Fear Games

11. Game Over - Part I

EDEN

Even though Josh warned us weeks ago, seeing Daisy Williamson standing right before us dressed in a beautiful black poofy dress with a golden crown on her head truly surprised me. Our children, who had never seen Daisy before, knew who she was right away. They'd seen plenty of pictures of her in her youth when she tormented Rachel and I. Despite how stunning Daisy looked, she held an axe in her hands, and Harlin and Arya were armed with guns. Audrey, who was standing behind us, also had a gun pointed directly at us.

We were completely trapped.

"So it is you," Rachel said, breaking through the thick silence with her quivering voice. "It's been you since the beginning. Josh was right all along."

Daisy grinned. "Guilty as charged."

"How did you escape the explosion back then?" I asked. "We watched the St. Paul's hospital blow up with you inside of it twenty years ago."

"Don't get too far ahead of yourselves," Daisy said as she stepped forward, swinging the axe around. "I'll tell you everything you want to know, don't worry. But first of all, we have to get a little something out of the way. Someone has to die."

"Why are you doing this?" Rachel asked. "Let our kids go. They don't deserve any of this. This isn't their war to fight. If you want Eden and I, let our kids go free."

Daisy laughed, so deep and evil. "You really think I'm going to let your kids miss out on all of the fun?"

"This isn't fun, you sick bitch," Emerald said, holding on tight to her mother. "You're a monster."

"I'm not a monster. I'm a Queen," Daisy said. "You see, the thing that I always loved about the Fear Games is that it made me feel like a god. I never felt comfortable with regular religion. But when you get to take someone's life, feel their final breath escape their lungs, or smell their blood that you helped spill...it changes you. It makes you feel powerful. It makes you feel like you can take on anyone or anything. Being able to take a life gives you the power of a god—or a King or Queen."

"You're fucking insane," I said, ushering my three kids under my arms, trying to do whatever I could to keep them safe. "Why would you have waited all this time just to attack us again?"

"Like I said," Daisy replied, "you must have patience. We have a couple things we need to get out of the way first. Some sacrifices need to be made. That's part of the Games after all, isn't it?"

"What kind of sacrifices?" Rachel asked.

"I'm so glad you asked!" Daisy said. "Harlin, Arya. Bring in the first victim."

As the two teens walked off into the darkness, my family, friends, and I stood there, and I contemplated making a move to take Daisy down. Realizing that was too risky, I stayed still, holding my kids close while Rachel held hers.

Harlin and Arya dragged in a tied up body, and at first I didn't recognize them because it was so dark. Duct tape was over his mouth and he made several moaning sounds as he tried to escape.

"Oh no," Rachel said. "NO!"

The hostage was her ex-husband Drake.

EMERALD

Seeing my father tied up on the ground with tape over his mouth, I immediately started to cry. The thought of something awful happening to him wasn't okay with me at all. He may not have been the best dad in the world, but he was still my father.

"Don't hurt him!" I cried.

"Oh, really?" Daisy said. "Hmmmmm. I thought you didn't care about your father. After all, you've chosen your mother over him on many different occasions. Especially recently when he tried to get custody over you."