Chapter 86 Ivy
IVY
Sacrifice if you dare. Meet at Old Belgrave Academy at midnight—Or beg for Mercy.
Not a fucking chance I’ll ever step foot in that godforsaken tomb again.
Tossing my phone on the bed, I sit on the edge as I groan, “I’m ready to go.”
Walking with crutches is not fun, particularly with broken ribs, but the doctor said I had to use them for a few weeks.
Anthony keeps reading his book. “They will be in momentarily with the discharge paperwork.”
It’s been hours since the doctor gave me the all clear to leave. I’m signed up for outpatient visits and plenty of other appointments including physical therapy. None of them sound appealing. But I’m ready to leave, and it’s not even been twenty-four hours.
A nurse walks in. “Ready to go? Your dad can head down to get the car if you are.”
I don’t correct her as Anthony stands and says, “I’ll be waiting out front.”
“Thanks,” I relay to him before he steps out of the room.
“Let’s get you out of here.” She inserts a syringe into the IV port and once it’s empty, she begins flushing the line.
“What did you give me? I thought you were just removing my IV?” I ask, already feeling a familiar drowsiness. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking it out now. It’ll be over soon.”
I feel her remove the needle then apply pressure to the area. Everything fades as I drift off before I’m able to ask what will be over soon.
Something’s not right. I’m on a hard chair, sitting up. There’s no beeping, only silence as I strain to open my eyes, recalling the nurse drugging me.
When I look around, I’m definitely not in the hospital anymore.
But it’s pitch black, so I can’t see anything.
I go to stand but my arms are bound and there’s a gag over my mouth.
It takes me a few minutes to register that I’m in the old Belgrave mausoleum.
At least I think I am. It has the same musty smell and stale air.
Struggling against the restraints is useless. I’m trapped.
Minutes later, the lights flip on to reveal an enormous round wooden table and every person who played Mercy is seated at it, except for Remy. Each person is in the same situation. Their hands tied and mouth gagged.
What are they going to do to us?
Decider announces, “The final dare. Thirteen. Sacrifice.”
My eyes dart to Luca. He’s focused on me, and I can see he’s rattled which gives me no comfort. We’re at their will. We’re literally prisoners of Mercy. And there’s not a fucking thing we can do about it.
“But only one team has earned the right to partake.” He waves around the table. “The rest of you are here to earn your freedom. The price—silence.
“Mercy is sacred. It must remain veiled in secrecy. There’s no alternative. You can all walk away from here. The agreement is you will never speak of Mercy to anyone. Ever. And if you do, the price will be grave.”
A hooded figure moves behind each player one by one and to remove our gags. Decider asks them whether they agree to an oath of silence. Once the person agrees, their arms are unbound.
What happens if we don’t consent? No one has refused yet. And I’m afraid to find out. These dudes are clearly crazy and take this game way too seriously. They kidnapped me from a freaking hospital and tied me to a chair. They made sure we didn’t bail on the final challenge.
When they get to Micah, he agrees before they release him, but he doesn’t leave like the other players did. They do the same for Brooke, me, then Luca. The four of us remain.
Brooke moves next to me as I attempt to get up but as soon as I put weight on my leg, it gives out, pain radiating to my toes. “Guess no one thought to grab my crutches when y’all kidnapped me.”
Luca starts towards me as I yell, “Don’t you dare fucking touch me. I’ll crawl out of here if I have to.”
“Let me help you,” Brooke offers.
“The remaining team is not permitted to leave until Mercy has concluded.” Decider holds up three daggers before he places them on the table. “The final challenge—sacrifice. Only one person wins Mercy. That person must sacrifice the other.”
Did he just really say that? I look at Luca. Will he kill me? He wants to win. He says he’s done with the game. But is he? He killed my mom to play.
I ask the Decider, “You really want one of us to murder someone to win Mercy?”
“Yes. Without sacrifice, our nature remains selfish.”
“Selfish,” I laugh. Out of everything they want to test, it’s selfishness. These individuals really have reached an entirely new level of insanity. “Selfish is killing people for entertainment. No one wins this fucking game.”
“Three daggers,” Luca utters.
Decider announces, “The Deceiver is still eligible.”
Luca starts coming towards me, terror on his face. “Ivy, come here.”
When I stumble, Brooke keeps a hold of my arm. Micah swiftly grabs a dagger, moving behind me. His arm is around my waist, the blade at my throat.
Luca cautiously paces closer; every movement appears like he might attack at any second.
Brooke is a few feet away. “Micah, stop. What are you doing?”
He only removes the dagger from my skin long enough to point it at Brooke as she retreats, his yells echoes through the tomb, “You did this.”
“Get your hands off of her,” Luca says steadily as he takes another calculated stride to me.
When the metal tip pokes harder against my skin, he stops.
Every muscle in his body rigid as he holds his arms up in surrender and calmly tells his brother, “You’re out of the game. There’s no reason for you to hurt her.”
“It’s supposed to be me. I’m supposed to win, not you,” Micah shouts, his body trembling as he clutches me tighter, keeping me between him and Luca.
“If she doesn’t walk out of this fucking room, no one does,” Luca calmly states.
“Fuck you,” Micah yells.
“Micah, please—” Brooke utters as Micah turns his rage to her. “It’s your fault. Tell him you’re responsible for her being in this position.”
Brooke recoils as Micah shouts, “Tell him. You’re the Deceiver. You’ve been playing me all along. All of us”
Her face pales as she erratically shakes her head.
“Stop lying,” Micah roars. “The simplest fucking challenge and you backed out. The entire fucking time you’ve been pulling the strings.
You let them bury us alive; you had no problem walking across a fucking rusted walkway in middle of the Gulf.
But you wouldn’t drink a simple vial of liquid and tell me the truth after I drank it first to show it was safe? ”
Micah zones in on his brother, “Did you know? Is that why you made us partner together?”
“I suspected it when she didn’t want to play. She had more reason to need Mercy than any of us. But that’s not why I made her partner with you. Ivy had to be with me.”
“So, the bitch just played me for fun.”
Tears trail down Brooke’s cheeks as she whispers, “I’m sorry. I had to win.”
“No, don’t cry. I’m not falling for your act again.”
Brooke takes a step closer as he jerks me back. She remains there as she says, “I couldn’t sacrifice you. I saved your life. Would you have rather me gotten us to the final round and stab you? Or would you have stabbed me? I knew what was ahead and I couldn’t do it.”
“You did stab me. Right in the fucking back,” Micah shouts.
“Your issue is not with Ivy. Let her go,” Luca states.
Micah keeps me in between them as he responds, “You always think you’re better than everyone else. That you should get your way just because you’re you.”
“I played the same game that you did,” Luca shouts. “Let. Her. Go.”
“No. This is bullshit. I didn’t have a chance with the lying bitch.” He swings the blade at Brooke before returning it to my skin, the sharp tip under my jaw.
Decider says, “Choices. You picked your teammate, which is a test of your judgment. Yours proved to be catastrophic.”
Luca adds, “And your next choice will be fatal if you don’t remove the fucking knife from her neck. She didn’t want to play Mercy. We did. This is between us. Leave her out of it.”
“I need to win,” Micah all but sobs out the words.
“Too late. But you can walk out of here alive if she does.” Luca is only a few feet away, but it feels like he’s so far.
Brooke maintains her spot as she pleads with Micah, “I’m so sorry.”
It doesn’t help as Micah goes on another rant at her.
Luca’s controlled movements become hasty as he surges forward, his hand grabbing Micah the second he waves it around during his tirade.
They both go to the ground as I stumble back.
Brooke moves beside me, and I have no choice but to grab onto her to keep from falling as we watch Luca and Micah battle against each other.
Luca manages to get the dagger as he hovers over Micah.
I hold my breath, waiting for the moment that Luca plunges it into his brother.
But he doesn’t. His foot connects with Micah’s stomach before Luca backs away.
Micah rolls over to all fours, coughing and groaning.
Luca kicks him again, his foot sinking into his side as I cringe.
“Stop it,” I beg. “There’s enough killing already.”
I don’t think Micah would’ve hurt me. I think he was just desperate. We’ve all become something we’re not because of this foolish circus. “I’m done. You win. And you don’t even have to kill me.”
“That’s not an option. Winner has to sacrifice. No one will succeed by default,” Decider chimes in again.
I debate just stabbing him, so he’ll shut the hell up. “You’re really getting on my fucking nerves with the Mercy riddles. It’s just a fucking game.”
One of the faceless hoods moves in front the door, blocking where I can’t leave. “I quit.”
But he allows Micah to pass as he says, “I’m done. There’s no need for me to be here.”
“Then I win, right?” Brooke sniffles, as she backs to the wall.
Luca is beside me, but I steady myself on the wall as Decider announces, “No, you are still required to sacrifice in order to succeed.”
“You’re still worried about winning after all of this,” Luca yells at her.
“Really? Aren’t you the one who lied to me the entire time you’ve known me? She played the game, just like you. So, don’t.” But I do have a note for her. “You were lying to me, too, because of this bullshit.”
“At first yes; Luca was blackmailing me, so I went along with it. I had to,” she admits. “But I really did want to be your friend.”
“I don’t even care. We all deceived each other. I just want to be done.” I look at the figure blocking the exit. “Please. Let me go.”
“We must have a winner,” Decider proclaims.
“Motherfucker, shut up,” I scream. And when I turn, I see blood trickling off of Luca’s fingertips.
I stare at him like he’s an idiot because I can’t believe the cut on his wrist that I’m seeing. When I snap out of it, I grasp my hand over the wound. “Why did you do that?”
He lifts his other palm to my face. “You win.”
“I don’t care about the fucking competition.” My fingers slide over his skin as I struggle to get a grip, his skin slippery from all the blood. I can’t watch him die. I won’t watch him die. “Let us out of here. He’s going to bleed to death. Please move out of the way.”
His thumb brushes across my cheek as he mutters, “Don’t cry. It’s my fault. All of it.”
I scream, pleading to be released, but no one moves.
“Game over,” Decider announces.
Brooke gasps, “It’s over? Who? Ivy won?”
“No.” Decider declares, “Luca Montclair is the victor.”
“What? No. How?” she stutters, her arms tuck across her chest as she clings to herself. “I sacrificed everything for this. How does he win?”
“You sacrificed nothing. Round twelve was Truth. It was a test. And you failed. You took Micah out of the game, knowing the next round would be sacrifice. No one wins Mercy without sacrifice, even the Deceiver. Ivy loses because she is also unwilling to sacrifice who she loves for the sake of the game. Luca sacrificed everything. He told Ivy the truth knowing he’d lose her and then was willing to die for her.
The sacrifice was to see who would revert to selfish ways, solve their own personal calamities, and who would do what it takes even if they lost everything.
You failed to see that there was no way to win by only considering your own desires. ”
“That makes no sense,” Brooke sobs. “I did everything. I lied. I cheated. I don’t understand. I thought that was how to play the game.”
“Mercy isn’t about self-interest. It’s loyalty. You didn’t pass the final test.”
Luca chuckles. Not a humorous one, but an exhausted, defeated laugh.
“Are you delusional?” I ask. “You’re bleeding to death, and you find this funny.”
“Not funny, but definitely ironic.” He tightens one of the makeshift gags over his wrist. “I won because I lost. But better luck next time, Brooke.”
“Players are only allowed to compete once. There are no do-overs in Mercy.”
Like anyone would play this shit a second time. “Especially when they’re dead,” I add. This shit show is so unbelievable, I can’t wrap my head around it, and I’m in the center of it. My vision fixates on Luca. “Congratulations.”
He got what he wanted. But how could he think it was worth the price?
The hooded dude finally steps aside. I hobble out, debating on actually crawling because I don’t want to hear anything else or think about this night ever again. I know for a fact I won’t ever speak of Mercy again. It’s not worth the destruction left behind.