Cross off as many items as you could from the list.
If you skip an item, you lose.
If you tell anyone why youre doing what youre doing, you lose.
Twenty20 / onlysuperstition
If youre unable to complete the entire list in under 24 hours, you lose.
Make a superhero costume out of tin foil.
Eat a spoonful of hot sauce.
Run around the track ten times.
And, of course, the teachers would throw in some philanthropic stuff to make it a learning experience.
Feed a homeless person.
Twenty20 / onlysuperstition
But thats not what happened at all.
I wasnt exactly sure what that last part meant, but I scribbled down my sisters name.
If they asked her for money, so what, she owed me two hundred anyway.
I got drunk on fireball that night.
It was called something likeHell Hunt?
No, it wasThe Sinners Scavenge.
Yeah, that was it.
No official page appeared, but I found a site containing reviews, all of which were negative.
The first one, which had been upvoted thirty times, said:
They have the perfect thing going.
Theyd be in jail for life.
Get the death penalty, even.
hey, if you havent signed up yet, then dont.
If you might erase your name, do it.
But its probably too late.
Theyve probably found you already.
I didnt understand what that meant until I read a little further down.
Someone else explained how the mysterious people in charge do their research.
They track phones, find addresses, peer through windows into darkened bedrooms.
Of course, I thought that was all a bunch of bullshit.
Chalked it up to a hoax, a practical joke, something to scare drunks and druggies.
I assumed Id never hear about it again.
That I could forget about it.
Until I woke up with a red dot on my chest.
The sight from a sniper rifle.
And then it flashed off, the red fading to black, leaving me in darkness.
If you skip an item, you lose.
If you tell anyone why youre doing what youre doing, you lose.
If youre unable to complete the entire list in under 24 hours, you lose.
And so do you.
A photograph came attached to the message, containing a handwritten list of six items.
The first one appeared in blood red marker, but the rest were blurred out.
Impossible to read, so I had no idea of what was to come.
Well, that wasnt going to fucking happen.
Unless I could capture one of the rats that scampered down the city streets.
Or snatch a bird from its nest.
I wouldnt hurt a bird.
I wouldnt hurt a goddamn fly.
I tossed in my bed, but the light from the sniper rifle hit my chest again.
I only owned one pet, a dog, Hunter, and he was overdue for his nail trimming.
I had a pair of doggie clippers still in their wrapping, unused.
I could use them.
I could cut too far.
I could make him bleed, just a little, just enough to save my sister.
It would only hurt for a second.
He trusted me not to hurt him.
He knew I wouldnt let anything bad happen to him.
Before I even lifted the clippers, I could picture him whimpering.
Tilting his head, wondering if I did it on purpose, if he did something wrong.
I refused to hurt my dog.
Were categorized under the kingdom of Animalia.
Im technically an animal.
I drew blood from an animal.
There you fucking go.
My phone dinged while I was peeling open a bandaid.
The message contained another photograph with the second item revealed.
I must have checked off the first item, then.
For one blissful second, Id been hoping I could find a loophole for each item.
But none of my teeth were artificial or even loose.
My friends all hated me back in middle school, because I was the only one without braces.
I got on my knees and rummaged beneath my kitchen sink, where I kept a tool kit.
Found a pair of pliers.
Rinsed them under hot water, as if that would lower my risk of infection.
Might as well get it over with.
Pull on the count of three.
One…
Did I have any other options?
He would shoot me down before I got anywhere near a station or dialed 911.
And then hed kill Linda.
I could have my dentist fix the damage during an emergency appointment, but how long would that take?
The hunt had to be completed in 24 hours.
I had four items left and who knew how long they would last?
I couldnt spare an hour.
And I couldnt risk getting an anesthetic, having my brain too fuzzy to function.
Three…
Fuck it.
I had to wiggle and yank.
Trying hard not to stare into the mirror at the strings of pink hanging from my raw gums.
I could handle that.
I could treat her like an actual human being.
She answered the door on the ninth knock, still in her pajamas, a yawn on her lips.
What are you doing here, Donnie?
I could have placed a rag over he mouth and watched her go limp.
But, believe it or not, I didnt own any roofies or chloroform.
Didnt know where to get them on such short notice, either.
So I showed up with a gun.
The same gun our father had gifted me for my eighteenth birthday.
She looked confused when I placed it against her temple.
Even more confused when I handed her the rope.
Tie yourself up, I said, sounding lispy from the gauze still in my mouth.
When I didnt budge, she swatted at my arm, a silentput down the gun.
I cocked it instead.
Do you need money?
I have the money I borrowed.
More too, if you want it.
I pushed her back further.
Gestured to a chair.
Told her to sit.
I tied lengths of rope to both hands, both ankles, securing them to the chair.
Did she really think Id hurt her?
My phone went off before I could ask.
How the hell was I supposed to do that without ruining our relationship?
Without scarring her for life?
What kind of excuse could I use?
I was going to look like a sick fuck.
An incestuous nut job.
There was no coming back from that.
But Id take her life over my reputation.
Linda, listen, I said.
Im going to untie you for a second and I need you to…
I ran a hand through my hair.
Can you take off that gown?
Theres blood on it.
What the hell are you on?
I stood behind her, placed my hands on her shoulders, and slid down the pale purple straps.
Ill give you something else to change into.
Ill get it from your closet.
What do you want?
She twisted her neck and clamped down on my hand.
Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to leave a lasting mark.
A normal fucking brother.
Or a restraining order.
Get me out of here.
Its not funny anymore.
Thats when I realized Id never get the picture if I untied her.
Wrestle the gun from my hand and knock me out cold.
As my mind was shuffling through my choices, I thought of earlier.
The scissors against my skin.
While I sidestepped over to snatch them, she rocked her chair until it fell backward.
Now she was on the floor, on her back, and I left her there.
Ill promise Ill pay for it, I said.
Ill buy you a new one.
But she heard the ding, her eyebrows furrowing as I checked my final message.
The last two tasks came together:
Like that was actually a choice.
I wondered how many sick fucks forced a loved one to kill themselves to save their own ass.
I wondered how they lived with themselves.
No wonder the police never heard about the hunt.
The only people who survived were selfish cunts.
Who just texted you?
Linda asked, watching me drop my phone and crunch it beneath my feet.
Did someone make you do this?
you could tell me, Don.
With the phone destroyed, no one would know why I did what I did.
All the evidence, gone.
I was going to die having my family think of me as a monster.
As the key in of guy who threatens my sister at gunpoint and then gets her naked.
She had every reason to kill me.
Except, if I handed her the gun and ordered her to do it, she wouldnt.
Shed say I was sick.
Shed take a stab at get me help.
Shed call a psychiatric hospital and have them transport me somewhere safe.
Who covered for her when she snuck out to parties.
Who beat the shit out of the first guy who broke her heart.
That I was no longer the boy she remembered.
Or that the boy had never existed in the first place.
And I started my speech.
I told her about how I used to sneak into her room to watch her sleep.
How I used to masturbate over the thought of her.
How I used to steal her bras and underwear.
And how, now, I watch little girls on the playground, because they look just like her.
I made her believe I deserved to die.
So she didnt have to.
And for a second, I really thought I succeeded.
I thought she would reach for the gun.
Instead, she gave a sad smile and said, You went to the Alibi Pub?
The one my ex works at.
You signed up for the hunt, too.
I tried to talk over her.
Tried to cut her off.Dont tell anyone why youre doing what youre doing.
Dont talk about the hunt.
Dont mention the hunt.
Remember those scavenger hunts we used to do when we were kids?
I signed up for one.
I didnt know what it was.
I only crossed off the first item so far.
I killed a bluebird.
Smashed him with a rock.
Is this one of the other tasks?
I dont know if I can do anymore.
