Mastim's Curse

Chapter 20

Out of pure curiosity, I click on a link for live videos. There are two categories, free and pay-for-view. The pay-for-view channels have the names of each of the kidnapped celebrities. Expectantly, I click on the one for Aleale but can't get past the point where it asks for a method of payment. They took my wallet, so I don't have any credit cards. Damn, I wish there was a way to see if she's all right. A quick check of the free video section and I'm dismayed to find links that show every contestant's room, including mine. I look around the room at the many mirrors... They must have cameras behind them. Dammit. There's absolutely no privacy here. Suddenly, I feel like a fish in a small bowl. I pull a few of the throw pillows around me, making a kind of wall to keep away prying eyes.

Bryan was adamant about learning the rules, so I spend the next hour reading everything I can find like I'm cramming for a college final. Only this time my life depends on doing well.

One important rule, that I'm very glad I read, is that failure to participate in a required challenge or event, for any reason, will result in being executed. That's harsh. What happens if you're sick or injured? Looks like I might be doing the event today after all. Other rules include not trying to escape, don't disobey orders of the staff, do not harm members of the staff, do not destroy or break contents of the room, etc. Well, I kind of like the room, so maybe I'll follow that one. The other rules, we'll have to wait and see.

It occurs to me that there doesn't seem to be any rules on what is acceptable treatment for fellow contestants or the celebrity stars. Bryan did say contestants could do whatever they wanted with their prizes... Surely that doesn't include seriously hurting or killing them after so much effort was put into bringing them here. Maybe I missed something. Another read of the rules doesn't find anything to discourage acts of violence on anyone other than the staff of Club Mexico. That's disturbing.

There's a section that lists profiles for each contestant. Flipping through them finds where they were born, some work history, that kind of thing. Surprisingly, they also include what crimes they've committed along with lists of people they have victimized.

There's a kill board. Not a good sign. Bringing it up shows another surprise, at the top of the list is my name. They're crediting me with three kills. They must be counting the guys I killed during the kidnapping. It's hard to explain, but seeing that fills me with a sense of pride, however sick that may be.

***

Five o'clock is almost here and my nerves are on edge. Tonight's event is ranked as a Level 2 and is listed as very dangerous with probable fatalities. Probable fatalities, I repeat to myself. It's impossible to keep feelings of dread from creeping into me. Even I feel some fear of the mysterious designation called death.

They've posted more information on what we have to do tonight. According to what it says here, there are five hazards, each of which has a bell at the end that you have to ring to get points. It sounds simple. The points go down every time someone rings the bell, so you need to be one of the first people to get a lot of points. There isn't information on what the hazards are beyond the labels given to them on the map. There is a picture of a skywalk that can be used at one point as a shortcut. However, it doesn't look safe at all, being little more than a wire strung across a gorge with a rope fastened above it. If that's an example of what to expect, this is not going to be fun.

I change into the sportswear they provided and prepare myself the same way I would for a martial arts event by drinking two glasses of water and then doing warm-up excesses. While I'm stretching, the darkness inside smolders with dark, burning embers ready to ignite, ready to bring death. Dad told me that our families' special gift should never be let to run wild because it didn't care for our safety. Many of our family have died violet deaths as a result of the dark urges, including my grandfather. The idea of dying a violent death isn't new to me, but this is very different. This isn't some dark alley or mostly empty store. What happens here is going to be noticed. Hell, it's going to be uploaded to the fucking Internet for the entire world to see. Even if I do survive this, my life and my family's will never be the same. At least they don't burn witches anymore. These days, they'd give them a reality show.