Chapter 50-Games

Chapter 50: 50-Games

The buses had been on the road for nearly an hour when Sapphire finally decided that everyone had been far too quiet for her liking.

She had spent the first several minutes staring through the window, then at the luxurious interior of the student council bus, then at the people sitting around her as though she still couldn’t believe she had somehow managed to get herself onto the most prestigious vehicle in the entire convoy.

Eventually, however, her excitement became impossible to contain. She shifted in her seat, turned around to face Maisa, and clasped her hands together with a mischievous smile.

"Okay. We’re playing a game," she let out feeling particularly happy to pass up on a game.

Maisa blinked. "What game?"

Sapphire’s smile widened. "Two truths and a lie, Most likely to or would you survive," she put the options out. "What do you think?"

That immediately caught Maisa’s attention. "Car games?"

"Yes." Sapphire looked around at everyone else. "And everyone is playing."

A collective lack of enthusiasm seemed to descend upon the bus. None of the vampires looked slightly interested in the games she mentioned.

Maisa, however, couldn’t help smiling. "What do we start with first?"

Sapphire explained the rules, and the moment Maisa understood what she was talking about, a strange warmth spread through her chest. She knew those game. She hadn’t played it in years, but she remembered it vividly.

Her family had played it during long journeys. Back when they were constantly moving from one hunting ground to another, when her parents would drive for hours through unfamiliar towns and her siblings would argue over who had won the previous round.

Sometimes they played while waiting for information. Sometimes they played simply because there was nothing else to do.

Those had been some of the few moments when the Everheart family wasn’t discussing vampires. Simple moments where there twas no weapons, training, blood or hunting plans.

Just the family being a normal family and siblings teasing one another and their parents pretending not to listen while they argued over the rules.

It was one of the few memories Maisa possessed that didn’t hurt. Memories that felt like they were a normal family, even if it was just for a second.

"I’ll play," she said.

Sapphire immediately brightened. "Yes! That’s the spirit."

She moved closer and began explaining the rules again even though Maisa already knew them.

Zolani watched with curiosity. "What are the rules?" She asked, eager to play since she had nothing else she was doing.

Sapphire explained them patiently. "I thought of three games we can start with: two truths and a lie, would you survive... and most likely to."

Zolani frowned thoughtfully. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any of those games."

"It’s human games," she said and the only reason she remembered them and wanted to give it a try was because she was getting a feeling of missing home deeply. "My family and I used to play it alot growing up..." her eyes seemed distanct. "I just suddenly thought of them and missed them alot."

"Oh," Zolani hadn’t expected Sapphire to become emotional. There was a moment of hesitation on her part because she had never played the game before. But Zolani smiled, it was a chance to try something new. "Teach me."

Maisa looked at her. "You want to play?" She asked, surprised that Zolani was interested in human games.

Zolani shrugged. "I don’t know it, but I’ll learn."

Something about the answer touched Maisa more deeply than she expected. Zolani didn’t pretend to understand everything about her life. She didn’t pretend that being a vampire suddenly made Maisa’s past irrelevant.

Instead, she simply made an effort to understand her and somehow, that mattered more than Maisa cared to admit.

"Okay," Maisa said, smiling. "I’ll teach you."

Sapphire started the game. At first, Zolani didn’t quite get it, sometime telling all truths or two lies or making asking for a hint on when either Maisa or Sapphire was lying.

She misunderstood several rules, gave completely ridiculous answers and once accidentally eliminated herself because she had misunderstood what Sapphire had asked.

Maisa laughed so hard that she had to cover her mouth. "That’s not how you play!" She said with a laugh.

"I told you I’ve never played before!" Zolani let out, unapologetic for being terrible at the game.

"You literally just chose an option that wasn’t even in the choices."

"I didn’t know!"

Sapphire burst into laughter. "Zolani, you’re supposed to make the game easier for yourself!"

"I was trying!" The mixedblood argued, having a moment of fun with the simple game that for some reason, she was flanking.

The sound of their laughter spread through the back of the bus. For the first time since leaving Veris Academy, Maisa felt the tightness inside her chest loosen.

She wasn’t thinking about the life in general, either her past or her present or about Adelaide Challan, vampire hunters, her identity and the strange bond connecting five hearts.

She was simply Maisa. A girl sitting on a bus with her friends, laughing over a stupid game and strangely enough, that felt precious.

Zolani eventually began understanding the rules and became surprisingly competitive.

"Who would survive being burnt at the stake?"

"Zolani," Sapphire answered, being a natural born vampire, the girl was more resistant to burning than the rest of them.

"Can you?" Maisa asked to confirm.

"I can."

"I guess that’s another good guess from Sapphire. You’re on fire, Sapph," she complimented the vampire on being so good at playing.

They changed the game again and kept the energy lively. Maisa narrowed her eyes playfully at Zolani was busy watching Sapphire instead of giving an answer. "You looked at Sapphire."

"Looking isn’t cheating."

"It is when you copy her answer."

Zolani gasped dramatically. "You have no evidence of this accusation."

Sapphire pointed at her. "I saw you! That means that you are disqualified."

Zolani laughed. She put down the paper and didn’t submit the answer. She had cheated by reading the answer off of Sapphire’s eyes.

Maisa laughed with her. The sound felt unfamiliar coming from her own throat. She hadn’t realized how badly she needed it until she had it. The more they played, the more she found she fit in with her new friends.

At the front of the bus, however, the game was receiving considerably less enthusiasm. Princess Varitreya had never heard of the games being mentioned at all.

She listened to Sapphire’s explanation on the next game they were going to play for approximately ten seconds before deciding that she had no interest whatsoever.

"So you ask questions and everyone gives answers?"

"Basically."

"And there is no prize?" She asked again, her competitive nature demanding to know.

"No."

That bothered her, a game with random question without a prize to be won. How were they know who won and who lost? And how was the winner supposed to show off without a prize to be claimed. "Then why play?"

Sapphire stared at her like she couldnt understand why she would ask that. "Because it’s fun, your Highness," she replied.

Varitreya’s expression remained blank. "I see."

She did not see. She turned toward the window and continued watching the passing landscape.