BooksBarbecue
Back The Game
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. NOW
  4. One
  5. BEFORE
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. NOW
  26. Twenty-One
  27. BEFORE
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. NOW
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. BEFORE
  48. Forty
  49. Forty-One
  50. Forty-Two
  51. Forty-three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. NOW
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. Fifty-Three
  63. Fifty-Four
  64. Fifty-Five
  65. AFTER
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Acknowledgements
  68. About the Author

‘I don’t care if you live or die, I don’t care if you live or die, I DON’T CARE IF YOU LIVE OR DIE.’

Mark tried to shut out the screams coming from Natasha, but instead they filled his head. He struggled against what he wanted to do. To say. To walk away and never look back. To let it happen.

He breathed in deeply and the feeling evaporated.

‘That’s what she really thinks of you. Do you see it now? This is what they are. They’re liars and cheats. I can get rid of her, just like the rest. I can send her to the other place, so she’ll suffer for what she’s done. She hates you. She hates us all.’

‘I don’t care,’ Mark replied, but he could hear the anger in his tone. He knew John could hear it too. ‘That’s not why I tried to save her.’

‘You really need to work on your lying skills. Maybe I can help you there. You couldn’t see my lies earlier and you’re used to dealing with liars. I’ve got so good at it over time. No one knows a thing I do now. My family have no idea what I’ve been doing for the past year. Just constantly complaining that I spend too much time on my computer – then moaning when I disappear for a few days to do what I’ve been doing. They’ve never suspected a thing. I killed a man while he was eating fast food at a service station. Came back and it was like it never happened. They didn’t even wonder where the hoodie I’d been wearing had gone. It was covered in his blood. Do you know how that feels? Do you know what real power is? You should try it now. Take the power back.’

‘I don’t need to.’

‘Think about it, Mark… can I call you Mark? I feel like I know you now. I can see how much it hurts you to be rejected by her. It’s there, written all over your face. There’s so many of us out there, just like you.’ He shone the light across the faces of the men standing close by, each of them wearing faces of what Mark could only describe as barely constrained glee. They were enjoying this. All of them. Enjoying the feeling of power they had.

‘Only, we’ve found a different path,’ John continued, his chest puffing out. ‘A different way. Sure, I bet you could forget about her within a few days. Find some other slut to warm your bed. But you won’t want that, will you? You were willing to do so much for her and she just… she just doesn’t care. That’s not right.’