Page 85 of The Invite (The Massacre Ball #1)

Augustus

“Do you see her?” I ask Ace, forcing myself to stay calm while I check the different rooms on the third floor. If she ends up in the wrong room, it could be disastrous. She’ll be like a lost little lamb in a room full of vultures ready to take a bite.

“Man,” he curses.

Something in his tone sends a shiver down my spine. “Ace?”

“She slipped onto the second floor.”

His answer makes my blood run cold.

“They requested to open it this year,” explains Ace apologetically.

That floor has remained sealed and off-limits for over a decade.

Ace’s mother caught us trying to break the bolt and explore it when we were teens and told us strange and paranormal activities began occurring after two consecutive suicides in one of the rooms. One of the people was Ace’s dad, Mav’s uncle.

“Then look for her through the cameras,” I bark.

“I’m sorry, man. They didn’t want cameras in there. The cameras were removed per the contract. I don’t have eyes on there.”

Damn it. For all I know, it can be a minefield of triggers for my girl. I should’ve warned her. Maybe then she would’ve stayed put like I told her.

Never am I letting her out of my sight again.

I’ll cuff her to my side if I have to.

Pushing past the few lingering masked bodies, I fly down the stairs. “She better be unharmed and safe, Ace. Otherwise, best friend or not, I will kill you.”

“I know.”

“What about Kenny? Anybody got him?”

“No.”

I pause and punch the wall. The vivid pain sharpening my focus.

“He couldn’t have gone far, Grayson. Maverick is guarding the entrance while Wolf and Kaid are searching the ground floor.”

That slimy fucker is like a worm slipping away at every turn. Yet he’s my last priority right now. Finding Nessa safe and sound is my only mission.

Landing on the second floor, a light bulb flickers over my head. I slow down because it’s dead quiet—too eerie for even my taste—and pitch black. The structure and style are the complete opposite from the other areas of the castle.

The halls are smaller.

It reeks of death and plague.

Instead of music, haunting screams and cries echo from the corners. It’s unbearably loud like they want our ears to bleed. I’m propelled forward by my fierce need to find Nessa.

I throw open the first door.

Strobe lights flicker from the ceiling, shining down on the vertical caskets resting against the wall. Naked bodies hang inside them.

Walking to the nearest casket, I peer inside and squint. The man’s chest is sewn from the top of his chest to his stomach.

Something about the figure screams something is seriously wrong. I can’t put my finger on it. Gazing around, I carefully watch each individual.

“Jesus… Fuck!” The bodies aren’t fake. It explains the wretched smell.

I was right.

Nessa just entered a field full of landmines.

Stepping out, I hastily search the other rooms. Each is worse than the last. One was a medieval torture chamber with a live act playing on the large projector screens. The pressure in my chest becomes heavier when I fail to find any signs of Nessa.

Where are you, little prey?

She could be having a hallucinating episode and I won’t be there to help her. I knew I should’ve locked her away at my place.

A gust of wind snaps my attention to the mirror on one of the walls and someone is standing behind me. I blink and it vanishes. I whip around in confusion, and that’s when I see a figure sprinting away.

It’s Kenny.

Is he going after Nessa? Did they run into each other?

I dash after him and take the last turn. A single room awaits and the door is wide open. Storming in, I gaze around.

My lips curl, cringing at the view. One can call it a version of house of mirrors. Except for tall mirrors, the space is filled with mannequins wearing Joker masks.

I close the door and lock it.

Let’s see how you escape now, Kenny.

The torment he’s inflicted on my Nessa flashes in my mind, turning my vision red. Leaning against the doorway, I survey the room, looking for any movement or shadows.

“I know you’re in here, Kenny boy,” I drawl loudly. “Come on out, now.”

A mannequin in the far left corner shakes, causing my gaze to snap toward it. Stealthily, I stroll in that direction.

“Just give in, Kenny,” I coax, distracting him while I get closer. “Even if you get out of here, we know where you live.”

I reach the first row and glance left and right. It’s empty.

“Last chan—”

“G… Gus.”

My gait falters, horror twisting my insides as I glance at a bleeding Scarlett rounding the last aisle at the top. Her hand clutches the wound on her stomach.

“Scarlett!” I’ve barely taken a step when she’s shoved to her knees. A cry of agony rips past her mouth just as Kenny wrenches her head back and presses a bloodied knife against her throat.

“Let me walk out of here and she doesn’t have to die.”

A manic expression makes his features look ugly.

I raise my hands in the air. “Don’t hurt her.”

“Move aside,” he demands.

I make the mistake of meeting my sister’s eyes for a fraction of a second, who gives a slight shake of her head.

Kenny feels it. “You little bitch!”

“No!” I roar and run just as he raises his arm and yanks her head back.

A piercing scream echoes off the walls and Scarlett slumps forward. I fall to my knees and catch her before her forehead touches the ground. It takes my confused brain a minute to realize the shriek didn’t come from my sister, but from Kenny.

I look above and my eyes collide with a frozen Nessa.

No!

The knife I gave her is lodged in Kenny’s neck. A stream of red liquid pouring from his mouth as he drops to his knees.

“Ness?” I try to jolt her out of the shock she’s in while pressing down on Scarlett’s wound.

A thudding noise cuts through the air from behind, followed my footsteps stomping our way.

My entire being is focused on my girl. “Honey, look at me!”

Her desolate eyes are stuck on Kenny’s form convulsing on the floor.

“Scar!” roars Maverick. He kneels, ready to take her from me.

A hard shove pushes him aside. “I’ve got her.”

“She isn’t yours, Kaid!”

“She doesn’t belong to anyone.” His tone is surprisingly sweet as he replaces my hands with his calloused ones. I feel Scarlett’s weight lift from my lap. “Isn’t that right, wildcat?”

Her heavy eyelids blink at him. She croaks out, “Yeah.”

“Stay awake for me.” The moment she’s held protectively against Kaid’s chest with one of his palms holding the bleeding at bay, I’m off the ground and on Nessa.

“Honey.” I cup her ashen face, bringing her unfocused gaze to mine. “Look at me. Feel me.”

“I… I killed h-him. I killed Johnny.”

Fuck. She’s hallucinating.

Picking her up, I wrap her legs and arms around me and bury her face in the crook of my neck. She mumbles intelligibly to herself. Each word slashing my heart. Turning around, I catch Wolf checking Kenny’s pulse while Capri stands over them. A dead and remorseless expression on her face.

“He’s alive.”

“Take him upstairs,” I order. “There’s a hidden staircase in the right corner.”

Without waiting for their response, I carry Nessa out of the room. The hallway is deserted. As I reach the main foyer, nobody pays us any mind. Still lost to the wickedness and blind to the violence.

Entering Ace’s security room minutes later, I slide to the floor with Nessa straddling my lap. As I go to pull her back to see her face, she shudders and clutches me tightly.

“Don’t leave me here. Please. Don’t leave me alone.”

“I’m right here,” I whisper back, inhaling her scent. “Never leaving you, Nessa. Come back to me. Please.”

Soft hiccups shake her shoulders. Her grief splitting my chest open.

I kiss her head and massage her back while murmuring to her, “You’re safe. Listen to my voice, little prey.”

Like last time, I grab her wrists and press her cold palms on the sides of my neck. The skin-on-skin contact jolts her. I press harder, letting her feel my pulse. Soon, she begins to roam them all over my neck, up toward my cheekbones. I nuzzle her palms, kissing them softly.

Her head lifts.

I push her hair back, tucking it behind her ear.

“August?” she whispers.

A rough exhale leaves my lungs at my name on her lips. “It’s me.” Desperate, I capture her mouth with mine, needing to taste her. She sighs, stroking her tongue against mine. I gasp, “You’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be…?” Her tone is confused as she trails off. A knit appears between her brows. Clenching her fingers in my hair, she says in a horrified tone, “Oh my god! I stabbed Kenny.”

“Shh… it’s all right.”

“H-he hurt Scarlett.” Lurching away, she demands, “Where is she?”

“Kaid and Maverick took her. She’ll be fine,” I assure her. Though it feels like a lie. I have no clue where they’ve taken her. My gut feeling says they’ll take care of her. “You saved her life.”

“Is Kenny… dead?”

I wipe the tears from her cheekbone. “No. He’s still breathing.”

Not for long, though.

“Oh.” Momentary relief flickers in her pupils before they widen in apprehension. “I don’t think I can do it, August.”

“Shh.” I caress her lips and rest my forehead on hers. “I told you in the beginning, Ness. I’ll slay your demons for you.”

Her worry doesn’t lessen. “You don’t have to. We can still tell the cops.”

“You know we can’t.” I smile sadly. “It has to be this way.”

Her eyes close for the longest moment before opening again with a dark intent. “Then let me be by your side. I know you want to protect me, but it’s already too late.”

“I can’t risk you getting triggered, Ness.”

“I can face anything as long as you’re with me.”

***

Nessa’s hand trembles in mine as we reach the landing.

Yet she doesn’t pull away nor lower her gaze as we join the circle around Kenny. Mouth parted, blood caked on his chin, he takes his last breath.

Capri, Wolf, Kaid, Nessa, and I—all of us stare down at him.

I kept wondering, going over and over in my head, why he was chosen as one of the players. How there was no dirt on him besides his dad having an affair. Once Daisy confirmed he was the attacker and I let the others know, Wolf and Kaid did their background checks on him.

That’s how we discovered Kenny is an excellent hacker and had done an odd job for Wolf’s older brother a while back.

Capri, too, revealed that Amber used to talk to a boy named Ken.

She was suspicious it was a nickname given by Amber to Kenny.

But he turned out to be too good of an actor as he pretended not to know her at all.

As for him uncovering our secrets, he never said outright that he knew I killed my uncle. However, with his hacking skills, he could’ve easily found the hidden records of Scarlett being admitted into the hospital and our uncle going missing in the same week, and then put two and two together.

He probably thought he’d turn us against each other. He tried his best.

Regardless of whether or not he knew the entire truth, it was too risky to let him live. Neither Nessa nor Scarlett would’ve been able to move on with the dark cloud of him hanging over our heads.

Kenny has to die.

Too bad we’ll never know his motives behind the deadly game.

“Your girl got him good.” Wolf whistles, impressed.

Ignoring his comment, I ask Kaid, “Scarlett?”

“Maverick’s stitching her up. She’ll be fine.”

“Who’s going first?” Wolf asks, bouncing on his feet at the anticipation of his pound of flesh.

“I will.” I extend my gloved palm toward him. He places the knife and I curl my fingers around it as I step forward. A small hand interlacing with mine makes me look behind.

“Together,” Nessa whispers looking into my gaze.

My throat goes tight at her bravery. Nodding, we turn toward Kenny.

Bending down until I’m staring into his brown eyes, I plunge the blade into his gut and twist. “This is for my sister.”

Yanking it out, I straighten and hand it over to Kaid.

Back in the circle, I pull Nessa into my arms and bury her face into my chest so she doesn’t have to see the rest. I close her ears with my palms until she can’t hear the gut-wrenching sounds leaving Kenny as Kaid carves Amber’s name into his chest.

Wolf has an unhinged grin on his face when it’s his turn. I’m not stunned when he does something equally crazy. Instead of stabbing him, he draws a smile on Kenny’s face and carves an A on his forehead.

There’s barely any life left in Kenny’s eyes when Capri approaches him.

Towering over his bent knees, she raises her arm and rams the knife straight into his heart with a shout. “Rot. In. Hell.”

Something inside her breaks.

The pain she was burying at losing Amber erupts in violent waves.

An ominous energy possesses her as she stabs him over and over. Each plunge is cruel and vicious until his intestines begin to spill out. Every inch of him, from his arms to his legs, Capri doesn’t show any mercy.

When she shows no signs of stopping, Kaid and Wolf grab her.

“No! I’m not finished!” she cries out.

“He’s gone, Capri,” says Kaid solemnly.

Wolf rips the knife from her hands. Kaid swings her around and pulls her into his chest. She punches him, sobbing her heart out. He takes it all.

“It’s over,” he murmurs.

“I-I misss he-rr so much.”

“Shh… I know.”

“I don’t wa-want to live any… m-more.”

“You will.” His voice is thick with emotion. “For her.”

As I watch him console her, I’m ashamed I ever thought he could kill Amber. His body is laced with the same protectiveness I feel toward Scarlett.

Wolf approaches them and wraps his arms around the other two. Together, they guard Capri like a shield. Providing her strength. She will live. Because they won’t let anything happen to her.

Nessa shakes in my hold.

I keep her gaze averted as I guide her to the adjoining room. I release her so she can face me. Tilting her head, she asks in a small voice, “Is it over?”

“It is, little prey.” Caressing her cheek, I smile. “No more Anonymous.”