37. Tess
TESS
Cyrus had practically shoved me out the front door. I’d barely been able to get my shoe on the correct foot before she was slamming the apartment door closed and slipping her stitched-up clown mask over her face.
With each step, I watched her shoulders tighten and her broad back grow tense.
There was a hunger in her that I hadn’t seen before, like I was a trapped mouse in a lion’s paw. She could eat me whole, or bat me around until she got bored with watching me suffer.
I felt my chest strain to pull in fresh air, anxiety washing over me.
But Blade pressed her hand flat into my back as she guided me out of Canopy Eatery and into Feverpoint’s jungle. “Don’t worry, Trinket. I’ll find you first.”
I knew under her blood splattered mask that she wore a sinister smile. One that would send a shiver down my spine and a jolt of excitement to my center.
Cyrus already had her machete out, the blade dangling toward the ground as she shook out her shoulders.
Why did she need it?
Maybe she was going to kill me tonight. Finally getting to do as she wished with me.
Maybe that’s what she wanted all along, to watch the life seep from my eyes. That just might be the only thrill someone like Cyrus sought out.
Next to her, Nash rolled her head and stretched her neck.
“Start the count.” Cyrus barked at Blade.
Turning to look at Cyrus, Blade scoffed. “Chill.” She turned toward the electric panel nonetheless, peeling open the metal and resting her fingers along the power switch.
“Ready, Trinket?”
Before I could answer, Nash stretched her arms. “Set.”
It was Cyrus’ deep growl that coincided with the flashing green lights that marked the start of my hiding time. “Go, Ragdoll.”
I took off, my sneakers more comfortable this time as I sprinted away from the three Freaks watching me flee.
Behind me, Blade let out a loud laugh. It bounced off the walls of Feverpoint, making my heart skip a beat as fear coursed through me.
I knew that Blade and Nash wouldn’t kill me if they caught me, but I still didn’t know what else they had in store for me. Blade certainly wouldn’t hold back now that I’d been around a while, now that she knew I liked it.
This time, I knew where I wanted to go. I’d scoped it out on one of my walks with Blade and Butch. But I hadn’t been able to go inside, too aware that Blade might snitch on my hiding spot.
As I passed through the Jungle and into Rapid Rush, I realized I wasn’t sure how tonight would go. Would they still pull their freaky tarot cards? Or would Cyrus get first pick since it was her birthday?
It didn’t matter, her odds would still be the same. And I needed to win my twenty grand — plus I wasn’t interested in finding out what Cyrus had in mind for me.
When I crossed over into the Western part of the park, greeted by the massive Old Frontier sign that hovered over the walkways, my eyes searched the darkness for the towering mountain ride.
I knew from childhood that the ride would be dark inside, even once the lights came on. Most of them would be flashing on and off if there were any lights to begin with.
When I got to the maze-like waiting area for Mineshaft Mountain, I looked over my shoulder. Once I was inside, there was a chance that the Freaks could work together, cut off my exits and trap me in their claws.
If they find me.
Forcing my confidence back, I sprinted into the ride. The walls were lined with faux desert rocks, beige and soft orange more visible in the dark than some of the other indoor coasters.
But as I got closer, I heard the gentle lapping of water.
I’d picked the log flume for a reason. My hunters would be less likely to expect me in here, not wanting to get wet and cold just to hide for twelve hours. Besides, I’d guessed this water hadn’t been changed out in over a decade at least which meant that it would be gross.
It just might be the last place one of my captors would check.
I just have to make twelve hours.
Hopping down from the loading platform for the log flumes, I landed in the water with a splash.
“Fuck.” I shivered as the water soaked my shoes and my legs before traveling up the fabric toward my clit. This wasn’t going to be pleasant. But it might work.
I walked on, through the winding maze of a roller coaster in the dark.
Once the game started, the ride would turn on. I tried to keep an eye on where the track actually lay — uninterested in accidentally getting my leggings caught in the gears.
I trudged up the water-covered steps in the pitch dark to the peak of the mountain, just before the big drop.
Even years later, I could still remember the way the huge plunge made me squeal as a kid, how the water splashed up when the flume hit the bottom of the hill.
At the peak, a few animatronics of cartoonish mining rabbits and gophers stood frozen in time. I found a fake badger with a hard hat just out of the water's reach and squatted behind it. I’d be able to dry off a little here, lose some of the weight that the water would add to my clothes.
With any luck, whoever came looking would give up before climbing all the way up here.
As if on cue, the green lights installed across the park blared that sickly green and the crackling carnival music grew louder over the old speakers.
All I could do was hope that Cyrus didn’t find me. I had no interest in learning what her hunger was about, where it came from, or why she had it out for me so badly.
Hunger that needed to be relieved. One way or another.
And I wasn’t going to find out how.
I needed that $20k so I could finally get out of here and start a new life.
Let the games begin.