"And just like that, he talked. He talked like a show host on his late-night talk show. Whether I wanted to hear him or not, he just would not shut up..."
Katie said to Caitlin as she walked into the room. She was still in the short-sleeved t-shirt and short jeans, but there were spots of blood on both. Considering what just happened, Katie was rather surprised it was just a few spots.
The two girls were still in Arnold's safe house in rural Maryland.
After she killed the two sentries posted here and claimed this safe house as her own, Katie hasn't really been back here too often. It was a little far, being over three hours of drive away from Katie's own house. Nonetheless, it acted as a secured position and the storage of Arnold's entire arsenal, including over two hundred automatic rifles, countless grenades, and an anti-material rifle. Oh, and also a million dollars in cash.
Katie took Caitlin here on Sunday morning before she went on the assassination task. During the time she was away, Caitlin has been working to examine the weapons inside the house and see if they could be used to effectively take out Mr. Isaac.
Katie ended up finding Caitlin in the weapons storage room.
"Glad to know you've had fun, Katie." The blonde said without looking up. A few hours in, she was still going through the weapons on the wall and the shelves. Arnold was one of the most powerful individuals in his field in the region. His customers were in the dozens, if not hundreds. He even had connections with many weapons manufacturing companies. After all, not every arms dealer had enough assault rifles to arm a small army. His fall to Katie was rather anti-climatic for a man of his influence.
Unfortunately, even a small army armed with all the weapons in this storage house couldn't beat Mr. Isaac. Katie doubted that even if every classmate was armed with an AK47, they couldn't even get close to getting rid of Mr. Isaac. At least not if he could see them coming.
But what if...her eyes landed on the anti-material rifle. The rifle was powerful enough to blast a hole through bunkers and tanks alike. She doubted Mr. Isaac could survive an attack like that unprepared. Even better, could he sense a sniper kilometers away?
He would be hit, and he would be hit unprepared.
"So, you came up with anything?" Katie asked as she wrapped her arms around Caitlin's belly. An action she has been doing a lot for the past few days.
"Yeah." Caitlin returned with a gentle nod. She snuggled against Katie's embrace, rejoicing in the warmth and comfort of her girlfriend. She gestured at the anti-material rifle on the side. "This may be the key to taking Mr. Isaac out."
"Ok…so if that's the case, I'll bring this to school tomorrow and shoot him in the face and get this over with!" Katie said cheerfully, not really bothering to use her brain.
"Uh...it's not that simple." Caitlin sighed. If it was that easy, she wouldn't still be thinking her head out. "First of all, only the most experienced snipers can use this rifle. The entire point is to catch him by surprise. If you're walking up to him and using it as a giant handgun, well…and we only have one shot at this. One shot, and if it misses, he'll be ready."
She turned and glanced at Katie.
"Not doubting you, Katie, but you're not really the best sniper."
Katie agreed. Shooting someone in the head was all nice and chill, but if she could choose, she would rather enjoy stabbing people in close proximity and watching the life drain from their eyes. Plus, she had no training with sniper rifles whatsoever. Just the recoil could make any attempt by her to take aim meaningless.
"The other classmates probably don't have the skill set either. So...so we hire a mercenary or something." Katie shrugged. "We'll find a way. I'll call some friends and have them put out a bounty."
"I suppose…"
Katie could see Caitlin's eyebrows were still locked, so she grabbed onto her hands and led her into the kitchen. "Look, Caitlin, I respect what you're doing, but you need to give yourself a break. Have you eaten anything?"
"Yeah. I brought some food from my house."
"Ok," Katie looked out of the window. The day has already turned dark. Really dark. The clock told her the time was already 11 o'clock. This was a Sunday and they still had class tomorrow. Perhaps that was why Caitlin felt so pressured. "we should head back now."
Caitlin agreed. She wasn't afraid of dying, but she didn't want to die meaninglessly because she was late for class.
The two got in Caitlin's car. Katie occupied the driver's seat. The car quickly departed from the safehouse and started heading back to Caitlin's house in New York.
At first, Caitlin could still chat with Katie, but a few minutes in, the drowsiness finally got to her and she slowly dozed off. As she drove, Katie couldn't help but turn and look at Caitlin every few minutes. She was just glad Caitlin could get some rest she desperately needed, and certainly deserved. Even asleep, she still looked so adorable...oh how lucky she was to get a girl like this!
Turning her attention back to the road, Katie's thoughts flew back to what happened to Howard just a few hours ago. Essentially, with the help of the curse, Katie had more than enough fun with the man right there in his apartment. Without being hinged by disgusting feelings such as guilt, Katie's methods were beyond brutal. At one point, Howard was begging for her to stop just so he could stop screaming and start telling her what she wanted, but Katie just outright refused…
What do you mean you want to confess? I haven't had my fun yet! Just...just stay strong for a little longer!
Of course, that wasn't completely to satisfy her own desires. Katie also recorded the torturing process with her camera. When this was all over, she would send this footage to Ben, who would pass this on to those who hired him. It was a proof of death as well as a source of entertainment.
In the end, Katie got what she wanted. The blackmail videos were only on Howard's local drive. Yep. That was it. That was all she wanted to know from all the torture. After that, she reduced the computer to wreckages before giving what Howard has been begging for since a long, long time...the mercy of death.
On the way back to the safehouse, she sent the footage to Ben. Ben told her to collect her bounty in cash at his store in the near future. Katie could only shrug at that. Maybe she would take a trip there when she had time, but as of now, she had more important things to do than getting paid.
The car drove on, and Katie couldn't help but squeeze her legs together. Distinctly, she could still hear Howard's screams as she worked on him. His begging. His curses. Even better, she was punishing the evil! She was satisfying her urges while not having a burden in the world...oh, this was all too good!
Even better, tomorrow was a Monday, which meant...in the lonely car that was driving down the dark road, a brunette girl started laughing uncontrollably out of sheer excitement.
---
When the students arrived at Riverside High School, they were surprised, and honestly a little horrified, to see Mr. Isaac greeting them at the door. In the past, he would only enter the classrooms when everyone was in place.
Something told them the game today wouldn't be anything like those in the past.
"Wow, changing things up again? What are we doing today, Mr. Isaac? Please...I really want to know! Maybe a hint? Just a tiny hint! I won't tell anyone I swear! No? What a loser…"
Only Katie was capable of saying something like that. The other students observing the exchange found themselves smiling. Not everyone could make Mr. Isaac look like he accidentally ate a fly. But their smiles quickly disappeared when Mr. Isaac turned to them threateningly,
Katie felt like she was chasing the grim reaper. They didn't share her death wish.
As all the students were in place, Mr. Isaac finally let out some desperately needed information.
"Boys and girls...it has been two weeks into the games, and I have to admit, I am impressed..."
"Thank you!"
Caitlin lowered her head and sighed.
Mr. Isaac ignored the interruption. He no longer tried to shut Katie up. "I am impressed, which is why I am going to let you guys take a break."
Many students found their jaws drop. A...a break? Was that even possible? Why would Mr. Isaac do something like that! It had to be a trap!
"I am sending you on vacation for the week, starting from today and ending on Friday." The teacher looked across the students' faces. He could tell they were getting excited. Happy. Optimistic. Good… "I have already scheduled a stay for all of you at a luxury hotel an hour's drive from here. I paid for the entire hotel for the entire week. That's where you will be staying until Friday."
"Sir," One of the boys raised his hand. He didn't have the guts to interrupt Mr. Isaac as Katie did. The teacher nodded at him, who finally had the courage to continue. "sir, if this is a break...can we just stay home?"
Katie giggled. How naive! She wasn't nearly as smart as Caitlin or Vivian or the other students who survived with their sheer intelligence, but the boy had to be an idiot to think Mr. Isaac would let them off the hook this easily.
Just like she imagined, Mr. Isaac just stared at the boy with his cold, dead eyes. He stared and stared until the boy lowered his head and his legs and body started shaking like they were made of noodles.
The answer was obvious. This trip to the hotel might be called a vacation, but it was just another game in disguise. A game designed to break and kill the students in the most horrific way possible.
Mr. Isaac led the students around the school building to the parking lot, where a yellow school bus sat. He led the way and got into the driver's seat.
The students looked at each other. A few of them toyed with the idea of just running back home and hiding. Maybe Mr. Isaac won't notice me? Oh who am I kidding? Of course he will! And when he does, he will rip my apart bit by bit!
Katie and Caitlin didn't even think of running. They simply got onto the bus and sat down in the very first row, right behind Mr. Isaac. The others, like Eric, Terry, and Vivian, got on as well. Finally, the entire class found their way onto the bus. Most of them got to the rear so they could be as far away from Mr. Isaac as possible. Even if there wouldn't be any danger, they still didn't want to be right next to the beast.
The bus drove out of the high school campus and started going down the road. Caitlin had Google Map open on her phone the entire time so she could keep track of where this hotel was.
She didn't have the power of Katie, so if she wanted to stay alive, she had to be cautious.
The ride took an hour, and nothing happened at all. Mr. Isaac didn't suddenly announce a surprise game on the ride. None of the students went mad or stabbed anyone else. Guess what? By the end of that hour, Katie was praying something would occur. It was just so boring! No one was even talking, not even Caitlin! She tried to start a conversation with Mr. Isaac, but the man was quieter than a dead man! Just say or do something! What's the point of life without action?
When Katie was so bored out of her mind that she was considering using her Knife to either dissect Mr. Isaac or herself, the bus finally came to a stop. Looking out of the window, Katie found the bus in front of a five-story tall hotel. It was big. Really big. She saw entire parking lots on the side, all of them empty. Flowers, plants, and other decorations were all over the place, painting the picture of a place of utter relaxation and joy.
"We are now at the Masonville Hotel." Mr. Isaac stood up from his seat and turned to the students. The funny thing was he was going to walk up to the students and talk to them in close proximity to look more terrifying. There was just a single issue. Katie and Caitlin were at the front of the bus while the other students were in the back, so if he wanted to get up close and personal to most of the class, he would be facing Katie and Caitlin with his back...not the most intimidating gesture.
But if he faced Katie and Caitlin, he would be half the bus's length away from the rest of the class. Defeats the whole purpose…
Throwing that minor inconvenience aside, along with any plans of walking, Mr. Isaac went straight to what the students were the most curious about. The catch behind this so-called vacation.
"This is where you will be having your stay. The hotel has everything you will possibly need, and you will be prohibited from leaving the hotel before Friday when I come over and pick you up. Leave the hotel and you die. Of course," He not-so-subtly glanced at Katie. "I know some of you will be really disappointed if it's just an ordinary stay."
That's not wrong. Katie shrugged. Confine her in a closed space where everything was nice and peachy and she would go mad. Honestly, if Mr. Isaac wanted to break her and for her to submit, all he had to do is put her in a cell, restrain her in a straightjacket and take away any chance she had of feeling or exerting pain, and she would be begging for mercy within days. Now that was real torture...
"That is why we are adding a little catch to this stay. In the Masonville Hotel...one of the individuals inside the hotel is a wraith in disguise, and it will not stop until all of you are dead."
Yes! Katie cheered inside as everyone's expressions turned pale.
"The only way to stop the wraith is by making an accusation. You can accuse anyone in the hotel. If the accused is the wraith, the wraith dies. If the accusations are false..."
"The accusor dies."
"Ok, now if there are no more questions…"
"I have a question!" Caitlin raised her hand.
Mr. Isaac nodded. "Speak."
"One individual in the hotel is a wraith. Is it the only one?" Caitlin wondered. Just because one individual was a wraith didn't mean the others weren't...she was all too aware of Mr. Isaac's willingness to play word games.
"Smart girl." The teacher nodded at the question, but there was nonetheless a scoffing look in his eyes. "Yes. It will be the only wraith in the hotel."
"How about other supernatural beings?" A voice came from behind. It was Vivian. "Is the wraith the only supernatural being?"
"Yes."
"And there are no murderous psychopaths? Serial killers?"
Caitlin continued before feeling a jab on the side. Beside her, Katie tossed her an 'I am right here!' look. Come on Caitlin! We're also inside the hotel! Why are you talking about me like I'm not here?
"Well…" Mr. Isaac tilted his head. This time he didn't give an answer straight-up. "that is up to you guys to figure out. The Q&A is over. Now," He pointed at the hotel. "go on and enjoy the vacation you have all earned. I hope you will be alive when I come over on Friday, though I already know that's not gonna happen."
Just like that, no matter how terrified or aroused they were, the students got off the bus one by one.
Behind them, the yellow school bus departed, getting rid of the only chance the students had of escaping.