Malady (Deviant Games Book 2)

by Natalie Bennett

  Her fear was palpable. I wanted nothing more than to turn to her and tell her everything, but this wasn’t the time.

  “It’s simple. You run. We chase. You hide. We seek.”

  “Hide and seek?”

  “You’ve got a whole lot of woods to use for cover.”

  “Raelynn?” Kayla implored.

  “What’s sixty times forty?” Kaiden asked, drowning out whatever she said next.

  “Two hundred and forty,” I replied confusedly.

  “That’s how long of a head start we’ll give you.”

  “Four minutes? That’s barely enough time to get out of this graveyard. Whoever they are have mopeds. It isn’t fair.”

  Jace’s head tilted to the side.

  “Why would it be fair?”

  And there it was. This had never been about me winning. The games were set-up for them to come out victorious every time.

  It was all a sick form of entertainment before the acquisitions.

  There were a million other ways to find amusement other than stalking, terrorizing, and kidnapping people. I guess they missed that memo.

  “Your time started about thirty seconds ago,” Kaiden stated.

  “You better start running. You know what happens if I catch you,” Jace taunted.

  “We’re going to have to run,” I murmured to Kayla.

  Already on the same page, she kept her hand in mine, taking off at a slightly slower pace right beside me.

  The sun nor the weather were on our side. Our four minutes had ended fifteen ago. We’d been going deeper and deeper into a woodland neither of us knew how to navigate. It didn’t look as if it were going to end anytime soon.

  “I have to stop,” Kayla gasped, grabbing hold of the nearest tree to keep herself up right.

  Unable to reply due to my erratic breathing, I gave a shaky thumbs up and then braced my hands on my knees. I couldn’t keep this up much longer. Mental strength alone wasn’t going to make my body overcome exhaustion.

  Kayla was in worse shape than I was. She began to vomit. I grimaced and looked away, giving her some semblance of privacy.

  Still covered in dirt, the second I wiped my face traces of it were left behind on my lips and forehead. It hardly phased me.

  The approaching sound of mopeds had me rising back to my full height. As I was straining to hear where they were approaching from, Kayla lost her proverbial shit.

  “They’re going to catch us,” she panicked, backing away from the tree she’s been holding onto.

  “Shh, you have to be--.”

  “We have to go. Now!”

  “Wait, we don’t know which way they’re—dammit.”

  She bolted through a clearing, leaving me behind. I didn’t take it personally.

  I had no idea what they’d done to her prior to shoving her in a wooden coffin and burying her alive.

  That alone was traumatizing.

  Taking a deep breath, I took off after her. I’d barely passed through the same clearing when she screamed loud enough to send birds fleeing from the treetops. My feet paused before my brain caught up to what was happening.

  One of the mo-peds zoomed right up beside her. The rider grabbed her around the middle as if she weighed nothing. They carried her off with a terrifying ease, leaving nothing but fear and her continuous screams to linger behind.

  “No!” I brought my hands to my head, pulling at my hair.

  The sound of my voice reached over the purr of the other bike. Spotting me at the last second, the rider angled the handlebars to make a sharp turn.

  I wasn’t stupid enough to stand around and let them catch me. I backtracked the way I’d just come from, taking off at a run. I didn’t go the direction Kayla had just been taken in, or towards where we’d originally come from.

  I ran through as brush and over just as much uneven terrain as possible to either throw the mo-ped off my trail or make them unable to follow. I didn’t know what I was doing. Where I was going.

  This felt hopeless.

  Something kept pushing me onward. The stubborn, bullheaded side of me that refused to roll over and give in even if the outcome was going to be the same.

  It grew dark, the sun disappeared behind the trees and took all my warmth with it. My eyes adjusted eventually, as well as they were going to, anyway. I slapped at another bug that attempted to bite at my neck.

  Passing a tree with a gnarled base, I stopped to think.

  I swore I’d seen this before.

  Something snapped off to my right. From my peripheral, I saw someone dart past. I pretended to be none the wiser, her soft laugh confirmed who I already assumed it was.

  I walked a little further then stopped altogether and pretended to study the ground, waiting, letting myself look as defeated as I felt. As I knew I was.

  It didn’t take long.

  She came from my right, probably thinking she was going to catch me off guard. I wasn’t entirely sure if she meant to tackle me or swing. I shoved her away before she could do either.

  “I have no clue what they see in you,” she taunted, bouncing on the balls of her feet like some freakish m-m-a fighter.

  If she wanted to kick my ass, she could probably do so on any other given day than this one. Even worn to the bone I felt I had the upper hand right hand, merely because I had one thing in my favor. I was doing this to survive, she was doing it for the thrill.

  “More than they obviously see in you,” I retorted. I wasn’t in the mood for a verbal sparring match. We might as well get this over with, which meant she needed to get angry.

  She laughed and moved in, swinging her fist. It met my nose with an impact I wasn’t expecting. I heard more than felt the crack, eyes stinging with tears, nonetheless. Blood sprayed out. Not as much as I expected, though. A second later the pain spread through my face.

  “They said I couldn’t kill you. They didn’t say anything about getting a few hits in.”

  “A few?” This little bitch.

  She tried to swing again. I dodged it, barely, and tackled her. Throwing my full body weight into the force behind it. We hit the ground in a tangle of struggling limbs and pissed off snarls that made us seem more like animals than sophisticated young women. Not a natural fighter, I did the only thing I could think of. I went for her goddamn throat.

  I wrapped my hands around it and refused to let go. She dug her nails into the skin of my shoulders when she couldn’t reach my face. I returned the favor by curling mine into the flesh of her neck. A garbled, pained scream tried to escape from her mouth, drowned out by the pressure I applied to her windpipe.

  She struggled so violently we began to move. I placed my knees on either side of her to keep us still. Her mask started to dislodge, and she managed to hulk a loogie of spit in my face.

  It hit directly beneath my throbbing nose and trailed to my lips in a stringy line.

  Thoroughly disgusted and more than a little pissed off, I lifted her head and slammed it back down. “Just fucking die,” I ground out, repeating the motion until she something cracked. She let out a small, pained squeak before going limp beneath me.

  I slid my hands to the back of her head and felt a steady flow of blood. Applying pressure, something that probably shouldn’t have been capable of moving, shifted. I sat back, chest heaving, resting my ass on her torso. I wasn’t sure if she was truly dead, but I hoped she was. I wiped at my face, whimpering every time I bumped my nose.

  I had to get the spit off.

  Forcing my sore ligaments to move, I lifted myself off her and moved in whatever direction they carried me.

  When I could no longer look behind me and see her body, I slid down the base of a tree and stared blankly ahead.

  What was going to happen to Kayla?

  To me?

  My chin trembled as the urge to cry returned. Reaching up, I placed the heel of my palms on either side of my nose and counted down from three. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced it back into place.

>   “Shit,” I cursed. The small pop brought a bubble of nausea to my stomach.

  Bracing my back against the tree, I used it as my support system and rose to my feet. I turned slightly and bumped into a chest. My eyes flew from a sinister grin to the empty pits that obscured his eyes behind a mask.

  “Gotcha,” he quipped, wrapping a hand around my throat.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Jace

  Damn.

  She was even more beautiful all filthy and bloody.

  Kaiden wasn’t going to agree. His doll needed to be immaculate. I stroked a thumb over her throat, then lifted her into my arms.

  I was impressed by how well she’d done. None of the others had made it too far past game one. Those that did fell apart at game two. Rae could have gone for a fourth.

  “Jace?” Kaiden’s voice carried from the direction I’d followed Rae from.

  “Over here,” I called back.

  There was a rustling sound, followed by a beam of light from his and Olivia’s flashlights.

  “Aw, poor thing,” my sister cooed the second she saw the condition Rae was in.

  “It’s all superficial,” I responded.

  “That isn’t.” Kaiden walked up to her and ran the tip of his finger down her nose. It was plain to see had been broken.

  “She’ll be just as beautiful with a slight deformity. Gives her some character.”

  “If you say so…” he trailed off.

  He wasn’t entirely convinced, but I couldn’t blame him. He had to see her all shiny and clean first, then he would understand.

  “What do we do about Portia?” Olivia asked. “And Gavin. Trevor already knows.”

  “Well, she was Tre’s sister. How has he taken it?”

  “Now, you know there was no love lost between those two. Trevor is a Nichols; he knew what came with the lifestyle. He’s a little sad, but I can cheer him up.”

  I was sure she could. Ma had saw to it that Olivia’s mouth could cure most ailments her future husband would be plagued with, sadness amongst them.

  She’d teach Rae soon, too.

  “Gavin won’t care. Portia was nothing more than a warm pussy to relieve himself in. He’s incapable of feeling the love Portia thought they had. Or, for her, was incapable. He’ll find someone else to amuse himself with. Maybe a nice sweet thing like Rae.”

  “I suppose you’re right. He should go next then,” she suggested, running a hand through Rae’s hair.

  “Portia would have died anyway. Look what she did,” Kaiden growled, eyeing Rae’s face.

  While he focused on that, I was already weaving the speech together we’d give at her burial. Her parents would be upset at first, but after their sadness ebbed, they’d get on with business as usual. That was the way things worked. They weren’t allowed to resent Rae for it. Not all of us had been expected to make it this long to begin with.

  All those other girls were merely steppingstones to this moment. A training of sorts. Rae wasn’t the first girl in our long-time history to take someone out. Why my dear Grandma herself had single-handedly wiped out three of the others. We Blackwood’s tended to be the strongest of the bunch.

  “Olive, how did you like manning all the cameras in place of being part of the action?”

  She shrugged. “It beat running around in a party dress and heels, that’s for sure. I never knew we could see so much until Daddy gave me access to the surveillance room.”

  “Almost all the town and our playing field,” Kaiden pointed out.

  “It was a one-time thing. You two found your Mrs. I’ve got my Mr.”

  “Oh, I’m sure we’ll play for sport again once Rae is settled in.”

  “Do you know when you’ll be setting the ceremony date?” Olivia asked as we emerged from the woods.

  “Very soon.”

  She nodded, aiming her light ahead of us so we could see. “I’m excited to finally have a sister.”

  I shared a look with Kaiden. She didn’t understand what I’d meant. She would soon enough. We’d gone a different route and decided to forego training until after Rae was inducted. There was no point in putting in all that effort just to repeat the same mistake we made last time.

  I didn’t want to kill this one.

  I wanted to keep her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Raelynn

  I was naked.

  That was the first thing my brain harped on before I could open my eyes. Someone sobbing nearby is what had my lids lifting to reveal an unfamiliar space.

  Turning my head, I spotted Kayla in what looked like a dog cage. She had her back to me, head down as she cried quietly.

  I pushed myself up onto my elbows and took a quick exam of my person. Someone had cleaned me, thoroughly. Not a trace of dirt or grime lingered.

  My skin had a berry scent rubbed into it. Even my hair had been cleaned. It was still damp. I couldn’t fathom sleeping through such an ordeal, but clearly, I had. The throbbing in my nose was more of a tingling sensation now.

  Even that felt clean. I reached up and touched it, gingerly. There was some type of ointment on it. My lack of clothing allowed me to see I had been freshly shaved. And the thin chain wrapped around my ankle? I couldn’t say I was surprised or shocked to see it.

  I sat all the way up and took in the space someone had stashed me in. No. The twins.

  This was their doing. The bed beneath me was large and masculine, smelling just like them.

  Was I in a basement?

  The block windows made me think so, but the ceiling was higher than any lower level I could recall ever seeing in my life.

  Despite there being a bed, this wasn’t a bedroom. I could tell that much. A metal sink was attached to one wall. The one adjacent to that was loaded with various make up and photography equipment.

  This was where he took his photos? I looked back towards Kayla, finally paying attention to the wall the cage sat against. Rows of polaroid’s had been hung on it, each depicting a different girl in a new position. This disturbed me ten times more than the damned chain or my nakedness.

  “Would you like me to take them down?”

  Startled, I brought my hands up to cover my chest as my eyes found Kaiden’s. His mask was gone, all his cruel beauty on full display. Bluish-green eyes I had spent way too much time looking into, gazed upon me with unmistakable affection in their depths.

  He couldn’t seriously love me.

  Could he?

  “You can do whatever you want. It’s your house,” I retorted.

  “This is your space too now, Rae.”

  He moved away from the door, that I hadn’t realized was a door, wearing a different style tux.

  There was a corsage pinned to the side. He was either going to a prom, or a wedding. I didn’t care all that much what he was doing.

  I knew I could speak levelly with him, I just had to pretend he hadn’t made me a murderer, endure the worst forty-eight hours of my life, kidnap me, and then chain me up in some room he probably murdered people in.

  “My parents’ will find me.”

  “Mm, not likely my sweet doll.” He walked across the room to a hutch of sorts. “You’ve been down here three days already. All your family will know is that you quit your job, drained your bank account, and took off with an ex.”

  I gaped at him. That’s how they were going to spin this?

  “Clark?”

  He twisted his mouth and shrugged.

  “I wasn’t a real fan of the story either. It wasn’t even originally what we were going to go with, but the family decided as whole that it’d be the easiest to make that more of a solid…alibi for your disappearance. His too. He was rather obsessed with you, Rae.”

  “Forget about him. You can’t do this to my parents. They’ll--.”

  He moved to sit beside me, placing his fingers against my lips. “It doesn’t have to be forever. You can contact them in a few years. Once you’ve proven yourself loyal.”

  Years? �
�You’re going to keep me chained up in here for years?”

  His eyes widened in shock. “Of course, not. You’ll be free to roam the estate in a few months’ time. Go into town and do whatever it is women with wealth do. And tonight,” he stopped to take hold of my hand. “Tonight, will be the first step towards that.”

  I looked at where our hands met. “What’s tonight?”

  “I can’t tell you that without Jace.”

  Ugh. “Okay. Then what about Kayla? Why is she in a cage?”

  He pinched my chin and angled my face back in his direction. “Because she isn’t you.”

  “I killed your friend,” I reminded him.

  He scoffed, smiling warmly at me. “That entitled bitch was not a friend. She was an acquaintance that hurt someone very important to me.”

  The intensity of his gaze made me feel unstable. “How have I been here days? I don’t feel hungry or…”

  “The need to pee. I took your catheter out early this morning. And you’ve been somewhat aware of us feeding you, among other things.”

  I didn’t want to know the other things consisted of. I couldn’t compile that on top of everything else.

  “How long have you been planning this? Normal people don’t have sedatives and catheters on hand.”

  “We’re not a normal family. We’re an abnormally extraordinary bunch. Miscreants by nature. Businessman by choice. Wildly successful in both endeavors.”

  I wasn’t sure how to reply to that. He was speaking truthfully. They were insane. And rich. The two went hand in hand, though.

  “Why me?”

  “We didn’t pick you. You chose us the day you told my brother your name. It was fate.” His eyes traveled from my face to my chest, pausing on my breasts before dipping lower. “You are so beautiful.”

  Was I expected to say thank you?

  “I came in here to finish getting you ready. Jace will be here soon and then we can get started, but a small taste won’t hurt.”

  I leaned back.

  “Taste of what?”

  “That pretty pussy I’ve been forced to stare at the last few days.”

  I blinked at his abrupt change in demeanor. I forgot how different he could be. Usually he was a total gentleman, then he took you to bed and you discovered beneath his oddly sweet behavior was a sexual deviant. Hard to believe I still found him sweet after everything we’d just gone through.