Page 78 of The Game

“Yeah. Pretty used to people finding my tastes…odd. But why fight it anymore?”

His words strike me, and I simmer down, watching my steps as I pick my way over debris. His voice echoes in this cavernous space as he speaks again.

“Thank you, by the way. We both needed that.”

He pauses, turning to glance up at us, his eyes somehow bright even in this darkness. As much as I’d like to choke him out, I know that would hurt Alice, and so I am at a stalemate. Glaring down at him, a sick grin curls on my lips. Nothing wrong with a few threats to ensure he keeps his distance from here on out.

“You’re welcome. Now I can kill you without any remorse.”

His grin flashes quickly, baring his teeth, his canines more elongated than normal.

“You can try. Everyone who ever has…well…maybe I should justshowyou what happens to them.”

I glance at Jameson, whose eyes show his confusion and apprehension. Teddy turns and begins his descent once more, and by the time we’re to the very bottom, it feels as though we’ve descended into hell itself.

“Well this is fucking homey,” I mutter, allowing my beam to trace over what appear to be doors to a morgue, or perhaps a solitary confinement section. This place reeks of despair and hopelessness, and as much as I enjoy horror movies, I never intended to end up in one. If I hear a fucking child giggle, I will sacrifice my very own twin to get out of here. Judging by the set of his jaw and his glare at me, he knows this without me having to speak, and I snort. “What?”

“I see that look in your eyes,mudak.”

Teddy’s laugh pulls up back to reality as he picks his way over fallen plaster and down a hallway. “Fear is an interesting emotion. Mastering your fear is…difficult, but not impossible. And something usually rises to take the place of others.”

His monologue as he walks has my skin crawling, for I know whatever we are about to see will rival the heinous things Jameson and I have done tenfold. We are ruthless when we kill, and often we do not have the time to play with our victims, something this Teddy seems to have the patience and skill for.

“What is it you’re getting at?” Jameson asks to the darkness. Teddy shoves a door at the end of the hall open and douses the light. We follow suit, dropping ourselves unwillingly into pure darkness.

“Just a warning for what you’re about to see.”

The click of a light switch is our last warning, and we cover our eyes against the blaring brightness, our ears alerted to the muffled cries. As soon as my eyes adjust, I drop my arm and gaze in shock and morbid wonder. The room is massive, filled with all manner of steel implements meant for torture. There are chains dangling from the ceiling, showers against a wall, even a fucking fridge and chest freezer. There’s a sickening green tint to everything in thanks to the putrid color of the old walls. But nothing will ever top what lies before us.

Spread on two metal tables are the men who hurt ourbabochka—her uncle and her grandfather. They’re naked, strapped tightly with cuffs—even their heads, IVs taped into their arms and feeding tubes in their noses. He’s had them in his possession for over a month, but they are healthy, pristine, not one mark on them.

Teddy turns to us, crossing his arms.

“I’ll give you a peace offering. You can have Daniel. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about the nights he forced Alice to play chess before he fucked her pretty little mouth, won’t you, Daniel?” he says, roughly patting the whimpering man’s leg. A sinister smile grows on my face, my heart racing in anticipation of claiming the one to hurt my littlebabochka, the one who almost killed her and succeeded in killing her child. Jameson’s biting grin reflects mine, and we nod quickly.

Teddy’s smirk grows. “Good. I’ll be keeping Dicky boy here. I’m sure you will be gracious enough to allow me that,” he says, eyes cutting to us, refusing to back down. Jameson crosses his arms.

“He helped hurt Ellie as well, and maybe even our cousin, Violet. We need them both alive until they give us what we want.”

“Fair,” Teddy says quickly. “You’re welcome to use this space as you please. And you,” he says, nodding once to me. “I know you like to hunt. The woods are secure. Daniel screams so pretty when he’s being chased.”

I cannot help the vicious grin that blooms from my dark soul and etches itself onto my lips. The whimpering of the two pathetic men is like music to my fucking ears.

“What else did he do to her?” I hiss, stepping closer, circling his table as his watery blue eyes follow me, so full of fear it’s comical. Teddy leans against the wall, crossing his arms and kicking back one of his feet.

“Aside from try to rape her every chance he got? He really enjoyed stalking her. Didn’t find that out until afterward. Here,” he fishes in his pocket and tosses me a phone. “Found these photos. She was safe the day she moved in with me.”

Although fire courses through me, I brush it aside. All of my fury will be directed at this man instead, and he seems to know it as I grin down at him, his eyes widening and tears gathering. “Fuckin’ pussy,” I laugh, Jameson meandering around the space with his arms crossed as though he’s in a fucking art gallery.

“And how will you torture him?” he asks, nodding to Alice’s grandfather. Teddy’s smile blooms, and it’s oddly genuine.

“Dicky boy here? He kept my ill mother in a gas chamber for years to keep me compliant. He won’t be dying anytime soon, that’s for sure.”

“Too much pain and he will,” Jameson warns. Teddy rolls his eyes.

“Then I just shock the fucker back to life.” My grin stretches even wider, a giddiness I haven’t felt in a while washing over me. Teddy continues, “I’ve already made them play naked tag down here. They sat in a corner and squealed like the fucking pigs they are. Dick swears he saw a ghost. Didn’t ya, little Dicky?”

Her grandfather’s eyes narrow into a glare, and he refuses to speak. Teddy pushes off the wall, a mad glint to his eye as he strides over to his side. “I’ve been waiting to have you at my fucking mercy for a while now, and you don’t give me the satisfaction of an answer?” he says lowly, voice tinged with quiet rage. My shoulders tense, and my eyes sweep to Jameson, who stands with crossed arms and a small smirk on his face.

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