The knock on the door startled me, just as I was drifting off to sleep. At first I thought it was at my bedroom door, so I stayed quiet. I needed my sleep. I heard the knock again, then realized it was coming from downstairs.
Someone was at our house.
At 11:55 at night. That couldn't be good.
Did Mom and Dad hear it? I pressed my ear against the wall beside my bed, listening. I heard someone getting out of bed, someone I guessed was my father. They opened their bedroom door and walked down the stairs.
My curiosity piqued. I was no longer tired, so I climbed out of bed, heading to the hall, where I tried my best to listen to the conversation going on downstairs. I heard a deep voice, which I quickly noticed belonged to a police officer.
"He's not here," Dad said. "At least not as far as I know. Would you like me to go check?"
"Yes, please," the officer replied.
My father retreated up the stairs, where I hurried back to my room, jumping back into bed, pretending to be asleep. Dad knocked on my bedroom door, then opened it a second later. He always did that. What was even the point in knocking if you'd just walk in anyway?
"Josh," Dad whispered. "Are you awake?"
I rolled over onto my side, pretending to just be waking up. "I am now," I muttered.
"Is Damien here?" Dad asked.
My heartbeat suddenly picked up. "What are you talking about? Why would Damien be here?"
"What's going on?" Mom asked, appearing beside my Dad. "Is everything okay? Why are there police downstairs?"
"There are police here?" I asked, trying to sound like I didn't already know. "Dad, did something happen to Damien?"
He said nothing as he turned away and walked back down the hall toward the stairs. I climbed out of bed and followed my parents. We met the officer back at the door, who was writing something down on a notepad.
"He's not here, sir," Dad said. "May I ask what is going on?"
"Damien went missing earlier this evening," the officer said. "His mother reported it about an hour ago. She said he was supposed to be coming here, which means that since he's not here, he went somewhere else."
My heart felt like it was ready to explode out of my chest. "He's going to be okay, right?"
No one answered my question. Damien was my best friend. Had been since we were little kids. The idea of something happening to him...
"I'm afraid I have to get going," the officer said. "I may come back and check in with you tomorrow. If you hear anything before then, give me a call." He handed my Dad a card with a number scribbled on it and said, "Have a good one."
Have a good one? How were we supposed to have a good evening when we had just learned that Damien was missing? There had to be some logical explanation.
"Josh," Mom said. "Do you know anything about this?"
"I don't know anything," I whispered. "How should I? I haven't really talked to him today. I guess I just thought he was busy."
Both my parents looked as though they didn't believe me.
That's when the reality set in.
Damien was really gone.
***
One Week Later
Word of Damien's disappearance was hitting our town pretty hard. But I knew that no one was mourning the loss of him worse than me, aside from his family, that is. Our friends were taking it badly as well, but no one understood how I felt.
It was a Friday, exactly one week since Damien's disappearance. There was absolutely no news. Some people speculated that he ran away from home, although if that were the case, I was pretty sure he'd have told me. Others speculated he got kidnapped, but I wasn't too sure about that either. Something about it didn't seem right to me.
My best friend, Eden, nudged me. "Hey, you alright?"
I'd barely even touched my lunch. "I don't know. I just feel so weak these last few days."
Eden nodded. She was wearing black leggings, a black poofy skirt, and a black tank top. It went extremely well with her black hair, black eyeliner, and--you guessed it!--her black lipstick that she always wore. Even though she looked dark and scary, she was one of the sweetest people I'd ever met in my entire life.
"That's understandable," she said. "It's just so...crazy."
"Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it," our friend, Clary, said. She was sitting across from us, getting ready to shove a sub down her throat. "It's weird. Damien wouldn't just up and disappear like that."
"Or maybe he did," Brandon, Clary's boyfriend, said. "You can never really know a person, I guess."
"I knew him," I muttered softly, but I wasn't sure Brandon heard. Clary and Brandon were two of the most popular kids in school. With Clary's long, curly brown hair and brown eyes, she looked like she could be a model. Brandon had darker hair as well, although it was hard to tell if it was dirty blond or brown. He had some of the brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen, although they would never top Damien's.
"I wonder how Haven's taking it," Eden said. "I feel so bad for her."
I couldn't help but snort. "Why's that?"
"Well, they were dating," Clary said. "And then poof, he just disappears. She's been home 'sick' the last few days from what I heard."
"I wish I could do the same," I said. And it was true. Ever since last Friday night, I had this nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I kept expecting to blow chunks at any moment.
"I went over there the other night to try and comfort her," Clary said. "That girl's a disaster. I hope she ends up alright."
Eden looked at me sadly. "It'll be okay," she said, but we both knew it was a lie. The first forty-eight hours were always the most important. Now it was just a matter of either finding him or finding a body, and I feared that it would be the body.
Just then, Eden nudged me again. "Look."
I looked up to see what she was pointing at. A guy that I'd never seen before was walking past our table, looking awfully confused. He had neat blond hair and wore black pants, a purple shirt, a white vest, and a grey tie. He looked like he just walked out of a movie.
"Who is he?" Eden asked, sounding as if she was about to catcall him.
"I have no idea," Clary said, not even bothering to hide the fact that her eyes were wandering. "Oh my god, those blue eyes."
"Ehem," Brandon said.
"He has to be new, right?" Eden said. "I've never seen him before."
"Let's invite him over here," Brandon said. "Poor dude probably needs some friends."
"We probably shouldn't..." I said, trying to hold back my chunks I was sure were going to blow any minute. "With everything going on--"
"Hey man," Brandon said, spinning around to call the new kid over. "Would you like to come sit with us?"
The new kid looked at us for a second and his eyes fell on mine. He smiled and said, "Sure." He walked over to the table, dropping down in the empty seat right next to me. I shifted uncomfortably, trying to keep our bodies from touching.
"Thanks for letting me come over here," he said. "People here have been a little awkward all day. Am I missing something?"
"It's been a rough week," Eden said. "Our friend Damien...went missing last week."
The kid looked surprised. "Wow. This town sounds like a great place to move to."
"You didn't know?" I asked.
"Didn't have a clue," he said. "I just got here yesterday. I'm Matt, by the way." He held out his hand to shake mine but I didn't bother. I wasn't in a friendly mood.
"I'm Eden," my best friend said. "And this is Josh. And those two are Clary and Brandon. We usually have two other people with us, but..."
"Two people have gone missing?" Matt asked.
"No, just the one," Clary said. "Our friend Haven has been home feeling kinda sick...she was Damien's girlfriend."
"Oh," Matt said softly. "I'm so sorry. Must be hard."
"Could be worse," Brandon said.
We all knew what he was referring to without even having to ask.
"What do you mean?" Matt asked.
"You mean you don't know about that either?" I said. God, this kid really didn't know anything about this town.
"The Fear Games?" Eden said in a bit of a nicer tone. "You didn't know those happened here?"
Matt's eyes widened. "Fear Games...this is the town? I heard about it almost nonstop last year but never really paid attention to where they said it was. That's insane."
"Yeah, it really was," Clary said. "Nothing could ever top it. I remember how scared everyone was for months. We had a curfew and everything of freaking 6 o'clock. They were terrified that it would happen again, even though Ryan's body was found."
"It was one of the worst murders in a long time, so I'd imagine," Matt said. "Gosh, that must have been so scary. I can't imagine."
"So what brings you to town?" Brandon asked. "It must be hard moving your senior year."
"Oh yeah, it is," Matt said. "My Mom and I just moved here because she was divorcing my father. Let's just say he wasn't the nicest person in the world."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Eden said. "If it makes you feel any better, I know what it's like to be with an only parent. My mom died when I was a little kid, so I never really got to know her. It's just been my dad and me for as long as I can remember."
The bell rang before anyone had any chance to say anything. As we all started to leave, Matt said, "Do any of you have Government with Mr. Johnson this period? I'm not really sure where I'm going."
"I do," I said almost out of instinct. I immediately regretted it.
Matt's face lit up. "Can I walk with you?"
"Uh...sure," I said. The two of us wandered to the other side of the school, up the stairs, and down the main hall. Neither of us said anything, probably more because of me. I felt bad. It wasn't that I didn't want a friend. It was something else.
"Look, I'm sorry for being so cold," I said before we got to class. "It's just been a bad week."
Matt shrugged. "I didn't really notice."
For some reason I doubted that, but didn't say so. The two of us sauntered into class, and when I took my seat, Matt stood there awkwardly.
"Where should I sit?" he asked in a whisper.
"You must be Matt!" Mr. Johnson said from his desk. "I see you've already made a friend. You can take a seat next to Josh. I'm sure he won't mind. We don't have assigned seats."
I opened my mouth to argue, but Matt was already taking a seat.
Of course he was.
***
One Year Ago
"Hey man, I'll be out in a few," Damien said, taking a towel with him. "You'll be alright?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said. As Damien left the room, I plopped down on his bed, texting Eden to keep myself occupied. I heard the showerhead from the bathroom down the hall turn on, and a moment later I heard a beep coming from his phone.
Damien left it in here.
It wasn't like we really had secrets. I went over to his desk and picked up his cell phone, seeing that he received a picture message from Haven. Did I want to open it? Before I even realized what I was doing, I opened it, to reveal a very sexy (and very naked) photo of Haven.
And just a few messages above was a very naked photo of Damien.
I stared at Damien's picture for a second, taking in everything. He looked...good.
"What are you doing?" a voice said behind me.
Damien. In a towel.
"Uh, nothing," I said, closing out of the message with Haven. "Your phone beeped. I think it's a text from Haven. I was about to come bring it to you."
Damien's tan body looked great, with a six-pack I'd never noticed before. I knew he had one, but I never paid too much attention to it. Not until now.
"Uh huh," Damien said, stepping into the room. I gave him the phone, trying to keep my hand from shaking in the process. Did Damien notice? "Well, thanks man. I'll be out in a few."
When he left the room, all I could think about was what he could possibly need his phone in the bathroom with him for.
After I heard him close and lock the bathroom door, I threw on my shoes and ran.
***
Class ended quickly, and I headed out to the school parking lot toward my car. I wasn't sure where Matt went, and I truly didn't care. All I wanted was to get home. As I got into the driver's seat, I turned on the car and music started blasting through my speakers. Screams vibrated through my car from the heavy metal music.
As fast as I could, I turned down the volume. What the hell was that? I didn't remember leaving my music on. Not only that, but metal wasn't even my thing. Where was it coming from? I pressed the reject button for the CD compartment and a disk came out.
"What the..."
On the disk was a message.
For you. Thought you'd appreciate it.
I looked out my window to see if anyone was watching. Everyone seemed too focused on themselves, so it likely wasn't anyone currently out in the lot. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. It was a text from a number I didn't recognize.
Want to know where Damien is? We're going to play a game.
My heart stopped in my chest, and I felt the nausea in my stomach again. This had to be some sort of joke.
Who is this? I replied.
The text came back almost instantaneously.
I'm sure you've heard of me. My name's Noah. It's time to let the Fear Games begin. Again.