A/N: OMIGODS I AM SO SO SORRY! I haven't updated in what feels like months… well, I don't own Kane Chronicles…
I smirked at Jaz and pulled off her blindfold and gag. The first thing she did was take in her surroundings. She was calm, which was unnerving. People who are kidnapped shouldn't be calm. "Why are you so calm?" I demanded.
Jaz narrowed her eyes at me. "Why shouldn't I be?"
"Um, you've been kidnapped?" I pointed out.
"Yes. I have. Your point is?"
"… Never mind." I pulled out a sketch of Zia I had done. "First question: does this look like Zia?"
Jaz took it and thought for a moment. "Sorta. The haircut's not quite right- too long, and it should be more wedge shaped. And you need to work on faces. And hands. And feet. But yeah, it's pretty close."
"Uh, thanks, I think?" By this time, I had thought to enchant a pencil to write down people's responses. "Question two. Do you know any animal charmers?"
"One of the new trainees is considering being an animal charmer, but she's leaning more towards sau… why?"
"Crap. BECAUSE MY CATS WON'T STOP BUGGING ME, THAT'S WHY!" I shouted.
Jaz blinked. "Alrighty then. Am I allowed to ask a question?"
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Must you?"
"Well, I noticed that you can't seem to keep still. Do you have ADHD?" Jaz asked kindly.
"I really don't know. I've noticed that I can't stop moving, but I can concentrate very well. Well, except when I zone out. But that only happens when I'm reading!" I amended.
Jaz shrugged. "Okay. I'm satisfied."
I smirked. "Good. Now, are you as addicted to your guitar as everyone thinks?"
She furrowed her eyebrows. "Who said I had a guitar? I'm pretty sure Carter didn't put that in The Throne of Fire… and how do you know that I have one?"
"My friends developed your personality and decided that you have a guitar and love Taylor Swift."
Jaz raised an eyebrow.
"Really!" I protested.
She shrugged. "I like my guitar, but I can live without it."
I gave the pencil a few minutes to scribble down the reactions; a faint scratch-scratch could be heard in the background. "Question four: Heart or mind?"
Jaz looked at me curiously but answered, "Heart, I guess."
"Five: do you prefer fables or poems?"
"Um… I like both, but I guess I'd say fables, because not only are they well written, they teach a lesson too."
I nodded. "You seem like a well-educated girl. Do you speak any other languages besides English?"
Jaz laughed. "You mean besides Text-speak and Hieroglyphs? No."
"Last thing. When you get home, I want you to ask all the people at the Brooklyn House to join you in a game of Mafia. When it's your turn to narrate, if someone is killed, I want you to say that they were killed 'by a drunk guinea pig with a chainsaw'."
Jaz nodded slowly at the strange request.
"All right, you can go now." I said. "And be glad I was fairly normal to you." I opened a portal on my mirror and Jaz stepped through.
At the Brooklyn House, later…
I watched the link to the camera some crazy fangirl had hidden in the Brooklyn House's living room. "Hey, guys," Jaz said to the general populace. "Anyone up for a game of Mafia?"
Felix shot straight up. "Heck yeah."
Carter shrugged. "I guess."
Sadie's face was decorated with a look of confusion. "What's Mafia? I mean, I know what they are, but there's a game called Mafia?"
Julian stared at Sadie with a look of utter disbelief. "You've never heard of Mafia? That's just sad, Sadie. Sad."
Sadie looked offended. "Well, excuse me for having grown up in England! Would someone mind explaining?"
Walt shrugged. "Guess not. The way we always played it, you have a narrator. The narrator chooses a doctor and a mafia. But no one except the person who was chosen knows who's who, besides the narrator. The narrator will ask the mafia to kill someone, and then the doctor to save someone. The rest of the citizens will then wake up, and the narrator will give a story about one person who has or nearly died." He paused to let all that sink in, and Sadie nodded. "Then, the citizens vote on who they think is the mafia. The mafia themselves is not allowed to vote for anyone. Then, when one person has been decided on, they are given a chance to defend themselves. If the citizens still view them as guilty, they are killed off. If that actually is the mafia, the citizens win. If not, you keep playing until everyone dies or the mafia wins."
Sadie nodded. "Let's start playing."
"I'll be narrator." Jaz announced. Carter, Sadie, Walt, Felix, Julian, Alyssa, Sean, and Cleo all gathered in a circle around Jaz. "You can sit," she rolled her eyes at Sadie. "Everyone, go to sleep. Yes, Sadie, that means close your eyes." Jaz said, exasperated. "I am now choosing the mafia." She repeated over and over. Finally, she tapped Cleo.
"I am now choosing the doctor." Jaz kept repeating. She tapped Carter early, but kept saying that to throw people off. "Mafia, please wake up."
Cleo sat up and opened her eyes.
"Mafia, who would you like to kill?"
Cleo grinned and wordlessly pointed to Julian.
"Are you sure?" Jaz asked, to make sure she had the right person.
Cleo nodded.
"Mafia, please go back to sleep. Doctor, please wake up."
Carter opened his eyes immediately.
"Doctor, who would you like to save?"
Carter thought for a moment before pointing to Alyssa.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded breathlessly.
"Doctor, please go back to sleep. Everyone, please wake up." Jaz called calmly.
Everyone opened their eyes, the suspense of the game clear in their faces.
"Last night, Julian Hall was killed." Jaz started.
Julian groaned. "Really? REALLY?"
Jaz glared at him. "He was walking to the… grocery store… and took a… erm, shortcut, through a dark alley. Unfortunately, he met the mafia, who then proceeded to sic a drunk guinea pig with a chainsaw on him. After that… well, the rest is downhill." Jaz finished. "Julian, please go sit on the couch and observe."
The rest of the game continued, and eventually, Cleo won. I grinned at this. Proof that strength of mind is certainly just as important as, if not more than, strength of body. You go, girl.
