Page 28 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)
Chapter 27
Full of Holes
The Host
T he Host sat in the control center, which doubled as the interview room, surrounded by screens and speakers. The eye in the nightmarish sky. Several dozen game wardens were watching the screens with him. They assisted with the high-volume chaotic games.
The Host was sedated. He could barely get out the words he needed to say before his lips refused to do anything more. The Creators poked him full of holes and then flushed his system with painkillers. He would prefer the agony to this absence.
Pain reminded him he was alive. That he was a human being, not just another one of their puppets.
The detachment warped into an endless hole. He was spiraling, and his mind began to divide. He was a man who protected others. No, he was a Host who watched the contestants. He controlled their fate. He wanted to save them. He needed their deaths to end his own suffering.
He was lost to the chaos of his own self, until he heard her voice. His eyes found the screen with her face. He focused on her until he rewound the thread of his mind, stitching it all back into place. Connecting the halves and becoming what he needed to be.
He tried to lift his arms, to feel the collar at his throat that suffocated him, but his body wouldn’t cooperate, and he continued to stare at her lethargically.
“Wake up!” The voice in his ear was angry, but the Host couldn’t find it in him to do anything about it.
He knew the moment they pumped him full of methylphenidate. It was a familiar feeling. His jaw locked in place for a few moments before he was able to move on his own accord once more.
He regained his composure even as his heart raced dangerously in his chest. He needed to keep everyone as safe as he could. The first step was being the Host they wanted him to be.
He found the screen with what he needed to say and added just the right amount of himself to it. “Now, my lovelies, it’s time to play.”
He scanned over the questions and felt the dread coil deep in his gut. The Creators were targeting quite a few players. He wasn’t ever informed of all the information ahead of time, but he knew that losing this game would be dangerous.
He began, “Never have I ever been thought dead.”
He knew the backgrounds of all these players; most had been in captivity for quite some time prior to this game. He had the least information on 189 or Ivan and his crew, but he wasn’t shocked when Ivan himself lowered a finger. That made six players in total.
He didn’t see any liars, and none of the other game wardens indicated there were any. He scanned the remaining questions, wondering if there was anything he could do. There wasn’t.
He went for an easy one. “Never have I ever been a part of the Resistance.”
Sixty of the players lowered their fingers, included in this were the six before.
Just more evidence that many of the Sponsors made up parts of the Government. They let the games do their dirty work.
There were fifty-four with four fingers left, six with three fingers left, and eleven who still had all five. The Host found 197 amongst those with all their fingers up; the Host knew that 197 had an unbelievable story, and the path that led him here was a mystery to even the Creators, but not to The Host.
He finally found a question that wouldn’t target the same people as before. “Never have I ever been held captive in a Government prison.”
This game had two parts. One was to show that all these contestants earned their spot here and deserved punishment. The other was to create a rift between the teams as they grew close due to the passage of time. The Sponsors wanted nothing more than to witness the darkest moments of all these players’ lives.
The Host flicked over to the screen that held 20, 58, 182, 173, and 174.
Raven, Jayce, Levi, Enzo, and Maverick. Levi held four fingers up, the rest only three.
The question he chose did not agree with the Creators, this wasn’t going the way they wanted it to. They gave him the next one they wanted him to read out.
The Host’s eyes flicked to 173, the triplet named Enzo, “Never have I ever fucked someone to eventually cause their death. ”
Raven lowered her finger immediately, but Enzo didn’t.
They allowed him five seconds before the shock burst initiated, bringing the man to his knees.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the Host hummed. “Oh sweet , 173, please be a dear and lower two fingers; I think we both know that to be a lie.” The rest of the players would be unable to hear this bit, but the Host knew it wasn’t the other players Enzo should be worried about.
Enzo shuddered and lowered two of his fingers, the Host watched as the others gave him inquisitive looks. The Host was raging internally; this wasn’t the time for them to be made aware of Enzo’s past deceptions.
Enzo now only held one finger, but Raven wasn’t far behind with two remaining. The question caused a few others to lower their fingers, but no one else sat below three.
The Host parroted the words that one of the Creators spoke in his ear. “Never have I ever personally tried to kill a member of the Resistance.”
Ten people lowered their fingers, among those were Ivan, Jayce, and Levi. Raven didn’t lower her finger. She should have. He guessed she didn’t even know she should have put a finger down, but suicide was trying to kill oneself, and she was part of the Resistance.
He didn’t want to say the words. He didn’t like reading about it, and speaking it into existence brought life to the event.
“I’m sorry to say, number 20, that you are a member of the Resistance. Put your last two fingers down for me, bunny ,” the Host spoke the words softly, sweetly, wishing for her to remember.
The Host held back his rage as the high-voltage shock brought her to the ground.
Her number illuminated on the screen for all the players to see.
This time, when he spoke, it went out to all the contestants. “We have our first loser? Winner? Who knows. Let us continue the game. Four more spots remain.” By now, all the other players would see 20 as the first one out. His eyes flicked to 189’s screen. He didn’t like what he saw.
This time, the Host was permitted to choose. “Never have I ever left the country.”
189 put his finger down, but the Host knew that Ivan had never left. The only one that should have put his finger down; didn’t. The jolt hit both 189 and 197 at the same time, they both barely reacted.
The Host was pissed. He spoke to the thorn first, “Oh, I see 189; you and I both know you have never left the country. But as the rules state, if you lie, you must lower two fingers. It looks like you will be joining 20 for the sleepover.”
Ivan didn’t even appear as if he’d been hurt. His smile was all teeth at the Host’s words. “It will be my pleasure.”
The Host couldn’t do anything about that particular problem now, he turned his gaze to the screen with 197, the only sign of 197’s pain was in his tense jaw.
The Host adjusted his microphone to only go to his room. “You know the rules 197. Two fingers down, good sir.” It was the first two he lowered. The Host scanned the rest of the men in his room and noted that 195 had only one finger left. He didn’t have the time to go with his original plan.
The Host took a few more moments to inspect all the other screens, trying to devise a strategy. As he did so, he spoke, alerting everyone that only three spots remained. He pointedly ignored Raven’s face at the news.
Thankfully, the Creators remained surprisingly quiet. The Host dove into the information he had memorized on all the players and chose a pointed question. “Never have I ever murdered with poison.”
Quite a few lowered their fingers. 173 and 195 among them.
The Host didn’t bother announcing it to them individually. “The remaining spots have been secured. Your complete sleepover will consist of 20, 87, 173, 189, and 195. Now, take your time and say your goodbyes. You will be collected within the hour, and it will be a rollercoaster of an evening.”
The Host turned off the broadcast and watched as the game wardens left. He slumped into the chair, all the previous energy wearing off. How much more of himself could he give to finish this once and for all?
“Good work,” the voice in his ear sounded sincere, but all the Host felt was disgust.