Page 73 of Bleeding Hearts
Poppy is still sitting, staring at where he was, her mouth open before she raises her eyes to mine. I see so much guilt in her gaze, I’m surprised she isn’t choking on it.
Teresa is tugging on her, trying to get her to move, but she’s frozen in that spot. I know the feeling. You just go numb all over. You can’t move or think. I can’t afford to be like that right now.
All that matters is getting Alice out of this alive.
Shots fire, and I pull us to the floor, covering her with my body as I look around. The wranglers are aiming at the crowd, and then the voice comes again. “Disobedience will be punished. The rules are clear. This round must be finished. Return to your seats now or you will face the consequences.”
“They can’t kill us all! Get the guns!” a guy yells, and he and a few others rush at one of the wranglers, but before they can reach them, a gun fires repeatedly, cutting them down. They hit the floor, and more screams fill the air.
They killed them.
Either we play or die.
“I will repeat the rules once more. By stepping into the room, you signed away your rights to quit. The only way out of the game tonight is by winning or losing. If you try to leave, you will be punished. The rules are simple. Pull the trigger with the gun aimed at your head and then pass it on. There will be three rounds. Whoever is left at the end is the winner and free to leave. Players must return to their seats. Anybody who is not seated in the next thirty seconds will be punished.”
The meaning is clear, so I drag Alice over to the chairs and shove her down. Her whole body shakes, and I grip her face, forcing her to look at me.
“I need you to stay with me, okay?” I beg. “Stay with me. We are getting through this, I promise. Just don’t disappear.”
Nodding, she sniffs loudly, and I wipe away her tears. “Shh, it’s okay. I promised to keep you safe, remember? I meant it. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I won’t. It’s obvious they want us to die tonight, but not her.
Not tonight, not ever. I will keep her safe.
People file back to their seats as the mechanical voice starts to count down.
“We could try the bars,” Alice whispers.
“They would shoot us,” I murmur as I rub her back. “We have to play.”
“All players have returned to their seats. The tables that did not finish their rounds will begin now.”
Despite my words, I’m really fucking scared, but so is Alice, and she needs me more than ever. I have to get her out of this no matter what it takes. Her brother can’t lose the only family he has left.
Her friends can’t lose her.
I can’t lose her.
I grip Alice’s hand as the other tables complete their round. With each gunshot, Alice’s tears grow stronger, and I refuse to let her see.
Several people cry quietly in the room, while others sit in shock as the wranglers return to the line with new boxes, and the voice speaks again.
“Congratulations on completing round one. You are winners!” Nobody feels like it, and in that moment, my fear morphs to anger. We signed up for it, but what gives them the right to take lives like this?
They think they are untouchable, and right now, they are, but they won’t be. I’ll make sure of it.
“The second round will now commence, and the same rules apply.” The wranglers walk back to the tables, ours stopping by Alice, and she huddles into me, shaking. Closing my eyes, I lift her head.
“Baby, eyes on me, okay? Just focus on me, and before you know it, we’ll be home, watching your favorite show. It will all be a bad dream.”
“I can’t,” she sobs, breaking my heart.
“Five,” the wrangler begins, and panic claws at me as he reaches for his gun.
“Alice,” I snap, and she focuses on me. “Don’t do it for you, do it for me. Don’t make me watch another person I love die. Please.”
She stares at me for a moment before woodenly turning her head and gripping the gun. Her shoulders shake as she presses it to her head, and everything in me freezes as she squeezes the trigger. When nothing happens, she drops it into the box and looks at me, her eyes glassy with tears as the wrangler stops next to me.
