Page 65 of Wicked Games

“Can you open it?”

“With some help, yeah. Maverick, Zach, Hudson… get up here.”

“April can help too! She loves working,” Jasmine cut in.

“Oh my god, Jasmine,shut up,” Zach snapped. “How many of these fucked up games do we have to go through together to make you stop shitting on everyone?”

Weirdly enough, I was no longer angry at Jasmine for her constant snide remarks. Instead, I pitied her. She was obviously trying to cope with the stress and dread of being in a place like this, and the only way she knew how to deal with that stress was to take it out on everyone around her. It didn’t excuse her behavior, but it at least made it easier for me to ignore it.

The boys got the thick metal door open with a few strained pushes, and we stepped inside. A series of lights instantly went on overhead, and the door closed behind us with a heavy thud.

The first thing in the room that caught my attention was the vast expanse of water stretching out before us. It shimmered under the lights, its surface reflecting the room’s surroundings like a mirror. A series of thick wooden beams jutted over the edge like makeshift piers. Each beam led off into a maze of smaller beams, crisscrossing in every direction like a chaotic web, creating a daunting obstacle course that stood between us and the other side of the pool. Along the edge of the otherside were twelve wooden targets standing on slightly elevated platforms. Two were marked with red crosses.

“I’m guessing those two were for Tate and Evan if they survived this far,” Maverick said, pointing to the red crosses. I murmured my agreement alongside the others.

“Guys, look over here,” Brooke called out. She was standing by a large table near the door. “Our names are on these shapes.”

We turned and examined the large wooden blocks on the table. As Brooke said, each one was labeled with a name. Each was also a different shape.

“Here, Carey. Yours is a star,” Zach said, picking up the closest one. “April, you’re a heart. Rhys, you’re a triangle.”

He kept handing out the blocks until we all had one in hand.

“I’m guessing these have something to do with those targets on the other side of the water,” April said, frowning over at the enormous pool. “Each one has a shape right on the bullseye.”

I squinted to see better. She was right. Each target had a different shape carved into the center.

“So, like… do we just walk across and stick our blocks in the correct target?” Kiara asked, brows knitting.

The objective seemed simple enough—make it across the water from one of the starting beams to a platform with a corresponding puzzle piece. However, the reality was far more complex. There were no straight or clear paths from any starting point to any of the platforms, meaning each step required careful strategy and calculation. I also had an awful sinking feeling in my stomach that told me we were all missing something. Something the Game Master was about to smugly inform us of at any second.

Just as I suspected, the same old artificial voice boomed out of a speaker just a moment later. “Welcome to the fourth game, everyone! This one is called ‘Never Have I Ever Drowned’.”

There was a lengthy pause for dramatic effect, and a resounding groan went through the group.

“Really?” April muttered, rolling her eyes. “This is so fucking stupid.”

“No shit.” Jasmine snickered. “All we have to do is cross a pool and fit some shapes in a hole like we’re in kindergarten. Like…seriously?”

“I have a feeling there’s something else coming,” I said, heart thudding. “Something really bad.”

The speaker crackled to life again. “As you’ve probably already realized, the objective of the game is for each of you to make it over the water to the target that matches your personal puzzle piece. Once you arrive at the target, you must put your piece in the matching bullseye to register your presence. All puzzle pieces in play must be registered at their corresponding targets for the game to be cleared. Simple enough, yes?”

There was another dramatic pause before the voice went on.

“However, the water will begin to rise soon. Not only will it make the wooden beams slippery and therefore hard to walk on, it will also eventually fill the whole room. Now that the door has been shut and sealed, the room is watertight. That means every single one of you will drown unless you complete the game within the specified time limit, which will unlock the door. Oh, and another thing—the water will be electrified until it reaches the very top of the pool, so don’t fall in unless you have a death wish.”

“Well, that’s fucked up,” Jasmine muttered.

“If one of youdoesfall in,” the voice went on. “Their puzzle piece is eliminated from play and no longer counts toward the end, giving the rest of you a chance to continue and survive. The mechanism for this is simple. When someone falls in, sensors in the water detect the sudden weight change, and a notification is automatically sent to everyone’s phones. At leastone player must open the notification and select the dead player to eliminate them from the game.”

“Wow, how generous of you to give us all a chance to survive,” Zach muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

The artificial voice piped up again. “Oh, and one more thing to make this game even more fun for you—your time limit is ten minutes, and it begins right now. Good luck!”

A large digital clock switched on across the room, displaying the time in minutes, seconds, and milliseconds.

“What the fuck?” Jasmine screeched. “Ten minutes for all of us to get across? That’s nothing!”

---