Cass
I was dozing in bed when heavy footfalls pounded through the room.
I blinked awake just as hands seized me, hauling me to my feet. My heart stuttered into top gear.
I came face to face with Rockley Jones, my arms held by two guards as they presented me to him. Today, he wore a white shirt with a sparkly red neckerchief that made him look like a theatrical cowboy.
He held a glass of murky water in his hand which he thrust toward me. “Drink.”
I searched for Silas in the room, his arms folded and his brow creased. He mouthed, “Larkspur,” and I took the cup from Rockley, knocking back the solution.
Jasmine flooded my senses as it tingled all the way down my throat.
“Good. Now you'll be bright and breezy for today's games,” Rockley purred.
I ground my teeth, staring evenly back at him, determined not to let him see me scared.
Silas cleared his throat and Rockley threw him a brief glance. “She'll be fine, Madigan. You're welcome to watch if it comforts you.”
Silas immediately followed as the guards escorted me after Rockley.
I was taken downstairs along a dark corridor with animated images hanging on the walls in gilded frames. The short clips inside them showed highlights of Rockley's old games. A girl was being eaten alive by Vampires on a dark grassy knoll with lightning striking above her in the night sky. I grimaced, trying to avoid the others, but couldn't help noticing a few: women charging across a plain of land in an array of colourful gowns. Another of a man fighting for his life against four Vampires in a damp cave, blood staining his shirt, his arms marred and scratched.
“I was in de process of introducing men to de games before you and your friends decided to disrupt things,” Rockley said, eyeing my expression. “Ah dis is my personal favourite.” He took my shoulders, making me face one of the images.
Selena was standing on a podium above a sparkling amphitheater, her face illuminated on screens surrounding her. Her white dress glimmered under the lights, her eyes just as fierce.
“Wait for it,” Rockley said, moving me closer.
Selena's eyes flickered, betraying her fear.
“Dere,” Rockley sighed. “De fear in her, I captured it in dis image. I will see dat again one day. I will break her...but it is you I will break first.” He chuckled darkly, guiding me onward. My heart swelled at seeing Selena's ferocity. Her fear was beautiful to me. It proved how strong she was. How much she had faced despite her terror.
Rockley led me through a door and we arrived in a room that resembled a cinema. Red velvet seats ran down toward a large screen encompassing the far wall. Before it, was a chair with a large headset perched atop it.
I was escorted down to it and Rockley gestured for the guards to strap me in.
As they did so, I spotted Ulvic sitting in one of the aisles, half his face shrouded in shadows. He sat up straighter, letting me see him and the smile sliding onto his face.
Silas edged into the aisle beside him, dropping down with a heavy sigh. “Remember your promise to me, Rockley,” he called.
“Dis is not going to hurt her,” Rockley assured him as my arms were strapped in place with heavy shackles. “Not physically anyway,” he murmured to himself.
Rockley picked up the headset hanging on the headrest, planting it over my head and flipping down a glass visor.
Blue lights illuminated the inside of it. I glanced at Rockley as he pressed a button on the chair and something sharp dug into my neck.
I gasped, jolting in my seat.
“Bye bye,” Rockley said, stepping before me as he waved. The visor lit up, so bright it was all I could see, then my vision cleared and I blinked as the light seemed to turn to sunshine.
I was standing in a forest, the morning light casting shafts through the lush green leaves above me.
I was in a virtual world, constructed by Rockley. And that fact was something I clung onto hard.
No matter how real it felt, it wasn't. But my pounding heart obviously hadn't gotten that message.
I glanced down at myself, finding my body clad in the dark green gown from the games. My feet were bare and I could feel every piece of shredded mulch between my toes. I crept forward, following the track further into the woodland, gentle birdsong caressing my senses.
A cool breeze raised the hairs on my arms and I swallowed hard. This all felt too real.
I continued walking, quickening my pace, wondering what I was supposed to do, or where I was supposed to go. The logical part of my brain reminded me that I wasn't really here, I was strapped to a chair back in Rockley's resort, but somehow that fact gave me little comfort now.
The sky began to darken, turning to dusk quicker than should have been possible. I followed the path, emerging in a large park where kids played on swings and couples strolled hand in hand.
My heart thumped hard in recognition and I paused, stiffening. I knew this park. It was close to my home, back in England. And suddenly it all felt too familiar.
As if by instinct, my feet carried me toward a winding concrete path that ran toward a stone water fountain. I spotted a couple up ahead, the blonde girl leaning her head against the man's shoulder.
I'd done this before. I'd followed them, all those years ago. After I'd found out my boyfriend had been cheating on me and I couldn't let it go. Creeping around, practically stalking them to try and see what she had that I didn't.
My ex's arm snaked around the girl's waist, holding her close before stealing a deep kiss. I remembered the pain, the anger. But it didn't hurt me now in the same way. It was an old wound, knitted over from time. Just a scar. I loved Jameson now. I'd moved on. This wasn't going to hurt me. And the moment I realised that, the world around me began to spin, faster and faster until all I could see was a blur of green.
Suddenly, I was standing in a kitchen, a match in my hand as I struck it over and over again. My hands were possessed. I couldn't stop them as fire bloomed at the end of the match.
Panic ripped at my heart. This place. I knew it so well. This moment was etched into my mind like it had been carved there with a hot poker.
I turned, gazing into my ex's apartment. I'd soaked everything in petrol, the bed he'd slept in with her. The sofa, the coffee table. The clothes I'd bought him, the little teddy he'd given to me. All of it was evidence of a life I'd left far behind. But there I was again, forced to face it once more.
That night, I'd been riding the first high of my life, taken the drugs my brother had tried to save me from. I felt that madness in me now like it still lived there. I was trapped inside the person I'd once been, throwing the match and watching as the sofa burst into flames. The heat of them warmed my face, drying the tears on my cheeks.
Pain flared inside me. What had happened next was the worst night of my life. I'd run from the building, hid out until I'd sobered up. When I found out about all the people who'd died in that building, I'd tried to end it. Kill myself for the nightmare I'd caused. The lives I'd destroyed.
No, this isn't me anymore. I'm not that girl.
The harder I focused, the more control I gained over my body, my emotions.
As I found my strength, I raised my head upwards and shouted, “I'm not her anymore! This doesn't scare me.”
The door to the apartment flew open and my heart plummeted.
I stumbled back as two Vampires darted into the room, one after the other as if they'd come straight from the V Games. They were barely clothed, their bodies emaciated and their expressions snarling. But their faces were ones I knew well. My ex, Blake, and his girlfriend.
Damn you Rockley Jones.
With a spurt of adrenaline, I fled back into the kitchen, dragging the cutlery drawer open and snatching out a knife. The moment I turned, the first of them collided with me full-force.
My back hit the counter as I struggled to push him off, terror spiking through me. Blake's eyes were wild. Eyes I'd gazed into dreamily once. What an idiot I'
d been.
With a shout of effort, I jammed my knife into his chest, twisting it hard. It was only a little satisfying...
I threw him aside, though he wasn't dead, but I had bigger problems as the girl came at me in a whirl of blonde hair.
Steeling myself, I grabbed her locks in my fist, wrenching her head back with a yell. I whipped the blade across her throat and let her drop to the ground, my hands trembling.
The two of them writhed on the floor at my feet, their wounds healing over.
I swallowed the sharp lump in my throat then lifted the knife and slammed the blade into the girl's skull. Blake dove at me. I wasn't ready for the attack; my knife was stuck in the girl's head- hell, what had been her name?
I lost my grip on the knife as Blake fell atop me, his teeth sinking into my neck. I cried out, flailing around for a weapon, trying to reach something. Desperation made me strong, but it wasn't enough.
My fingertips grazed the can of petrol.
Oh hell.
I dragged it toward me, tipping it up and soaking his back in it. It spilled over me too and I coughed as it splashed onto my face, the thick scent consuming my senses. Blake ripped his fangs free and turned my head sharply, sinking them into my shoulder instead. I was in agony, flailing, panicked.
I punched and kicked, but I couldn't get him off.
Reaching down for the matches, I pushed my fingers into my pocket and tugged them free. Wrapping my arms around him, gritting my teeth against the pain, the fear, I struck a match against the box.
FWOOMPH.
Flames roared. I screamed as Blake's body caught light.
He screeched and wailed, flying off of me. I scrambled away, the fire nearly licking my clothes. One spark and I'd go up like a bonfire.
My thoughts realigned and I ran for the door as Blake's whole body was consumed.
My shaking legs somehow carried me from the apartment and I fled downstairs, panting and spluttering from the fumes following me. I passed an old woman in the lobby. I remembered her face like it was yesterday I'd seen her. Curling grey hair, her eyes soft, kindly. I'd not thought of anyone but my ex that night. I hadn't even considered the fire would spread. That other people might be affected.
“Are you alright, dear?” she called as I ran past her, heading out into the cold night air.
No point in warning her. This isn't real. Though it was getting harder and harder to remember that.
As I stepped outside and the breeze twisted my hair into wild strands, the guilt found me. I'd never truly get over what I'd done that night. Being back there was threatening to break my heart all over again. It was suffocating, a pain like that. Regret was built from many layers. First the guilt, the anguish. Then the what ifs? All the ways I should have acted. I'd relived the small events that had led up to that single moment of madness a thousand times.
Eventually, I'd accepted that what I'd done wasn't cruel, it was just a side effect of stupidity, of recklessness. My time in the V Games had taught me that, when I'd had to kill with intention. But that night, I'd only wanted to hurt Blake to make him feel what I had. Instead, I'd destroyed the lives of innocent people. And for what?
There was no real answer to that. And perhaps that was the hardest part of regret. What was done, was done. And I'd have to live with that for the rest of my life. The only thing I could do in the meantime was learn from my mistakes, and I hope I never made them again.
A bright light came into view and I squinted as it consumed everything before me, swallowing the virtual world whole.
When the light eased, I found Rockley before me, clapping.
Sickness took hold of my stomach and as someone released the chains on my arms, I lurched forward and vomited on the floor.
Rockley stepped back, his expression unchanging. “Dat was quite de show.”
I locked eyes with Silas up in the row of seats. Ulvic was pale beside him.
“We watched everything on de screen, through your eyes,” Rockley announced and I coughed a little, bile rising in my throat again. I didn't know exactly what had caused it. The experience? Some simulation drug they'd injected me with? My hormones?
Rockley pulled me to my feet and I stumbled a little, having to lean against him for support.
“You are de first to trial dis new game. It feeds off of your innermost fears to create a terrifying reality. The pain is real, the emotions. It is a beautiful thing, no?”
I stepped back, not wanting to touch him a moment longer. “Well at least no one can actually die in this. So I guess it's an improvement.” I gave him a dark look.
His smile grew. “Dat is true. But my games will never be entirely virtual. Plus, I can always hook dese machines up to a lethal injection. Die in de virtual world, die in reality. Dat would give de contestants a little more...incentive to play.”
I folded my arms. “Can I go now?”
Rockley chuckled softly. “No. I have one more surprise for you, my dear. And your imagination has proved a rather perfect entree for what I have planned.”
I frowned as he took my arm, his warm fingers curling around my wrist. I didn't bother to ask what he had in store for me. Rockley loved his surprises. And frankly, I wanted to hold off the reveal for as long as I could. It certainly wasn't going to be a plate of cookies.
Silas and Ulvic rose from their seats, following us out of the cinema. We didn't walk for long as Rockley guided me into a room just outside the door. It was divided in two by a large screen. Beyond the glass, was Blake. Bloodied, thin and sobbing.
My heart beat rapidly and I turned to Rockley in alarm. “What is he doing here?
From the way Blake was gazing vacantly around his cell, I guessed it was one-way glass parting us, so the only thing he could see was his reflection.
Rockley placed his hand on the base of my spine, guiding me toward a handle on the glass that would evidently open a door. I shook my head, digging my heels in. Seeing Blake was not something I ever wanted to do, let alone here, under these circumstances.
Rockley moved his mouth close to my ear, whispering, “I'd attack him while he's down, Cassandra, before he hears the terms of dis game.” He opened the door and shoved me inside before I could resist any further.
The door snapped shut behind me and Blake's eyes wheeled to mine. “Cass?” he asked in horror. “What the hell?” His eyes dropped dramatically to my stomach. He shuffled back onto his knees, pulling himself together as he got up. His dark hair was overly long and matted with sweat.
I was choked, unable to say anything. What the hell was I supposed to say to an ex who I'd wanted to kill a few years back?
Rockley's voice boomed through the room. “Only one of you will leave dis room. Whoever kills de other will go home...be free.” The words weren't for me. They were for Blake. And they were damn lies. But the look in his eyes told me he bought them.
He swallowed, gazing at me, looking uncertain of what to do.
“I'm not going to hurt you,” I promised.
He coughed a laugh. “Hurt me? I'm the one who has the upper hand here.”
“Not true,” I hissed, glaring at him. “I'm not human, Blake. I can kill you.”
His nose wrinkled. “You were always crazy but...Jesus, Cass. What's wrong with you?”
The words scorched a mark on my heart. I ground my teeth, glancing at the glass reflecting us. “This isn't going to work, Rockley. We're not going to fi-” Blake slammed into me, knocking me back a few steps. I shoved him hard away and he fell back, gazing at me with wide-eyes, unable to believe my strength.
“No,” he growled, throwing himself at me again. He locked his hands around my throat and I knocked him off again, shoving my shoulder into his.
He stumbled, looking anxious.
“What the hell, Blake?” I snapped.
“You don't understand,” he said, running a hand into his sweaty hair. “They torture me. They don't leave me alone, not even to piss. I can't be here anymore. I have to go home. I
have to get out of here.” He was panicked, his movements jerky as he stepped toward me again.
“You'd really kill me?” I asked in disbelief.
His jaw ticked, his eyes flipping left and right. He looked maddened and that was dangerous. But I could keep him at bay if I had to.
A hatch opened in the wall behind Blake and a shimmering silver gun presented itself.
I gasped, Blake's eyes locking with mine for a fraction of a second before he made a dash for it. I charged forward, but he was closer, and despite my speed, he got there first, turning the gun on me.
I threw myself at him full-force and we crashed into the back wall. He angled the gun at me and I grabbed his wrist, pinning it against the wall. “Stop,” I snarled through my teeth.
“You're pregnant,” he whispered, his breath like a stagnant fog.
I grimaced. “Yes. So you won't kill me, will you?”
He nodded, his arm going slack, but his hand was still gripping the gun.
I released him slowly, prising the gun from his fingers. He took a steadying breath, eyeing the gun in my hand. He lunged for it.
I brought it up as he caught my wrist, trying to wrestle it out of my grip. “Stop!” I screamed, but he bit my arm, digging his teeth in hard, trying to make me release it.
I brought my fist into his side and he wheezed, but didn't let go. His teeth drew blood and I groaned with pain, grabbing the back of his neck and dragging him off me.
I raised the gun, pointing it at him to hold him at bay. “Screw you,” I growled. “What the hell are you thinking?”
I couldn't believe he'd tried to kill me. Sure, he was an arsehole, but a murderer? Rockley Jones' treatment of him had most-likely been brutal. Of course he wanted to go home. But was he actually willing to kill me to do it?
“I knew you'd come back to haunt me,” he snarled. “I had nightmares of you burning our home down. Coming for me and Amelia in the night. She left me, you know? Because of you. She said I never shut up about you. But that was because of what you did!”
Amelia, that was her name. I took in a deep breath, calming my thoughts. “I wasn't in my right mind when I burned your flat. I took drugs...it was stupid. I regret it so much Blake. I'm sorry for what I did. If I could take it back, I would. I'm not that person anymore.”
Wolf Games: Severed Fates (The Vampire Games Book 6) Page 17
