Death Wish

Chapter 14: Was This Just a Game?

Once we finish breakfast, we ride our horses to a track further from the ranch.

"Do you own this place?" I ask curiously.

"Technically, I don't, my father does. But yeah, I guess. It's actually doing pretty well. It's more of a farm than a ranch though. We sell a bunch of crops and plants to both people and businesses. It was originally a present to my mom, but now, to my father it's just a way to make money. He used to be really nice, but ever since the business took off, like I said, he became a workaholic. He only cares about money. My mom would live here, but the only other people nearby are living in the town."

"Would you live here, in the country, secluded?" I ask.

"Yes. I would love to live here. It's quiet and nice and in a place where no one can bother me or my mom."

Reaching the track, we race and play in circles. When lunchtime rolls around, we sit in the center of the grass where another picnic is set up.

I plop down and say, "Geez, Lorenzo, you're going to get me fat, feeding me buffets all day!"

In response, he just chuckles and shovels half the food on my plate. I glare at him and grab a new plate.

"Hey! No wasting food!"

"I'm not! You can eat all that food you put on my plate and I will eat whatever I want."

Grumbling, he sits next to me and starts devouring the plate. We talk about more about Lorenzo's family and I'm careful not to let anything about my family slip out. Anyways this day is about him making his image better, not mine. He seems to be pretty open about his family. It's obvious he loves his mother and despite the fact that his father is hardly around, he still cares about his opinion. That must kill Lorenzo. Knowing his father chose work and money over his own child. At least my father didn't choose to leave. He didn't have a choice, but Lorenzo's father chose and he chose incorrectly.

We finish lunch and ride back to the house. I don't know what we're doing after this, but if it's anything like before, I know it'll be super fun. I can tell Lorenzo put a lot of thought into today and I don't want anything to mess it up.

...

We ride the horses across the field and to the glittering lake I saw earlier. Instead of stopping at the lake like I thought, he continues on. Despite my prodding, he remains tight lipped about where we are going. We finally stop in a clearing and I see multiple hay bales littering the area.

"What are we doing?"

"Simple, playing laser tag outside."

"Are you serious? I love laser tag!"

He smiles and I notice that this one lights up his face making him so much happier. I smile to myself, amused that he's so happy because today is working out. He leads us to a spot with a stream and plenty of grass so the horses can graze. Like before he helps me dismount and his hands burn a trail through my body. To distract myself from gazing adoringly into his emerald eyes, I start patting Lykendar.

Snap out of it, Linnea! He's only going to leave you just like everyone else did. Who wants to be friends with a murderer?

After one final pat on Lykendar's nose, I join Lorenzo at the edge of the 'arena'. He straps on my vest and gives me my gun.

"Okay, so you know the rules. Shoot the part that's lit up and when you get shot, you'll revive in a couple seconds. You also have unlimited bullets."