The Game

by Scollins, Shane

  Candice parked her car and stared at herself in the rearview mirror. It took a while to work up the willpower to move and walk inside the six-story brick building, but she finally did it.

  Her first floor apartment felt creepy now. Even though the cops said there were no bugs, no cameras, she felt vulnerable. The phone company completed her number change already but when the phone rang and the caller ID once again said the same NAME UNKNOWN, she began to freak out.

  After letting it ring about twenty times she finally picked it up via the speakerphone.

  “Ms. Laguna?” the man said.

  “Who is this?” she asked.

  “It’s me.” The voice was one she did not recognize. It was a man’s voice, deep and mature.

  “Who are you?”

  “I told you, it’s me. Are you not getting this by now? How did things go at work today? Not too well, I assume.”

  She felt like her whole world was rushing away from her, as if she was standing on the edge of the Earth and the land was breaking away, piece by piece around her feet. Although she was not prone to tears, they came.

  “Ms. Laguna? What have you learned so far?”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Why do you think?”

  “I don’t know. How the hell should I know?”

  “This is the beginning of the end, sweet Candy. First I break you, then I take you, then I put you into the game.”

  Her tears had turned into long sobs that had her on the edge of complete breakdown. But she sucked a deep breath. “Why are you doing this to me?” she sobbed out.

  “Because you asked for this.”

  For some reason that made her stop feeling sorry for herself, and made her mad. “What are you talking about? I asked you to ruin my life?”

  “Yes, you did. You asked for this and I’m only doing what you asked.”

  Her anger had taken over. The fear was gone. “What the hell are talking about, you friggin’ lunatic—”

  “Now, Candice, that’s not nice. You’ve played the game well so far, now we’re going to have to move to stage-three.”

  Candice threw the phone so hard against the wall it shattered into pieces and punched a small hole in the sheetrock. She then went over to the phone system and ripped it out of the wall. She ran into the bathroom and dropped her new cell phone into the toilet. Then she went to her bedroom to pack. Getting the hell out of this apartment was her first priority. She would go stay with Zee permanently until she figured out what to do next.

  After throwing her things into the back of her Subaru, she stopped at the store to pick up a cheap disposable cell phone. Obviously going to her carrier and getting a new number wasn’t enough. Whoever was doing this had access to her cell records and the ability to erase calls and convince the police she was the crazy one.

  For a second, she thought, perhaps she was crazy. Maybe none of the calls were even real. After all, no one had ever been around when she answered one. Maybe she was going crazy and imagining the entire thing.

  No, she didn’t imagine losing her job. This was happening.

  She activated the disposable phone and tried to reach Zee again, but she didn’t pick up. Of course, not recognizing the number, Zee might not pick it up. Candice didn’t leave a message.

  Pulling into the lot at her bank, she decided to stop at the ATM to get some cash. Maybe paranoia was setting in, but part of her worried they might go after her bank account next.

  Even though she expected it, the shock of her debit card not working still hit her hard. She tried her other two credit cards, but nothing worked. She refused to believe.

  Without hesitation, she stormed into the bank and told the teller her debit card wouldn’t work. The teller happily agreed to check the account.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Laguna, but your account has been frozen for insufficient funds.”

  “That’s not possible. I have almost five thousand dollars in that account.”

  “I’m sorry, but it says you only have three dollars, and anything under five we put a temporary freeze on the account until a deposit is made.”

  “This is nuts, I didn’t withdraw any money. That account is in good standing. When was the money withdrawn?”

  The teller did some typing. “Hmm, that’s strange, but I can’t see any of your history. My access has been denied by corporate.”

  “Where’s your manager?”

  The teller handed her a card. “This is our main customer service line. If there’s a dispute, you can call them. Unfortunately, we can’t handle it at this branch.”

  Candice wanted to scream and yell and get to the bottom of this. But somehow she knew there was no point. She gathered her purse and stormed out of the bank.

  Just as she turned the corner back to her car, another astonishing thing was happening. A flatbed tow truck was hooking up her car and dragging it onto the platform.

  “Hey, stop! What’re you doing?” she yelled to the driver.

  “Sorry, I have an order of repossession for this car.” The scruffy driver with a bright orange vest flipped a lever and with a loud whine, her car began to crawl up the steel hill.

  “No way, this is a mistake. I’ve never missed a single payment. What are you talking about?”

  The driver held out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her. She looked at the document and it had all the correct information: her name, a pine green Subaru Legacy, her plate number, everything looked legal.

  “If there’s stuff in the car you want, get it now.” The driver motioned to the car with a head nod.

  She hurried to the back and gathered her gym bag, backpack, and large double sized overnight bag.

  She stood there, unable to think. Her brain had finally betrayed her. The numbness just washed over her in waves until time slowed to a crawl and the universe floated away. The void was her new reality. Nothing in life made sense anymore.

  Finally, it all came screaming back as the sight of her car going down the street on the back of the truck became real. Her arms felt heavy, hung lifeless at her side. She was alone in the middle of a parking lot. All she had was the few hundred dollars in her purse and a prepaid cell phone. She gathered her things and headed to the bus stop. There was another stop only about two miles from Zee’s house.

  As she sat on the bench waiting for the bus, she’d never felt so helpless. Her head was pounding, she felt weak. The realization that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast explained some of the problem.

  She reached into her purse and took out a granola bar. She broke off a piece in her mouth. The usually tasty peanut butter wafers had no flavor. Her mind just couldn’t process everything that had just transpired in the span of an afternoon.

  A new numbness pumped into her body. Her mind couldn’t even work well enough to focus her eyes. It was all she could do to remember to chew and swallow the food in her mouth.

  Candice kept rehashing what the caller said. Who would ask for any of this? She certainly didn’t ask for this. She wasn’t a mean person, she didn’t harbor hate for people. She wasn’t a perfect angel, but she tried to be nice to everyone. She didn’t do drugs, or get drunk and stupid and put herself into bad situations. Playing life on the right side of the coin was supposed to give you some sort of karmic payback. And this is how fate repaid her?

  Now a part of her wished she’d been a bitch all her life. At least then, this would make some sense. Her mind was starting to play tricks on her, but that was probably their game. This was some sort of psychological terrorization. They’d almost convinced her the calls were in her head, and now they were trying to suggest she asked for this in some way.

  The bus chugged around the corner and pulled up to her stop. With considerable effort, she stood up and boarded.

&nbs
p; Chapter 9

  Caleb pulled the van up to the curb and climbed between the front seats to the back. No one would give the vehicle a second glance. A bright yellow van affixed with a yellow light bar never seemed to attract much attention. People just always assumed a work truck was there to do work.

  He read the text from Rena and slipped the rifle barrel through the small hole in the side of the panel van. The trap door resided fully concealed behind ladder racks that ran down both sides of the van. He rested the rifle on the edge of the circle just large enough for the rifle barrel and scope to peer through, and adjusted the camera focus on the scope. Then, he waited.

  There was no sign of traffic or movement on the entire block. A kill like this was fast and easy, but no less of a thrill than the up close and personal ones that Angus required of him.

  Caleb relished his role in the group. He didn’t fancy himself a serial killer, he was a hit-man. He didn’t kill random people for the thrill, just for money, and Angus Peckham paid very well. But make no mistake, he loved it. He was soulless and had no compassion for his fellow humans. It didn’t bother him, that’s just how he’d been all his life. He used to beat kids up in school just to prove a point.

  He killed his first person at sixteen, a local nine-year-old girl. He didn’t know her, but she was playing with her little brother near the abandoned apartment in Newark. He was on the roof looking down at her. He picked up one of the many loose blocks around and dropped one three stories onto her head.

  The authorities never suspected it was anything but an accident. The building was decaying, condemned, and known to be dangerous. It was the perfect crime. He became obsessed with dropping things on people from high places. Highway overpasses became his hunting grounds for a solid year. But eventually that became boring because it was so hard to kill anyone that way. He’d managed to hit several vehicles but they never did result in a kill or even a serious injury.

  The target passed in front of the window, too quick. He wasn’t in a hurry, but at the same time, he didn’t have all day. The man sat at the table and twisted a top off a beer. He checked the camera focus one last time, it worked seamlessly through the scope. With great patience, Caleb watched the subject carefully. He didn’t miss because he was so patient. Just as the man’s head bobbed into the center of his scope, he pulled the trigger and watched the head snap to the side.

  It was a clean kill. He slowly pulled the rifle back inside the van, closed the trap door, and made his way to the driver seat. He drove out of the neighborhood and headed back to the warehouse on Route 24.

  That was a boring job. There wasn’t much excitement in killing a man from a hundred feet away. He was really looking forward to another hunt for Angus’ game. Maybe when he got back to the warehouse he’d watch some of the tape from the practice runs. That last girl wasn’t much fun, but the one before that gave him a good workout.

  He sent a text to Rena as soon as he pulled into the parking lot and she raised the large door. He drove the van inside.

  Chapter 10

  Zee hadn’t arrived home yet. Candice waited on the front steps, praying that the swelling clouds in the distance weren’t going to lead to an icy rain. Of course, at this stage Murphy’s Law was running crazy like a Tasmanian devil on an acid trip.

  Sure enough, as if the Gods hated her for some reason she could only guess, the rain started. She looked up to the sky and shook her head. Religion had always played a conflicted role in her life. But when the rain started mixing with icy sleet pellets, windblown and pelting her face, the feeling God hated her started to sound logical.

  Candice did believe in God. Her family went to church when she was young. When her little brother died, her father started going three and four times a week to a church group that met at night. He mother, on the other hand, lost her will to go to church altogether.

  That divide only grew bigger each week. Her father was never the same after Anton died. Her parents grew distant from each other, they didn’t communicate at all. Then one day her father came home and told her he had fallen in love with a woman from his church group.

  Antonio Laguna packed his bags that night and never returned. He divorced her mother, married his new woman, and moved to Texas. As he was leaving, he stopped, gave Candice a short hug, and said nothing but goodbye. He blamed Candice in part for Anton’s death. She’d kicked the boy out of her room, told him to get lost.

  Candice got up from the steps and moved back towards the wall of the house, farther under the cover of the porch. She sat on a bench but the wind still blew some of the icy pellets into her face.

  The sleet was now mixing with snow. She dug into her large duffle bag and pulled out a nylon ski jacket, slid into it and pulled up the hood.

  Darkness was creeping in. She started to wonder where Zee was, it was well past five and the office was only a ten-minute ride, even with traffic. The cars were thick on Ridgedale Avenue right now, but it was Thanksgiving week, and people were running all over the place preparing for a big meal with family.

  Candice didn’t have any family in the area now. Her mother had moved from New Jersey three years ago, retiring away from the snow to Raleigh, North Carolina. With her hectic work schedule, Candice only got down to see her mother twice in three years.

  She pulled out her cell again and tried Zee’s number, but there was still no answer. This time she left a voice mail explaining the part about the new phone. She knew there was a spare key in the old days, but not anymore. Since Zee kicked out her last roommate, she took away the hidden spare.

  Her phone rang. She hoped it was Zee calling back, but it wasn’t. She stared in disbelief at the caller ID and couldn’t look away. It couldn’t be them, there was no way possible. Maybe the caller identification feature didn’t work on this cheap phone. She answered the call. “Hello?”

  “Candice Laguna, you’ve been chosen to receive this call.” The voice was that of an enthusiastic game show announcer. “We’re so glad you’ve answered, we’d like to invite you to see this video.”

  A text message bleeped through, with a video attachment. What she saw in the video halted her breathing. She involuntarily moved her hand over her mouth. It was Zee, bound and gagged, tied to a bed in her underwear.

  Candice couldn’t breathe. Her heart began beating oddly out of time. Tears came and her hands shook so badly she almost dropped the phone. The three-second clip looped over and over and she couldn’t look away.

  The phone rang again, and the overly enthusiastic voice blurted again. “What you’ve seen may be disturbing to you, but you haven’t seen anything yet. If you don’t do exactly as we say, she will die a horrible death. That’s right, a horrible death. You cannot go to the police, or she dies an even more horrible death. That’s right, an even more unimaginably horrible death. This is going to be the best time of your life, Candice Laguna. You’re getting exactly what you asked for, that’s right, exactly what you asked for. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so don’t delay. Stay tuned for your instructions. And remember, you must do exactly as we say. Thank you for participating. Good night!”

  The call ended. The video then erased itself, but she couldn’t stop staring at the empty screen. A completely different level of numbness captured her body. She almost wanted to laugh, and then cry, and then laugh again hysterically until she cried again. But what she really wanted to do was vomit.

  This was beyond preposterous. And to think these people claimed she asked for this. It was now not only her problem. Her best friend was paying for whatever crime they thought she deserved to pay for.

  The wind had picked up, it was driving hard ice pellets into her face with twice the force of before, but Candice didn’t even notice it until the car pulled up in front of the house. Out of the dark blue sedan climbed one Detective Spencer Webb.

  “Ms. Laguna?�
�� He peered at her through the sleet and darkness. She didn’t respond. He walked up the steps and sat next to her on the long bench that rested against the house.

  Candice said nothing in greeting. The lump in her throat closed off her vocal cords.

  He said, “I tried to call, but you didn’t answer. I stopped by your apartment, figured you might be here. I wanted to ask you a few questions.”

  She tried to speak but her voice just came out a thin hiss. She cleared her throat with a few fake coughs and nodded.

  “Where were you this afternoon?”

  Finally, after a few seconds, her voice returned, but it couldn’t hide the upset so she just ran with it. “Well, let’s see… First I got fired, then my car was repossessed, then I got even more calls from these psychos who don’t exist, so I bought a prepaid cell and guess what? They called me again. But I know, I’m crazy. The calls aren’t real, they’re in my head. So don’t you worry yourself about it. I’m just fine. I’ll probably be dead soon, but I’m fine otherwise.” She couldn’t hide her emotions if she wanted to.

  “Did you visit Eddie Ahrens today?”

  She looked at him, squinted. “Why would I do that? I told you we broke up. We aren’t friends.”

  He nodded, then looked at her closely. “Eddie was murdered today.”

  The shock in her face was genuine, and he must’ve believed it. “Murdered?”

  “This afternoon, he was shot while sitting at his kitchen table.”

  She’d broken up with Eddie, but at one time she’d loved him, or at least liked him a lot. She’d thought she was all cried out for the day, but she wasn’t. More tears welled into her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. “Why is this happening?”

  “We hoped you might be able to tell us that.”