Page 47

CHARLOTTE

Song- Sugar, Sleep Token.

A s I step into the next room, it’s like every kid’s dream.

The air is thick with the sweet smell of candy. A deep breath fills my lungs with the sugary scent of various treats.

Ignoring the rules, I look up, and my stomach rumbles. Every single inch of this wall is decorated with candy. It’s like a rainbow threw up in here. Pinks, reds, purples. A six-foot lollipop, impossibly tall and shimmering with an unnatural sugary gleam, towers before me. I’d never seen anything like it.

As I look down, the soft, pink, sand-like clouds of sugar surrounds my feet.

Wow.

But as I glance to the far left, the stark reality of the situation hits me with full force.

The table is covered in dildos and other mysterious devices whose names escape me.

We’re led into the center of the room, the silence amplifying the thud of our footsteps. Only four of us remain. As I glimpse over at the bitchy blonde, she scowls at me.

I’m sure she has no sense of reality. Everything has probably been dished to her on a silver platter.

To her, this is a game. Not for survival because she doesn’t believe she can lose.

We stand in silence, the only sound the frantic drumming of my heart against my ribs as each second ticks by.

Until the now familiar robotic voice booms through the speaker.

I straighten my spine, the tension easing out of my shoulders, and then slowly drop my head, my hair brushing against my chest.

“Welcome to the room of dreams. A little treat for completing the first two games.”

I suck in a shaky breath.

This is not a reward. It will still be a test.

“There is no challenge here.”

Interesting.

“I’m sure you have seen the array of candy, but some of you should have noticed the table of other delicacies. Pick your weapon wisely. You’ll be needing it for the next game. Once you’ve chosen, you have fifteen minutes to treat yourselves. Everything is edible. Enjoy.”

It cuts off and the blonde girl rushes over to the table. The other girls follow behind her.

I glance at Richard. With a quick flick of his eyes, he gives me a silent command to “go”.

“That’s huge!” the red-haired girl says in horror to the blonde, who is proudly holding up a gigantic dildo with a shit-eating grin.

“I’m not an amateur,” she spits back and glares at me with her dark amber eyes.

“I hope the next game involves anal,” I whisper to myself; she will split her ass in half with that.

The other two girls look at each other warily and pick their ‘weapons’. As they move out of the way, I stand in front of the table.

Okay, why do they all look kinda scary?

There’s a black one that stands out to me in the middle. It has a hook shape on the top; so I pick it up. It has one button, which I press, and it buzzes to life, stopping the girls chatting behind me.

“Need instructions with that one?”

The blonde girl’s squeaky voice has me squeezing the toy and it vibrates my hand.

Spinning to face her, I arch my brow.

“What’s your name?” I ask. I need a name to this annoying voice.

“Tara.”

I don’t offer her mine in return.

“Tara, what?”

“Renegade. Why?”

I bite back my laugh. I’ve never heard of them, but it gives me an insight into her high-class life.

“What’s yours then?” She shoves her hand on her hip.

I ignore her and turn it off, but as I press the button again, it vibrates harder. And again. After the fourth one, it stops.

As embarrassment heats my cheeks, I move away from the table.

The other two girls are now ripping candy off the wall.

“They really shouldn’t eat all that sugar. They keep up with that, they’ll be bulging out of these.” Tara pulls on her leather straps over her pink bra.

“Why does it matter what they eat? Now of all times? It isn’t going to matter in a grave,” I say coolly.

She shrugs, and I step away from her and head to the back wall that’s covered in jelly sweets. Picking one off, I shove it in my mouth.

If I’m going to die here, I’ll eat what I want.

Damn, that’s amazing.

God, I needed the sugar. So I grab another one, this time a red and green gummy worm.

Just as I take the last bite, I notice the guards position themselves in a line in front of the wooden door that’s arched with purple flowers.

“It’s now time for the third game to begin,” the deep voice tells us as the door is opened by Richard.

Tara confidently steps forward with her huge dildo proudly in hand.

I fall in line behind her and the two remaining girls behind me.

I look down at my device and close my eyes for a second.

I can do this.

If anything, to beat Tara and wipe that smug grin off her face.