Clayton POV

I found the dining room dimly lit with the only source of light coming from the candles place on the long dining table in the center of the room. The candles held a strong fire on their wick and they smelled like vanilla. Only the smell was intoxicating, like it was trying to smother us. And the heat was unbearable, somebody had turned the furnace up 10 thousand degrees and forgot to turn on the AC. I was dying by the time I sat down and sweat rolled down my face as I saw everyone else take their seat at the table.

A silver platter and dome was in front of me, it had a post it note one it. It read: "Hope you all had a good first day. But it's not done yet, I hope you guys are hungry because it's going to be a special meal.". I really don't want to see what's being served this meal but I have a feeling I don't have a choice, so I lifted the lid to find a well cooked steak with some fries under the lid. Somehow that is still terrifying. Great, now I'm afraid of food.

I saw everyone else sit down at various seats around the table, each lifting up the lid for their platter. However, each platter contained a different food for each person. Manson has a cheeseburger with steamed broccoli. Tsubaki had chocolate roses and spaghetti pasta. I glanced to my right and saw that Kaikane had a sandwich that looked like a zombie. Not sure about Manson but I knew for a fact that Tsubaki loves chocolate roses and Kaikane loves zombie movies. Either we've been stalked or Monokuma has telepathy and read our minds, not sure which ones worst. In fact, I'm willing to bet all of my money that everyone else here has their favorite food or the food they do have is done in a way that would like.

Several minutes pass and none of us have eaten or have drank anything, only staring at each other in terrified glances. The atmosphere was palpable with fear and anger, wondering what we were all doing here. After a few minutes of more waiting I could feel fatigue creeping onto me, it's making me slowly drop my guard. I pinched myself below the table and the sharp pain woke me up a little. A few more hours go by and I see everyone else slowly lower their guard, not me. Past experience has taught me that people do unpleasant things when you least want and expect it.

Suddenly all the lights flickered off and the candles blown out. The room temperature dropped to freezing so rapidly that the next time I exhaled I saw it as smoke.

"Phuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu, kept you guys waiting didn't I." The lights burst to life and the candles were lit again as Monokuma appeared, standing on our table in a tux and top hat. There was a cane in his hand and he lifted it up and tapped the table two times. Suddenly all the lights were focused on him, like spotlights. Even the fire of the candles seem to be drawn to him.

"I swear to God if he starts singing and all this turns into a musical, I'm smashing that bear. Don't care if he kills me or not, I am not singing at all." I muttered.

"Oh don't be so grim, I'm only here to give you all a little push." Monokuma responded.

"And what kind of push is that, you evil satanic teddy bear." I responded back.

"Not much, simply a little motivation for some of you." Monokuma said, then he taps his cane against the table again. He gestures for us to stand up and we all do. The chairs descend into the floor, cobblestone sliding back into place, almost like the chairs were never there. Behind the last positions of the chairs metal tubes ascend and a portion of its wall slides down, revealing a small metal chair with straps and belts inside.

"In you guys go, come on come on let's get this show on the road." Monokuma said, pushing Toboe into a nearby tube.

"Well since you asked so nicely." I said, stepping into the tube and flipping Monokuma off. I sat myself down in the chair and strapped myself in. The door slid close as the last thing I saw before pitch darkness was a laughing Monokuma.

As soon as the door closed I felt myself and the tube fall straight down at rapid speed. My ears popped and darkness slowly began crawling through my vision until I could see was black. My body felt like it was in limbo, between worlds. But it wasn't like life and death, it was this world and something else. All of this felt too familiar, it unnerved me to say the least.

I slowly woke up, I was laying on the cold hard ground with a grey ceiling staring down at me. The room itself had a haunted feeling and atmosphere, almost like the spirits of the dead still inhabited it. It also felt like all the death it had seen had taken its toll on the room, I saw the walls cracked and tha air stale. Almost like it was decaying. I noticed a projector embedded in the wall, the projector seemed to notice I was now awake because it whizzed to life and started to project something.

I looked to the wall that was being projected on and I saw only a white screen. Then the screen faded and an old title card appeared, like from those old cowboy and western films. The words on the screen came into focus and it read:

Congratulations! Someone has decided to be the murderer! Isn't that GREAT!

I stood there for a minute, just staring at the screen. Then the projector turned off and I spent a few more minutes just staring and processing. I quickly ran through the list of other students trapped with me, most of them seem like nice people. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, everyone has secrets and everyone is out for themselves. It's only a matter of time before they hurt you, after all humans only look out for themselves. Figured that out a little too late for my tastes but I know now.

A wall splits in two and slides apart, revealing an elevator. I stepped onto the elevator and the door slid close. The ride up was long, possibly because it was going slower than the ride down but also because I was thinking about everything. My mind raced with different scenarios, ranging from Tsubaki killing me to Monokuma deciding to skip the killing game and just kill me in this elevator. I was so wrapped up in these thoughts that I didn't noticed that the elevator had stopped. I came back to reality only because the elevator started ringing and that got on my nerves.

The elevator had deposited me onto the residential room with our rooms. I walked slowly to my room, once again deep in my thoughts. I pushed opened the door to my room and threw myself onto my bed.

"Guess you're not in the mood for food." Manson said, laying a sandwich next to me.

"Didn't eat anything tonight so sure, I guess I'm hungry." I responded.

"Okay. Eat up and sleep. The others are meeting in the morning so go to sleep after you eat." Manson said, walking towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" I ask without thinking.

"We had a deal, I make you a sandwich and you get the room for a night." He responded.

"You were there with me, you saw the same things. You know how people feel." I muttered.

"What are you saying?" Manson asked, puzzled.

"I'm saying that...there's too much food here for me to eat alone. And I guess if I fall asleep soon I won't notice if another person sleeps as well." I said.

"Oh, okay." He said.

"Don't get full of yourself, I'm only keeping my eye on you so you don't try anything suspicious." I said.

"Sure." He responded.

Author's Notes

Hello everyone, I'm back. I'm also back to updating on a regular schedule. So please check in and review, every little bit helps.