Fear Games

8. What We Could Have Been

RACHEL

When Isaiah stepped into my room, our eyes locking for the first time in twenty years, my heart stopped the same way it did the first time we met back in the day. He smiled at me as Emerald walked out of the room, said, "You two behave yourselves," and closed the door behind her. He was wearing a pair of shaggy khaki pants and a green sweater, which definitely suited him well. It was hard to believe that after all this time, he still looked so much like his old self, his his brown eyes and messy brown hair. I would have been able to recognize him anywhere.

Isaiah took a step further into the room and said, "Your daughter seems friendly. She's not your only child, huh?"

"No, I have an older son named Calix," I replied as I tried to make myself comfortable in bed. "He's an adult now, in college. Well, he was at one point. He's had a lot going on."

"It sounds like you've all had a lot going on," Isaiah said as he neared the bed, where he pointed to an empty spot next to me. "Mind if I sit?"

"Of course not," I said as I scooted over so he could have some room. It felt weird being alone in the same room with him again after everything. I honestly didn't even know he was getting out of prison. How in the hell did that slip past me? "What do you mean it sounds like we've all got a lot going on?"

"The news," Isaiah said, "it says a lot. I've been following the story. That's, uh, actually part of why I decided to come by. I heard that the Fear Games started again, and at first I couldn't believe it. But then I knew it was true when I heard that your family was involved."

"There's no use in even trying to deny it," I said. "The Fear Games started a couple of weeks ago. It's been an absolute nightmare. My best friend Eden's kids were victims too. She was one of the victims of Daisy Williamson, the real creator of the Fear Games."

Isaiah nodded. "I know. I spent a lot of time the last five years researching what I could about what happened after I went to prison for setting the Fear Games traps. I learned all about Daisy, Brandon, the team that was built, and her brother Damien. I learned all about Josh Mitchell, too."

I raised my eyebrows. "Damn, how much access did you have inside of the prison?"

Isaiah sighed and clasped his hands together. "Actually, Rachel, that's something that you should know, too. You see, I didn't just get out of prison recently."

"No?" I said, confused. "How long have you been out?"

"Five years," he said softly.

My mouth dropped open as an, "Oh," slipped out. So that was how he had been able to study the Fear Games as much as he had. It made sense to me, but it also kind of hurt that he had been out of prison for so long and he was only just now making his presence known. I thought about not asking, but I figured I might as well: "What took you so long to come by and see me?"

"Rachel, there were plenty of times where I wanted to come by and see you," Isaiah said. "But when I first got out of prison, I saw on social media that you were married, and then when I saw that you had broken up, I didn't want it to seem like I was trying to come and be the savior or take you back. Then after that, it just never seemed like the right time. Until now."

I closed my eyes, thinking all the way back to my past relationship with Isaiah in high school, and how much every bit of it meant to me, until it all got thrown away. Before Ryan was revealed to be the first Fear Games killer, Isaiah was revealed to have been the one who was forced to set the traps in the old house against his will. When Ryan was finally discovered as the killer, and died, Isaiah turned himself in to the police because he wanted to be noble. All these years later, I wondered what it would have been like if he hadn't turned himself him and just stayed with me. Would I have come to resent him, or would we have ended up together? Would my life have turned out completely differently?