Fear Games

9. Behind the Screen

RACHEL

"So what the hell are we going to do now?" Eden asked me after we returned to my house later that evening. She, Calix, and I were all sitting on the couch, trying to come up with some sort of plan to save the kids. "And who is this she that Josh keeps talking about? Why won't he just tell us who she is?"

Calix looked at me and said, "Maybe I should go get us all some tea. You two obviously have a lot to talk about. I'll be back in a few minutes." He stood up from the couch, stared at us awkwardly for a moment, then sauntered off to the kitchen.

I looked at Eden, who appeared as though her head was going to pop off any second, with her eyes wide and temples enlarged. "I'm not sure," I said. "Do you want me to call him?"

Eden stared at her hands and said, "I don't know. Part of me says you should. We need answers. He can't just keep leading us down a path to nowhere."

"You're right," I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cellphone. "I'm calling him right now."

"Wait, wait!" Eden exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air. "I haven't spoken to Josh in twenty years. And neither have you, besides the one and only night he called, and that wasn't a long chat. I'm nervous."

"Nervous enough to stall and risk our kids dying?" I asked. I didn't mean to come across as harsh as I did, but we needed Josh right now. We didn't have time to worry about our reunion. What mattered was that he was willing to help us. What mattered was that our kids were in danger.

Eden sighed. "You're right. Just give him a call. I'll be over here with my stomach doing somersaults in the meantime. He was my best friend before the Fear Games, you know."

"I know," I said. "And maybe we can finally get him to come home. But right now this is more important. I'm calling him now." I put it on speakerphone and waited several moments as it rang. Eden reached over and grabbed my hands, definitely from her nerves. On its sixth ring, we got an automated voice messaging system.

"He didn't answer," I said.

"Why wouldn't he answer?" Eden asked, gently releasing my hands. "He's supposed to be helping us! There's no way that Josh would just let us go to voicemail if he knew there was danger."

"Eden," I said softly, "Josh might not be the same person we knew back when we were kids. It's very possible that he's changed tremendously. I mean, haven't we?"

"Yes, in some ways," Eden said defensively. "But I'd always be there for him! He would always be there for me too."

It was nice that Eden had all these wonderful thoughts about her old friend, but it was important for her to realize that twenty years had gone by. People don't just stay the same they were when they were fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, or even in their early twenties. She needed to understand that Josh might not be here to help us in the way that we originally thought.

Just as I was about to say so, Calix returned with a tray filled with a tea kettle and some teacups. He set it down on the table and said, "Alright, what's the plan? Did we come up with anything yet?"

"We just tried calling Josh," I said. "He didn't answer."

"So where does that leave us?" Calix asked, taking his seat back on the couch next to Eden. "Have you thought about telling Dad?"

I knew my answer right away. "Absolutely not. This would do nothing but make him think I'm unfit to take care of our children. Besides, he wouldn't be able to help. He'd just make it worse."

"What about your husband?" Calix asked Eden. "He knows the kids are missing. Are you going to tell him?"

"Do I have much of a choice?" Eden said. "He's already suspicious. He's been blowing up my phone since I left earlier. How am I supposed to tell him our kids are missing? And he's just going to want to go to the police."