Alyx dropped Zelina's body by the open gate and stepped through it. No one was there and she made her way forward.
"Roman?" She called. "I know you're here somewhere. I just played your favorite game. Why are you hiding? Are you mad I figured it out? Are you scared of me?"
A door swung open and he stood there sneering at her. He looked even more scary than she remembered.
"I'm not fucking scared of you," he said.
"You got bigger," she said.
"I like working out," he said.
"I remember," she said.
"As fun as it is to catch up, we can do that at a later time," he said. "Come in here."
She swallowed nervously. It suddenly seemed like a bad idea going on a hunt for him.
"You either come in here on your own or I'll drag you in here," he said.
"Sorry," she whispered.
She was not interested in leaving with bruises and broken bones so she followed him into the room. She looked at the setup of screens and buttons. As always he needed everything explained, and each button had written on them what they controlled. Like she suspected, he didn't have the brain to do this alone.
"Who built this for you?" She asked.
"When you got as much money as me, you can pay for anything," he said. "And I do mean anything."
"You couldn't pay me to stay," she said.
He slapped her and she gripped the table to steady herself. She turned her head back to look at him. Tears were burning in her eyes and he laughed at her.
"You're as pathetic as always," he said.
"Then why chase me down?" She asked.
"No one leaves me!" He growled. "The only way out is if I leave you!"
"Okay, so let's talk about it," she said. "What do you want?"
He smirked and stepped closer to her. He grabbed her chin and shook her head slightly.
"I want you in my bed tonight," he said.
"Okay," she said.
"I want you tied up and naked, and I'm gonna punish you for running away. And for each punishment I deliever, you will thank me and tell me you deserve it," he said.
She took a deep breath and nodded. She needed to stay on his good side.
"Say it," he said.
"I will thank you and tell you I deserve it," she said.
He slapped her again and she gripped the table tighter. The look on his face told her everything she needed to know.
"Thank you. I deserve it," she said.
"Very good," he grinned. "Yes, you deserve it, and this is only a small taste of what I'll do to you. I'll make damn sure you won't be able to walk for a week. And why is it that I will have to beat you so badly that you won't be able to walk?"
"Because I deserve it," she said lowly.
"That's right. And you know that no matter how much pain you'll be in, I'll still fuck you. And why is that?" He asked.
"Because I deserve it," she repeated.
"See, you do understand," he said. "Now give me a kiss."
He leaned down and kissed her. She did her best to kiss him back while slowly moving a hand behind her. She had seen all the buttons and she knew which one to press. She clicked it and heard the sound of the door opening on the screen.
"What did you do?" He asked.
He pushed her away from the table and saw Seth sprinting down the road with everyone else running behind him.
"No!" He snarled.
He reached a hand forward and then screamed in pain. He looked to the side and saw a knife sticking out of his shoulder.
"Where the fuck did you get a knife?" He asked.
"Zelina had one on her," she said.
"You fucking bitch!" He growled. "I'm gonna cut you open!"
He grabbed the knife to pull it out but fell forward and slammed his head down on the table when Seth came running in and kicked him in the back. Seth grabbed Roman's head and slammed it down on the table several more times until Roman passed out.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
He stepped over Roman's body and studied Alyx's cheek.
"You're red," he said.
"Just a couple of slaps. It's water compared to what he was going to do later," she said.
"Do I wanna know?" He asked.
"No, but you're going to because I'm telling you everything over a bottle of vodka later," she said.
"I'm so sorry," he said. "He saved me from a bad bar fight once and told me I was in debt to him. I tried refusing to do this but he said he would kill me if I didn't. My debt would be paid as long as I kept you alive until the end. I had no choice. I tried running that same night but he got to me. I woke up in here like the rest of you without any memory of getting here."
"Seth, shut up," she said.
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss.
"I know how he works. He set up that bar fight to use you later. I've seen him do it to others before," she said. "You never had a choice."
"So you forgive me?" He asked.
"Yes," she said.
They heard voices and looked over at everyone that had finally made it back there. She reached for a button on the table and they all heard a door unlock.
"Continue down the hallway. All doors are unlocked. I don't know where we are but you're free to go," she said.
People quickly moved down the hallway, and Seth and Alyx were left alone with Roman who was still knocked out.
"What do you wanna do with him?" He asked.
"He'll never stop unless we make him stop," she answered. "Get him up on the chair while I find something to tie him up with."
Seth grabbed Roman and managed to get him up in the office chair. Alyx found some zipties and cables, and they tied Roman to the chair.
"Let's roll him to the arenas," she said.
"Which one do you think he'll pick?" He asked.
"He's not getting a choice," she said. "His biggest fear is alligators. I faced my fear of trucks today. Time for him to face his fear too."
"How are we gonna do this?" He asked.
"You can set a timer," she pointed at the screen. "The program is easy to understand. I'm gonna set two timers for the door to the alligator room."
She quickly set up the timers and they rolled him down the long road and down to the room they had woken up in. Once they were there, she grabbed a bottle of water and poured it over Roman's face. He woke up and let out some cursewords.
"What's going on? Let me go!" Roman growled.
"Hi, loverboy," Alyx said. "How the tables have turned."
"You'll pay for this," Roman said.
"Doubtful," Alyx said. "I know how you work, Roman. No one knows what you're doing here. No one is going to come looking for you."
"Seth?" Roman looked at Seth. "You owe me."
"I don't owe you shit!" Seth hissed. "You used me, Roman. You're a piece of trash and I never wanna see you again."
Roman turned his eyes back to Alyx. He had never feared her until this very moment. He had always been in control but he had suddenly lost that control over her.
"I found you," Roman said. "I'll find you again."
"Dead men don't walk, Roman," Alyx said.
"Dead?" Roman started laughing. "You can't kill anyone. If you could, you would have killed me a long time ago."
"She doesn't have to," Seth said.
"What do you mean?" Roman asked.
The door to the alligator room opened, and Roman stared inside in horror.
"No," Roman whispered.
"Player seven, choose your arena," Alyx said.
"Alyx, no!" Roman yelled. "You can't fucking do this to me!"
Seth and Alyx pushed the chair inside. An alligator slowly made its way up from the water, and the door closed to shield them from what was about to happen.
"Let's go back," she said.
They walked down the road and found Zelina still passed out on the ground. Alyx threw Zelina's knife on the ground next to the passed out woman.
"What about her?" He asked.
"Leave her here," she said.
They walked back to the control room and looked at the screens. Roman was already dead. Alyx closed the doors to the road and sealed Zelina inside that arena.
"She'll kill herself when she wakes up and realizes no one is there to help her. She can figure out we all escaped and that she'll be taken down if the cops come and find her," she said.
"That's cold," he said.
"May I remind you that she killed Carmella and was trying to kill you? She enjoyed this. You should have seen the look on her face when she thought she could talk her way out of it. She's one of Roman's side pieces, and she fucking enjoys the power he gives her," she said.
"Karma's a bitch," he said.
"She's also utterly lost without him. He once tested her and said he was done with her. He watched her on camera as she swallowed pills to kill herself. He waited for her to pass out before going in there and sticking his fingers down her throat. She was sick for days and I had to take care of her. I had to take care of my boyfriend's fucking side piece. That's how little I was worth to him," she said.
"Fuck him," he said. "You won in the end. He can't ever hurt you again."
"And I got one last trick up my sleeve," she said.
He watched as she worked on the program. All the screens suddenly went black.
"What did you do?" He asked.
"I deleted all the footage and shut down the cameras. There's no proof of us ever having been here," she said.
"Carmella was right about you," he grinned. "You are the smartest one here."
She opened the desk drawer and found a car key.
"He always leave his keys in a drawer," she said. "Let's go. Our car awaits us, my dear."
He chuckled and followed her outside. Everyone had continued forward after getting out. Where they would go or what they would say when they got there was none of their concern. They found the car, got in, and drove away. They drove back to town and left the car at a parking lot with no cameras.
"I live close by," he said.
"I need a shower," she said.
"I have one of those," he said.
She laughed and pulled him down for a kiss.
"The coconut drinks can wait until later. I just wanna go back to your place and take a long shower with you," she said.
"And then what?" He asked.
"I don't know," she answered. "Do you have any bright ideas that might happen between two naked people lusting for each other?"
"I might have a few," he said.
They both laughed and laced their fingers together.
"No one can ever know," she said.
"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid to go tell the tale of crazy Roman and his arenas. That guy has friends and I have no interest in them hearing about me," he said.
"Good," she said. "We took down the big, bad wolf. Others can deal with the smaller ones. They'll get what's coming to them one day. They always do."
"What a fucking weird way to meet each other," he said.
"It's not too late to regret taking me home," she said.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.
"No regrets," he said.
"No regrets," she agreed.