Rule 44 - Domino

Pressure on my chest caused me to cough and spit up water.

Screams and cries of relief flooded my ears as someone patted my back roughly. Bile rolled up from my throat, and I turned, spitting more gross pool water.

"Oh, thank fuck, you"re alive!" Swayze threw himself at me, crushing me in a hug. "Domino, I thought we lost you."

"Wh-who?" I choked out. My throat burned from the chlorine.

"Who? You! You got pulled under the water and no one saw you."

I blinked and rubbed the water out of my eyes. I shook my head. "No, someone held me under." I looked around at the large crowd encircling me. Any one of these people could have been the one to try to drown me. I thought back to my last moments before I passed out. It had been the perfect murder.

"What?" Koi crouched down. "Are you sure?"

I nodded quickly. My teeth chattered as I tried to speak. I leaned against Swayze and closed my eyes. I was alive.

"Let"s get her to the medics office." Koi"s firm, confident voice soothed me. Swayze scooped me into his arms. He walked me through the park and to the room where we kept all of our emergency medical equipment.

I was handed a towel and sat on the table. Swayze, being a certified EMT, gave me a quick exam. If I wasn"t so tired and emotionally exhausted, I"d be fascinated with how they were behaving. Their normal, goofy, charming, smart-alike selves were gone and replaced with concerned professionals who knew what they were doing.

"You said someone pulled you down. Did you see who?" Swayze asked.

"No? Can I have water?" I looked around the room. We"d been joined by Mattias, Fabian, and Mitchell. Mattias pulled out his phone.

"I"ll text Marisol to grab some. She"s on her way. Who do you think did it?"

"I don"t know. The voice was a man"s."

"The voice? What did they say?"

I shrunk into myself. Hot tears mixed with the chemicals from the pool stung my eyes.

"I was screaming for help, and he said "I can help you die.'" I shuddered. "It felt like he"d been watching me that whole time, waiting for the chance to catch me alone and pull me under."

"He? You"re sure it"s a man?" Mattias asked. "Dark hair, light hair, short hair? Eyes? What did they look like?"

"They had a deeper voice." I shrugged. I had assumed, but as I didn"t get a look at their face or frame, I couldn"t say for sure what they looked like. The room erupted in various curses. The door opened, and Marisol came in, holding a bottle of water. She handed it to me and looked around the room.

"So, what do we know?"

"Jack shit, other than it wasn"t an accident," Fabian growled.

No one said anything, but we all had the same collective thought.

I was supposed to be the one murdered today. And if they hadn"t succeeded in killing me, then who was next?

"Call everyone, check in," Mattias ordered. "Let"s get Domino back to her cabin. She needs rest. You two don"t leave her side. I don"t care if one of you has to shit. Hold it or bring her along."

Swayze and Koi assisted me off the table. I stood on my own and insisted on walking. I was weak, but still very much alive. I climbed into the golf cart beside Swayze. Koi sat in the back, and together, we left the park and returned to camp. We drove through the gates to the actual cabins. I thanked them because I was too tired to walk far.

"Are we sure it"s safe to stay here?" I asked.

"Where else can we go?" Koi asked.

"We can"t hide at Johnny Blue"s forever, Little Doll." Swayze kissed my forehead. "I"m sorry, but unless you have a better idea..."

The door to the cabin across from us was thrown open and a group of women poured out, laughing. We turned and saw Grace stop short and gasp.

"You"re alive?" She blinked rapidly.

Swayze, Koi, and I shared a look.

"What do you mean, I"m alive?" I demanded.

Grace began sputtering."Nothing, just, I thought?—"

Koi hopped off the golf cart and stormed over to her, lifting her by her shirt. "What the fuck did you do?"

"Nothing! I didn"t do anything." She kicked the air, trying to get him to let go. "I was given a choice and I made one."

"What choice?" Swayze abandoned me as well, coming over to them.

"Don"t act like you don"t know what I"m talking about. Now that she survived, you"re playing the good guys?" She smirked and looked back at me. "Don"t trust them. They came to me last night and asked if I wanted you dead or more money for Dennis"s death."

And she chose me.

Koi dropped her suddenly and she fell to the ground with a cry.

"Liar!" he screamed.

"What?" Swayze boomed.

Koi was red in the face as he screamed at Grace who was scurrying back from them."You filthy fucking liar!"

Grace kept eye contact with me. "You know I"m telling the truth. That"s why they"re so mad."

I wasn"t sure what to believe. Could they have done such a thing? When?

"They said you were in the showers. They snuck up on me smoking a joint in the woods, wearing those stupid Jason masks. They asked, if given the choice, would I take power over money, and when I asked what the fuck they meant, they asked if I"d rather see you dead or have a check in my hand. I"m sorry, but—" She reached her cabin and stood. Her chin quivered as she continued, "My brother died because they were too busy looking for you to give a fuck about anyone else. And Marisol told me what happened to her after you left too. Everything bad is your fault. It would make things so much better if you just?—"

I climbed out of the golf cart and went to my cabin. "Wasn"t around? Noted."

I stepped inside and slammed the door, locking it from the inside. Pounding ensued a moment later, and I hurried to the other side to lock that door too. Georgie perked up at my entrance and wagged his tail.

"Domino! Let us in!" Koi screamed.

"No," I called to them. They were both strong men. If they wanted to, they"d break the door down. I hurried to grab a chair and slip it under the handle. It wasn"t foolproof, but it would give me time to think.

I"d seen their Jason Voorhees masks. They"d worn them, they"d been left at the crime scene, and now Grace had proof too. I couldn"t trust either of them. What if this had all been some ruse, seducing me?

Was the call coming from the house?

The pounding continued for almost an hour but I ignored their shouting. I changed out of my suit and back into normal clothes to begin packing. Once I felt safe enough, I was leaving. I tried, I really did, but there was no saving Risky Rush Park. My friends on my list would understand. Johnny Blue and the others I'd wanted to help, they didn"t care about money like my siblings or stepmother did.I'd find another way to give them the things they all deserved. This wasn't worth it.

The pounding and shouting stopped, and I glanced out the small window. No one was there. Georgie was whining, so I fed him and laid him in bed with me so he"d relax. I felt foolish now, for allowing Swayze and Koi into my heart. I"d been so naive and blind, all because of a childhood crush.

The only crushes I"d ever had.

Around midnight, I heard some rustling around the cabin. I shot up in the darkness and looked toward the direction of the sound. There were murmurs but nothing concrete. I couldn"t tell voices, inflection, or anything else.

A few minutes later, I smelled…burning. I hurried to flick the light on and that"s when I saw smoke coming up through the floorboards.

"Georgie!" I cried out and flew to the door, but it was locked.

From the outside.