Tag, You're It

Chapter 25

"If I cooperate... will you..." I clear my throat. "Will you answer my questions?" I was desperate to do anything to get on his good side.

"No! I said if you chose me letting Jared live or you cooperating- not you killing him. I don't even know why-"

"Alec, I-"

"I said no, Darling. I gave you a chance to have all of your questions answered and you disregarded it." He turns back around. I follow with heavy steps. Now I'd only made him angrier. "Don't come out of here until I come for you." Alec opens the door to his room and I simply nod before entering quietly.

Cooperation is desirable.

"Alec..." I begin again and he turns to look at me, his gaze hot and impatience reading across his whole frame. He indicates I continue and I try to but my throat gets stuck. "I won't try anything. I promise." Alec seems to relax at those words, if only a little. He nods before leaving and locking the door.

I walk to Alec's bed, sitting on it. The plushness of the mattress beneath me called to me with such a desire but I didn't want to succumb to sleep, afraid I wouldn't wake up when Alec returned. My hands traced the comforter and I smiled softly.

"My name is Austen Grey." I say slowly. My hands run along the comforter with such precision. "I've been here for two days." My eyes looked to Alec's pillow and I frowned. "But someone was looking for me." The words suddenly became heavy. "I will get out." I whisper.

My feet start making me pace the room, the god awful room that now seemed to close in on me from every angle. I started to connect the dots and then the memory would fade away. My brow furrowed as I paced and I bit my lip, aggressively trying to come up with why those words meant so much.

"Someone was looking for me." I stop and laugh out loud. "The visitors!" My laugh bubbles from my throat uncontrollably. I smile and fist the comforter in my hands. "Someone was looking for me."

I suddenly wanted out of the room. I wanted them to find me. I wanted out of this room, this house, this game. I wanted out. I wanted to be gone.

My heart thundered in my chest and I heard an exchange of bullets. If Alec got the guards to fight with him, the visitors would have a fight on their hands. I winced at the thought of Jared.

Jared. I killed him.

Alec didn't- couldn't even think of why I had killed him. But I did and I wouldn't apologize for my actions. I knew murder was wrong, but that wasn't murder... that was killing. At least I believed it was. Yet I had believed killing Alex and Trisha was indeed just killing but Alec had proven me wrong.

I shake my head. Jared was going to die one way or the other. Alec was going to pound his face in or he would have left him there and Jared would have died before his wounds healed. Jared was in pain and I'd ended it. It wasn't because of this reason that I'd landed the death blow, though it was in part; Jared was not an animal and I didn't 'put him out of his misery.' I was sick.

I was sick of Alec's power. I was sick of being useless. I was sick of having people die on my behalf. I was sick of letting people die on my behalf. Alec would no longer have the ability to do so. However there was only one way to ensure that it never happened again. I smiled at the thought.

"Someone was looking for me." I mumbled, my brain becoming muddled once more with the images and thoughts. "I was playing a game...."

"Well, I was playing a game." He says quietly, his voice dropping.

"A game?" I ask, utterly confused.

"Yes, would you like to play?"

"Is this game dangerous?" The question barely leaves my mouth before the man steps closer.