BLANK. My mind went blank at Jookie's words, trying to decipher if he was fucking with us or not. But by the shit-eating grin glistening my way, my tongue knew he wasn't kidding.

Yaz stumbled against the island. "Wait. What?"

Dropping to her knees, Layla shivered, face crumbling into sobs. "God, no. Please."

"Plea-please be kidd-ding," Chi stammered, staring at Jookie with glassy eyes.

Aries looked shocked and nauseous, but he stood firm, hands in his hoodie.

Jookie let out a tantalizing laugh, eyes glittering like new gems. "No. You heard right." He motioned to the dead body like one of those models on The Price Is Right who points out the prizes. "You will be eating Tiran."

"Holy shit," I murmured, feeling my insides twist into a hard knot while my heart battered against my ribs. Two different emotions entered my body — disgust and excitement. Both very conflicting yet both made sense.

Jookie shrugged, tilting his chef's hat. "Not all of him. Just fifteen pounds per group."

Layla cried, wetness streaking down her cheeks. "Oh my god, I can't."

Aries gulped, peeking down at the corpse. "Fifteen pounds?"

"Yes. You have to dismember the body and weigh it out." Jookie pointed to the giant metal scale on the side countertop. "And then eat it."

"Please be lying. Let this all be one horrible joke," Chi said, burying her face into Aries' shoulder. Aries tried to look strong, but his cloudy complexion gave away his true feelings. He was scared.

Jookie clapped, jumping in place. "First team to eat the fifteen pounds wins. Your time limit was three hours, but I requested an extra hour for you guys. So now it's four."

"Gee thanks," Yaz muttered, wrinkling her nose.

Jookie grinned, head swiveling around to look at all of us. "Challenge starts now. Go."

Everyone stayed still, frozen in shock. Eerie silence and smothering tension veiled everything, the odor of the body swirling around us like a swarm of wasps wanting to attack.

Until my partner began sobbing her heart out again. Chi clutched onto Aries like he was a life jacket, and she was stuck at sea, face turning a sickly white.

Aries kept letting out breaths while muttering to himself. Yaz clutched the island, staring off into space.

My eyes landed on the corpse. Tiran. A couple of days ago he was alive and thriving. Smiling and laughing. Now we had to eat him, to sink our teeth into his pale flesh. Swallow his skin and tissue and taste the very essence that kept him alive — his blood.

I shuddered at my thoughts, a zing of raw eagerness zipping down my neck. These conflicting feelings were fucking with my mind. I didn't know what the fuck I should do.

Come on, let me do this. Shut up. You just want to cut open a dead body. So? Who wouldn't? Any sane person who's not a doctor or a mortician. Pish Posh, whatever. We have to do this to survive, numbnuts. I don't need you.

Hahaha, that's laughable. You couldn't do the last challenge without me. And now you have to eat human flesh. Just let me in.

No. I've grown stronger. I don't need you. Yeah, right. I will do this without you. Really? How? Look what happened the last time you did that? You lost. You want to lose again? Huh? And die? I don't care. I will not let you win. I won't turn into that darkness. Ever.

No, you won't because you'll be voted off and killed. Dead.

I glanced at Tiran's body, a deep yearning sliding up my tummy at the thought of slicing him open. Swift shame clouded my brain, knowing my yearning wasn't a normal or healthy desire.

Oh, it's healthy, baby. Shut up.

Sliding over to the corner, my forehead became ice when I placed it against the cold walls, a deep breath shifting through my lungs. I could do this alone. Without Tini. I could.

Images of my hands smeared with red fluid, leaking with spongy tissue, exploring every inch of that body shifted through my mind like a slideshow. My mouth salivated, dripping down the corners of my lips like a dog wanting a big bone.

I shivered, panting like an addict. No— stop this.

Fuck this pity party shit. You need me. No. Fine then — die. You'll never see your family again.

My heart paused mid-beat, blood running cold. Tim. Angie. I closed my eyes, skin becoming hotter by the second. I wanted to see them again. To hug them — to laugh with them again.

But I couldn't — a choking breath cut off my thoughts, scratching at my esophagus, roaming downward until it gripped my tummy. A tingle ransacked my brain, reminding me of a harsh brain freeze. Then like water spewing through a broken dam, Tini swam to the surface, hard and fast.

Head popping back, breath leaving my body in a long pant, everything simmered for a second, before normalizing. Swirls of blissfulness soared throughout my body once Tini settled in place, taking over everything.

It's nice to be back.

Cracking my neck to the side, I turned toward the corpse, enthusiasm jetting across my chest like a junkie eyeing their fix.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

"I'm guessing you're not gonna help?" I asked my partner, staring down at her.

Layla trembled. "I-I can't-t."

Chi buried her face into Aries' arm while he took deep breaths, trying to calm his existence.

"Dear Lord Tyaco," he muttered, closing his eyes.

Yaz stood still at the island, eye closed.

Guess I would be doing the cutting alone. Excellent.

Skipping to the edge of the wheeled table, I leaned over the corpse, hands pressed against the metal edges. With my eyes only, blue laser-like lines materialized onto Tiran's pale skin, coiling and zipping around his body like the Marauder's Map, letting me figure out the best places to cut.

Once I'd planned my route, I grinned, so wide that my cheekbones met my eyes. Heart racing, light twitches masked my fingers, itching to get deep into that body.

Fingers pulling my long curly hair into a high bun, letting a few loose curls escape, I cracked my knuckles, totally ready now. In my mind, I felt like a kid about to go to his first toy store.

My own dead body. The first experience had been tainted by the other contestants in the first challenge. But this time, I got first dibs. I'd be the first to explore every gooey crevice. The first to slice and investigate the brain and body of Tiran, a savage rapist with daddy issues.

A delicious quiver shot up my collarbone, radiating all down my tummy. "Jookie," I said, my tone soft and sultry.

Jookie gazed at me, eyes filling with some emotion. "Yes?"

My fingers pressed against the clammy skin of the corpse. "Can I request some tools?"

He licked his lips. "You can have anything you want, my delectable peach."

Meeting his glittering eyes, I pursed my lips. "I'd like a surgical scalpel, a heavy-duty meat cleaver, a skinning knife, a boning knife, a butcher's knife and a chef's knife. Also, a hammer and a chisel and a huge basin." Salvia flooded my mouth as I rambled off my list. "And some hair clippers."

Jookie snapped his fingers, eyes never leaving mine. "Go motherfuckers. Get my peach whatever she wants."

"Thank you," I said, lowering my eyes, the blue lines still visible. The brain. I'd start with the brain first.

A guard stomped into the room with a large silver tray, reminding me of the kind seen in surgical rooms at hospitals. The tray sparkled with metal tools, a shimmer of happiness floating behind my eyelids. Picking up the scalpel, it shined like a diamond in the light.

Jookie slid around me, walking over to the window where the others were probably watching. The window wouldn't let us see out, but I knew they were watching us, especially me.

I didn't care who was watching. With this body in front of me, nothing else mattered but me and it. The cutting and exploring excited me the most, but eating the flesh didn't sit too well with me. But if I was being honest, I was curious to see what human flesh tasted like. Wouldn't you be?

We eat animals and their products every day, skin and all. Aren't you curious on what you, a predator, taste like?

"Would you like some coveralls? Gloves?" Jookie asked, eyeing me.

"Nah, I don't need them." I slid over to the head of the body, grabbing the hair clippers. My eyes met his again as I plugged the clippers into the island. "I like to get messy."

Jookie let out a low growl. "You know how to make a man feel good, my delicious peach."

Laughing, I stared at the head, analyzing it. Anatomy class taught me that the brain weighed about three pounds. Removing it would leave me with only twelve pounds left to get.

An annoying buzzing permeated the room when I turned the clippers on. The clippers stripped Tiran of his hair in long strokes. Anyone could tell that he had spent lots of money maintaining this mane, but now it was just trash at my feet.

Once bald, I tossed the clippers to the side and grabbed the scalpel again. It fit perfectly in my hand, reminding me of the way a wizard must feel when they find their perfect wand.

Staring down at the body, a thrill zinged through my chest, making my heart pound. This corpse was like a blank canvas ready to be used. Or a stunning art piece that waited to be scrutinized and examined—oh god!

While grinning, the edge of the blade punctured the cold forehead skin, going deep enough to hit the skull. It made a soft tack noise when it connected, soft rivulets of red sliding down Tiran's face and into his dead eyes before dropping onto the metal table.

From watching multiple medical videos, I swerved the blade to the right and all the way around his head until I connected with the original incision, soft droplets painting his pale skin, sliding down his face and ears.

Plop!

His scalp slumped off his head and onto the floor, revealing his skull. I giggled. Sticky fluid drenched the red-tinted skull, an intense metallic odor fanning my senses.

I bent down, picking up the scalp. It felt sticky and rubbery, and I tossed it at the one-sided window. Plop! The scalp stuck to the glass like well-done spaghetti, squeaking all the way down to the floor.

My lips released a joyful laugh before grabbing the hammer and chisel. "Jookie?"

"Yes!" he answered, almost like he was lost in a trance.

"Can you hold the body up at an angle for me?" I asked.

A wide grin plastered his face. "Of course, my bloody peach." He sauntered over, picking the body up off the table and angling it at me. Perfect.

I smiled at him. "Thank you," I said, tone sweet.

He licked his lips, never taking his eyes off me.

With the torso raised up at a ninety-degree angle, thin streams of blood leaked from the open head, falling down the corpse's face and neck. Beautiful.

Placing the chisel in the middle of his skull, the hammer smashed down on it. Clack! And again. Clack! And again. And again, with all of my might and strength—

A bone-chilling crack infiltrated the entire area, gloppy fluid squirting me in the face at the same time. I licked my lips, tasting a salty flavor.

Chi gasped, a queasy expression on her face. "That's so dis-disgusting! Eww."

I shrugged, licking my lips again. "I watched you suck dick on camera and didn't judge you. Nice stroke game by the way."

Jookie snickered, almost dropping the body. Aries just glowered at me, eyes filled with hatred.

Her eyes widened like marshmallows, face reddening. "T-that's different."

"Don't see how? We both swallowed something. You just swallowed more."

Yaz burst out laughing, shoulders trembling.

Chi clenched her fist, cheeks puffed out. "You crazy bitch—"

Aries caressed her arm. "Just calm down."

Not wanting them to mess up my perfect experience, I ignored them and went back to my work. Hammering the chisel into the skull, I kept making hole after hole until the whole top crumbled into huge jagged pieces. And that's when I saw it. The brain.

Tiny slithers of delight invaded my tummy. Oh baby, it was beautiful. Sinking my fingers into the deep, soggy head cavity to grip the underside of the brain, it felt like my hands touched the finest piece of silk, softer than any meat or anything I've ever felt before.

Rescuing the alluring specimen from its tight confinement, it rested in my hands, dripping with sticky clear liquid and thick crimson.

In my own perfect world, a luminous halo centered the massive organ, blinding my retinas. So disgustingly magnificent and elegant.

I let out an eager breath. "It's so beautiful."

"Yes, it is," Jookie said, looking at it.

Upon closer inspection, the brain resembled crazy tubes glued tight together or frozen in red-tinted grease. Soupy fluid leaked down the snug ridges. An indented line at the top molded the organ into two, reminding me of the natural crease of two ass cheeks.

It took several minutes for me to get out of my awe state before I cut the cord, severing the brain from the body. Kissing the top of the brain once, the sticky softness brushing my lips, I gently put the gorgeous organ into the large basin.

Three pounds down — twelve more to go. I giggled. This was a dream come true.

♟♙♟