Fear Games

10. The End of All Things

"Honestly, neither am I," Rachel said, taking a huge gulp of wine and slamming the glass down on the table. "But regardless, we have to remain hopeful, right? We can't just throw in the towel."

"No, we can't," I said. "But we have to be realistic about what's going to happen. The thought of losing my kids..."

"Good news is, we'll probably be dead too, so we won't be able to miss them," Rachel said. I knew she meant it as a joke, but the worst part of it was how true it could end up being—and no matter how much I tried to prepare myself for a special dose of reality, nothing was going to ready me for the truth.

Rachel's phone dinged with a text message, and when she looked at it, I saw her facial expression change from blankness to worry. I waited a few seconds to see if she would say something about who sent it, but when she didn't, I let it go.

We stayed up talking for a few more minutes when I decided to go to bed. "I'm going to get some rest," I said. "It's been a long day and I'm ready for sleep. Are you sure you'll be okay for the night?"

"I'll be fine," Rachel said, even though I was sure I detected a lie. Despite what my intuition was telling me, I left the kitchen and headed upstairs to where I would be sleeping. Just as I was getting ready to climb into bed, I heard the front door to the house open and close, and I wondered momentarily why Rachel would have gone outside. I decided to go back downstairs to check on her.

When I entered the kitchen, I said, "Rach, are you okay?" I noticed that she was gone, but the bottle of wine and glass were still on the table. Left behind was a piece of paper, and before I even read it, I had a bad feeling.

I picked up the note and read it, then my heart dropped to my stomach. Shit. Rachel's in trouble.

It was time.

RACHEL

My phone dinged with a text notification while I was sitting in the kitchen having a conversation with Eden. When I picked it up and looked at it, my heart dropped and I wanted to throw up.

The text was from an Unknown number, and it said, Hey Rachel, it's time to finally meet. Want to save the kids? Come meet me alone at the old St. Mary's location and you'll get all the answers you want. Clock is ticking. No police.

I thought for a brief moment that Eden was going to ask me about the text, because I was sure that my facial expression said it all, but she surprisingly didn't say a word. Now I just had to wait for her to go to sleep. Hopefully it would be soon. I was also a bit drunk to drive, but the text said to come alone, so I couldn't bring Eden. Plus, I would't have felt comfortable leaving the kids all alone either. So I guess it was up to me to go face the killer by myself. I thought it was interesting that the killer specifically wanted me to go, and not everyone else, or even Eden. Then again, the Fear Games did begin with me. It made sense that it would end with me, too.

Finally, Eden said, "I'm going to get some rest. It's been a long day and I'm ready for sleep. Are you sure you'll be okay for the night?"

"I'll be fine," I said. As we said our goodnights, I pondered how I was going to get out of here. I just needed to make sure that Eden was upstairs and in bed. As she walked up the stairs and I heard a door close behind her, I quickly jumped up from the table, threw on some slippers, grabbed my car keys, and headed out the front to my vehicle. Without a moment to waste, I turned it on, pulled out of the driveway, and drove down the road.

Part of me felt guilty for driving drunk, but at least my vision wasn't blurry and the world wasn't spinning of anything. I felt that I had a decent grasp on the road in that moment, so that was a good sign. As I drove through the darkness, thankfully there wasn't anyone else on the road, so if my dumbass did crash, it wouldn't be into another person. My hands shook as I gripped the steering wheel, and I tried my best to stay focused. My mind kept wandering to all sorts of different places—Were my kids safe? Who was the killer? Who else was going to die?