Fear Games

7. The Great Escape

Josh

When we gathered back in the living room, we noticed that Leslie arrived and was sitting next to Brandon on the couch. Rachel was still pacing back and forth around the room. I was starting to have a feeling that girl had a good relationship with coffee.

"Hey," I said. "Anything new?"

"Actually, yes," Rachel said. "I just got off the phone with the killer a few minutes ago. He gave me a riddle."

"A riddle?" I asked. I wasn't aware that we were children. I almost rolled my eyes, but kept it to myself.

"It was strange," Rachel said. "I don't understand what it means. In fact, I can barely remember it. I should have written it down."

"Well, what was the context?" Matt asked.

"It was something about Eve..." Rachel said. "As in Adam and Eve. I don't know, it's weird. I don't really understand what that has to do with anything. They also mentioned Eden, saying that something was after it."

That wasn't very helpful at all. We had Adam and Eve and Eden. She was right--she probably should have written it down. "Do you remember at all how it went?"

"It was something like...There in the beginning/With Adam and Eve/Something something something/It lingers inside."

"That's a little better, I guess," Brandon said. "The first thing that comes to mind is the snake."

"The snake?" Matt asked.

"Yes," Brandon said. "You know, Satan. He disguised himself as a snake in the Garden of Eden. Convinced Eve to eat the fruit. Got them kicked out of Eden. You don't know that story?"

I did fairly well, actually. While my family wasn't very religious, I invested a lot of time in trying to figure out if I believed in God. Even though I wasn't so sure anymore, I did believe in Him for a little while, so I knew the story. 

"This would be much easier if you remembered the riddle," I said. 

"It was something like..." Rachel closed her eyes, trying to pry her own brain. It was there in the beginning/Before Eve...took a bite/It was there after Eden/...It lingers inside!"

"Is that it?" Matt asked.

"Yes, it is!" Rachel said. "I believe so."

Interesting. What was there in the beginning before Eve took a bite of the fruit? There were a lot of things. Beauty, no shame, goodness, purity. The animals, of course. But what would also have been after Eden? I suppose it was possible the killer meant Adam, but was that possible? Adam wouldn't be considered "lingering inside."

"The uterus," Leslie said suddenly.

All eyes fell on her and she shrugged. "What? It's just a guess."

"The uterus..." I said. Huh. It was entirely possible, but what would a uterus have to do with anything? There was always the possibility that the killer would impregnate Eden, but...that was a bit dark, wasn't it?

A moment later, my phone started in my pocket. All their eyes turned to me next and I pulled it out to see a number I didn't recognize.

"Do I answer it?" I asked.

"Yes!" Rachel said.

"Okay, okay," I said, pressing 'accept'. "Hello?"

"Josh Mitchell," the voice said. It sounded like a woman. "Is this you?"

"Uh...yes?" I said. "Can I help you?"

Rachel mouthed Put it on speaker and I did so without any hesitation.