Page 141 of Deviant

“I may have manipulated a nerd or two back in school to do my homework for me. Okay, maybe more than that,” she grimaces. “I’ve never written a paper or have done my own homework since the seventh grade. There, I said it.” She breathes out like she’s finally free of all her burdens.

“Fuck me. Is this amateur hour? I thought you people had more in you than this pathetic drivel,” David scolds, unimpressed with the sins admitted so far.

“Hey, you jerk! It was really hard for me to admit that. For years I thought what I did made me the worst person alive, so shut it!” Harper shouts at him, offended that he didn’t think her admission of guilt was juicy enough for him.

“It wasn’t a very nice thing for you to do, Harper. No one likes being used like that. But I don’t think it makes you a bad person. Just a bit flawed, like any human being is,” Abbie says softly.

“Thank you, Abbie. You really are the sweetest.” Harper smiles widely at her, only for her grin to drop when Big Mike starts talking.

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Compared to the rest of us here, that’s nothing.”

“You should know,” Harper mumbles through gritted teeth.

“If you got something to say, then say it,” Big Mike challenges, looking like he actually wants to hurt her. “I know you’re dying to. You’ve been eyeballing me all night.”

“Don’t you dare intimidate my woman, asshole. Or you’ll have to deal with me.” Andy gets up from the sofa, ready for whatever Big Mike has in mind.

“Shit. Now that Andy’s balls have dropped, he thinks he’s hot shit!” Big Mike laughs. “You think you’re scary now that you’ve gotten some pussy?”

“He might not be, but I sure as fuck am,” Elias says, his tone cold and threatening.

Big Mike has the good sense of mind to not say anything else, knowing that Elias wouldn’t think twice about showing him what scary really looks like.

“Fine. Now that we have our narcissist, arsonists, drug dealers, and manipulators out of the way, that still leaves us eight sins, four huge ones at that,” Ruby exclaims, needing to get to the good stuff.

“If you’re so eager to find out ours, why don’t you tell us yours?” Lucy asks.

“I lie. Big whoop. That’s my big secret,” Ruby admits with a shrug.

“No. That’s not yours,” Mackenzie utters for the first time since we came into the den.

“Shut up, Mack,” Ruby warns.

“Why? Are you scared I’ll out you?” Mackenzie smiles sinisterly.

Ruby just stares at her while Mackenzie looks at her painted nails with no care in the world.

“The thing about being the mayor’s daughter is that I have to attend loads of dinners with my parents. Since Ruby’s dad is the head of the hospital, we go to Ruby’s house… a lot. Which means I know exactly what word best describes her.” Her disturbinggrin widens, as she focuses all her attention on Ruby. “I’ve seen how you love to emotionally blackmail your parents into giving you whatever you want,” she says, before using a whiny baby voice, “Oh, no! Daddy is too busy to play with me! And all Mommy cares about is her bridge game and her tiny sleeping pills. Not even the girl I love wants anything to do with me. Waaah, waaah, waaah.” Mackenzie pretends to cry like a baby, rubbing her fists over her eyes to push her point across. “You want to know who’s really pathetic, Ruby? Why don’t you take a long look in the mirror.”

“And what are you, huh? You’re a bitch! If there’s a psycho in our midst, it’s this bitch right there!” Ruby points to Mackenzie

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. Who knows. But say that I am… what are you going to do about it?” Mackenzie taunts with an ugly sneer.

“Stop! Just stop!” Lucas shouts, trying to be the voice of reason within our group. “We’re not getting anywhere if we keep antagonizing each other. Remember what Henry said. We can’t physically hurt each other, or else the Hosts will have a field day punishing us.”

Once he’s made sure that both Ruby and Mackenzie are composed enough not to start a fight, Lucas directs his attention to the whole group.

“I very much doubt the killers and rapist amongst us will out themselves. Am I wrong?” he says, waiting for someone to say anything in return. When all he gets are crickets, his shoulders slump. “That’s what I thought. Henry left us here to decide on who we want to choose as our partners for the games. I say we forget the wall, since it is obviously a ploy by our hosts meant to split us up and turn on each other. I say let’s not give them the satisfaction and just do as Henry asked. My partner is Lucy. Andy, who’s yours?”

“Harper,” Andy replies without missing a beat, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend.

“Elias, what about you?” Lucas turns his attention to us next.

“Rowen.” My heart skips a beat hearing my name spill out from his lips with such conviction.

“David, your turn. Go.”

“Mackenzie,” David states, winking at her.

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