Rule 39 - Domino

Ilay between them, wide awake in the early morning post Blane"s murder. I stared up at the ceiling, replaying last night over and over. So many things had happened, it was a week"s worth of things in twelve hours. I turned my head, seeing Koi on my right side. He"d humiliated me. He shoved me to the ground and said awful, degrading things to me. His goal was for me to be shamed, and it"d worked, but... I liked it. The entire time he was talking, my body was responding. I"d never been so turned on before. And then, Swayze. I looked to my left. He was sleeping soundly, just like his best friend. He"d confessed his love to me, and he used his tongue like he was starving and my body was his only means for survival. Both men held my heart, and Koi was right. It was either both of them or neither.

Georgie, who"d been uneasy since they moved in yesterday, was wandering around the cabin. I got up and got dressed quickly, making an effort to be quiet. I didn"t want to wake my men and deal with being dragged back to bed to feed their insatiable appetite. I mean, I liked it too, much to my surprise, but still, their dicks just did not go down.

I laced my sneakers and grabbed Georgie"s leash. He bounced over to me and we slipped out the door for his morning walk. Fog rolled in low over the camp. It was eerily quiet, and not a single staff member was passed out outside. How odd. Maybe Ruth's death had spooked everyone enough to calm down on the parties.

I'd only gone a few feet when I remembered I wasn't supposed to go anywhere without an escort. The note left in Blane's hand came to mind. Whoever had killed him had been aiming for one of my family members. They weren't specific, but considering Ruth's murder was meant to be mine, the odds that it was me Blane's killer had been waiting for were high.

Georgie tugged on his leash, urging me forward. I glanced back at my cabin. My stomach churned, trying to decide what to do. Georgie let out a howl and I sighed, turning back and letting him lead me. He started toward the lake.

Our abandoned bonfire was still there. The chairs, snacks, and drinks people had brought were being picked at by birds. I stared at the circle for a long time, replaying last night. We'd been brought there to be made silent, and Blane was the only one who would truly never speak about it again. I couldn't figure it out. Everyone was there, even Uncle Carlos and Monica. None of it made sense.

Even when I was a child, growing up at the park, I hardly ever saw Monica there. Back then, I had to call her Mom, but it felt liberating not to be forced to pretend she felt anything maternal toward me. It was the same for Uncle Carlos. He didn't have any interest in the park until after my dad died. My siblings were the ones taking care of running it now, so why was he there?

A loud snap came from the woods and I jumped. Georgie stiffened, his nose pointing toward the woods. Fear prickled my skin, but I didn't want to scare him. Slowly, I bent down to pet his back.

"It's okay, pal, there"s no one there," I said as confidently as I could, which was not at all. My voice shook and I was sure he heard it. "Come on, let"s go." I tugged on his leash and he bolted. The sharp sting of rope burn ran across my palm as the leash flew out of my hand. Georgie bound into the woods, straight for whatever had made that sound.

"Georgie, no!" I hissed and stormed after him. Terror ignited me as I was engulfed in the dark trees.

I called as loudly as I felt was safe, but he didn"t return. I could hear him running through the woods, but I couldn"t see his black fur in all the dark.

I stepped on something hard, but it didn"t break. I paused, squinting down at the ground as I raised my foot. What had I stepped on? I crouched down, shuffling the leaves away, and pulled up a brown chord. Why was this here? I raised it and found it leading away. My curiosity getting the best of me, I followed it off the path and deeper into the woods. It stopped short only about twenty feet away in a clearing. I stepped into the space and froze. I knew where I was.

This had been where Blane had been murdered.

Why had this chord led me here? I looked around, searching for something to explain what was going on, but was coming up short. I was starting to back away when I spotted something hidden behind a tree. I went to it and pulled up a small, vintage green box. It had been half-buried underneath the tree. Popping it open, I found an odd-shaped knife inside. Two of them. I didn"t recognize the blade, but it was curved differently than normal hunting blades I"d seen. They were both filthy, covered in rust, dirt, and blood.

I dropped it back into the haphazardly dug hole and covered it with leaves and dirt. I stood and stepped back, only to trip on something and begin to fall. I let out a sharp scream of surprise and managed to catch a tree branch and save myself from falling completely. As I stood back up, I heard a sharp metallic sound like a zing come from the ground. I looked down to where I"d almost landed to see a large spike protruding from the ground. My heart and stomach dropped as I recognized the spike. It was the same type that had gone through Blane"s neck. This was a trap.

I froze, unsure of what to do. What if there were more traps, and this was a war zone, set with detonators everywhere? If I stepped on one, it"d eviscerate my foot.

The rattle from Georgie"s collar sounded nearby, and I swore to myself as tears filled my eyes.One wrong step and he'd be killed in an instant.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and looked around. There were several chords tied low to the ground. That was what I"d followed here and most certainly what I"d tripped on. Not sure what to do, I bent down and tugged on one. The same sharp metal-on-metal sound rose up, along with a spike. I realized then that the only way for us to not set off a trap by accident was to set them off on purpose. I moved past the triggered traps and continued to pull on the ropes. As I moved, I gained more confidence in my steps. Whoever had created this trap had set over a dozen of these spikes. The fact that only one person died last night was astounding to me.

I pulled the last one and then began rounding the spikes up. I had to dig with my bare hands to pull them out, but they were small and not that heavy. I tossed them into a pile, and when I was finally done, called for Georgie again. I wanted to get out of here and shower. I"d be expected at the park today to laugh and be seen and pretend I wasn"t in the middle of a bad horror movie plot.

"Georgie!" I whistled. Finally, my dearest pet listened and bounded toward me. I could hear his happy run through the trees and I continued to call him so he could find my voice. He came, but there was something in his mouth. I squinted, unable to see exactly what it was in the dark. He made it to me, wagging his tail excitedly and panting through whatever was in his teeth. I crouched down to take it from him.

"What did you find, pal?" I grabbed the curved plastic and tugged. He let out a low, playful growl. "No, come on, Georgie, let me see what you have." I tugged harder and he released it. I lifted the slobber-covered item up and gasped, dropping it instantly.

I stared down at it in horror, a Jason Voorhees mask rocking side to side on the ground. Inside, someone had written in red.

Guess who?