Countdown

by Michelle Maddox

  "Don't forget it's supposed to be a reward level."

  "I couldn't give a smaller shit. I just want us to get through this in one piece. Now you're going to have to climb over me and untie me so we can keep going. There's not much time left."

  I put a hand on his jeans-clad thigh and slowly eased myself lower. He spread his legs so his feet dangled off the side of the platform to give me space to maneuver. Now on my knees, I slid myself closer to him until I couldn't go any farther. I placed my hands on his hard-muscled abdomen, then one at a time on his chest, sliding up to his shoulders. I grabbed the platform above his head on either side of his arms. Our bodies were now firmly pressed against each other. I heard his breathing hitch and felt his cock harden against my stomach.

  "Is it wrong that I'm enjoying this a little bit?" he rasped.

  "Yeah, it's wrong."

  My breasts rubbed against his chest, and he inhaled sharply and let out a low groan. "Dammit, Kira."

  I leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, "Jonathan told me that you're the one who killed my family."

  He tensed and pulled his face away so he could stare into my eyes. His were wide. "What?"

  "You heard me. Seven years ago when you were a Kerometh addict." A tear slipped down my cheek and fell into the empty air beneath us. "You broke into our home in the dead of night and shot my mother, father, and sister. And you would have killed me, too, if the cops hadn't arrived."

  He shook his head. "No, Kira-"

  "Shut up. Just shut up. That's why they picked me to be your partner. Because they knew what you did to me. They knew. Jonathan told me-"

  "Jonathan's a fucking liar," he spat out. "He's one of them. Don't you see? He's lying to you. I didn't kill your family. I swear to God I didn't."

  "And I'd believe you? Why would I believe you?"

  "You have to believe me."

  "I don't have to do anything." I shook my head and slid past him, going hand over hand, pulling myself clear of his body. "I can leave you here. I don't have to save you, as long as I save myself. You can die and I'll live."

  Something in his expression shattered. "You're the only one who's given me the benefit of the doubt in years. Please don't take that away."

  I just held on to the platform and closed my eyes tightly, trying to stop any more tears from spilling.

  He craned his neck to look at me. His eyes glistened. "Kira, I've done bad things. I'll admit that. I've killed before. But I haven't killed anyone who didn't deserve it"

  "Maybe you have a lousy idea of who deserves to die."

  "I swear, Kira, I didn't kill your family."

  "How would you even remember? If you were in the middle of a Kerometh fury, then you wouldn't be thinking too clearly."

  There was deep anguish in his expression as he strained to keep me in his gaze. "I've never taken Kerometh a day in my life."

  I brought the back of my hand up to wipe at the tears on my cheeks and frowned so hard that it hurt. He'd never taken Kerometh before?

  "There are three minutes remaining in this level of The Countdown."

  I'd read Jonathan. I knew he was telling me the truth.

  The truth, I thought. How did I know for sure it was the truth? Because he read as being an honest man? Even honest men could lie when they had to.

  What else had I felt? Guilt. Jonathan felt a deep sense of guilt, but I didn't know why.

  Maybe he felt guilty that he was being forced to lie to me about Rogan. If Rogan had killed my family and left me as an orphan who almost had to sell her body to get enough money not to starve to death, then I hated him.

  But if he didn't do it… if he was innocent…

  I couldn't know for sure. Not now, and not with less than three minutes to go in this level. I didn't have enough time or the ability to concentrate to touch him, to read him, and even if I did would that tell me anything? I'd gotten a great read on Jonathan, but that only left me with more questions. More confusion.

  Unless … unless Jonathan believed what he told me was true. Just because he believed it didn't necessarily make it true, but it would explain what my flex had told me.

  Dammit. I didn't know.

  I let out a cry of frustration and started working on Rogan's wrist bindings until they dropped away. I watched them fall, the ropes getting farther and farther away as they got closer to the street. I felt dizzy suddenly and tried to get up to my feet, but my hand slipped on the wet platform. It had started to rain. I hadn't even noticed until now.

  Rogan gripped my wrists and held me in place just before I fell off the platform. We waited, facing each other on our knees until the platform stopped shaking. I stared into his eyes as the rain fell around us, soaking through our clothes.

  "I would have fallen," I said, willing myself not to look down again.

  "I know." His eyes were moist, and not just from the rain. "You're the only one who's ever believed in me, Kira. Please believe me now."

  "Two minutes remain in this level of The Countdown."

  He didn't wait for me to say anything else. He slowly and carefully got to his feet. He held a hand out to me, and I took it and stood up.

  "Let's go," he said.

  I nodded and swiveled carefully to face the other building. I took a step, and then another step, and then another.

  "Fifty-nine.. fifty-eight.. fifty-seven …"

  "Don't think about the countdown," Rogan breathed from behind me into my now damp hair. "Don't think about the rain. Don't think about anything but surviving."

  I swallowed hard. "I think I'm afraid of heights."

  "So am I."

  I almost laughed at that.

  I took another step, and another. A camera whipped past me at a breakneck speed and I stopped. I felt Rogan's hand at my back to steady me.

  "You're doing great, Kira. Just keep going."

  "Five… four… three …"

  With a last step I touched the roof. Another step and I was on it completely and jumped down off the ledge. Rogan landed next to me. I turned to face him and felt an odd sense of relief that we'd both made it to the other side in one piece. Streams of rain hit the rooftop around us.

  He reached out as if to touch me, but then pulled his hand back. "Kira, I-"

  "Congratulations to Kira and Rogan on completing Level Four of The Countdown successfully. This was also a reward level, so we hope that you will enjoy what we have in store for you next."

  I braced myself for the blinding pain that usually preceded being struck unconscious by our implants, but instead I could hear a helicopter approach. My wet hair whipped around on all sides. Rogan grabbed my arm to pull me closer to him as the helicopter landed next to us.

  Three men in white coats jumped out. They held guns. I couldn't hear anything because the sound from the helicopter's propellers was too deafening. The men in white were yelling something and waving the guns. I turned away and tried to run, but one of the man grabbed me around my neck. I fought him, but he dragged me to the helicopter and pulled me inside. I couldn't see where Rogan was. I yelled his name but couldn't even hear my own voice.

  The helicopter lifted off from the roof and flew into the dark, stormy sky.

  CHAPTER NINE

  I heard Rogan yelling my name from the near distance as the blindfold covering my eyes was ripped off and I was pushed into a room. The door slammed shut behind me.

  A gun was on me. "Strip," the voice behind it said, masculine, gruff, and his eyes slithered down my body.

  My gaze darted around the room that, other than being totally white, had no other distinguishing features. "You're going to have to shoot me, asshole."

  White Coat smirked. "Don't you want your reward?"

  "I don't want any reward that starts with me getting naked in front of people holding guns."

  He cocked the gun. "Strip now, bitch."

  The door opened again and Jonathan walked in. Despite the fact that I now considered him a total lying bastard, I was surpr
isingly happy to see him.

  "Is everything well in here?" he asked blandly, barely even glancing at me.

  "Is everything well?" I repeated. "Are you fucking with me?"

  He regarded me then with a neutral expression. "I'm sorry this has been difficult for you, Kira. Congratulations on finishing the reward level. I'm sure you'll be very pleased to enjoy some privacy after four difficult levels."

  I narrowed my eyes. "You lied to me. Didn't you? About Rogan?"

  He didn't confirm or deny it. He nodded at another man in white who threw something at me, and I couldn't do anything except catch it. It was a robe, a bathrobe. White.

  Big surprise on the color choice.

  Jonathan nodded at the men. "We'll give you some privacy. Leave your clothes in here."

  "Where have you taken Rogan?" I asked.

  Instead of answering me, he turned and followed the men out of the room. The door closed solidly behind him.

  I stood there, shaking, looking at the terry-cloth robe draping off my arm. Then I dropped it and ran to the door, pounding my fists against it.

  "Where's Rogan?" I yelled. "What have you done with him?"

  I turned around and looked at the small white room, my chest heaving in and out. And I waited.

  For a long time.

  But nothing happened.

  There was no sound. No movement. Nobody came in to force me to take my clothes off. I was alone with nothing to distract me except my racing thoughts.

  I felt the back of my hair, now matted and stringy from being caught out in the rain. I touched the incision where the implant was. It wasn't giving off any warning signal.

  He must be close.

  Dammit. I wanted to talk to him. Why had I trusted Jonathan when I saw it was now obvious that he was the liar?

  If only I'd done a true flex on Rogan, I wouldn't have doubted him at all-but I'd found it so difficult to concentrate around him. Especially in this crazy situation. No man had ever confused me as much as he did. As he does.

  I felt sudden concern for him twist in my stomach.

  Okay, I guess it was obvious that I believed him. I wouldn't be concerned for him if I thought it was all true.

  I've never taken Kerometh a day in my life, he'd said.

  Jonathan had lied to me so the level would be extra entertaining for the subscribers.

  I hated being lied to.

  And that look Rogan gave me out there on the platform when I accused him of killing my family … He hadn't looked guilty or shocked or dismayed by what I said.

  He looked disappointed. Completely, devastatingly disappointed that I would think that of him after telling him I believed in his innocence.

  I bit my bottom lip and drew my arms around myself and hugged while trying to breathe normally.

  "Hello?" I said out loud. "Announcer guy? What's going on now?"

  There was no answer.

  It was quite obvious, actually. They were waiting for me to change my clothes, and nothing would happen until I did.

  Make them wait, I thought bitterly.

  And so I waited-another ten minutes.

  Then, as quickly as I could-using the robe to cover myself as I did so-I slipped out of my wet, dirty clothes and let them drop heavily to the shiny white floor. I kicked off my stolen red running shoes. I tied the sash of the white robe tight around my waist and stood there in bare feet.

  "Now what?" I growled from between clenched teeth.

  There was a whirring sound and the door to my right opened, moving from floor to ceiling. It was dark beyond. I approached it cautiously and looked inside.

  It looked like a luxury hotel room. Large and grand, with rich fabrics and beautiful artwork. A large four-poster bed was to the right. To the left an archway led into a huge bathroom. A large window looked out to a red, orange, pink, and yellow sunset over a tranquil rippling lake. Trees waved gently in the breeze. I approached closer and touched the window. The image flickered. It wasn't a window at all, but a large display screen. I could see the slot on the right side where the disk containing the image files went. The moving picture it displayed looked just like I'd imagined Offworld would look-absolutely perfect.

  Looks so real, I thought absently.

  Next to the screen and spread across a table was a feast unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Fruit, breads, meat, lobster, shrimp, cheese. A large bottle of wine sat in a silver bucket surrounded by ice. I reached out, noticing that my hand was shaking, and plucked a green grape from the table and brought it to my mouth, crunching down through the skin. The sweetness burst in my mouth. I felt as if I hadn't eaten in days. And I hadn't. Not really. Not like this.

  Level Four is a reward level, Jonathan had said.

  This was my reward. Food and a bit of privacy. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until I saw real food.

  Where was Rogan? I wondered, and my stomach twisted again with concern. Was he in a room just like this one?

  After another minute of worry, my hunger won out.

  I started to shovel the food into my mouth. Cheese, crackers, more grapes. Ignoring the wineglasses I grabbed the bottle and tipped it back, chugging the wine down my throat.

  After a few minutes at the feast filled me enough to concentrate on something else, I moved toward the bathroom and gasped. There was a large bathtub, more like a Jacuzzi, filled near to overflowing with bubbles. The scent that filled the warm air was sweet and floral, like roses dipped in honey.

  I looked around, trying to see where the cameras were, but I couldn't see any.

  Was Jonathan serious that part of my reward was some privacy? It seemed too good to be true. I wouldn't let myself believe it, and my suspicions only worked to make my now-full stomach more upset.

  I paced for several more minutes, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the cameras to burst out of the walls.

  But there was nothing.

  I listened carefully to the silence surrounding me and wondered for the eightieth time where Rogan was. My implant wasn't giving off any strange beeping signals. Wherever he was, he was less than ninety feet away.

  I slowly became aware of an unpleasant smell and realized that it was me. I'd been running and sweating hard for two days now, and even after being drenched from the rainfall, I felt completely disgusting.

  Finally I let the robe drop to the floor and I eased into the tub, letting out an audible sigh. It had been so long since I'd had a real bath. I'd gotten by on quick showers whenever and wherever I got the chance. This was pure ecstasy. Still paranoid, I waited for a silver camera to fly up and catch me naked in the bathtub, but there was only blissful silence.

  I thought of Rogan then as I sank down deeper into the calming water. Was he receiving the same treatment?

  There were two bottles, one of shampoo and one of conditioner, and I quickly made use of each one, slipping beneath the surface of the water to rinse my hair clean.

  When I was finished I got out of the tub, toweling myself dry and putting the robe back on. I went back out to the main room and tried to organize my thoughts.

  There was no time for relaxation. Even after the food and the bath, I still felt on edge. I had to use this time to figure out how to get out of this game before it killed me.

  The door burst open and Rogan appeared behind it. He stepped inside the room just as the door slammed shut behind him.

  My eyes widened at him. He wore a matching robe to mine. His hair was slicked back off his face, which was now grime-free. His eyes stood out like blue-green jewels in the dim lighting.

  Damn, I'd been right. He did clean up really well.

  He stared at me for a moment and then eyed the room, including the buffet table. He stormed toward me and grabbed my arms.

  His expression was intense. "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, I'm … I'm fine. And you?"

  "Did you eat any of this food?"

  "Yes."

  He shook his head. "Didn't it occur to you that
it might be drugged?"

  I raised my eyebrows. "Actually, now that you mention it-"

  He glared at me. "It could have been poisoned."

  "I was starving to death. And I'm fine. See?" I turned around. "Not dead yet."

  He gave me a look of relief and sat down on the edge of the bed. "No, I guess you aren't."

  "Maybe a reward level is simply that. A reward. No poison. And apparently no cameras, either."

  "Forgive me if I'm a bit suspicious of anything that happens to us."

  God, and I thought I was tense. Rogan seemed to be the definition of the word.

  I eyed his white robe. "They gave you a bath, too?"

  "More like a hosing off."

  "You smell nice for a change."

  He looked up at me. "So do you." He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and frowned deeply at me. "But you're okay? They didn't hurt you?"

  "No. I'm fine."

  "I'm very glad to hear it." His expression softened, and he reached up to touch my face and almost seemed surprised that I didn't pull away.

  His hand felt warm against my cheek. "About what happened on the platform …" I started.

  He pulled his hand away and stood up from the bed. "I guess you have some questions for me, don't you?"

  I nodded.

  He started to pace the room, his expression darkening. "I didn't kill your family, Kira. You have to believe me."

  "I believe you." I tried to meet his gaze but he looked away.

  "I don't want there to be any doubt. Not anymore. But I don't know how to prove it to you so you won't doubt it again."

  I bit my lip. "Actually, there's a way. If you're willing."

  His frown deepened. "If it'll prove to you that I'm innocent then I'm open to anything."

  "Are you sure about that?" I finally captured his gaze and took a step closer to him.

  He nodded stiffly. "I'm sure."

  "You might want to sit down, then."

  He eyed me curiously but didn't argue, and sat down in a nearby plush burgundy chair. I walked around to stand behind him.

  "Just try to relax," I suggested.

  I leaned closer and slid my hands under his robe on either shoulder, and then down to his chest. Full skin on skin. I felt his heartbeat quicken under my touch. His breathing increased. He was so warm and still damp from his shower.