Seven

Chapter 18- The Only Choice

When Mario opened his eyes, he gasped. He was back in his room at the mansion, although he had no memory of how he got there. He looked down at his body, now clothed in his freshly cleaned white uniform with the number six on the left chest pocket.

He squeezed his eyes shut, growling in frustration. He had gotten so close to escaping this nightmare, only to be right back in it again.

He knew that if he was here, that probably meant Carmen was too, and it was only a matter of time before they were forced to play each other in the final game.

Mario sat up and looked around. His throat was painfully dry and he really needed something to drink. He stood up, feeling a bit wobbly, as if he had been drinking the night before. He stumbled over to the door and opened it up to see Richard standing there.

"Oh, Mr. Banks, you're awake," he said in surprise.

Mario gave him an evil glare, not forgetting that he had a hand in bringing him back to finish out the games.

"Would you like something to eat? Some tea maybe?" Richard asked.

"I would like some water," Mario finally answered.

"Very well, sir," Richard nodded, hurrying away.

After he was gone, Mario looked down the hallway and noticed Carmen's maid standing outside her door. He started in her direction, wanting to check on Carmen and make sure she was okay. However, he found himself pausing when he was only halfway there.

It was time to cut ties with Carmen. He couldn't let himself be concerned for her well-being when ending her life would be his only escape. From now on, he had to be cold and calculating. He couldn't afford to be anything else.

With that thought in mind, he turned around and went back to his room. He had no idea what day it was or how much longer it would be before the final game began. He had no idea how to prepare, or if it would even matter. Dr. Vincent would probably make sure neither Mario nor Carmen made it out alive after the stunt they had just pulled.

As soon as Mario sat down on his bed, there was a knock at his door. Expecting it to be Richard with his water, he quickly went to answer it.

"Carmen?" Mario asked in surprise when he saw her standing in front of him.

She still looked sickly and frail. Her eyes were emotionless, as if she had already checked out on life. "I was just making sure you made it back. I was worried, after what happened," she said quietly.

Mario only nodded, not wanting to make a whole lot of small talk anymore.

"About what Dr. Vincent said...I just wanted to-"

"Don't worry about it," Mario interrupted. "None of that matters now."

"You're right, it doesn't," she said, hanging her head.

Without giving Mario a chance to respond, Carmen turned and walked away. Mario closed the door and went back to his bed. He laid back and stared up at the ceiling, getting lost in thought.

This could be the last day of his life.

Or it could be the last day of Carmen's.

Either way, one of them were going to die in just a few hours, and more than likely, the other would be the killer. Who knew what kind of sick game Dr. Vincent had up his sleeve for the grand finale? Mario was certain it would be brutal and likely scar him for life, even if he walked away from it.

Was it really worth it? After all he'd been through, did he really care if he made it out of here alive anymore? The money would mean nothing to him. He lived his whole life with nothing and he knew he would be able to continue on with nothing. Money was the rule of all evil, or as the late, great Notorious B.I.G. said, more money, more problems.

But could he really just forfeit and let Carmen end it all for him? Mario had never been the type to give up. He swore to himself when he got out of prison that he'd live out the rest of his life to the fullest, taking advantage of each day.

With that thought in mind, he sat up in his bed and looked around the room. There was still a few hours left before the final game, so why not spend that time making the best of it?

He got up and went to find Carmen, going first to her bedroom door. It already stood open, so he peeked inside. When he didn't see her, he turned to her maid.

She scowled at him.

"Where is player four?" he asked her.

She didn't answer, only turned her nose up at him.

"Okay then," Mario said, giving her a look. "Just know, I'm about to die in a few hours. That makes me a loose cannon. If I go crazy, I'm coming for the racist old hag first."

She scoffed, covering her heart dramatically as Mario turned to leave. He had no intention of hurting anyone, but Mario had dealt with enough racism to see it from a mile away. Especially from old people.

Mario went down stairs to the main floor and looked around for Carmen. He noticed the door behind the staircase was open, so he followed the long, winding staircase to the bottom floor. He could hear voices in the distance, but they sounded muffled, as if they were coming from a speaker.

He stopped in front of the door that he believed led to the room in which the players were made to watch Jackson's bloody demise a few days ago. This was the room he was led to earlier, when Carmen talked him into escaping.

He opened the door, only a c***k at first, and peeked his head inside. There was a video playing, but Mario paid it no mind at first. He crept into the room, surveying it for any sign of the staff or Carmen. When he didn't see anyone, he turned his attention to the video.

It was two men, maybe in their late twenties, early thirties, each climbing a rope that seemed to go on forever. They weren't wearing any gloves and it was obvious that both were in a great deal of pain from rope burn and blisters. Still, they kept going until one of them reached the top where there was a small platform. The man who arrived first grabbed something from the platform and began sawing away at the other man's rope. Mario realized what was happening and his heart began to pound. He squeezed his eyes shut when the rope unraveled and broke away from the platform, sending the climbing man to the ground with a bloody splatter.

He turned to leave the room, but he paused when he heard a terrifying scream. He looked back at the video, now playing a different scene. A man and a woman were running through the same maze that Mario himself just navigated through during the last game. But they weren't racing a clock. They were trying to outrun a live tiger.

Mario's whole body froze in fear, from head to toe. He knew exactly what he was watching now. It was the final game from previous years.

He sat down in one of the empty chairs and watched on, even though it was hard. He was hoping this would give him some kind of advantage when it game time to play the final game, but it looked as if every single game ended the same way...in a race to the finish line.

No matter what the game was, the final two players had to make it to a certain point first. In some of the games, strength and stamina played a big role, leading to the stronger and more athletic players to be declared the winners. Other times though, it seemed like no matter how strong or fast you were, just making it out alive was all it took.

Mario stood up, shaking his head. He had seen enough of this. It was obvious he wouldn't be able to prepare for the final game. He would just have to be lucky, something he had never really been.

He furrowed his brows when he noticed a familiar face on the screen. A scruffy looking white man in his mid-thirties, an ugly scar across his left eye...Mark "Tombstone" Fortune. Mario had served some time with him in prison before Tombstone was transferred to face charges in another state.

The game that was currently playing had to have been recent. Mario had only just seen Tombstone a couple of years ago.

He watched on as Tombstone stumbled through a thick cloud of smoke, opening doors and trying to find his way out while covering his face with his uniform. As Mario looked closer, he realized it was this very mansion he was in, only...it was on fire...all of it, up in flames.

Tombstone finally made his way out and as soon as his foot hit the grass outside, the house exploded, crumbling to a pile of nothing in a matter of minutes.

So Tombstone was the winner...

If only Mario could find some way to reach him...he could find out if his life got better because of the money, or if he became a lifetime pawn of Dr. Vincent. Mario had a sinking suspicion that even if he won, he would somehow still lose. He didn't know just how, but he felt it with every fiber of his being.

Win or lose, he would never get his life back.

With that thought in mind, he knew it was worth it to take the risk and try to escape once again. This time, he would have to get creative since the staff would have their guards up after what just happened. They more than likely wouldn't try and kill him since they seem to want more than anything for the final game to continue. He would just need to fool them this time so he would not be forcefully made to return a second time.

Mario looked around the room, plotting his escape. Should he look for Carmen? Or should he try to do this on his own? He knew it would've been much easier without her, but he didn't feel right about leaving her behind. He didn't know what would happen to her if he managed to escape. Would they kill her? Or just declare her the winner by default?

He started up the winding staircase that would take him back to the main floor. His plan was to use Richard and Jeffery to help him, unknowingly, of course. He felt they were simple minded enough to believe anything coming from a black man. They both acted as if they had never seen one in real life before.

When he reached the foyer, Mario paused when he saw Carmen climbing over the staircase with a bed sheet tied around her neck.

He hurried up the stairs and grabbed onto the sheet just before Carmen's weight broke her neck. Mario pulled her back over the banister, but to his surprise, she started swinging at him.

"Let me go!" she cried. "Get your hands off me!"

"What the hell are you doing?!" he asked her gruffly.

"I was trying to let you win!" she cried.

Mario didn't know what to say. Was she really willing to die for him? Or did she just simply just not want to live any longer? Mario knew that feeling all too well. He spent years of his life wanting to die, and even attempted it a few unsuccessful times. But he also knew that those feelings would pass and he was glad he didn't do something so stupid.

Even though it didn't seem like it at the time, he knew he still had a lot left to live for.

"I don't want to win this way," he told her seriously. "Either we go out there and play this game the right way, or we both leave this place, whether that's dead or alive, I don't know. But I won't let you die for me."

"What do you mean?" she asked, furrowing her brows in confusion. "We just tried to leave and it didn't work!"

"We weren't careful last time. Now that we know what to expect, we can do things differently. We're both about to play a losing game, player four. A game neither of us will win. Either we'll die, or we'll have to live with ourselves and what we've seen here. I don't know about you, but that might be worse than death," he said.

She nodded in agreement. "You're right. I would rather die than be the reason you died. I'm already the reason you spent six years of your life in prison. I was just a dumb kid when all that happened. When I saw that they had arrested you, I should've said something, but my father wouldn't let me."

"Your father is the one who took the blame?"

She nodded again. "He didn't want me to ruin my life, and his was almost over. So he took the blame so you could be released and I wouldn't turn myself in. I'm sorry, I never wanted to..."

She trailed off, bursting into tears.

Mario only watched her for a while, not sure how to react. He was never very good at being sympathetic. Finally, he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay," he whispered. "I forgive you."

She pulled away and looked up at him in surprise. "You do?!"

He gave her a small smile. "I do. And I don't want you to die for me. I have no idea what to expect from here, but if you want to, we can try our escape one more time. I'm not killing you, and you don't want to kill me. This seems like the only choice."

"So what do we do this time?" she asked.

Mario looked around before standing to his feet and reaching for Carmen's hand. "Come with me. I have an idea."