Page 38 of The Player
“And yourself?”
“I can’t make any promises there.”
“I can’t do this without you, Will. If anything happens to you, I won’t survive this.”
I didn’t know what to say back to her, I had no words. So I kissed her forehead and stepped forward, taking her with me as I walked out of the room.
It felt like we were walking to the gallows as we went down that corridor, our joined hands growing slick with sweat, our breaths becoming more laboured. My heart and hers beating a rhythm that was drumming faster the closer we got to the door that’d lead us to our next task.
When we got there, we both stopped, standing in the doorway, gawping at the horrific sight laid out for us.
This time, we found ourselves in the actual task room, not an anteroom. In the middle of the room was a naked man strapped to a wooden cross. His arms were outstretched, his legs strapped in place, and around his neck was a rope that was attached to the ceiling above, pulled tight but not tight enough to fully choke him. He was conscious, his eyes rabid with terror, bulging in fear as we took another step into the room. His mouth was taped shut, but he still gave a muffled cry as he glared at us, his eyes begging us to help him.
Behind him was the timer we’d had in the first challenge, with five minutes set on it, ready to count down. I glanced to the side, seeing a table set up against the wall, scattered with weird stuff like a candle, paper, a crayon, an old radio, a compass, and other things, all of it totally random and probably pointless to complete the task. The Taskmaster did love fucking with us, after all.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as his voice filled the room, and we both stood frozen to the spot, waiting to hear our fate.
“Welcome to your second game. May I introduce you to Fraser, or as I like to call him, the hangman.”
I stared at Fraser, bile rising in my throat, but not a shred of pity.
It was him or us.
“Don’t feel sorry for him,” the Taskmaster said, infiltrating my thoughts.
I didn’t feel anything for him.
“Fraser here has a very specific kink. He likes to choke people, but he doesn’t always stop when he should, do you, Fraser? Tonight, he’s going to find out what goes around comes around. He’s going to get a taste of his own medicine. He’s going to know what it feels like to go too far. Unless you fail, that is.”
“We won’t fail,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“Good. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
The room fell quiet, a silence that was soon broken by Fraser’s stifled moans and muffled begs.
“Listen carefully to the rules and you will survive. Fail, and you will all die in this room tonight. Fraser has been mounted onto one of my favourite devices, a rack made just for him. As each minute ticks by, the rope around his neck will tighten. The wood where his arms and legs are attached will expand, and if he’s lucky, you’ll complete the task before his limbs pop out or rip free of his body completely. I’d like you to look above you,” the Taskmaster instructed, and peering up, we saw containers filled with liquid.
“If you fail to complete the task in the five minutes that I’m so generously giving you, the acid in those containers will be released. It’ll burn the flesh from your bones in seconds. Not the best way to go, so I suggest you work fast, work smart, and work together. There are things in this room that’ll help you succeed in your task, but all items must remain in this room. If you try to take anything out of here or use it for anything other than to complete this task, you will be punished, severely. You have been warned.”
“And the task is?” I asked, growing irritated, staring up at the acid and trying not to let the thought of what that could do to her affect my ability to think straight.
“He’s the hangman. You’re going to play a game of hangman.”
A screen above the table flickered to life, showing a hangman puzzle and a touchscreen keyboard underneath. There were seven words, so it was clearly a saying.
“Looks pretty simple, yes?” he asked, then sneered, “Unfortunately for you, it’s not. You’re only allowed to guess with the letters you find in the room. If you guess a letter that isn’t in this room, you will fail, and the acid will be dispensed. You have five minutes to find those letters and complete the saying on the screen. Good luck.” There was a pause, and then he asked, “Are you ready to play my game?” And suddenly, the whole room was plunged into darkness.
“What the fuck?” I shouted, seeing the red numbers on the wall behind the hangman begin to count down, showing the task had started, but I couldn’t see a fucking thing in the room.
“The table,” Bee cried, grabbing for me in the dark and pulling me towards her. “There’s gotta be something on here that’ll help us.”
We both felt our way over the objects on there, slowly, so as not to knock anything off. I twisted the knobs on the radio, but nothing happened. I squinted in the dark, begging my eyes to adjust so I could see if the letters were written on the objects, but I couldn’t see anything. And then I heard Bee gasp as she clicked the button of something she was holding.
“I’ve got it,” she said as a blue light shone from the torch she was holding.
I grabbed her arm, shining the light over the candle to see if there was a letter, but there was nothing. The paper, nothing. The radio… again, nothing.
“Why aren’t there any fucking letters?” she cried in exasperation.
