Page 23 of Drop His Mask

We could now hear everything from inside the surgical room. The muffled screaming of the person on the table, the two men discussing their plan of action.

“Begin!” The robotic voice cut through the sounds, followed by a piercing alarm.

A timer to my right popped up, counting down from the fifteen-minute mark.

The two bulky players looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They sped to the counter, each grabbing a scalpel and nothing else.

“Idiots,” 32 muttered under her breath.

The players didn’t pause. They didn’t even kill the person on the table first, they just began slicing open the squirming body. They cut into the shirt, leaving the man’s chest bare, and carved aTacross his chest.

After several minutes of yanking and squelching, I watched in horror as they finally got what they were looking for. The person on the table had long since gone silent as they tugged out their heart, it was a bloody mess as they threw it into the barrel.

An alarm sounded right as it landed.

“Drop your tools, you are out of time. Congratulations, you have secured one organ.”

My empty stomach turned uneasily, and I swallowed down bile. I was still incredibly weak. Would I have the mental–let alone the physical–strength to cut open another living being? Did I even want to? Or would I leave it to Jayce, force this upon him?

The guards returned the players to us, disgusting and covered in blood.

“You couldn’t even kill him first?” I didn’t mean for the words to leave mouth, but I couldn’t help it.

131 turned to me with a smirk as he was shackled back in place. “Why bother?” He spit on the ground. “You want me to kill you first before I ram my dick down your throat?”

He sat directly in front of 195, and I almost didn’t see as 195 pushed forward, extending his shackles as far as he could go. He swiftly headbutted 131, crunching his nose.

“Break it up!” The guard closest to the men pushed 195 back into his seat and kicked 131 forward.

131 grumbled, but didn’t say anything else. My eyes swiveled to the back of 195’s head.

What was that?

I paid little attention to the next several rounds. Two teams followed suit leaving the people alive as they hacked away into their bodies. They each got the heart and the liver. The fourth, fifth, and sixth teams stabbed the person and were able to secure four organs each. The seventh team also killed the captive on the table, but they used a saw to try to get more organs out; it didn’t work and they only ended up with one.

In the eighth round, 32’s team was called.

As they were being secured by the guards, I glanced around again. Sitting on the bleachers surrounded by teams covered in the blood of their murder victims was oddly surreal while simultaneously nauseating.

Would I look like them? Like a heartless monster backed into a corner and forced to kill or be killed?

Except there was always something off about these games. And even with The Host suspiciously missing, my mind flickered through the rules. But that was the thing, the rules were never very clear, always purposefully vague.

Where is the loophole this time?

A siren permeated the space. 32 was now inside the room with her two teammates. She held a scalpel while one held metallic scissors and the third held…uh…a clamp?

“Follow my lead.” The first thing 32 did was cut open the long-sleeved shirt. Even from a distance, I could make out the huge tattoo across the man’s collar.Heather.

“That’s my husband.” 34 gasped and started screeching, “That’s my husband!” She reached forward to protect the man with her body.

The man’s muffled screams turned to sobs as he jerked on the table, the restraints not allowing him much movement.

“You didn’t care when it was mine,” 32 stated emotionlessly, shouldering 34 back. In one sure strike 32 plunged the scalpel deep into the man’s heart until he no longer moved.

Whispering on the bleachers ensued. Had the other players killed someone they knew?Tortureda loved one? Or was this a one-off situation?

Searching for Jayce, I found he was already watching me, a sad gentle smile on his face.

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