Yours truly passed the second round (cue excited screams) in the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge and advanced to round three. With over a thousand entries divided into a few dozen groups, I managed to score 2nd place in my group for my short story. The round three challenge was super hard, and I’ll find out this month if I advance to the final round. I’m pretty nervous about my entry, but I’ve really enjoyed the challenges thus far and the stretching involved in creating a story with short time frames and random parameters.
For round two, the challenge was to write a 2000 word story in 3 days with the parameters given below. I hope you enjoy my entry!
- Genre: Horror
- Subject: Entitlement
- Character: A professor
Two Can Play That Game
Synopsis: The sadistic son of a billionaire targets welfare recipients to play his games of terror, but the games are turned against him when he underestimates one of the players.
Are you afraid?
The shovel scraped across the ground. Dug into the earth. Ripped up roots, soil.
You can make the fear go away. Just pull the trigger.
Hugo heard the final shot as it replayed in his head. He closed his eyes and dropped the lifeless body into the earth. A cold hand gripped his shoulder. “Time to pick another player.”
Hugo wiped the sweat from his brow. “You promised this was the last one.”
“We both know that was a lie.” A sound escaped Hugo’s lips, a strangled sigh. Eleven other mounded graves spotted the hundred acre estate. This marked the twelfth. The twelfth victim in Vaughn’s twisted game of cat and mouse. He lured his prey here, then preyed on their fears as he watched safely from his tower. It scratched an itch born of privilege and prejudice. He preferred welfare recipients. He thought them lazy, so he made them run. Never mind he himself had never worked a real job. Never mind if his victims suffered from illnesses he couldn’t see. He drove them to the edge of sanity, then pushed them off the cliff.
“Your father doesn’t approve of your extracurriculars.”
It was a bluff. Vaughn’s father didn’t care what his son did with the ‘dregs of society.’ So long as it was done in secret and didn’t affect him or his billion dollar business. Vaughn knew it full well. He smiled and leaned in close. “I promise it’ll be fun. I’ll even let you pick.”
Hugo recoiled, untangling himself from Vaughn’s grasp. He’d studied and lectured on psychology for years at the University. He wasn’t a fool. He buried Vaughn’s secrets, but he was just another mouse. Trapped in a game he couldn’t win. “This has to stop, Vaughn. What if something goes wrong?”
“I can see everything from the tower. If the traps and electric fences don’t finish the job, then nature will. Just enjoy the show!” He smiled and walked away, his tall, confident form disappearing into the mist.
***
Vaughn opened his eyes to black skies and cold earth. His head pulsed. Blood trickled into his ear. That psycho had taken over his tower. Vaughn searched his pockets. She’d also taken his phone. He heard a groan. “Hugo?” The hairs on his neck rose as the silence thickened. A hand gripped his shirt and he cried out.
“It’s me!” Hugo whispered, loosening his grip as he helped Vaughn to his feet. Vaughn trembled in the cold. They’d been ambushed. But how? “I warned you not to pick Chandra. I had a bad feeling about her.”
“You had a bad feeling?” Vaughn tugged at his hair, pacing in the dark. “A druggie on welfare just took over my tower! How is that possible?”
“We need to find the access panel.”
A female voice echoed from the loudspeaker attached to the tree overhead. “Good evening, boys. Is naptime over already?” Hugo and Vaughn exchanged looks of dismay. “I’ve gotten familiar with your setup here, and I must say, I expected more. I was able to short circuit your motherboard and reset all your codes in less than five minutes. Amateurs.” The speaker crackled. “You’ve got so many goodies here, it’s hard for me to decide which to activate first. I think I’ll just activate . . . all of them.”
An ominous mist bled into the dark, coloring everything an eerie gray. A cold hand passed over Vaughn’s face, and he shrank to the ground. A body swung from a noose, disappearing into the mist, then reappearing. It was just a cadaver, a medical specimen. Vaughn knew that in his head. His bowels were another matter. An earsplitting shriek sounded above him and he ran, panic leading where his senses lagged. Hugo tore after him, jerking him back before a row of spikes tore into his flesh.
“Calm down, Vaughn!” Hugo shook him out of his shock. “If we can get to the access panel, we can shut off the system and get out of here. Which direction is it?”
“North!” Vaughn stumbled after Hugo in the dark, a pen light their only guide in the mist. Vaughn gripped Hugo’s arm. “Do you hear that?” A thrum sounded overhead, like a swarm of bees. But it wasn’t bees.
“Look out!” Hugo leapt away as an army of drones released buckets of blood, saturating Vaughn and the ground around him. Vaughn slipped on the rank, sticky fluid and gagged, nearly missing the metallic sound of a gate opening.
“Hugo!” Vaughn found Hugo near the access panel. “I think she opened the cage. If she did, we’re screwed.”
“We’re already screwed.” Hugo held up a set of frayed wires. “We can’t shut down the system. Not from here. We need to get back to the tower.” Hugo stared out into the mist. Vaughn followed his gaze. A pair of yellow eyes glared back at them. A low growl vibrated. A red tongue dripped with blood. “Run!”
Hugo turned, dragging Vaughn with him as they fled through the trees. The creature followed, hissing angrily. Its black paws swiped at them, missing limbs by inches. New sounds blasted from the speakers. Shrieks and howls. Demented laughs. Tortured groans. It was maddening.
“We stand a better chance if we split up!” Hugo shoved Vaughn to the right, sending him tumbling down a steep hill. The underbrush slashed his face as gravity tugged him towards the bottom. A tree trunk halted his descent. Vaughn stood on shaky legs, gripping his side.
“Hugo?” The air grew cold, turning his rapid breaths into puffs of vapor. His trembling grew worse. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. They’d run south. That meant he was on the western side of the grounds. There was nothing dangerous here.
Vaughn took a step forward. His foot met with nothing and he cried out, crashing headlong into a mound of curling, wiggling bodies. Vaughn shrieked as something hairy crept across his face, a move that left his mouth exposed. The critter happily entered, gagging him. Nightcrawlers, beetles, and other insects and arthropods squirmed and crawled, wriggling across his body, scuttling over his neck, tangling in his hair, creeping into tiny spaces beneath his clothes. He’d forgotten about the shiver pit. Vaughn clawed his way out of the shallow hole and quivered in disgust.
“Watch your step.” Chandra’s giggle crackled through a speaker.
Vaughn growled in irritation. It was time to go on the offensive. The tower lay at the center of the grounds. What surveillance cameras missed, the drones picked up, but there were still a few blind spots. And he knew where they were.
Vaughn reached down into the pit, grabbing a fistful of bugs. He’d head towards the river. A system of tunnels acted as a failsafe for the tower. He could access them through the aqueduct below the river. There was no surveillance there, so he could reach the tower undetected. There was just one problem.
Vaughn stopped at the edge of the riverbank and plopped the mound of bugs into the water. It churned and bubbled slowly, then grew more frenzied. The piranhas were loose.
The forest grew silent, and he shuddered in the cold. Chandra had muted the sound effects. It was meant to put him on edge, but now that he had a plan, Vaughn felt an unexpected thrill. He’d been caught off guard before, but this was his game. And when he found Chandra, he’d end it with his hands wrapped around her throat. He’d squeeze and squeeze and–
A hand gripped his shoulder, ripping him from his fantasy as his pulse shot up. “I thought I’d find you here. I lost the panther. God, I hope she didn’t release the piranhas.”
Vaughn pulled away from Hugo, but his pulse didn’t slow. “She did.”
“Think we can reach the tower?”
“No.” Vaughn smiled wickedly. “Not we.”
Vaughn shoved Hugo into the river, then dived in at the opposite end. He found the drain pipe and turned the knob. As the river levels dropped, he opened the hatch leading into the aqueduct and slid inside. Water sloshed around him as he half floated, half crawled towards the final point of access to the tunnels. The latch for the door resisted as water continued to fill the duct. He should have waited for the river to drain.
Vaughn felt a sharp pain in his foot and yelped. A piranha had followed him inside. The water rose above his body, and Vaughn thrashed in the cramped space. He tugged at the latch, but it wouldn’t budge. The piranha bit deep into his flesh and he groaned, losing air. His chest ached and squeezed. His lungs burned. He pulled harder.
With a rush of water, the latch gave way, sending Vaughn to the ground. He sucked in a haggard breath and stood. The piranha flapped on its side as shallow pools spread down the tunnel halls. Vaughn smashed his heel into the piranha’s flesh before heading towards the tower.
***
Vaughn approached the tower hatch armed with a shovel he found near the base. The hatch was open, and he peeked his head through, searching for signs of Chandra. Anticipation sent shivers up his spine. If she sprang out at him, he’d be ready.
“Are you looking for me?” Chandra’s voice reverberated all around him. “Look behind you!”
Vaughn turned and swung at nothing. “Where are you?”
“I’m hiding in the closet!” Chandra’s voice cackled and Vaughn smashed the closet door. He knew she wouldn’t be there. But he’d play her game. For now.
“Come out you little–” Vaughn’s eyes froze over the monitors on his control deck. The screens displayed videos of Vaughn in the woods, captioned with his personal information, his father’s business, and more. And it was all streaming live. “No!” Vaughn sat at his keyboard, typing frantically. More videos popped up. Images flashed from all twelve of his games. Vaughn’s voice rang out on the audio. Are you afraid?
“A million views and counting.”
Nothing was working. Vaughn grabbed the shovel and smashed the monitors. The screens cracked, but the streaming continued. Chandra had a remote link. He heard a familiar ringtone, and found his phone on the floor. Vaughn’s blood ran cold as he read the caller ID. It was his father. “Stop,” he whimpered.
“Two million views.”
“Stop it!” Vaughn dropped to his knees, breath coming in pants. His phone continued to buzz.
“Daddy’s angry, isn’t he? He’ll take away your games, and you’ll spend the rest of your life locked away. Are you afraid?” Vaughn’s head shot up. “Look in the closet, Vaughn.” He obeyed, pulling out a box.
“You can make the fear go away. Just pull the trigger.”
Vaughn pulled a revolver from the box. He looked at the cracked screens. Three million views. He placed the cold steel in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Click.
Vaughn flinched, but nothing happened. He pulled the trigger again. Click. He opened the chamber. It was empty. Vaughn screamed and picked up his shovel, smashing everything in sight. He stared at the tower windows, chest heaving. After a running start, he jumped through the glass, landing on the ground with a sickening thud.
***
Chandra stepped over the broken glass and stared out of the window. Vaughn lay on the ground below, groaning. A fractured bone penetrated the skin of his leg. Hugo joined her, shaking his head.
“You were right. He didn’t die at that height.” Chandra handed Hugo a five dollar bill, which he accepted with a nod.
“Thanks for your help.” He rubbed the bandage on his arm. Nasty piranhas.
“I owe you a hundred times over, Prof,” Chandra snickered. “Besides, what’s a druggie on welfare for?”
“Sorry,” Hugo grimaced. “He has a type.”
“What happens now?”
Hugo motioned to a pair of yellow eyes approaching the tower. “Well, what the games don’t finish, nature will.”
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