Rat Race (Devil’s Playground #2)

16. Aubrey

Aubrey

How about you make me, cowboy?

I was close. I knew it. I’d followed the hallway to the right, fingers dragging against the stone searching for any indents or crevices in the wall, then looped inward.

The problem was, the greyish concrete slabs all looked the same. Felt the same when I frantically ran my hands against them while searching.

It would’ve been enough to drive me insane if I wasn't so homed in on saving Cam. I could feel their presence, close but just out of reach. It might’ve been the insanity that’d slowly gnawed at my consciousness since I got into the maze, but I swore it was really them .

They’re right in the middle, I know it.

Like the moth to the flame I was drawn to them, a compulsion that was only getting stronger and stronger. Making me desperate, crazy unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Anxiety tightening my throat as I searched for my way in.

Distantly, I could hear others in the maze. The traps going off as they tried to get to the end. The Screaming. Panicking. Scrambling.

But not me. I was focused.

The other runners meant nothing to me. They could burn and crush themselves to death until there was nothing but silence and my blood rushing in my ears. I wanted the one who ignited these new feelings in me, who made my heart race and stomach flutter with need.

I couldn’t let anything else distract me.

I wouldn’t .

Cam’s presence was calling to me like a beacon, reaching through the walls and guiding me closer and closer. I could taste them on the tip of my tongue, the sunlight and warm haylike flavour of a person who’d spent a lifetime outside. Feel the warmth of their skin against mine. My body vibrated with the anticipation of seeing them again, the siren call of their steady calm pulling me closer, closer?—

Until I hit a dead end right on the other side of where Cam should be.

Fuck.

They’re so close. I know they’re just behind this wall.

But just because it was a dead end, it didn’t mean it was deserted.

A familiar man was there, inspecting the wall I needed to break through.

A man worth a million dollars.

The one that killed her . The one that decided to attach himself to the group that attempted to end me. And Cam.

Hiram Wolff.

When he turned around and saw me, his eyes widened in a mix of fear and surprise.

Good, he stil had some sense then.

He raised his filthy hands, which were now empty, to help shield his unmasked face. Worse for wear didn’t even begin to cover it. The man looked positively like he was on his last legs. Same vibes as a raccoon with mange, barely holding on.

But where is the leader? The guy Cam called Elijah? Maybe they had a falling out.

“Look, I’m not trying to—” Hiram started as I began to move towards him.

As if I gave a fuck about this washed up shell of a man while my partner was in there with that two-faced cunt.

I marched past him, shoving him out of the way to look at the wall. His body slammed into the side of the maze, a pained grunt escaping from him as I ran my hands on the smooth surface.

No indent like Ella found. How the fuck am I supposed to get inside?

“Ow, what the fuck?—”

“Shut. Up.”

The venom in my voice must have been enough to let him know I wasn’t messing around. How was I supposed to concentrate with him yapping in my ear?

I only wished it would’ve just been Hiram who decided to bother me, kicking myself for not taking the threat that Elijah was near by more seriously.

“Hey, look who it is.”

Are you fucking kidding me?

Elijah decided to show his face. If I’d had more time, I would’ve gotten revenge on him for Cam. But saving them was more important than killing him.

For now.

“I don’t have time for your half-witted fuckery, limp dick,” I shot back, not even looking at him.

The looming silence was broken by Elijah’s sputtering laughter.

I ignored him, continuously searching for some type of trap that would open the wall. My conviction, even with the overwhelming evidence that I may in fact be mistaken, was fuelled in part by desperation. I knew that ever second that ticked by was another that Ella could’ve—I pushed the idea away, rejecting it entirely.

Cam was going to be fine. I was going to get to them.

There has to be a way in.

Just thinking about them behind the walls with that rat was driving me insane. Ella was going to kill them, or at least try. And with Cam’s backwoods, “Let’s all hold hands and not PK” mindset, I wasn't sure how far they’d go to protect themselves.

The near-constant chanting inside my head threatened to drive me right over the edge.

Cam.

Kill the bitch.

Cam.

Find the trap.

Cam.

Slice her throat.

Cam. Cam. Cam. Cam ? —

Rough hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back. I let out a feral scream, swinging my arms at the person.

And clocked the man right in his weak-ass jaw.

I wasn’t surprised that I was met with Elijah’s now-unmasked face—or that he’d had the audacity to touch me. What was shocking was that between the last time I’d culled his little team of henchman and now that he’d managed to pick up two more masked lackeys. They jumped into action, lunging at me with masks glowing in matching neon yellow as soon as my fist made contact with his face.

“Let me go, you shit for brains!”

I headbutted one of them. The pain of it numbed by the pure satisfaction of the audible crunch and seeing blood profusely pouring out from under the lip of the mask.

“Really thought you could get the upper hand? Ha! Pussy boys don’t fucking scare me.”

I grabbed the other by his arm that was still holding onto me and pulled him closer until I could sink my teeth into the flesh.

His scream echoed throughout the hallway as I punctured his skin, spitting a chunk of him out onto the floor with the sickly, coppery taste of his blood coating my tongue.

Another scream rang out, but it wasn’t any of the men surrounding me.

It was a girl .

It came again, my head whipping around to find the source. Not that’d do me any good. I was trapped in a dead end with four men and no where to go but back through.

It wasn’t until the third scream that I realized it was coming from behind the wall.

Is that Cam?

Too high, right? Couldn’t be.

Still, my stomach squirmed uncomfortably.

I didn’t really believe in God, but I prayed to whichever fucked-up one Cam believed in, hoping it would somehow give them the strength to slit that bitch’s throat.

I turned to the boys, a sigh falling from my lips.

I guess I need to deal with them before I open the wall.

What an inconvenience.

I ran at them with a guttural yell. The one on the right panicked, stumbling multiple steps backward, allowing me to tackle the other to the ground.

I got a few good punched to his head in before the other tried to come at me, seeming to remember he was infact supposed to be apart of this fight. I grabbed onto one of his punches and used his momentum to force him to the ground, only narrowly dodging Elijah’s ham-like fist coming at my cheek. The boy who’d been thrown to the floor using my distraction at the near-miss to grab my hair and pull .

“Cheap move, you cunt!” I screamed and maneuvered myself so my booted foot could kick him right in the balls.

As far as I was concerned, the only person who was allowed to touch my hair was Cam.

It was just enough to create an opening for me to scramble through, earning me some precious space between me and the group of attacking men.

I narrowed my eyes at Elijah, who returned it with an annoyed look.

“Letting them do your dirty work for you, huh? No wonder Cam thinks you’re a no good pussy with no chance in Hell at winning this thing.”

His jaw ticked, and in a blink, he was rushing at me. Movements lacking control of finesse in his anger.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Pussy boy has a fucking ego, shocker.

He was strong—and fast—but I was faster. My small frame helped me dodge punch after punch, and when I saw my opening, I used my foot to push him back toward the group in a vicious kick to his gut.

Hiram was still there, panic lacing his features, letting the rest of his rag-tag group of fucking losers fight on his behalf.

Disgusting coward. No wonder Vic wants you dead.

I brushed the sweat from my brow, cocking my head at Elijah and his lackeys. It was obvious none of them really wanted to fight, since their eyes kept darting to Elijah and then back to me, waiting for some type of order.

“You need a break, limp dick?”

“Stop calling me that!” Elijah snarled, anger twisting his face.

The pinging of my watch told me the audience didn’t want me to stop–or at least I hoped that’s what the messages said. Who the fuck had time to check in a moment like this?

The screaming coming from inside the wall continued for a long while, and every now and then I would make out something that sounded like a moan, but the fuckers kept me just busy enough that I hadn’t had time to listen fully.

What I had noticed, though, were the small circular cracks on the walls around us. They were evenly spaced and just about throat-length.

But where is the damn trigger?

“You wouldn’t be getting so mad if it wasn’t true,” I pushed with a small laugh.

Elijah’s neck and ears turned red, his freckles threatening to disappear under a heavy blush. He lifted his arms, knife in hand and ready to charge… Until the rumbling started again.

The maze is resetting again. How?

I looked around wildly, trying to make sure that I wasn't one of the unlucky ones who were about to be crushed. But there was only one wall moving.

The one behind me.

My heart lodged in my throat. Hope filling my chest.

Cam.

And, lo and behold, there they were, waiting as the wall slowly descended into the floor. Shoulders moving with their panting breaths and still damp, but not a scratch on them.

Thank you, God!

I started toward them, ready to shove my fist down the rat’s throat, but… Cam was alone .

Where the fuck is she?

Her crumpled body didn’t come into view until the wall was fully down.

She was on the floor, holding her leg, tears running down her face. The leg in question bent at an odd angle with bone peircing her pale flesh.

Their eyes were trained on the rat. The ghost of a smile was on their lips, telling me that they liked to see her brought down a peg as much as I did.

Did they break her fucking leg?

It was in that moment, when the headhunters were screaming for my death and the rat was crying for mercy, that I truly fell in love with Cam. Time standing still for several long beats as she turns and our eyes met, smile growing and becoming relieved.

“Hey, Peaches.”

They’re just as fucked up as I am.

Calm and collected, even as chaos reigned around us. The darkness that’d been hiding inside them was finally out for all to see. And it just happened to match mine perfectly.

Fuck, I’m so in love. They’re perfect. Absolutely perfect.

I couldn’t help the girlish giggle that fell from my lips. I looked back at the boys with a wide smile. Seeing Cam safe must’ve done something to clear my mind because as soon as I turned, I saw the small indent on the floor that would undoubtedly set off the trap.

I ran to it, dodging Elijah’s attempt to grab me until I got to the place where the wall met the floor, sliding across the dirty ground like a soccer star to smash the trigger.

The only warning was our watches turning red before the spikes shot out across the hallway, embedding themselves into the boys’ heads and necks. Their blood splattered everywhere, painting my pink outfit with streaks of crimson.

Turns out the rat was right about something. It adds a good pop of color to an otherwise monochromatic look, especially since it wasnt mine.

Except for one. Hiram had already been half cowering against the wall. It was hard to believe this loser had ever been a winner in the Games, but I’d guessed it didn’t take a lot of bravery to play Hide n’ Seek, but it wasn’t enough to save him. A spike impaling him through the chest and shoulder.

Elijah had dropped to the ground when the trap was triggered, his eyes widened and fearful. Now, he pushed himself up and ran back down the hallway, leaving his knife behind.

Lucky cunt.

I dashed to gather it, looking back at Cam with a wicked smile that was returned in spades.

“That’s my girl,” they praised, lighting my skin with excited feelings.

They don’t even know what’s coming.

I threw the knife directly at Ella, embedding it between her eyes. She didn’t even have time to react, her body falling slack against the cold cement floor. Wide eyes open, forever in a state of pained shock.

Her death is even more satisfying than Natalie’s could ever be.

“Fucking finally,” I said with a giggle. “She fucking deserved it, that cun?—"

Cam let out a heavy sigh, their toned shoulders sagging with disappointment as the familiar buzz of our watches warned everyone of my PK.

“Can you stop killing people already? I had it under control.”

My smile widened.

“How about you make me, cowboy?”

Their nostrils flared.

“ Don’t , Aubrey,” they warned, the growl in their tone like a lick between my legs.

I readied myself, turning ever so slightly down the hall. High on adrenaline and the image of Cam’s cruelty. I wanted them to show me what else they’d been keeping from me. How far they’d go.

And I know exactly how to push them right over that line.

I didn't respond. Instead, I shot them a coy wink, paired with a twitch of my fingers in a little wave, and darted down the hallway.