He traces the side of her smooth face with his fingers, running them down to her jaw, and stopping at her collar bones. It was as if he was a sculptor, his fingers the brush, and her face the sculpture itself. He leans down and places a soft chaste kiss on one of her prominent collar bones. His hands slide up in front of them, right below her neck, in a choking hold. He presses his thumbs into her delicate tan skin, ever so lightly.

Her eyes flutter open, showing endless darkness he could find himself falling into, void of any and every emotion. "So, what, now you're going to kill me in my sleep?"

"Just playing the role you gave me," he tells her.

"We both settled that you weren't right for it," she responds.

"How did you know?" he asks as he releases his hold on her. Nikki takes a deep breath in.

"You're too obvious," she tells him. He gives her a puzzled look. "Your eyes give you away," she further explains. "Why didn't you take the real pill, Schmitty?"

Schmitty ignores her question as he runs the back of his hand on her neck up to her jawline and looks into her eyes, "I marble at your beauty, you know?"

"I know-" she says, silence following, "you could never resist a pretty face.
He starts caressing her cheek as he stares intently at her. "Is it me who could never resist a pretty face?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but what can you do? You're only human after all," she says and sits up, his hands falling onto the bedding, and starts buttoning her black dress shirt with the collar still raised.

He watches her for a second before he speaks, "then what does that make you?" His words fall flat as they let them hang over their heads. The deafening silence overtakes them, causing unnerving tension.

He places his legs on either side of hers and gently massages her shoulder as he leans his head next to her ear and whispers, "It baffles me how you can look like an angel and yet be the devil incarnate." His words are once again met with silence.

She breaks the silence, her voice coming out in disgust toward his word choices, "Don't flatter me." She abruptly stands up, leaving his hands to fall limb at his side once again. He stares at her for a moment, admiring her beauty. She looks at him straight in the eyes and speaks in a warning tone, "you're no better than me."

And he knew the words she spoke were true. He wasn't better than her, not anymore. She walks toward her closet and pulls out a checkered pattern dress, only causing flashbacks in his head. He opens the small dresser next to him and pulls out a gun, examining it. "No. I guess I'm not."

She turns around and watches him carefully, acknowledging the gun in his hands. "What was the plan, Schmitty?"

As they reach the hotel doors Schmitty looks over at Aaron, "I'm not sure how to pretend to take a pill."

"It's simple," Aaron assures him, "because you're going to be taking this instead." He takes out a similar pill wrapped in paper. "It will not affect you."

"She'll know," Schmitty warns him.

"There's no doubt in my mind, but she also keeps a gun in a drawer. You get to that, you're safe."

"You want me to shoot her?"

"No, I want you to get the answer you want. She doesn't respond to weakness and you know that."

"What good would answers do me if I'm dead?"

"Then don't die," he tells him and steps inside the hotel.

Nikki busts out laughing as she stares at him. "Oh- why am I not surprised? Of course, you'd want more answers."

"And you're going to give them to me."

Nikki sighs, "very well. I'll play."

"What was in the safe?"

Her eyes widen in mischievous, "why don't you open it and find out for yourself?"

"I already did, it was empty."

"Guess someone didn't trust your rampant mind enough to leave you alone with things, huh." She shrugs and inputs her code, the safe opens to reveal fake passports, money, and ids. She takes one out and looks it over before towing it toward Schmitty. "This what you want?" He looks it over and finds his face but with a different name. James Delores.

He scoffs, "no wonder the name sounded so familiar."

"Yeah- interesting how your mind works," she says with a shrug. "Anyway, shall we continue the tour?" she says with a cheerful tone. She taps on the wall of the dresses and Schmitty's eyes widen as the door moves, creating an opening filled with narrow stairs. "Come on," she says and starts bouncing up the stairs.

Schmitty follows closely behind her. "You know, you could have just asked nicely. Didn't have to threaten me," she tells him. He couldn't see her but he knew she had a wide smile on his face. Schmitty scoffs and rolls his eyes at her.

"I wish it hadn't come to this," he tells her earnestly.

"I know," she says with a sadder tone. They reach the end of the stairs and enter a room filled with light from the windows, sunbathing it in glory. Schmitty immediately recognized it. There was a throne in the center, a table filled with a small chessboard, and the walls were covered in red and black tiles throughout.

"Is it how you remember it?" she asks as he takes it all in.

"It's so simple," he tells her.

"What were you expecting? A huge wall covered with my worst sins? My worst crimes maybe? My plans laid down in front of you?" she shakes her head, "I would never make it that easy."

"That's an understatement," he says as he walks over to the chessboard. "Who plays this?"

"I do."

"But it makes no sense," he says, examining the pieces.

"Not to you maybe, to me, it makes perfect sense." She walks closer to it, and points at one of the pieces, "I move them depending on how my ideas will work." She grabs the rook and moves it next to the Queen, "seems like you're finally next to me."

"The rook has a special move... Will you be my Rook?"

Schmitty can barely make out the words as the screeching of a swing sounds over it. "Having flashbacks, love?"

He glares at her, only causing her to giggle. She walks over to the throne, "this is fun. Watching you crumble down in front of me." He gives her another glare. "Don't blame me Schmitty. It's not my fault I like physical, mental, or emotional pain."

"And you got all of them from me? Didn't you?"

She shrugs, as her eyes drift to the bottom of the table but quickly back to Schmitty. Schmitty narrows his eyes to a grinning Nikki. He places his hands under the table and steps back as the chessboard slides away, revealing papers. He grabs the first one and looks it over. "A fake birth certificate? Why?"

"I think you should put that gun down before you hurt yourself." She looks up at him, "unless you finally got the guts to use it."

"Why is there a fake birth certificate Nikki?"

"Oh, that's not even the best part of my plan, but I'm not going to just tell you everything with words. You have to actually make the connections." She looks at the clock and holds up a finger and in a warning tone says, "but I think it's time for you to leave Schmitty before the cops come."

"You called the cops," he asks, surprised.

"Oh- I did better than call them. Send them a home video, would you like to see?" Nikki presses a button from the controller she held. Before he can object, a projector opens from the ceiling and starts playing a small video of Schmitty burying a body and smiling at the camera. Schmitty falls on his knees as the memory comes back to him. Nikki sits up, leaning her head on her arm, watching him as the projector keeps playing pictures where he is the center of them all.

"Ahhhh-" Schmitty screams as he watches and the images come crashing down on him like a boulder hitting him repeatedly.

"Do what you do best Schmitty- run," she whispers in his ears as the pictures keep appearing.

"You set me up," he yells at her through the pain.

"But I'm also giving you an out. I'd take it, because when they get here. I'm telling them everything I know about my psychopathic husband who fooled me when all I did was love him."

She stops the player and takes away and with the heel of her foot and slides the gun away to the other side. Schmitty stands up and walks toward the door, stumbling. "Maybe we will meet again, Schmitty. Start over?"

"I'll always come back to you, right?" he says in sarcasm as he walks away.

"And I'll be waiting here," she whispers with a smile, watching his retreating figure.

After Schmitty left, Nikki called the rest of the boys. They gather inside the small room as Aaron presents her with a silver box and a red button. She lightly runs her hand over it as she asks, "so this will blow up the whole building correct?"

"Yes," Aaron gulps. All three boys look down to the ground as they await their faith. "And are you guys willing to go down with the ship?"

"We sealed our faith when we chose to work for you," Aaron tells her as they all nod.

"I always admire loyalty," she tells them as she presses the button, starting the clock down.

"My son and wife get to live like royalty," Aaron tells them.

Nikki moves her gaze to Callum who stares intently at her, "you helped me when I was on the run and my sister got to live life."

"I do miss your sister, Callum," Nikki tells him with a smile.

"I never even had a family since my parents abandoned me, but I was given one with you minus the other stuff."

They huddle up together as Nikki watches the clock from her throne. "Nikki, why did you choose Schmitty?" Aaron speaks up.

Nikki turns her flickering attention to him for a second but places it back on the clock. "He was special," she reminisces, "So nice, I had to test his morals."

The clock hits 1 and the building erupts in flames, engulfing everything and everyone in its way.

Schmitty had managed to make it a few distances away but the blast flew him into a nearby dumpster where he effectively lost consciousness. When he woke up, there were blue and red lights flashing in the distance, making him question what had happened. He blinks several times and notices the smoke coming from somewhere close. He manages to move away paper and rubble as he makes his way onto the open street where he sees the last building he would have expected crumbled to the ground. The big neon sign had been pulverized along with everything else and nearby buildings as well.

Schmitty starts stumbling toward the building that was surrounded by a crowd of people, cops, and ambulances, but the only thing on his mind was Nikki. He starts running but is stopped by an officer. Schmitty turns his wild eyes towards him as he looks over at the 4 body bags being covered. He grips the officer's shirt and pulls on them, "Nikki- where is she?"

"Sir- Oh- Mr. Hawthorn," the officer is surprised as he looks over at Satormy and nods towards him, gripping Schmitty's hands.

"Did she make it out?"

The guy bites his lip and looks pitifully at Schmitty as he says, "I'm sorry but they have identified the people and one of them is Nikki Hawthorn along with Callum Henderson, Aaron Slits, and Quin Beckens."

"Nooo," Schmitty says as he falls on his knees, the tears falling from his eyes. "It can't be- she knew I was coming back. I always come back," he tells the officer. Schmitty stands up and tries once more to see the body, "I need to see her- please," he pleads.

"Schmitty Hawthorn," Officer Satormy approaches with handcuffs, "you're under arrest for multiple murders."

"I can't go, officer- not until I see her," Schmitty tells him and pushes past them toward the 4 people. He uncovers the first sheet to reveal Aaron. Schmitty gives him a sad smile as he tells him, "I'm so sorry this happened to you. To all of you," he tells them. He moves towards the last one and sees a hand sticking out, as Satormy approaches him again. He recognizes the rainbow-colored nail polish and well-manicured nails immediately and stars bawling like a baby. He can feel as his heart thumps louder and louder with every passing second, deafening. He takes a long breath, unable to remove it but the curiosity was too much. He unveils the sheet and lets out a whimper.

Nikki's limb body laid perfectly still, her checkered dress was in tatters as cuts covered her body. Her hair looked like it had been in a fire but to Schmitty she still looked beautiful. He looks into her blue eyes and starts pleading to her dead body, "please tell me it's not true." He sniffles, wiping away the tears, "I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry. I love you. I know I shouldn't have pushed you. Everything would have been fine if I had just listened to you." The tears trickle down his face and splatter on the concrete like small raindrops. "Come back to me," he says as he runs a hand over her face.

Officer Satormy comes from behind him and grabs his hands as he begins handcuffing them, "you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," he states but Schmitty is no longer listening anymore. He wasn't focused when officer Satormy cuffed his hands, or when he dragged him toward the police car, or when he drove him to the police station.

All Schmitty could do was stare at the window, at the prominent scene behind him as he muttered to himself, "it can't be" over and over again.

***

The time was just past midnight, the rain poured down on the roof of the police station as thunder rumbled throughout the whole thing. People buzzed around at the commotion that had happened today, with the news replaying the videos multiple times. They had to deal with the aftermath of the explosion and figure out what had happened, identify names of those who were murdered as well as inform their families, and deal with the leak of information about the capture of the so-called 'game master.' This led to Satormy being the only one allowed to question Schmitty.

Schmitty sat alone in a small interrogation room with a big window, staring at the wall opposite to him, replaying every moment with Nikki in his mind. His hands were still cuffed as he intertwined them together, leaning forward, and smiled at the empty wall as he pictured her. He could still smell the perfume she wore, but now it was mixed with the smell of burnt ashes. Although he couldn't see the chaos, he could feel it and that only made it more painful.

Satormy bursts through the door and throws a stack of papers on the table as he looks directly at an ashen-faced Schmitty. "Are you ready to talk?"

Schmitty looks up gloomily at him, "I need to go to the bathroom- please." His voice sounds rough from the lack of liquid.

Satormy sighs and nods at him to follow him. As they walk through the hall, Schmitty drags his feet as a couple of people have gathered. "You monster," someone yells and he can feel spit land on his face.

"Get them out of here," Satormy yells at the other officers who drag the people away. Schmitty doesn't look up but keeps walking to the bathroom. He goes in and does his business. When he comes out, he is shocked to his core about how he looked. His eyes were red and sunken, his under eyes looked darker, and his whole face just looked tired. He turns on the faucet and splashes the cold water on his face, as tears begin to fall down. His heart ached inside him, and there was nothing to relieve the pain.

After a few moments, a knock comes through the door and Satormy calls, "Are you done?"

Schmitty uses all of his willpower to move again and they walk back in silence to the room. Schmitty resumes his quietness, ignoring the files on the table, as Satormy leaves and comes back with two cups of coffee. He places one down in front of Schmitty and takes a seat in front of him.

Schmitty looks at the cup before drifting his attention to the officer and speaking, "I already confessed, what more do you want?" he croaks out.

"I want you to help me give the families peace of mind. I need names and body counts."

"Names?" Schmitty says with narrow eyes as if he had never heard of such a word. He chuckles and grabs the cup in front of him, nourishing his dry mouth with the hot liquid. "She never liked knowing their names. I would sometimes ask, but I don't remember them all. I barely remember most things."

Satormy squints his eyes and pulls his chair closer. With a raised eyebrow he asks, "she?"

Schmitty nods his head and he begins to break down again, "she."

"Who? Nikki? Your wife?"

Schmitty looks up at him and starts laughing hysterically. His eyes seem to darken as he stares directly into the officers and points at him, "you almost had me, officer." Satormy examines him but remains quiet as Schmitty keeps talking. "I might as well tell you everything right, considering, she's gone, and keeping her secret is pointless but I don't think I feel like it."

"Are you telling me Nikki Hawthorn was the mastermind behind this?"

Schmitty looks offended, "I didn't tell you anything."

A knock comes from the door and a big gruff guy with a bald head peeks through the doorway. "A moment? Officer Satormy?" he asks.

"Of course commander," Satormy responds and makes his way.

"Ohhh- Someones in trouble," Schmitty says in a sing-song voice and chuckles. The door closes behind them, leaving Schmitty alone again.

"Commander," Satormy speaks as they both look through the window at Schmitty who seemed to be delirious as he laughed and cried at the wall.

"Did he confess?"

"Yes sir."

"Then why are you still wasting time with him and not helping the rest of the station?"

"Commander, there's something that doesn't add up. He just told me his wife was the person in control," Satormy explains.

"Well she's dead and he seems to have been there as well, so he's getting charged."

"Of course sir. The families deserve justice but I still want to know what we're missing. Like who were those guys with her and why wasn't he there?"

The commander sighs and places a hand on his shoulder, "You're a good cop- so if you want to talk to this monster, then I'll let you, but I need you to wrap it up quickly. Get what you can, maybe we're missing names and places."

"I will sir," Satormy says with a nod of his head.

"Do you think you'd be able to get anything out of him?" he asks as they watch Schmitty shake his head repeatedly. "Seems like he's lost it to me."

"I think he's breaking down."

"Carry on then. I have to deal with the outside," the commander says and walks away as he shakes his head. Satormy takes a deep breath and walks into the interrogation room again.

"Oh- the prodigal son has returned," Schmitty mocks as Satormy sits back in his seat. "I missed you, it was getting kind of lonely here."

Satormy gives him a hard look, "I need you to cut the crap and tell me everything from the beginning."

Schmitty leans his head back in a bored manner, "why do you want to go there. I'm already burdening myself carrying all her secrets, trust me, it's not fun."

"You keep using words like she and her, so it is Nikki.

Schmitty shrugs, "could have been."

"What does that mean?" Satormy exasperates.

"Why can't you just take me to jail already? I don't want to be here," Schmitty tells him.

"Because I know there's more and I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't know everything."

"What's missing? You got your serial killer right here who is ready to go to jail but you can't seem to do it. Besides, you won't believe my story if I told you so just take me away already," he pleads.

"Try me," Satormy tells him.

Schmitty smirks and asks, "over a game of chess?"

It was morning by now as they kept playing the game. The rain had cleared and the sun was shining brightly above the whole town. Schmitty had told him pieces of his story from the beginning, of things he could remember. He knew all of his crimes and killing but there were still conversations missing that he might never remember but he didn't mind.

"So you're telling me you took these pills and they took away your memories?" Satormy asks with confusion.

"Nope," Schmitty crunches his face, confusing himself but then shakes his head. "The pills helped me get rid of emotions and guilt, make me into a-"

"Psychopath," Satormy finishes for him. "Just like her?"

Schmitty nods his head, "just like her. At first, I didn't get why she went through all this trouble, you know. Even called me special, but then I knew." Satormy looks at him expectantly. "She never had kind people in her life so having someone who was offering her that kindness seemed to bring out a desire to prove the world that even the best people can fall."

"But you didn't mean to, did you?"

"I willingly took the pills over and over again. I was even turning around to go back to her."

Satormy's eyes widen, "but she did so much damage to you."

"Have you ever been in love, officer?"

Satormy shakes his head and says, "but even then. She drugged you and made you a killer."

Schmitty sighs and looks up fondly at him, "I willingly take the bad to have the good. She might have been a manipulative psychopath who was incapable of love, but she was the love of my life. No one could ever compare to her or make me feel the way she did."

"She's making you pay for all her crimes."

"Yea, she is."

"And you're just okay with that?"

"It was a long road to accepting it. I was in denial for most of the time, trying not to believe those flashbacks, until they all crashed down and I couldn't. It doesn't matter because I'm in custody and she's dead. Even now, I don't want to believe our love was a lie."

The room falls silent for a few seconds but is broken as Satormy asks, "So there are more bodies that you might not even know about?"

Schmitty purses his lips as he thinks about it, "definitely but good news for you. All the ones in these files are all the murders I assisted with. Not necessarily committed by myself but I did help with them."

Satormy looks through the files and takes out 4 pictures, placing them on the table. Schmitty mulls them over and closes his eyes as he hears words in the back of his head. "What do these tattoos of chess pieces mean?"

Schmitty is about to answer when there is a knock on the door and they both turn their attention towards the young cadet that enters the room. Schmitty tilts his head in amusement, making the cadet nervous. "I was told- that umm- he needs his medication," he stammers, avoiding eye contact from him. "His- sister- saw the news and- dropped it off. It's his- medication."

"Sure," Satormy says as he focuses on the pictures and writes what Schmitty has told him.

"Thank you," Schmitty tells the boy who gives Schmitty a small paper. Schmitty unwraps the paper to reveal a checkered colored pill. He rolls it over his hand, examining it multiple times as he responds to the officer's question. "They were the pieces we all played. She has a bigger plan, you know?"

Satormy looks up at Schmitty who swallows the pill. "Do you know what it is?"

"Yeah," Schmitty says with a chuckle, "I do."

Satormy give shim wide eyes, "well- can you tell me?"

"I can, but then you won't have time to go chase her yourself," Schmitty responds and gives him a knowing look. Satormy's eyes widen as he runs out of the room muttering a single," fuck." Schmitty grabs the picture he recognizes to be his and looks at the Rook tattooed on his neck as he recalls her words, slowly losing consciousness but with a smile on his face. She had told him her plan since the beginning.

"The rook has a special move... Will you be my Rook?"

"I will be your Rook." 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

THE END... 

Just kidding, I always love when authors mess with us like that. But it is technically the end I just have one more chapter; the epilogue. 

Also, I'm obsessed with lil Nas X- Call Me By Your Name . The beat and the lyrics, yes. 

Please vote, comment, and share. Hope you liked it and just keep scrolling to end this story. Byeee.