Page 13 of Wanna Play A Game?

She shuts the car door so her kids are safely inside, and then she pulls her phone out of her pocket. “Where is he? Do you need me to call the cops?”

I swipe to the emergency call screen and realize with a sickening drop in my stomach that I don’t remember anyone’s numbers. They’re all just entered as contacts on my phone.

Well. I remember my grandmother’s.

I’m paralyzed. Do I call her? And confirm what she believes to be true? She’s over an hour away. And what would she do? Pray the man away? My hands shake.

“Let me call the cops.” The phone slips out of my hand as the woman takes it. She throws me a weird look and dials.

I glance over my shoulder again and catch sight of something. Adrenaline hits my bloodstream, and I look closer. There’s a man standing in the shadows across the street. I can’t see much of him because it’s dark, but I know it’s a man because he’s huge.

I glance back at the woman and the car full of kids. I swallow. I already left my cat. I can’t be a shitty person and let him comenear them. The woman talks on the phone and tries to ask me what my boyfriend looks like.

I take off. I sprint as fast as I can. I veer to the right, where there’s a neighborhood of mobile homes. I hold my gun in place in my waistband, and I throw a wild look over my shoulder.

I don’t see anything. I dart down a side street, my chest heaving. I dash to the tall weeds around a dark trailer and peek around the corner.

The street is wide, with parked cars on either side.

A man stands by a sedan on the right side of the street, hood drawn over his head, but I can see he has a mask on. A Ghostface mask.

I make a strangled sound and turn and bolt in the opposite direction. I stick to the shadows, darting back and forth between homes, tripping over lawn chairs, and forcing myself to keep going.

I snatch the gun from my waistband, my hands trembling. Don’t shoot on accident. Fuck, finger off the trigger.

Oh my god, he’s going to try and kill me. Ben hired him to kill me. My heart races.

I spot a large patch of shadows on my right next to a white trailer. I dart to it and wait.

He doesn’t have the advantage. I need to take him out before he gets one.

I gasp for breath, my heart swelling and racing.

Silence fills the park. Crickets. I desperately try to slow my breathing. It feels like my chest is squeezing together.

There’s movement on my right. The man walks past the corner. He’s even bigger than what I thought in a plaid jacket and a white mask.

I raise the gun up. The man turns slightly at the movement, facing me.

I pull the trigger.

Bam! The gun kicks hard, and I jump.

There’s a blur of movement, and my hand is snapped to the side. I’m weightless for a second before my back slams into the side of the trailer, and a massive body crushes into me. A hand clamps over my mouth and nose, and blinding pain twists at my hand holding the gun, forcing me to drop it. I try to cry out.

The man is so tall that my face presses into his chest. He leans back slightly, his mask almost glowing.

A rich, deep voice hisses, “I kill men for less. But seeing as we haven’t even started to have our fun, I’ll let it slide, bunny.”

I thrash in the man’s hold and struggle to breathe. My heart is still pounding, my lungs screaming. He’s so heavy that I barely move.

The man drags in a deep breath. “God, that’s my favorite perfume. Are you afraid, Sleeping Beauty?”

I choke for air. The man doesn’t let up. He rumbles in my ear, “You’ll learn soon that if you get anything, it comes from me. Food? Me. Water? Me. The air you breathe?” He rubs the plastic mask against me and whispers, “Also me.”

I try to knee him in the balls, but his legs are pinning mine apart, and the lack of air is making me groggy.

“You’re all mine now, bunny.”