Fear Games

5. The Missing Letters

WAITING WASN'T AS easy as it sounded. An hour ticked by and there was not a single word from Adrian and Harper. I sat on the couch with Ryan on one side, Isaiah on the other. Elijah and Esme shared one of the loveseats while Luke sat all alone on the other couch. Time went on and no one had come.

"This is going real well," Elijah muttered. "I'm exhausted."

"I'm tired too," I said. "Though going to sleep probably isn't the best idea."

Ryan looked rather annoyed. "Look, it could be hours before someone comes and gets us. Are we really just supposed to sit here and wait? This is getting ridiculous."

He was so right, but what else were we supposed to do? Go walking around the house? Because that sounded like a great idea. I sighed, but no one said anything. There was nothing to say. Survival was the most important thing and looking for an escape would probably just lead to another death.

"So is no one going to mention the big A on the wall written in blood again, or are we just going to forget that?" Elijah asked.

"I'm certainly trying to forget it," Esme said.

Over the speakers, the screeching began again. "What the hell?" Luke screamed and we all covered our ears. Pretty soon our eardrums would burst if it continued. The noise was painful, and even with my hands over my ears, I could still feel it.

When it stopped, the voice over the intercom spoke.

The missing letters are the key to this unraveling mystery. Keep on looking or the house goes boom, then every single one of you will lose.

We sat in silence. Whoever was over the intercom was clearly listening to us. The killer was definitely here and they were watching.

"The missing letters," Isaiah said. "So there's more."

"And 'keep on looking or the house goes boom?' Do I even want to know?" Esme asked.

"At least now we know the rules," Elijah said.

"The rules to what?" Luke asked.

"The game," I clarified. "The rules of the game are about finding the missing letters...and if we don't, from the sound of it, they'll blow up the house."

"Which means that we either find the letters and hope we don't die in the process," Elijah said, "or we don't find the letters and we all die. That just sounds wonderful."

Twisted was the word I'd have used, but I didn't say it. We already knew it. We either did nothing and died or did something and still could potentially die. It sounded like hunting for the letters was going to be the best option.

"One thing I know for sure is that I'm not sitting around and waiting for the house to blow up." Ryan stood up from the couch and said, "Anyone else who wants to come with me?"

"I'm definitely going," Esme said, getting up from her seat.

"Why?" Elijah asked.

"Because we all need to stick together," she said. "If we all go off in different directions, there's a higher chance we all run into our own traps. If we're together, at least there's a one-in-five chance that one of us will die. And as crappy as this sounds, I'll take that chance."

My heart clenched a little. It stung to hear her say that, but it was the truth. Better one, or at least a few, than all of us. "I'm going, too," I said. "Time to find the missing letters."

***

Freshman Year

"What do you think he could possibly want to talk about?" Esme asked as we walked into the school library. "It's not like you two have been together all that long."