Page 51 of Drop His Mask

Thump.

Crash!

“No!” another man screamed from nearby.

My eyes shot open.

I wanted more than anything to not see it, to not look, but there was something magnetic about the knowledge youshouldn’tdo it.

It isn’t Levi.

That was all I cared about, but it was followed by a pang of guilt.

I was staring into a disgusting mess of what used to be a human. He was dead, but the spikes had turned him into a grinded mess of meat. Organs slipping out, head pierced through, his clothes shredded.

I couldn’t even see his number.

Finally, I was able to wrench away from the sight before me, only to stumble on the man pleading and begging. He must be the dead man’s teammate.

“Player 182 has won, securing his team’s victory. Please return to your platform and you will be lowered to the ground.”

The stomping above was matched by a loud thump before me as the man begging went silent and fell face down onto the ground, confirming that we would still die if our teammates did.

Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Everyone is fucking dead.

I wanted to scream and shout and throw things and let loose the frustrations of watching these horrors play out before me. But I was powerless, a puppet to this fucking game. I couldn’t do anything.

Whirring filled the air again as Levi’s platform lowered down to join us.

Nobody spoke or said a word as we allowed the realization of this round to set in.

Not only would we be killing another team, but we would be watching their corpse decay as the rest of the round played out. Forced to remain eye-to-eye with the cruelties imposed upon us all.

But what choice do we have?

Chapter 26

Reek Of Decay

The Game Warden

Three Years – Three Months Ago

“You have to tell me!” The Game Warden yelled. “I need to know what to expect!”

Nightingale crossed her long legs, leaning back in her velvet chair that was practically a throne. “I will, Julian, but you need to settle down. I just got Sparrow to sleep and you’re going to wake her.”

The Game Warden froze at her words, his attention shifting to the left. To the child that slept soundly beside them.

“She’s in your bed again,” he whispered, raising an eyebrow. “Are you goingsoft, Nightingale?”

Nightingale swept her hair behind her ears, her blue eyes icing over. “Julian, as I’ve told you before and continue to show you, there is no place for weakness. But we need Sparrow. She is going to be the difference.”

“But you haven’t explained why.” The Game Warden wanted to shout, but he refrained himself, clenching his fists instead, his nails digging into his palms.

---