Let's check on Kat

Kat's POV

Did I make the right move? I didn't know? I was up the hill, there was a swing up there. I probably looked ridiculous in a wedding dress but it had a good view. Samuel and some of the others had gotten the crowd to disperse. It wasn't a surprisingly result. I even saw Chloe walking with Tessa. Now that was an odd sight. I acted so rashly. Why? If we got married. Samuel probably would have ended the game and we'd be happy lesbian lovers. I wanted that. I really did but...

Not like this. Samuel had pushed and pulled and did everything he could to Tessa. We just had sex for the first time last night. She wasn't in the right emotional space. If she wanted to marry me after she got her head cleared a bit. That would be different but not as it was right now. The sun sat and eventually Samuel came to see me.

"You surprised me," he said with a smile.

"You don't seem bothered by that," I said.

"I'm not. That is what I love about the game. It isn't just about changing the players. I become a better game master from moments like this," he said. "I didn't give you enough credit. That was a mistake. Not one Lisa made actually."

"You're saying Lisa believed in me?" I asked.

"She saw more of your potential. How thrilling, on the eve of becoming losers 138 and 139, the one few saw as a threat changed everything. Will she become the 9th and 10th winner? Or was this just a delay in what was always going to happen. I don't know but I am excited!"

I chuckled. I knew he was a monster. "You... there is no empathy in you is there? We are just dolls aren't we?"

"If by doll you mean a child play thing. No. They don't grow, or evolve or change. You are much more than that," he said.

I was left a bit shocked. Did he not realize? Was he playing dumb? What did it matter to be honest. "So what happens now?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I ruined your ending. I am going to be punished? Tessa can't marry me right now," I said.

He laughed before taking the book out. "Punishment? Is that what you think? Why? You did nothing wrong. But-"

He ripped some pages up. "You are both set back to zero. That means your compulsion to you is gone too. She can marry you again. Knowing that she is currently free. Could you turn her down? You are free to feel your own feelings for her too. Thought you had me figured out? A total reset! Your move."

With that. He walked away. My mind was a whirlwind. How was... my mind and heart just whirled. I still felt love, or I thought I did, but it was different. Was this just fading embers from a command he erased? Was it all just that order? Did I really love Tessa? I was so sure of everything just moments ago and now I was lost. I was scared. I didn't know what I wanted anymore. That bastard. He took away my sense of resolve in a single minute.