Page 119 of Lucky 14

The dog turns to look at me, and I realize that I’m safe with him. Nothing can hurt me here.

On night seven, I realize I’m wrong. Because I’m still in the real world, no matter how hard I try to escape it.

Huxley barks, and I whirl to see my brother walking up. He’s twitching like Dad does. Huxley lunges for him, and my brother stays back, grinning. He throws something my way.

“Dad says you have to prove yourself. Tonight.”

I stare at the thing in the dirt. It’s a big knife. Immediately, I don’t want to.

“You’ll be there, or Fido’s gonna go.” He makes a motion like he’s cutting his throat, then he’s gone.

As soon as Weston’s gone, I cry. I cry because I’m scared, and I’ll never not be afraid of monsters. I want Superman to come and help me. To blast his way through them with his super-strong arms. I want The Joker to come too. The Joker isn’t scared of anything. He’s funny and strong. The Joker is never scared. He’s always happy.

I want to always be happy.

But I know if I don’t go, Weston will hurt this dog. I know for sure ‘cause he saw me petting it.

I go, and the whole time, I think about how Huxley might be the real Krypto.

Dad hurts me more than when he hurt my arm. It feels like my whole body is on fire. But I fight back because Superman would. And when I cut him, I laugh like The Joker.

Because if monsters are real, superheroes have to be too.

As I’m lying in a puddle of something wet and sticky, I think about how one of these days I’m going to make my own game. I’ll get Superman and The Joker to help. In my game, I’ll kill anyone who ever hurt me. Maybe I’ll let other people play too. They can also kill people who hurt them.

But it’ll be my game. My rules.

And in my game, I’ll win every time.

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Day 9

The man in the chair raises his head, blinking at me. He glances down at his bound hands, then up at Holli. He looks down the hall and back to me, slowly settling back, looking confused, like he just woke up from a dream.

“Well…this is kinky.” He shifts, and an unaffected air settles over him. He turns and gives me a smirk. The same kind of smirk Kyan gave me when he first met me in that hallway. “You gonna turn that off or…?”

I recognize Kyan. Or at least, I think I do. He’s clearly different from whoever was in the chair before.

“What does it mean?” Holli asks as the alarm blares.

Kyan leans back in the chair, looking around the room in a quick survey. “Could mean a bunch of things.”

The blaring urgency makes me want to look over my shoulder, but Ky acts like there’s nothing wrong. I can tell he’s acting, though, by the tense set of his shoulders and legs.

“Let him go,” I say.

Holli flashes me a look that I can’t decipher completely, but I do see annoyance there. Why is she annoyed with me? She’s the one saying Kyan should be in the dark about what’s happening. When clearly, things would be better if the personalities could…I don’t know. Work together? Something has to be better than waking up in the middle of something you don’t remember. Right?

Ky sends me a charming look, but underneath it, I think I see a hint of stress. “As much as I’d like to see where this goes, I need a drink. And to make sure I don’t have to keep any players in line.”

Holli doesn’t look like she wants to, but reluctantly, she cuts him free. She keeps her back away from him, where I know she stuck the gun.

The gun.

A mixture of emotions overwhelms me as I follow Kyan back to an office. Fear, arousal, and…anger. What are we doing here?

Kyan goes to a computer set up with a bunch of screens, tapping on the keyboard. I feel Holli walk up behind us.