Mastim's Curse

Chapter 33

 In my cage, I try to stay calm by watch the setting sun bath clouds with rich colors as night comes, and with it, a feeling of dread greater than any I've ever known. I see Dad's face in the multi-colored formations, only now, the setting sun colors his face with deep purple and reds that give him a sorrowed look. Where is he at this very moment? Sitting and watching this on the Internet? Waiting to see if I get torn apart by some maniac with a chainsaw? I hope not. Now guilt mingles in with dread to further increase my feeling of despair.

We're in a recently cleared area that I haven't seen before. There's a huge plywood structure that extends off to either side at least fifty yards that has the words 'Mad House' painted on it red letters five feet tall. Instead of a Clubhouse, there are RV's parked off to one side. So far, there's no sign of Bryan... only armed guards, scared contestants, and the ever present cameramen that are part of everyday life here.

More cages are being driven into the area and I'm surprised when one is driven right up next to mine. Inside is a young, wild-eyed girl. The guard next to me talks for a short time with the driver of the girl's cage before coming up to me.

"I need you to move to the back of your cage while we load her in with you," he says.

I don't get it. "What?"

He looks mad now. "Look, I'm speaking English just fine so don't pretend you don't understand me." He taps the end of his rifle on the bars. "Now, move your ass back, and stay there while we get this girl inside with you."

Other contestants are also being paired up. I don't get it. Anyway, I move away from the door and they bring the girl out of her cage. Then they force her into mine, locking the door behind her. She immediately hunches down like a scared rabbit ready to bolt. Only there's nowhere to run.

I try and calm her by holding out my hand and introducing myself. "Hi, I'm Nicole."

She takes my hand hesitantly. "My name's Suzie Manuel."

The name seems familiar, and I think I remember seeing her in the first day's event. She must not have gotten many points because she's certainly not near the top of any of the lists that I saw.

One of the men takes out a short metal chain from the four-wheeler and brings it over next to us. Crap, I don't like the looks of that. It has leather cuffs at each end of the chain. They better not be planning on chaining us together with that. A quick look around at the other cages confirms that is exactly what they're doing to everyone. Fuck! I hate these people. Why must they make everything so much harder?

"Both of you need to stand over here next to me and hold still while I put this on your wrists."

"I don't think so." I stay put. Fighting my way through this was going to be hard enough without being chained to someone.

The guard points his gun at me. "You better do what you're told if you want to live long enough to taste Aleale again." He snickers at me. "I bet she tastes real good too." He runs his tongue over his lips.

That pisses me off. "And you better shut the fuck up before I rip your arm off and shove it up your ass."

There's a very loud bang and a bullet zips past my head, missing only by an inch. Way too late, I duck, while Suzie dives to the floor of the cage.

Fuck! These guys sure are trigger happy. I put up my hands. "Everyone just calm down... I'll corporate." I lean down to help Suzie.

She takes my hand and slowly gets to her feet. I can feel her trembling. Poor thing's scared to death.

This completely screws up my plan. It was a simple plan... go dark right at the start and kill anyone that crossed my path. That whole idea is going in the toilet now as they chain my right wrist to Suzie. How can I even defend myself like this?

Suzie smiles up at me weakly. "God is listening."

Her esoteric statement catches me off guard. "Excuse me?"

She puts her soft hand onto mine. "I prayed for a protector last night, and when I slept, you were in my dreams. Not at first. And it wasn't really you of course." She looks off into the distance. "It started with monsters. They had the faces of madmen and daggers for hands. And that's not the worst part. They were naked with huge..." She holds her hand about a foot above her crotch. "You know..."

Great... I'm chained to a crazy person. She may be more of a danger than the killers waiting for me inside. I try to slide her hand off of mine but instead of letting go, she tightens her grip.

"They hold me down with their sharp hands and right when they were going to impale me, you leaped out of nowhere... only you looked different, you had black wings and horns. You gave a roar that shook the ground and bladed the beasts into dust."

She looks up at me and I am drawn into her hazel eyes. "And now, here you are."

I feel as if she is looking right into my soul.

She continues to stare into me. "You have the most powerful aura I have ever felt. It makes me tingle all over."

Ok, this a little uncomfortable. I try to redirect the conversation away from me. "Do your dreams ever come true?"

"Sometimes they do," She says. "My mom says I'm a psychic. Others say I'm a witch." Her voice takes on a sad, faraway tone.

I know how it feels to be different. I've never actually meet anyone else that had them come true like they do for me. "If your psychic, how did you end up here?" I ask.

A shy smile creeps onto her lips. "I'm president of John Bacon's fan club. So, when I got an offer for a free trip to Mexico, including dinner with John, I was so excited that I jumped at the chance, even with the bad dreams. But so far, there's been no dinner with John... just lots of running and trying not to get hurt. It's been a very bad vacation so far. But now I'm with you, and if anyone survives this, it'll be you. And if you do, maybe I will too"

Well... I've survived so far, but just barely. I touch my face. It's still swollen from my beating yesterday. Then it comes to me, and I remember where I know her from. "I read about you in the news didn't I? They said you disappeared."

She looks off into the distance again. "Yes. I disappeared."

I don't know if she's psychic, but she is very odd, and she's my partner for what may be the most deadly fight of my life.

My thoughts are interrupted by a commotion to my left. Someone is yelling. One of the male contestants is putting up a fight as they try to put a woman into his cage. The guards point their guns at him and threaten to kill him.

He shakes his fist at them. "This is bullshit! There's no way you're chaining her to me."

They start to push the girl into the cage again and, in a flash, the upset man forces his way through the door, knocking the girl down in the process. Then he head-butts one of the guards in the face and smashes his fist into the neck of another before taking off running. He's fifty feet from the tree line when shots start to bark out death in his direction. Unscathed, he passes the first few trees and I start to think that he's going to make it. Then a splash of blood tells of the bullets finding their mark. He fails to the ground with a final shout of defiance and then lies still among the thin underbrush.

I hadn't meet the man and didn't know a thing about him other than the obvious fact that he had the misfortune to end up here, never-the-less, he was somebody's son, and I feel heavy-hearted at seeing him shot down.