Page 17 of Poisoned Pawns (The Gamemakers Trilogy #1)

Ivy-It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Dies

“What the fuck, Ivanna?” Desmond yells, hopping down into the hole.

“Listen, you don’t fucking understand!” I yell back, taking the rope out of the backpack.

“Then how about one of you start talking because I’m ready to snap,” he spits.

“How the fuck did you know where we were?” I ask, tying the rope around Silas’s hands.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve never texted you,” Millie says to her brother.

“Enough. Will someone fucking help me get him in the casket?” I yell, and they all shut up.

“What do you mean, get him in the casket?” Desmond asks, looking at all of us.

“Again, you don’t understand. Just help me,” I snap, but he shakes his head.

“No, I am not helping you put him in a locked box. You know he’s claustrophobic,” he counters, and I throw my hands up in the air.

“I have no fucking choice,” I cry out as tears stream down my face. “None of us do. If we don’t do it, we’re all fucked!” I yell, and Millie sobs, walking closer to the edge.

“She’s right. Just help her. Please. It’s for all of us.” She hiccups as Everly hops back into the hole, grabbing his legs.

“Fuck it, I’ll help. I can’t stand his ass anyway,” she growls.

“I don’t like this shit. Not one bit,” he says, and I huff.

“Do you think any of us do? We’re being forced. That’s all you need to know,” I tell him.

“Fuck!” he yells, pulling at his hair. “What do you need me to do?” I turn and look at him with narrowed eyes.

“Help us get him inside.”

“Fine, get out of my way,” he orders, pushing me aside and lifting Silas’s unconscious body and placing him on top of Katie's corpse.

“Evs, go in the bag and grab the headphones, mask, and duct tape. Place a piece on his mouth and put the headphones over his ears, then cover his face with the mask,” I say, and she nods, doing everything I asked. When she's done, we close the casket and take a deep breath.

“Now what?” he asks, and I shake my head.

“I don’t know. That’s all the instructions we got. Anyone have any messages for the next task?” I ask as we all take out our phones, but Desmond immediately growls.

“This piece of shit!” he spits, kicking the dirt beneath his boots.

Looking at Everly, then up to Millie, I raise a brow at them, and they both shake their heads.

I really hope Checkmate didn’t get to him too, because what in the actual fuck?

Opening my message thread, I see one waiting for me. Christ, can this night get any worse?

Unknown:

Now that's a checkmate. I’ll be seeing you soon.XOXOCheckmate, B*tches.

Closing my phone, I look over at Desmond, who is pacing the small space.

“What?” I say, placing my hand on my hip.

“Nothing. You wouldn’t understand,” he says, and I laugh.

“Try me,” I tell him, and he narrows his eyes.

“There’s a lot you all don’t know and I don’t even know where to begin,” he says, grabbing the backpack and climbing out of the hole. He sticks his hand out for Everly to grab, pulling her out with ease, and then does the same with me.

“Welp, don’t just stand there. Help me bury your stepbrother,” he says, and I shake my head.

“No. I can’t do that. I’m not going to kill him,” I say, as my heart races and tears form in my eyes.

“Wait, what?” Everly says, folding her arms over her chest as Millie falls to her knees and begins to rock again.

“We have to bury him and cover our tracks,” he says, and I still shake my fucking head.

“I can’t do that, Des. I can’t leave him in there,” I spit. Never did I think that Checkmate would make us kill someone, especially someone I love. What the fuck?

“Didn’t you tell me just moments ago that we don’t have a fucking choice?

Well let me remind you, Ivanna. We! Don’t!

Have! A! Fucking! Choice!” he spits, getting in my face and slamming the handle of the shovel against my chest. “Fucking bury him!” he growls, scaring the shit out of me.

I’ve never seen him this angry before, or maybe it's fear. I’m not sure.

I’ve known him all my life and I’ve seen him in plenty of fights, but this… This is something entirely different.

“I’m scared, Dessy. We need to call for help,” Millie sobs.

“You know we can’t. Don’t act all innocent over there. Just sit there and shut up if you aren’t going to help,” he spits, then looks over at Everly. “Fucking dig!”

“Jesus Christ, alright, psycho.” She groans, picking up the shovel and getting to work.

Taking mine, I slam it into the dirt and haul it into the hole as tears stream down my face. Memories of all our stolen moments flood my mind as we bury my step brother.

After spending the day lakeside, I finally get home and want nothing more than to jump in the pool to get the sand off me.

Walking through the house, I see a note on the counter that reads, “We left for Cabo. Be back next week.- Love Mom and Rick.” Crumbling it up and throwing it in the trash, I walk into the laundry room to grab a clean towel from the rack and notice the door to the garage is open.

Peeking in, I see Silas with a bag of kitty litter, heading my way.

“Um, hey,” I say, and he looks up at me and smiles.

“Hey, Poison. I got you something.” My eyes widen because he never buys me anything remotely good. Except for when I have my period, that’s when he will get me meds, drinks, a heating pad, and all the chocolates I love.

“Oh, yeah? It’s not my time of the month, so…” I laugh, and he shakes his head.

“Nah, come on. Follow me,” he orders as he walks past me, through the laundry room, and into the kitchen, grabbing a shopping bag along the way.

“What’s with the kitty litter? I ask, but he doesn’t answer as we go up the stairs towards his room, which is directly across from mine.

Stepping inside, I see an orange kitten curled up in a ball in between his black pillows.

“Oh my god, Si,” I squeal, climbing on the bed, not caring if I get sand all over his comforter.

I gently run my fingers over the kitten's head, loving the way the fur feels under my fingertips.

“His name is Cornelius,” he tells me, and I scoop Cornie up and hold his little body in my arms.

“He’s so freaking cute.” I squeal again, absolutely in love with this little baby. The bed dips next to me, and Cornie’s head pops up, hissing at Si, causing me to laugh.

“Welp, he doesn’t like me much, but I needed a companion that was low maintenance, and being that he really isn’t taking a liking to me, he is now yours,” he informs me, and I roll my eyes.

“So you didn’t really get him for me. Asshole.” I laugh, and he smiles.

“You know I suck at this type of shit,” he admits, and I shake my head.

“No shit, but thanks, I guess.”

“He can stay in here when you’re gone. I suppose.”

“What a gentleman. Wanna go swimming with me? I need to get the muck and sand off my body.”

“Yeah, let me set him up and I’ll meet you outside.” Setting Cornie down on the bed, I climb off and leave the room. Silas can be a real mother fucker, especially when he’s around his friends, but when he’s alone with me, he’s entirely different—softer and more caring.

Grunts and heavy breathing from the others still burying Silas take me out of the memory, but Millie’s sobs thrusts me into another.

“Si! Si! Breathe, goddamn it!” I yell, holding his lifeless body in my arms on the porcelain floor of his bathroom. Foam litters his mouth and pours down his chin. Reaching up towards the sink I grab the hand towel laying there and wipe the mess from his face. How much did he take this time? Fuck!

“Come on, Silas. Come back to me. Please. This is not worth it.” I sob, laying his head down gently as I feel his neck for a pulse.

Thump, thump, I feel between my fingers, but it's faint.

Fuck! Getting to my feet, I run from the bathroom into his room and rummage through his top drawer.

Finding the Narcan in his top drawer, I rip open the package and run back to the bathroom, falling to the floor and shoving it up his nose and hit the plunger.

Giving it a minute, I feel for his pulse again and find it beating faster.

Suddenly, his eyes pop open, and he leans to the side, puking up his guts.

Tears pour down his face as he tries to get to his knees.

Wiping his mouth, he looks up at me as my own tears stream down my cheeks.

Casting my eyes down, I stare at the floor, thinking I could’ve lost him.

This could’ve been it. He reaches for my face, lifting my chin to look at him.

All I see is embarrassment and sadness riddling his features.

“Thank you. I’m sorry you had to do that,” he whispers, and I grab him, hugging his body tightly, sobbing into his neck.

“You have to get help, Si. What if I wasn’t here in time? I can’t lose you. Not after just losing Jay,” I whisper back.

“I will try, Ivy. Just please don’t give up on me. Don’t leave me like everyone else has. Promise me,” he begs, holding my face and forcing me to look into his eyes.

“I promise, Si, I’ll never leave you. No matter what. But I need you to promise me you are going to get the help you need. The drugs are not you. They don’t define you. You are better than this,” I tell him as the corner of his lip lifts into a half smile.

“You know, you’re really pretty when you’re worried about me,” he laughs, and I roll my eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say as he wipes the tears from my face.

Red and blue lights flashing in the distance take me out of my memory as the tears continue to pour down my face.

“You guys have to get out of here! Now!” Desmond yells.

“I can’t, Des. I can’t just leave him here alone,” I cry, but he grabs me by the shoulders and lifts my chin to look up at him.

“I promise you, I will get him out. Just fucking go. Get my sister out of here and go,” he tells me, wiping the tears from my face.

“I-I…”

“Ivanna, go! Now!” he shouts, making me jump.

Turning, I grab the backpack as the girls run back the same way we came in. My heart breaks for Silas, laying in that fucking hole, alone and scared. I can’t lose him after just losing Katie. I won’t survive it. I can’t do this anymore. The lying, the secrets, everything needs to end.

We need to get the police involved before someone gets seriously hurt.