━━━━༻ ♣ ༺━━━━ infiltrated 00100000 ━━━━༻ ♣ ༺━━━━

"Jaehyun...?!"

Surprise and relief flitted across her face both at once. Relief that she encountered another familiar face and shock that he was here in the first place. "What are you doing here?" I didn't think you were a player too, she added silently in her head.

Jaehyun's face turned sad for a moment before it lit up again. "I came to see you, (Y/n)," he said happily. "Am I...not allowed to?"

For some reason, I am seeing things today. She rubbed her eyes. Is it just me or do I see a puppy right now? "No! That's not what I mean. I'm just...surprised." Does this mean he knows what's going on?

As if reading her thoughts, he smiled reassuringly. "I'm not a player, (Y/n). You may not believe me, but I'm really not. We stopped attending these games since the 25th one. I wouldn't lie to you, would I?"

"I guess not...but does that mean you know what's going on here?"

His expression darkened. Just for a second, but it was there. "That old fart," he hissed under his breath, so low she missed it.

She frowned. "What did you say?"

His face cleared and his innocent smile was back. "Hmm? Did I say something?"

Maybe I heard wrong...

"Anyway, you don't have to worry now." The blond took her hands in his and gripped them tightly. His eyes lowered, long lashes fluttering down over high cheekbones as he smiled bashfully. "I'll protect you. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" His hand seemed to clench tighter and there was more force than usual in the last word, as if he was saying it more to himself than her.

She didn't think much of his change of tone. "I appreciate the sentiment," she laughed, all the sound sounded hollow to even her ears. "But I'll be fine. I have Reese with me...remember him? If you're not in this...game thing, you stay out of it, Jay. It's too dangerous!"

For some reason, she felt the strange need to choose her words carefully, as if she was talking to a volatile child more than a friend she's spent weeks painting and joking around with now. The smile had slipped from his face as he processed her words, turning them over in his head.

"It's always him..." he growled.

"Hmm? What did you say?"

Jaehyun smiled sweetly and shook his head. "Nothing! Nothing at all. If we're going to find that...friend of yours, we better be going now, right?"

"Well, yeah. I guess." It snapped her out of the momentary confusion she felt towards the blond and back into the weight of their situation. "Wei Wei, she—" Oh god.

"She won't be able to do anything to you while I'm around," he reassured her. But (Y/n) was shaking her head no.

"No, not that. If she tried to...stab me, she might try to do it to others." The look on the black-haired girl's face—(Y/n) knew it all too well. It was the look of someone crazed by their emotions, succumbing to them, and losing all reason in the process. It was the look of someone driven by paranoia. Paranoia is humanity's poison and what created so many monsters.

"Can we stop her somehow? Like, take her out of the game?"

Jaehyun tapped his chin thoughtfully. "The easiest way to take someone out is to kill them," he said flippantly as if it wasn't a big deal. His tone shocked her. "You have a gun, right? I can help you. It'll be easy, even though I don't usually do guns—"

"No!" (Y/n) said with more force than intended. "I mean, no. We're not going to...kill her."

He looked puzzled. "We're not?"

Everyone was acting in a way uncharacteristic to them, and it was starting to frighten her. "We're not," she confirmed again. "The rule says we can't leave the building, right? Maybe we could knock her out and take her outside. Then she'll be disqualified!" And we can escape while we're at it, she added silently in her head.

A surprised look appeared onto his face for a fleeting moment, before disappearing. An amused grin spread across his lips. "...If that's what you want."

Huh, what? Well, okay then. Not expecting him to agree, she felt a little startled. "Then we'll need Reese—"

"No!" His sudden shout startled her, making her jump.

"W-what...?"

"U-uh, I mean," the blond smiled awkwardly. "We can do it. Just the two of us. We don't need him. I'm stronger than I look, you know. I haven't been carrying my sculptures around for nothing."

"Really?"

"Yeah. See?"

"What are you...!" HOLY CHEESEBALLS! She bit her lip to keep from yelling out in surprise as the boy suddenly lifted her up almost over his head. I can't help but imagine that one scene in the Lion King...

Jaehyun grinned at her bewildered face and even spun them around a little. "You see? I can do it." He slowly set her back onto her feet, her eyes still wide. Then he jumped back, his face turning red as if just realizing what he did. "Ah! I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to do that! You must hate me now, right? I'm so—" His eyes widened and he covered his mouth. "S—um, my apologies..."

"Ha, caught yourself there, didn't you?"

"So—I-I mean, sour patch kids."

(Y/n) snorted in amusement and stood up. She patted herself off and offered the boy a hand. "Come on, we should get going." His face lit up, and (Y/n) just developed heartburn as he accepted it and pulled himself up.

"Uh-huh, lets."

They went back in the direction they had come from, where (Y/n) was sure she'd find Reese. Jaehyun seemed to be in a better mood than usual as he hummed, a slight skip to his steps. She didn't recognize the tune.

"Is it okay for you to be out in the open like this?" She asked in concern. "People might mistake you for a...player."

"I'll be fine," he said. "More importantly, will you? I've never seen you stay awake this long before."

She winced at that. "I never see me do that either, but what choice do I have?"

They turned the corner to where they ran away from Wei Wei. But no one was there. Not Wei Wei, not Reese. It brought fear into her heart—what if Wei Wei had turned on the unsuspecting redhead when she lost her and Jaehyun? What if Reese was injured? She knew he wasn't dead; she would've gotten a message from the headmaster if he was.

Hesitantly, she asked, "Jay, by any chance, do you...know the names of everyone who's playing?"

"Not everyone," the blond admitted. "Only Tristan knows that. I can name a few for you if you want."

"This isn't considered breaking the rules, right?"

"Not when Tristan is basically the rule," he scoffed. "It's fine. I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you, didn't I?" She hesitated before nodding in agreement. "I know who the Fixer and Tracers are. Mackenzie Taylor is the Fixer and Liu Wei Wei is the Tracer, but you already figured that out yourself, right?"

You could only count on Fortuna to make it so two people who both liked Jaehyun would both end up being Faces. (Y/n) reluctantly nodded. "So now that's eleven people I know, including myself. There's still thirteen, right?"

"There should be four teachers," Jaehyun murmured. Then a dark shadow crossed over his face. "And one of them, he—" He cut himself off and shook his head. "Nevermind. Just be careful, okay? Even teachers are capable of harming their students. Especially...one in particular."

"Do I...know them?"

He nodded grimly. "All of them are your teachers"—his eyes lowered, whether out of pity or sorrow, she did not know—"I'm sorry, (Y/n)..."

Well, isn't that great? She thought bitterly. What kind of sicko keeps up this kind of tradition just because of some superstitious nonsense? I've decided. My wish is to put an end to this game once and for all—holy cheeseballs, this is sounding a lot like the Hunger Games. Someone's a big fan of Suzanne Collins.

"We can't stay here," Jaehyun said. "It's better to always be on the move when you don't have the Chariot yet. Okay?" He slid his hand in hers and tried to tug her away. "R...Reese will be fine. We can meet up with him later."

"Wandering the school isn't a good idea either. We should stay in Autumn Hall so Reese can find us," she decided. "Knowing him, he'd probably go to one of our classes if we were to find each other. That would mean math..."

Memories of classrooms full of students and idle chatter flashed before her eyes. But these classrooms weren't full. They were empty, with nothing but overturned desks and ghosts of whispers. Truth is, (Y/n) didn't want to go anywhere. She wanted to just lie down in that same hallway and want for the redhead to return.

But Jaehyun had other plans. "The Tracer's still alive," he tried to persuade her. "And she will come back for you. You can't stay here, (Y/n)!"

It might be a dumb decision, but I'm not going anywhere without Reese. "If both of them are missing they might very well be together. I'll wait here."

The blond sighed, knowing he couldn't sway her. "Okay. How about this? If we're going to find...him, we need to make sure the Tracer can't interfere."

"So you mean...take her out of the Game?"

He nodded. "Uh-huh. So here's the plan..."

SECURITY:ROOM ━━━━━༻ ❀ ༺━━━━━ мєαηωнιℓє

The surveillance room was in the Main Hall, away from the other four. It was an innocent-looking room. There were no notable features about it that made it stand out from the other offices. There was nothing that shouted, "here's the room where you can spy on everyone!" It was the type of room one would and could pass without a second glance.

Its interior was like a room pulled straight out of a prison escape movie, with large, glowing state-of-the-art monitors before some wheeled chairs. There was a cabinet in the corner and a table with a telephone on it in another. The table the monitors resided on held a few papers scattered here and there, several keyboards and mouses, and some empty mugs the security guards had forgotten the week before.

This sort of room may bring comfort to someone, especially in such a situation, but it did nothing but make the black-haired girl's heart squeeze painfully. She stumbled back with a shriek, her features twisting into one of anger, fear, and then betrayal.

"Liar..." she whispered as if she didn't want to believe it. "He lied to me! N-no, this has to be a mistake...they would never lie to me...but I'm sure this is where his directions led to!"

Wei Wei spun around at the unmistakable sound of the door opening and closing. "Y-you! Why are you here?!"

Mackenzie blew a bubble and popped it. Her movements were fluid and cat-like as she closed the door behind her and flicked the lock. "You should know already," the blonde purred. "You broke the rules. It's my job to take care of rulebreakers. So do be good and let me end your life easily, okay?"

"Like hell, I'm going to just roll over!" She snapped. "How did you find me? Didn't you say you'd preferred me alive?!"

Mackenzie inspected her nails. The pink polish had become chipped. "That was then, this is now. I must follow my role, Way squared. Now"—with a strength that didn't match her appearance, she whipped the meter-long ax over her shoulder—"Stay still~!"

Wei Wei immediately vaulted back, her hand going to the knife tucked into her back pocket. "Yeah, we have to follow our roles," she growled dangerously. "But nowhere in the rulebook does it say I can't kill you!"

Their blades clashed in a flurry of silver sparks and brutal efficiency as they sprang forward, struck, before leaping back as if in a choreographed dance neither of the two could break free of. Mackenzie's movements were smooth and graceful, her years of ballet paying off. Her swings were clean and her ax sharp; no fancy movements or butchery, just cold, professional slices.

But where the blonde was calm waters, Wei Wei was raging maelstroms and toxic hurricanes. She was slippery, agile, and most of all, powerful. She dodged the ax like it was nothing, and her knife always found a way to break through Mackenzie's guard.

Cut after cut, tear after tear, the two girls didn't seem to feel the pain as they tore up the room. They were careful not to touch the monitors; or at least, Mackenzie was, making sure to lead the other girl safely away from the technology in her frenzy.

The first lethal blow was dealt by Mackenzie. Her weapon managed to find its way into the black-haired girl's shoulder before she could shield away. Wei Wei howled in pain, the sensation forking through her blood and down her shoulder like vicious lightning.

"F*ck you, Taylor!" The next blow was a near miss, nearly gutting through the blonde's eye had she not swung out of the way. It left a bleeding cut on her face, the skin torn harshly by the knife's serrated edges. "Go to hell!"

"Thanks, I'd do me too," Mackenzie gasped, her breathing slightly labored now as she darted forward with her blade. "But honey, didn't you know? Hell is empty; the devils are here."

"I'll f*ck you up, b*tch!"

As the two girls fought, their guards were dropped. They didn't notice the third presence standing just outside the door, a small smirk on his face. Indeed, the figure mused. Hell is empty. Had it been not, I never would've left.

He closed his eyes as he listened to the jarring sound of metal on metal. As expected, the lower class is quite foolish. A few words here and it was enough to send that love-struck girl heading straight towards the surveillance room, even though she knows full well the Maker's rule prevents her from doing so. Two birds with one stone. Taylor's daughter was becoming an eyesore.

The male didn't bother to see the fight to the end. He had calculated both of their demises that day, and his calculations were never wrong. But just in case there was a factor he hadn't accounted for, he had directed a fourth party there. All without any of them realizing, of course. His cards wouldn't be as effective if it wasn't done in silence. Pure, blissful silence.

Silence before they started singing his tune.

"Y-you b*tch," Mackenzie coughed. A hand was pressed to her abdomen in an effort to stop the blood flow. "Where the f*ck do you think you're going?"

Wei Wei wasn't faring any better. She had multiple gashes on her limbs and torso, but she didn't seem to mind. "You're going to die anyway," she giggled. "In a room no one ever checks. Forgotten. Isn't that funny? The great Mackenzie Taylor rotting in a dusty old room!"

"Just kill me already—"

"I can't waste any more time on you than I already have." Wei Wei's face darkened. "I can't die here. Not until I kill (Y/n)." Without any further explanation, she smiled sweetly at the blonde. It was an innocent smile, and she almost looked normal again had it not been for that strange glint in her eyes.

Then she was off, leaving the blonde behind to drown in a pool of her own blood. "T-that b*tch!" Mackenzie tried to stand up. But her strength had left her, leaving her limbs weakened like lead. "When I get my hands on her...she'll wish she was never born."

The girl slowly grabbed the edge of the table and pulled herself up, leaving bloody handprints on the smooth surface. Then she retrieved her fallen weapon and holding onto it for support, she began making her way out of the room in search of First-Aid and her target, the black-haired girl.

I'm going to cut her. Mackenzie was trembling all over in anger. She had never been so humiliated before. I'm going to cut her open like a filthy, squealing pig and show the world what a wh*re she is. Then I'm going to stick her head on the school gates for all to see. A thrill of pleasure sent lightning sparks to her core, making her forget her pain momentarily.

Yes, that's a good idea. That would be nice...how would she look, pleading for her life beneath me as I mercilessly tear her apart, limb from limb, skin from bone? Kill her...only I'm allowed to kill you, Wei Wei—

But she never made it very far. Mackenzie faintly felt something enter her chest. "H-huh...?" She looked down, her eyes widening and face paling. Her pink lips opened into a little "o," as if she just saw something surprising and even slightly amusing. A forgotten hairband from her childhood, perhaps. An overturned vase of flowers. Small things, nothing big.

Nothing like the silver blade protruding through her chest. And in one swift motion, it was yanked out.

The last thing Mackenzie remembered as her body began to fall and her vision dim was the bloodied gray floor approaching her face at an alarming rate and Wei Wei's words echoing in her head.

"The great Mackenzie Taylor rotting in a dusty old room!"

A small giggle escaped her lips. It was a tired sound, the sound of someone who has given up. Truly a fitting end for someone like me...

I never was able to surpass you, was I?

AUTUMN:HALL ━━━━━༻ ❀ ༺━━━━━ αftєя

Jaehyun had suggested they set up a trap near the Autumn Hall exit. Though reluctantly, he agreed to let her play the part of the bait and lure their target, Wei Wei, to where he would hide. Then he would knock the girl out and take her unconscious form beyond the Autumn Hall doors.

(Y/n) made sure to stay close enough to where he was due to her terrible sense of direction. She began strolling idly through the halls while keeping an eye out for another presence. Her hand was pressed to her throat, where her heart monitor was hidden under her collar. The solidness of the device grounded her. Every time she looked at the blue line on its screen in the mirror, it always brought her a sense of calm.

It still is her consolation.

There was no movement at first. No one occupied any of the empty classrooms, locked or not, near her. No one walked through these halls beside her. Autumn Hall was reduced to something akin to a ghost town, with nothing left but bits and pieces of whispers of memories from the week before.

It had just been a day, but already it felt like a year. Her fingers tightened on her choker and her steps became more hurried. How she wanted to forget everything and just give up, surrendering to whatever this was and lie down, fast asleep. Without Reese and his endless supply of optimism, (Y/n) didn't have the heart or energy in her to comfort herself, let alone comfort others.

But it wasn't fear she was feeling—no, it was something far less primal than that. She was used to fear. She would and could not fear something or someone that didn't chill her as much as...him. That professor in white, surrounded by more men and women in white she now knew were researchers.

What his name was, however, she did not remember. But the memory of his presence made her shiver, made her cower away. Nothing else could surpass that feeling, not even the situation they were in where her life was at stake.

Heartless? Cold? She nearly laughed out loud. I call popsicle that, but maybe I am the cold one. Maybe I am the inhuman one, for not feeling sad enough, scared enough. Should I have cried more at Nick's death? Should I have cried at all?

All she felt was numbness. A cold and suffocating numbness. And she was drowning in it.

(Y/n) nearly didn't notice as Wei Wei came into sight. The black-haired girl looked calm and almost normal as she strode through the hallways like a hunter in search of her prey. But the knife in her hand and the blood on her clothes and face betrayed her true intentions.

It's now or never, (Y/n) told herself as she got ready to run. Just before Wei Wei turned the corner and would definitely spot her, she shouted the first thing that came onto her mind, "Monkeys don't actually have chins!"

Just as expected, that perked Wei Wei's attention. Gone was the normal girl facade and in its place was a wide, sinister smile that bordered on maniacal. "Found you!" With an equally chilling giggle, the black-haired girl was off, darting around the corner to where she heard the (h/c)-haired girl. "Oh?"

But (Y/n) wasn't there. The Asian girl looked around in confusion until she saw a flash of (h/c) hair ducking into another hallway. "There you are!" She sped up her chase, her movements panther-like as she closed in on the other girl. But somehow (Y/n) always managed to stay just out of her reach; not close enough to be caught but not far enough to be lost track of.

"Hey~ Why are you running?" Wei Wei called in innocent confusion. "It's me, Wei Wei! Come back, (Y/n)!"

I'm getting real Mirai Nikki vibes here, (Y/n) nearly snorted. Why did I decide it was a good idea to watch that with Reese last month?

"And..." The taller girl sped up and rounded the corner, knife in hand. (Y/n) was right in front of her; she'd be caught. "I got you—huh?"

But again, she wasn't there. Despite her shorter legs and lack of athleticism, the (e/c)-eyed girl was already running into the next hallway, where she knew Jaehyun was lying in wait. She signaled the blond with her eyes as she ran closer to him. He nodded seriously and pressed himself closer to the wall, hiding from view.

In her frenzied state, Wei Wei had reverted to her native language, a beautiful and melodic Mandarin that masked her bloody nature. "你别跑吗..." She called as if she was a mother calling to her child that had strayed too close to the road. Don't run. "我不会对你做任何事. 只是..." I won't do anything to you. Only... "你敢碰我的男人? 我要好好的教勖你—" You dare touch my man? I'll have to teach you a good lesson—

(A/N: I'm a sorry excuse for an Asian. Excuse my rough translations)

"No, you don't!" Jaehyun stealthily crept behind her and swung a metal pipe (Y/n) did not know he had been hiding into the side of the other girl's head, sending her crashing into the opposite wall, knocked out cold.

"I-is she okay?" (Y/n) hurried to her side in concern. "A metal pipe? Why couldn't you use wood? What if she gets—" She remembered the joke she played on Reese about developing a tumor, and it only brought her mood down more.

"Don't worry," the blond said like nothing had happened. Like he didn't just knock a girl taller than him out. He casually threw the pipe to the side. "I found it in the closet. I made sure to hit her with enough force to knock her out but not cause any serious damage. Don't worry, I'm the son of a doctor, remember? She'll just have one hell of a headache i—um, when she wakes up."

Fortunately for him, (Y/n) didn't catch his blunder. "Okay...then let's move her outside, okay? Then we find Reese and get away from here."

"Mhm, whatever you say!"

Jaehyun lifted Wei Wei's unconscious form up before she could protest. "I'll just du—er, place it outside, right?" (Y/n) nodded. "Okay~"

He seemed in a better mood than usual, which confused her, as he walked towards the open window. Maybe it's because we can leave soon, the (h/c)-haired girl shrugged. I'd be beyond myself too.

The blond let the girl's body fall from the window and onto the grass. "There," he said, dusting his hands off. "All done~"

"You could've at least been more gen—"

Bang. There was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. (Y/n) jumped up with a shout but Jaehyun didn't look affected. "What was that?" She looked around for the source of the sound before her eyes landed on the window.

Her face drained of all color.

There, lying in the grass in the same position where Jaehyun had placed her was Wei Wei, her eyes closed peacefully and her arms splayed. If (Y/n) didn't know better, she'd think the girl was sunbathing in a sea of green grass and warm, golden sunlight of the afternoon sun.

But the bullet hole in the middle of her forehead ruined the fairytale-like effect. If the entry wound was small, (Y/n) could only imagine how the exit wound looked like with the blood trickling into a wide puddle around the girl's head, seeping into the bloodthirsty grass.

She first saw the bullet wound, felt the impact, as if she was the one that was shot. Then she was the person around it, with her long, lustrous hair tied up in a ponytail that fanned around her head like midnight waterfalls. She saw perfect skin, long eyelashes, holding a personality that was caring at once and ferocious at others. A lioness, but a noble lioness. Not the empty husk of a soul the Game had reduced her to.

First came the shock and then the grief. But soon after that—numbness and faint anger. (Y/n) spun around and seized the blond by his collar. "Did you know?" She whispered sharply. "Did you know this would happen if you go outside?!"

He gazed down at her impassively before wrapping his hands around her and freeing his shirt from her grasp. He smiled softly. "No. I didn't. And I'm sorry."

What happened next was a blur. (Y/n) could barely feel anything as she felt herself losing all strength in her legs until she could do nothing but let the boy hold her up. The pain that gathered inside her blew like a frigid winter wind, raking talons down her insides, over and over again. It wouldn't leave no matter what she tried, what she did, and all she could do was close her eyes and cry, silently, for the lives of those she cared for taken without warning.

And worst of all, she had no face to blame. She had a name, the headmaster's, but no face to attach to it. She could only lather curses on a faceless entity she only knew as "the headmaster," and that made her efforts fruitless. It did nothing to lessen the impact of the pain.

Unbeknownst to the girl, as Jaehyun held her while whispering soothing nothings into her ear and expressing his shared grief, his face did not look the part of a mourner. His eyes were hooded as he stroked her hair, relishing the feeling of holding her there, and the corner of his mouth quirked up into a subtle smile.

Misleading that wench to separate (Y/n) from that nuisance...He smiled. (Y/n) doesn't need to know any of that. She'll understand soon. It's all to protect her because we're friends.

Perhaps it was providence striking down on them once again, but they were no longer alone. (Y/n), tired and drained, looked up reluctantly at a sound coming from the end of the hallway. There, a tall, black-haired man dressed impeccably in a suit was heading down the hallway. His strides seemed familiar, (Y/n) realized. So did that harsh look on his face.

But most of all, what caught her attention was the large bag he was dragging, with golden threads peeking out of the zipper.

Her phone rang. It was the headmaster.

Mackenzie Taylor, the Fixer, killed by the Tuner. Liu Wei Wei, the Tracer, punished by the Fixer. May Fortuna smile kindly on the rest of you.

Those weren't golden threads. Those were strands of hair. (Y/n) stiffened and the warmth she had felt from Jaehyun's arms around her leached away.

"Then that means...Mr. Brooks is a killer?"

The sound of a notification bell. You have (1) new message.

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A/N: Be ready for plot twists! (But if you all already expected it I'll feel sad :/) Also, I forgot to say this at the beginning of this story. I do not romanticize anything that happens in this book. Yanderes are cool in stories and such, but only in stories. I do not support any of the extreme measures taken by the characters in this book. Again do not romanticize.

Those who romanticize yanderes get le stare from Tristan.