Mastim's Curse

Chapter 42

Our elation at getting out of the Mad House is smothered by the pandemonium that surrounds us. People yell for us to put our hands in the air, while others tell us to get on the ground, and still others yell for us to drop our weapons or they'll start shooting. We drop the weapons in our hands and lie on the ground. Once we're prone, the men close in on us and soon there are rough hands holding my arms down while others work to get the weapon belt off me.

I'm too grateful to be out of that place to be too upset with the rough treatment they're giving me. While we're being searched thoroughly, the sounds of approaching vehicles reach us. Soon several sets of headlights can be seen coming this way. They pull up right next to us, and once the passengers get out, I hear Bryan Rockwood's voice. The heavy boot pushing down on the back of my neck prevents me from turning my head for a better look, but his voice is coming my way.

He says, "I know the world is eager to see the first contestants to make it out of the Mad House, even if they did come out the wrong door. But first, we need to make sure they are completely disarmed because we've all witnessed to how deadly these two can be."

After they've removed the belt of weapons, and searched me several more times, the boot comes off my neck. I rise painfully to my feet to face Bryan and his camera crews. His eyes go wide at the macabre mess that I've become. With the retreat of the dark power, weariness joins in with my pain and loss of blood to make me feel truly miserable. I just want to get back to my room.

"Well, here she is ladies and gentlemen. And she looks like she's been served hot and bloody straight from hell. I don't think I have ever seen someone scarier than this woman that stands before me."

Bryan seems reluctant to get closer to us even though we have a dozen armed men surrounding us. Standing at a safe distance, he begins to badger us with questions that I don't respond to and neither does Suzie. It hurts to even breathe, let alone answer a bunch of stupid questions. It's all I can do to just keep from collapsing as my energy level continues to drop.

With an apology to the audience, he gives up trying to get us to talk. He gives me a thumbs up before getting back into one of the vans along with his crew. They leave, I assume, to continue his play-by-pay of the struggles that are still taking place inside. Cages are brought for us, and when the time comes for us to separate, I hug Suzie and thank her for being my partner.

Her battle-worn face breaks into a smile. "See... I told you God sent you to be my protector."

"Maybe so... You take care of yourself." I think we both know that there's a good chance we'll ever see each other again. I'm sad to see her go as they lead her to her cage.

On the trip back to my room, my thoughts are about Dad and Jaidee and how great our lives were together before this happened. Too tired and sore to stand, I lie on the hard cage floor in a pool of my blood gazing up at the night sky. The stars are so much brighter than is possible in L.A. However, the overwhelming pain pulsing through my body prevents me from enjoying their splendor this night.

As we get closer to my room, my thoughts switch to Aleale. I get to spend at least one more night with her, a gift to be treasured here in this club of misery. The memory of her lips on mine is so sweet that it pushes aside the pain and exhaustion enough that it's bearable. When they open my cage, I'm barely able to get up and follow my guards, leaving a sickening red trail behind me from my bleeding wounds. Once the door is unlocked, I stumble inside. But there's no sign of her. Panic comes while I put my hands in the slot to have my cuffs removed.

Calling her name brings no response. The only sound comes from the monitor which is still showing scenes of horror from the Mad House. Then it hits me. Maybe when I broke the rules tonight, they disqualified me and took her away. The thought is a dagger of ice in my heart. By saving myself, I've doomed her.

Hesitantly, I move into the room and that's' then I see her. She's lying motionless on the sofa. A mixture of elation, concern, and anxiety overwhelms me as I dash to her side. Thank God she's breathing.

Trying to rouse her only brings mumbles and a random wave of her arm. Then I notice that the table next to us is covered with spilled booze, white powder, and there is a large joint in the ashtray. She's just passed out. Additional prodding only gets a few cuss words out of her, so I slump down next to her and relax a little. It doesn't look like she OD'ed, so she should be ok in the morning.

It's only then that that the screams from the big screen get my attention. One of the bounty hunters is making good use of a power drill on a helpless contestant. With a shudder, I turn it off. Bryan was right. They're going to need more players after tonight. I look down at Aleale. Watching tonight's carnage must have been too much for her. I stroke her hair gently. It looks like she's just going to have to sleep this one off. A drop of blood from my hand falls onto her cheek and I grab a nearby towel to dab the offending stuff from her face. I sink to the floor next to her. Now that I feel she'll be ok, my own pain and suffering becomes more of a concern.

Hard liquor isn't my thing, but right now it's within reach so I grab the bottle of Cruzan Rum that's sitting on the table and take a long drink from it. It's strong and warms my insides. This shit is stout. The bottle almost slips out of my hand because of the blood oozing from the cuts and scrapes caused by the fingernails of that bounty hunter when he was trying to pry my hand off the knife. The gruesomeness of that fight brings a shudder down my spine. I hope these don't leave scars on my hands. They're for sure going to get badly infected if they're not cleaned well.

I look around and don't see the med kit anywhere. It was in the kitchen, but that seems so far away right now. I take another drink of the rum. 151-proof... That should kill germs, shouldn't it? Clenching my teeth, I pour the rum onto my cuts. Shit! That burns. Well, time for the rest of my cuts. I undo the hastily made bandages from my torn flesh and splash the rum over the worse of them. Obscenities burst from my lips as the alcohol lights me up. That should do until I get around to doing the real cleaning and bandaging.

I drink rum until the room starts to get fuzzy and then I lie down on the floor and close my eyes. My last thought before dozing off is that this isn't the victory party I'd imagined, not at all... At least we're both still alive.

The sound of someone vomiting nearby is my alarm clock this morning. At first, none of my muscles agree to move, not even my eyelids. My head hurts... a lot. My entire body hurts, like I've been run over by a truck. With extreme effort, I open my eyes to find Aleale leaning over the arm of the sofa depositing what remains of her binge from last night onto the floor next to me. At least she didn't puke on me. My eyes close again with some hope of falling back to sleep.

"Nicole... Nicole, are you all right?" Aleale mumbles.

I'm too busy trying to push my pain levels down to reply. Besides... of course I'm not all right. One look should tell her that.

She slides off the sofa to the floor next to me. "Oh shit baby, you're all covered in blood."

Opening my eyes a second time is a little easier and I'm rewarded with her large, stunning, green eyes looking down at me. They're filled with concern. "Yep, but you should see the other guy." Somehow, a smile forms on my dry and cracked lips.

Her face lightens and her eyebrows arch up. "I did see what you did to those other guys. You are one tough, kick-ass bitch! Remind me to never make you mad."

"I do have a dark side to me." A side that saved me more than once last night.

"No shit. Well, your dark side is all messed up right now girl. And you reek something awful."

Her face is turning a pretty shade of green. I hope she doesn't puke again.

"I'll go get the bandages and some wet towels with soap, lots of soap," she says.