Page 38

CHAPTER 37

J essica

The park was closed.

The hour was late.

The excitement was riding high.

I had no idea what to expect. I’d worn jeans, a sweater, and boots, bringing the flashlight and the GPS I’d been provided with days before. I had no idea how handy the GPS would come in, but I didn’t know the park at all and at night, everything appeared ominous. Clouds had all but swallowed the moon, the strange eerie glow creating an air of despondency.

I’d searched the internet, learning as much as I could about the park’s facilities. The location was more rural than most, but there was a river running through the center of it,

There were no other cars in the small parking lot, no sign of life whatsoever.

I stood where I was, pulling up the coordinates. The GPS dropped on my doorstep had been altered. There was a blip on the screen. That had to indicate the other side. From where I was standing, it appeared like a straight shot.

But that was almost three miles away. Okay, I was in decent shape, jogging every time my schedule allowed, which lately hadn’t been enough. However, the thought of going that far would seem impossible without the adrenaline rush I felt. It was explosive, just like the wicked thoughts running through my mind.

What scary creatures would suddenly come out in the dark? I could only imagine given Dark Nights. The beasts on the level I’d achieved had been gruesome to look at. But I didn’t scare that easily.

There was a light breeze, a few sounds of rustling leaves, but otherwise, the entire place was quiet.

So much so it was unnerving. But this was everything that excited me, everything I’d said I wanted.

After scanning the area and with a smile on my face, I took off running.

Not knowing the park, I followed the glowing blip, constantly shifting the light from one side to the other. There were a few asphalt sidewalks, but the shorter way to the other side had taken me off the path within a few minutes.

There was no indication anyone else was in the park. I didn’t sense the crackle of electricity or feel a presence anywhere.

“Run, little girl. You won’t get very far.”

The voice sounded amplified, as if it was coming through a speaker system. As had occurred before, the voice was disguised, gritty and dark, but unrecognizable.

I pressed on, almost doing a stupid horror movie move and tripping, the shift in my footing causing me to jam my arm against a tree. Pain shot down my shoulder and I winced. That was my fault.

After a couple of deep breaths, I took off again, this time altering my course slightly.

“Run, Desdemona.” The whisper was husky. Ragged.

My God, it sounded as if Xander was right behind me. I stopped short, spinning around in a complete circle. I swung the light at the same time, unable to detect anything. No evil men in masks, no creatures ready to snarl and feast.

There was no one lurking in the shadows.

“You’ll need to do better than that.”

My statement was met with a dark chuckle coming from the other direction. So he had brought in others. Groovy. I bolted again, keeping an eye on the blip.

I was making decent headway when I finally heard a sharp growl. The sound was as eerie as the ones I’d heard in the game.

Chuckling, I issued a howl of my own and took off running again.

Suddenly, the blip on the console unit disappeared.

What the hell?

I shifted against a tree, shaking the mechanical device. Nothing happened. Oh, hell, no. Now I didn’t know where I was going. At least I had my bearings.

As soon as I pushed off from the tree, I noticed a strange glow and suddenly felt more than one presence. When a massive beastlike creature jumped out in front of me, I squealed involuntarily in response.

I jagged to the left and straight into the arms of a masked man. He appeared exactly like Xander had, only the mask was slightly different, neon red the color of choice.

There was something odd about him, something that bothered me. “Nice try.” He didn’t try to stop me in any way, nor did I see a weapon, but I had to admit the person was threatening in nature.

Or maybe it was simply the nature of the game.

I bolted again and creatures and masked men started to appear from all sides. Every time one of them appeared, I was forced to change direction again.

Not long after, I realized I was hopelessly lost. Even worse, the bastards were herding me. Why?

My pulse was increasing and the adrenaline coursing through my veins was no longer a pleasant feeling. Something was off about this. When another monster jumped from the shadows, I let out a shrill scream.

The laugh was directly behind me, deep and laced with evil.

“Did you really think you could get away from me? Did you honestly believe I’d let you get away with what you did?”

The words were directed toward me, the tone changing once again. More than a trickle of fear skated down my spine. A moment of sheer panic was settling in.

I turned around and as soon as I swung the beam, the light captured that the man doing the talking had a knife in his hand. Okay, so had Xander, but this was entirely different. I felt it in my bones.

“Who are you?” My voice was even quaking.

When the unknown man took a step closer, I took two back. The creatures had surrounded me and the slight fear was close to becoming terror. Who the hell was this person?

My instincts were screaming.

Run. Run!

“I’m whoever you want me to be, Desdemona.”

I don’t have any idea what possessed me, but I lunged forward, managing to rip off the gamer’s mask.

When I did, I moaned, stumbling backwards from the shock. “Oh. My. God!”

His reaction was swift, the backhand knocking me to the ground. When he did, the sharp end of the knife slashed across my neck. Whimpering, I scrambled, clawing at the dirt as I pushed myself up. Shock tore through me, but I couldn’t allow the horrible surprise to keep me from running.

I bolted forward, moving from one side to the other to avoid the people he’d hired. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but the blade was real. While the gash wasn’t deep, I grabbed my neck, panic ready to settle in. This was no game.

He was intent on harming me.

Killing me.

The why didn’t matter.

I’d seen the look in his eyes, the horrible murderous glint. I had to keep running.

“You can run, Jessica, but you will never get away from me.”

With one toss of my head over my shoulder, I noticed he’d returned the mask to the original position, the knife held high. The man had lost it, becoming completely deranged.

I rushed through another clump of trees, turning out the light and crowding against a tree. I had to get the upper hand on this. The silence was more disturbing than hearing the monsters. After gasping for air, a sound caught my attention. Was that water?

Maybe. If so, I could follow it to the backside of the park. There was another road there. I could seek help. I crouched down, flicking on the light and lunging toward the sound.

As soon as I reached the riverbank, I felt a slight bit of relief.

It was short lived the moment I felt his presence behind me.

“Now, it’s time for your punishment.”

I let out another shriek just before a hand was placed over my mouth.

At that moment, I knew I was going to die.

Xander

Her shriek caught my immediate attention. I didn’t bother saying a goddamn thing to Christopher, taking off running in the direction of the sound. I had both my weapon and a flashlight in my hands as I ran, constantly swinging both from one side to the other.

Within seconds, some asshole dressed like a ghoul appeared, instantly throwing up his hands when he noticed the weapon pointed directly at his face. “Get out of here,” I barked.

Christopher remained right behind me. There were more creatures, but none of them were stupid enough to fuck with us. They’d been hired to scare a young woman in the middle of the woods and nothing more.

My anger was high, the taste of blood in my mouth stronger than it had been in a long time.

“Look,” Christopher said a few seconds later.

I spun around, uncertain what to expect. As I walked closer, I realized what he was holding. The GPS she’d been sent for the earlier game. She’d bought the idea that the invitation had been real. Why shouldn’t she? Great lengths had been gone to in order to make everything appear legitimate.

At least I knew we were on the right track. I continued powering through the forest, fortified with another sharp cry.

Then a roar.

I ran faster, ignoring the pain as limbs slapped me in the face. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to her.

“Fuck you!” Jessica yelled and while I wanted nothing more than to issue a primal roar, I maintained silence. We had maybe a hundred yards to go.

Only when I was close did I don the mask, Christopher doing the same. We continued on the path, doing what we could to remain silent. There was no need for the light and I shoved the flashlight in my back pocket. My eyes were accustomed to the shadows. Plus, a bright glow was only a few feet away.

“Get the fuck away from her,” I snarled.

The bastard had the nerve to laugh. He was quick in his actions, able to grab Jessica around the throat.

She had no intention of backing down, doing everything in her power to fight him. When he thrust a blade against her neck, only then did she suck in her breath and stop moving.

I walked closer, holding the weapon out with both hands, the barrel aimed right between his eyes.

Christopher broke off from where he was flanking my side, his posture exactly like mine. I hadn’t comprehended the man knew how to handle a weapon as well as he did. We were both pissed. The fucker had done everything in his power to make us believe Christopher had been the one providing trade secrets.

Even worse, I’d bought it, not believing a woman could be behind the betrayal. Although for a few hours, I’d mused about the possibility Jessica had been working with someone, including her own father to bring us down. I laughed softly, mostly at myself. Women were the most cunning creatures on this earth.

“I never knew you had it in you, Sam. You seemed like a nice guy.”

If he was surprised that I knew his identity, he didn’t show it. Then again, I certainly couldn’t see his face. Yet.

“You should know all about that, Xander. You are a true monster. You did kill my friend, Joel. Didn’t you? Didn’t you?” He truly seemed horrified.

I laughed softly and inched closer. “You know how competitive it is in this business, Sam. You certainly didn’t mind taking over the man’s business operations. Did you? With stealing several ideas and productions designs, our intellectual property, you counted on becoming a very wealthy man. Sadly, your idea backfired on you. You were just too… How do I say this? Stupid with using Elizabeth. She isn’t as na?ve as you think she is. In fact, she had a picture taken of the two of you in case you reneged on whatever deal you made.”

I didn’t need to see the look of surprise on his face.

“Yes, she was a smart woman, sending copies to her home email address, a private one no one knew about and her attorney in case anything happened to her. Was she going to be next, Sam? Eliminating loose ends?”

Given his lack of answer, that’s exactly what he had planned. As I’d always known, anyone could cross the line of right versus wrong with the correct incentive.

My little lamb took the opportunity to elbow the man, able to jerk from his hold. But he reacted instantly, pummeling his body against hers, driving them both to the ground right by the water.

A flash of images tore through my mind, the memory of seeing Amy’s broken body by the river capturing my full attention.

Jessica’s sharp cry dragged my attention back to the present day. I threw myself on both, jerking him away from her and snapping my fingers around his wrist holding the knife.

She scrambled away, Christopher catching her and pulling her from harm’s way.

Sam and I pitched and rolled much like the rage was doing in my mind. I was fucked up, flipping back and forth between the past and the present. After managing to knock the knife from his hand, I reared back, delivering two brutal punches to his face in a row.

He lay limp, gasping for air. I’d likely broken his nose. Who gave a damn?

As I hauled him to his feet, I pressed the barrel of my weapon against his forehead and ripped off his mask. I wanted to see the look of terror in his eyes.

I got what I was looking for.

I was salivating over seeing the vacant look seconds later.

“Are you ready to die, you fuck?” I bellowed.

“No!” Jessica’s sharp cry as she wrestled free from Christopher’s hold caught my attention. She looked so damn beautiful, her face pensive, but her eyes held the same resolve. “You can’t kill him, Xander.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not the young boy caught in a monstrous cage and I’m not Amy.”

Startled, I sucked in my breath, pressing the metal against his skin. I slowly turned my head to lock eyes with hers.

She moved closer, nodding as she did. “I know about Amy. You tried to protect her. You didn’t fail her, Xander. You did everything you could as a young boy. Because of you, her life was better. Don’t do this. Amy wouldn’t want you to do this. He’ll pay for his sins, but you don’t have to any longer.”

I returned my gaze to his eyes. Maybe I was searching for remorse. What I noticed was a broken man driven to doing something he would never have done before. I shifted the weapon, still keeping the barrel pointed in the same spot.

“Xander. Don’t. You have too much to live for.” She placed her hand on my arm and I looked away briefly, hissing. “Please.”

When I dropped the weapon to the side, I pushed him hard, forcing him to tumble down on the ground. Christopher held his weapon out toward the fallen man, giving me a nod.

She removed my mask, brushing her fingers against my cheek. “I don’t need Sinner any longer. Why would I when I have Xander?”

I wrapped my arms around her. “Jessica.”

“You saved me. You protected me. Just like you promised.”

While nothing in the present or the future would take away from the horrors of the past, she was right in that for the first time in my life, I had everything to live for.

I cupped both sides of her face, lowering my head. As I captured her mouth, an entirely different set of emotions rolled through me.

Could this be something called… love?