Game Over (Whithall University Book 2)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  I rise up on my knees, pulling the dirty gag out of his mouth and palming the good side of his face.

  “What do I do?” I sob.

  He inhales, taking a gasp of breath. “Get out of here, Allie. Get out of here now,” he yells.

  “I’d stop touching him, if I were you.”

  I spin around, falling on my arse with my back against CJ’s knees. “Alex!”

  “I didn’t want you to find out like this,” he says, a sardonic expression etched on his face.

  He looks like my friend—sounds like him. But something inside him has changed, something in his eyes and his body language. No longer is he slouching, looking like the goofy boy I’ve come to know. Instead, he stands tall, looking confident. He no longer has that shy, timid boy look. Instead, his expression is bored, uncaring and dark. It’s like there’s an imposter inside my friend’s body.

  “You touch her, and I’ll fucking kill you,” CJ growls, still struggling in his chair, making the sores on his wrists worse.

  “Stop,” I warn him, glancing down at his wrists, but he doesn’t seem to care that he’s hurting himself. He doesn’t look away from Alex. I turn back around, biting my bottom lip and willing my heart to stop racing.

  Alex laughs patronisingly, glancing at CJ like he could take him on and win. And in CJ’s vulnerable position, he could.

  I can’t let that happen.

  If I want to get us out of this unscathed, then I need to talk to him, calm him down and get him to see reason. If there’s a chance of that. The person in front of me is too far gone; I think my efforts might be a waste.

  “Why are you doing this, Alex?”

  His head turns in my direction, but his eyes stay on CJ a moment longer, before falling on me. “Because he took what wasn’t his. It runs in the family, so I shouldn’t be surprised.”

  “She’s not yours,” CJ snaps.

  I reach behind me, putting my hand on his ankle and squeezing.

  “What do you mean it runs in the family?”

  “My mum’s little sister, my auntie, tempted him when she knew he belonged to my mum. She shouldn’t have. It got her killed, you know. It got her killed. My mum made sure of it, she did,” he rants, pulling at the ends of his hair. “I can’t let him take you from me. I can’t kill you.”

  I should be relieved, but I’m not. The fact he’s capable of killing is something I can’t comprehend.

  I wipe at my eyes, trying my hardest to keep eye contact with him without flinching. “We were friends, Alex. Best friends. Why would you do this to me? You killed those girls,” I say, my eyes flicking to the side, where a girl, who I presumed is Lilian, is panting in her chair, looking terrified. When I look back to him, my chest tightens in pain. “You killed my baby.”

  CJ makes a sound in the back of his throat as he pulls on his restraints.

  “I couldn’t let him ruin your life, Allie. You’re too good for that,” he says softly, taking a step towards me. I flinch, shuffling back further against CJ. My entire body is shaking to the point it hurts. The blood pumping through me feels like it’s on fire, I’m that scared.

  When Alex’s gaze meets mine, its filled with hurt. “I’d never hurt you, Allie. Never. I did this all for you. I needed to get him out of the way, so we could be alone. I couldn’t kill you. Not you.”

  “You did hurt me. You killed my baby,” I scream, feeling tears stream down my face.

  CJ struggles again, and I hear the pained sound at the back of his throat. It’s probably killing him that he can’t comfort me, protect me. But it’s my turn to protect him.

  “Get me out of these restraints,” CJ snaps, and I hear the emotion in the back of his throat.

  “I did it for you,” Alex screams back.

  “And the girls? Why did you hurt all those innocent girls? Why did you pretend to care they were missing when all along you had killed them? Why, Alex? Why?”

  I gasp, frozen, when he pulls out a knife from his back pocket, using it to scratch his head, and starts pacing back and forth, his eyes never leaving mine.

  I look towards the door, wondering if I can make it before he catches me, or if I’d get help in time before he hurts them.

  He chuckles. “I wouldn’t bother. It’s locked,” he admits, and my stomach sinks. “And I’d slit their throats before you made it to the door.”

  “Why are you doing this? Why did you hurt those girls?”

  “Why? Because I needed to get him out of the way. I needed them to be you. I couldn’t hurt you, but when they were bad, I could hurt them. I could. They weren’t you, so I had to hurt them. I needed you.”

  I feel sick. What I’m hearing is It’s outrageous, unbelievable. He’s insane, completely delusional.

  “You’re fucking sick. You did it because you’re a fucking psycho. This has nothing to do with Allie,” CJ snaps angrily.

  Alex’s head snaps to CJ, glaring. He points the knife in his direction, spit flying from his mouth when he shouts, “No! You can’t say her name. Don’t say her name. You don’t know anything.”

  I interrupt CJ before he can say anything else to anger Alex. Making someone unpredictable angry isn’t a wise idea.

  “Who are you, Alex?”

  “You still don’t know?” he asks, seeming genuinely confused.

  I shake my head. “No. I don’t know who you are. The person I know wouldn’t have hurt anybody, not even people who deserved it. How did you end up here? What happened to you?” I ask softly.

  He looks around the room before spotting something. I use the opportunity to shift my body, so I can cover CJ’s legs. I reach behind me, watching Alex the whole time while trying to loosen the ropes tying his ankles to the chair.

  “Allie,” CJ warns under his breath, trying to nudge me away with his foot. I hardly hear him, so I know Alex didn’t, but it still doesn’t stop me from pausing, my heart racing as I watch Alex grab a chair from the corner.

  I keep going, using slow movements so he won’t know what I’m doing.

  “I’m going to tell you two a story,” Alex says, sitting down when he finishes dragging the chair to place in front of us.

  “Great, a bed time story. Could you be any sadder?” CJ taunts.

  Alex just smirks. It’s creepy, deadly. He places the knife on his lap, leaning back in the chair casually, like he isn’t holding three people hostage.

  Hostage.

  God, how did we get here? How could he do this? This is Alex. I still can’t wrap my mind around it all. I honestly didn’t see this coming, not by a mile away.

  “Seems we share more than DNA, brother. I don’t like bedtime stories, either,” Alex taunts back, his eyes hard.

  “Brother?” CJ and I say simultaneously. My jaw falls slack, looking between them. They look nothing alike for which I’m thankful for.

  Alex laughs, throwing his head back before looking at us, his expression dead, changed completely from the person I know. I don’t even recognise him right now. And the more he talks, the more he doesn’t even sound like himself at all.

  He taps his hand against his leg. “Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?”

  “Yeah, why don’t you share how a family can all turn into a bunch of crazy sickos.”

  I glance at CJ. “His nan seems pretty stable. She’s losing her mind, though,” I blurt out. I’m nervous and scared—it happens. I don’t even know why I said it.

  He looks down at me, his eyes twinkling, but I can see the penetrating fear behind them. He’s scared shitless, just like me.

  “Cupcake,” he says dryly, rolling his eyes. “Like I said before: crazy.”

  “Shut up!” Alex screams, jumping up from his chair and clutching his head.

  He pulls the knife up in front of him, aiming it at CJ, and storms towards us. My hands are visibly shaking when I hold them up in front of me.

  “Stay away from her,” CJ screams.

  “No! Please, don’t hurt him,” I shout, but start
screaming when Alex grabs a handful of hair and starts dragging me towards Lilian. I grab onto his wrist, at the same time trying to shuffle on my knees so I can keep up with him, trying to ease the pain in my scalp.

  He drops me, and I fall limply against Lilian. I look up, taking her in. She looks dazed, a bruise swelling on her cheek, and I’m wondering what’s he’s done to her that has kept her quiet all this time.

  “Let her fucking go! I’m going to kill you. Do you hear me? I’m going to rip your fucking head off,” CJ screams, turning bright red.

  “Stay there,” Alex yells, pointing the knife at me. I rear back, my heart stopping from shock.

  I tense when he walks towards CJ. I panic, freezing on the spot. “Please don’t hurt him,” I beg. “Alex, if you cared for me as a friend, you wouldn’t hurt him.”

  He holds the knife up to CJ’s face, pressing it into his cheek. I gasp in horror when fresh blood starts trickling down his face. “No!”

  “Not so fucking cocky now you have a knife pressed against your face, are you?”

  CJ smiles, showing a cut on the inside of his lip that hasn’t stopped bleeding. “Like you? Get me out of these ropes and we’ll see how cocky you are.”

  I watch in horror as Alex brings the butt of his knife down on CJ’s cheek, splitting it open. “Stop! Stop! Please, don’t,” I scream, wanting to go to CJ, but the look Alex gives me stops me, and I heed the silent warning.

  “Now shut the fuck up and listen. Or next time, I’ll hurt her,” he says to CJ, pointing towards me and Lilian.

  CJ grits his teeth. “You’re dead, Potter. Fucking dead.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see,” Alex mutters before sitting back down in his chair.

  “Can you let the girl go? This is Lilian, right? The last girl to go missing? Why don’t you let her go? This is between us,” I ask softly, hoping he will see reason. Maybe she can call for help from the house.

  I’m still hoping Jordan has answered my call and is listening in. She will call for help; I know she will. I have to believe that.

  “No, now shut up or I’ll stab her,” he snaps, rubbing his temple again.

  “Okay,” I whisper. I rub the girl’s leg over the long white nighty she’s wearing, looking up at her. “It will be okay.”

  Tears are running down her face as she nods slowly, looking too petrified to move. I can’t imagine what she is going through.

  “Family tree time,” Alex starts, and I look away from Lilian to him. “My nan, the woman I live with, and her many boyfriends, were responsible. I blame her for everything. She should have protected them better.”

  “Is that why she isn’t in a home and living in filth?” I ask.

  He laughs. “Payback’s a bitch, that’s what you always say. Do you know she let her boyfriend’s rape her kids? My mum,” he tells me, his voice strangled. “Did you know that when her last husband, my aunt’s dad, didn’t touch them, my dad took over? It was his job, anyway, not the lowly excuses of men she brought round.”

  “What the fuck? That doesn’t make any sense,” CJ snaps, but when I glance over at him, I can see the interest, the need to know what happened, and the disgust at what he’s pieced together already.

  Alex smiles. “Well, he’s your dad, but he’s my uncle and dad.”

  I’m going to be sick. He can’t be serious.

  “You’re telling me, your mum and uncle—dad, whatever—had sex?”

  “All the time,” Alex says, smiling like it’s the best thing in the world. “My mum didn’t like her mum’s boyfriends, but she loved our dad. She would tell me how much she loved him all the time. My nan’s last husband never understood their relationship, but I don’t think he knew just how close they were. She was ill you know—my mum. She didn’t know any different. She got worse when he got sent to prison for raping a woman. Your mum,” he bites out. “Slut.”

  CJ loses it, trying to fight his way out of his chair, screaming and yelling. His face is red, enraged. “You don’t fucking speak about my mum. He deserved to go to jail. I’m glad he rotted there.”

  Alex shoots up in his seat, stepping closer. “She needed him, and your slut of a mum tempted him, just like my aunt did. If he had stayed, she wouldn’t have been sent away to the psychiatric unit. She was already pregnant with me when he got sent to prison. It’s why she married my step-dad so quickly; she needed to keep our bloodline going. She didn’t love him, though. But she could have had given me a sister. I could have had Allie. She would have been my sister. I know it. But then dad died in prison ten years later, just when she found out my step-dad was having an affair and got the mistress pregnant. She had been waiting for my dad to come out and give her another baby. One to give to me,” he spits, thumping his chest.

  What the fuck? This is beyond wrong.

  I can’t look away from him, trying to see what I missed since I met him. There had to be signs he went through this. There had to be, and I missed them.

  CJ, still going mad, glares up at him, spitting in his face. “It doesn’t work like that, dickhead. Allie isn’t related to you; she isn’t a part of you. She never will be. And what happened to your mum, your aunt, was fucking sick. Your nan fucked all her kids up in the head. What they were doing to them was wrong, Alex; what you are doing is wrong.”

  “She would have been mine,” Alex screams. “We could have shared what my mum and dad had. We could have been good together. But you had to get in the way. Just like my aunt, just like my step-father’s mistress. You got in the way.”

  “You’re fucking sick,” CJ spits.

  Alex ignores him, turning to me. “Now, you chose. You could have left him after he flirted with that girl on the field, when he was taken in for questioning, or when you got pregnant, but you didn’t. I’ve gave you chances, Allie. I gave you loads of chances, and you let me down. You disappointed me.”

  CJ scoffs. “Fucking listen to yourself, man. You’re fucking mental. You ain’t right in the head.”

  I get up on my knees slowly, my entire body shaking. “Alex, I don’t belong to you. I love CJ, that is why I’m with him.”

  He shakes his head. “Nope. Nope. Nope,” he screams, pacing back and forth, his knife still in his hand.

  “Alex, you need to stop. It’s over. Just let us go.”

  He stops pacing, turning to me with narrowed eyes. “No, no, no,” he chants. He rushes over, and I flinch, thinking he’s reaching out for me. When Lilian starts screaming, I open my eyes. He’s pulling her chair, pulling her towards his own, and my heart sinks.

  I reach out for her, grabbing the leg of her chair and stopping him. “No. Don’t hurt her. Please. We can sort this out, Alex, we can. You just need to calm down.”

  “Let her go, man. You don’t need to hurt her,” CJ yells, also trying to get him to see reason.

  He kicks my hand away from the chair and I cry out in pain. “You never tell me what to do. I’m the big brother. You have to do as I say,” he shouts.

  I pull my arm close to my chest, feeling the throbbing all the way to my shoulder. Lilian keeps screaming, struggling in her chair, her eyes wide, sweat mixing with tears, matting her hair to her face. Alex wipes it back, looking down at her with so much hatred.

  “Please, Alex, don’t do this,” I plead, wiping my tears away.

  He looks to me, then to CJ. “You want me to let her go?”

  Relaxing somewhat, I nod. “Yes, Alex. You should let her go. She can wait outside while we talk. Just us three.”

  He nods, deep in thought. “Okay, okay.”

  Lilian relaxes, breathing out a sigh of relief and mouthing the words, ‘Thank you’.

  “Untie her, Alex,” I order softly when he doesn’t move.

  His head snaps up to me, his eyes dilated and filled with darkness. “Choose.”

  “Choose?”

  He nods again, pulling roughly on Lilian to straighten her in the chair. “Yes, choose. You can either save CJ or save her.”

  The blood d
rains from my face as I look between Alex and CJ. “You mean to let go?”

  He shakes his head, chuckling dryly. “No. To live. Either I kill CJ, or I kill her. Which one? Which one will you save, Allie? Which one means the most to you?”

  I feel faint, dizzy, and my throat closes with emotion. “You can’t make me choose.”

  He holds the knife up against her throat. “You don’t choose, and I’ll slit both their throats.”

  I sob, clutching my chest. “No, please don’t this. Please, Alex.”

  “Alex, listen to me. It doesn’t have to be like this. Just let the girls go. It’s me you want out of the way.”

  I look to CJ in horror, shaking my head. “No. Don’t do this. We can all get through this. Alex, you don’t need to hurt any more people. Don’t do this.”

  “Too late. Who will you choose, Allie?”

  I cry harder, standing now and hold my hand up to Alex. “Please, think about this. You want us to be together, to be brother and sister, but if you do this, I won’t.”

  He pauses, the knife on Lilian’s neck loosening.

  “Don’t kill me. Please, don’t kill me. I want to go home,” Lilian cries, her eyes locked on mine. “Please don’t let him kill me.”

  “You listen to me!” Alex yells, looking at me.

  I scream when he raises the knife, plunging it into her shoulder. My hands cover my mouth, watching in devastation as her eyes roll to the back of her head and a scream so loud it pierces my eardrums erupts from her throat.

  “Stop!” I scream, rushing over to them.

  “Allie, no!” CJ yells.

  I only get so close before he yanks the knife out of her shoulder and points it at me. I stop short, looking him dead in the eye.

  “Stop. Please, just stop.”

  “Choose,” he screeches, spit flying everywhere. “CJ’s next, Allie, if you don’t choose, and it won’t be his shoulder I’ll be stabbing. I’ll be removing a body part.”

  I make a pained sound, struggling with what to do, how to stall. “I can’t,” I sob, looking at CJ helplessly.