Chapter Six

O nce darkness descended, the torches were lit and everyone geared up for the start of the game.

Despite the hokiness and the camera lights shining in her face and the whole Hollywood-like atmosphere of this shindig, Gina was still excited. After last night’s practice, she knew she could do well at this. All she had to do was stay focused, keep her eyes sharp, and stay on the lookout for demons.

“Remember,” Derek said, giving all of them a last-minute reminder of the rules, “anyone who’s marked by a demon is out of the game for the night and must report back to base immediately. Listen up for commands. We’ll track your shots and kills. Good luck, and stay alert.”

Each team once again prepared to enter the jungle on opposite sides. Derek stood on the sand in between them, and when he signaled them to go, they moved out in a hurry. This time, cameras followed them, filming everything.

Gina and her team stayed together for the initial trek into the jungle. God, it was humid tonight. Her clothes clung to her skin and she was sopping wet already. There was no breeze, and the only sound was their footsteps as they crunched over leaves and twigs.

Trace took the lead again, stepping slowly through the dense part of the jungle. Thick palm bushes flanked either side of the marked path. Gina expected a demon to pounce out at them any second. Her muscles tensed, finger at the ready on the trigger of her weapon.

When they entered the part of the jungle where the torches grew more sparse, it was time to split up and go hunting.

“Everyone ready?” Trace asked.

“Ready as we’ll ever be,” Gina answered.

“Good luck, everyone.”

The moon was a little brighter tonight, which helped some, but the lack of torchlight and the tree cover overhead nearly obliterated any glow the moonlight might have cast on the ground. Gina slipped on her night-vision goggles, a cameraman staying in step with her as she hunted. She ignored him, hoping he’d eventually go film someone else.

A sharp crack to her left had her swiveling around and taking aim, letting out the breath she’d been holding when she realized it was just Jake. Dammit. She moved further into the jungle, skirting south to avoid the others. The damn demons had to be out here somewhere, just waiting for them.

She got the idea the people playing demon had gone easy on them last night, and tonight it was going to be tougher. This was the real game.

“Anyone see anything yet?” she commed.

“Nothing,” Shay replied.

Trace and Ryder came back with the same reply.

“I thought I saw a shadow, but if they’re out here I can’t find them,” Olivia said.

“All I’ve seen so far is you,” Jake retorted with a laugh. “Scared the shit out of me, too.”

Gina grinned. At least she wasn’t alone in this. Those damn demons were hiding well.

“Wait. I’ve got something.”

Ryder’s voice.

“It’s too far ahead of me, heading southeast.”

She was the furthest out. Had to be heading in her direction. She scanned the area, then caught a glimpse of movement. “I’m on it.”

This time, he wasn’t getting away. She tore off in a dead run, hating these night-vision goggles that bumped the bridge of her nose every time she jumped over something on the ground. Damn heavy things. Too bulky. But she was blind without them, and right now she needed them to track the demon.

Oh, he was trying to be so smart, hiding from her. She stepped back, realizing what he was doing. He was going to pounce. She played lost, circling around like she was looking in the wrong place for him. But she ended up sneaking up behind him, keeping her footsteps purposefully light. While he was busy watching for her, she was busy aiming, crawling on the ground around the tree.

Almost there. When she sprang, he jumped back. She shot and hit him in the chest.

“Gotcha,” she whispered.

“Shit,” the demon said.

“One kill, Gina,” Derek announced.

Yes! The demon turned and left. Adrenaline soaring, Gina went off in search of another.

“Got one in my sights,” Trace said.

“Ditto,” Ryder piped up.

Now they were cooking. Suddenly, she spotted four or five of them, slipping in and out behind trees and thick foliage. She sprinted in the hopes of making another kill, grinning the whole way.

She hoped the cameraman could keep up, because she was ready for a wild night and she was determined to come out the winner.

 

“How are they doing?” Derek sat on the edge of the table, watching Lou enter points into his laptop while he listened in to the sounds of the team engaging the “demons.”

“Good so far. Gina, Ryder, and Olivia each have one kill. Shay and Trace have points. Jake, nothing so far.”

Not too bad. Not great, but they’d just gotten started. Derek purposely withheld the demons for a while, making the team hunt them out.

And Team B, of course, wasn’t really on the other side of the island. They were lying in wait just outside the base camp, so they wouldn’t be spotted in case someone from Team A was killed and had to report back in.

No, the only ones being tested were on the east side of the island tonight. Six newbies. Untrained and mistakenly thinking they were playing a game.

“Time elapsed?”

Lou scanned the clock on the laptop. “Twenty-five minutes.”

“Thirty-five minutes left, Team A,” Derek said over his mic, then switched it off. “How many of these do you intend to run?”

Lou looked up at him. “The game is set for two weeks. We’ll see how it goes. Have to play it out with the other team, too, then combine some of these new folks with our trained hunters and see how they react. We’ll see who gets eliminated early and who stays around past the first few days, then we’ll—”

Derek waited. “We’ll what?”

But Lou didn’t say anything. He stared down into the computer, frowning, then he looked up and cast a strange, faraway look into the jungle. Derek was about to ask Lou what was wrong when it hit him.

His blood went cold and he shuddered. Shit. He shot off the table. “Lou.”

Lou stood and turned to Derek. “I know.”

Derek didn’t know exactly what was up, but a feeling of deep dread overcame him, like he’d just gotten news a close relative had died or something. Damn. He’d never had the senses that Lou had, but he sure as hell felt something off-kilter right now.

“They’re here,” Lou said.

“What do you mean, ‘they’? Who…oh, shit.”

Lou nodded. “Call the others. Grab the weapons and get out there. I mean they’re here and right now, and they’re after our new team.”

Derek was already on the mic to the others before Lou finished talking. The other hunters charged out of the opposite end of the jungle and Derek went to the storage bin to retrieve weapons.

The real weapons.

“I don’t want to call them back in. I don’t want them to move,” Lou said. “Don’t even alert them. They start heading back to base, the demons will attack. I know it.”

Derek knew better than to second-guess anything Lou said. “Got it.” He turned to his team. “Grab gear and run like hell,” he commanded.

“I’ll stay here and talk to the new people, try to keep them calm.”

“Nance, stay here with Lou as guard,” Derek said to one of his men, then turned back to Lou as he buckled on his ammo belt and grabbed his eyeshades. “Lou, you gotta tell them. You can’t let them go on thinking this is a game.”

“I’ll handle it,” Lou said, studying the laptop. “I’ve already closed the signal to the new people and alerted our hunters out there.”

“Shit, our hunters have no weapons.” What a goddamn disaster. Derek glanced over Lou’s shoulder. Imagery was showing the locations of the team and their own demons. So far no sign of anything else. “Where are they? Nothing’s showing up on imagery.”

“I don’t know. But I’ll signal you. Get going.”

“I’m already gone.” Six others followed as he hightailed it into the jungle, his heart racing madly.

What the hell were they doing here? How had they found this location, and more importantly, how had they gotten here without Lou knowing?

“Okay, hunters. We’ve gotta move our asses and get to these people before the demons do.”

Now they were talking actual life and death, and if Derek and his team didn’t get to the others in a hurry…

Game over.

 

Something wasn’t right. Gina had gotten in two more kills, and after that the demons had just…disappeared. No matter how deep in the assigned area she searched, she couldn’t find them.

“Anyone see anything?”

“No,” Shay replied. “It’s gone dead quiet. Are we out of time or something?”

“I didn’t hear Derek call time,” Jake answered.

Gina looked at her watch. No, they still had twenty minutes left. “We’re not done yet. Wonder what’s going on? Derek, can you hear me?”

No answer.

“Derek, this is Gina. We’ve got nothing going on out here.”

Again, no reply.

“I don’t like this,” Ryder said.

“Ditto,” Trace shot back.

An eerie sense of foreboding crawled over Gina’s skin, making goose bumps pop out despite the overwhelming heat of the night. “I think we all need to meet up and head back to base,” she suggested.

“Good idea,” Ryder said.

“This is Lou. I need you all to remain calm.”

Finally! “Lou, what’s going on?”

“We have a problem. A big one. I need you all to stay quiet, meet up with the men assigned as demons, and follow them back to camp as quickly as you can.”

Gina frowned and kept walking, following the lighted torches and marked tape. “What kind of problem?”

Suddenly, there was a demon in front of her. She gasped and raised her gun, which he grabbed away from her. She was about to object when he lifted his finger to his mouth. “Shhh, this isn’t a game anymore and you’re talking way too loud.”

Okay, what the hell was going on? He lifted his sensor mask off, his hair spiked out all over and his expression ominous. He stepped closer and whispered, “We need to get back to camp ASAP. So just shut up, stay close, and follow me. Lou will explain when we get back.”

Now she was really feeling wonky. Was this part of the game?

“I’ve got Bliss, Derek,” he said into his mic. “Heading toward base now.”

Why wasn’t she getting this conversation in her headset? “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

“We’ll fill you in when we get back. Goddammit, I wish I had a weapon.” He cast a worried look to the camera guy standing next to Gina.

A weapon? What did he need a weapon for? Just then a flash of light blinded her as the camera turned directly in her face. She pulled off her night-vision goggles. “What is that camera doing in my face?”

As soon as she said it, the camera dropped to the ground. She heard it shatter and everything went black. A high-pitched scream rent the air next to her. Something warm splattered across the right side of her face and arm, but in the darkness she couldn’t make it out.

“Shit,” the demon guy said. “Get down, Gina, now!”

He shoved her, hard, and she went flying several feet, her goggles and weapon flinging from her hands. When she hit the ground, instinct drove her to her belly and she put her hands over her head, expecting gunshots or explosions.

Instead, she heard noises. A grunt, a thud, scuffling around her, leaves and twigs snapping as if something was being dragged.

Then, nothing.

“Hello?” she whispered, almost afraid to speak.

No response.

“Anyone there?”

Again, nothing.

Dammit, where did her goggles go? It was pitch-black and she couldn’t see a damn thing. Where was everybody? Her headset was gone, too. Great. No way to even contact anyone.

Dead silence. Okay, this was not good. And she was almost afraid to move. Something had just happened around her, there was wet stuff on her face and she didn’t know what it was, and the two guys who’d been with her a few seconds ago were now gone.

But the quiet maybe meant whatever bad thing was around had now left. Or at least wasn’t standing right next to her. Goddammit, where was Derek? She couldn’t very well lie there on the ground frozen with fear all night, and she wasn’t about to hope someone was going to come out there and find her. Especially if it was the wrong someone.

Rising up on her haunches, she felt around the ground near her feet in search of her goggles or headset. No such luck, considering the guy had pushed her so hard. Now she was alone and blind as a bat. She couldn’t even see the torches or the glow-in-the-dark tape marking the playing field.

She was lost. Alone and lost. With something really bad happening. She stood and looked around, hoping for a sign, a light, something that would give her a direction.

Nothing.

Pushing fear and frustration to the back of her mind, she focused on what she needed to do. If she chose a direction and started walking, she could end up heading miles in the wrong direction, or walk right into whatever mess she was trying to avoid.

No. Common sense told her to stay put before she ended up hopelessly lost. She couldn’t be that far from the main path. Eventually someone would come along and find her, or she’d see lights or hear noises from Derek or one of the others.

She’d just stand here. In this spot. And not move at all. She wrapped her arms around herself, chilled despite the oppressive heat.

Dammit, she was scared. And Gina was never, ever scared. Even the normal jungle sounds of bugs chirping and birds squawking had gone quiet. It was as if she was suspended in some kind of time warp, and she was isolated.

Maybe she was the only person left alive. Maybe some thing horrible had happened and she’d been the only one to escape.

And maybe you watch too many movies, Gina.

God, the things her mind could conjure.

She stared out into the darkness, turning herself around in a circle over and over again until she got dizzy and made herself stop. But dammit, she was afraid of something coming up behind her and grabbing her.

Wonderful. She’d just given herself a wicked case of the heebie-jeebies.

How long had she been out here?

Her watch! She scrambled to push the button, illuminating the numbers on her watch. It wasn’t enough light to guide her, but at least she had something to look at be sides utter blackness. It was ten minutes past the time the game would have ended, so she’d been standing out there roughly a half hour. It seemed a lot longer.

Where was everyone?

Somebody please come get me. Memories washed over her of another night spent alone in the dark. Years ago, the night her mother disappeared. She tried to block them out, to forget, but there they were, as fresh and as painful as they’d been twenty years ago.

She’d been only eight years old at the time, and when she woke up thirsty in the middle of the night and went in search of her mother, she was gone. Not in her bed, or in the bathroom or kitchen. Nowhere. She’d panicked, not knowing what to do, with no one to call, and had ended up huddled in her mother’s bed with the covers tucked to her chin. Every creak in the old house was a monster coming to get her. She waited all through the night, shaking and crying, hoping and praying her mother had just run to the store or something. She’d be back. She wouldn’t just up and leave like that. Not without taking Gina with her.

She’d never seen her mother again.

Now the darkness closed in on her, that same clawing fear surrounding her. But this time she wasn’t eight years old, and she refused to give in to the terror. She straightened her shoulders and reminded herself she was a grown woman now. A strong woman. Not an abandoned child.

They would come for her. Someone would come for her this time.

Then she heard it. Footsteps crunching on leaves. To her left. Hope warred with abject terror. Was it a good guy or a bad guy? She didn’t know whether to call out or hold a deathly silence.

“I thought I’d never find you out here.”

She didn’t recognize the voice. God, she could hear her own heart pounding in her ears. Could he hear it, too?

“Are you okay? Louis sent me.”

Exhaling, she said, “Yes! Oh my God, I thought you’d never find me.” She stepped toward the voice in the darkness.

“It’s okay. I’m here now. You’re safe. Come with me.”

“Where’s your light? Your weapon? How can you see out here?”

“Great night vision,” he said, moving in close enough now that she could make out his features. Tall, well built, with a nearly shaved head and pale blue eyes, he smiled at her, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. They were almost vacant. Weird as hell. Maybe it was just the shock.

“Take my hand and I’ll get you out of here,” he said.

She slipped her hand in his, then jerked it back. Goddamn. His hand was ice cold. She shivered, her entire body freezing.

No. Something wasn’t right. She backed up a few steps.

“Come with me,” he said again.

She shook her head. Her gut instinct told her this wasn’t one of the good guys.

His smile died and he frowned. “You’re supposed to come with me. Now. I won’t hurt you if you cooperate.”

Oh, shit. He definitely wasn’t one of the good guys.

“Get away from her, you sonofabitch.”

She whirled around at the sound of a familiar voice. Derek’s. He hit her with a flashlight, illuminating the area around him. Tears filled her eyes and she choked back a sob. Without even thinking of the man behind her, she sprinted over to Derek. As dark as it was, he was wearing wraparound sunglasses. And sporting one hell of a futuristic-looking kick-ass weapon in his hand. She’d never been happier to see anyone in her entire life. She wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him, but he hadn’t yet taken his eyes off the guy.

“Do you know how many of us are here?” the blue-eyed man asked. “The Realm doesn’t have a chance.”

“Neither do you, asshole.” Derek glanced at Gina. “Get behind me, turn around, and cover your eyes. Don’t ask questions.”

She wasn’t going to. Not now, anyway. She hurried behind him, crouched down, and covered her eyes. In an instant a flash of intense light surrounded her and she heard a loud wailing groan, then a horrible sizzling sound, followed by the acrid smell of burning flesh.

Oh, God, what the hell was going on?

“You can open your eyes now, Gina.”

Almost afraid to look but too curious not to, she removed her hands and stood, peering around Derek’s shoulder.

There, in front of him, where the blue-eyed man had once stood, was a melted pile of flesh and bone.

She moved to Derek’s side and saw a white trail of smoke coming from that strange-looking weapon in Derek’s arms.

Holy hell, Derek had incinerated him!

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