Helen and himself and so it should have been Jayden. However there was the bits where Jayden was resisting the kills and was then forced by the suggestion he was under. And because that suggestion was what ultimately made him kill and it was put on him by Evelyn, I decided that she was indeed the true blackened despite not being the physical killer." He explained to us.
"That's a good thing to know for the future." Paul noted.
Mikayla glared at him. "How can you say that at a time like this? Evelyn killed our friends and now we're going to lose her too!"
"Friends? If any of you think I'm a friend then your sorely mistaken. Hell if any of you think you have friends here you'll be dead very soon. It's only been four days and you think that small amount of time is enough for you to truly consider these people to have such personal titles?" Paul scolded us more than he asked us.
Luca glared at him. "Absolutely."
Paul glared at him silently as Luca continued his statement. "It doesn't need to be a lifetime spent together to consider someone to be a friend. All that needs to happen is what you do during what big or small amount of time is spent with them to call someone a friend or not. And for me I've made plenty of friends already! Also given our situation it's no wonder I do think most of you are my friends. Since I don't have any of my buddies... or family here to comfort me, I can take even greater comfort knowing I have someone to turn to. Someone I can rant to about my problems, whose shoulders will be there for me to cry on, and most importantly a person I can have fun with despite the grim situation I wake up to everyday."
Despite him looking around at everyone as he spoke I couldn't help but feel like his eyes were mostly focused on me. 'Does he really think of me like that? I should feel honored that he does seem to think so strongly of me yet I'm not sure I've truly earned that. But if he feels the time we spent is enough then it's also enough for me.' I thought cheerfully, trying to keep my spirits up but failing to do so as the dread quickly flowed back in as she spoke up.
"Such sentimental feelings will surely get you killed like they did Helen and Jayden." Melinda warned him.
Luca lost the smile that grew during his speech as he frowned at her. "Well I could say the same with you. After all you and Paul seem to have grown quite fond of each other."
"Yeah. What were you two during out past nighttime in the library by yourselves? We're you getting frisky?" Shana asked them accusingly.
Damian blinked at her. "Whoa she actually does have a dirty mind as much as a dirty body."
"Shut it Gatsby!" She shouted at him mockingly.
Paul rolled his eyes at those two before looking directly at Luca. "For you're information we are not friends. In fact I can hardly stand the sight of her. But the two of us were up all night discussing one thing and one thing only."
"And that is what exactly?" Luca asked.
"How we're going to survive over the lot of you." Melinda answered her gaze darkening at us that left most of us breathless.
"What are you saying! Are you planning on killing us all?" Brenda yelled with a mixture of anger and fear in her voice.
Paul chuckled lowly at her. "Don't be stupid. The rules only allow us to kill up to two people and there are too many people right now for us to go on a killing spree. Also we now know there is no benefit for an accomplice in a murder here. Besides we want to live and not face punishment like bimbo slut over there." He said pointing over at Evelyn with his thumb, who made no remark or reaction to the insult. "So we're going to be discussing things in further detail. As such we are extending an invitation for you all. We will be allowing a few more people to act alongside us for the meantime to talk about how we will survive as the rest of you kill each other off."
I narrowed my eyes at Paul and Melinda. "We're not going to kill anyone! Besides who'd want to get involved with you two?"
"I'll join you." Ollie raised her hand. I gasped as I heard her agree to their terms.
Paul smiled as he scanned around. "Anyone else?"
"I... I don't want to die here man. I have to get back out on the water so... I'll go with ya too." Marcel also accepted which made Melinda and Paul both grin and laugh at the rest of us.
"C-Could I...?" Sienna began to ask with her trembling hand raising up before Mikayla ran next to her and smacked her hand down. The short girl cringed and almost began to cry before the hand was gently kissed by the assaulter which made Sienna look to Mikayla confused. "Please don't ask them if you can join them. They'll take advantage of you. Besides I promised Helen I would look after you so you don't have to worry."
"But you only promised to watch out for me for last night only." Sienna corrected.
Mikayla softly shook her head. "Not anymore. Now that we've lost Helen I'm making that promise full time."
Sienna's eyes seemed to light up as she hugged Mikayla her head snuggled into her stomach as she smiled happily. "Thank you."
"Bleh. Disgusting." Paul shuddered.
"Well I personally don't care about all this! What I wanna know is why we're even here in the first place?" Tommy growled before his glare settled on Evelyn. "Why Evelyn? Why did you kill them?"
"There are multiple reasons." She admitted. "But one of the main reasons why I did this was because I hated them."
"What? What do you mean you hated them? They did so much for us!" I shouted at her, not being able to comprehend that answer.
"That's exactly why I hated them!" She shouted angrily. "They were strong, fearless, and influential leaders in their own respective ways. Their talents with motivating and protecting others made them stand above the rest in everyone's eyes. But me? Everyone only saw me as a girl who would use her dark, hypnotic powers to exploit them of everything they hold dear and they would have no memory or recollection of my deception. All of you turned me away when all I wanted to do was help! I wanted to help get your minds off this killing game! All I would have done was bring up powerful and happy memories you hold dear to help you feel more relaxed in this hellhole! The only one who accepted my invitation was that idiot Marcel after I told him I scrubbed away the cooties off me!"
"Wait... that cootie thing was another lie wasn't it?!" Marcel yelled at her.
Shana groaned an annoyed sigh at him. "I swear you need to be killed next."
Brenda looked at Evelyn. "Wait what about Kai? After all he stumbled out of you room with his pants undone and you on top of him."
"How many times must I tell you we weren't doing anything! She offered her hypnotism to me then offered... other services when I refused. I quickly ran to the door to leave and was gonna fix my pants before she tackled me through the door."
"He's not lying. I wanted to help Kai but even he refused me so I thought I could swoon him and make him feel better another way. I was disappointed he did refuse to sleep with me. He would've been my first." Evelyn sighed.
"Wait so... then he isn't the disgusting perv we thought he was." Shana said surprised.
"No way! He's got more class than that!" Damian stated confidently.
"Wait if Kai wasn't your first then wasn't it Marcel? After all he was blushing up a storm more than a well bred cow after her heat season is over." Willie analyzed.
"No. I just used my hypnotism on him and he had me bring up the memory of his first BJ. He was blushing because he had a wet patch on the front of his shorts when it was done." Evelyn explained.
Marcel once again turned beat red. "Why did you have to tell them man?" But Evelyn only rolled her eyes at him.
I bowed my head down at her. "Look Evelyn, I'm sorry we made you feel that way but I didn't refuse you because I thought you would use me. It's just what Jayden had said to me earlier did put me at ease so I felt like I didn't need it."
"But you have at thought badly of me at one point though. Don't lie. I know you have. Everyone here has." No one responded further proving her point correct as I felt absolute shame fill my heart. "That's what I thought. You're all nothing but judgmental bastards who predict a person by what they are instead of trying to learn more about them!"
"In that case let us learn more about you then. Surely you're hatred for Helen and Jayden could be strong enough to kill but that wasn't what triggered you to actually kill, was it?" Paul asked. Evelyn remained silent. "Just as I thought. It was the motive video. The person you care most about is what fully pushed you over the edge. So tell us who that is? Family? Best friend? Your horny boyfriend?"
"Stop antagonizing her!" I shouted.
"My sponsors, that's who." She answered.
My eyes once again went wide in disbelief. "What?"
"It's not just Helen and Jayden I hate. I hate everyone that looks to giving out help to others. When people need help they look to a counselor, a psychiatrist, even to their stupid best friend that can't actually help them in any way. When I first discovered I could hypnotize people, granted I did use them at first to play childish pranks, but soon found my true calling and dedicated my life to use hypnotism to help others. At first my business was thriving as I helped people overcome fears, solve problems, and help better themselves, but soon I began losing more clients when they began seeing my talent as a dark and shady scam. I've even had past clients take me to court on false charges of thievery and blackmail and lost thousands of dollars for prejudice and lack of viable evidence to prove my innocence. Yet despite that I remained where I was because of my sponsors. They kept their belief in me and refused to acknowledge me as a crook or failure. They provided me money so that I could prove them wrong. But my first sponsor, the one I saw in my video, is the true reason I killed them."
"The one sponsor in your video that is so important you would kill? Who?" I asked.
"My big sister." Evelyn answered which made my skin crawl as I felt the blood turn cold. "Ever since I discovered this talent of mine, my parents have despised me. They told me I would become a heartless criminal if I continued dabbing in the dark arts of hypnotizing people since at the time I was pulling those harmless pranks. At first I believed them after they continued shunning me, making me no food to eat and no way to get to school without forcing me to walk the five miles or fix my own meals so I wouldn't starve. That was until my older sister came to take guardianship over me. She didn't see my talent as another evil that could plague the world but instead to be used as a light. She encouraged me to be happy with my gift and do good with my skill by giving me that single dollar bill. Every since then my big sister has been my top sponsor and provided me with the most money out of any sponsor she hired on for me! She is in debt because of how much money she has given me and I have been eternally grateful that she saved me from my depriving parents and has kept me in business for all these years! But then Monokuma shows me a video that has taken my chances of helping people and my sister, the one who has had blind faith in me, all away from me? Of course I killed them! And I wouldn't hesitate to kill you all if it means I can continue helping others and find my sister!" Evelyn screamed out as she was far beyond the point where she had began crying angrily sometime during her confessional.
To be honest I didn't even realize when her tears were flowing out because my tears were clouding up my own vision. "Evelyn. I-I'm so sorry. I feel so bad for you I truly do! If I could I would provide you as much money and advertisement as you need to keep your business alive!"
She then smiled at me through her tears. "Don't make such an empty promise." That make me look up at her in confusion. "It was only natural instinct for us to survive. Even if I told you all this you still couldn't bring yourself to sacrifice yourself and everyone else here just for my sake would you?" I cringed again looking down in shame. "I thought so. Beside I've made me bed by killing them so I'm gonna lie in it like Helen has. My only regret is not finding my sister before my time was up. Well that and now knowing my hypnotism wasn't all powerful since Jayden apparently nearly broke out of it."
"Are you sure about that?" Monokuma suddenly asked. Everyone turned to him and stared in a complete flabbergasted manner.
Even Evelyn looked just as lost. "What are you talking about?" She questioned him.
"I am happy to present a new segment I like to call "The Victim's Final Moments"!" He shouted before the big screen came down again and turned on to show Jayden getting off the bed and Helen's body dead on the bed. 'What the hell? Is this sick bastard actually showing us Jayden killing himself?' I wondered angrily as I saw Sienna bury her face in Mikayla's stomach and the Ultimate Veterinarian holding her close like a mother protecting her child.
The video showed Jayden turning from the bed as he pulled out the second knife from his hand and pressed it against the left side of his throat and began cutting himself. But his arm soon began shaking as the twitching we saw in his eye slowly stop as he looked to the camera. "I'm sorry I failed to protect you all. Helen... I pray you will forgive me, Kai... I hope my promise will live on through you, and Evelyn..." He paused as he smiled weakly. "...I hope you find what you're looking for." Suddenly he slashed at his neck the rest of the way and collapsed on the floor as we witnessed first hand the last moments of Jayden's life. The last thing we saw was his left hand going to his eye to narrow his eyelids before he left out a bubbly sputter from his throat as his hand fell limply to the ground.
Evelyn looked absolutely mortified. Her face was entirely pale as she looked like she was just about to throw up. "He didn't resist because he didn't want to die. He resisted so he could say those final words before your suggestion killed him." I stated my body still trembling bad after seeing that video.
Evelyn shook her head. "No. He broke free of his hypnotic suggestion entirely! I know he did! I can tell when people are still under it or not!"
"Then does that mean we were wrong?" I asked in horror.
"Nope. It was still Evelyn that made him kill himself. I'm 100% positive." Monokuma stated.
"Then why? WHY?! Why didn't he look angry?! Why did he look happy that I killed him?! SOMEONE TELL ME WHY!" Evelyn screamed out in nothing but broken sadness.
Luca wiped the tears rolling down his cheeks and sniffled a bit before he responded. "I believe it's because he found his opportunity to save someone."
Evelyn's eyes widened at him. "What... what do you mean?"
Luca looked up to her with sad eyes but a proud smile on his face. "I think he did it because he wanted to save you. He knew your intention to kill was pure at its core so he gave his life to you so you could make it out. However he did one last thing to make things fair for us. He made sure his eye was narrowed before he died to give the rest of us a fair chance to survive. He didn't side with either one of us. He did this for every single on of us. That's what I believe."
Evelyn suddenly collapsed on her knees as she began bawling even worse than even Sienna had cried before. She then threw her head back. "Jayden! Helen! Stephanie! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"
Stephanie. I figured that must be her sister's name as I felt myself shake just as uncontrollably as Evelyn and the others were.
Then what was said next filled us all with even more despair. "Alright enough of this sentimental crap! It's time for the fun to begin!"
"Fun? Y-You don't mean..." Tommy shuddered.
Monokuma giggled as he nodded. "That's right. Since she has disrupted the harmony and been found out, she must be punished!"
My eyes widened in fear as I leaned forward on my podium. "No! Please don't do this! Don't kill Evelyn please! She doesn't deserve this!"
Evelyn stood up on shaky legs. "No I already knew this would happen. I know if we try to escape this it will not turn out good for anyone here. So please don't risk your lives for someone who is good as dead."
"Now then I've prepared a very special punishment for Evelyn Sanford the Ultimate Hypnotist." Monokuma practically squealed in joy.
"Just promise me one thing Kai. Tell Big sister that her little bundle of sweetness wishes for her to be happy and live on even though I won't be there. Will you find her and tell her for me? Please?" Evelyn asked me.
I looked down at my fists as they were gripped so hard the knuckles were fresh snow-covered mountains. "Of course I will. And Evelyn... I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you."
"I know Kai. Me too." She smiled through her tears.
"Let's give it everything we got! It's... PUNISHMENT TIME!" Monokuma shouted in glee. He quickly pulled out a gavel that spun in his hand as a red button rose up in front of him. His red eye glinted as he did a front flip in the seat without standing and slammed the gavel down on the button as a pixel Evelyn appeared on the little screen.
"Evelyn has been found guilty." It read as a pixel Monokuma ran in a grabbed the now panicked pixel Evelyn and dragged her across the screen with him as more text appeared saying, "Time for the punishment!"
*Play youtube watch?v=ba-o18U03wY I know it's not original and possibly not long enough for a story format but it's the only one I feel will work for these punishments*
Evelyn was standing there with her eyes closed as she held her green hypnotist pendant close to her heart as we were all seen gathered around her before suddenly a clamp on a metal cord latched itself around her neck and yanked her away from us as she was dragged along the ground and then suddenly into the ground as a hatch opened up and dropped her in before slamming shut.
Evelyn then lifted back up in a fenced off room as we all helplessly watched as she struggled against the clamp holding her in place as Monokuma appeared in a gypsy outfit and three giant hypnotic spirals appeared in front of her and Monokuma began spinning them.
Guided Misdirection
Evelyn looked uninterested as she followed the spirals and soon her head waved back and forth slowly as she began falling into a trance as Monokuma was close to her ear whispering something to her. Soon she would begin seeing things as a maze was suddenly built up around her. She quickly began traversing her way through. When she came to one dead end she saw her parents yelling and beating on her as a small girl. She cowered in fear as she ran back. Little did she know there was nothing there in the first place. Another dead end she came across, she saw a married couple winning a case in court against her for false charges. Evelyn became frantic as she tried to find her way out only to find another bad memory at every turn. In the midst of all the despair she collapsed to her knees as the voices from those memories echoed inside the walls loudly, screaming into her ears making her scream out in return.
But suddenly they silenced as she turned to a new voice. Her eyes widened happily as she saw Stephanie standing there with her arms held out for her. Evelyn cried out to her big sister as she ran to her and out the maze. As soon as she went to embrace her sister, she disappeared as Evelyn's happiness turned into despair as she ran into a pillar. Immediately thousands of needles erupted from the pillar's entire surface as time stood still. Soon blood began leaking out of the arms as one hand fell down and dropped the green pendant now covered in blood as the bloodied body remained pinned to the spiked pillar. Everyone watched in horror. All that was left of her was a pure look of utter despair as the life drained from Evelyn's eyes.
I soon heard the screams of terror from my classmates as we witnessed Evelyn's death firsthand.
"WAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAAA!" Sienna cried out in pure agony as Mikayla was also seen crying as she held Sienna close.
"N-No! Evelyn! NO!" Shana screamed out, tears flowing down and smudging the dirt on her face.
"That was too horrible! She didn't deserve that!" Damian reeled back as he held the sides of his head.
"How could ya do that to her? That was beyond cruel!" Willie asked slowly and softly trying to process what happened fully.
"It's simply really. Because it's fun! It was such a spectacular performance on her part. To relive all those horrible memories and then have that all whisked away by her idolized sister and run to her safe arms only to discover it was all the work of a hypnotic suggestion. Oh what despair!" Monokuma laughed.
"You're sick! That is absolutely sick of you! How dare you defile her in such a way! I swear If I ever find out who you are I will not hesitate to kill you!" I growled in pure anger. I soon felt a hand gently touch my shoulder as I turned and saw Luca. He wordless shook his head at me. I understood what he meant and backed off.
"Don't worry Kai. I understand you're angry right now but that's what I like about you. Your anger right now. I think that's the most honest reaction I've seen from you yet." I felt myself tense up at that. 'Does Monokuma know?' I thought in fear. "Puhuhuhu! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" With that Monokuma's laughing was the last things we all heard as he disappeared from sight. Everyone stood there frozen. Well almost everyone.
"It may have been harsh but I will admit I find his way of killing to be quite... exquisite." Melinda commented.
Paul rolled his eyes at her before turning around. "Come you three. We have much to discuss." With that Paul, Melinda, Ollie, and Marcel all left us there, stunned and silent. Ollie was the only one to look back as she paused to do so. She looked down in sadness before continuing on to catch up with the others.
After minutes or maybe hours of staring mindlessly at Evelyn's corpse we began making our way to the elevator in small groups or some by themselves. Our group began dissipating little by little until it was just Luca and me left. I continued staring in sorrow at Evelyn who still remained pinned up against the pillar. Then suddenly Luca began looking around to see if we were being watched as he quickly ran forward and scaled up the fence and hopped to the other side. I gasped as I ran over too but simply clung onto the fence as I watched him approach Evelyn.
"Dude, what are you doing? Get away from there!" I shouted at him but he quickly slammed his finger against his lips, warning me not to be loud. But at that moment I didn't care. I was just so scared he might trigger something and get killed like Evelyn did. I saw him then bend down and pick up the bloody pendant that Evelyn treasured so much. He then backed off carefully not taking his eyes off Evelyn until he reached the fence and climbed back up and landed right next to me. He took out a hand towel from his jacket's pocket before setting the pendant in it and wiping the blood off it. I noticed the rag had old bloodstains on it already. 'Is that what he uses to wipe his blood with if he gets hurt?' I wondered as he then dispensed the now cleaned pendant out and held it out in his palm. "Here."
I looked to him shocked and confused as I held my hand out and he tilted his wrist so it slipped from his hand into mine. "I think she would want you to have this. After all you promised you would give her sister her final wish. This could be used a memento to Evelyn's memory."
I looked up at Luca as my fingers wrapped around it and I held it close to me. "You... always seem to know what to say. Thank you Luca."
"Let's do the same from here on out. We'll take something back for each of our friends. Something of Jayden's and Helen's too so their families have something to remember them by. And if by any chance we lose anyone else we'll take something for their sake too." Luca suggested.
I looked down. "I just hope that won't be the case." With that me and Luca began making our way back to the elevator and the school.
After we rode the elevator back up to the library I felt like I hadn't slept in years despite it still being around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. We agreed that we should head to our dorms to rest ourselves up. We quickly stopped by the cafeteria to get food in our systems before we went to the dormitory hallway. Luca wished me good night before he stepped into his room. I breathed out heavily before I stepped up to my door but found myself stopping. I looked down the hall to see that Helen's door was cracked open. I felt my legs move on their own as I mindlessly walked over to the door and gently pushed it open. What I saw shocked me.
The bodies... were gone. The blood, the mess, the weapons, even the hole that connected Helen's and Melinda's rooms were gone. It looked like nothing had ever happened in here. But despite this I knew all too well what did happen as my mind flashed back to Helen, Jayden, and Evelyn's carcasses as I shuddered. I breathed out before I went to shut the door but stopped as I saw two things on the floor near the foot of the bed. I walked over and knelt on the ground as I picked them up.
One item I knew too well was Jayden's aviator sunglasses he always wore. The other one was a simple moss green backpack but inside it was what really caught my attention. It was a draft for a story. It's title was "Push Yourself Forward" and I immediately knew who the author was before reading Helen Kibby underneath it. It looked like Helen had written her own motivational book. She most likely wanted to get this published. Now she wouldn't get the chance. But maybe I can. I quickly took the draft, the sunglasses, and the pendant from my pocket as I slipped them into the backpack and slung it onto my shoulders. My mind then flashed back on the class trial.
"He didn't side with either one of us. He did this for every single on of us. That's what I believe."
"Kai... I hope my promise will live on through you..."
"Luca was right. Jayden didn't side with any of us. He gave all of us a chance to live and survive. That must explain why Jayden hopes his promise to us will continue through me. Mikayla is doing the same for Helen by watching out for Sienna. I'm gonna do that same. I'm going to get everyone out. At the very least I will do what I can to get even one person out of here like Jayden would. His promise is now my promise and I swear Jayden I will live by this until the day I die just as you did!" I said to myself, a bold and confident feeling welling up inside of me as I stood there with a newfound strength.
Chapter 1: Lending a Despairing Hand
END
Surviving Students: 13
*3rd Person View*
Monokuma would be sitting in front of a television screen as he sat there awaiting for something to happen. Soon the screen flashed on as he was getting a video call from someone. Monokuma rubbed his hands together gleefully as he pressed a button next to him on a remote that answered the call. The picture turned on as another Monokuma appeared on the screen. "Hello Monokuma!" The Monokuma in the chair greeted.
The one on the screen waved back. "Hello Monokuma! How are things going for you on your end?"
"Very exciting! We just wrapped up our first class trial and get this! We had our two victims for this class trial!" He told the one on the screen.
"*Gasp* Already? That shouldn't have happened until the third chapter!" The screen Monokuma sounded shocked by this development.
"That's what I said but it definitely stirred the fun up! Anyway how are things on your end?" Monokuma questioned curiously with a tilt of his head.
Monokuma sighed out happily. "I just started my killing game here. I wonder how things will play out on my end. What has your data shown you with yours?"
"Oh nothing really big yet except one of my students will prove to be quite troublesome for us. My Ultimate Actor." He whispered to him.
"Why? Is he a major drama queen?" The Monokuma asked in the same manner as the one in the chair did just barely.
"Oh most definitely! But not what I meant. Anyways we need to keep this data going if we want perfect results for later so I should get going. Got another busy school day tomorrow!" Monokuma said the other one.
"And I have to check in on my guests! So I'll see ya later alligator!" The Monokuma on the screen shouted to the other.
"In a while caiman!" The other Monokuma shouted back as they both began laughing.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The screen that kept the room illuminated shut off as both Monokumas vanished in the darkness.
Chapter 2: Acceptance is the Best Medicine
Finally I thought I would never get this chapter done! Now we are moving on with the next chapter of our students lives. What will be the next motive and who will die next? How will the students live their closed off lives before the inevitable? What do you think of the characters who have died so far? I wanna know so leave your thoughts in a review and tell me! Thanks for reading and have a wonderfully, despair filled night! Puhuhuhu!