Chapter Seven
Day 4
Kayleigh lay sprawled on the couch, debating whether to hang with the horror movie she was watching or give it a merciful death. The reviews on IMDB had run the film into the ground, but Kayleigh always preferred to tune in and offer up her own opinion. This movie was proof that she should perhaps start to listen to the views of the masses. She gave it five more minutes before punching the remote and heading back to the main menu on Netflix.
Only two days into her week off from work, and she was already regretting it. While the break from the daily grind was a welcome one, she was beginning to run out of ways to keep herself occupied. Sitting up, she chose the YouTube app from the menu on the Fire Stick, deciding that it might be fun to go down a scary video rabbit hole. Kayleigh figured that she might find a few ideas for the haunted house videos that they planned on making once they got the Hollow-Eyed Girl game out of the way.
She landed on the Chills channel and cringed as soon as the narrator’s grating voice hit her ears. It was one of the toughest channels to watch because of that, but she had to admit that Chills did a fantastic job of putting video clips together. She could hardly mock him too severely, given that he had amassed over five million subscribers. The man was a robotic mush mouth, but he also knew how to pull in an audience.
Time slipped by, and Kayleigh felt her eyes begin to droop. Picking up her phone to check the time, she saw a notification slide away at the top of the screen. Pulling down, all the notifications that had arrived while she was watching the videos appeared. She swiped them all away until only one remained. It was from the camera up in Sean and April’s room. Clicking on it, the app opened to reveal an image of the front steps, the play symbol in the middle waiting to be pressed.
Kayleigh’s finger hovered over the image, but she had trouble placing it on the screen to start the video. “Get a grip, dumbass,” she said, pressing down on the screen. Almost immediately, a long shadow spread across the front steps, a pair of feet arriving at the bottom, pausing for just a moment. Kayleigh held her breath but let out a ragged breath when the Amazon delivery driver bounded up the stairs and placed a package by the door.
The remainder of her day was long and uneventful, but as she sat in the car and waited for Sean and April to emerge from the FinaCol building, she began to wonder when the next clue was going to arrive. Perhaps the game creators had changed their mind and deemed her unworthy of playing along, but she dismissed the thought quickly. Would they really go to all the trouble of staging the scene from last night to give up at the halfway point?
Kayleigh chewed on her nails, a habit she had been trying to ditch since childhood and wondered if she had missed something. It hadn’t occurred to her to check the website to see if the video feed was live again. She had assumed that it would stay dark until the next clue arrived. She decided to check in as soon as they made it back home.
April clambered into the car, the hem of her flowered dress catching in the door as she closed it. “Hello, sunshine,” she said, opening the door and tugging on the fabric until she pulled herself free.
“Just when I thought you couldn’t be any more cheerful,” Kayleigh said, smiling at her friend.
“I’m always happy to be free of that place. You must be loving your time off.”
“I should be, but I’m bored to death, and my nerves are shattered.”
“Any new deliveries?” Sean asked, climbing into the back seat.
“Nothing, well except for a package from Amazon. No envelopes, no balloons, and no sign of the man in robes.”
“Maybe they’ve changed their mind and stopped the game,” April said.
“I thought about that, but it makes no sense. The clue will come, I’m just not sure how they’ll deliver it is all.”
They climbed out of the car at home, expecting to see an envelope waiting for them at the door, but nothing was there. Sean was the first inside the house, heading for the kitchen and pulling some chicken breasts out of the fridge. “How do you ladies feel about some barbecue chicken?”
“That sounds good,” Kayleigh replied.
“I’ll head out back and get the grill fired up if you two want to get some sides together.”
Unlocking the French doors leading to the back patio, Sean stepped outside and almost fell over the box propped against the door. Leaning down, he examined the package, looking for markings and finding nothing. “I think the next clue might be here. Get the laptop open,” he called inside.
He carried the box to the kitchen island, treading carefully, as though carrying an explosive device set to blow. He laid it on the countertop and took a step back, watching as Kayleigh opened the game website on her computer. Instead of the blinking cursor, the screen filled with the video feed, showing the robed man standing by the torture table, glaring at the camera.
“Where have you been? I have been waiting to direct you to your next clue. You are testing the patience of my Master, and that will not do,” he growled in his distorted voice. “Look to the back of your property and keep your eye on the prize.”
The screen went black, the blinking cursor once again back in place. Kayleigh pulled the box towards her, lifting it and giving it a shake. There was little weight to the package, but something moved around inside. She picked up her car key and used it to slice open the tape holding the box closed. Pulling the flaps aside, she saw black tissue paper wadded in a ball inside, as well as a piece of paper folded and placed against one side of the box. She removed the folded page first and set it aside before pulling out the wadded tissue paper.
“What is it?” April said, clutching at the front of her dress.
Daintily lifting the tissue paper out of the box, Kayleigh pushed the then empty package aside and made space for the contents. Piece by piece, she unraveled the thin paper, letting out a gasp when she saw what was inside.
“Is that a fucking eye?” Sean said, looking over her shoulder.
Lifting it by the stem, Kayleigh held the eye up for all to see, the beauty of the pale blue iris at odds with the bloodshot veins running away from it in all directions. She pulled it in closer and gave it a sniff, eliciting a gasp of horror from April.
As Kayleigh stuck out her tongue, pulling the eye ever closer, “April screamed, “Don’t you dare put that in your mouth.”
Ignoring the pleas of her friend, Kayleigh ran her tongue along the curvature of the eye, Licking her lips once finished. “Sweet,” she said.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” April complained.
“It’s candy. I saw these at a Halloween party last year. They look real, but they are very edible,” Kayleigh said, tearing a chunk off the stem with her teeth.
April scurried off in the direction of the restroom, complaining that she was going to be sick, while Sean unfolded the paper and smoothed it out on the countertop. Unlike previous messages, this one was short and to the point.
My Master is not always merciful, so be sure to make most of your second chance.
The girl has but one eye left to give, but plenty of blood to spill.
Now is the time to put all your ducks in a row.
Four dozen by my count.
Enter the two-digit number and keep the girl alive.
“He did say the clues would get easier, but I am the only one that feels like a total moron?” Kayleigh said. “How much easier can they make it?”