Next Move, You're Dead - Book 1 of the Next Move, You're Dead Trilogy

by Linda L Barton

  She knew Tom was right about one thing; she needed some rest. Kathy closed her eyes, as the image of John and the prostitutes burned into her mind. “I can’t believe he’s with them.”

  He had always said how he felt sorry for them, and how the Johns and pimps exploited them, but now he was doing the same thing.

  Kathy was about to take another sip of her tea when she heard a car pull up in the driveway. “John!”

  ***

  John had gone over several times in his mind what he planned to say to Kathy. However, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

  That bitch is through manipulating me! She may not like it, but I’m going to be in control of my life from now on!

  When he pulled up to the house, he noticed the light was still on in the living room. “Good, she’s still up. It’s time for us to settle this once and for all.”

  ***

  The man watched her, as she drank her tea. He then saw her excitement when she heard the car pull into the driveway.

  “Oh, this is all coming together perfectly. Soon John, soon it will all be over.”

  ***

  Kathy rushed to the front door, flung it open wide, and found John standing there.

  “Thank, God, you’re home; I’ve been so worried, John!” She tried to hug him, but he shoved her away.

  “Worried? Now isn’t that rich!”

  He pushed passed her and into the house. John had no desire to be near her at this time, but she made it impossible with all of her meddling.

  “I told you to leave me alone. I said I needed some time to myself, but you just couldn’t stay out of things, could you?”

  Kathy followed him to the living room, with tears streaming down her face. The rage inside of John was so powerful, what could she say to ease his anger?

  “John, I don’t know why you’re so angry with me. I’ve not done anything wrong. I only want to help you. Please, let me help you!”

  The pain poured out of her, as she wiped the tears from her red, swollen eyes.

  “Why would you be with those, those...” the words caught in her throat.

  “You’re throwing everything away!” The tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

  “Throwing everything away? Is that is all you care about? Don’t worry; I won’t do anything to jeopardize your precious career. All these years, it’s been about you, hasn’t it? Well, I’m through being your puppet. I’m taking my life back, so get used to it, sweetheart!”

  John’s body shook with rage, as it seemed to completely engulf him. It took all the strength of his being not to wrap his hands around her throat and squeeze the life out of her. “Stay out of my way, and stay out of my life!”

  “John, how can you say such cruel things?”

  Kathy found herself trapped in a nightmare, of which there was no escape.

  He wants me out of his life. He thinks that he’s my puppet. I don’t understand, this can’t be happening!

  The words slammed into her mind with such force Kathy thought she would die.

  “Please, I would never do anything to hurt you. I love you,” she pleaded.

  “Love me? I don’t want to hear your lies anymore. You have gone over a line that’s unforgivable. I’m through; it’s my turn now!”

  “John, please, don’t say that...I need you...I love you!” She reached for him, only to be pushed away again.

  “I told you to stay away from me; you bitch!”

  John shoved her with such force she stumbled over the ottoman and crashed through the glass top coffee table. In his rage, he did not see the blood or her cries of pain.

  “Stay off of me, you bitch! Why can’t you get it through your thick head that we’re finished? I refuse to be led around like an obedient dog and told what to do. I’ll decide my destiny, not you, not anyone else!”

  Kathy stood with blood flowing down her arms and onto the carpet.

  “John please, I don’t understand any of this. I’ve always been honest with you, please.” She reached for him again.

  “I said keep the hell away from me, you lying bitch! I’m through being controlled by you!”

  He grabbed both of her arms, crushing them in his firm grasp as the anger inside of him raged to a dangerous point.

  John was full of hate...hate for her. Kathy begged him to stop, but he no longer saw her face. Through his rage, John only saw a faceless skull. He no longer heard her cries, but the voice he hated above all others.

  “Go ahead and do it; you know you want to. Take your life back, you know what you need to do,” the voice taunted.

  “It is my life! It’s mine to live, not yours!” John cried out in pain.

  The room no longer existed for John. He was somewhere else, somewhere dark, and full of death. Kathy’s cries were like torture to him, taunting him. He did not see her, only the faceless skull laughing at him.

  “Shut up...shut up!” John could no longer take it; this had to end.

  “I’ll send you back to hell, you bastard! I told you I’d win. You picked the wrong tracker for your damn game this time!”

  “Please, John, you’re hurting me!”

  Kathy felt the blood on her arms and knew she needed to get it stopped soon. She felt herself become lightheaded, and the room began to spin. “John, please...”

  He could not hear her pleas. He only heard the taunts and lies leading him over the edge to insanity. John looked into the empty eyes of the skull; rage overcoming all reason.

  “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you and send you back to hell! You will not win! You may have everyone else fooled, but I know the truth! No one else will die for your sick game. I will not let it happen,”

  John released her arms to grasp her throat. “I’ll take your life the way you did theirs. How many have died for your pleasure? How many times have you played your precious game? Well, this is the last time, and I have won! You may think you’re something special, a God, but I’m the one in control now! I have beaten you. You are nothing…you have lost!”

  John’s hands tightened around the throat of the demon, crushing the life out of it. He relished the feeling this brought, and he never wanted it to end. He laughed how it struggled under his grasp. “You’re not so powerful now are you, Erebus? It’s time to go back to hell, you son-of-a-bitch, and I hope you burn there for all eternity!”

  Kathy felt the room closing in around her. “My God, he’s killing me!” She cried out, trying to reach for his face.

  She wondered if a touch would bring him back, but she did not have the strength.

  Blood flowed freely as her heart raced so hard she thought it would burst. The room spun around her, as she felt herself spiraling down into a place of no escape.

  Time transformed into light. So, this is what it is like to die?

  It surprised her there was no fear, only a feeling of peace and love. She knew her life was ending by the hand of the one she had trusted most, but there was no anger, only forgiveness.

  “John, I love you with all my heart, and I forgive you.” Her words were too soft to reach through his rage.

  She felt the room swirl around her, pulling her into an unknown place. Then with a soft cry, she surrendered to the gentle embrace of death.

  Chapter 33

  To Die a Thousand Deaths

  Joy consumed John. He had won. It was over, and the sanctimonious asshole was back in hell where he belonged.

  “You thought you could beat me? Well, so much for you, Erebus, God of Darkness! You thought you were superior to me, well who has the last laugh now? Burn in your kingdom, burn and remember that I won The Game!”

  John was thrilled to know he would never hear the voice again. It was over, and he had won. However, from across the room, he heard something he had never expected.

  “What’s this?” John turned to see the screen on the television light up, and clear to show its nigh
tmare.

  There before his eyes was Kathy, pleading for him to listen, but he pushed her away. He watched in horror, as she fell on the coffee table, shattering the glass top. Then he saw the blood flowing down her arms. She begged him for help, but he tightened his hands around her throat and crushed the life out of her.

  “No, that’s not true; it never happened. She’s not even here. I haven’t seen her since she came back from Florida. It has to be a trick; even from hell, he is trying to control me.”

  He stepped forward to turn off the nightmare when he stumbled on something. “What the hell?”

  The sight below him turned John’s blood to ice. There is a pool of blood lay Kathy.

  “No, it can’t be true. I didn’t...I couldn’t have...” he moaned.

  John reached down to touch her, not entirely convinced she was there.

  “What have I done? I don’t remember, oh, Lord, this can’t be true. What have I done?” The agony ripped out his heart.

  The sound of her voice flowed from the television. “John, I love you with all my heart. I forgive you.”

  “What have I done?” Wales of pain filled the room. He searched his mind, trying to remember.

  “This never happened; she wasn’t here, was she?” He touched her face and prayed she would open her eyes, but he knew she was dead.

  Kathy was dead, and it was his fault. He had done the unforgivable, and nothing, he could do, would ever make up for it.

  “I’m sorry!” John reached down and picked Kathy up in his arms, holding her lifeless body close to his. Blood was everywhere, and the front of her gown was ripped open exposing her breasts.

  “I won’t have you found looking this way, sweetheart. You deserve better than to be seen like this,” he whispered in her ear.

  John carried her upstairs to their bedroom and laid her on their bed. He then went to the bathroom and got a wet cloth to clean off the blood.

  “Oh God, there’s so much blood. Why didn’t I see you, why didn’t I stop?” He cried while gently wiping the blood from her arms. Once he finished, he laid them beside her and covered her with the sheet to protect her modesty.

  “I’m sorry. I know I was angry with you, but I never wanted this.”

  John bent down and kissed her on the lips. “Goodbye, my love, I hope you find happiness in heaven.”

  John sat in silence, looking at her beautiful face. He then stood, and walked downstairs to his office.

  ***

  It had been a pure delight to behold. Erebus enjoyed the look on John’s face, as he watched the life drain out of her. Every move was played out as expected in The Game; each piece performed to perfection.

  “Now, one last move,” he smiled with anticipation. “All right, John, the final move is yours.”

  ***

  There was a chill in the room, not the chill of winter, but that of death. John knew what he must do.

  “She’s dead; she’s dead because of me, and my choices.”

  He thought back to his dream. “It’s true; they’re all dead because of my choices.”

  John reached into his desk drawer and pulled out his revolver, placing it on the desk in front of him. There was only one more thing to do.

  John knew he did not want to live with Kathy dead by his hands. He reached for the gun when the telephone began to ring. John waited as it rang several times then stopped. Then reaching for the gun again, the phone rang again. This time, he answered it, “Hello!”

  “Good evening, John. I wanted to call and thank you. I have enjoyed our time together, and I hate to see it come to an end.”

  John felt is body turn to ice. “You bastard, what have you made me do?”

  “Made you do? You made all the choices during The Game for yourself. You chose to believe your beloved Kathy betrayed you. With everything you experience during our game, you still believed she was capable of betrayal. John, you amaze me. I told you from the beginning you had all the clues, you just merely chose not to see them.”

  “What clues? The only clues had to do with the others, not Kathy. You never said she was part of our game!”

  A feeling of dread washed over John. Did I overlook something? Did I focus on the wrong thing?

  “Of course, she was part of the game, John; she had been from the beginning. Kathy was one of the chosen pieces just like the others and for a prime reason. Kathy was your strength, John. She held you together in the past. She even saved you from yourself, but now because of your choices, you have nothing.”

  “But why use her, why the others? You told me I was the important one in The Game. Why destroy their lives?” John shook his head, trying to make sense of it all.

  “You were John. They were simply symbols of your life. I told you from the beginning how I sought you out because you were special. I found you to be a fascinating subject the day you were on the news, bragging about your arrest of the gang members. I knew from that moment; you would be my next Tracker.”

  Erebus paused before continuing. “Let’s see, how did you put it? Ah yes, I remember now. You said all criminals were stupid, and how it was only a matter of time before they made a mistake. You then went on to say the evidence never lied, and it would always prove the guilt of the criminal. Such confidence and arrogance, I knew you would make an excellent Tracker in The Game. See John; each piece was chosen as representations of different parts of your life, John.”

  The voiced chuckled then continued. “First, there was the politician. He put personal gain and glory above anything or anyone. Just as you did, as a young officer. You wanted to score the big bust, which was the burning desire consuming your soul. You were alike, John. Fame and power were more important than anything. Next were the business partners. One was weak and always felt inferior with the need to prove his worth to the world, even at the expense of his best friend. It’s a shame when people who have been friends for years, let blind ambition come between them. Just like you did with Ray. You let your hunger for fame and glory cause the death of your friend, and partner. Poor Ray, he ended up being the price paid for your detective’s badge. Was the trade-off worth it? You were the weak one, and that’s why you needed to prove your importance. You needed to show the world you could be the cop your uncle was before that street thug shot him, and for that, you sacrificed the life of your friend.”

  “But what about the prostitutes, how did they fit in?” John was confused, as to their part in all of this.

  “They were not important. They were simply needed to set the scene.”

  He paused again before he continued, “I bet you’re wondering about the lawyer’s wife, aren’t you? She was a symbol of your marriage. Those two had a beautiful and happy marriage just as you did, John. It was a joy proving to everyone there are no more fairy tales, as well as how easy it is to live a lie. I destroyed the love of his life, just as you did yours.”

  Erebus took a breath to savor the moment. “You see, it all ties together. It was always there for you to find, you only chose not to look. You allowed your arrogance keep you from seeing the truth.”

  He waited a moment for a response then when none came; he continued. “Well, I want to thank you again for a stimulating time; it has truly been a pleasure. I’m sure you know what’s next, don’t you? It’s up to you to make the final move; let’s see if you have it in you to fulfill your part in The Game. You truly were an enjoyable opponent, John, but alas, our game has come to an end, and it’s time for me to go make my introductions. Goodbye, John.” The telephone went dead for the last time.

  John sat in silence, going over everything said.

  “He’s right; it was all my fault. I let each of them down. I always believed I had the answers, but now I have nothing. I have lost everything, my career, my marriage, even my soul. There is only one thing left to do.”

  John reached for his gun. “Goodbye, Erebus, game over…you
win!”

  ~~~~~

  Preview of

  A New Game

  Book 2

  Prologue

  “It’s my fault they’re all dead! My choices caused their deaths, and I don’t deserve to escape from my punishment! He thought me a coward, and I would take the easy way out, but I couldn’t bring myself to dishonor her memory. She died because I was too weak to stop him, and I know he’s out there right now planning his next game. Erebus will destroy more lives, and no one can stop him! He’s a demon from hell, sent to destroy as many lives as possible. I thought I had killed him, but how does one kill a demon? You have to let me go! I’m the only one who knows he exists! Let me out of here…Let me out…LET ME OUT!”

  ***

  “Doctor, do you think he’ll ever return from the hell he’s trapped in?” Tom hated to see John in this condition.

  “There’s no way of knowing, Captain Riggs. It’s up to John if he recovers from this.”

  “I wish I knew who this Erebus was. John speaks of him as though he’s a real person, but how is that even possible?” Tom said as he watched John through the two-way mirror.

  Continued in A New Game-Book 2

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