Chapter Twenty-Two
Midnight
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Everyone was still sitting in the entrance room of the mansion. The candles
glowed eerily around them, casting weird shadows and making their
imaginations play with them. They waited in desperate anticipation for the rest of
their friends to return. The ones who had not yet played “The Game” feared
what was to come to them.
AJ looked at his watch and saw that it was getting close to midnight. He couldn’t
believe how slow the night was going. It seemed like him and the others had
been in this place for an eternity when in reality it had only been around 7 hours.
For the past half hour, Laura and Kevin had been trying to get Nick to wake up.
They were having no success so far and everyone was worried about his
condition. Finally, they started to get some response out of him.
“Hey you guys,” Laura called out, “I think he’s waking up.”
The others rushed over to where Nick lay on the floor and watched and waited.
Nick slowly started to open his eyes and when he finally did, he suddenly jumped
up from the floor and looked at all of them with a wide eyed expression. He
seemed to calm down a little when he saw it was only his friends though.
“Woah, Nick. Are you ok? You had us scared there for a little while,” Kevin said.
Nick slowly nodded. “I think I’m ok. Though I do feel extremely tired.”
“What exactly happened to you to make you knock out like that? I mean, a lot of
bad things have been happening but you’re the only one to become unconscious
from the whole thing,” Justin said.
Nick let out a shaky breath. “I really don’t want to relive it but I guess you guys
should know,” he said. With that he started to explain everything he went
through to them. When he was done JC gave Nick a funny look.
“You said you were in a blank room with only skeletons and that one with the
glowing eyes. I know when me and Kevin found you it was on a room that
looked like a dining room,” he said.
Nick stared at JC with a shocked expression. “Are you saying you don’t believe
me?”
“No....it’s not that. It’s just totally different from what I saw.”
Lance walked over to the two of them and said, “Calm down you two. Both of
you are probably right. We are in the middle of a “game.” Things aren’t going to
be the same for everyone.”
Nick sighed. “Lance is right. Sorry about that JC, it’s just....that skeleton almost
killed me.....” he trailed off.
“Don’t worry about it, we’re all a little on edge,” JC replied.
Just then, they heard footsteps coming from behind them. They all turned
around to see Emily desperately running at them. She stopped a few feet from
them, praying that this wasn’t another illusion and now everyone that she saw
was real. Laura ran over to her and hugged her.
“God, am I glad you’re ok. I was so freakin’ worried when you were pulled into
that room,” Laura told her.
“Yeah....,” Emily trailed off.
“Are you ok?” Laura asked concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine....it’s just...I saw Ms. Calhoun again.”
“You what?!” AJ said, “What did the old bitch have to say?”
“Watch it man,” Justin said, “you never know when she might show up.”
“Ms. Calhoun told me that no one has ever defeated “The Game” before.
And....and....we won’t either,” Emily finished her sentence in a whisper.
It all fell silent then, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Thoughts of never
getting out of the place alive, thoughts of never seeing their family and friends
again, thoughts of how cruel of a way this would be to die.
“We’re not going to die,” AJ said suddenly.
Everyone turned to him in surprise and AJ said it again. “We can’t die. We’ll
show that we can win this “Game.” We won’t be fooled like everyone else.”
“You’re right,” Kevin agreed, “we will win “The Game.”
As soon as he spoke, they again heard more footsteps coming in their direction.
They looked to see Teri coming towards them in a panic. She stopped when she
got to them and looked around desperately at the group.
“Oh my God, I thought I’d never find you guys!” she cried out.
“Glad to see you finally came back,” Lance said with a small smile.
Teri gave a smile back as she gave her friends a hug, then she noticed
something. “Hey, where’s Brian? He was with me but then we got separated. We
went through some shit that you guys would never want to see.”
That’s when they heard the sound of a person running again and they looked up
to see Brian now. It looked like the group was getting back together again.
“Man, am I glad to see you,” Brian said to Nick.
“I’m sorry you had to go through so much just to find me,” Nick said, sounding
ashamed.
“It’s fine. I was going to have to play my part of “The Game” eventually,” Brian
said, reassuring him.
That’s when Emily looked around and said,” Hey, where are Howie, Joey, and
Chris?”
“Um...they...never came back...” Justin said, trailing off.
“Oh God, I hope they’re ok,” Teri said.
“I guess it’s there turn now. Ugh...I hate saying that....it sounds like they’re
being sent to their death,” Kevin said.
“They basically are,” AJ muttered.
Just then, the old grandfather clock standing in the entrance hall near them,
starting chiming. They all turned to look at the time and saw that it read 12
o’clock. Midnight. The worst part of the entire evening. The time when ghosts
were at the worst. And the hauntings would become even more horrific. “The
Game” was no where near over. They still had to last through the morning.
Chapter Twenty-Three - Freezing Temperatures
Go back to 'The Game'