Page 85 of Wicked Games

Courteney grudgingly nodded and stepped forward, waving Zach’s hands away from her face with an indecipherable mutter.

The next room was lit by candlelight, casting eerie shadows that danced over peeling wallpaper adorned with faded floral patterns. The awful sounds from the previous passage had faded away, leaving us in an ominous silence that made me shiver with anticipation. But it was the dolls that truly sent a chill down my spine. They lined every surface, porcelain faces frozen in grotesque smiles and lifeless eyes staring vacantly ahead. Some sat on chairs or shelves, limbs twisted at unnatural angles, while others lay scattered on the floor. The flickering light and shadows from the candles made it seem as if some were moving, hands reaching out to grasp at our ankles.

“Oh, fuck,” Hudson croaked, one hand pressed to his chest. “I hate dolls.”

“Oh my god,thisis what scares you?” Jasmine said, planting her hands on her hips. “Dolls?”

“Fuck you. I’m getting out of here.” He sucked in a deep breath and fled into the passage leading out of the room.

“I guess this room was designed to scare him,” Brooke said, glancing around. “It’s not that bad unless you have a doll phobia.”

“Yeah. Except…” Zach pointed a shaky finger at a large doll on a rocking chair in the corner. “What’s that?”

The doll’s right arm had been removed and replaced with what appeared to be a bare human forearm, sewn onto the dress with rough black stitching.

Courteney keeled over and vomited again. Jasmine stepped closer, upper lip curling with disgust. “It’s either April or Tate’sarm,” she muttered. “I don’t know, though. It’s too bloated to properly tell.”

Acid rose in my throat as horror ricocheted through me.

“I think it’s Tate,” Zach said softly, taking a step closer. “April had her nails painted pink.”

“We need to keep moving. We’re running out of time,” Maverick said. “So let’s—”

He was cut off by a masculine shout from the passage ahead. “Fuck! Help!”

We dashed out of the room and headed toward Hudson’s voice. He was standing in a large space surrounded by screens playing black and white videos of ghosts and zombies. At first, I thought that was what had scared him, but then I saw the huge black spiders crawling all over the floor and walls. Some were dropping from webs above us, dangling right above our heads, and one had just landed on Hudson’s shoulder.

“Get this shit off me!” he shouted.

Zach stepped forward and brushed it off, sending it skittering away. “Coward,” he muttered. He turned back to return to Courteney’s side, and his eyes widened. “Oh, shit. Court!”

Courteney had dropped to the floor behind us and curled into a ball. “I can’t do this. Can’t do this,” she said between short, sharp gasps. “Get me out of here. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.”

“Oh my god, I forgot she has a full-on arachnophobia thing,” Jasmine said, hands on her hips. “Remember that camp we went on in sixth grade? She freaked the fuck out then too. Honestly, I don’t get it. They’re basically just big bugs.”

“Not helpful, Jasmine,” Zach said sharply as he crouched by Courteney’s side. He brushed several spiders away and rubbed her back. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t think they’re venomous. Try to breathe deeply.”

She did as he said, sucking down several deep breaths. “I hate this,” she croaked. “I hate it so much. I can’t handle it anymore. Really. I can’t.”

“Just a few more minutes, okay? We should almost be at the end by now.”

Courteney took another deep breath and nodded. Then she finally opened her eyes. At that exact second, an enormous spider dropped down from directly above her head, landing right on her face. She let out a gut-wrenching scream and clutched at her throat.

“No!” Zach shouted, trying to tear her hand away. But it was too late. The tap-out button on her collar had begun to flash.

My heart sank as the collar immediately began to tighten around her neck. It didn’t slowly choke her, though, like Tate’s collar in the Tag game. There must have been a thin wire embedded in the material that was released when the button was pressed, because blood started seeping around the edges of the collar within a matter of seconds.

“Why the fuck did she press the button?” Jasmine shrieked. “They’re just spiders!”

Courteney writhed on the floor, clutching at her bleeding throat. “I… I didn’t,” she choked out. “Didn’t even touch it. I swear, I didn’t…”

She was unable to get any more words out. Her head lolled backward, hitting the floor with a thud, and her eyes fluttered shut.

“No!” Zach roared, tearing at the collar as blood spilled over his hands. “No!”

“Player three eliminated,” the Game Master’s voice boomed out over Zach’s anguished cries. “Remaining time: eight minutes and forty-seven seconds.”

“Oh my god.” Brooke’s hand flew to her mouth. “I can’t believe she actually tapped out.”

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