#TheRabbit

Andrew DeMant woke up in a jolt. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized he was in an abandoned warehouse. He knew he screwed up. 

 He was about to be killed in front of every American citizen. 

 He just laid there on the dusty concrete floor, thinking of the insanity that brought him here in the first place. Just two weeks ago, he was worried more about prom, college, and moving out. Then the body happened, and the trail. He barely knew what was happening until he was in the courtroom, listening to the jury when they pronounced him guilty of first-degree murder. 

 Was the trial this morning? Three days ago? He tried to remember how long it was since then, but his memory was fuzzy, and his head hurt as someone hit him unconscious. 

 When the bailiff started bringing him over to his cell after the jury pronounced him guilty, he remembered being hit, by something hard, in the back of his head. It must have been the baton the police officer was carrying. 

He remembers hearing the judge say Camp 2 Prison. He could not believe it because that place was notorious. Only the most infamous; assassins, mobsters, gangsters, and murderers came here to be executed. They were dangerous. They got votes. Andrew was just 18, would never hurt a fly, and let alone survive Camp 2 and gain a following. 

 But here he was on the number one streaming service in America. 

 Yay? 

 Camp 2 is an island off the coast of Florida. It was where convicted murderers were bought to be hunted down by government-place executors for amusement. Camp 2 was the idea of an anonymous television celebrity known as The Rabbithead. When a celebrity was put as president of the United States, The Rabbithead had the government under their control. With the government under their control, they put capital punishment as entertainment. On the Rabbit App, where the live streams take place, every American citizen could see Camp 2 prisoners get killed by the Rabbitheads executioners- each having their own unique taste in how to kill their victim. It reminded citizens what happens if they break the law, but it also caused them to keep their eyes on the screen, made them less likely to break the law anyway. 

 The Rabbit App was a success. Fans would watch 24/7, just watching live feeds all over the island; the inmate's homes, jobs, and the most obvious ones are the murders. The infamous howl ringtone would ring and alert the fans that there was a murder happening. The users would put a reaction on the video, which costs money and pay the executioners. The executioners have their own; fandoms, forums, video games, and awards. 

 The executioners are all celebrities, just like the president, but they were faceless, masked. There were even conspiracies about who are the people behind the masks. Was Chey Chanel a supermodel out for revenge? Was Flume Flame’s voice similar to the guy from Family Feud? 

 The whole thing was bonkers! 

 But while Andrew's siblings and best friend, Kaden, were addicted to the Rabbit App, Andrew refused to download the app. In fact, just hearing the howl ringtone would give him an anxiety attack. It would bring back memories from being on the run in the woods from the human traffickers and surviving by eating random fruits. 

 So yeah. Andrew hated the Rabbit App, even though its purpose was to serve justice. 

 That was the whole purpose of this app, to deliver justice. But was it? Andrew’s trial for the murder of his best friend was just stupid. From the DNA samples to the therapist that he only met once. And he testified by saying Andrew was suffering deep jealousy and obsession with Kaden. Total bull if you ask me. 

But the jury did not think so, which landed Andrew in the Rabbit’s Kill room. 

 Andrew would have thought he got a few days to get settled into the island. Most inmates got to hang out until the viewer was invested in the storyline; personas, jobs, and inter-island relationships. Crap, he should have paid more attention to the Rabbit App before this happened. At least he would have enough to know what he was up against. He now has to rely on what he learned from his siblings and Kaden, his best friend, and what Andrew got from the trial when he was forced to watch the live feed non-stop. 

Well, he knew an executioner would kill him, but which one would shed his blood? 

 Would he be asphyxiated by Flume Flame? Or would he be the next ingredient in Canny Benny’s newest dish? Or maybe his skin would be turned into the newest fashion trend by Cheny Chanel?  

 No, Cheny already made a skin tuxedo last time. Maybe he will become a swimsuit? A pair of glasses? Was that even a thing?

 He let out a sigh while Andrew takes, in the situation he was in. He glanced at his clothes instead of the bright orange jumpsuit. He was wearing a big green suit that was too big for him, clown-sized dress shoes. Which meant only one thing…

“Crap!” he yells loudly, realizing he is going to be Prince Dicer’s next victim. 

 Prince Dicer was the worst. He chased his victims through a trap-filled maze, the victims usually wearing oversized prince or princess costumes. He always impales the victim with his infamous bulky cake knives. Andrew looks around for the mirror that Dicer leaves so his victims can relive the fairytale of their prince or princess before they get killed. When Andrew looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like Prince Naveen from Princess and the Frog. 

 “I actually look hot in this,” he said, checking himself out, then remembering that he is in a life or death situation. 

 Dicer’s last victim was a poor girl in a Repunzel costume. The unlucky girl kept tripping and falling because of the dress and the hair. When she was right at the end, she fell, and Dicer came in for the kill. She was pathetically begging for her life and crawling away. Then #SlowCrawl was trending. People were criticizing Repunzel’s performance. Andrew began to wonder what hashtags he would get after he was killed. #KillerFrogs? #CrocPrince? So embarrassing. Bad enough he was seconds away from getting impaled by Dicer, but he had to trend as well?

  Still, Andrew knew better than to fight back. There were no escapes, no appeals. There never was after a Camp 2 sentence. Andrew had no chance against the Rabbits Killers. Even the famous boxer Harry Ace only lasted four months. No, Andrew had to put on a good show for them in his final moments, maybe sell some merch to help his parents with the legal bills.

Best case scenario; T-shirts; showing his impaled body, or a phone case with a shadow of his stabbed body, or #DeathisaDreamComeTrue on a shot glass. 

The world is so messed up.

Footsteps broke the silence, which caused Andrew to come back to reality. 

It is starting. 

 Looking around, Andrew notices he is in a small room with three exits in a corner. A dot penetrates the dark, revealing a hidden camera recording his movements. All the exits lead to a dark hallway. The steps were coming from the left, so he could only run to the right or forwards, like a good convicted killer. 

Maybe you are, said a voice inside his head. 

“Shut up,” Andrew yelled, covering his ears, reminding himself what happened to Kaden. 

This is not the first time he has doubted his innocence. At therapy, his therapist, before the trial, told his father that he might be more scared than they had thought, then that therapist said that exact thing at his testimony. 

You did not kill him, he kept repeating in his head, holding back tears that started welling up. He starts to bite his lip, and it starts to bleed. No matter what they said, you did not kill him, he assured himself one last time. 

 Then something clicked inside of him. Why should he be killed here? So that millions of people watch him die for their entertainment? Prince Dicer has killed dozens of people. Why does he not get justice? If he does die, who will find Kaden’s actual killer? That was a reason to survive, right? 

 He did not run. He did not go into the dark hallways to whatever sadistic traps were waiting for him. The one rule of survival, use your resources, so he broke the mirror and grabbed a shard of the glass as he stood under the small light. 

 As he stood under the light. He saw Dicer in a green suit trying to imitate the green dress Tiana wore from the movie Princess and the Frog. Tiana was his little sister's favorite princess. She even had a Tiana doll too. The memory brought a small smile to his face. Instead of the crown Tiana wears, he carries a large kitchen knife and his face covered because of night vision goggles. 

So, you can see, but I can not, chicken.  

It was a puppy fighting a wolf, but Andrew, who has watched too many Hollywood movies, knows this wolf has debility. 

Dicer stared at Andrew from the shadows, head to the side as if confused on why he was not running. He wondered if Dicer was scared his stream was not going to do well and earn him money. His videos were popular, and he got paid a lot of money, so he must be loaded. Andrew’s resistance must be ruining the video, or maybe it is actually gaining more views. 

Good, to hell with this guy. I am no toy. 

He made a gesture to the hallway, telling him to go and run, but no way in hell would he run into a dark hallway blindly. Andrew shook his head defiantly. 

Dicer's whole demeanor changed, he seemed more irritated than before, but he never said a word. Dicer sighed and pointed to the hallway. He seemed like a parent telling his kid to go to their room. 

“Screw you,” Andrew said, putting his middle finger up. 

That did it. Dicer snapped and stared at Andrew right in the eye, and the executioner started charging at him. 

Andrew barely had time to react; as he reflected the light to the goggles with the mirror. 

“Crap!” Dicer yelled with a very crisp accent. 

No one has ever heard Dicer speak, so Andrew was betting that #HeSpeaks is trending right now. 

Dicer regained his composure and started charging at Andrew with his eyes covered. Andrew moves out the way, making sure to extend the pant leg. Dicer slashed Andrew’s cheek and then tripped on Andrew’s pants. He fell on the floor, and Andrew started stabbing Dicer with the shard of glass. 

The warehouse and room were deathly silent. The only thing audible was Andrew’s heard breaths; as he stared at Dicer’s body, and the blood was puddling around his body. 

Andrew came back to his senses, and he saw himself covered in blood. 

Crap, I killed him.