Dodge Mason // Mystery Boy

29

"Heather also told me that..." I take a deep breath, "she thinks people are gambling on Panic," I shrug. "Some are putting 10– 20,000 on each challenge. They think Luke might be in charge," I explain.

"Hmm," he nods. His face never changed.

"You already know," I say almost breathlessly. My heart falls and my face follows. Hes an endless pit. It's like I think I get to the bottom, but then there's just a further way to fall. The more I fall the less I think I see. The farther from the light I get and the darker my vision goes. With Dodge there is no right or wrong. There is no love and war. There is just both.

"Yeah," he nods again. "Cortez suspected ever since he found out about Panic, but he didn't know enough about the game or how it worked in order to build a case." His words are like daggers into my lungs. "So, um... he needed a way in."

"And that was you," I scoff.

"He wants Luke in jail. This is the only way."

"Oh okay. So you've just been using me? To spy on us? This entire time?" I try to stay calm but my voice raises ever so slightly and my words begin to fill with anger.

"No— I've been try— I've been trying to win," he tries to explain.

"How the fuck does that help Cortez?" I say more disgusted than angry.

"It's not illegal to gamble in Texas, okay? But it is a felony to be the house. That's how we're going to catch him," he states. "If I win, we can prove that Luke is getting a kickback as the bookie. That's what Cortez needs—"

"So this is revenge?" I seethe. He looks at me like, for the first time, he can't read me.

"I'm playing for Dayna." I look and him and feel the tears behind my eyes build so I calmly walk past him and out of the house. He doesn't even bother to follow. I go home. I walk until I'm out of sight of his house and run. I run home and hit my bed with a sob. I sob until I can't anymore. Until the sun falls.

"Hey Delilah?" I hear at my door.

"What?" I yell out. The door opens and Kai comes in.

"I know you're crying and stuff but I just wanted to come in and see if there's anything I can do." I sit up and turn to see my kid brother with a glass of water in his hand. I let the corners of my mouth raise and I nod. He walks over to the side of my bed and hands me the water. I take it and drink it while he climbs onto the bed. "Is this about Dodge?" he asks.

"Yeah," I sigh after I swallow the water in my mouth. "I think we're over," my voice barely lets out. "I mean— I don't know if we ever even started honestly," I scoff.

"I'm sorry sis," he says giving me a hug. "I don't get it. He looked at you the way dad looked at mom in their old pictures," he shakes his head.

"Well I guess he's just a really great actor," I sigh after calming down a little.

"I don't even think that's possible to fake," he almost whispers. "Is there anything I can do? I can like... get a banana peel and slip on it or something," he offers which ends up making me laugh. My phone vibrates and I flip it over to see a text from Summer. It is nothing more than a time and place. I have to be there in an hour or so. "Delilah?" Kai asks worried. I smile at him and shake my head.

"It's just Heather. She wants to take me to get some ice cream to feel better," I lie. He nods and I don't know if he truly believes me but I know he wants to. Kai and I hang out until I have to get ready and leave. I meet Summer at the location which ends up being the abandoned jailhouse in our town.

"What the fuck is this Summer?" I ask fiercely.

"Your individual challenge..." she says ominously while leading me in. She brings me to a hallway of cells and nods her head.

"Now what?" She pulls a syringe out of her bag and hands it to me. "What the hell is this?"

"You're gonna need it. The judges wanna test your speed. It'll take 15 minutes to kick in."

"Kick in? What?" I panic.

"Time starts now," she says before walking away.

"Summer? Summer!" I yell as she leaves out the door. I hear a faint voice and squint my eyes down the hall. The building is dimly lit and musty. It smells of dust and is covered in it too. I walk down the hall and the voice gets louder.

"Help! Help me! They gave me something! It hurts!" The voice yells. I walk with more urgency until the voice grows louder.

"Hello? Who's there?" I call out.

"Help! It hurts! Delilah!" They practically scream. It sounds like a young boy. I start to run down the hall looking in each cell. The voice gets louder and clearer.

"Help me!" I reach the staircase at the end of the hall and the voice echoes down. It sounds like Kai. It can't be Kai. I was just with him. How would they have done that? They don't have Kai.

"Delilah! It hurts!" No no. They can't. It's not real. This can't be real. They wouldn't do this. This is just a fucking game. This is crazy. I run up the stairs and through the hall of the second floor calling out for Kai.

"Kai? Kai! Fuck!" I scream almost on the verge of sobbing. I grip the stupid syringe in my hand and run from cell to cell. I reach the end of the second floor and the voice is the loudest it's been. There's the figure of a boy in the dark cell so I pull at the door. I hold the syringe between my lips and grip the door with both hands until my knuckles turn white. I fling it open and run to the figure and turn him around. The boy falls apart into a pumpkins stacked on a stick that's being held together by a hoodie. A speaker lies behind it blasting Kai's voice on loop with a note reading "take me."

"What the fuck!?" I shout. "This is fucking sick!" I cry. I look at the syringe closer now and take off the cap and push the liquid into my hand. I smell it and it smells almost fruity. I taste it and let the lemon-lime gatorade seep into my tongue. I throw the syringe against the wall and grab the speaker turning it off. I take it with me and run out of the jailhouse. Summer is there waiting for me. I throw the speaker into the dirt in front of her. "I'm done,"I declare.

"You're not actually. You finished within 15 minutes. Once we get in the scores from the others' individual challenges, we'll know if you're actually done or not," she says blankly.

"I'm going home," I say cutting the air. With that, I walk home.