Chapter 26 Carter
Carter
“Team Helsing, back for more! How are we feeling today?”
“Fan-freaking-tastic,” deadpanned Sierra.
“A delight to talk to you, as usual.” Fitzy grinned past Sierra to Carter, making her heart skip. His attention jotted to Beck and Adi. “Are you nervous?”
“Not at all,” said Sierra. “We’re prepared to win.”
Carter wished she could channel Sierra’s devil-may-care attitude, but she couldn’t stop fidgeting with the cuff of her metallic jump-suit costume. Finding Alicia’s note—maybe even uncovering her killer—started with not getting eliminated in this round.
Their lack of progress this past week had left them frustrated and discouraged.
Five whole days had passed since the elimination.
Five days of waiting around in the villas while the show’s editors put together the second episode of the season, which had gone up the night before.
Plotting how Adi might be able to get more information about Sweetbrier Resort and speculating over why Alicia had been acting so cryptic the night she was murdered.
Five. Whole. Days. And they hadn’t found whatever Alicia had wanted Sierra to find.
Not for lack of trying. They’d taken turns distracting Elijah and Lisa so Sierra could sneak into their villa’s back gate, on those rare occasions when they found it unlocked, and search around the terrace.
But without more specific instructions, it was like searching for a solution to the Collatz conjecture.
They didn’t even know what they were looking for.
They assumed it was a note of some sort, but maybe Alicia had carved a word into a tree trunk or buried a bag of evidence.
Beck had suggested they bring in a metal detector, but how were they supposed to do that without drawing attention?
“Don’t tell the other teams this,” said Fitzy, leaning forward conspiratorially, “but I’m rooting for you, Helsings.”
“I’m sure you are,” muttered Adi.
Carter elbowed him in the side. Even though she was positive Fitzy wasn’t a murderer, Adi had taken Sierra’s side on the matter, certain that Fitzy couldn’t be trusted. “He’s too polished,” Adi had said. “He’s hiding something.”
Yeah, Carter had thought. He’s hiding the fact that he’s not actually that polished.
She could relate.
“Game Master, don’t keep us in suspense! We’re dying to know what you have up your sleeve.” Fitzy turned to Louis, who had been patiently waiting his turn to take center stage.
Louis rubbed his hands together. “How’s your geography?”
Carter winced. Terrible.
Luckily, Beck spoke up. “For the US, fantastic! For everywhere else . . .” He waved his hand, so-so.
“Mine’s not bad,” Adi said.
“Let’s hope it’s enough,” said Louis, “because I have devastating news.” His expression grew serious. “Aliens are invading the planet.”
Beck whispered, “I love aliens.”
“Shocker,” said Sierra.
Louis continued. “A globally united resistance put together a team and found the extraterrestrials’ hidden base, wiping out the alien soldiers stationed there.
They’re now sending in you, the intelligence team, to stop—and even reverse—the attacks.
The longer you take, the more cities will be wiped off the face of the planet, and the more human lives will be lost.”
“So, the fate of the entire planet rests on your shoulders,” Fitzy said. “No pressure.”
“None at all,” Carter said with a nervous giggle.
“Try not to get abducted.” Fitzy winked at her, sending Carter’s stomach into an inexplicable free fall. “Game Master, what clue can you offer to help our operatives?”
“Your clue today is: The enemy of your enemy is your friend.”
Carter tried to commit the clue to memory as they were handed their blindfolds.
And then—the buzzer. That obnoxious buzzer.
“Are you messing with me?” Sierra demanded.
“Afraid not,” Fitzy said. “Team Dread has once again chosen to target you with a snag. Seems a bit like a grudge, eh? Because they were the fastest team to get through the first lot of doors in the snag round, they won the ability to give a rival team a blackout period. You’ll enjoy full darkness sometime during this round for one whole minute. ”
The team groaned.
Fitzy winced sympathetically. “Good luck?”
As they were led blindfolded toward the escape room, the naysayers’ comments that had been posted on the Domain that morning echoed in Carter’s head.
What a hack. She should’ve stuck with making videos.
Solve Specialist? More like Suck Specialist.
Guess Carter can’t kick it after all.
At first, the comments had made her want to crawl beneath her bedspread. But between Fitzy’s encouraging grin and the presence of her teammates, she felt resolve harden inside her chest. Her desire to do well crystallized into something else entirely.
A refusal to fail.
She was Kick It Carter. She would show them what she could do.
The heavy door slammed shut, followed by the auto-lock and Fitzy’s voice in her earpiece.
“Three . . . two . . . one . . . Escape!”