Page 45 of Sick Bargain

“No one enters Vile House unless they’re here to make a deal, and if they don’t, they never leave.” He grips my face in his hand. “And I just lured your cult leader straight to us.”

I’m too scared to look into his eyes, illuminated red from the emergency lights. “What do we do now?”

He laughs, and it’s the first time I’ve ever heard the sound. It’s deep, prickly, and unhinged. “We hunt.”

Krypt does up his pants and throws off his shirt. His naked torso and Vile House tattoo make him demonic, but the blades he holds make him deranged. He puts on his purple mask, and no part of me wants to leave this bedroom with him. I’m a coward, because I’d rather hide in the closet than face the first name on my list.

“I don’t hunt, Krypt. Jesus! What is happening?”

“Put this on.” He puts it on for me, strapping a black mask to my face. When I look in the mirror, the stitched face of it basks in the red light, and when he pulls my hood up, my temperament changes. I become less afraid. Darker-minded. Gleefully contemptible. “No one in Vile House will touch you, but that doesn’t mean you're safe, Remiel. Never leave my side.”

Oh my god.

Krypt throws his bedroom door open, and different sounds rush at us. Chasing footsteps and wicked laughter. Banging doors and cries for mercy. Who else is here? Who else are they hunting? Who is my enemy tonight?

He takes my wrist and tugs me down the hall and stairs, leading me to a living room area I’ve never seen before. The dinner he fed me almost comes back up when I see nine more Vile Boys waiting in their masks. Others in black masks stand behind them, but more are already hunting the prey in the house, preventing them from leaving.

The blue mask guy with Krypt the night of my house fire laughs. The white-masked one barely prevents himself frompursuing. The teal mask moves from side to side without making a single sound. The pink one is brimming with energy, and the yellow one matches his vibe.

Tonight, the Vile Boys are sick and twisted, ready to be let loose inside their own house to complete my bargain. I asked for this. I made a deal for this. Which makes me their devil tonight. All ten of them are shirtless, and they turn around for me to look, to identify them. Granting me permission, I see their matching back tattoos. Their colours. Their names.

Seven. Orange. I’m fixing his guitar.

Monster. Yellow and agitated.

Riot, the one in white from the other night.

Menace, the one in blue. The one who took Cain…

Facts. Burnt copper. Twitching.

Ransom. The stoic one in red.

Kyd, the energetic one in pink.

Glitch, who is literally glitching with the need to chase something, his neon green mask tilting from side to side.

My brother. Ghost. The teal face of his mask warped into a disgusting smile.

And Krypt. My monster, who contains his own monsters. Tonight, he will willingly let his sickness shine, and I hate that a rush of adrenaline lights up inside me, excited to see the ten in their prime for the first time.

“Reeven Matterson!” Kyd shouts, following the name with a cackle so intense I shiver on the spot. “Where are youuuu?”

“Let me hunt, Krypt!” Monster demands. “Let me go! Set me loose!”

Ransom laughs behind his red mask, eyes on Monster.

“Hero?” Krypt asks, keeping my name to himself for now. The ten know who I am to him, but maybe the black masks don’t. “Bargain struck?”

A thrill pulses in time with my heart, quickening its tempo and rendering me unafraid. “Bargain met.”

The ten holler, jumping on the spot before stalking through the house, set free on my first target. My brother comes up behind me, joining Krypt at my back.

“Welcome to chaos, brother,” he says, then presses something against my palm. A knife. I don’t know how to use it, but I wrap my fingers around it.

And for the first time since I struck my deal with Krypt, the two of them act like the best friends they are. United in their minds and excited about something so ugly.

“I compromised,” Krypt whispers in my ear, his body lurking over mine. “You didn’t think they deserved to join another cult, so I brought them to Vile House. If we catch them, we’ll decide their fate.”

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