The Dead Game (8 page)

There were just too many unknown variables to consider. Her mind was helplessly spinning with endless questions and possibilities. She had to stop agonizing about things that couldn’t be immediately resolved, and worry instead about what could be accomplished right now—like escaping the house and this horrible game.

They exited through the front door, which slammed soundly shut after them. They were aggressively pushed down the front steps—as if the house had grown tired of them and had regurgitated them back outside.

Chapter 10

W
hile the drama was being played out by the group upstairs, Mike, David, and Louise were running for their lives through the backyard, past the dark and empty pool that was illuminated from above by eerie yellow lights.

All of a sudden, the sky above End House majestically lit up with bright flashes of light mixed with loud rumblings of thunder. Red flashing lights streamed through the night sky, followed by bright yellow pulses of light. In contrast, the sky over the rest of the town remained dark and quiet.

Louise noticed black shapes creeping toward them on the pool deck.

She quickly fled down the steep stairs to the beach with Mike and David following close behind. She heard David screeching about flying bats trying to knock him off the face of the mountain. Hard objects swiped at her, almost causing her to lose her balance a few times on the slippery stone steps. But she determinedly continued on, refusing to look back over her shoulder to face what or who was attacking them.

She dashed along the beach, feeling as if mounds of sand were being thrust in her face. On the walkway, branches swiped her across the face—like skinny wooden arms struggling to hold her back. Racing down Main Street, she felt totally alone. It was dead quiet: no lights or sounds were coming from the empty buildings.

Candles were flickering inside the gazebo. Suddenly, she felt her body being thrust toward the ghostly display of lights. The gusting wind was flinging leaves and branches at her face and around her feet, but still she was being propelled forward.

The gazebo, appearing pretty and tranquil during the day, looked ethereal and unfamiliar to her in the light of the candles. Somehow, the circle of light remained firm and unwavering despite the violent storm raging all around her.

She entered the lit circle…all the while knowing that she had just signed her death sentence. She had no control over her actions any longer; she was like a puppet on a string being controlled by a malevolent puppet master.

When she was positioned at the precise center of the circle of candles, dark shapes—similar to the ones that had been stalking her for weeks—appeared around the perimeter of the gazebo. They began circling her. As they circled faster and faster, a strong current of air lifted her up high under the roof of the gazebo. She felt a noose being slowly wrapped around her neck. Then she felt it being tugged tighter and tighter until she could no longer breathe—or even care to struggle any longer.

Without any air left in her lungs…with the world spinning wildly around her…she faintly watched as the shadows slowed down and took on distinct human forms. The figures revealed themselves to be men and women with black eyes, glaring cruelly up at her. They were chanting in an unfamiliar language. They were clothed in long black robes, their hoods casting their faces in deep shadow. Long metal chains hung from their necks with huge gold medallions depicting snarling wolves’ heads.

One member of the group—taller and much larger than the rest—lifted arms up high to heaven or, as Louise surmised, down to hell below. In response, the winds turned wilder and more violent, moaning in unison with the voice of the unknown leader.

Louise recognized one face right before she lost consciousness, but she knew that it was too late for her or the town.

As Mike and David scrambled down the stone steps, they were hit by massive forms, intent on dislodging their desperate hold on the metal railing.

“We can’t die after all we’ve been through already!” shrieked David. He refused to end up in the ocean—like a piece of floating debris, being thrashed against the sharp rocks by the treacherous and unrelenting waves.

An unexpectedly hard push had David rolling the rest of the way down the stairs to land on the soft sand. Confused and disoriented, he looked back up to see who had saved him. All he knew was that it couldn’t have been Mike, who was busy battling his own demons, successfully defeating wave after wave of relentless creatures.

Confident that Mike could fend for himself, David left him to find the sheriff.

Once Mike realized that Louise and David had deserted him on the steep cliff, he swiped even harder at the creatures that continued to pummel him on the stairs. After successfully making his way down the staircase, he ran onto the deserted beach. There he encountered a strong wind, which aggressively blew rocks and sand into his already-battered face. Stepping onto the shaded walkway, he spotted huge shadows swaying in the wind—shadows that were not directly corresponding to any objects and therefore, not really belonging. These shadows also seemed to be following too closely on the heels of his desperate path to town. Feeling his face brutally bruised by sharp objects, he continued running without hesitating or turning around again.

Reaching town, he heard chanting noises coming from the direction of the park. He quietly crept closer to the lit gazebo, being careful to keep close to the real shadows cast by the deserted buildings. In the distance, he was able to discern dark shapes circling the gazebo, holding hands and chanting loudly. The gazebo was brightly lit by flickering candles and in their midst was Louise, hanging from a noose. The figures wore dark robes with hoods concealing their faces. The shadowy figures appeared to be human. This terrified him even more since he now realized that they could even be people from his own town.

Sneaking away before being spotted, he fled through the dark streets—as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. He didn’t know if the forms were from hell or from earth, but he clearly understood that they were dangerous and deadly. He had to accept the fact that it was too late to help Louise, but he could still get help from the sheriff for the rest of his friends.

Chapter 11

S
itting alone at his desk, gazing out the window at the deserted streets of Oasis, Sheriff Sam Green was troubled that he couldn’t locate his deputy—or, for that matter, anyone else from town. What could have happened at the party? And where were Todd and his friends? He had warned Todd that the party had to be an elaborate trap.

The deafening silence was boldly interrupted by Linda and Shana, who burst into the room, screaming about body parts and blood.

Todd followed them in very slowly. 
Too slowly
, thought Sam, 
to be a good sign
.

David charged in next, sputtering about not knowing what was real or not. “Tom and Edward are gone for good! They disappeared through a secret doorway, never to be seen again!”

Mike drifted in behind David, somberly adding, “Louise is dead. She’s hanging from a noose in the gazebo. I caught a quick glimpse of her murderers, but I was too far away to make out their faces hidden beneath their hoods. They were chanting in a weird language, all sounding like gibberish to me. Luckily, they didn’t notice me before I managed to slip away.”

Falling into a chair, David lowered his head into his hands. “No! It can’t be true! Louise can’t be dead! We were just with her. Why didn’t I watch more carefully over her?” he wailed. Linda walked over to comfort him, putting her arm around his shoulder, whispering soothingly in his ear.

Sam was shocked. “I’m going over to End House.” He stood up to leave.

Todd stepped in front of him. “You can’t go by yourself. We’ll go together after we inform the proper authorities.”

“I am the authorities,” corrected Sam.

“This time we need outside help. This is beyond anything we’ve ever encountered before.”

“If you think we need additional help, then I can make some calls before we head over to the house.” He sat back down at his desk, picking up the phone. “I’ll try to get in touch with Carl again, but I doubt he’ll bother to pick up his phone.”

Leaning on the corner of Sam’s desk, Todd waited for him to call Carl. With an annoyed look on his face, Sam slammed down the receiver. Nothing ever bothered Sam, but this time he seemed uncharacteristically angry with his young deputy. Turning his face away from the others, Todd whispered, “Why? What’s happened to Carl?”

“I’ve tried calling him all evening. He’s disappeared again.”

“Do you mean that this has happened before?” Todd asked, an uneasy feeling growing in his gut. He’d always thought of deputy Carl Kagen as a loner—not fitting in well with the rest of the residents. He’d never understood why Sam had hired him in the first place. It was the only time that he hadn’t been privy to one of Sam’s decisions beforehand. But he’d wait for now…he’d question him later, when they had a chance to speak in private.

“Yes—it’s happened too many times.” Sam stood up again, quickly reloading and holstering his gun. “Anytime something goes down in town, Carl is sure to disappear.”

“We’ll have to keep a closer eye on him for now on.” Todd wanted to know where he disappeared to when he couldn’t be found.

He turned to the rest of the group, who were quietly listening to his conversation with Sam. “Wait here for our return. There are to be no heroes today. You are to remain here and not step one foot outside this office.”

“But I want to help…they are also my friends,” objected Shana, defiantly crossing her arms across her chest.

Sam walked over to her and gazed into her eyes. “I can’t perform my job well if I have to worry about you and your friends. Please wait here for us.”

“I’ll wait.”

Todd politely asked Linda, “Will you also promise to stay put?”

“All right,” Linda responded distantly.

Todd stared at her questioningly to check if she was still angry with him, but she refused to look him in the face. How could he ever possibly explain to her about his control over the stairs and the front door? He didn’t have time to deal with this now. He hurried to follow Sam out of the office.

“Must we wait here?” whined David as he nervously paced back and forth across the cramped office. He wanted to be outside, where he could be actively searching for Louise. He didn’t trust Mike; he could have fabricated the whole gazebo story for his own twisted reasons. Since Mike had never liked Louise, he could have easily manufactured the whole unpleasant scenario about her untimely death.

Mike frowned. “Do you want to end up like the others? I suggest we remain here until we know that it’s safe enough for us to leave the building.”

David was annoyed at the way Mike was ordering him around. For the time being, he wasn’t going to say anything; but the next time Mike opened his smart mouth, he’d put him back into his proper place—which wasn’t as his boss.

Great
, Mike thought morosely; 
no radio, no TV, just us
. He was stuck with a group of useless human beings: one weaker than the next. David was the most annoying and useless of them all. Next time he’d stick closer to Todd and Sam, who seemed to be better informed about all the disappearances and murders in town.

He leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and listened to the silence of the night.

At End House, Deputy Carl was waiting for them. He was leaning against his patrol car, as if he had no worries in the world, as if no one had been wondering where he’d disappeared for hours, Todd fumed.

He has never trusted Carl, with his shifty eyes behind his thick-rimmed glasses, which made his light- blue eyes appear hugely oversized. His wheat-colored blond hair hung long and limp, making Todd want to dunk him into a tub of soapy water. Instead he just stood in front of Carl, giving him a long, hard look.

Abruptly turning his face away, Carl marched into the house.

This time around, Todd didn’t feel the evil presence in the house that he’d felt earlier. The candles along the staircase and on the walls had conveniently disappeared. He stood in the darkened hallway, stunned at how quick the party’s elaborate props had been dismantled. He’d been in the house only twenty minutes ago. Who could have accomplished this so fast? Obviously, someone had spent a lot of time planning the fake party and then had very meticulously cleaned up all evidence of it.

Charging up the staircase, he first checked the living room. No flames were sizzling in the fireplace. Without the presence of the roaring fire, the room was extremely dark. It felt much colder. Using his outstretched arms to guide him past the same worn couches and tables, he made his way through the room. Upon reaching the cold fireplace, he was confused to find it empty of body parts or any remains of them. It was even clean of ashes or any evidence of a recent fire; even the walls and floor around the fireplace had been cleaned of any blood splatter. It was as if there never had been a fire or sizzling body parts dropping from the chimney.

“There was a huge roaring fire in this fireplace with bloody body parts falling into it!” Todd insisted, frustrated that everything had magically vanished.

Carl looked at Todd. “Were you drinking tonight?”

“I am not the only one who witnessed these things. Obviously the place has been carefully cleaned,” Todd tersely informed the deputy, holding himself back from punching him in his big nose.

Sam yelled at Carl, “If Todd saw dead bodies and body parts then they were here!”

Carl looked down and remained silent—but not before Todd noticed the strange smirk cross over his face in response to Sam’s harsh words.

In silence, they continued with their search. The house had somehow rearranged itself: the rooms were now normal-looking and nonthreatening. The pool wasn’t frozen any longer with blood but was filled to the top with clear water. The master bedroom was dark without the lit candles surrounding the bed. And the bed was empty of a bleeding skeleton…and its army of fat worms.

Todd was amazed at how quick the props have been dismantled and hidden from sight. Who could have pulled this off in such a professional manner? Who was smart enough and deadly enough to plan each and every step so carefully? This had required patience and maybe even some supernatural assistance.

They had no choice but to give up their search for now and return to town. Todd wasn’t the least bit surprised to find the gazebo empty of candles, a noose, or a body.

“Maybe we should call off the outside help,” suggested Sam.

“I agree, we should handle this matter ourselves,” Todd agreed.

Todd watched Carl as he slowly fell back behind them…skulking off into the night. He let Carl go; he didn’t want him around when they returned to Sam’s office, where he would overhear their future plans. He whispered to Sam, “Carl has run off again. We must keep him out of the loop from now on.” Sam nodded his head in solemn agreement.

At Sam’s office, they found the restless group impatiently waiting for them.

Sam stood before them as he explained their current situation. “End House has been wiped clean of all the props that were used in the deadly game. There are no candles, no bodies, or blood. It is now just a deserted house. And we can’t locate Louise anywhere: she’s not in the gazebo.”

“Louise could still be alive,” shouted David with glee, jumping up and down.

“It’s too dark outside to search for her tonight….We’ll begin our search early tomorrow morning,” explained Sam.

Todd looked into Linda’s troubled eyes, seeing her shock and fear. “How could everything have been cleaned up already? What about the basement?” she insisted.

“We checked the rooms upstairs. Everything is gone. The basement will be thoroughly examined tomorrow.”

Coming to a quick decision, he informed Linda, “I’m sleeping on your couch until we figure out who was responsible for tonight’s prank.”

“It was much more than a prank! Louise might be dead! And we don’t know what happened to Tom and Edward!” Linda shouted in reply.

Todd watched her face turn bright red in her growing agitation. He understood that she was upset about her missing friends. He calmly responded, “Of course I understand that it was much more than a mere prank. We must remain calm if we want to figure out this mess.”

“I think it’s a great idea for you to sleep at Linda’s apartment….Maybe I should sleep on Shana’s couch.” Turning to Shana, Sam asked, “Are you going to argue with me?” To everyone’s surprise, Shana gave him an unexpectedly sweet smile.

“What about us?” David complained.

“I’ll be right next door if you need any help. All you have to do is call out,” responded Sam.

“I’m still afraid,” protested David, while Mike rolled his eyes dramatically at David’s incessant whining.

Deputy Carl quietly slipped into the room and offered, “I can sleep on your couch.”

David finally relaxed. “That’ll make me feel much better.”

“Maybe not safer,” murmured a worried Todd.

It was already 3:00 a.m., so Todd and Sam drove everyone home.

Meanwhile at End House, levers and doors creaked open and shut, discretely covering up any evidence of the deadly game that had transpired that fateful evening.