[General POV]
At the heart of the maze, Edward had built a compact surveillance station, complete with hidden cameras, stealth drones, and monitors hooked up to a portable generator.
From this command center, he and his dad, Ted, watched the chaos unfold like a live tactical game show.
The maze itself, constructed entirely from stacked hay bales and lined with soft LED strips for visibility, was both eerie and theatrical—perfect for a late-night paintball war.
Sal hugged her own body as she sat next to Ted, waiting for her moment to pounce on him. However, she deeply regretted not wearing a jacket as the cold night air made her shiver.
Ted wasn't tied up or restrained. He sat freely, eating donuts and pizza by hand like it was just another Saturday night spent watching TV with his son. Despite the surreal circumstances, there was a strange father-son warmth to the whole setup.
"Wanna bet who makes it here first?" Edward asked, scrolling through camera feeds. He saw Abby ransacking a drop chest, which she earned after shooting Selena on the back. The chest was dropped by a drone, and inside it was a small prize, a golden bracelet.
Ted nodded, mid-bite. "Dwayne. I've got my money on him. He's quick."
The feed switched to Dwayne, already drenched in sweat, moving fast through the maze. Suddenly, instead of sticking to the path, Dwayne started scaling the hay wall.
"Oh, shit—no, Dwayne—" Ted leaned forward.
Before Dwayne could make it to the top, a drone locked on and fired a rapid volley of paint pellets at his torso. Bright splatters marked him as out.
"Damn it! Didn't he read the rules at the front?!" Ted shouted, while Edward nearly fell out of his chair laughing.
Back at the entrance, Luke and Manny stood under a flickering string of lights, reading the posted rules together.
RULE 1 – No shortcuts. Try to cheat, and you're out.
RULE 2 – Once you're shot, you're out. Period. The game knows. You're being watched.
RULE 3 – Ghosts can't shoot. If you're hit and still fire, it doesn't count. The other player stays in.
RULE 4 – No teams. No mercy. Every person for themselves.
RULE 5 – Last one standing wins the Big Prize.
Luke's eyes sparkled. "Finally! I can win… a Godzilla!"
Manny gave him a look. "Godzilla's not real."
"But I can build one. Out of robot parts. Then it's MechaGodzilla," Luke replied, confidently wielding two green army-style paintball pistols.
Manny held a bright orange, striped rifle with both hands, more grounded in style but twice as heavy.
"Let's go win the MechaGodzilla," Luke said, puffing up his chest—only to scream in a high-pitched voice the second a hand landed on his shoulder.
He began shooting wildly, but Claire immediately stopped him by grabbing his wrist.
"Luke! Calm down!" Claire said angrily. Gloria held Manny's shoulder, which made him freeze in fear.
"Manny, you're supposed to be in bed by now," Gloria said, her voice laced with venom.
"Umm… LUKE FORCED ME TO!" Manny immediately ratted out his step-nephew.
"Hey!" Luke shrieked, looking wounded. "You wanted to play the game too!"
"What game?" Claire asked sharply, crossing her arms.
Under the weight of their mothers' stares, both boys cracked instantly and spilled everything.
"So there's a game," Claire said, voice tight with offense. "And he didn't even invite us."
"Ay! He knew I would win—that's why he didn't invite me!" Gloria huffed, grabbing one of the guns out of Luke's hands.
Claire snatched Manny's backup handgun without hesitation.
"We're joining the game too," Gloria declared.
…
Meanwhile, Enid skipped into the hay maze alone, her face bright with childish delight.
"When did he even set all this up?" she muttered, almost in awe.
Up ahead, the pirate-costumed Teach crouched in a corner, eyes locked on his target—another player named Thatch. He didn't hear Enid approach.
"Excuse me, sir?" she called, her voice trembling.
Teach spun around, gun raised, instantly on high alert.
"I—I got shot," Enid sniffled, wiping her eyes, "but I don't know how to get out of the maze."
Teach relaxed. No weapon in sight. Her polka-dot shirt made it hard to see if she'd actually been hit under the dim maze lights.
"I think I remember the way to the entrance," he said, voice softening. "Just wait a bit—"
He turned back toward Thatch.
Pop-pop-pop.
Paintballs slammed into his back.
"What—?!" He whirled, stunned, to see Enid grinning devilishly.
She blew on the barrel of her gun and said with theatrical flair, "You're OUT."
"You tricked me!" Teach gasped, betrayed.
A drone zipped over, displaying a holographic status screen—eliminated—and began leading him toward the exit.
"Wow," Ted said from the control booth, eyes wide. "Enid's turning into a dark horse in this competition. She's already eliminated three players!"
Edward laughed, clearly proud. "Didn't expect her to be this shrewd. I feel like a proud dad."
His attention shifted to Cam and Mitchell. They had originally been traveling with Renaldo and Pepper—until Cam accidentally shot Pepper.
Renaldo, furious, retaliated and took Cam out. "Why won't you shoot him?! He killed me!" Cam whined, trailing behind Mitchell like the ghost of a clingy ex.
Mitchell rolled his eyes. He said with a sagely tone, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind—"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR POLITICAL VIEW!" Cam snapped. "THIS IS A PAINTBALL GAME! You need to shoot people to win!"
Mitchell threw up his hands dramatically. "Maybe I'm just here for the maze, okay? I happen to be a strong believer in nonviolence—"
Before he could finish, a paintball hit him square in the back.
"Ow! Who—?" He turned to see Claire standing behind him, arms crossed, her expression full of disappointment.
"Not only did you declare yourself pacifist, you were loud enough to lead someone right to you. How dumb are you?" she said, brushing past him into the next junction.
Mitchell stood frozen, mouth agape. Cam scoffed and walked by, muttering, "You could've at least avenged me. Now I know you don't love me enough to shoot my killer in the face. I'd definitely do it for you."Mitchell was flabbergasted again. He knew he had fucked up tonight.
Meanwhile, Phil was hopelessly lost in the maze. Every turn looped back on itself, like some cosmic joke. He marked the hay with straw patterns, but the same markings kept reappearing.
"No way... Am I cursed?" he whispered, slowly turning in place. The shadows moved strangely here. Every rustle felt like a threat. "This is a dead zone… Am I trapped?"
Unseen, Edward smirked in the control tent. He tapped his mic.
"Activate Pathfinder. Let's help him out a bit."
Moments later, a skeletal figure—crafted from Halloween props and painted phosphorescent green—floated toward Phil, suspended by drones. Its eerie glow and wild white wig made it genuinely unsettling.
Phil saw it—and screamed. A high-pitched, glass-shattering scream.
He bolted. No plan, no thought. He tripped, stumbled, somersaulted, then finally burst out of the maze's cursed loops.
Edward burst out laughing. "That worked even better than I hoped."
Elsewhere in the maze, Enid's luck ran out.
She spotted Gloria up ahead and tried the same trick again. Her voice turned soft and teary: "Gloria?"
Before she even finished the name, Gloria whipped around and fired—point blank. A paintball smacked Enid square in the chest.
"OW—GLORIA?!" Enid gasped, staggering back. "You didn't even check who I was!"
"Why should I?" Gloria shrugged. "I'm here to win."
"I could've been dead!" Enid whined.
"In Colombia, we always double-tap," Gloria said, lowering her gun with a giggle. "Just in case the first shot doesn't do the job."
"I was just gonna ask how to get out of here—UGH! Never mind. I'm dead now!" Enid groaned and stomped off, following the elimination drone.
Gloria blew her a kiss. "No time for regrets. If you're not dead, you're the enemy." She strutted off without a backward glance.
Just then, she heard Phil's terrified scream echo through the maze. She raised her gun and took aim as he darted across the corridor ahead—but every shot missed, splattering the hay in a rainbow of paint.
For someone who could shoot a milk bottle balanced on her back, it was baffling.
Phil didn't even notice. He just kept running.
Click. Gloria's gun ran empty. "Oh, shoot."
"Don't move!" Annie's voice rang out. She had her gun aimed at Abed's back.
Abed raised his hands and turned slowly. "Annie, perfect. We can team up." He said with a slight happy edge.
"Oh, now I cross your mind?!" she snapped, walking toward him, seething. "You didn't even ask me to join! I had to hear about this from a twelve-year-old!"
Abed flinched, expecting to be shot. Suddenly—
"Stop! Drop your gun!" Troy appeared behind Annie, weapon drawn.
"Huh? Ah! Troy!!" Annie shrieked, stomped her foot in frustration but didn't lower her weapon.
"I got you, buddy," Troy said to Abed.
Abed nodded and reached for his gun—until a new voice rang out.
"Stop, or I'll shoot your best friend!"
Manny stepped in like a telenovela action hero, aiming his gun at Troy.
"What—Why are you helping her?! You don't even know her!" Troy protested, still keeping Annie in his sights.
"Because she's hot," Manny said matter-of-factly. "You don't need a reason to save a hot girl."
Troy and Abed nodded solemnly, as if Manny had uttered a universal truth.
Annie let out a frustrated yelp, she was offended. She shot Abed. Then Troy. Then Manny while everyone was admiring her beauty, especially in the satin pajama she was wearing.
"Hey! I was helping you!" Manny protested, feeling unfair.
"I'm not some damsel in distress!" Annie huffed, sticking her tongue out at him before striding away.
Edward scanned the tablet and announced, "We're down to ten players. Gloria, Claire, Phil, Luke, Alex, Abby, Elsa, Finneas, Jacob, and Annie. Dad—all your groomsmen are out. If Phil doesn't save you, you're eating everything on that buffet table."
"Oh! Jenna, Alex, Elsa, and Finneas just met up," Ted said, eyes glued to the monitor. "And the girls are pointing their guns at Finneas."
Sal plopped down beside him, stealing a slice of pizza as they watched the drama unfold.
Finneas stood, hands in the air, surrounded.
"Well, well, well," Alex said, aiming her gun at him. "Look what we have here."
"Damn it," Finneas muttered. "If Jacob hadn't been screwing around, I'd still have bullets."
He glanced around. "So, you three working together now?"
"Yup," Jenna said casually. "We figured it's the smartest way to win. When it's just us left, we'll settle it then."
"Why are you even talking to him?" Elsa grumbled. "Just shoot him and let's go."
"Wait!" Finneas yelped before Jenna could pull the trigger.
Alex chuckled, "Give it up, Finneas. You're out of ammo."
"I have given up," Finneas said, shrugging. "Totally out. Nothing I can do now."
He paused just long enough.
"Except maybe tell Jenna what you said about her back when we were dating."
Alex's smile dropped. "What?!"
Jenna turned sharply. "What did you say about me?"
"I—nothing! I didn't say anything!"
"Oh, she definitely said something," Finneas went on, casual as ever. "Also, Elsa—Jacob told us something about you too. Something that happened in the teacher's lounge—"
"SHUT UP!" Elsa fired a few warning shots into the hay near his feet. "I hate this guy!"
"Oh, come on," Jenna said, eyes narrowing. "You and your boyfriend do it on a teacher's desk, whatever. But I want to know what Alex said."
Alex sputtered, "I didn't say anything!"
"She also told Edward something about you," Finneas added slyly. "I remember telling her not to, but she didn't care. Said Jenna would just have to deal."
"He's lying!" Alex shouted.
But the damage was done. Jenna stared at her with a tight jaw. Elsa was reloading. And Finneas was grinning.
"What did you say about me? Did you call me a slut when chatting with Edward?" Jenna interrogated Alex.
"No! I really didn't! In fact, the only thing I remember saying to Edward about you is that you're a really good actress. That's it," Alex said honestly.
"Yeah, Jenna. But she said it with a slight sarcasm, like, 'Jenna's such a great actress. She can pretend to be a good girl all day long.' Things like that." Finneas continued to sow chaos.
"Also, Jenna, don't act so innocent. What we did together was way worse. Not to mention I was still dating Alex at the time." Finneas changed his target.
Alex's eyes darted between Finneas and Jenna. "Wait, what did you guys do together—Jen?"
Jenna waved her hands quickly to gesture nothing was wrong. "No, no, no. I've never done anything with him. It's such a blatant lie. You know I only like Edward."
Elsa realized it and said, "Yeah. He's just playing us. Shoot him."
All three girls aimed their guns at Finneas and rained fire on his torso. They shot until they had no bullets left in their guns.
"Aww man," Finneas yelped. Suddenly, he smiled as he saw the one behind the girls. Luke yelled and shot all three girls in the back before running away.
"Oh! Fucking—That hurts!" Jenna said as one of the bullets hit her butt instead of the vest.
Finneas laughed out loud while holding his stomach. Alex was angry and began chasing after him, yelling, "You jerkward!"
Jacob bumped into Gloria as she was picking up a pellet from an ammo box. Gloria turned to him slowly and said, "Hey Jacob. You're not going to shoot a poor, defenseless, pregnant woman, are you?"
Jacob widened his eyes and said, "You're pregnant?"
Claire interjected from out of nowhere, "YOU'RE PREGNANT?!"
"Claire, where did you come from?!" Gloria was baffled. Claire casually walked beside Jacob and asked, "I was waiting to ambush the kid once he was done killing you. But you're pregnant?!"
"Yes. I just found out yesterday when I peed on the stick," Gloria replied with a slightly nervous laugh.
Jacob was astonished and feeling awkward. He didn't know what to do as the two women began talking about the baby.
Abby walked by and saw the trio. She decided to ambush them while they weren't paying attention. She shot Jacob and Claire in the back, and Gloria on her chest. The white paint flowed into Gloria's cleavage, which angered her.
"Hey! We're having a moment here!" Claire scolded.
"What moment?" Abby asked, stopping her feet as she was running away.
Jacob said, "Gloria's pregnant."
"Awww… That's wonderful!" Abby exclaimed. "Congratulations!" she said gleefully. Then she left to continue the game, without feeling any remorse for her actions.
At the control center, Edward said, "So we have the final four. It's time to bring them all here. Luke, the Rogue. Abby, the Bountiful. Annie, the other Bountiful. And Phil, the Best Man."
"Why are you naming them Bountiful?" Ted asked Edward with confusion.
Sal replied to him, "Because they have a nice bountiful… plump chest."
"By the way, where is my girlfriend and Taylor? Did they not join the game? I thought they had gotten inside the maze," Edward muttered with confusion, changing the feed on the cameras one by one to check if he missed something.
Edward called all of the finalists by sending a drone that would guide them to the center of the maze. Abby was the first one to enter, where she saw Edward sitting gloriously on a hay throne, wearing a hay crown and cape made of hay.
"Welcome, Abby the Bountiful," Edward said. His voice echoed like a wise sage in a fantasy movie.
Abby pointed her gun at Edward and began shooting. Startled, Edward jumped out of the throne immediately and hid behind it.
"Wait! Abby! The others aren't here yet! Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" he yelled normally.
Abby finally calmed down after she went through a magazine. She reloaded her gun and then wanted to try again, but Annie and Luke arrived. Abby became alert and pointed her gun at them instead.
Abby, Annie, and Luke entered the center clearing of the hay maze, guns raised, circling each other like they were in a Western outlaw movie.
"Ahem! Brave finalists—Abby the Bountiful, Annie the Other Bountiful, and Luke the Rogue—you have arrived at the final stage. From here on, the rules have changed," Edward said after clearing his throat.
He stepped forward. "This is now a wild west showdown. Final placements determine matchups. Odds versus odds. Evens versus evens. Abby, you're number one to get here. Luke, number three. Annie, number two. So that means—"
"I'M GOING TO WIN!" Luke shouted, completely ignoring Edward's speech.
He opened fire immediately. Abby and Annie both screamed and dove behind bales of hay. Annie fired back, but Abby's shot landed first—Luke yelped as a pellet smacked him right in the stomach, dyeing his shirt with green paint.
"Nooo!" Luke cried dramatically, collapsing into the hay like a fallen soldier. "Tell my story..." he said before pretending to die.
Annie rose cautiously, pointing her gun at Abby. Abby raised hers too—except Annie pulled the trigger and heard the dull click of an empty magazine.
Abby smirked. "Oh no." Annie widened her eyes.
She fired once—Annie's vest was hit.
"YES! I WIN!" Abby screamed, raising her arms triumphantly, bouncing in place. "I win, I win, I—"
"You guys aren't going to listen to me, huh?" Edward smirked, feeling defeated.
Thunk.
A single pellet hit Abby in the back. She turned around slowly, eyes wide.
Phil stood there, holding his gun in one hand, grinning innocently. "Hey guys. Did I win?"
Everyone went silent.
Edward stepped forward solemnly. "Ladies and gentlemen… the winner of the Ultimate Bachelor Hay Maze Showdown... with only one kill... is PHIL." He raised Phil's hand up in the air.
Confetti burst from above courtesy of a drone, and a dramatic victory trumpet fanfare played.
Ted walked over to Phil and hugged him dramatically. "I knew you could do it, Phil!"
Behind them, Gloria appeared, still scrubbing white paint off her chest with a wet napkin. "Ay, I cannot believe I got shot in the boob and didn't even make the top three."
Everyone came to the center and watched the videos of the paintball game together. Edward had compiled the best moments for the game.
Edward looked around at the chaos and grinned as everyone bonded and laughed.
"Best bachelor party ever," Ted said as he high-fived his son.
As it was late at night, everyone went back to their cabins to clean up the paint and get some rest.
"Huh?" As Edward opened his bedroom door, he was shocked to see the traces of an intense paintball fight in his room—the curtain, the wall, the ceiling.
"What the fuck?" He looked around and finally realized where his girlfriend had disappeared to.
Haley was working on the wedding dress inside the same cabin, in the other room. Edward heard some noises in that room and went to check it urgently.
Inside, he saw Taylor, Haley, Vanessa, Maggie, and Amy almost crying as they surrounded the wedding dress. Edward's heart dropped.
"Eddy. I'm sorry," Amy said with teary eyes. Then, she moved slightly to show Edward the dress. In the middle of the white dress, there was a bright red paint splatter stuck there.
Startled, Edward looked at the girls for answers. "What the hell happened here?"
(Check out my patreon. You can even read my new novel there for free)
Pat.reon.com/relifewithkarmicgacha