Rule 43 - Domino

Istared at the photos tacked to the cabin walls. My memories were all here, a reminder of why I couldn"t just leave. Why I didn"t want to leave. It was day four, which meant unless they found the killer today, someone else was going to die. If I left now, then the game would go on forever until they found me again.

The creak of the floorboards alerted me that someone was awake. I turned to see Koi sliding out of bed, pulling on his pants.

"Morning, Blessing," he murmured, coming to me. "How do you feel?" He rested his chin on my shoulder. I hadn"t been interested in sex or anything even remotely intimate in the last two days. They"d both tried, but considering my fragile state, they backed off.

"It"s day four," I reminded him.

"Yes, but you"re safe. We"re going to be with you at the park all day. No one is going to touch you when they"ve got thousands of people all around with cameras on their persons."

I nodded. He was right, being at the park felt like the safe place to be. But how could I pretend I was happy to be there, when all I could think about was who was next, or if they"d already been killed?

Swayze got up, and together, the three of us got around and headed to the park.

It was an odd feeling, almost a sharp electricity in the air. Everyone around us was laughing and jumping around, happy to be spending another day working at Risky Rush Park. Then, there was the handful of us fully aware of what could happen today. We trudged to the time clocks, swiped in, and then walked to our positions somberly.

"Why don"t we spend some time interviewing people for our channel today?" Swayze suggested. I liked that idea. It kept my mind occupied far more than simply riding rides and trying to psych people up. This would keep me engaged and not so much in my head. Swayze pulled the tripod out of his backpack and we started off to find people who could be fun on camera.

Koi turned the live stream on and did the intro while I threw on a smile and hurried over to a group of people our age. They lit up when they saw me.

"You"re Domino! We"ve seen the commercials!" one girl gushed.

"Is it true you"re the long-lost sister?" another asked.

I forced myself to keep smiling. "I am. But I"m back now and having such a blast at the park this summer. I wanted to see if you guys would be down to be interviewed for our channel?"

"Really?" a man asked.

"Hell yeah!" another said.

I motioned Swayze and Koi over and we started our little game. I asked them pretty standard questions. What they liked, what they were excited for, how many times they"d been there. Afterward, I gave them each rubber bracelets with the park logo on one side and "I met Domino Risky" on the other. They were surprisingly a hit. I didn"t give them out to everyone so the ones that did receive them felt special—a PR move by Fabian.

We spent most of the morning and afternoon on a live stream, interacting with guests. It felt safe to stay on camera as much as possible and we did so until all our phones died. We had decided to stay all day, just to be on the safe side. But that also meant we had five more hours to spare.

"What about the water park? We can relax in the pools. It"s less crowded there," Swayze suggested. Having no objections, we went over, changed into our suits, and started our tour on this side of the park.

"I wonder what made my dad decide to just one day build a park," I mused as we waited in line for a slide. "The camp had been open for decades. My grandpa had owned it before him, and his dad too."

"Well, the camp wasn"t really an option anymore," Koi said. He was right. They"d had a few too many deaths and were forced to close. "But he still had all that money. Why not?"

"While it isn't the safest place, it's made you guys even more rich." Swayze laughed and rubbed the scar on his belly. The scorpion tattoo covered it well, but it still made me sad to think about what he and Koi both lost here.

"Hopefully, I"ll be able to use that money to do good for the world." I smiled and took the little water pad from the ride operator and leaped into the tunnel, screaming as darkness enveloped me, and I hit the water on the other side. I laughed as I was splashed by Swayze following, and Koi right after.

We went through all the slides, the rivers, the splash pads, and then finally, we reached the wave pools.

"I hate these things," I groaned. "I struggle to stay above water."

"It"ll be fine. Keep your sandals on, and we"ll hold you," Koi assured me. I took his hand and followed them both into the nearly empty pool. The water was surprisingly cool and the waves weren"t all that bad, however, someone spotted us, screamed, and soon the pool began to fill up. The lifeguards, growing excited, turned the waves up. I scowled at them, but I was just ignored, as there were too many people to focus on.

I held tight to Swayze and Koi, but people began bumping into us on purpose, and with the loud music being blared from the speakers, no one could hear the other. We were a mosh pit, and I was the short, lightweight that shouldn"t be there. I lost my grip on Koi first. I turned frantically to Swayze as Koi disappeared into the crowd.

"Koi!" I screamed but was hit with a splash of piss-water. I gagged and dropped my hold on Swayze only to be instantly swallowed up by the pit. I was pushed down under the water, but every time I was able to kick off the bottom and shove myself back up long enough to take a breath, I was dunked back down. I screamed for help but no one could hear me. I was at the mercy of the waves and every time I tried to latch on to something I was dragged away.

"Help!" I screamed and then I heard a whisper in my ear. So close, I didn"t fully understand what was happening.

"You want help? I can help you die." With that, my ankle was ripped from under me. I fell under the water and was shoved to the floor. A set of feet slammed down on my back and thighs. I fought, trying to kick and thrash, but whoever had pulled me under knew exactly what they were doing.

My chest burned and my vision grew red and spotty under my eyelids. I was going to die. Whoever it was had been watching me, waiting for their chance, and here it was. Such a simple way to do it. No mess. It was going to look like an accident. And there was no one to pay off because my family owned the place.

As everything went black and I could feel myself fading, I realized something about my murder.

It was perfect.