“Would have been worth trying.”
“No point talking about it now,” said Richard. “It’s done.”
Feeling a little better, Damien managed to climb up onto his feet. He stumbled forwards but caught himself on the kitchen counter. He held himself there as he addressed the rest of the group.
“These people deserve to pay,” he told them. “Whatever any of us has done in the past, nobody has the right to judge us outside of the law. Whoever is running this show is obviously getting rich by hosting some sort of revenge-a-thon. While you might not admit it, I’m sure some of you can probably work out who has placed you here?”
Everyone averted their eyes and shifted nervously on the spot.
Damien nodded. “Right, well, whether we admit to it or not, there is still a murderer, a predator, a peddler, a crusader, a whore, a traitor, an abuser, and a cheat here. We have all been bought and paid for. Do you really think they’re going to let the winner go? What about the person that paid to see their death? Do they get a refund?”
“Who cares?” Richard said, bashing his hand down on the counter and wincing as he realised it was his burnt one. “We can’t do anything. We try to take a shit without their approval and they can kill us dead. These bleedin’ bracelets…”
Damien nodded. “I know. We are in a bad situation. All I am asking you to do is to seize an opportunity if one presents itself. If you get a chance to fight back, take it. That’s what I did. At least now I can die knowing that I kicked that pussy’s ass. Even more satisfying is that he knows I kicked his ass, too. Even if only for a few minutes, I took back the power they had over me.”
Danni blew air into her cheeks and then let out a chuckle. “Alright, Damien. If I have a chance to scratch their eyes out, I promise I’ll take it.”
“Me too,” said Tracey.
“And me,” said Jules in a quiet whimper.
“Don’t have to tell me,” said Jade. “I would have done that anyway. These wankers have it coming to them.”
Catherine and Patrick didn’t speak, they both just nodded.
Richard stared at Damien for a long time. It started to become uncomfortable but then he finally decided to speak. “For once I agree with you. I got a lot of respect for what you just did. Pity you didn’t kill the bastard.”
Damien huffed. “Believe me, I was only seconds away.”
“HOUSEMATE DAMIEN, YOU HAVE COMMITED A GROSS VIOLATION OF THE COMPETITION RULES. YOU TRIED TO ESCAPE. THIS CONSTITUTES A FAILURE TO PARTICIPATE.”
Damien leant back against the kitchen counter and ran a hand through his short hair. “Then kill me then. I’m done with this.”
“ALL HOUSEMATES WILL BE PUNISHED. YOU HAVE EXACTLY THREE MINUTES UNTIL YOUR BRACELETS RELEASE A LETHAL DOSE OF TOXIN. YOU WILL ALL DIE.”
“Goddamnit!” Richard yanked at his left bracelet, but of course it was useless. He glared at Damien. “Good job fixing it, hero. Now we’re all going to die.”
“Why would they do this?” asked Danni. “Their whole plan is ruined if they kill us all.”
“This can’t be happening,” said Damien. The burden of putting his peers in jeopardy was already crushing him. “It doesn’t make sense. I broke the rules, not any of you.”
“Maybe your escape attempt screwed everything up,” said Jade. “Maybe they can’t continue with the game now that you found a way out.”
Everybody fumbled with their bracelets, the conversation now over as desperation set in and doom approached. They all knew trying to get the shackles off would be futile, but the alternative was to stand there and accept death.
“HOUSEMATES, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES UNTIL YOU DIE. IF YOU WISH TO LIVE, YOU MUST CHOOSE A SINGLE HOUSEMATE TO SACRIFICE THEIR LIVES TO SAVE THE REST OF YOU. EITHER ONE OF YOU DIES VOLUNTARILY WITHIN THE NEXT TWO MINUTES, OR YOU WILL ALL DIE.”
Jules shook her head. “What? They want us to kill someone?”
Damien sighed. His empty stomach grumbled. “This is my true punishment for breaking the rules. Best way to break someone’s will is to make them watch while their actions hurt those close to him. Well, I don’t expect any of you to pay for my decisions. I should be the one to die.”
“No way,” said Danni. “You said we were going to stand up to them.”
Damien headed over to the kitchen’s cutlery drawer. He looked each of them in the eye. “And I hope that you do stand up to them. I already have. I can die with my self-respect intact.”
“HOUSEMATES, YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE.”
“What do we do?” Tracey asked.
“Nothing,” said Damien. “Let me handle this.” He rooted around in the drawer and pulled out a serrated bread knife. It wasn’t very sharp but he thought it would do the job if he sawed hard enough on his wrist.
“You can’t do this,” said Danni. “We need you.”
“There’s nothing I can do for you. I’m obviously here for a reason; because I hurt somebody. Perhaps I deserve to die.”
“HOUSEMATES, THIRTY SECONDS.”
“Don’t do it, Damien,” Danni said.
“Screw that,” said Jade. “If he doesn’t do it then we all die.”
“I can’t watch,” said Jules, turning herself away.
Damien held the knife against his wrist, just below the steel bracelet. He sucked in a mouthful of air and tried to steel himself. It was going to hurt, he knew that, but so would the toxin if it was released. He couldn’t let other people die because of him.
I’m sorry I let you down, Harry.
“TEN SECONDS, HOUSEMATES.”
Damien held the knife tightly and clamped down on his lower lip with his teeth.
Sod it! Let’s get this over with.
There was a loud cracking noise.
Damien looked up just as Catherine slumped to the floor like a ragdoll. Her head was twisted around at an unhealthy angle and her body was totally limp.
Damien’s mouth dropped open. “Wha…?”
Richard stared down at the dead old lady at his feet and snorted through his nose like a bull.
“What did you do?” Damien demanded.
“What had to be done. I’d rather have a young guy with some balls on my side than an old dear with rust on her pussy. It was nothing personal. Someone had to die and I chose the weak link. You’re welcome.”
“You broke her neck,” said Jules, looking like she might faint. “How did you even know how to do that?”
Richard smirked like a lizard. “Two places you can learn to do that, sweetheart – prison and the army – and I’ve spent time in both.”
“HOUSEMATES, THE COMPETITION WILL CONTINUE. THERE WILL BE NO TASKS TOMORROW.”
Damien placed the knife carefully down on the counter. “You shouldn’t have done that, Richard. I was willing to die.”
“Tough luck. Guess I thought that if anybody is going to risk their neck getting us out of here, it’s you. Can’t do that if you’re dead.”
“Still, you had no right.”
Richard obviously didn’t want to discuss it any longer because he walked away. Damien glanced down at Catherine’s body and felt genuine sadness for the old lady. His reckless actions had gotten her killed and she had seemed like such a nice old lady.
Five minutes later, Damien’s opinion of Catherine changed.
5
The video on the viewing screen was from a hidden camera inside an old person’s bedroom. The elderly gentleman was frail and wispy beneath the rumpled sheets of his bed.
A nurse entered the room. The woman was obviously a slightly younger Catherine. She was wheeling a service tray in front of her and picked up a bowl from its surface.
Then she went over to the old man and held the bowl beneath his wrinkled chin. With a spoon she scooped out some of the contents and held it to his lips.
The old man turned his head. He did not want any.
Catherine’s body stiffened and she took another scoop from the bowl. Then she rammed it into the old man’s mouth
, almost choking him. He thrashed and struggled on the bed, but was too frail to resist as Catherine forced several more scoops into his mouth.
Once she was satisfied, Catherine tipped the bowl into the old man’s lap and walked away. The video had no sound, but it was obvious that the man was crying out in agony as the scolding hot broth saturated his bed sheets.
Catherine left the room with her trolley. She seemed to be smiling.
The video ended. The word ABUSER appeared beneath Catherine’s picture.
Day 5
Even though everybody was safe for at least a day, the tension had not gone away. The group was now down to just six – exactly half of the group they started with. The missing housemate’s absence weighed heavily on those remaining. Jules had taken to crying frequently while Richard had started pacing the perimeter of the courtyard over and over.
Damien had dragged Catherine’s body into the bedroom across the courtyard. He placed her on top of one of the scummy mattresses and left her alone, just like she had left the old man in the video. Her death may have been partly Damien’s fault, but he didn’t care. Catherine had been an evil person.
And so was everybody else that’s died in here.
Does that mean that the remaining housemates are evil, too?
Am I evil?
Murderer, whore, peddler, crusader, predator, and cheat.
Which one am I? And which ones are they?
I don’t know if I can trust any of them.
Damien headed back into the living area and joined the other housemates. They had all worked together on making a stew and it was now ready. The smell of boiling beef and vegetables was mouth-watering. With all that had happened, Damien had not eaten half as much as he usually would have.
“Grub’s up,” said Richard, offering him a bowl.
Damien took it and went and ladled himself a portion. It was bland and rubbery. It needed salt and better meat. Still, it filled the void in his stomach and instantly made him feel stronger. He could almost feel the nutrients floating through his bloodstream.
“How you holding up?” Danni asked him.
“Better now that I’ve eaten.”
“And at least we have the day off.”
Damien frowned. “I wouldn’t call it that. A reprieve maybe, but not a ‘day off’.”
“I’m just glad we don’t have to watch anybody else die today.”
Damien was curious about something, so he asked a question. “Which label on the television screen belongs to you?”
Danni was about to spoon in a mouthful of stew, but she lowered her hand back to the bowl and glanced at him. “Kind of personal.”
Damien shrugged. “What’s anybody got to be shy about? It seems like our darkest secrets will all be revealed eventually whether we like it or not. I’d just like to know you now while you’re alive, instead of after you’re dead.”
“You think I’m going to die?”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t mean that. I just mean that it might be better if we confess our sins rather than have them exposed by a maniac.”
Danni seemed to think about it for a moment; then she nodded her head slowly. “You’re right. I’m pretty sure that I’m the whore.”
Damien raised an eyebrow. “Wow! I didn’t expect that. You don’t seem like the, ahem, whore type.”
Danni smiled and Damien saw for the first time that she had a gap between her two upper teeth. It made her look cute and childlike. “Thank you,” she said, seeming to blush. “I’m not the person I used to be – just like you said that you’re not. I was married once, but it was never a good fit for me. I played around all the time. I just couldn’t get enough. I don’t know what it was, insecurity, immaturity. I guess both. Anyway, my husband knew that I was always sleeping around with other guys, but he pretended otherwise. I knew how much he loved me and I think he was just trying to find the best way to cope with it. I suppose he was insecure as well, otherwise he would have divorced me. Eventually I went too far.”
Damien licked his lips and swallowed. “How?”
“I slept with his brother.”
“Yikes! That’s pretty cold.”
A tear formed in Danni’s eye and she nodded solemnly. “I know. But that’s not the worst part. Sleeping with my husband’s brother was the straw that broke the camel’s back. My husband hung himself the day after he found out.”
Damien shook his head and stared into her eyes. He imagined her husband swinging by his neck, alone when he spent his final moments. It was a tragic way to go. Danni seemed truly remorseful but, damn, if it wasn’t a terrible thing she had done. Although Damien hated the existence of such a misogynistic word, whore was a pretty accurate way to describe her actions.
“Anyway,” Danni said, wiping the tears from her eyes before they had chance to fall. “I did a lot of thinking after that; re-evaluated my life. Indirectly or not, I killed my husband – a kind and caring man. I carry the guilt with me always, but I try to harness it to make better decisions. My husband died three years ago. I haven’t slept with a man since.”
Damien let out a deep breath as he digested what he had just been told. As much as he condemned Danni’s actions, he was in no place to judge. The man he had once been was no better than the woman she once was.
“I was a drug dealer,” he admitted. “And a bully.”
Danni’s eyes went wide. “Really? You? But you don’t even drink.”
He laughed, but it was more from embarrassment. “When I threatened Richard last night, that was the real me; the me that I’ve been trying to run away from for the last few years.
“I don’t believe it.”
Damien shrugged. “Well, whether or not you believe it, I did some pretty horrible things. The fact that I’ve kept my nose clean for the last couple years doesn’t erase all of that.”
“No, but it’s a start.”
“Obviously not enough of one, or I wouldn’t be here.”
Danni reached out and placed a hand on her knee. “It’s not your fault that you’re here. You don’t deserve this.”
He smiled at her. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I think you should forgive yourself for your husband’s death. Suicide was his choice. He could have just divorced you. Doing what he did was probably just his revenge. You should let it go.”
She seemed like she might start sobbing at any moment, but somehow managed to smile back at him. “Thank you, Damien.”
“You’re welcome. Now come on, I fancy a drink.”
“But I thought you didn’t touch alcohol.”
“I don’t, but if I’m going to die, what the hell!”
He checked in the fridge and grabbed a beer. Danni asked for wine but there were no bottles left, so he headed over to the pantry. For a moment he worried that entering would seem like another attempt to escape, but when he tried the handle, it was locked. He banged the door with his fist and it held firm.
“They’ve cut us off,” he said.
“That sucks,” said Danni. “I wouldn’t let Jade know or she’ll kick off.”
“And then she’ll blame me,” said Damien.
“No, I won’t.” Jade had heard his comment and was frowning at him from the sofa. “What would be the point in blaming you? They did this to us, not you. Still sucks, though. I could really do with a goddamn drink. I’m starting to stress about tomorrow when we have to start with their games all over again.”
Damien took a swig of the beer and gasped at the harsh yet satisfying taste. “There’s still plenty of beers left,” he said. “We’re not doomed just yet.”
“HOUSEMATES, PLEASE ASSEMBLE IN THE LIVING AREA.”
Jules leapt up from the sofa. “What? We’re supposed to be safe tonight. They said no tasks.”
“You goddamn LIARS,” Jade shouted at the ceiling. “LIARS!”
Damien reached out to her. “Calm down, Jade. There’s no point getting wound up.”
Jade shoved him away. “Fuck you, Damie
n. Who do you think you are? Trying to tell everybody what to do like the Dalai Lama or something?”
Damien frowned at her. “What?”
“Just get the hell away from me.” She stomped off towards the sofa.
Danni leant in and whispered. “She can flip like a switch, can’t she?”
Damien decided not to take offence and went and sat on the sofa. He began to wonder what The Landlord had in store for them this time. He had said there would be no tasks, so what was going on?
“HOUSEMATES, TONIGHT THERE WILL BE A VOTE.”
“What the hell?” said Jules. “No way.”
“BUT THIS VOTE IS NOT FOR A TASK. TONIGHT THE HOUSEMATE WITH THE MOST VOTES WILL HAVE THEIR SINS REVEALED. YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO MAKE YOUR CHOICE.”
“What does he mean by that?” asked Danni.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Richard remarked snarkily. “Someone is going to get their video shown. Seeing as how you all have it in for me, I guess it’s going to be mine.”
“Not necessarily,” said Damien. “We already know that you’re an arsehole, so what would we have to gain from seeing your past transgressions?”
“Good point,” said Danni. “Then who?”
“Maybe we shouldn’t vote,” said Patrick. The older man suddenly looked very nervous. “We can refuse.”
Damien shook his head. “They’ll just use the toxin on us, and believe me, you don’t wanna feel that.”
“Then what then?” Danni asked.
“How about spin the bottle?” Jules suggested. She was staring at one of the empty wine bottles on the table.
Everyone looked at one another and then Danni shrugged her shoulders. “Sounds good to me.”
“Okay,” said Damien. “Let’s do it.”
Everybody gathered in a circle around the table and then got down on their knees. Jade swiped an arm across the table to clear it of all debris. Then Jules placed the wine bottle in the centre of the table.
“Everybody ready?” she asked.
There were nervous nods all around. It seemed like nobody was happy about the prospect of having their ‘sins’ exposed, but they also all understood that there was no point fighting it.
The Housemates: A Novel of Extreme Terror Page 10