Page 18 of The Players

And how could I sleep at night if I didn’t at least try?

I could barely still sit in my chair as Friday’s school day ticked by. I didn’t eat at lunch, and I failed a Spanish quiz because I’d forgotten to study. Once again, the Lords were messing with my life and my grades, but I’d been here before.

I could do this, I told myself. I’d survived the worst. How bad could it be?

After school, I rushed home to prepare. The only thing Easton’s text had said was to be there at seven p.m. sharp followed by an address. I googled the place and saw that it was another warehouse near the one he’d burned down. Did this town have an endless supply of empty warehouses? Geez, someone should turn them into something useful for god's sake.

Since a warehouse didn’t tell me diddly about what was happening, I dressed in athletic gear and good shoes just to be safe. I made sure my phone was fully charged and left a note for Randy under my pillow. I needed to make sure someone took care of my grandmother in case something awful happened to me.

Then I took a deep breath, grabbed my keys, and kissed my grandmother goodbye. She barely looked up at me from her black-and-white movie. She was used to me being eighteen and independent by now.

The drive to the warehouse was nerve-wracking. I cranked up the Classic Rock to pump myself up, but it fell flat. Soon, I was pulling into the empty parking lot with a large, square building on the far side of it. The sign out front saidGiganthem Industries, a company I’d never heard of. There was no other signage and no way for me to see inside the blacked-out windows.

At least the building looked like it was used for something, unlike the one they’d picked as their clubhouse. That building had all the charm of aDatelineepisode before the murder took place.

Carefully, I walked up the sidewalk and approached the double doors.

I opened the door and entered the breezeway, which was clean and boring. A brown rug and an umbrella stand were the only items inside. It smelled like bleach and cheap carpeting. I tried to peer through the doors, to see what I was dealing with, but all I could ascertain was a couple of empty chairs and a reception desk.

All very plain and normal. But Easton didn’t do normal.

None of this felt right.

But I couldn’t be late. He’d disqualified me once for missing the game even though he’d been the one to give me the wrong address. He couldn’t be doing that now, could he? What good would that do?

I opened the next door and stepped inside the building as my heart pattered out of my chest.

The carpet was green and short-pile. The desk was clean and neat. The chairs were new. A fake fern occupied one corner and a long hallway extended off the other. My eyes tracked there. At the end of the hallway was a set of double doors. That had to be where I was going. Quickly, I headed that way. When I finally opened them and pushed inside, I nearly choked on my last breath.

“Oh my god,” I said as my hand flew to my mouth.

The giant, cavernous space might have been anything, but now it was transformed into a nightmare. Ahead of me, were three, transparent boxes filled to the brim with water like giant aquariums, but there were no fish inside. Instead, three bodies were suspended over the water. Each body was wrapped in duct tape so they couldn’t move, looking like the prey of a giant spider. A piece of tape was stretched over each mouth so they couldn’t scream, but each turned their eyes to me as I walked in.

Mills. Hector. Lowell.

They’d been kidnapped, tied up like animals, and suspended over watery graves like this was some sort of Batman movie.

What the hell?!

“Stay right there!” I said, running toward Mills first since he was the closest to me. I needed to get them free now. What if they couldn’t breathe? What if the ropes that held them up failed? If they fell in those tanks, they would surely drown.

I expected something sadistic, but this was beyond the pale.

A loud boom sounded, and at the same time all the lights went out. I stumbled to a stop in complete darkness, feeling around with my hands as I inched forward.

“Easton, if this is you, it isn’t funny! Turn on the lights. Something bad could happen. Come on!”

A spotlight clicked on, pinning me like a deer in headlights. A female voice boomed over the loudspeaker, syrupy sweet, and full of menace at the same time.

Not Easton. Savannah. So he had his little puppet calling the shots here. How convenient.

“Hello, orphan. Nice of you to come,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “So glad we get toplaywith you. I know Easton enjoyed it last time. I can’t wait to join in the fun.”

“Turn on the lights!” I shouted. “Let the boys go! They aren’t part of this.”

“Of course, they are,” Savannah’s voice said. “They’re just as much a part of this as you are. They chose pussy over pals. Hoes before bros. Chicks before dicks.”

“They aren’t involved in this,” I repeated as if anyone was listening or cared. It was clear it was too late for that. They were very much involved, and it was my fault. I knew Easton hated that they’d picked me over him. He didn’t just want revenge against me. He wanted it with all of us.

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