House of Trap

16 | An Eye for An Eye

The metal chain around their wrist unclasped, the belt retracted itself, and the machine locking their feet released. They were finally free from the torturous chairs.

Jay was the first one to remove himself from the chair, running barefoot across the digital screen in the center to rush his way towards his friend.

Natasha's body was entirely limp, boneless, and lost the balance to maintain on the chair. When her body nearly tumbled over forward, Jay arrived in time to catch her. He knelt down on the floor, wrapping his entire arm around her head. The blood smeared on his hand.

"Nat, you're gonna be fine," he murmured. His voice was nothing but a small whimper filled with much trembling hidden beneath his frantic cry. "We're gonna get out of here together."

She no longer responded, and laid lifeless within his arms.

Several others had slowly gathered around them, watching with sympathy at the heartbreaking sight. Everyone was aware of Jay and Natasha special relationship, knowing this incident tore his heart to pieces.

"Jay," Bree hated to be the one saying it, but she had to. "She's dead."

"No, she's not!"

They watched with pained hearts at his denial. He lowered his head, placing his warm lips against her cold ones to transfer some air. His lips were soft, and hers were hardening. He had thought about what kissing her would feel like, but it was nowhere near to this.

"Stop it! She's dead, Jay!" Bree said again, hating to see him behave as a lunatic. Before she could use some force, Maddie's hand against her shoulder held her back.

"Let him cope with the loss in his own way," she said with a smile ghosting her face.

Bree's tenseness released as she skimmed their surrounding now. The grid board suddenly lit up again, and instead of the cards, the number five now appeared in big red letters.

"We got another number," she informed. Ethan and Maddie soon shifted their sight to the same direction.

"We should keep track of them all. It must be our way out," Ethan spoke, and the other two nodded.

"I find it strange that the game didn't immediately end after Ashlyn and Natasha got three matching pair of cards. Did the last one not count?" Maddie suddenly questioned.

"Maybe it doesn't count if someone died during the game," Ethan suggested a theory that made sense.

Maddie pressed her lips. They failed their teamwork once again. "She should've chosen acupuncture."

As the two discussed the issue, Bree took notice of Ashlyn standing still at a distance, calmly watching the sight unfold. It was hard to tell whether she felt any sympathy or guilt at all when all that was written on her face was... Satisfaction.

On the other hand, Damon was less interested in Natasha's lifeless state and kept his attention on Ginny whom the others had seemingly forgotten. He watched attentively as she furrowed her eyebrows in a frightened knot. She walked out of her chair carefully, as if the ground they were on was made out of thorny bushes. No one could tell what was going on in her mind. So he approached her.

"You okay?" He questioned, always soft when it came to her. He did not even know what prompted him to offer her a hand, but he helped her step out of the chair.

She looked up at him with big, horrified eyes. "What did you say?" She questioned as a small whimper.

"Are you okay?"

She watched his mouth move and saw his conflicted gaze as he looked at her strangely. She felt the warm touch of his hand against her skin. She smelled the freshness of the chamber and the iron smell from Natasha's blood. But that was it. Her eyes began to water on its own, and more fear struck her.