Page 184 of Chalk Outline

“Oh, right. Your mother is in here. Romina sent her here to get sober. How nice?” He advances toward me. “That woman has a twisted sense of humor. I think she wanted to keep her away from you, like she keptyouaway fromme.“ He bellows. “I thought you died in the circus, but it turned out she took you away from me. You were alive all this time, and I found out years later when you were all grown up, married.”

“So you had to ruin my life, because that’s what you do best.”

“Once again, she was just a tool to get your attention and piss off Romina. Work smart, not hard, right? The people I work with are a bunch of bloodthirsty wankers who would do anything for money, so that’s always simple. I wanted to see my son, who turned out to be a killing machine. Look at you all high and mighty.”

I clench and unclench my fists at my sides.

The first mistake is underestimating my wife. She’s a hurricane wrapped in a daydream. I know that little brat would never listen to me, and as much as it pisses me off right now, I love her even more for it.

The second mistake is thinking I actually give a shit about any of this. The only time I give a fuck is when my wife’s around.

It all proves that they were never my family to begin with.

“Come on, Reeve. Do you really think I care about some girl?”

You should.

“Power is an illusion,” I say.

“And strength comes from within. It’s not something you can control,” he continues.

“You have to lose control to earn it.”

“Well. Done.” He grins at me with a Joker smile. “We can do everything together. With my power and your skills, we will be invincible. I’ll make your little problem go away. Poof. She won’t bother you anymore.”

“She doesn’t bother me,you are.”

“Son, she will kill you. They all do in the end.” He shrugs one shoulder up. “I took care of her anyway. A peace treaty, if you will.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I bark.

A warning flashes in his beady eyes. “It means that our little setback is gone. My men took care of it.”

The cold light in the room changes to neon red.

“Finally!” he claims, “You have yet to ask me the most important question. What the fuck are we doing here? Well, I wanted to show you.”

My eyes narrow at him.

“You think too small and limit yourself when you can have the world.”

“I never wanted the world, I wanted my wife.”

“Can you hear it?” he inhales deeply, the theatrics in his hand movements getting on my last nerve. “The games have begun, Reeve. It’s time for chaos. The world is a cruel place. What will you do when you have no choice but to fight for survival? Even if it means sacrificing the people you love and care about.” He spreads his arms wide as if he owns the fucking world. “We’re just outlines of the people we once were. Now, we’re evil backstabbing vultures.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“Do you know how I got everyone in here? I offered a five-million-dollar prize. All they have to do is survive, but I didn’t say for how long. They jumped at the chance, no questions asked. We drugged them all and brought them here. Once they were inside, there was nowhere to run. They had to play.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Welcome to the new world, son.” He swings a knife from side to side, the blade slicing the thin air between us. “Maybe you can’t restart your shitty life, but you can restart everything else. We’re all monsters underneath.”

“Who says monsters are bad? They’re a crucial part of the game.” I hold my head high, smirking. “Without us, meh, everything is tasteless.”

“Maybe you’re weaker,” he nods, “but you were always the smartest.”

Chapter thirty-six