Brute by Paul Bellow

Author:Paul Bellow [Bellow, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-08-19T22:00:00+00:00

17

Fate Worse than Death

Josh

We appeared in a room with brick walls and heavily scuffed wood beams covering the floor. The Four Wizards surrounded me, looking menacing in the dim candlelight. I glanced around, noticing stairs leading up and down on the opposite side of the room.

“Stop fidgeting and pay attention,” Sherlock scolded.

I sighed and focused my attention on Ferris.

“You need to check in with Magi Inyontoo,” he said.

“Is he here? Can I ask him about Sarah?” I asked.

“He’s not here, dummy,” Thom snickered.

“You’ll be talking to him through a magic mirror,” Ferris said. “When you do, don’t mention us.”

“Not at all,” Sherlock added.

I narrowed my eyes.

“Why not?” I asked. “Aren’t you guys working together?”

“Kinda,” Thom said.

Aaron nodded and said, “But not really. It’s complicated, and you wouldn’t understand.”

“Hold on,” I protested. “Quit treating me like I’m an idiot.”

“Then stop acting like one,” Sherlock quipped.

“I don’t understand any of this,” I said.

Ferris sighed then rolled up the sleeves of his robe.

“Do you see this armband?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Good,” he said. “You remember how well we tracked the rogue, right?”

“Well, he did get away…”

“Shut up,” Ferris hissed.

I pursed my lips together.

“You need to listen more,” Sherlock said.

“Or we’ll make it worse for you.” Ferris leaned forward. “Do you understand?”

I nodded again, keeping my mouth shut for the moment.

“Without a prisoner identification number, you’re valuable,” Aaron said.

The other three shot him dirty looks, but he continued explaining.

“Magi Inyontoo wants to use you to get to the one who hacked you into the game. We’ve found it best to pay him lip service but do our own thing in the background.”

“Are you going to ever take me to Sarah?” I asked.

“Yes,” Ferris said. “When it’s time.”

I didn’t trust the sly smile on his face.

“All in due time,” Sherlock said.

“Trust us,” Ferris pressed.

“What if I can’t?” I asked.

Ferris sighed while Thom stepped forward.

“We’ll make your life in here even worse,” he said, staring up at me.

I could’ve crushed the smaller man, but the other wizards would’ve zapped me. Until I could be certain of getting away without them tracking, I planned to placate them. The irony of giving them lip service while they gave Magi Inyontoo the same wasn’t lost on me.

“You don’t know what it’s like,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “Things can be brutal in here unless you’re aligned with the right people.”

“How is this even a prison?” I asked. “Locking people up in a virtual world and having them kill others doesn’t sound like a very smart idea.”

“Player killing was banned for a long time,” Ferris said. “When Magi Inyontoo hacked the code to allow for it, thousands of players killed each other out of frustration.”

“This place was supposed to be different,” Sherlock said.

“How so?” I asked.

Thom shook his head then walked over to a window. I looked over and glanced out, seeing mountains outside. Would I ever have a chance to escape them?

“It worked as a great prison before the big changes,” Ferris said. “Prisoners could take out their aggression fighting monsters while learning how to become a better person.

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