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Disposable.
Obstacles that stood between me and my offering.
I couldn’t disappoint her, my goddess was waiting.
The late evening air should’ve cooled on my exposed torso, there was an eerie tension hovering over us that made my insides want to curl up and shrivel.
But there was something else.
A small but powerful electric wave of blood lust. It traveled the crowd, railing up the Killers and causing the offerings to curl in on themselves.
They were like lambs going to slaughter and all of us Killer were barely restrained wolves, gnashing our teeth at them.
And soon our leash would be cut.
A video played on the screen, lighting up the sky—the same footage we saw every year with highlights from the previous games—the only difference being the small sneak peeks of the area beyond. Less than a second each, it was crucial information about what lay behind that door.
The crowd was restless, whispers and fidgeting breaking out like a rash.
“Did you see—?”
“A Ferris wheel!”
“Oh my god, it’s a theme park!”
The robotic voice came over the speakers again as a safety video began right after the first.
“Welcome to Devil’s Playground: State Fair sponsored byThe Company! Our first event of the evening, Hide and Seek, will begin in a few short moments. But first, The Company would like to remind you of a few key rules.”
Images of carnival rides, games, concession stands, and a circus-like stage show slid by, all bright colors and flashing lights. All of them looked as run down as if this arena had been left abandoned for twenty years instead of just being created a few weeks ago.
I bounced from foot to foot and rolled my shoulder.
“There are a total of five hundred Hiders and five hundred Seekers. In a few minutes, Hiders will begin their seven minute head start while we assign them to their Seekers. Remember! For Hiders, you win the game if you make it until sunrise without being eliminated. For Seekers, you must accrue the most points.”
I shifted uneasily, glancing at the tracker attached to my wrist. The screen was lit yellow, a tiny ‘calibrating’ message along with a loading circle staring up at me.
“Your assigned Hider is worth the most points, but remember to be quick, as multiple people may be assigned your target if they find theirs first. As always, we encourage players to explore ways to earn extra points—voted by our spectators! If you have any questions, you may contact an Architect via your tracker’s call function. Good luck, and remember—” the voice started, only to be drowned out by the crowd around me.
“Play hard! Win! Win!”
There was a shift as bodies moved to get closer to the doors.
In a few short minutes, the game would begin.
A flash of bright blue hair pulled my attention as it passed, disappearing toward the front where the rest of the Ghosts waited for their head start. Her fingers were laced into the hand of a player with a crop of short black hair, the pair of them in rabbit masks.
Blue and white.
Black on black.
Above the doors, the screen was pulsing with a red countdown starting at ten, warning the Ghosts it was almost time to enter the arena to find a hiding place.
I watched as the number crept closer and closer to zero.
It wouldn’t do me any real good to watch where the crowd went, not until I could identify which Ghost was mine, but something was pulsing in my veins. The predator that I denied in my DNA stirred to life like a bear from hibernation.
Or like a demon crawling out of the pits of hell.
