“What is this?” Adeline breathed, ripping her fingers through her scraggly hair nervously. But no one was around to hear her question.

The sky was darker than the deepest sea, the only source of light being the stars, which covered the expanse of the sky without the blanket of pollution. Her voice echoed through the thicket forest, which wasn’t awake with a single bird song or scatter of paws.

Adeline shuddered, fear creeping into her. She hadn’t the faintest idea how she’d gotten here. One moment, she’s being chased down the city streets by the vendor, and the next, she was hiding behind a door in an alleyway that took her here. When she had turned to go back through the door, it was gone.

But she didn’t even know where “here” was.

Adeline tugged at her stained skirt, suddenly cold. Whispers of wind swished past her, sending goosebumps up her arms.

“What do I do, what do I do?” She asked herself, feeling a familiar pang of hunger rack her body. With a shaky hand, she pulled out the BLT that she’d stolen from the angry street vendor.

She sat down on a log stump, unwrapping her sandwich, and listened. For anything—the sound of a human voice, an animal chitter, anything.

And then there it was. Music. It was that kind of cheerful music that they played at birthday parties and parades. It was coming from her left, and Adeline looked up.

As if it had appeared out of nowhere, there was a massive carnival tent sitting a good hundred feet away from her. It was striped red and white, with fairy lights strung all around. Adeline thought it was beautiful.

Drawn by curiosity, she wolfed down the rest of her sandwich and cautiously made her way toward the tent. It was pulsing with a radiant energy that should have made her eager, but instead it made her skin crawl.

But it was too unusual to ignore. She slipped through trees and around weeds noiselessly, as she had gotten so used to doing ever since the accident.

As she got close enough to the tent, Adeline froze. There was a person standing outside the entrance. It was a man, but he didn’t look normal. He was short and paunchy, with a red top hat and a black tie to compliment his suit. He was looking straight ahead, and his mouth was stuck in a white-toothed smile.

Adeline crept forward, only because of the knowledge that if she needed to, she could easily outrun the chubby man.

“Hello?” She asked in her quiet, held back tone she had perfected and used with anybody new. In the years since she’d been alone, she’d figured out it was better to be underestimated.

The man robotically turned toward her. “Greetings, Adeline Daye! Welcome to Assassin! My name is Ryle and I will be your guide to Assassin!”

What was this? Some sort of horrible prank? Adeline decided to go along. She was used to playing the girl nobody saw as a threat.

“W-what is this?” She asked, making her voice tremble and eyes go wide.

Ryle seemed to not hear her. “Welcome to Assassin, Adeline Daye! Would you like to hear the rules?”

She opened her mouth to give a reply, but Ryle cut her off before she could speak. “Number one: you may not eliminate anyone except your designated target, which you will be assigned at the start of the game. Once you eliminate your target, you are assigned their target. And so on, until there are two people left. Only then it is a free for all, and one person may be crowned Assassin.

“Number two: you must use the weapons provided. Each person will be granted a limited array of weapons that suit their skills best. You may not use any personal items or weapons to eliminate targets. However, you may use any means necessary to eliminate your target within these boundaries.”

Weapons? Eliminating targets? Was Adeline going to have to kill someone? It’s not like she hadn’t done it before—she just didn’t enjoy the lack of challenge too much.

Ryle went on. “Third and final rule: you may not leave until the game is finished. If you try to leave the tent, you will be executed automatically.” He was still smiling. “If and when you do win the game, you will be transported immediately back to your home with a sum of gold.”

Home. She could go home if she won this “game.” She smiled grimly. She would clearly have to change her approach. Game on.

“How do I know what weapons I get?” Adeline asked, crossing her arms and abandoning the innocent act.

“Each person will be granted a limited array of weapons that suit their skills best. You may not use any personal items or weapons to eliminate targets. However, you may use any means necessary—“

“Yes, yes, you already said that,” Adeline said exasperatedly. What was this man? An NPC?

“—to eliminate your target within these boundaries. You may be granted five weapons at the maximum. Our most frequently used weapons are as follows: sword, dagger, bow and arrow—“

“Shut up!” Adeline cried. “I get it!” She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache come on. This was too much, too much—

“If you like, you may choose a weapon of choice to use the entire game. Which weapon would you like to use?”

Adeline paused, contemplating. “Do you have throwing knives?”

***

Adeline pocketed her newly acquired knives, pacing her tiny tent. In a game of fifty players, each got a tent to use at their own risk.

She had no idea how she was going to go about this. She was confused and angry—so angry.

But she was bloodthirsty now. And she would stop at nothing if it meant she could return home.

Starting now, it was kill or be killed. And Adeline was in it to win.