Her smile disappears instantly. “Shut up.”
She lashes out, the knife inches away from my stomach. I lunge back, avoiding it narrowly.
She keeps slashing away, trying to cut me with it, not even stopping for a second to talk. The only way I have of avoiding her is by blocking the attack with a closet door. As she rams the knife into the wood, I use the opportunity to slam it into her so hard that it knocks her away, as well as the knife.
She comes at me in full force, giving me one blow to the face. But I quickly recuperate to punch her in the face, making her head tilt back. Then I grab her by the hair, twisting it and pulling it so hard she squeals. I ram her face down on the sink, making her bleed. A tooth falls to the floor.
Her screams fill me with excitement. A need so thrilling it sets me on fire. A need to inflict pain.
However, she snatches a metal bottle of liquid soap and smashes it against my face so hard that I lose my balance and slip on the wet floor. But as I fall to the ground, she immediately comes at me. She wraps her fingers around my throat, choking me.
“You fucking bitch … you almost ruined my plan.”
My eyes feel like they’re about to pop from my head; that’s how hard she squeezes the life out of me. I try to fight her off, clawing my way out of her grasp, but it’s no use. My eyes skitter across the room to try to find something to use, and I spot something shiny on the floor so close to me I can almost reach it.
The knife.
She’s suffocating me to the point I can’t even speak. With my last bit of energy, I pick up the knife that she dropped, and I jam it into her stomach.
She releases me, and I take a long, hard gasp as she sinks to the floor beside me.
But the fight isn’t over yet.
I pull the knife from her body and ram it between her ribs.
And then I do it again.
And again.
And again.
All while her eyes are searching for a way out.
Pleading for me to stop.
Her lips forming O’s as the sounds of death escape her mouth.
But I don’t stop.
Not until every inch of her skin is punctured. Until her body is nothing but holes with filling.
Until I can see the realization in her eyes that she loses and I win.
Until my body is covered in her blood that sprayed out like a fountain of revenge.
Revenge for the girls she killed.
Or maybe a fountain of rage that finally spilled over.
Because damn … this fury flowing through my veins is powerful.
Once her eyes have turned gray, I stand up and pat down my dress. I walk to the sink and set the knife down, looking at my blood-painted skin with pride.
I don’t even want to wash it off.
Clearing my throat, I throw my hair back over my shoulder and walk over her corpse, striding out the door.
25.
Accompanying Song: “Scream” by Grimes ft. Aristophanes
Max
I have to physically drag my brother away from Camilla before he finally stops smashing her. Her body is completely obliterated and unrecognizable to the point of it looking more like a sack of bones and blood than a human being.
“Let go of me!” Anthony screams in my face. “Fucking hell. All because I went to get a glass of water for her. And now she’s fucking dead!”
I finally manage to snatch the gun from his hand, and I throw it over the balustrade.
“What the fuck happened here?” Devon yells from down below. “Jesus.”
I look over the railing and see him pick up the arm of the lifeless body on the floor.
“Don’t fucking touch her!” Anthony says, sticking up his middle finger at his brother.
“Why not? She’s dead anyway,” Devon muses, dropping her floppy hand like a stone.
I shake my head and close my eyes.
But when I open them again, I spot Naomi walking out of the bathroom in the hallway up ahead … covered in blood.
My eyes widen, and I immediately run toward her. But then I hear my brother’s rampaging scream.
“Max? Naomi? You …”
Before he can reach her, I wrap my arms around her and hold her close to me, protecting her from him as he comes charging at her.
“If you lay even one fucking finger on her, I’ll put a bullet in your head,” I growl.
His nostrils flare as his hands turn to fists. “What did you do?”
She gently points at the bathroom, insinuating we look.
My brother smashes the door open, and I look through it as he barges in and stares at Latisha’s body.
“She pushed Jordan over the railing,” Naomi says.
“How the fuck do we know you’re speaking the truth?” Anthony growls. “For all we know, you could’ve killed her and then Latisha.”
“She was with me the entire night,” I say, looking her in the eyes to confirm. “She even found Jordan lying on the floor. No way could she have run upstairs, pushed her down, and then ran back downstairs again to pretend she never knew what happened, all in the span of twenty seconds. Because that’s how long it took me to put on these sweatpants and walk out my room to see Jordan’s body lying on the floor.” I sigh. “So no, the answer is that Naomi didn’t do anything. It was Latisha.”
“Who’s now conveniently dead,” Devon muses.
“Shut up,” I growl at him. “Where were you all this time anyway?”
“Listening to music with the headphones,” he replies.
“I don’t fucking care,” Anthony spits. “Latisha’s dead too now.”
“Yes, and we’ll worry about all that later.” I turn around with Naomi in my arms, determined to keep at least her safe.
“What about my girl? My baby?” Anthony says, but luckily, he stays put as I go back down with her.
“We’ll figure it out later. First, I gotta clean her up.”
I quickly bring Naomi downstairs and into my bedroom then I lock the door. I grab her hand and pull her with me to the shower, which I turn on. Then I drape the stained bathrobe off her bloody body and make her get under the spray.
She doesn’t move or say a word, and I wonder if she’s silent because she knows anything she says now will either incriminate her or jeopardize her safety in this building.
So I smile and say, “You’re safe now.”
“No,” she quietly whispers back. “They’ll come for me.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
She turns around and faces the wall without responding. The water runs down her back in rivulets, washing away the blood as if it was never there. She rubs her face and looks up at the showerhead, opening her mouth to let it all in. And I just stand there and watch her do it. I’m not just a creeper. Not just a watcher. I’m an admirer.
A worshipper … of her strength and beauty.
Her fearlessness.
And the dangerously intoxicating look hidden in the eyes of a murderer.
I love it all.
“I know you killed her. There’s no need to hide it.”
“I’m not hiding anything,” she replies. “Look.” She holds her hands together and forms a pool of water, which quickly turns richly red. “That’s Latisha … going down the drain.”
“Why did you do it?” I ask, goose bumps scattering across my back.
“She attacked me first.”
“Okay, I get that. What happened?”
“I found her cleaning off the blood from her hands after she’d murdered Jordan and attacked Camilla for witnessing the whole thing.”
I frown. “How do you know she—”
“Camilla had a cut on her nose and bruises. Latisha carried a knife, and she had bruises too.”
I nod, coming to terms with the information.
It makes sense. I’ve always known Latisha had a crush on my brother. On the video footage, I could see her stalking his room all the time, and in her sleep, she’d call out his name
. But that she’d actually commit murder just to win a place beside Anthony surprises me.
“I never actually thought she’d do it,” I say.
“What?” Naomi’s brows draw together. “You thought …” Her lips part and her face turns dark. “You knew she’d do this.”
I cock my head and smile, not wanting to give her any motivation to hate me. I’ve already done that enough.
“No.” She shakes her head slowly. “You gave her the idea, didn’t you?”
I put up my hands. “Hey, now … I’m not that morbid. Although …” I scratch my chin. “She did tell me that she loved him so much, she’d do anything to get him. And I told her that I wasn’t going to stand in her way. I guess she took it as a sign of approval.”
Slowly but surely, Naomi starts to laugh. And not just softly. Loud. Like she’s gone insane.
“This is so … fucking … funny.”
“What is?” I ask.
“She was so set on winning that she went and killed all of my opponents, including herself.”
My lip quirks up into an awkward smile. “I guess you could say that.”
“Ha … so ironic.”
She turns off the shower and looks at me. “I’m clean now.” I turn, and she walks past me like it’s not a big deal, grabbing a towel to wrap herself with.
As I walk after her, someone bangs on my door and jerks the handle. “Open up, Max.”
It’s Anthony.
Naomi stands up after hearing the sound, and she stares intently at the door.
He slams his fist onto the wood so hard I can see the door move. “Let us in.”
“No. This is my room,” I say.
“We need to talk,” Devon chimes in.
I guess it’s two against one now.
Naomi takes a step closer, so she’s next to me. “What do you want?”
“You killed her.”
“So? She was attacking me. It was self-defense.” She folds her arms.
“You can’t keep her in there forever,” Devon says.
“I don’t care,” I say. “We can outlast you.” That’s a bluff, but I hope he can’t see through it.
“Do you want me to bust this door in? Because I will, dammit,” Anthony growls, smashing himself against the hard frame.
Right before Anthony can do it again, I push the key into the lock and turn it, opening the door as he drives himself in like a bull, falling over and smashing his head against my floor.
“Fuck!”
“That’s what you get for trying to break in,” I muse.
“Fuck you,” he says, crawling up.
Devon casually strolls inside. “We just wanna talk. That’s all.”
“Talk. About what?”
He circles Naomi. “About how you’re the only bride left.”
“She’s not on the market,” I hiss.
Anthony pats his legs and arms and says, “All the other brides are dead or gone. I say she is.”
Devon suddenly grabs her arm. “I say we take her into the game room and toy with her until we know who the clear winner is. You know. The pregnancy stuff and all. We don’t have much more time.”
“Let go of me.” Naomi tries to jerk away, but he won’t let her.
When I step in to intervene, my brother blocks my way. “You know the rules, Max.”
“Fuck the rules. You know she’s mine. We all committed to one girl. Naomi is mine.”
“She was … until she killed the remaining option,” Devon muses, shrugging. “Now let’s start this game, shall we?”
“Fuck you,” Naomi says, and she spits in his face.
He wipes it off and smears it on her face. Then he smacks her.
“You don’t want to fucking do this,” I growl, and I glare at my brothers. “Trust me.”
“My bride and baby are dead. His bride is dead. One of us needs to win, and I’m not giving up that easily,” Anthony says.
“Even when your lover just died?” I reply.
“Even then … The rules are the rules,” Devon says as if he knows everything.
Fuckers.
“I’m not going to let this go without a fight,” he adds. “So let’s just get this over with.”
I give one look at Naomi and nod.
She immediately rams her elbow into Devon’s stomach, causing him to buck and heave and allowing her to escape. She runs out the door, while Anthony looks over his shoulder at the commotion and yells, “Fuck! Come back!”
My brothers race after her, and I follow behind them. Naomi rushes up the stairs in her thin towel that barely covers her body as she tries to escape their grasp. I quickly pick up the gun from the floor and run up the stairs after them. They’re already way ahead in the hallways, and I can hear them run in circles up and down the staircases, in and out of rooms with two doors. Our house is like a maze, and I know she realizes this. When she asked if she could explore it, I already knew she was going to memorize every nook and cranny to form a possible escape plan, should she ever need one.
Like now.
When my brothers are hunting her like predators hunt prey.
As I finally manage to catch up to them, Devon reaches for Naomi’s foot and pulls her down, making her fall down a few flight of stairs.
“Let her go right now, or I swear to god I will fucking kill you!” I scream at him.
She manages to kick him in the face and clambers back to her feet, running further up to the attic. Anthony shoves me and runs after her, but I won’t let myself be caught off guard.
As Devon tries to get up without even looking at me, without even acknowledging the fact that she’s mine, I rush toward him and try to cut him off.
I grab him by the collar and pull him back, but he launches his fist in my stomach in response. I cough and heave then return by smashing his head into my knee. We fight and struggle for power, all while Naomi is in trouble. I can’t let this continue.
So in a last-ditch effort, I point the gun at him.
He tries to push my arm away, and I shoot multiple times at the wall, bullets ricocheting everywhere. One of them even hits him in the thigh. He howls and grabs his leg, still trying to fend me off.
Too late.
With my gun to his temple, I pull the trigger.
One shot is all it takes to bring him down.
And it doesn’t even faze me.
26.
Accompanying Song: “Scream” by Grimes ft. Aristophanes
Max
I proceed with my chase, jumping over the steps my brother’s body occupies, and I slam open the door to the attic. On the floor lies Naomi’s towel, and when I look to my right, Anthony’s got her pinned to the wall.
She struggles as he tightly grips her throat, choking her, while he grabs her naked pussy with his other hand.
“You took the opportunity to win this game from me. So now, I’ll take what I want from you,” he growls.
“Over my dead fucking body,” I growl as I walk up to him with my gun pointed straight at his temple. “Die.”
Click.
However, the damn gun doesn’t fucking go off.
It’s fucking empty.
“Fuck.”
My brother laughs. Then he releases Naomi from his grasp and grabs my face, smashing me into the wall. I groan in pain as he slams his knee into my stomach and then smacks me into the wall again. But between his massive hits, I manage to turn around and duck and tackle him, making him tumble to the floor.
There, I sit on top of him and punch him repeatedly in the face. However, he quickly overpowers me, rolling over me in an effort to squeeze the fucking life out of me.
“Now, you’ll feel what all those other girls have felt,” Anthony growls, as he wraps his hands around my throat and starts to choke me.
“Tell me, how does it feel, Max?” he asks with a devious grin on his face.
From the corner of my eye, I spot Naomi grabbing a vase from one of the dusty cabinets, and she runs toward us, sm
ashing the vase on his head.
He falls to the floor, releasing me, and I take the opportunity to get on top of him again. I reach into my pocket and take out the only thing I have. My keys.
And I ram them into his chest as hard as I can.
Again and again.
The terror of his screams goes through marrow and bone as I plunge the cold, hard metal into his heart, and I don’t even fucking care. I just want this motherfucker to die.
So I stab him in his neck, stopping him from uttering another word.
Blood sprays out on all sides. I don’t know how many times I stab him. Fifteen times, maybe. Enough to create a pool of blood under him.
My hands are covered by the time Naomi says, “You can stop now.” She stands beside me, naked, her feet covered in my brother’s blood. Only after hearing her voice do I let go of the bloody keys. The sound of them dropping to the floor is deafening.
I roll off him and let my body drop to the floor. Staring at the ceiling above me, I burst out into stupid laughter. Finally, it’s over. I win.
“It’s done, Naomi,” I whisper. “I killed them.”
Naomi leans over me, cocking her head as she gazes at me with a peculiar look in her eyes. A smile spreads on her lips, and she goes to her knees in front of me. She hovers over me, gripping my collar, and whispers, “What now?”
“Now”—I let my finger brush her cheeks, leaving a red stripe in its place—“you become mine for good.”
Her smile grows, and she presses her lips to mine. I greedily accept her kiss, even when I’m lying in a pool of my brother’s blood.
I can feel it seeping into my hair, dripping down my fingers, but still, I let my hand roam freely across her body. I grab her hair and kiss her deeply, firmly to assert my dominance. I’m the fucking man, and she is the woman I fucking killed for. No one will take her from me, and I will take her now.
My cock grows with the excitement of her beautiful body lying on top of me, and her pretty face smiling back at me after having been through hell. So I kiss her harder and push her against me, squeezing her ass because it and everything else about her belong to me.
Indecent Games Duet - Boxed Set Page 20
