Fear Games

11. Tear the World Down: Part Two

Eden

Layla stepped into the basement, a knife firmly gripped in her hand. She walked closed to me, pointing the weapon at my throat. 

"Hey there, Eden," Layla said smiling. "Are you ready for your tests?"

"My tests?" I asked. "What did you do with Peter? Where is he?"

Layla laughed. "Oh please. Like it's going to be that easy. I will say this, though, that it's somewhere nearby. You'll just have to find it."

"And how does she do that?" Josh asked.

"She has to kill me," Layla said, taking another step closer. I backed away, not wanting her to come any closer with that knife. There was always the possibility of trying to fight, but there was a gun in her back pocket, likely loaded and ready to go. 

"Come on," Layla said. "You already killed once, didn't you? What was that bitch's name? Haven, I think? You have blood forever on your hands, no matter how clean you make them."

"Why did you betray me?" Rachel asked. "Why did you lie?"

Layla cocked her head to the side to see Rachel. "Don't you get it? The Games are much more fun when you're on the winning team. Let me tell you. When I offered to help you, it was because I spent my whole life feeling worthless. Like I was nothing. I bet that sounds familiar to you, doesn't it, Ms. Warren?" Her eyes fell on my mother.

"Leave her out of this," I growled.

"When Brandon came to me, it was the best choice I ever made," Layla said. "I helped Daisy and Brandon as much as possible. She kept telling me, though, that pretty soon her brother was going to take over. I don't think Daisy ever really trusted Brandon. He let the power get to his head. Besides, his reason for killing was founded on hate, and Daisy didn't like that too much."

"Are you telling us we're supposed to believe Daisy wasn't a hateful bitch?" Leslie screamed. "She killed my brother!"

"Oh, but she didn't," Layla said, spinning around to see Leslie. "Daisy didn't kill Luke at all. In fact, it was Matt and Josh that did it."

Leslie's eyes darted toward Josh, then back to me. "What is she talking about?"

"It was an accident!" Josh screamed. "Daisy had Damien and Luke set up in traps...I had to pick one of them to lie, and the other to die, or to attach myself to an empty machine and die. I was going to pick myself, I swear. But Matt...he chose Luke to die."

"He chose Luke to die?" Leslie screamed. "I trusted you guys! All of you! How could you let this happen?"

"We didn't mean to!" I shouted back. "It's not like we really had any other choice!"

Layla smirked at me. "We always have a choice."

That's when she attacked. Lunging at Leslie, Layla was too fast. She swiped the knife across Leslie's throat, and we all screamed in horror as she fell to the ground. 

We have to do something. We have to--

A loud bang erupted through the school, and I realized it was a gun shot. I covered my eyes, expecting the worst. When I reopened them, I saw Layla's body laying on the ground right next to Leslie's. Rachel stood before them, a gun in her hand.

"Game over, bitch," Rachel said, giving Layla one last blow to the head.

***

Rachel

Killing wasn't something I really wanted to do. Not in the grand scheme of things. It made me feel dirty, disgusting--like I was becoming exactly what I was fighting against. But at this point, I didn't care. Not a single bit.