After The Death Quiz

It was a good idea many drunken nights ago. Being on quiz show with her friends to help make their bond eternal. Even if Lavender did die, her brand would live on. The contract was clear: only 300 applicants are accepted. Only four can survive. Lavender had three best friends: Agnes, Bethany and Rita.

She had second thoughts when she walked past the bones of fallen contestants. Lavender never bothered to read the contract before signing, and now she wished she had invested in a Time Machine.

Death Quiz as the name would suggest was an assault course filled with quizzes. It made Lavender think of a video game, only that there were no more lives after you died. Lavender’s legs trembled. She squashed Rita and Bethany’s hands. “Why did we agree to this?”

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Rita said, rolling her head. “We should never have done this. Look what happened to Agnes.”

“She should have listened to us!” Lavender screamed, not realising her voice echoed through the tower. The other survivors stared at them, as if they were monsters.

“She deserved it!” a man in front of them said. “Stupid bitch too busy posing on social mediato know real music legends.”

“What!” Lavender croaked. She yanked the guy’s ear and slammed him against the wall. “You should have died, not her!”

How dare he?

The man wasn’t fighting back. Perhaps the shock from behind paralysed him. Maybe she dented his skull from the wall. She didn’t care. Her violence continued until she no longer felt his warmth.

Agnes should have been there. She died in a centrifuge for thinking David Bowie was from Germany. It was no way to die. All her crushed bones, exploded organs, hair and blood had turned into pulp. The only thing that resembled what was once human was a frilly socket. The emerald earrings pushed against the glass tube. It was the only way Lavender knew it was Agnes.

To think three weeks ago they were fighting over the same guy. Christian had broken up with her, and it cost Lavender everything. It took the blood from a stranger’s hand to realise that the real monster was her all along.

She could rant for hours blaming everybody else; Bethany’s desire to have a child, Rita being too laidback, Agnes attracting Christian with skimpy clothes. Christian was just as much to blame. He was a player too - and that was why Christian and Lavender belonged together.

“What are you doing?” Bethany cried.

“The evil snob deserved it!” Lavender yelled. “He shouldn’t have said what he said.”

“The evil one is you,” Rita said.

Everybody kept their distance from Lavender. They wanted to be alive for the grand final at least. At the rooftop they were greeted by the glamorous hostess and two rockets.

“Greetings!” the Hostess grinned like a Cheshire Cat as she rubbed herself against one of the rockets. “Here is your final question: No Tea, No Sanity is the autobiography of which K-Pop idol? If you think it’s Dal Gong-Gi, go in rocket A. If you think it’s Gang Taeyang, go inside Rocket B.”

Rita was the K-Pop fan, so Lavender followed Rita, Bethany and another guy into rocket B. Lavender was sure that Rita both owned and read the book.

“I’ll change!” Lavender promised. “I will be a better friend for you both, and in memory of Agnes. We need to remember Agnes for who she was before coming on the show, and not the gore sludge she became. She’ll be watching over us! Make her proud!”

The Hostessed announced the correct answer was…B. Rocket A blasted off and disintegrated into fireworks. The guy sitting with the three women cried happy tears. “I’m debt free at last!”

“We won…” Lavender said.

“We did, but at what cost?” Rita said.

Three weeks after Death Quiz had aired, Lavender felt her reality had changed. Lavender hoped there would be a fairytale wedding on the horizon. She had her beloved Christian back. The one night stands he had with her friends had been forgiven and forgotten. It wasn’t long before Lavender went back to doing what she did best: make-up videos.

She needed to keep herself busy to take her mind off things. All the material she could ever ask for was at the touch of her hands, but she could never be satisfied. Rita moved to Canada. Bethany had adopted a child abroad, then never returned. Lavender messaged them both every now and then, but got no response from either of them.

She would make it up to them at the funeral tomorrow. Agnes’ funeral was this Tuesday. It was Wednesday. The funeral was yesterday! There were some things money could not save.