16. Carey
Carey
Dinner was a subdued affair, which was the least surprising thing ever, considering how we were staring down the barrel of yet another deadly game. No one made conversation, and I also noticed a lot of people purposefully avoiding each other’s eyes. Paranoia was building in all of us, and it finally boiled over fifteen minutes before the game was due to start.
“You know what, guys? I’ve been thinking about this all day,” Kiara suddenly said, putting her fork down with a clatter. She didn’t wait for any of us to respond before she continued, head swiveled to stare right at Rhys. “Where did you go before?”
Rhys stared back at her. “Huh?”
“This morning, while we were hanging out in Mav’s room. We were all in there for ages, just chatting or whatever. But you… you weren’t. You insisted on going off alone to ‘explore’,” she said, lifting her hands to put the word in air quotes.
“And?”
“Well, like April said earlier, the window shutter was closed in the morning. Then, after you wandered off alone, it was suddenly open. You’re also the one who just so happened to discover that it was open.” Kiara paused and arched an eyebrow. “Coincidence? Or are you the one who opened it to mess with us?”
Rhys narrowed his eyes. “Are you seriously implying that I’m the Game Master?”
“You have to admit, it is kinda weird, man,” Tate said.
Rhys turned his fierce gaze to him. “Are you fucking serious? Your last theory about the Game Master got Evan killed. Now you’re jumping in on the conspiracy theories all over again?”
Tate bristled. “I’m just saying, Kiara has a point. Where did you go earlier?”
“I told you. I went to explore.”
“Did you find anything?” Courteney chimed in from across the table.
“Yes, I actually did.” Rhys cocked his head in her direction. “I found every single camera and mic in the hall and foyer, just like I said I would. So now I know exactly how much surveillance we’re under in this place. And let me tell you… it’s a lot. The Game Master is always watching and listening. So you should probably be careful about what you say.”
“Is that a threat?” Zach asked, leaning forward.
Rhys rolled his eyes. “Of course you’re immediately jumping to defend her, given your pathetic little crush,” he said, voice dripping with condescension. “We can all tell, by the way, in case you actually thought you were hiding it well.”
Zach’s nostrils flared. “I’m just asking a question based on what you said, because it sounded like a threat.”
“It was just a comment.”
“Oh, sure.”
Maverick finally spoke up from the head of the table. “Guys, seriously. We agreed to stop arguing. We need to—”
“Work as a team, blah, blah, blah,” Rhys cut in. “I know, Mav. We’ve all heard this bullshit out of your mouth a hundred times today, and I think most of us are sick of it.”
“For once, I actually agree with you,” Tate said. “I don’t want to be in a team with any of you, and I’m sick of pretending I don’t suspect everyone in this fucking room.”
Brooke leaned forward, brows drawn into a quizzical expression. “I thought we all decided my theory was right. That the Game Master isn’t really one of us. He just said that to make us all fight.”
“No.” Tate shook his head. “You decided that. I never said I agreed. In fact, only a few people said they agree. Everyone else just stayed silent. So I’m willing to bet most of us secretly have a suspect when it comes to the Game Master’s identity. I’m also willing to bet most of us think it’s someone in this room. Just like they said in the video.”
That comment was like a lit match thrown in a powder keg. Almost everyone at the table began to snipe at each other, throwing out wild accusations while simultaneously defending themselves.
I was one of the few who remained silent, figuring it was better to keep my head down and draw as little attention to myself as possible. After all, I was one of the first people to be accused earlier, and I didn’t want or need any more of that bullshit flung at me. April, Brooke, and Zach joined in with some of the arguments, but they all stayed true to their word and kept our earlier discussion about Rhys to themselves.
Maverick abruptly stood and slammed his hand on the table. “Calm the fuck down! The game is about to start!”
The room fell silent, and every pair of eyes flew to the closest speaker. Maverick was right—just ten seconds later, the speaker crackled to life. “Players, please proceed to Gaming Room 2.”
The fear and tension in the room was palpable now. We marched outside and headed down the open east wing hall to find the door marked ‘Gaming Room 2’. Maverick pushed it open, and once we were all inside, it automatically closed and locked with a soft hiss.
“That’s weird,” Rhys muttered. “It’s a different sort of door than the last one.”
“Who cares about the fucking door?” Tate said, looking around the room with wide eyes. “What the hell is this shit supposed to be?”
The space was adorned with shiny streamers and colorful balloons. A table stood in the middle, covered with a princess-themed tablecloth, and a tiered cake with pink icing and flickering striped candles sat in the center. Toys and board games were scattered on the floor around the crimson velveteen chairs that haphazardly surrounded the table. It gave the impression of an abandoned children’s birthday party, silent and empty despite the joyful decorations and lit candles.
“This is creepy as hell,” Kiara muttered.
“There’s a birthday card over here,” April said, looking down at the table. “Should we open it?”
“Might as well.” Maverick peered around. “I don’t see instructions anywhere, and the Game Master hasn’t made any announcements.”
April opened the card and held it up to show everyone the words printed inside. CUT THE CAKE.
“I’ll do the honors, I guess,” Maverick muttered. He blew out the candles and reached for the large silver knife that sat on the platter beside the cake. When he brought it down on the top tier of the cake, he let out an irritated grunt. “It won’t go all the way through,” he said. “There’s something inside.”
Zach stepped forward to help, yanking off the candles and peeling off thick pink layers of icing. “Uhh… this is weird,” he said. “There’s a box with a key inside.”
He finished cleaning off the icing with a colorful napkin, and we all crowded around to inspect the transparent box. It had a lock on one side and appeared to be made of regular glass, but when Maverick picked it up and smashed it on the table, it didn’t crack.
“It must be laminated glass,” Rhys said, leaning in to get a closer look. “Made to be unbreakable.”
Maverick squinted at the silver lock on the right side. “Looks like a combination lock,” he said. “Like our lockers at school.”
Rhys frowned. “So that’s how we get in to grab the key, I guess. But how do we get the code?”
“No idea. And what’s the key for?” April asked, looking around the room.
“The door, maybe? I’m not sure.”
“Guys?” Tate piped up from under the table. “I found something.”
He emerged with a triumphant expression on his face and a black laptop computer in his hands. “It was inside a compartment under the table,” he said, setting the laptop down. “We must need it for something.”
A speaker crackled at the front of the room. “Congratulations, players. You’ve found all the playing pieces for Truth or Die,” said the robotic voice in its usual monotone. “It’s like Truth or Dare with a fun little twist.”
“Really? Truth or Die?” Kiara said, wrinkling her nose. “How cheap.”
April snorted. “No shit.”
“The game will begin as soon as the rules have been explained,” the robotic voice droned on.
“Here we fucking go,” Hudson muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Wonder what bullshit we’re getting this time?”
“The key in the box will unlock the door. You can only open the box if you have the twelve-digit code, which you’ll find on the laptop by responding to a series of questions. Each question must be answered correctly in order to receive the corresponding number. In this case, the correct answer is always the truth, so keep that in mind as you play.”
“So all we have to do is unlock the door?” Rhys asked, tipping his head. “That’s it?”
“Shh,” Jasmine said, elbowing him in the ribs. “I don’t think it’s over.”
The voice from the speaker continued. “When the game begins, the room will slowly fill with odorless, colorless gas dispensed from vents in the ceiling. The gas is fast-acting and extremely toxic to the nervous system, and the door has been sealed, making the room airtight. If you do not unlock the door and escape in thirty minutes, every single one of you will succumb to the gas and die.”
“All of us?” Kiara said in a strangled voice, eyes bulging. “We can all die here?”
“Not the Game Master,” Jasmine replied, casting a dark look over the group. “I bet he or she has some sort of escape maneuver hidden up their sleeve.”
“Or maybe Brooke was right, and none of us are the Game Master,” Maverick said.
“Sure,” Jasmine muttered, suspicion-filled eyes coming to rest on me.
Once more, the speaker crackled to life. “Open the laptop to begin the game. Failure to comply will activate auto-mode in five minutes, releasing all the gas into the room at once,” it said. “Have fun playing! And remember… if you lie, you die.”
“See?” Rhys said, brows lifting. “I told you the door was different this time.”
“For fuck’s sake, man. Now isn’t the time for your smartass bullshit,” Maverick snapped. As he spoke, he opened the laptop lid and gestured for everyone to take a seat at the table. “If one of us fucks up, we all die, so we have to work together,” he went on, eyes flashing with annoyance. “Just like I’ve been saying all fucking day.”
Everyone grudgingly nodded.
“Carey, it looks like the first question is for you,” Maverick said, eyes lingering on me. “What were the exact charges you were facing before you received the Babylon Prep scholarship?”
“Seriously?” Kiara said snidely. “We already know what she did. She crashed her car into your car, Mav. Big fucking whoop.”
I lowered my gaze to the table, hands twisting in my lap. My cheeks felt like they were on fire. “There’s a bit more to it than that,” I muttered.
“Well, go on, then.” Jasmine waved a hand. “We don’t have all day, in case you hadn’t realized.”
I sighed and listed off the charges for Maverick to type in. “Driving under the influence, reckless driving, and grand theft auto.”
“Wait, what?” Kiara’s brows shot up. “You stole a car while you were drunk?”
“I wasn’t drunk. I had drugs in my system,” I muttered. I didn’t bother explaining all the details. We didn’t have time, and she wouldn’t believe me anyway.
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s even worse.”
“That’s quite the list of charges you have there, Carey. You could have gone to prison,” Jasmine cut in, eyes gleaming. “And here I was thinking you were just a negligent driver.”
“The charges were dropped in the end,” I said, cheeks flaming hot.
“Still… you’re a real criminal, and the person who brought us here is a criminal mastermind,” she said. “You know what they say, right? Birds of a feather…”
“No shit.” Tate leaned back, arms folding. “You just shot right back up to number one on my suspect list, Carey.”
“I’m not the Game Master.”
“But you could be helping him.”
“Guys, we don’t have time for this,” Maverick said in an icy tone. “We have to move on to the next question.”
I noticed he was looking over at me with the same old expression of disdain he used to reserve for me at school. A mix of anger, annoyance, and confusion bubbled up inside me.
Fuck it.
As soon as we got out of this room alive, I was going to confront him so I could find out once and for all why he had such a problem with me. I was tired of not knowing what I’d supposedly done to deserve so much hate—surely it wasn’t really over a car?—and if I ended up dying in Icarus Hall at some stage over the next few days, I’d at least like to know the truth before it happened.
He finally dropped his gaze back to the laptop and pressed enter. “Carey told the truth,” he announced. “Our first number is 5.”
“Should I make a note of the numbers in my phone?” April asked, looking around the table worriedly. “I don’t think my memory is good enough to remember all twelve digits by myself.”
“No need. It’s saved at the bottom of the screen,” Maverick said. “The next question is for Evan, but he’s dead, so it’s allowing me to skip it. The code is now 52.”
“Who’s next?”
“Hold on. What was the question? And the answer?” Kiara asked, leaning forward.
Maverick briefly hesitated. “How long have you been making masturbation videos and selling them online?” he read off the screen. “The answer was one year.”
“Oh my god, seriously?” Jasmine’s eyes widened like saucers. “Evan was really doing that?”
“It makes sense,” Hudson piped up. “I heard his parents cut him off a while back over some argument. So I guess he had to pay for himself ever since then.”
“Guys.” April snapped her fingers. “Did you forget we’re on a time limit here?”
“Next question is for Tate. What’s your secret hobby?” Maverick said, eyes shooting to the other side of the table.
Tate sighed. “I don’t really have any hobbies apart from watching TV, so I’m gonna go ahead and guess the Game Master wants me to admit my little extracurricular activity to everyone,” he said. “I deal drugs. So fucking what? It’s hardly a secret.”
“I didn’t know about it,” Courteney said in a small voice.
“I’ll type in ‘drug dealing’ and see what comes up,” Maverick said, fingertips flying over the keyboard. He pressed enter and nodded. “Yup, it says it’s true. We have our third number. Next question is for Jasmine.”
Jasmine shifted nervously in her seat. “What is it?”
“Who are you sleeping with?”
Jasmine averted her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Is there another skip option?”
“No, because you’re not dead,” Maverick snapped. “Just answer the question. Unless you want us all to die.”
She sighed. “Mr. Callahan,” she muttered. “I’ve been sleeping with him.”
“The history teacher?” Brooke said, eyes like saucers.
“Yes.” Jasmine was still refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. “It’s not a big deal. He’s only twenty-three. Let’s just go to the next question, okay?”
“Uh… it is a big deal. Firstly, he’s married, and secondly, he’s in a position of power over you as your teacher. That’s why it’s fucking illegal,” Zach said.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this,” Kiara added with an injured sniff. “I thought we were best friends.”
Maverick lifted a hand. “Jasmine’s right. We need to move on to the next question. We can discuss everything else later if we want to. The next one’s—” He abruptly stopped midsentence, and his jaw set like granite. “The next one’s for me.”
“What is it?” Hudson asked, thin mouth curving into a smirk.
Maverick remained silent.
“Let me read it.” Rhys stood, leaned over the table, and snatched the laptop from him. “Maverick, whose fault is it that your brother died two years ago?”
A flush was creeping up Maverick’s neck, betraying the turmoil inside as he struggled to maintain his composure.
“Answer the question,” Rhys said. “Now.”
“Fine.” Maverick rearranged his features, attempting to affect a neutral expression, but his gaze remained haunted. “It was my fault. Write that.”
Rhys tapped in four letters. M-I-N-E. “It’s true,” he said, glancing upward. “We have our fifth number.”
I stared at Maverick, eyes widening. Before now, I didn’t have the faintest clue that he had a brother, let alone that he’d apparently caused his death. A dark curiosity gnawed at me, craving more of the story, but his stoic, unwavering expression told me that he had no intention of divulging any of the details. Especially not to me.
His eyes flicked over to me again. As our gazes met, his lips contorted into a scowl, but beneath the veneer of anger, I could sense a profound melancholy. Whatever happened to his brother had clearly messed him up.
Embarrassed to have been caught staring, I quickly dropped my gaze from Maverick’s face to the laptop screen, which I could see from my seat now that Rhys had it. The next question was for April.
I looked over at her as Rhys read it out. “April, where did you go on winter break two years ago?”
“Chamonix, right?” Brooke said, forehead crinkling.
April shook her head and hugged her arms around herself.
“But… that’s what you told us,” Brooke said.
“If you weren’t skiing in France, what were you doing?” Rhys asked. “C’mon, April. Everyone has to answer. You know that.”
April finally spoke up. “I was at a place called Elmwood. It’s an in-patient eating disorder treatment center. I, um…” She trailed off and rubbed her chin, looking down at the table. “I used to have a problem. Bulimia.”
Brooke’s eyes filled with sympathy. “April,” she said softly, reaching over to touch her hand. “You don’t need to feel ashamed about that. You could have told us.”
“But I understand why you didn’t,” Zach added.
I nodded to show my agreement with the others. “I’m really sorry you went through that. I hope you’re feeling better now.”
“Yeah.” Her lips tightened. “Mostly. Some days are difficult. Especially when I’m stressed.”
“Well, we’re all fucking stressed right now, because we’re twenty minutes away from being gassed to death,” Tate said, rolling his eyes upward. “Put the answer in, Rhys. She said Elmwood.”
Rhys nodded. “Done,” he said, pressing enter. “It’s true, so we have our sixth digit. And to be precise, we have eighteen minutes and twenty-six seconds left.”
Jasmine gasped. “It’s already been over eleven minutes since we started?”
“Yup. So let’s try to speed things up. Brooke, your turn. What did you do on November 3rd last year?”
Brooke’s cheeks instantly flushed, and she lowered her gaze to the table. “I cheated on an exam,” she said, voice barely above a murmur.
Confusion flickered in Zach’s eyes. “What? You’re practically a genius! Why would you cheat?”
She lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “I was under a lot of stress, okay? I had a lot going on. Like, a lot. Also, my parents are always on my back about staying at the very top of my best classes. I was starting to have trouble keeping up.”
I patted her arm. “I understand. It can be really hard.”
“Save the sympathy discussions for later, please,” Rhys said in a venomous tone, shooting me a filthy look. “Okay, the laptop accepted the words ‘cheated on exam’, so Courteney, you’re up. Who is your uncle?”
It was Courteney’s turn to look ashamed. She sighed and scrubbed a hand across her face before replying. “Robert Paulaner.”
Tate’s eyes widened. “The serial killer who did all that fucked-up shit to high school kids?”
“Yes,” Courteney muttered. “He’s on my mom’s side, and she changed her name when she married my dad, so no one has ever associated us with him.”
“So you’re related to a serial murderer who targets high school kids,”
Kiara said, pointedly tapping her chin. “Hmm. Sound familiar to anyone here?”
Courteney replied through gritted teeth. “I’m not the Game Master. And before you say it, I’m not one of his little helpers either.”
“If you say so.” Kiara sneered and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Good luck convincing everyone later.”
“Stop bitching, Kiara. It’s your turn,” Rhys said. A triumphant grin spread over his face. “Ah, this’ll be good. How many followers have you bought across all your social media accounts?”
Kiara’s brows shot up. “What the… I… I didn’t buy any,” she spluttered. She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders, quickly regaining her composure. “I don’t need to buy followers!”
“Just answer the question,” Rhys said, affecting a bored expression.
“I did! The answer is zero!”
“Okay.” He shrugged and typed her answer in. A dialog box instantly popped up with the word ‘LIE’ in big red letters. “Shit. One minute just got shaved off our time.”
“I guess the Game Master forgot to mention that particular rule,” Zach said.
“Nah, he didn’t forget. I bet he wanted us to discover it on our own, just like this, to make everyone freak out,” Tate replied.
“Oh my god, who cares?” April said. “Kiara, answer the question! Truthfully this time!”
Kiara sighed and put her face in her hands, elbows resting in front of her. She mumbled something inaudible to my side of the table.
“What did she say?” Rhys asked, looking at Jasmine, who was sitting right next to Kiara.
“She’s bought 750,000 followers.”
Kiara finally looked up again. “You guys just don’t get it!” she said hotly. “When you’re in my line of work, you need constant growth and engagement, or else everything falls off and you become totally irrelevant!”
“Wow.” Rhys smirked as he typed the answer. “Irrelevant, you say. Sounds truly terrible.”
“Shut up,” Kiara hissed. “At least I’m not secretly poor like you.”
“Wait, what?” Tate cut in, cocking his head.
Kiara leaned back and smiled. “That’s right, Rhys—I already know your secret. Your dad sold me my latest car two months ago. He looks exactly like you. That’s how I found out.”
Rhys ignored her comments and looked over at Zach. “Your turn, man. Who did you cheat on your girlfriend with last year?”
Zach shifted in his seat, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. He wouldn’t meet April’s eyes, even though she was staring right at him.
“You cheated on Abby?” she said, eyes saucer wide.
“I… it was a mistake,” Zach mumbled. “It only happened once.”
I could practically see April’s heart breaking right in front of me. “But… why?” she asked, blinking rapidly as she tried to stop herself from crying. “How could you do that to Abby? How?”
“I’m sorry. I swear, it was only one time, and it was a mistake. It never happened again.”
“Oh my god.” April stood and shook a finger at Zach. “This is why we got so close after she died, isn’t it? And also why you helped me start the drug awareness campaign in her name. I always thought it was because you loved her so much that you saw me as a family member, and you wanted to stay close because of that. But it was all out of guilt, wasn’t it?”
“No!” Zach looked stricken. “You’re one of my best friends, April.”
“Oh, so you don’t feel guilty?”
“Of course I do! I just didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to make things even worse for you!”
Rhys lifted a hand. “Guys, we’ve been over this. Just answer the question, and we can have the big discussion later, okay?”
April whirled around, eyes flashing. “No! We still have thirteen minutes left on the clock, and we’re almost done. You can give me at least one minute for this!”
She spun back around to glare at Zach. “So you didn’t tell me for my sake? You seriously expect me to believe that?”
“I knew how you’d react, and I didn’t want to lose our friendship.” He slowly shook his head, one hand dabbing at his eyes. “I regretted it so much, and being friends with you helped so much with the pain after Abby died. I couldn’t lose you too.”
“Fuck you,” April seethed. “How dare you?”
“April, please,” Brooke said, rising to her feet. She lay a hand on April’s shoulder. “I understand that you’re hurt by this, but we really need to keep going. That clock is ticking down fast.”
April slowly turned to face her. “Why aren’t you more surprised by this?” she asked in a low voice.
Brooke bit her bottom lip and looked down at the floor.
“Oh my god.” April’s eyes narrowed. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“No. I… I suspected. That’s all.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t want to cause drama. Then, after Abby passed, I saw no reason to make things worse by dredging up stuff from the past. So, yeah… I never told you. I’m sorry.”
Maverick stood and slammed his hand down on the table. “Enough! Answer the question, Zach. Who was the girl you cheated with?”
Zach sighed and raked a hand through his hair, mumbling something unintelligible.
“It was me.” Courteney put her hand up. “He’s not lying when he says it was only one time. It really was. We were going home from our study group, and we—”
“You?” April cut her off, eyes widening with incredulity. “Oh my god. Of course it was! You two have been all over each other ever since we got to this place!”
“That’s not true.”
“It is. You know, I actually thought it was cute at first. I was glad that Zach was finally able to move on and have feelings for someone else. I thought he deserved it.” April’s lips twisted into a sneer. “But the whole time…”
She trailed off, and Courteney began to cry. “I swear, it only happened once,” she said in a choked voice. “Nothing since then. We both felt too guilty.”
“Oh, sure.”
“Next question is for Hudson,” Rhys said, raising his voice to drown out Courteney’s sniffling. He gave a sidewards glance to April. “Sorry, but you only asked for a minute, and I actually gave you two for that little outburst. Clock’s ticking.”
Hudson rolled his eyes. “Shoot.”
“How many girls have you sexually violated or attempted to violate?” Rhys asked. I noticed he’d lowered his voice again, ostensibly trying to defend his best friend by ensuring half the room wouldn’t hear the question.
Hudson’s eyes widened. “What the fuck?”
“He asked how many girls you’ve tried to force yourself on,” Maverick said, loud enough for everyone to hear over Courteney’s cries, which had turned from sniffles into plaintive sobs. “Answer the question.”
“None.” Hudson shrugged. “I don’t know why that’s even a question for me.”
“Bullshit,” Maverick said, eyes narrowing. “One of those girls is in the room with us right now. I won’t say who to protect her identity. But I know it happened.”
My brows rose. I never actually told Maverick what happened between me and Hudson after he rescued me that day in the hallway. He must have guessed based on the interaction he witnessed before he stepped in.
Or… perhaps he knew because he was the Game Master, meaning he already knew the answer to every single secret in this game.
Hudson shot me a sideways glance and smirked. Clearly, he knew hardly anyone in the room would believe me if I told them what he’d done to me.
“I didn’t do shit,” he said, turning back to face Maverick. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re a fucking liar.”
“Rhys, put zero in the answer box. Then everyone will see.”
“Don’t!” Brooke shouted. “We’ll lose a minute!”
“But that could really be the answer,” Kiara said. “Like, it could be a trick question. Right?”
Rhys entered ‘0’ in the answer box, and a familiar red popup appeared. “Shit,” he muttered. “We just lost two minutes.”
“So it’s not just one minute we lose for every wrong answer. It doubles every time you put in a wrong answer,” Tate said, eyes widening.
“Maybe it’s the word ‘zero’ rather than the number,” Rhys murmured, fingers flying over the keyboard.
“Don’t!” I shouted, trying to snatch the laptop from him. He was too fast, and he pressed enter before I could get hold of it. The red dialog box popped up again, informing us that we’d lost four minutes this time.
“We’re down to six minutes now,” I said, shooting a helpless look at Maverick.
He stood and wrenched the laptop out of Rhys’s grip. “You can’t be trusted with this,” he said. “Hudson, answer the fucking question, or we’ll all die.”
“I… I’m starting to feel a little lightheaded,” Courteney mumbled.
“That’s because the room is filling with gas, and we just got a massive new hit of it, thanks to Rhys losing us six whole minutes of time,” Maverick said.
Hudson looked down at the table. His hands were splayed out in front of him. “I didn’t do anything,” he muttered.
“Answer now or we’ll all die!”
“Fine!” Hudson threw up his hands. “Four. Happy now?”
Maverick rapidly typed in the number and let out a heavy sigh of relief. “That’s correct. Just one more person now. Rhys.”
Kiara let out a theatrical groan of satisfaction. “Oh, thank God. We already know his secret. He’s been pretending to be rich.” She paused, stood, and did a little mock bow. “You’re welcome, everyone!”
“That’s not the question.” Maverick looked over at Rhys. “Who’s your secret lover?”
Rhys’s face instantly paled. Clearly, he hadn’t expected the Game Master to know this particular secret. “I… how did he…”
“Just answer,” Jasmine snapped. “I had to admit I was sleeping with a teacher. Surely yours is no worse.”
Rhys was silent for several seconds. Then he jumped to his feet and ran to the door. “Let me out!” he shouted, pounding on it with his fists. “Let me the fuck out!”
“There’s no way out unless you answer the question,” I called out.
Rhys kept smashing on the door, but nothing happened. Maverick strode over, grabbed him by the shoulders, and dragged him back to the table. “This isn’t the 1950s. No one cares if you’re gay. You can just say it.”
“I’m not gay,” Rhys muttered.
“For fuck’s sake, why can’t you just tell us who you’ve been sleeping with?” Jasmine asked sharply. “I mean, our lives literally depend on it, or did you forget that?”
Rhys fell silent again.
“Is it some sort of creepy age gap thing? Much older woman? Or a young girl?” Kiara asked, nose wrinkling.
Rhys glared at her. “No! I’m not a fucking pedo!”
“Answer the question, man,” Maverick said. He glanced at the laptop screen. “We’re down to three and a half minutes.”
“I… I can’t. Really.”
Maverick looked over at Hudson. He was sitting with his head down and shoulders hunched, presumably trying to make himself as small as possible to avoid attention after his shocking admission.
“Hudson, you’re his best friend,” Maverick said. “Who’s he fucking?”
Hudson lifted his chin. “I don’t know,” he mumbled.
“Fucking say it.”
“I swear, I really don’t know the answer to this one!” Hudson said. “We don’t really talk about shit like that. A few party hookups, maybe, but none of them are embarrassing.”
Rhys was still silent. Hudson turned to face him. “C’mon, dude. Just tell us. It can’t be that bad.”
Courteney’s head was starting to loll. I was beginning to feel weak as well, and it was getting difficult to focus.
Maverick leaned closer to Rhys. “Answer the question now. Or would you honestly rather die and take the rest of us with you?”
Rhys looked at the table. “Elena,” he said in a ragged whisper.
Kiara and Jasmine’s mouths dropped open in perfect O shapes.
“Your sister?” Hudson said, eyes bulging. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Half-sister,” Rhys muttered.
“That’s still a biological relation!” Jasmine said, face contorting with disgust. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Maverick typed the name in and let out a heavy sigh of relief. “We have the final number. Can someone work on the box as I call out the numbers?”
“We have to hurry,” Brooke cut in, nervously glancing at the laptop. “We’re down to one minute and seven seconds!”
Zach fiddled with the combination lock as Maverick recited the twelve-digit code. “5-2-9-5-7-8-2-6-4-1-3-8.”
The lock fell away, and Zach quickly snatched the key out of the box and raced over to the door. We all followed him, clamoring behind him as his shaky hands inserted the key into the lock.
“Got it!” he said, twisting the handle to wrench the door open. “Run!”
We spilled out of the room and collapsed in the hallway outside, just in time to hear the automated message from the laptop we’d left behind.
“Time’s up.”