Page 92 of Drop His Mask

He was The Host?

How is he here?

I was an idiot for not realizing it sooner, for not noticing his familiar eyes, the way he had called me bunny, even his voice. He had thrown it into a different pitch, but it was still there, underneath the falsity.

Who else would I meet here in theMasquerade? What else would come to light? How much more could I take of it?

Had Julian truly betrayed me?

He had known about Sparrow after all. What if…

I didn’t allow the thought to manifest.

Later. Later. Later. I would push my emotions, my feelings, my despair into a later moment.

The entire room shook, and the floor before us and around us began to partially give way. My pulse raced as the track turned into a terrifying labyrinth of platforms to jump between. Even the space between my teammates and me had fallen into the depths below, leaving a gap.

As the seconds passed, the holes where the floor had been began to fill with clear liquid, the space suffusing with a noxious smell. As it did so, some of it came up, splashing onto the leg of my sweats. After a moment, searing pain stabbed there as the liquid dissolved the material and made its way to my skin. My nostrils flared as the revolting smell of my melting skin flooded the air around me.

Swallowing my scream, I brought my feet back and up under the chair, trying to keep them protected. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if my entire body fell into the toxic liquid.

What had seemed before to be a simple race was now a game of deadly hopscotch to the end.

“Soon, two of the player’s restraints will give way. They have been given an advantage and a head start. Once the siren signals, you are to make it to the end however you can.” At the very far wall, a flashing neon banner lit up. “Please note you are not to interact until the start of the game. Please note that you are not to fall into the space between the platforms. Please note that the next two players will begin five minutes after.” This was not The Host’s voice that echoed around us, but instead, it was the robotic trill I had grown accustomed to.

My eyes jumped around the room, the concrete platforms that were different distances apart, the terrifying liquid that oozed between them, the distance it would take to get to the end. The game seemed to extend the entire span of the room, with just a thin walkway on each side to allow for the doors in the space to open and close.

I was shorter, I was injured, but I wouldn’t give up.

My cuffs fell to the floor, freeing me.

“What’s your plan here, Dres? Are you going to make it to the finish line? Do you think there is any world where this will go well for you if you do?” Griffin’s fury drew my attention, and I found that it was 194 that had been given the head start with me.

Dres. 194.

He was getting to his feet. Even from this distance I could see his tattooed knuckles. The HURT and PAIN, reminders of who I would be playing this game with.

A knife twisted into my gut as I did my best to stand. Sharp shooting pain stabbed at my ankle and it took everything not to fall to my chair. I was injured worse than I had realized. The liquid, no theacid, had done more damage than I originally thought.

“Do not pretend that you care if I live or die. You are nothing but a parasite that used all of us for your own personal gains and then threw us away at the first chance you could.” Dres’s tone was harsh as it echoed around the room. “You saw a pussy and traded it for one of our men. You saw an escape and you left us to waste away. You are a coward. And you arenoleader of mine.”

Griffin clenched his jaw before speaking, “Are you not the one that sold me out to the Government in Violencia? Are you not the one that had our men hung and killed if only to save yourself? You gave away safe houses, names,families.And for what? A chance to enter this rigged game? Do you truly think you are going to leave here alive? You are nothing.” Griffin spat on the ground. “A broken man is nothing more than the putrid he spews. He is both the loudest and the deadliest. The weakest and the stupidest. Trust me, Dres, you were dead the moment you sacrificedmy menfor your own life.”

Dres sneered, “Such lofty words spoken by a man that isn’t evenfromViolencia.”

Dres’s words had his intended effect as Griffin’s face heated in rage, but he didn't have a chance to continue their bickering as the siren blared around the room, marking the beginning of the game.

My attention focused on the task at hand blocking out the swirling questions. About The Host. About Julian. About Griffin.

I jumped to the next platform ahead, landing carefully onto it. Wincing, I managed to avoid stumbling, but it took more out of me than I cared to admit. My side was still healing, the acid had caused another injury, I wasexhausted. Wiping my clammy hands against my sweats, I looked towards Dres.

It was a mistake.

He wasn’t even trying to make it to the end.

He was running, and sprinting, and jumping as fast as he could towards me.

Swallowing down my heart that attempted to come up my throat, I tried to formulate a plan. To find a way out. At this point I was done giving up, but this game wasn’t in my favor. Dres, 194, he was a big man, larger than me, and uninjured. It wouldn’t be difficult to just throw me into the acid and be done with it.

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