Page 53 of Drop His Mask

My mind was a hazy slush of panic, adrenaline, andapprehension.

How am I going to push somebody else off?

Movement in my periphery drew my attention. To my right, a man I didn’t recognize began to lift into the air as simultaneously another man rose. Player 193. Ivan’s teammate.

Thank fuck.

I felt bad for the other team that would go against them. 193 was easily the largest player left, a goliath that was more beast than man. His beady eyes found mine as he raised up and up. I could still feel them even when he was too far away to see.

An unwanted shiver crept down my spine. Ivan’s entire team made me uneasy, none of them seemed like people. Almost as if they were all…

No they can’t be.

I found 190, 191, and 192, his remaining teammates. They all stood uniformly. Feet shoulder width apart, hands clasped behind their backs, heads bowed at the same angle.

They’re his pets.

Ivan brought his godforsaken pets into this fucking game with him.

The realization was crushing. But I should have noticed it sooner, should have known he would.

He had practically admitted to volunteering himself into this game, of course he would bring his most trusted allies. They were his victims after all. Victims he controlled in body and mind.

The creatures he had created. His own soldiers he had formed. Their minds peeled apart and stuck back together in the exact way he wanted.

A clicking overhead shoved me out of my thoughts. The next fight would take place nearly directly above me. The metal bridge attached together with a click, followed by a siren.

This time I was determined to watch it play out. I needed to know if there was an alternate route, if there were rules I wasn’t understanding.

But it was harder to find a loophole when there was only one single rule.

Get the other player off.

Roaring was the only evidence of the fight that took place hundreds of feet over us. At this angle, we couldn’t make out the contestants as they completed their round.

We could only see the aftermath.

A disgusting mulchy crunch echoed around the chamber and a moment later a blob was tossed off of the shaky metal bridge.

Inmy direction.

For a heart stopping moment I thought it might land on me. With nowhere to go, I was forced to watch as the body came down.

I couldn’t help but to jump when it landed less than inches from me. Impaling into the spikes below. A revolting image of perforated skin and organs.

Swallowing down bile, I looked away.

“You fool,” Ivan spoke quietly, in a chilly monotone, but it was a beacon in the otherwise silent room.

No one was crying this time, or pleading, and I couldn’t discern who the dead man’s teammate was.

“Player 193 has won, securing his team’s victory. Please return to your platform and you will be lowered to the ground.”

One man dropped to his knees a few spots over before falling face down.

Dead.

There were only three teams left besides mine now.

---