Book Five, Chapter 96: The Athlete
"You're here?" I asked, but it was more of an accusation. My heart was beating, my muscles tensed.
I was standing. I wasn’t lying on the ground bleeding out anymore. I wasn’t gored by the claws of a wolf.
I was wearing my cardigan again. Jeans. I was me.
What a disappointment—to die after exerting every ounce of my will, to finally be done, only to be reminded that this was all a sick game.
Silas, the mechanical showman, stood about fifteen feet away, the front of his box pointed directly at me in the clearing.
There were no wolves. Kimberly was gone. Sarah—or Serena, whatever her name was—was gone too.
It was just me and Silas. The expressionless puppet.
Suddenly, I remembered our time in the forest so long ago, when he appeared to me, offering me my prize.
And when I pressed the button, I sealed my fate: acquiring Bad Luck Magnet and beginning my hundred years of torment.