Free The Dead Game by Susanne Leist Page B

to involve only one player, strongly pointing to a coven or a group with a very powerful leader.
     
    Stepping into the next room, the first thing they heard was a loud dripping noise.
    Terrified of finding more blood trickling down the walls, Linda walked in very slowly. Instead, she found a large swimming pool, built into the floor of the huge white-tiled room, with a pump that was emitting the constant dripping sound.
    “This must be the indoor swimming pool with the fancy Jacuzzi,” she commented, gazing around at the massage tables and mud baths set up alongside the pool. Two doors at the far end of the room were labeled “sauna” and “steam room.” Thankfully, the walls were sparkling white and appeared to be clean of any blood.
    “The water in the pool looks frozen,” she pointed out, moving closer to get a better look. She peered over the edge; only to find the pool frozen—not with water—but with blood, a lot of blood. She suddenly felt herself become lightheaded; her head began spinning. All she could manage was a small squeak as she scurried away.
    Shana and Todd rushed over to her.
    “How much blood could have been used to fill up this whole pool? Is it human or animal blood? Forget it, I really don’t care! I just want to get out of here! Our host has an extremely ghoulish sense of humor, and I don’t want to play his game anymore.” Linda hysterically shrieked as she rushed to the doorway that they’d just crossed through. The door was no longer there, but had been replaced with a solid wall. Sobbing, she ran her fingers along the surface. “Oh my God! Oh my God! This can’t be real! Where’s the stupid door?” She asked no one and everyone as she vainly searched for an opening.
    “The script has already been written,” Todd solemnly replied. “We have no choice but to follow the predetermined path in order to find our way out. Quickly! Stay behind me! And don’t touch anything!” He pointed to the door that had just surfaced on the far wall between the doors to the “sauna” and “steam room,” and ordered, “We must exit through this new doorway and see where it leads us.”
     
    They stepped into a drafty master bedroom, softly illuminated by lit candles encircling the huge canopied bed. The candlelight created shadows that swayed back and forth across the ceiling and walls. Fearing that the shadows were reaching out for her, Linda backed away in horror, not knowing if she was imagining them or not.
    She didn’t want to move any closer to the bed, dreading what she might discover there. Anything was possible, from what they had already witnessed in this house. But Todd and Shana kept moving forward. Unhappily, she moved slowly in unison with them toward the bed. What she found there exceeded all her frightening expectations. On the white quilt lay a human skeleton with its arms resting peacefully at its sides.
    All of a sudden the skeleton began to bleed, slowly at first, and then profusely from the deep gash in its bones from the long, serrated silver knife sticking out of its chest. In the stream of blood were worms—scores of worms—inching out from the deep hole, spreading across the white quilt. Linda couldn’t believe her eyes. She gasped. More and more worms were climbing out from the body, falling in groups from the bed to land on the carpet.
    A new doorway emerged on the far side of the room. Watching the enormous worms spread across the floor, Linda realized that their squishy bodies were blocking their path to the door. They were circling her feet, trying to climb up her shoes. She frantically stomped her feet to dislodge the worms latching onto her heels.
    Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Shana backing into a corner. Her eyes appeared huge and saucer-like as she stared at the worms crawling closer and closer to her. She wasn’t making a sound, but Linda could hear her shaking—as if her bones were rattling inside her quivering body.
    Todd dragged them