Page 95 of Drop His Mask

The Last Game

Raven

Present Day

One moment my face was inches away from the toxic acid below with fumes burning my eyes, and the next, the weight was being pulled off my body.

With my newfound freedom, I maneuvered away from the edge. Grunting drew my attention, and I was shocked to find a guard fighting with Dres, wrestling him onto the floor.

Lifting up to my knees, my eyes bounced around the room before landing on Oleks and Griffin. They were still held in place, their restraints confining them to their chair.

Shouldn’t they be released by now. What isgoing on?

Dres threw the guard to the ground next to me, and he tumbled head over heels through the door he must have come through, it wasMiko. The guard from before.

I thought Dres might use the distraction to run to the end, but he didn’t. His lips curled cruelly as he stepped forward towards me.

“A stupid useless girl.” He grabbed me by the collar, tugging me until my feet no longer touched the ground.

There was nothing I could do as I struggled. He was larger, stronger,filled with hatred.

“Miko, you have to save her! You must!” Griffin barked. His order filled with rage and terror.

Dres’s jaw ticked. “It was just as I thought. I was never meant to live. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take what they want most.” He slowly turned me, drifting closer and closer to the edge again, but before my feet were over the acid, Miko was lunging at us.

In a deft move, he yanked me through the door behind him and pushed Dres into the acid. For a single heart stopping millisecond, I thought everything would be okay. That Miko had saved me, and we were done with Dres.

Miko’s eyes met mine and it was because of that, I knew when he realized he was going to die.

Dres’s hand, in a final move, extended and grabbed hold of the back of Miko’s shirt, dragging him into the acid below.

Jumping forward, I tried to catch Miko’s outstretched hand to save him, trying desperately to reach him.

Our fingers brushed, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Miko’s mouth opened on a scream that never finished, but was replaced with the broken noise of a dying creature in agonizing pain as he was dragged into the liquid below.

To his death.

Dres never made a noise, his end a silent affair.

Scrunching my eyes shut, blocking out the disgusting stench, I swallowed down the bile that made its way up my throat. I was unable to watch the horror unfold. It didn’t take long for the room to fall into complete silence.

“Raven!” Griffin shouted. “You have to leave. Go! We’ll be fine!”

I couldn’t understand him. Shock and horror were swallowing me. My hands shook as I backed further out the door and into the hallway. Outside of the game.

Right into another person.

Startled, I twisted around, ready to fight whoever it was.

“Player 33?” I asked, confusion rippling across my skin. This was 32’s teammate, our ally, but why was she out here?

“Raven! Thank God! There you are, we have to leave, something is going on! Come on, come with me now!” The woman grabbed me by the arm, tugging me along the hallway before I could say or do anything.

My body moved on its own accord as she continued to drag me to our destination. “Raven?”

33’s grip on my arm tightened. “Yes, I heard your men calling you that, come on, we have to go!”

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