"HE CALLED YOU a whore," Elijah said as he stared at the note. "Classy."
Elijah, Esme, Isaiah, Ryan, and I all met up at the local park later that evening. After calling them all for an immediate emergency, they now saw why. Noah was alive and he was coming after us. It was only a matter of time he went after them, too.
"Yeah, well, I've been called worse," I muttered. "So what are we going to do?"
"I'm not sure," Ryan said, examining the note. "At least this confirms our suspicion that Noah knew Ivy. He's definitely trying to kill people that he knows."
"But you didn't know Noah," I said. When everyone stared at me, I asked, "What?"
"I actually think I might have known him," Ryan said. "It was something I figured out the other day. I was looking through one of my old middle school yearbooks and found him. We went to school together."
Damn it, I thought. Noah not knowing Ryan was the only thing that could have potentially made Noah not really be the killer. "So...that's really it then. Noah's definitely the killer."
"Yeah, and he's pretty pissed," Isaiah said. "All I know is that I'm ready for this to be over. And the best way for this to end is if we just go to the police."
"I agree with Isaiah," Esme said. "I want this to end, and the only way that'll happen is if we go to the police and let them handle this."
"Or that could just make him even angrier, which I honestly doubt we want," I said. I grabbed the note from Ryan and said, "I'm going to head home. In the meantime, let's not do anything just yet. This feels very personal. Getting the police involved might not be the best idea."
Before any of them could argue, I headed off toward my car. I needed time to think about everything. I also really needed some sleep.
***
The next morning was fairly normal. It was a Saturday, so I thankfully didn't have school. I slept in until about 11, which my parents got more lenient about ever since I returned from Fear Games. I finally crawled out of bed, went to the bathroom, then headed back into my room. My phone lit up with a new message. It was from Ryan.
Hey. Hope you're feeling alright. The rest of us decided if you want to stay out of this, you can. No pressure. We're going to the police later this afternoon. Message me when you're awake.
It was really sweet of him to suggest I stay out of it, but he and I both knew I couldn't. This was my problem. Probably more mine than it was his. I texted him back telling him I'd see him later, then went downstairs to go find my parents. Neither of whom were home.
"Great," I said to myself. "Just fantastic."
A knock on the front door made me jump. When I looked to see who it was, I sighed. I pulled open the door and said, "Can I help you?"
Isaiah stood there watching me. "Can I come in?"
I moved out of the way, allowing him to enter. He walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. He was wearing black jeans and a teal and white plaid shirt. He looked pretty good, but I still never liked him like that. Never could. I knew that disappointed him, but there wasn't much to say. At least he tried.
"How are you?" Isaiah asked.
"Fine," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I stood in front of him and asked, "So can I help you with anything in particular?"
"Yes, actually," he said nonchalantly. "I wanted to talk to you about us. And Ryan."
My interest piqued. "Oh really? And what exactly would you like to talk about?"
"Are you two an item?" Isaiah asked.
I shrugged. "Why?"
"Well, I'm just curious," he said. "Is there absolutely no way we'll ever be together?"
Funny how he wanted to talk about that now that I was pursuing something with Ryan. "Why do you want to know, Isaiah? Haven't the last two years been obvious enough? I've been rejecting you since freshman year."
Isaiah frowned at me. I felt bad, but this guy could not take the hint. "So instead you start hanging out with Ryan. Go figure. Gosh, it's like Noah all over again."
"You can't possibly be mad at me," I said. "If I don't feel anything for you, I don't feel anything. What do you want from me? You want me to date you even though I have zero feelings whatsoever? How much fun does that sound?"
"It'd be better than nothing," Isaiah whispered.
That was it. I threw up my hands and said, "I give up, Isaiah. I really do. You wonder why I don't even want to be friends with you? Well, this is why." I sighed, running my hands through my hair as I watched his face drop. He looked on the verge of tears. "Just go."
Isaiah stood up and walked over to me. He was within inches of me, his face almost in mine. "Fine. If that's how this is going to be, you don't have to worry anymore. It'll all be over soon."
I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't. As he walked away, I just stared. It'll all be over soon, he'd said.
I couldn't get rid of the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
***
Esme came over a little while later. It had been a while since the two of us hung out just by ourselves. She brought over some chips, soda, and candy. The two of us spent the last few hours watching comedy movies. We normally would have watched horror, but...
"So how come you didn't go with them to the police station?" I asked after the second movie was over.
"Oh, Ryan didn't tell you?" Esme asked. "We decided against that." When she didn't elaborate, I knew there was more to the story.
"What is it?" I said. "What are you guys not telling me?"
Esme shook her head. "If Ryan didn't tell you, I probably shouldn't go into details."
"And why not? I'm not some child you guys need to look out for, Esme."
I knew she wanted to argue that, but didn't. Instead she pulled out her phone, scrolling through a few messages. Then she showed me a picture. It was written on a garage door in what looked like blood. Go to the police and your families are next. -Noah
"Oh my god," I gasped. "Whose garage is that?"
"Elijah's," Esme said. "He saw that when he woke up this morning. His parents weren't home, thankfully, or it probably would have given them both strokes. He sent it to Ryan, Isaiah, and I this morning. Ryan was supposed to tell you. And if he didn't, I'm surprised Elijah didn't. I really thought you knew and just didn't want to talk about it..."
"Of course I want to talk about it!" I said. "God, this cannot be happening. He's threatening our families now, too. Just freaking great."
"Yeah, we haven't quite figured out what to do yet," Esme said softly.
Funny how when she said we it didn't include me. Inhaling softly, I said, "I think you should go, Esme."
Her eyes widened. "You're kidding."
"Why would I be kidding?" I asked. "Clearly you have Elijah and Isaiah to keep you company while Ryan replaces me. Didn't any of you think I'd want to know this?" What made it even worse was that Isaiah had come over earlier and didn't say a word about it. Was that what he meant when he said it'd all be over soon?
"That's not true," Esme said. "We're just trying to make sure you're okay. We know that Fear Games had a negative effect on you and we just wanted to keep you safe."
"I don't need you guys to keep me safe," I said in frustration. "Don't you get it? We're all in this together. We can't keep secrets from one another. That's how Noah will get to us. If Noah's really after us, we can't just sit around and watch movies. We need to do something, and fast."
Esme nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. "I know," she said, trying not to get choked up, "I know we do. Ever since Fear Games, I've been having these nightmares...I remember the house burning, thinking that you might not make it out alive." She let out a sob. "I just don't know how we can make it out of this alive. I'm so scared. I'm terrified that one day I'm going to wake up and you're not going to be here anymore. That's why I thought watching these movies would help. I just wanted to experience one last good day with you in case..."
Esme didn't need to finish. I wrapped her in my arms as she cried on my chest. Tears burned my eyes as I said, "I'm sorry for being so hard on you. I'm just scared, too. We just have to stick together, understand? No more secrets. No more lies. We need to work together to take down Noah."
"But how?" Esme asked as she pulled herself away. "That's what we don't know yet."
"I know," I whispered. "But we're going to figure it out. I promise."
***
My parents had called a few hours ago saying they'd be home late, so that made my house an easy meeting place. I texted Ryan while Esme texted Isaiah and Elijah, telling them all to come over. I couldn't just sit back and let this happen anymore. We needed a plan.
When they arrived, we all moved into my living room. Ryan and I stood while the others sat on the couch, Esme in the middle. Isaiah looked annoyed by my presence, but the feeling was mutual. I could have easily told him to just go home, but I didn't hate him that much.
"So it's come to my attention you guys kept a secret from me," I said.
"Rachel--" Ryan started.
I held up my hand to cut him off. "I'm not even mad. I get why you did it. But I called this meeting because I think we all know what's at stake here."
"Of course we do," Elijah said. "A crazy ass killer is coming after us and is now threatening our families."
"Exactly," I said. "Noah wants something and I think we all know what that is. He wants revenge. Revenge for what we did to him." I saw Elijah start to open his mouth, so I added, "Before you even say we didn't do anything, you know what we did. It makes sense that he would hate us."
"Which leads me to my question," Ryan said. "What did you guys do to him? I mean, whatever it is has to be bad enough for him to want you dead, right?"
"I don't think so," Esme chimed in. "I mean...I get why he'd be angry...but enough to kill us? Isn't that a big extreme?"
"Of course it's extreme," I said. "It's absolute insanity if you really want my opinion on it. But think about it. Some of the most famous killers don't even have reasons. Not big ones. At least if Noah is the killer, I can see why."
"We bullied him," Isaiah said nonchalantly. "At least Elijah and I did."
Ryan looked horrified. "Why would you do that?"
"Because we found out he had a learning disability," Elijah said, although he sounded quite disappointed in himself. "We don't really know what it was, but it was something. He was in a special education class. We found out from Esme, who found out from Rachel."
I nodded slowly. "That...sounds about right."
"But that still doesn't explain why everyone else died," Ryan said. "Even if it's true that he's after you for bullying him, what about me? I barely remember the kid. And Victoria, Ben, Luke...Harper and Adrian...they all died, too."
"And that's exactly why we need to find out what's going on," I said. "Noah saved us for last. I feel like that means he's angriest at us. Hell, he even murdered that Ivy girl before he came after us. We're the last ones standing. We're the only ones that can stop this."
"Rachel's right," Elijah said. "If Noah wants a game, we'll give it to him."
I smiled. Noah wanted to kill us? Fine. But we weren't going down without a fight. "So let the real Fear Games begin."
***
Next week begins the final 3 episodes before the finale, "The Devil Within." In episode 9, "Connect the Dots," what will the group discover? There is more to Noah than you know...
If you liked this episode, please give it a vote! Let me know your theories down in the comments! If you have any questions, I'll respond to every one.