Page 101 of Wicked Games

April rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure. That old chestnut,” she said. She jabbed the spoon toward me again. “Shut up and eat.”

With that, the conversation was over. April fed me the rest of my dinner in silence, face remaining impassive as she watched the tears roll down my cheeks.

Her mother Ruth approached us a few minutes later to ask if I needed to use the bathroom. When I nodded, the two ofthem untied me and led me into the bathroom next door. “Don’t bother screaming,” April said as she watched me step into the toilet cubicle. “Every single room up here is soundproofed. Not just the control room.”

I didn’t bother responding. What was the point?

After I’d relieved myself, April and Ruth put me back in the chair in the control room and fastened the ropes around my legs and arms. “You should try to get some sleep, honey,” Ruth said, offering me a ghost of a smile. “You look exhausted.”

“I wonder why,” I muttered.

“I need to sleep too,” April said. She glanced over at her father. “Dad, it’s our turn to rest. Mom will keep watch over Carey and the cameras.”

Her father stood and headed over to one of the beds, smothering a yawn with one hand. I watched him through narrowed eyes, mind whirling. It was so weird and unsettling to see him like this, taking part in a series of revenge killings, when I was so used to seeing him at the front of our English class discussing literary conventions and analytical responses. Even though I recognized his tall frame and bespectacled face, it felt like I was looking at a different person entirely.

I bowed my head and closed my eyes, but I couldn’t sleep. The chair was too uncomfortable, my mind was racing like mad, and my stomach wouldn’t stop churning with despair at the thought of Maverick’s impending demise. My heart broke for Zach and Brooke, too. Hell, even the idea of Jasmine’s upcoming death made me feel like shit. She was a bitch, but she didn’t deserve to die for it.

By three o’clock in the morning, I was still awake. Mr. Garrick had been snoring loudly for hours, and April was sleeping peacefully on the couch, where she’d decided to curl up for the evening. Her mother was sitting at the desk, reading a book and occasionally glancing up at the live surveillance feedson the computer monitors to make sure no one was breaking the curfew.

I sighed and looked back down at the floor, tears welling in my eyes as I pictured Maverick lying dead in front of me, skin pale and eyes unseeing. I winced and tried to shut out the terrible mental images, but they kept on pouring in. Maverick’s limbs twisted and broken. Maverick’s blood spattered over every surface. Maverick’s head removed from his body.

A slight movement on my left snapped me out of my morose reverie, and my eyes shot to the screens on the desk. I couldn’t see much from where I was sitting, but I could make out a few shapes here and there, and I was certain something had just moved on one of them.

Ruth didn’t seem to have noticed, though. Her eyes were glued to her book. It seemed she was quite confident that nothing was going to happen at this time of night, which in turn made her slack at her duties.

I craned my neck and squinted at the screens as another flash of movement caught my attention. I still couldn’t make out what it was, but I figured it had to be one or more of the four remaining players out in the hall. Nothing else could possibly show up on the monitors.

Ruth still wasn’t paying attention to any of the screens, and I silently prayed for her eyes to remain fixed on the pages of her book. She must have felt my gaze on her, though, because she twisted in her seat to frown at me. “You’re still awake?”

“I can’t sleep,” I said, heart thundering in my chest as I caught yet another flash of movement on one of the monitors. Something was happening on the floor below us, and I instinctively knew I had to keep Ruth distracted for as long as possible while it went on. “I really need to use the bathroom again. Any chance you could take me?”

She pursed her lips and stared at me for several seconds, presumably assessing my threat level. “Fine. Give me a minute,” she finally said, turning to set her book down on the desk. She suddenly sat up straight, peering directly at the security feed. “Oh, shit.”

Dammit.She’d spotted the other players on the screen.

“David!” she shrieked, jumping to her feet. “April! Wake up. Now!”

April sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re coming!” Ruth said, shaking a finger at the monitors. “They found the door in your room!”

“What the fuck?” April’s eyes bulged, and she jumped up. “Dad, wake up!”

Her father sat up on one elbow, finally awoken from his deep slumber by all the panicked shouting. “What’s happening?”

“They’re coming up here! Right now!” Ruth shrieked. “Get the gun!”

He rolled over to fumble on a low table next to his bed. “Try to block them!” he called out as he picked up the pistol and flicked off the safety with a loud click.

April hurried over to the hole in the floor, but she was too late. Maverick and Brooke had already hauled themselves up and out, fury and ferocity burning in their eyes as they faced her.

“Stay back!” she shouted, scrambling backward. “We have a gun!”

Brooke screamed and tackled April, knocking her flat on her back with a loud thump. At the same time, Maverick lunged at Mr. Garrick, who was now pointing his pistol directly at the hole. The two of them collided with a forceful impact, crashing into a nearby table and sending papers flying.

“Careful, Maverick!” I shouted, heart in my throat as I watched his hand close around Mr. Garrick’s wrist. “The safety’s not on!”

As the fight went on, Zach hauled himself out of the hole and made a beeline for Ruth. He wrestled her to the ground, pinning her with his bodyweight and resisting her attempts at scratching and biting until he managed to drag her arms up over her head.

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