27. REAPER
27
REAPER
T he sound of gunshots echoes from a distance, and considering it’s coming from the right side of the park, I have no choice but to trust that Siren has it under control. We made our deal, and nobody wins if I change the plan this late in the game.
I’ve searched this half of the park for almost thirty minutes, and just as I’m about to convince myself that it’s clear and head over to assist Siren, I finally find him. The Texan Reaper.
A sinister grin tears across my face. I’ve been waiting too fucking long for this. I was content with giving him an easy death, making it quick, but after the bullshit he’s caused, the callous way he murders, and now after luring Shadow out of the safety of our home and using her as bait, I’m going to be sure to enjoy this.
The Texan Reaper slinks through the park, having no fucking idea that he has an audience, and as I follow him past the poor excuse of a bumper car arena, I listen for Siren. The gunshots are still firing through the darkness, and as we creep closer to the center of the park, I hear the distinct sound of a rollercoaster.
My heart races, desperate to go to Siren, to see what fresh hell Gasoline has planned because, let’s face it, The Boneyard Slayer doesn’t have the brains to pull off anything worthy of a mention. He’s a yes-man through and through.
As for his brother, he’s a different breed.
The Texan Reaper takes a look around, double-checking the coast is clear before slipping through the entrance of the funhouse, and I roll my eyes. Could he have been any more cliché? But as they say, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
I follow the bastard into the funhouse, pausing by the door as I listen to the sounds. I have to have my wits about me. His whole game plan during the past month has been to lure contenders out and trap them. It’s what they did to Silver only a few nights ago and again to Shadow. I can’t go into this assuming this isn’t another trap. I have to watch myself, otherwise, it won’t be me going home to Siren tonight, it’ll be this asshole, and when he does, it’s not going to be to tell her how fucking beautiful she is and then fuck her up against the refrigerator. He’ll do everything in his power to brutally murder her, and I’m not about to let that happen. As Siren said, we end this tonight.
Neither of us is leaving this amusement park until all three of the final contenders are dead.
Making my way deeper into the funhouse, I step into a dimmed room of mirrors, and my senses are instantly off, seeing nothing but myself. Multiple reflections stare back at me, and I realize I was right. This is a fucking trap. There’s no hiding in here. If The Texan Reaper didn’t know I was following him before, he sure as fuck knows now.
As I creep deeper into the room of mirrors, I grasp the blade at my hip. I don’t like it. It makes me uneasy, but it’s not exactly the worst situation I’ve ever been in. But facts are facts, and I’m only human, so if this room of mirrors makes me uneasy, it sure as fuck makes The Texan Reaper uneasy too.
“Come on, asshole,” I murmur, inching deeper into the room, only to be trapped by the mirrors and have to change direction. “You lured me in here. You got what you wanted, now stop being such a little bitch and come out to play.”
A low laugh rumbles through the funhouse, and my gaze flicks back and forth, scanning over every reflection staring back at me when a figure appears behind me.
The Texan Reaper shows his face with a blade in his hand and a cocky grin, then without warning, he rears back and releases the blade, launching it toward my face. Only I don’t flinch. I don’t even blink when the blade hurtles toward my face and comes up short as it slams into one of the many mirrors, cracking it right through the center.
“Shit. That’s seven years of bad luck,” I say, a grin pulling at my lips.
His face falls, realizing his fuck up, and in a flash, he whips around and darts away, just as disoriented by the mirrors as I am. Only difference is now that he cracked a mirror, I have a marker that tells me exactly where I am, which allows me to follow him.
I watch his million reflections, and with every step I take in his direction, his panic increases, getting deeper into the room of mirrors and even more disoriented. “Give it up,” I say, refusing to say his bullshit name out loud. “You have no chance here. Surrender, and I’ll make it quick.”
The Texan Reaper scoffs. He knows I’m lying. I have no intention of making this quick. It will be just as brutal as his murder of Sharkbait, and just as unforgiving as what he and his brother did to Silver.
I continue creeping closer, keeping my gaze locked on his reflection as he barrels through the mirrors, frantically trying to find a path. Each time his face slams into a wall, he has to backtrack, wasting precious seconds. It’s fucking perfect but also pathetic. Had he been able to pull this shit off, perhaps I would have had just an ounce of respect for him, but considering he couldn’t do enough homework to properly map out this mirror maze before leading me in here, he’s only proving how much of a fraud he truly is.
Getting close enough to be able to smell his fear, I adjust my blade in my hand, more than ready to prove how I received my alias. When the sound of heavy boots slamming against the ground booms through the funhouse, my back stiffens, and I pause just a moment before The Boneyard Slayer barrels through the room.
I see his reflection in the mirrors, but within seconds, the asshole gets lost. His gaze flicks from left to right, holding his hand up to keep from slamming into the mirrored walls.
“Brenton?” The Texan Reaper calls.
“That fucking bitch is after me,” he rushes out.
“I told you to deal with her.”
“I fucking tried.”
“What about the kid?”
“She got away.”
A grin pulls at my lips. Both Shadow and Siren are okay, and as The Boneyard Slayer makes his way deeper into the maze, Siren appears in the mirrors. “Fuck,” she murmurs, moving into the mirrors, taking only a moment to get her bearings and notice the smashed mirror, using it as a marker just as I had.
There’s a blade in her hand, and while I can see the way she’s second-guessing herself with every turn she takes, I know she can handle this. She makes her way deeper into the mirror maze, taking every turn to bring her closer to me, while the brothers take every wrong turn, finding themselves at dead ends and having to backtrack.
At this point, they’ll walk right into us, and we will barely have to lift a finger.
I stand dead center in the funhouse, watching the reflections of the brothers while watching Siren’s back, and the further she gets into the maze, the clearer the marks on her body become. She’s injured, and they’re not just marks from taking a beating, they’re burns. She’s had a run-in with Gasoline, and I can only assume that because she’s here, that means Gasoline has been dealt with.
It takes Siren only a minute to find the center of the maze, and as she does, I step into her, catching her around the waist. “You good?” I ask, my gaze sweeping over her body for only a second before returning to the brothers as they fumble around, trying to find one another—something we can’t allow.
“I will be as soon as we end this and get out of here. These mirrors are trippy. I don’t like it.”
“Shadow?” I ask as Siren instinctively moves beside me, taking up a fighter’s stance, ready for anything that comes our way.
“They tied her to a cart on the rollercoaster and lit it up before sending it along the tracks. She had no choice but to sit in the flames while it went around the track.”
“Fuck. Is she okay?”
“Superficial burns, but she’ll be alright. She’s pissed though. She didn’t say it, but I think she’s upset with herself that she walked into a trap.”
I nod. “We’ll deal with it as soon as we get out of here. For now, we need to keep focused. We can’t let these assholes slip away.”
Siren doesn’t respond, but the determination in her eyes is more than enough confirmation that she’s with me, so with The Boneyard Slayer closer to our left, we move toward him.
Creeping through the maze of mirrors, we move in a way that backs The Boneyard Slayer into a corner, only he’s too fucking stupid to realize it. I watch as the bastard starts to believe he actually has the upper hand. The mirrors clearly fuck with his head, and when he gets a lock on Siren, he begins to stalk her. I shake my head, watching his performance. He’s not even discreet, and as Siren leads him further into a corner, I keep my eye on his brother.
The Boneyard Slayer watches every move she makes, and as he creeps closer toward her, I do the same. Then, just as he thinks he’s got the drop on her, he takes his blade and lunges toward her with everything he’s got, only he slams face first into a solid mirror, the glass splintering under the force.
I laugh, and as he whips around, his eyes wide with fear, I lunge just as he had, my blade slicing through his lower abdomen as I gut him like a fucking fish. He gapes at me as if not understanding what the fuck just happened, and as if on cue, his organs slide out of him, his intestines like a rope of bloodied sausages falling to the ground with a wet plop.
The Boneyard Slayer lets out one single breath, and with that, he falls to his knees, crushing his organs under the weight of his meaty body.
“Goodnight, motherfucker,” I mutter just as Siren steps out, looking at the mess covering the ground, her brow arched in approval.
She goes to say something when a loud roar tears through the maze. “YOU’RE BOTH FUCKING DEAD,” The Texan Reaper bellows, rage in his eyes, clearly having watched the show through the mirrors. Only there’s something off in his stare. He’s not pissed that we took his brother out, he’s pissed that we took out his one last advantage to the top. After all, if he were going to win, he would have had to slaughter his brother at some point.
The Texan Reaper takes off at a run, a blade clutched tightly in his hand as he uses the wall of mirrors as a guide, but he’s too disoriented to make a single correct turn, and as he attempts to get to us, we make it easy, heading right for him.
“HEY!” A piercing scream is heard at the opening of the mirror maze. My stomach sinks, and both Siren and I come to a screeching halt, my gaze whipping toward the entrance to see Shadow staring directly at The Texan Reaper. “You want them, asshole. You’re going to have to get through me first.”
“Fuck,” Siren breathes beside me. “What the hell is she doing?”
The Texan Reaper pauses, weighing up his options, and seeing a clear path out of the mirror maze that gives him a direct line to Shadow, he takes it, sprinting after her.
“NO!” Siren screams as we both break into a sprint, racing to get out of here. We stumble past each other, both of us too overwhelmed by fear that we allow the maze to fuck with our heads, taking longer than it should to get out of this fucking hellhole.
Siren is a step behind me, and as I find the path out, I grab her hand and pull her with me as we break out into the cool night air. We race ahead, seeing Shadow in the distance, and for the first time since meeting her, she runs right through the center, keeping out of the shadows, perfectly visible to anyone who’d want to use her as a target.
“She wants to be caught,” Siren rushes out, seeing the very thing I’m seeing. “Foolish child. She’s trying to save us.”
I grit my teeth, hating the thought of this kid trying to sacrifice herself for us, and more than that, I hate that she was raised to believe this is her only option. Self-sacrifice isn’t the honor she thinks it is because if she were to get hurt, neither myself or Siren would be able to live with ourselves following this. And because of that, when the three of us get out of this fucking godforsaken town—which we fucking will—dealing with that organization and the underground training camp will be one of my top priorities.
The Texan Reaper begins to gain on Shadow, and my heart races with fear. “FUCKING RUN, SHADOW,” I call behind her, knowing she could run laps around this asshole without breaking a fucking sweat.
“No, no, no,” Siren frets, unsheathing a blade from her thigh holster, then just as The Texan Reaper gets close enough to reach out for Shadow, Siren launches the blade with everything she’s got.
The blade sinks heavily into the back of his shoulder, and he roars in agony, but it’s not enough to take him out. His hand closes around Shadow’s forearm, and he violently yanks her back, whipping her around so that her small back is pressed against his massive chest. He whirls them both around, looks us dead in the eyes, and rears his arm back, his blade glistening in the moonlight.
Siren lets out a bloodcurdling scream just as The Texan Reaper whips his hand forward, aiming right for Shadow’s throat, but she throws herself down and twists, her arm shooting up like lightning and squeezing the trigger of Siren’s favorite gun.
BANG! BANG!
The bullets plunge right through the bottom of The Texan Reaper’s chin and through the back of his skull, and I watch with wide eyes as his heavy body instantly crumbles to the ground.
The final contender of the games has been eliminated.