“That girl can act,” Kayleigh said, eyes glued to the scene playing out before her.
As if on cue, the girl threw her head back, the veins standing out in her neck as she struggled to scream. She fought against the restraints, but the effort soon wore her out. The girl slumped down in the chair as her bladder let go, a stream of urine turning the cement floor dark.
“That just got real,” Sean said, reaching into his pocket for his vape pen. Taking a massive hit, he nudged Kayleigh on the shoulder and handed it over. “Take some of this.”
Kayleigh sucked in a mouthful of the vapor and felt it reach deep down inside, the THC immediately finding its way to her tensed-up muscles. She felt herself relax, but an undercurrent of terror still gnawed away inside. “We are going to make a fortune, dude. Horror fans are going to eat this shit up. We need to finish this game.”
“Should we keep watching?”
“I’m done for now. You can if you want.”
“Nah, I’m good. Let’s get high and call it a night.”
Taking another hit, Kayleigh reached out and closed the laptop.
Chapter Five
Day 2
April, who was first out of bed, poured coffee for Kayleigh and Sean, who sat at the kitchen island staring at the closed laptop, almost daring one another to be the first to open it. Kayleigh had filled her friend in on the details from the night before, at which point the usually cheery April had fallen into a sullen mood.
They drank their coffee in silence, each seeming intensely interested in their phones. It was Sean who finally piped up first. “Look, last night was seriously uncool, but we need to turn this thing back on and see what’s happening. That is unless you want to opt out and let the time elapse.”
Shaking her head, Kayleigh said, “No. I just needed a little break. You guys know I love scary shit, but it’s never really felt personal until last night, you know what I mean?”
“I’ll do it,” April said, popping open her laptop. “I slept through it all, so it’s only fair that I take my turn. If we are going to see this through, we are doing it together.”
“Bring your laptop over here,” Kayleigh said, motioning to the chair beside her own. “We’ll do it together.”
Moving into place, April read the URL on the first delivered clue and typed it into the browser. Nothing appeared but a black screen, the cursor blinking in the middle. “It’s not working,” she said.
April moved to start tapping at the keys, but Sean reached out and gently removed her hand from the keyboard. “Babe, what are you doing?”
“Don’t type anything while that cursor is flashing,” Sean said.
“But, I...”
“The guy in the robes said that the feed would shut off when the next envelope arrived,” Kayleigh said.
“Exactly, but where is it?” Sean stood up and headed to the front door, pulling it open quickly as though hoping to surprise someone standing on the steps outside. No one was there, but just as he was about to step back inside, he noticed a large black balloon tied to the flowers in the planter beside the stairs. Removing the balloon, he moved the flowers around, looking for an envelope hidden within but found nothing. Sean glanced up and down the street, but it was as dead as it always was on a Sunday morning.
“Did you find anything?” Kayleigh called out.
With one more look up and down the street, Sean closed the door and returned to the kitchen, balloon in hand. “No envelope, but this thing was tied to the flowers. It feels as though something might be inside.”
“Pop it,” April said, pulling out the hairpin holding her blonde locks in a bun.
“Do it,’ Sean said, holding the balloon out in front of him.
April pierced the rubber on the third attempt. The balloon burst open loudly, sending a spray of red liquid flying in all directions. A Ziploc baggie holding a black envelope plopped onto the floor, the exterior of the plastic bag coated in crimson.
April took the brunt of the hit, the red liquid streaming down her face like the graduation scene from Carrie. Grabbing a dishtowel, she wiped furiously at her face, pursing her lips to prevent any of the liquid from getting in her mouth. She tossed the soiled towel to Sean so that he could clean himself off, while Kayleigh reached down and picked up the Ziploc bag.
After dropping the bag on the counter, Kaleigh studied her hand, pulling it closer to take a sniff. She popped her pointer finger into her mouth to sample the liquid.
“Gross, Kaylz. Please don’t do that,” April yelled, trying to hold down the bile rising in her throat.
“It’s water. Nothing but water, probably with a bit of food coloring for added effect.”
“What if it hadn’t been. What if it was blood or something poisonous?” April said, chest heaving.
“Apes, it’s a game. They aren’t going to shower us with blood, at least not until day six or seven,” Kayleigh said with a grin.
“Not funny.”
“How about we clean up and then open the bag?” Sean said, nodding towards the Ziploc.
They quickly cleaned up the mess created by the red water, thankful that the laptop had been mostly spared from the crimson deluge. Sean removed the envelope from the plastic bag and examined it for any markings, but the black paper was blank. Opening it up, he spread the document contained within on the countertop. They all leaned in to read.
Wake up, you sleepyheaded children. We have a game to play!
This package arrived at 9, so you have until that time on Monday morning to solve this clue.
Is that something that you will be able to do?
Falyn believes that you will fail, and the girl will die
We say this, without a word of a lie
Our riddles will leave you at 6ixes and sevuns
You’ll cry for help from the gods in the heavens
They will not hear you or help will come too late
Just in time to see what Falyn ate.
Now, my three dear children, enter the three-digit code hidden in this text on the screen. Since it is not as obvious as you might imagine, we will grant you three attempts.
The clock is ticking.
TikTok
Sean picked up the paper and flipped it over, examining the back to ensure that no other clues were there. “So, what do you guys think?” he asked.
“This one seems easy, too. It must be 9-6-3,” Kayleigh said.
“It does seem pretty clear. Should we type it in?”
“Wait,” April said. “They said that it is not that obvious. They use the number three at the end three times, so why not 3-3-3?”
“The number seven is in there, too, which they spelled incorrectly. Dammit,” Kayleigh said, rethinking her initial statement.
“Chill, ladies. We get three shots at this, so we can try both of the numbers you mentioned and still have another crack at it.”
April stood and began pacing back and forth in the kitchen, chewing on a perfectly manicured nail, lost in thought. Snatching up the paper, she continued to pace, reading the words on the page over and over again. She stopped for a moment, looked up at the ceiling, and circled the island before handing the paper to Sean. “We are missing something, I know it. Did they misspell the number seven for a reason, or are they just messing with us?”
“Messing with us is kind of the point of the game, but I agree,” Kayleigh said. “I don’t think we type in anything until we talk this through properly. We have plenty of time.”