Author Games: Ace of Spades

Semifinals: Addilyn Devella

Her entire body was poised for flight as she waited in anticipation for the horrible sound that she knew was all her fault. This was Addilyn redeeming herself to her daughter and not to the unlucky strangers strewn around her reminding her of her choice.

Evil over good.

"Open your eyes, you coward!" the girl screamed abruptly and Addilyn slowly blinked open her beautiful brown eyes. The vulnerable girl before her had had tears leaking out of the corner of her almond-shaped eyes and her bottom lips trembled at the sight of the gun so close to her.

Sophia, Sophia, Sophia, Addilyn chanted the name over and over as she kept her eyes on the girl. She couldn't close them; some part of her couldn't do that to the girl.

Addilyn shivered from the nightmare but there was nothing fake about it. It was her fault that the bodies still lay on the floor of the Milena Seble and she still stood outside. Cowardice was the only thing that ever consumed Addilyn in the casino but she could never show it and, now, the cracks were beginning to shine. She could feel the restless souls clawing at the booth with the sound of the pattering hail and rain. She could feel their haunted eyes burning holes in her body until she felt nothing but coldness. A wave of nausea overcame Addilyn and she leant on the plexiglass for support but it didn't stop the next image from exploding vivaciously in her senses.

The sound tore through the silence like a knife. A stream of sound erupted into her ears and caused another weight to fall on her frail shoulders. Addilyn could only stare at the girl as her body crumpled to the ground with the light already lost in her eyes. It was quiet until her skull fell onto the polished wooden floorboards with a sickening thud. Addilyn felt bile rise in her throat and she turned her gaze away from the girl. She allowed her eyes to wander over the bottles of liquor again but it simply made Addilyn's feelings of guilt multiply. Her agitated gaze hovered above one of the brands until the name surfaced in her mind like a shark waiting for its prey.

'A Cup n' Cake'.

Even her escape from life was mocking her. Twisting her mind until Addilyn felt like she was going to vanish into thin air because she was as corrupt as the Aces.

Cupcake was dead and she had just joined the six other bodies that were discarded on the floor. Cupcake was a victim but Addilyn was victorious.

Addilyn shook herself from the nightmare. She frantically punched the numbers on the phone but the haphazard dial didn't do anything but make Addilyn frustrated. She sighed angrily, shaking with fear, sadness and anger, and daringly glanced behind her.

The glass was cold on her back but it didn't distract her gaze towards the building. Obscured by the alleviating rain, the casino stood proudly as a world of pain hidden behind a golden façade of coloured lights and advertisement. The marble stairs glistened with the puddled rain and the simple revolving door had finally stopped.

Addilyn had half-expected it to still be spinning from her escape. Her lungs still contracted slightly as they eventually began to calm from her run. The only evidence that remained was the briefcase she held in her hand and her dampened beige coat. Water stuck to her skin and she took a final breath. Her feet ached from running in heels. Her eyes stung from tears.

"Sophia, how did it all come to this?" her voice was soft and the defeat was evident in her voice. Addilyn might have escaped but she still wore the scars from the struggle.

Who else did?

She remembered hearing the gunshots from the Joker as her feet clashed with the wooden floor. She had ran beside the loose cards and bodies all while clutching the briefcase in her hand. She remembered hearing one of the Aces scream for the first time and then having to crush any sign of sympathy that she felt for them. Three loud bangs as she entered the foyer and then a final gunshot as she pushed her body into the revolving glass doors.

And then nothing but silence until the slammed the phone booth door shut and her heavy breaths filled her ears with the sound of life.

Some part of Addilyn knew that there was no one alive in the casino but she wanted to hope that she could do the right thing – for once. Her attempt was futile and for nothing but she dialled the numbers with an oddly calm manner. Another part of her knew that she had killed them – how natural had the gun felt in her hand as she shot the first person? The sleek material that used to be foreign now held her peace.

Her memory became muddled.

"Hello?"

Addilyn's eyes widened in shock as the voice came through the receiver. She was happy but her hand still shook as she clutched the payphone like it was a life line tethering her to Earth. But the memory pulled her away from reality.

"Hello, is there anyone there?" the voice was impatient, "Bethany, if you think this is funny you're going to Hell,"

Addilyn's breaths were soft as the tears fell down her face silently in hearing her daughter's voice.

"I love you, Soph," Addilyn voice was free of age as she pulled her brand new beige coat closer to her body. The glass of the payphone box was cracked as she stood in the abandoned street with stray cats being her only company.

"Mum?" Sophia reply crackled through the line but Addilyn heard the sharp inhale. Addilyn opened her mouth to say something else but the words were caught in her throat. She could only wait for her daughter's sweet voice but nothing came through. She was about to hang up when she heard her husband's voice.

"Sophia, who's on the phone?" his voice was raspy like he had been drinking but at the same time it was authoritative.

"No one," Sophia replied hurried the fear prominent in her tone nevertheless her daring mind allowed her to whisper the final words that Addilyn would ever hear from her daughter, "I love you too, Mum,"

Addilyn couldn't react. She only listened as her daughter hung up with an audible click. She didn't know what to feel for her daughter or for her life but Addilyn was sure of one thing it was that she was utterly broken in every way a human could be.

The lie was stuck in Addilyn's throat. She could blame it all on the Aces – every single piece of evidence could fall back onto them and not her. Were her fingerprints on the gun? She did hold it. There were other prints too. Addilyn had only held it for a second.

Or longer, her mind added. The trigger hadn't felt cold under her touch and the gun hadn't felt heavy. The weight of the briefcase and the weight of her eyelids contradicted anything her mind wanted to tell her. The lie and truth weren't all that different – people had still died. Addilyn leant against the plexiglass feeling it press her dampened coat into her soft skin.

"Do you have an emergency?" the operator asked impatiently to the seemingly silent other end.

"No," Addilyn's voice was an unusually raspy whisper through the phone, "Sorry for bothering you,"

She hung up without being quite sure of what she just did. She could have redeemed herself by saving any survivors and by turning in the Aces. Addilyn counted the gunshots that she heard again in her mind – there was enough for all but one person to die. She had felt the trigger on her finger more than once.

Walk away with the money or give it up.

All the choices meant the same now.

How close are you to the Hell? Did you really kill them all? She asked herself glancing behind herself again until she saw it. The Milena Seble was still glowing arrogantly in its place. But Addilyn knew the truth. She knew how close she was to the devil whether it was the casino or her daughter so she answered her own question.

"Close," she whispered, "I'm far too close,"

And she swore she felt the cold hand of death pull her towards its shadows.