Fear Games

7. Homecoming

AFTER AN ALL-MORNING police investigation, we were all finally allowed to go home. I was too tired to think. It had been a full twenty-four hours, potentially longer, since I'd slept, and considering the hell I'd been through, sleep was what I needed. I just hoped that the events from the evening didn't invade my sleep as well.

Mom and Dad weren't angry with me. In fact, they were just happy that I was okay. As was I. From what I heard, the house ended up burning down. Since there were so many traps in there, the fire department could only try containing it from the outside. Eventually they gave up, realizing that there was no use. Elijah explained to them that everyone left in the house was already dead.

I had no idea what they were going to do next, and honestly, I didn't care. None of us mentioned Noah. How were we supposed to tell them that a guy we thought had died two years ago was actually still alive and tried to kill us in that demented place? There was no way they would believe us. All we could hope was that Noah had died inside that house when it burned to the ground, because no one saw him escape. Guess we'd find out soon.

Coming home wasn't as easy as it seemed. My room felt different. When I laid down on my bed that I used to think was comfortable, it felt hard. There was no softness to it. I wanted to cry, but I was all out of tears. Maybe I'd cry later when I finally had some sleep.

***

I woke up hours later around dinner time. Mom knocked on the door and asked me if I wanted to eat. Food was the last thing on my mind. I told her I was going back to sleep, and when she left, I pulled my cell phone from off its charger.

I had several text messages.

Elijah: Hey, just checking up on you. You okay?

Esme: You feeling alright?

Isaiah: I know you hate me, but we should talk about what happened.

Unknown Number: Hey, it's me, Ryan. From Fear Games. I just wanted to say I'm sorry we had to meet that way. If you want to talk, feel free to shoot me a text. It was really nice meeting you otherwise.

I smiled at Ryan's text. It was sweet of him to check up on me. I responded to all of them, letting them know I was fine. Then my phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey," Ryan said. "You up for talking?"

"Possibly. Still kinda tired." I sat up in my bed, clutching a pillow to my chest. "How are you feeling? I'm not the only one that was in that house, you know."

"I'm fine," he said. "I was just calling to see if we planned on telling anyone about that Noah guy. If he's really the killer, do you think we should say something?"

"If he's the killer, they'll figure it out on their own," I said. "I just want to forget last night ever happened. Talking about it isn't going to make it any better."

"I know how that feels. Listen, I just...I wanted to make sure you were okay...and of course, see if I was the only one that felt the way I did."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, you were...gorgeous. And I guess I just...if things were different..." Ryan's voice trailed off. "Look, I'm bad at this, okay? Really bad, actually. I know we met under terrible circumstances, but I think if we can see past that, we could...you know, maybe catch a movie sometime? Or..."

My heart warmed. He was adorable. I smiled and said, "I know what you mean now. It'll definitely take time, but maybe we could eventually try that."