Page 27 (1/2)

“I aer of Fear He is the Game Master To each our own duty”

So like fruit froed a sickly white blob that forradually into a flattened cylinder Then upon one flat face of the cylinder, the pointed black hand of a clock Just one hand And just one number, at the top, where the twelve should have been That number was zero

While E else was growing fro vines, six of the as bullwhips

“The game is a puzzle of twelve and one,” the Game Master said “Twelve pieces that must be assembled in one minute”

“Can’t be too hard,” Liam said with bravado that I prayed was not misplaced “Where’s this twelve-part puzzle?”

The cracked-tooth mouth smiled a skull’s smile “This is your puzzle”

At that the bullwhip tendrils erupted into life, whirling around E, with a noise like old-style Venetian blinds being thrashed

The vines withdrew

E alike were marked with red lines She reminded me of charts I had seen in butcher’s shops of cows divided by roast and steak and rib

She blinked “Oh,” she gasped

Her arround No blood flowed The severed end was a perfect, s deep red a of tan flesh

Her scream rose in her throat and Liam bellowed in fear, and a second whip flew and a second piece dropped

“Oh, God! Oh, God!” I cried, fists pressed to my mouth so hard I drew blood

The whips flew and a hand, a leg, she toppled over and in ans cut through, intestines sluicing digested food that stopped as if by ic at the place where they were cut

The pieces lay scattered Eleven of thehand Emma’s head, mouth open in a soundless scream