Page 38 of Bleeding Hearts (Pine Valley College #3)

His finger presses against the trigger, and I see the recoil of the gun before I hear it. The loud popping sound makes us all jump and gape as his head explodes, and he falls slowly to the side, out of his chair.

For a moment, everything is silent, my ears still ringing as the gun falls to the floor, and then screams fill the air. Chairs are shoved back as people try to escape. Dragging Alice back, I wrap my arms around her and block her view.

It wasn’t fake.

It was very fucking real.

He’s dead.

He’s fucking dead.

I watch in shock as the wrangler picks up the gun and puts it in the box, and then he turns, heads to the front of the room, and puts it down before grabbing another box and waiting in the line.

“Return to your seats,” the mechanical voice calls. “The round isn’t over.”

“Let us go! Let us out!”

“You’re sick! He’s dead! Let us go!”

People rush to the windows and doors, and even the wranglers. It’s total carnage, and we stand in the midst of it all.

Poppy is still sitting, staring at where he was, her mouth open before she raises her eyes to mine. I see so much guilt in her gaze, I’m surprised she isn’t choking on it.

Teresa is tugging on her, trying to get her to move, but she’s frozen in that spot. I know the feeling. You just go numb all over. You can’t move or think. I can’t afford to be like that right now.

All that matters is getting Alice out of this alive.

Shots fire, and I pull us to the floor, covering her with my body as I look around. The wranglers are aiming at the crowd, and then the voice comes again. “Disobedience will be punished. The rules are clear. This round must be finished. Return to your seats now or you will face the consequences.”

“They can’t kill us all! Get the guns!” a guy yells, and he and a few others rush at one of the wranglers, but before they can reach them, a gun fires repeatedly, cutting them down. They hit the floor, and more screams fill the air.

They killed them.

Either we play or die.

“I will repeat the rules once more. By stepping into the room, you signed away your rights to quit. The only way out of the game tonight is by winning or losing. If you try to leave, you will be punished. The rules are simple. Pull the trigger with the gun aimed at your head and then pass it on. There will be three rounds. Whoever is left at the end is the winner and free to leave. Players must return to their seats. Anybody who is not seated in the next thirty seconds will be punished.”

The meaning is clear, so I drag Alice over to the chairs and shove her down. Her whole body shakes, and I grip her face, forcing her to look at me.

“I need you to stay with me, okay?” I beg. “Stay with me. We are getting through this, I promise. Just don’t disappear.”

Nodding, she sniffs loudly, and I wipe away her tears. “Shh, it’s okay. I promised to keep you safe, remember? I meant it. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I won’t. It’s obvious they want us to die tonight, but not her.

Not tonight, not ever. I will keep her safe.

People file back to their seats as the mechanical voice starts to count down.

“We could try the bars,” Alice whispers.

“They would shoot us,” I murmur as I rub her back. “We have to play.”

“All players have returned to their seats. The tables that did not finish their rounds will begin now.”

Despite my words, I’m really fucking scared, but so is Alice, and she needs me more than ever. I have to get her out of this no matter what it takes. Her brother can’t lose the only family he has left.

Her friends can’t lose her.

I can’t lose her.

I grip Alice’s hand as the other tables complete their round. With each gunshot, Alice’s tears grow stronger, and I refuse to let her see.

Several people cry quietly in the room, while others sit in shock as the wranglers return to the line with new boxes, and the voice speaks again.

“Congratulations on completing round one. You are winners!” Nobody feels like it, and in that moment, my fear morphs to anger. We signed up for it, but what gives them the right to take lives like this?

They think they are untouchable, and right now, they are, but they won’t be. I’ll make sure of it.

“The second round will now commence, and the same rules apply.” The wranglers walk back to the tables, ours stopping by Alice, and she huddles into me, shaking. Closing my eyes, I lift her head.

“Baby, eyes on me, okay? Just focus on me, and before you know it, we’ll be home, watching your favorite show. It will all be a bad dream.”

“I can’t,” she sobs, breaking my heart.

“Five,” the wrangler begins, and panic claws at me as he reaches for his gun.

“Alice,” I snap, and she focuses on me. “Don’t do it for you, do it for me. Don’t make me watch another person I love die. Please.”

She stares at me for a moment before woodenly turning her head and gripping the gun.

Her shoulders shake as she presses it to her head, and everything in me freezes as she squeezes the trigger.

When nothing happens, she drops it into the box and looks at me, her eyes glassy with tears as the wrangler stops next to me.

Knowing Alice is already upset, I don’t let myself think as I grab the gun, press it to my head, and pull the trigger within the same breath.

If I let myself second-guess my actions, I might hesitate, and I will not force her to watch me be killed.

That fucks someone up. I won’t let it happen to her.

The wrangler moves on as she holds me, watching the rest of our teammates. When a shot comes from my left, I startle and fall into Alice, watching the scene in horror.

The boy at my side slumps back in his chair with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead. I can’t seem to look away, even as Teresa and Poppy weep softly.

“Lals,” Alice whispers, “it isn’t your fault.”

It isn’t, it’s theirs, but looking at that boy’s unseeing eyes, I can’t help but think we are a part of this. He followed the crowd. If none of us had signed up, this wouldn’t be happening.

We failed him as much as everyone else. It shouldn’t take people dying for us to react and want to do something.

Glancing down at my shirt, I rearrange the buttons, glaring at the wrangler as he heads to the front of the room once more.

“One more round,” Teresa says, leaning into the table. “There’s only one more. They’ll let us go, right?”

“They don’t lie. They seem to stick to the rules religiously,” I murmur as I pull my eyes off him. “If we survive the next round, then they will let us go. The game only works if we trust them.”

“What if we all just ran at them?” Poppy whispers. “I don’t want anyone else to die.” She glances at Teresa, her meaning clear.

“You saw how that went before. People were shot before they got close,” Alice mutters. “Maybe a distraction? Then we can go at them en masse.”

“It’s too risky,” I caution. “People will die.”

“People are going to die anyway.” She looks at me, and I hate the knowledge in her eyes. “Lally, people are dying. We have to do something. We can’t sit by.” Her tears spill over, and she wipes them away. “Okay, so we’ll make a distraction. If everyone works together, we can get out?—”

“And then what?” I snap. “They know us. They know where we live. They said we would be punished. Look around, baby. Don’t you think they will do what they said?” I grip her hand. “I can’t lose you.”

“And I can’t sit by and let them kill people,” she retorts, “and neither can you. I know it.”

Closing my eyes, I take a breath and blow it out. “Okay, then I’ll make the distraction. Spread the word.”

Teresa turns and taps the next table. Poppy does the same, and I press my forehead against Alice’s. “It’s okay.”

“We’ll be okay,” she repeats.

I go to stand, a distraction coming to mind, when a hand hits my shoulder and shoves me back into the chair. I glance up with wide eyes as the wranglers look at me.

We’ve run out of time, and as a wrangler stops at our table, it’s clear we have to play. There is no other way.

We slump in defeat as he stands by Alice again. “Five,” he starts, and I really fucking hate them right now. I hate them so fucking much.

“Fuck you,” she spits as she picks up the gun.

“Why don’t you play? Or are you scared? You think you’re powerful behind those masks, but you’re nothing.

You’re a serial killer in hiding.” Alice presses the gun to her head, and my heart freezes.

She pulls the trigger, and when nothing happens, she aims the gun at him.

“Alice,” I snap. “Don’t.”

“I want him to know what it feels like,” she argues. “I want him to know the fear of having your choices taken out of your hands. I want them to be as scared as each and every person who dies tonight because although you’re masked, nothing stays secret forever.”

“Put the gun back or face punishment,” the voice drawls.

She puts it back in the box, and he hesitates, tilting his head as if he’s listening to something, and I worry they will focus on her, so I stand and draw his gaze as I grab the gun and smile.

“My turn, no?” He steps around Alice, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“I wonder . . . if I shot it at you, what would happen? You could kill me, but what if you died as well?” I aim it at him like she did, but this time, I step closer.

“I doubt anyone would miss you the way they would miss me. Should we find out?”

“Five,” he begins, and I smirk.

“I know whoever is behind this is watching and talking to you. Well, I have something to say.”

“Four,” he counts.

“When I win, and I will, I’m going to use all that money to come for you. I’m going to make it my life’s mission, and you will feel each and every death.”

“Three.”

“Because really, I have nothing else to lose. I died a long fucking time ago.”

“Two.”

“Lals.” Alice panics.

“One,” I mock as I turn the gun to face me and pull the trigger. He flinches, and I laugh as I throw it back in the box. “Not so tough after all.”