Ruined by Shadows

by Lola StVil

  Atlas and the others look at each other, and I can see the news cheered them up a little. They’re conveniently ignoring the part about the dire consequences and focusing only on the part where they might complete the tasks and get what they want. I didn’t ask for dire consequences for the team. Hopefully, though, it will make them think twice.

  The loud voice goes on.

  “Do you wish to continue?”

  “Yes,” Atlas says without hesitation.

  Of course it doesn’t stop her. Fuck. What will the consequences be? What gives the Brotherhood the right to impose conditions like that? And are those conditions Atlas’s alone? Because she touched the force field. If I hadn’t told them everything, they wouldn’t have even thought to keep me out of the team’s reach, and now they’re improvising?

  “Very well,” the voice says. “The first task will be a test of your intelligence. Three people will compete against me. The second task will be a test of bravery, taken by one person, and finally, the third task will be a test of loyalty and will again be for one person. Nominate your players.”

  “Atlas, you should take loyalty,” Langston says immediately. “If you have to prove your loyalty to Kane, that will be an easy one for you.”

  Atlas nods.

  “I’ll take bravery,” Saudia says. “Not because I’m particularly brave but because I already faced my worst fear when I lost Tracey, and nothing can even compare to that.”

  “Right. So who’s the most clever out of the rest of you?” Atlas asks.

  “I don’t think it matters, Atlas. Whatever the tests are they’re going to involve trickery anyway,” Regal says. “It should be me, Perry, and Langston. It has to be a team thing.”

  Carla frowns, and Regal is quick to explain.

  “I’m not saying it’s not great to have you and Rachel here—you’ve both helped us so much. Hell, Atlas would be dead if it wasn’t for Rachel, but this could be a trick. It could have to be the team, or the results won’t count.”

  I don’t hear Carla’s reply because I’m too busy trying to process what Regal said about Atlas almost dying. At that moment, I know I’ve made the wrong choice coming here. I need to be beside Atlas, keeping her safe. But is she really safe with me? No, she isn’t. So, I’ve made the right choice. Or I think I have.

  This whole thing is a total mind fuck. I don’t even know which way is up anymore. I no longer have any idea whether I’m rooting for the team to win or to lose. I don’t want them to be hurt, but I don’t want to have to face them and have the worst conversation of my life with Atlas.

  Atlas steps forward. She looks around uncertainly as if she isn’t sure where to direct her responses.

  “We’ve made our nominations,” she says. “Perry, Regal, and Langston will take the first task, Saudia will take the second task, and I’ll take the third task.”

  “Task one will be a series of three riddles. Each must be solved by one nominee. No one else may give them clues to the answers. If that happens, or if the wrong person answers, the tasks are void, and you will have lost your chance.”

  The voice doesn’t wait for them to confirm this. It was confirmed that they would be expected to follow the rules the moment they agreed to play the game.

  “Perry, you shall go first. You will have two minutes to solve the riddle. Your riddle is this: What begins in a T, ends in a T, and has T in it? Your time starts now.”

  “A teapot,” Perry says without hesitation. “That’s my final answer.”

  “Are you sure?” the voice booms back.

  “Certain,” Perry says. “Let’s just say I have riddles down to a tee.”

  I can’t help but roll my eyes. I was quite impressed with how quickly Perry solved the riddle. I actually thought for a moment he was cleverer than I’d ever given him credit for. And then came the awful pun and now I remember why I judge him as intellectually lacking.

  “Correct,” the voice says. “Regal, you shall be next. The same rules apply. Your riddle is this: I don’t have eyes, but once I did see. I once had thoughts, but now I’m white and empty. What am I? Your time starts now.”

  “What can see without eyes?” Regal says. “A potato? And they’re white. But no, they’re not empty. And they do have eyes but can’t see, not the other way around. Thoughts? What could that mean? Ummm. A journal. They get people’s thoughts, or they could be empty. And they don’t have eyes, but they see people’s truths. No, that’s can’t be it.”

  The voice adds, “One minute and eight seconds to go.”

  Regal whispers the riddle again under his breath. The team is starting to sweat, fidgeting and willing him to get it right. Perry clearly knows the answer, and it must be killing him not to speak up.

  “It could be a skull. It used to have thoughts, but now it’s empty because the brain is gone. And it can’t see anymore because the eyes are gone. What was the other part? Oh, yeah, it’s white. It’s a skull.”

  “Is that your final answer?” the voice asks.

  “Yes.”

  “You are correct. Langston, the rules are the same once more. Here is your riddle: If you tell me the truth, I will kill you with my sword; if you tell me a lie, I will kill you with a spell. What must you say to survive? Your time starts now.”

  Langston’s eyes widen in horror.

  “I don’t know. I don’t understand the question,” she babbles.

  I can’t say I’m surprised. She’s not a demon, so she’s never played with words with the intention of tricking a person. It’s really quite simple for someone who has. The trick is to create a paradox, a phrase that will cause an endless loop.

  “Please don’t kill me?” Langston blurts out in desperation.

  “Are you sure?”

  “No,” she shouts.

  “You have one minute and forty-three seconds remaining.”

  The sentence she has to say is you will kill me with a spell. If he killed her with a spell, that would make her statement true, which would mean he had to kill her with his sword. If he killed her with his sword, it would make her sentence a lie, which would mean he had to kill her with a spell. It would leave him caught in a loop of contradiction and solve the riddle.

  Come on, Langston; think logically, I will her. Then I remind myself I don’t want to be free. But whatever the consequences are if she gets it wrong, I wouldn’t wish them on the team, so I guess, for now, I do want them to pass the tests.

  “Can you repeat the question?” Langston says.

  She sounds calmer now.

  “If you tell me the truth, I will kill you with my sword; if you tell me a lie, I will kill you with a spell. What must you say to survive?”

  “So if I tell the truth, I die. If I lie, I still die. I need a half-truth or something?”

  The panicked look is starting to come back over her. Perry goes to her and takes her hand.

  “Calm down, Langston; just think logically,” he says.

  I can see him willing her to get it right, but he knows if he helps her with the answer, it’s game over.

  “I’m not the right person for this,” Langston says. “I’m too stupid.”

  “Fifteen seconds remaining,” the voice says.

  “No, you’re not. You’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. Now stop panicking and think. Imagine it’s real. If you don’t get yourself out of this, you die. What would you say?”

  She’s suddenly excited.

  “I’d tell him to kill me with a spell. If he did, it would make it true, and then he’d have to use the sword, but he can’t because then I’d be telling the truth.”

  She’s babbling away, and it’s obvious none of the team is following her train of logic. Even Perry, the supposed king of riddles, doesn’t look convinced.

  “You have five seconds,” the voice says.

  “You will kill me with a spell,” Langston says.

  “Are you sure?” the voice asks.

  She looks at Perry, the uncertai
nty written all over her.

  “I believe in you, Langston,” he says.

  “Yes. It’s my final answer,” she says.

  “You have passed the first task,” the voice booms.

  Langston whoops and pumps her fist in the air. Atlas pats her on the back.

  “You believed in me,” she says to Perry, sounding surprised.

  “Of course I did. Langston, you’ve never needed any help from anyone. You doubt yourself sometimes, but you always come through.”

  Langston looks down at the ground.

  “That’s why you saved Carla over me when we battled the Erinyes, isn’t it?” she says.

  What the fuck? I’ve been gone longer than a couple of hours then. I seem to have missed so much. And it sounds like they’ve got the Pearl potion.

  “Because I told you I don’t need anyone fighting my battles for me,” she says.

  “Yeah. I figured I’d be in more trouble with you if I played the knight in shining armor.”

  She barks out a laugh. “Yeah. You would have been. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner.”

  He shrugs.

  “I’m just sorry I listened to you. So I’ll tell you now. You might not need my help, but if anything like that ever happens again, you’re damn well going to get it, so you better get used to the idea right now.”

  Langston’s eyes shine.

  “I could perhaps get used to it in extreme circumstances,” she says quietly.

  The voice booms out again, cutting their moment short.

  “The second test will be a test of bravery. Saudia, you will face your greatest fear.”

  Saudia steps forward. For a moment, nothing happens, and it wouldn’t actually be the strangest thing in the world if Saudia’s greatest fear was inaction. After a couple of seconds of Saudia looking around, trying to work out what the hell is going on, another voice rings out loud and clear.

  “What are you doing? Where are you taking me? Stop.”

  I recognize the voice as soon as I see Saudia’s face pale. The voice belongs to Tracey. As I watch, willing Saudia to ignore the pain and confusion in the voice, Tracey materializes in front of Saudia.

  “Saudia? Oh my God. You came. I knew you would.”

  “Tracey,” Saudia says, stepping forward.

  She reaches out a hand and touches Tracey’s face. Tracey presses her cheek against Saudia’s hand.

  “They’ve been torturing me. Every day and every night since you killed me. They sent me here, and it’s been awful, Saudia, like you can’t even imagine. Every day I remember what I did to you, to all of you, and I hate myself for it. I never really thought you would forgive me, but you did. And you came for me like I always knew you would. I love you so much, Saudia. Please help me.”

  I want to scream to Saudia that the thing in front of her isn’t Tracey. The dead don’t come here. Only those who may as well be dead. It’s a trick. I’ve lost count of the number of times they’ve paraded Atlas in front of me, only for her to morph into some weird, twisted creature right in front of my face.

  “All you have to do is unchain me, Saudia,” Tracey says.

  She lifts her arms slightly and shows Saudia that she’s chained to the ground.

  “The key is in my pocket. That’s one of the ways they torture me, leaving my escape key so close to me, but never in reach.”

  Saudia shakes her head.

  “I’m sorry, Tracey. I can’t.”

  Tracey’s eyes fill with tears.

  “Please, Saudia. You have every right to hate me, and you were right to kill me for what I did. But wasn’t that punishment enough? Please don’t leave me here. Please. I’m begging you.”

  Saudia shakes her head. Suddenly the indecision is gone from her face.

  “I can’t help you. And even if I could, there would be no point. You’re not even the real Tracey.”

  “Well spotted, Saudia,” the voice booms out as the vision of Tracey fades away. “That was, let’s say, a visual representation of Tracey to prepare you for the real thing, which you will see in just a moment. You will have to make a choice. Turn your back on Tracey once more and complete your task, or choose to save Tracey instead of Kane. If you choose Tracey, you will be immediately released from the Land of Lost Souls and no harm will come to you. You will have two minutes to make your decision.”

  The air before the team shimmers and a screen materializes in front of them. A picture begins to form, and the camera pans in. Tracey is held by chains to a wall, her arms and legs spread wide apart. Four demons, two on either side of her, are taking turns branding her with hot pokers. I can hear her flesh sizzling and the cries of sheer agony that rip from her. She is so scarred, so burnt, that she’s barely recognizable anymore.

  “You can take away her pain, Saudia. She is in Hell, as I’m sure you can tell, but say the word, and she will be freed from eternal torment. Freed from the place you sent her,” the voice says.

  Tears pour down Saudia’s face. She turns away from the screen.

  “I ch… I choose to save Kane,” she says.

  “Is that your final answer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Congratulations, Saudia. You are brave, and you have completed the second task for your team.”

  Saudia falls to her knees, her hands pressed to her temples. She is the picture of anguish, and if I had a heart, it would be breaking for her. I know Tracey betrayed us, and she deserves everything she gets for that, but I also know that knowledge won’t help Saudia at all. It didn’t help me as I killed Talon.

  Atlas is crouching in front of Saudia. She pulls her hands away from her head and grips them tightly.

  “Saudia, listen to me. It was a trick. Just like the fairies and just like Talon. It wasn’t real. You know it wasn’t real.”

  “On the contrary, it was very real,” the voice booms out.

  Atlas bounds back to her feet and whirls around.

  “Will you just shut the fuck up?” she rages. “You’re getting what you want. Isn’t that enough for you without tormenting her like this?”

  I rub my hand over my mouth to hide my smile. The Brotherhood has no idea what they’ve taken on in Atlas, especially now they’ve chosen to hurt someone she loves.

  “I’m just following the rules of the tasks. Are you ready for yours, Atlas?”

  Atlas squares her shoulders up and nods.

  “I’m ready,” she confirms.

  “Your task is a test of loyalty as I said at the beginning. You must prove that you will do anything for Kane by following one simple order.”

  Atlas turns her head and looks at me. I can’t force myself to look away when I see the love shining in her eyes. How does she still love me? It has to be another trick, but this one feels different. With the other versions of Atlas, I always knew something was off about her. There was always something that wasn’t quite right, but I ignored it because I so badly wanted to see her. This time, it’s her, I know it.

  “Name it,” she says.

  Something silver and shiny appears in her hand. I can’t see what it is, but judging by Atlas’s horrified look, it’s not something pretty for her to wear.

  “Don’t keep it to yourself, Atlas. Show the others,” the voice says.

  She lifts the object up higher so that we can all see it. It’s a fucking straight razor. He’s going to make her kill someone. For me. Even from here, I’ve managed it. I’ve darkened her, forcing her to choose between killing someone she loves or bringing down dire consequences on the whole team.

  The others all look sick as they take in the razor. They know it will be one of them she has to kill. And they know she’ll do it.

  “To prove your loyalty to Kane and free him from his cage, you must slit your own throat, Atlas. Offer up your life for his.”

  She swallows so hard I hear it. And then she begins to slowly bring her hand to her throat. The team watches in horrified silence as do I. The razor reaches her throat, and I find my voice.
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  “Atlas, no, don’t do this,” I shout.

  My cry breaks the team out of their stupors, and all of us are screaming at Atlas, trying to stop her, but she doesn’t stop.

  She brings the razor to her throat and digs it in, bringing a bubble of blood to the surface. Tears stream down her face, but she begins to move the razor across her throat in a slicing motion.

  I’m still screaming at Atlas to stop, but she either isn’t hearing me, or if she is, she isn’t listening to what I’m saying because the razor is still cutting her. It’s going in deep, and it’s a quarter of the way across her throat. Blood bubbles are beginning to form on the angry red line as blood cascades down her front, the only color in this drab gray land.

  She is gargling, bubbles of red-tinged spit forming on her lips and her hand is starting to shake, but she’s not quitting. I can see the force field around me starting to flicker. She’s breaking it by spilling her blood for me. She’s going to die thinking she’s saving me when really, I asked for this. If I wasn’t already beyond saving, which let’s be honest, I was, then I sure as hell am now.

  I feel as though my own life force is draining away with hers. With each drop of blood spilled, I spill a drop of my own.

  Suddenly, everything stops. It’s as though I am watching a movie and someone has hit the pause button. I look around me, with no idea what’s going on. None of the team moves, not even to blink. Atlas is frozen in time with the razor pressed to her throat, bleeding blood that no longer flows or drips. Then the booming voice sounds.

  “Kane, your friends have passed my tests. Now it is your turn to make a choice. As you can see, your force field is weakening. You can prove your love for Atlas, break through the force field, and save her life, knowing she will never love you again, leading to a life of torment for you that’s far worse than anything you’ve endured here. The torment of knowing you have condemned yourself to save the love of your life, all the while knowing she didn’t want you anymore.