Maleficium: Duo (Devil's Playground 2)

“You fucking stabbed me!” his voice was a mixture of anger and amusement.

“You’re lucky I don’t have time to saw your goddamn dick off!”

“Two minutes,” the PA chirped as if to further remind me I was out of any seconds to waste.

I scooted backward to get away, tumbling off the desk and landing on the floor in a disgraceful heap. I scrambled to my feet and took off at a sprint, not waiting around to see the damaged I’d done to him.

The asshole had it coming.

I made it to the doorway of the main office, barely avoiding a collision with someone wearing one of the LED masks. They moved out of the way rather quickly, allowing me to slip right by them.

I retraced my initial path back to the media room. Adrenaline had me reaching Dion in record timing. He was pacing back and forth when I came barreling around the corner.

“You got it?”

I reached into my back pocket and retrieved the key ring, slapping it into his extended hand.

“Eighty seconds.”

“There should only be one key,” he stressed.

He whirled around and began trying to open the lock. I waited on pins and needles as we lost another six seconds. When he finally unlocked the door, we wasted no time going inside. He got to Mel before me, and immediately knelt and got to work on the locks.

“About damn time,” she chastised.

I ignored her and watched on anxiously, glancing at the clock every time a lock failed to pop. When the first padlock finally opened, I expelled a deep breath.

“Thirty seconds.”

“Hurry,” I implored.

“I’m trying! They don’t take the same key.”

I kept my mouth shut after that, not wanting to increase the pressure I’m sure he was already feeling.

He finally undid the last lock with only seconds to spare and together we shoved the remaining restraints off Mel just as the PA crackled to life again.

“Eleven seconds.”

Mel jumped up and grabbed hold of my hand. “Glad to see you’re alive and well. We’re leaving now.”

“Wait,” Dion objected, kneeling back down beside the girl that was beginning to wake. We stopped our hasty retreat and watched him from a few feet away. He managed to unlock two of the four chains before the timer hit zero and a buzzing noise filled the room.

“Dion.”

He ignored me and reached for the third lock, sweat pouring down the back of his head and drenching his shirt.

“Hey!” the voice that’d been speaking over the PA suddenly carried from the rear doorway. “You’re not allowed to cheat.”

A light clicked on, revealing the same jester from Goetia.

She took her time walking into the room, dragging a large pickax along the floor. From the immaculate buns on top of her head to the red and white costume dress, she looked almost the same. The only difference from before was that she had added a pair of frilly white gloves to her ensemble. Oh, and she wasn’t alone. Another jester stood watching over her. A blonde with two pigtails, rocking an entirely different getup.

Dion rose to his feet, balling his fists at his sides. “What are you going to do to her?”

“Nothing too outrageous. After all, this is my prize. Unless you’re volunteering to trade her places?” she questioned with a wide grin.

He didn’t reply, inciting her to lift the pickax with both hands and swing. The girl in the chair was just beginning to lift her head as it came down.

An audible crack seemed to echo throughout the room as the T-shaped metal tip pierced her scalp.

The girl’s eyes flew open upon impact. She stared at us with a deer in the headlights look. Blood began to run down either side of her face, rapidly pooling onto the floor. The jester pulled the tool back out with a look of pure concentration.

There was a crack followed by a liquid pop, like opening a can of soda. Visible pieces of bone and brain matter were ripped from within the skull, landing in various places on the floor. That effectively snapped Dion out of his frozen state. He yelled something unintelligible, gagging as he walked backward.

I reached out and balled a hand in his sweaty shirt, pulling until he turned around and started running on his own. We were able to make a smooth exit through the doors we’d entered the room from.

I risked a glance back as they were swinging shut, catching the brunette’s eye.

She blew me a kiss and waved. The last thing I saw before the door slammed shut was a maniacal smile on her painted face.

CHAPTER SEVEN

You know the saying that everything happens for a reason?

It’s bullshit.

Things happen due to a little something called cause and effect. Me and Liliana for example. I made a move and she countered it.

That’s cause and effect.

To distract myself from what Charon was doing, I flipped her necklace between my fingers, watching the pendant catch in the light. She hadn’t the faintest fucking clue how significant it was.