Fear Games

12. Cover Me In Daisies - Part II

EDEN

"You're saying that Daisy is alive?" I exclaimed, my heart dropping into the pit of my stomach. Out of all of the crazy theories that anyone could have had, this was the wildest one. Unless it wasn't a theory at all. "Do you have any proof that it's her?"

Josh stood up from the table and started pacing back and forth in front of us. "I don't have any proof, but I have seen her with my own eyes. At first I thought I was going insane, but the person threatening me exposed themselves as Daisy. It's most definitely her."

There were a million thoughts running through my mind. How the hell had Daisy survived the St. Paul's explosion? If she was truly alive, why had she waited so long to start the Games again? We all knew that Daisy was unhinged, but to wait so long to start the Games again seemed like a stupid thing to do. And why did she go after Josh and his new life first before coming after any of us? Something about this wasn't adding up to me, but I couldn't quite tell if Josh was lying or not.

Rachel was the next to speak. "That's damn near impossible, Josh. Daisy died in an explosion. No one could have survived that."

"Not without that underground bunker," Josh said. "No one except for the staff—and Daisy—knew that it was there. That's how she managed to survive."

"Let's suppose that what you're saying is true," I said. "Why didn't you tell us about this sooner? From the outside, it almost looks as if you've been siding with her."

"I would never side with such a monster," Josh said as he continued to pace. "Only God knows how much I've tried to avoid her. But it's been extremely difficult, because she's one determined ass bitch. She wants to make sure the three of us suffer."

"What about the other kids?" Rachel asked. "Kael's friend Freddy was murdered. What was the purpose behind that?"

"You want to know the truth?" Josh asked.

Rachel and I both nodded.

Josh said, "It's all just a game to her. While we're her main targets, she doesn't care who else gets hurt in the process. She's sick, sadistic, and twisted. She needs to be stopped."

Something about this was making me uneasy. Daisy Williamson was the original creator of the Fear Games, before her ex-boyfriend Ryan decided to go after Rachel and her friends all those years ago. Shortly after that, Daisy decided to continue the Games herself like she originally intended, until a homophobe named Brandon took over after death—"death?"—as well as Daisy's brother Damien. It was a crazy shit show that I could never explain to people in a way that made any sense. It barely made any sense to me.

I grabbed Rachel's hand and said, "Can she and I talk privately for a moment?"

Josh nodded. "Of course. I'll be back in a few minutes." As he walked out of the room and headed toward to the torn down kitchen, I waited until he was for sure gone before I started to talk.

"Rachel, what the fuck?" I said. "This can't be real, can it? Can Daisy actually be alive?"

"If so, this has got to be the most shocking thing that we've ever heard," Rachel said. "But I'm not entirely sure if we should trust Josh or not. This whole thing is rubbing me the wrong way."

"I totally agree," I said. "Maybe we should ditch the plan and just get out of here. We—"

Just then, the front door of the abandoned house opened up, and Rachel and I gasped. For a split second, I thought that maybe it was Daisy Williamson finally here to take our lives away. But as our eyes adjusted, we realized who it was that had just walked through the door, and suddenly I was pissed.