Page 84 of Wicked Games

“What the fuck is this place?” Jasmine muttered as we tentatively made our way along the twisting path. “Is this really meant to be scary?”

“I guess it’s kind of spooky,” Brooke replied, peering up at one of the flaming torches. “It looks like a tunnel from a horror movie.”

As we wandered deeper into the passage, the air grew thick with the metallic tang of blood and the sickly-sweet stench of decay. Strange symbols and sigils were etched into the stone, conjuring up mental images of cackling witches and secret society rituals lost to time and obscurity.

We came across an alcove carved into the wall, containing a gruesome tableau. A bloated corpse with blistered pink skin hung from a chain, head hanging downward.

“Fuck, this almost looks real,” Hudson said, reaching forward to lift the chin and expose the face. He leapt back with horror when he realized his mistake. “Oh, shit!”

It was Rhys’s body.

I clamped my hand over my mouth and looked away, stomach roiling with horror. Courteney lurched forward andvomited on the floor, filling the narrow passage with the acrid scent of half-digested toast and eggs.

“Let’s keep going,” Maverick said, turning away. “Just try not to look at any of the stuff, okay?”

The passage twisted and turned, leading us deeper into the darkness. Shadows danced and writhed along the walls, as if they were alive and watching our movements with malevolent intent.

We entered a new room a few minutes later. It was like a twisted nightmare come to life. Animal skulls littered the floor, black eye sockets staring accusingly into the abyss, and the walls were spattered with blood. But the true horror lay above us, on a glass ceiling illuminated by a flickering fluorescent light.

Evan’s face, frozen in eternal shock, stared down at us. His body had been stripped and splayed on top of the glass, surrounded by a thick layer of dirt, dead leaves, and stones. Some blood had leaked from the top of his head onto his face, making it look like he was crying bloody tears.

Jasmine and Courteney screamed and staggered backward at the sight.

“Don’t look,” Maverick commanded. “Just keep your eyes on the path ahead.”

We left the room and pressed on, making our way through room after room of fresh horrors. Pits filled with writhing snakes, floors crawling with insects, walls covered in screens that showed horrifying videos of torture and suffering. Each space seemed to outdo the last in its grotesque display of horror; a relentless onslaught on our senses.

All we could do was keep going and try not to look, as Maverick told us earlier.

I stepped into another dim, twisting passage, heart pounding and breath held tight. Whispered curses and screams echoed through the space, along with the voices of our fallen friends,begging for help. It truly felt like we’d stepped down into Hell itself.

“Please!” Kiara shouted from somewhere on our right. “Save me!”

“It’s burning!” Rhys’s disembodied voice chimed in. “Help me!”

“Get me out of here! It hurts so much!” April cried from the left.

A painful lump appeared in my throat as her words registered in my mind. Earlier, I’d wanted nothing more than to hear her voice again, but not like this.

“It’s not real,” Maverick said from up ahead, hands clenching at his sides. “It’s deep-fake tech. You can take a video that someone’s put online and use the program to simulate their voice to say anything you want.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but a scream tore from my throat instead. Kiara’s corpse had just dropped into the passage directly in front of me, swinging from a knotted brown rope.

“Isthatreal enough for you?” the Game Master boomed from a nearby speaker. The question was followed by hollow laughter that sent a chill down my spine.

Maverick turned, grabbed my hand, and pulled me around the swinging body. Jasmine was in tears, and Brooke’s face had turned a deathly shade of white. Even Hudson looked disturbed.

“C’mon,” Zach muttered, taking Courteney’s trembling hand. “Let’s go.”

“No.” Courteney refused to budge. “I can’t see or hear any more of this shit. I need a break. Please.”

“We’re on a time limit, Court,” Zach said. “Otherwise we’d all say yes to a break, believe me.”

“Please.” Her voice had dropped to a broken whisper. “If I see one more body…”

“You won’t. I’ll cover your eyes if you want. Okay?”

“Yeah, we can guide you,” Maverick added. “But we’ve already been down here for at least thirty minutes, and we have no idea how many more rooms we have to go through until we reach the end. So we have to keep going.”

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