Page 41 of Wicked Games

“Um, guys? I might have something,” Jasmine said in a sheepish tone. She reached into the right pocket of her sweatpants and pulled out a butter knife. “I stole this from the table at breakfast earlier. I thought I might need to defend myself if one of you turned out to be the Game Master.”

“You were going to try to kill someone with a butter knife?” April said scornfully.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I saiddefend,not kill, and a butter knife is better than literally nothing, right?”

“I guess so,” April muttered. She looked at Maverick. “Can you use it?”

He nodded slowly. “I think so. There’s no way I can use it to pry off the entire steel shutter, but I can probably use it to make the crack bigger. Then we can use something else to pry the whole thing open. Something bigger and sturdier. Like a chair leg, maybe. Or maybe the metal rod from one of the towel racks in our bathrooms.”

“I’ll help,” Zach said.

Rhys and Tate also volunteered. With determined expressions etched on their faces, the four of them huddled around the narrow gap in the shutter, taking turns wedging the butter knife into the opening. I stood close by, heart racing with a mix of hope and anxiety as I watched their progress.

With each carefully calculated twist and push, the gap widened ever so slightly, allowing just a little more light to filter into the dim hall. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Maverick let out a triumphant grunt as the gap widened enough to fit the blade of the knife all the way in.

With renewed determination, the guys continued their painstaking work, inching closer to the goal of widening the gap enough to fit the towel rod from Zach’s bathroom. When it was finally big enough, Maverick wedged the thick metal rod inside and pressed on.

A few minutes later, the shutter gave way with a loud clang. Light flooded into the hall, illuminating the weary faces of the group.

“You did it!” I said, relief washing over me in waves.

The rest of the group clamored around the window, patting the four guys on the back and congratulating them on their effort.

“What can you see?” April asked, craning her neck. She was too short to see past Zach’s shoulders.

“There’s a balcony out here,” he said. “Wait… this could actually be a way out!”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not just a balcony. There’s a spiral staircase leading off the far side of it. I can’t see where it goes, but we have to check it out.”

“Even if it just goes up to the roof, that’s fine,” Kiara said. “We can stand up there and wave sheets from our beds until a passerby notices us.”

“Exactly.” Zach turned to Maverick. “Can you help me open this thing?”

Maverick nodded and picked up the butter knife again. He used it to break the lock, and then he wrenched the window open, grimacing as cold air rushed in. “Jesus,” he muttered. “It’s freezing out there.”

“Yeah, the weather’s been horrible lately,” I replied, peering out the window as he stepped back. I was greeted by a somber gray sky, whipped by gusts of wind that churned the dark waters of the nearby ocean into countless whitecaps.

“Who wants to go first?” Zach asked, raising his brows.

Maverick stepped forward again. “I’ll do it. Unless you want to.”

“All good.” Zach gave him a tight smile. “I’ll follow you.”

After the two guys made it out, they gestured for the rest of us to follow. We climbed out, one by one, and huddled together on the balcony, vigorously rubbing our arms to keep warm.

“Those steps look pretty dangerous,” Brooke said, warily eyeing the spiral staircase that led off the left side of the balcony.

“It should be fine as long as we’re careful,” Maverick said, peering upwards. “It looks like they lead to some sort of watchtower on the roof.”

April nodded. “That makes sense. The mansion has tons of towers and spires,” she said. “I remember thinking it looked like a total Gothic nightmare when I arrived.”

“That’s exactly what I thought,” Kiara said. “It’s so fucking creepy.”

Zach set his jaw with grim determination. “Well… let’s go and see what we can find.”

We slowly made our way up the winding stairs. The stone steps were old and narrow, and they were also slick with droplets of seawater flung up by the wind, so we had to take them as slowly as possible.

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