Page 146 of Deviant

“How the fuck does he know Chris’s last name?” Andy mumbles to the group.

“I think the better question is how did he know that it was Chris talking,” Harper retorts, just as incredulous.

“I hope your breakfast was also to your liking,” Henry adds, just as the twins enter the room to clean off the dining table. “Now, if you’d be so kind as to follow me. The day’s events await. Please follow me.”

“Yeah, like that’s not creepy at all,” Ruby mutters as she gets up from her seat.

We all proceed to do the same, following Henry out of the dining room, through the entry hall, and down a long corridor.

“I don’t like this,” I hear Lucy whisper to Lucas.

“It’s okay, babe. I got you. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise,”

I feel Elias’s protective hand at the small of my back as his jaw clenches, staring at Lucas.

“He’s just trying to comfort her,” I whisper over to Elias. “You can’t fault him for that.”

“He’s giving her false hope. Instead, he should be preparing her for what’s to come.”

“What’s so bad about trying to hold onto hope?”

“Hope makes you weak. Vulnerable. Attributes that will get you killed in a place like this,” he explains, with a harsh, even tone.

“I’m not sure if that’s true,” I disagree with him. “There’s a certain strength that comes with hope… that comes with allowing yourself to be vulnerable… It can empower a person if they let it.”

“If you say so,” he retorts, officially putting a stop to the conversation.

The corners of my lips dip into a frown as Henry ushers us into another strange room. My anxiety shoots up to the ceiling, wondering what fresh batch of hell are we about to face now.

But as we step inside, I’m surprised to see that this room looks completely misplaced from the rest of the house. It looks like it should be in an office building where high-pressure meetings take place instead of in a mansion of doom.

“Are we about to have some kind of board meeting?” Andy jokes, trying to lighten everyone’s mood. But aside from Harper, no one even cracks a smile.

We are about to take our seats around the oval table when Henry lifts up his hand to stop us.

“Before you sit down, have you all chosen your partners?”

“We have,” Lucas answers for the group.

“Then please, take a seat next to your respective partners.”

Confused, we all follow his instructions and sit down next to the people we chose to be our ride-or-die during this whole horror fest.

“The choice has been made,” Henry says as if he’s talking to someone else instead of us, and when he tilts his head up and nods, I realize he actually is. There are four cameras strategically placed in each corner of this boardroom.

“He’s blind. How the hell does he know where to look?” Andy says a bit too loudly. “Am I the only one freaked out by this?”

No. He is not.

I swallow hard when I feel my watch start to vibrate around my wrist, a loud ring signaling a new message.

You have been selected to attend your first game.

Play well.

A cold shiver runs through me at the ominous text.

When I look at Elias’s watch, I verify he received the same text.

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