Week 7: The 3rd Floor Assassins

The 3^rd Floor Assassins

“Your goal is to kill your target,” the resident assistant of my floor announces to the thirty-three of us who are listening intently. “In order to kill them, your clothes pin has to stick to their clothes for at least three seconds. Once your target has been eliminated, you will take on that person’s target and should report their death in the group chat with a picture. Any questions?”

We all look eagerly among each other. No one has any questions; we’re all ready. We each grab a clothes pin and look suspiciously at the faces around us. This is when our times of relaxation and trust come to an end: from here on out, everyone is a potential enemy. One of these people is trying to kill me, and I have no idea who it is.

I am on edge.

My target is Erin, a girl who just so happens to sit next to me in one of my honors college classes.

Anywhere on campus is fair game—except our individual bedrooms. So I could die in a friend’s room, but I am at least safe in my own. The lounge, the cafeteria, in class—nowhere else is secure. My own roommate could be out to get me for all I know. What about my friend group? We’re a group of seven; that makes it a high probability that one of us will have to turn on another.

I don’t expect to get very far in this game. I’m definitely not competitive, and I’m not the type of person who will argue about the technicality of a ruling. While there are a few overly competitive people on my floor—a fact I’ve learned through our Euchre nights that last into the wee hours of the morning—I definitely won’t cause any problems like that.

I’m a people-pleaser, and more importantly, I am playing to have fun—not to argue and certainly not to win. To me, the fun part will be coming up with my strategies to kill my floormates. I probably won’t be in this game for long, and the chances of me letting my guard down quickly are very high. If I could get assassinated while playing cards in the lounge, grabbing a sandwich at the cafeteria, or carrying my laundry down the hall, I need to make the most of my likely short-lived time here.

That leaves only one thing left to do: I must channel all my energy into being sneaky and use the art of manipulation to trick my peers in order to eliminate them from the game of Assassins.

Challenge accepted.

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No one expected this game to be both fast-paced and slow at the same time. Planning your attack takes time, but it seems like when one person strikes, there are two more quick to follow.

Before this game, my floormates and I would hang out in the lounge for hours doing homework, watching movies, or playing cards. It’s the reason we all became so close. But now, in order to preserve that sacred time spent together, pacts were being made.

For example, during Euchre games, the four players would make an agreement that, if any of them were set out to kill one of the players, they couldn’t make their kill for the duration of the game. However, that definitely didn’t stop people when they noticed their target was vulnerable in the lounge—concentrating on their cards and strategy, rather than paying too close attention to their surroundings.

That’s how a lot of the kills were made, actually. Quite a few times, I was sitting in the lounge—under spoken oath to not kill any of my Euchre opponents—when a kill was made. People would army crawl beneath tables, around couches, nonchalantly stand near the table for a half hour—effectively getting their enemy’s guard down—until they went for it.

People were sneaky, and I was constantly worried that I was next.

Before I even had the opportunity to kill Erin, I was almost assassinated. Melissa attempted to pin me, but I noticed before she finished. I flung the clothes pin off, and I was safe. And now, I had an advantage: I knew who was targeting me.

In class, after about a week, and after four people had already reported kills, I made my move. The class Erin and I shared went on a scavenger hunt around campus. She and I were walking together towards the entrance of campus by the main OU sign on University and Squirrel Rd.

Previously, I hadn’t found a good opportunity to go in for the kill. In class was too obvious—there weren’t many of us, and our TA was always watching us like a hawk. Also, if I got caught interrupting class, I would have no explanation as to why I was sticking a clothes pin on my classmate.

I leaned down to tie my shoe—this was the a-plus strategy I came up with after my week of silence—and Erin paid me no mind as she listened to what our TA had to say about this OU landmark. While Erin was engaged in the discussion and thoroughly distracted, I reached up and pinned my clothes pin to the bottom of her jacket.

I stood up, smiled like a child with a secret, and after a few seconds, I broke the news.

“Hey, Erin?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re out.”

She looked confused, and then her eyes widened in shock and admiration. She congratulated my slyness, and I took a picture for the group chat. I had officially made my first kill.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My next few kills went by smoothly. Up next was Calvin, the roommate of one of my good friends. I was walking through the OC when I spotted him in the hallway. In the spur of the moment, I waltzed over to him with a plan brewing in my mind.

I stalked him from afar, walking a few feet behind him before ultimately deciding to close the gap between us. I tagged the hood of his jacket, and after snapping a picture, I tapped his shoulder and said hey. We talked for a few seconds, and then I spilled the beans: he was killed.

My next kill was a close friend of mine—the first I had been assigned to kill. Brian was the president of the Euchre club, so I decided to make my move when he was in the middle of a game of Euchre in the lounge. It wasn’t hard, and it didn’t take long at all—he was always playing cards.

My next target was the hardest of all: I had to kill my roommate.

Not only were we roommates, but she was one of my two best friends. And, even though our room was off limits, that didn’t really limit the scope of my mission. I hung out with her all the time; we had the same friend group.

So that’s how I made my attack.

While we were next door in our friend’s room watching a movie, I leaned over and pinned her shirt. She was certainly not expecting it, and I felt really bad for pulling a Judas on her.

Next was Julianna. She was passing through the lobby, and I pinned her shirt while we were having a conversation. She never noticed, and it was then that I was hit with a sudden realization.

I was in the final three.

Brendan, Megan, and I were the only three left. I had to kill Brendan, which meant Megan was out to get me.

I used the art of manipulation and planned it all out. I was going to lure Brendan to my room.

Brendan is going into osteopathic medicine, so he always offers to give massages—since he knows the body well. So, I used this as bait. I invited Brendan over under the excuse that my roommate had a sore muscle in her back, and she wanted him to get the knot out—a request that wasn't out of the ordinary.

Brendan eagerly said yes. He arrived shortly and was so occupied fixing my roommate's back that he didn’t even notice when I slipped my clothes pin onto the material of his pocket.

I killed my target.

I was officially in the final two.

I had an uncharacteristic strike of luck. This game had lasted our entire winter semester. Still, though, I did not expect to win, but I was relived and honored to have made it this far. Never did I expect to make it so far in the game, killing the most skilled of us all. I used manipulation, stalking, and sneakiness to achieve this accomplishment, and I was ready to see how it would unfold.

The day before move-out, I was killed.

While I was completely caught off guard, this was something I was expecting. I never thought I was going to win, but the journey was the best part. Planning and scheming was the cathartic release I was hoping to attain.

Winning was never my goal. When I was killed, my back was turned to the lounge and I was facing my friend Andrew, roommates of my early target, Calvin. I was helping Andrew study for his Spanish final and was preoccupied quizzing him that I had let my guard down. Megan snuck up behind me, Andrew didn't reveal her presence with his face—in true spirit of the game—and I was clipped on the sleeve.

I had been assassinated, and the game was officially over.

I was proud of her—being in the final two was difficult because we both knew who was out to get us. While I tried to keep Brendan's death from her, it didn't take long for word to travel. Any time the two of us were in the same room, we both immediately tensed up and were hyper-alert.

This wasn’t a story about success, it was a story about journey and impressing yourself with how far you can make it when you least expect victory.

I did not win, but I was victorious because of the skills I learned and because of the friends I was able to strengthen relationships with.