Page 52 of The Cut
Mark ducks down out of sight and watches the reflection of Ben as he moves off in the wrong direction. Slinking down and squeezing under another gap, Mark finds himself around the back of the ride now, in an area that is clearly out of bounds. He traces the wall with his hand, frantically searching for an escape. A red light appears in the distance, spilling through a crack in a half-open door. Mark makes a beeline for it, but it’s yet another hoax: a fake exit into another room. A macabre light fills the space, like a darkroom. As Mark’s eyes adjust to the sickly red gloom, he can see a figure standing in the doorway, barring his escape. Shit. He shrinks back into the darkness.
‘Turn around, Mark, I’m two steps behind.’
‘Gotcha.’ Two hands grab his shoulders.
‘Oh shit … please.’ Mark flinches in terror and freezes. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Hey, chill out, it’s only me.’
‘Dave?’
‘Come on.’ Dave places a friendly hand on his shoulder. ‘Relax. I’ll show you the way out.’203
‘Oh, thank goodness.’ Mark exhales as Dave leads him into the room but then grabs his arm, pulling him to a stop. An overhead light flicks on, revealing the room in a stark glare. There are mirrors on all four sides and a vast chess board on the floor. Across the other side, Ben Knot stands leaning against the door frame, arms folded.
‘Checkmate.’ He stands smirking, and cracks his knuckles, ready for a fight.
Two kings on either side and Mark just a pawn in the middle. He turns to Dave. ‘Why?’
‘King’s rook.’ Dave shoves him forward and Mark stumbles on to the board.
But then something miraculous happens. As Mark takes a step across the board, his body is at least eight feet tall and seems to tower over a tiny child-sized Ben Knot. It feels so good to be this big: a Goliath in the face of this David. Brimming with false confidence, Mark begins to stride forward but with every step he seems to shrink, smaller and smaller, as the chequerboard floor slopes upward and the deceitful mirror reveals its trick until, finally, they are face to face.
‘Let me out.’ Mark tries to move past. ‘I want to go home.’ Ben grips his elbow.
‘Don’t cross me, Cherry, you’ll regret it.’ He slams him up against the wall. ‘Thanks, mate.’ Ben relaxes his grip and turns back to Patel. ‘I owe you one.’
Dave acknowledges him with a nod, swallowing his guilt.
Mark’s eyes dart between the two of them. ‘You’re working together?’ His voice trembles. ‘You pretend to be a friend, but you are just as bad as he is.’
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fist smashes into Mark’s face and he goes down. There’s a searing pain in his head and tiny white204lights begin spinning. Ben hauls Mark back to his feet and shoves him hard into the wall, one hand on his throat, the other clenched, threatening a second punch. ‘Now, what did you say to me?’ His fingers tighten, choking Mark. ‘Say it again … to my face.’
‘Hey, mate, take it easy.’ Dave moves in to stop him, but Ben shrugs him off and slugs his fist into Mark’s stomach. He doubles over, but Ben still has him by the throat. ‘SAY IT.’ He’s about to go in for a third strike when Annie, Cat and Lynette burst in through the door.
‘BEN! Come on, leave him alone,’ Annie cries out to him, but Ben is now wound tighter than a spring.
‘You’re defending him?’ Ben stares at Annie in bewilderment. ‘But you heard what he said.’
Mark’s face is red, he’s choking and spluttering, but suddenly his lips become pale and his body starts to go limp as he loses strength and stops struggling.
‘You’re hurting him.’ Annie shakes her head in frustration. ‘Please just let him go, Ben. It’s not worth it.’
‘Well … you’ve certainly made your loyalties crystal clear.’ Ben stares at his so-called girlfriend.
‘You’re just a bully, Ben.’ It’s now Cat’s turn to wade in. ‘Stop it, he’s had enough. Can’t you see that?’
‘Oh! She’s so brave … Little Miss Perfect.’ Lynette Davis shoulder-barges Cat into the wall, willing the whole thing to kick off into a full-on scrap.
‘HEY!’ Annie grabs Lynette by the collar and yanks her back. ‘Get off her.’
‘Come on then, Farm Girl, give it your best shot.’ Lynette turns, fists raised, squaring up to her like a boxer.
Annie shakes her head at Ben. ‘See what you’ve done?’ But then she turns on Mark as well. ‘You provoked him.’205
Ben turns to Dave. ‘What do you think?’
Dave scans the faces in the darkness. He knows what he ought to do, the right thing to do. But his own neck is on the line.
