The Midnight Game, page 18
“There’s only one way to find out. Make sure you open loads of gauze packages first. And maybe have two piles—one for while you clean it and a fresh bunch to replace before you tape me up.”
“Good idea.” They sat quietly for a couple of minutes. The only sounds that Callum could hear were his own labored breaths and Ellie tearing the paper covers from the gauze. “Where do you think they are?” Ellie asked quietly.
“I don’t know. They said something about going for a smoke, so hopefully they’ve gotten high and forgotten all about us.”
“I wish,” Ellie muttered. “But we watched Reece kill Hugo, and Toni stabbed you. They won’t just leave without us. It’s way too risky for them.”
“Maybe. They left just before you woke up. I think they were getting bored of waiting for us.”
“I think they’ll be back soon. OK, I’m going to swap these for the gauze. You ready?” Callum bit down on the belt and nodded. “Well done. Press, please.”
“You have no idea how much this hurts,” he grinded out from between his teeth as he pushed on the thick pads. He tried instead to concentrate on the cooling sensation of the alcohol wipes that Ellie was using to mop up his blood.
“Sorry. I am trying to be gentle. I just want to get it all off so this tape will stick.”
“I know,” he grunted. She carried on, her touch feather-light but still sending a wave of pain through his body every time she touched him.
“Did it hurt?” Ellie asked. Callum could hear the caution in her voice.
“When she did it? Yeah. It’s fine, I can talk about it.”
“What did it feel like?”
“Honestly, I thought she’d punched me. It was like a really bad sucker punch to the ribs. It was only when she pulled the knife out and I started bleeding that I realized the bitch had stabbed me.”
“I can’t believe it.” Ellie wafted a hand around to dry his skin off more quickly. The cool sensation was nice—it distracted from the pain a bit. “What are the chances of meeting two psychopaths on the internet?”
“Folie à deux.” Callum remembered the phrase from the Slender Man stabbing conversation. “The madness of two. Maybe they were toying with us this whole time.”
“Certainly seems like it.”
Silence descended again as he watched Ellie methodically rip off lengths of duct tape and hang them from the edge of the desk. Callum felt the gauze start to dampen beneath his fingers. “I think it’s time to change this. I’ll sit up, and when you swap it just slap the tape all over. We can use the rest to wind around my ribs; if we do that tight enough, it might stop the bleeding for a while.”
“On it.” She gently helped him into a more upright position and held out the fresh gauze. “Drop that one on three and press this on. I’ll grab the tape. Ready?”
Callum nodded, clamping his teeth together.
“One…two…three!”
She shoved the gauze on and whipped a piece of tape from the desk, placing it over the lower part of the dressing. Callum tried not to move as she quickly slapped the rest of the pieces around it, forming an abstract little square on his side. “I’m going to put the end of the tape over the middle of the gauze and just…wrap, I guess.” Callum raised his free hand in the air, focusing on the candles as Ellie passed the thick black tape from one side of his body to the other, then around his back, repeating the motion over and over. The candles continued to flicker merrily, completely unaware of the danger they were in. “Almost done,” she breathed.
He nearly smiled—the last time he’d been wrapped up like this was for Halloween, when he was nine and obsessed with ancient Egypt.
“You’re done,” Ellie panted, dropping onto the bed. “How does it feel?”
“Tight.” He huffed as she rooted around in a first-aid kit. She produced a pair of round-edged scissors and cut the end of the tape away from the roll.
“Too tight?”
“No, fine.” He flexed his arm experimentally. “It feels a bit better, thanks.”
“Good.” She started to pack the items back into the cupboard. “Hey, there are some pain relievers in here.”
“What?” Callum almost wept with joy. “Gimme.”
Ellie handed him a bottle of children’s Tylenol.
“Are you serious?” he asked.
“It says it contains acetaminophen.” She shrugged, popping the safety cap and holding out the bottle. Callum could see it was almost full. “Beggars can’t be choosers. Do you want it or not?”
“Of course I do.” He took the bottle. “This is kid stuff,” he said, before downing a few.
“Er, I don’t know if you’re supposed to take that many.”
“Get back to me on that when you’ve been stabbed.”
“Fair comment.” Ellie cracked a smile. She stood on her tiptoes to place the baskets back on the top shelf when she stopped to look at her watch. “Hey, it’s just after three a.m. We only have half an hour left.”
“Seriously?” The muscles that had been knotted in his shoulders relaxed slightly.
“Yeah.” She sat next to him, tidying the empty packages into little piles ready for the trash. His mom would appreciate that about her. “So, what is your excuse, then?” she asked. “For not drinking, I mean.”
“I guess it’s because—” Callum was cut off by a bloodcurdling yell that echoed down the corridor outside. He froze, listening to what sounded like the staff room being smashed to pieces.
“They’re back,” Ellie whispered. She closed the cupboard and leaned against it. “What do we do?”
“Is the door still locked?” Ellie nodded, but a look of uncertainty flittered across her face. “Is it?”
“I think s—” She clapped a grimy hand over her mouth as the handle started to turn. She stared at it with wide eyes and Callum could think of nothing else to do.
So he prayed.
“O Allah,” he whispered as quietly as he possibly could, “Allah, stand by us. Allah, protect us.”
“They can’t be in there.” Toni’s impatient voice bled through the door. “It’s locked and we have the key. We should try upstairs.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” He heard Reece snarl as the handle pushed lower. Callum held his breath as Ellie stared at him with wide eyes, but the door held and the lever was released. Ellie visibly deflated. “Fine. How far could they have gotten, anyway? We took her insulin and you knifed him right between the ribs. I reckon you might even have gotten a lung.” Reece laughed.
“Precisely,” Toni said. Callum heard what sounded like the smack of a kiss and felt bile rise in his throat. “Besides, what are the odds we’d find our latest victims in a cleaning closet? It’s not going to be exactly like last time.”
Ellie stood up straight, a rabbit-caught-in-the-headlights look in her eyes.
“You’re right,” Reece grumbled. “Let’s go and find them and get this over with. I’m getting bored.”
Callum sat frozen as he listened to their voices drift away. “They’ve gone upstairs,” he said, craning his neck to look at the ceiling. Two pairs of heavy footsteps echoed above them. “We have to go, now.”
“Did you hear what they said? About last time?”
“Yeah.” A memory itched at his brain. “They mentioned a cleaning closet. Where did I see…oh, wait, you don’t think they had something to do with that article, do you? The one that was shared on the Deddit thread?”
“Yeah,” Ellie whispered, still staring at the door as she ran her fingers along the silver chain on her wrist. “I do. I didn’t want it to be true, but…” She trailed off.
“Ellie? Why do I get the feeling you haven’t told me something?”
She sighed, collecting the bloody tissues from around the room and pushing them through the lid into the trash. Callum noticed a smear of red on the plastic. He really hoped his mom wouldn’t be the one to clean up after him if this all went horribly wrong.
“Because I haven’t,” Ellie said simply.
“Well, tell me now,” he said, gritting his teeth against the throbbing in his side.
“OK. But I want you to know I wasn’t hiding it or anything, I promise. Her name was Alice. The girl from the article. She was my best friend.” A wave of nausea swept over Callum, forcing him to grab the desk chair as he stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Alice was my best friend and she died at a Halloween party. I never believed she killed herself, and now…” She shook her head slowly, tears streaming down her face. “I think it was them. I think they killed her.”
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 20:59
To: CreepyTeepee
Hey!
I know you don’t come on here much, but I want to add you to this cool chat I’m in.
I’ve met some awesome people who recommended loads of spooooooooky games for the Halloween party!
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 22:35
From: CreepyTeepee
I got your text.
You haven’t added me to anything, have you? You know I hate this hell site.
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 22:41
To: CreepyTeepee
Not yet.
Come on! I promise it won’t be like last time.
You’re a big girl now.
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 22:43
From: CreepyTeepee
Yeah, a big girl who still has nightmares about that creepypasta who cut off his own eyelids and whispered “Go to sleeeep” when he killed people.
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 22:45
To: CreepyTeepee
OK, yes. I admit that probably wasn’t the best thing to show you at a sleepover. But it was, like, five years ago.
Come on. Some of these games are so spooky!
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 22:50
From: CreepyTeepee
Nope.
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 22:52
To: CreepyTeepee
Pleeeeeeease?
L?
Ellieeeeeeee.
Eleanor…
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 22:59
From: CreepyTeepee
Do not full-name me, Alice Rose Gooding.
One question: if you add me now, will I be able to see the rest of the chat?
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:00
To: CreepyTeepee
Er…
No, actually. I don’t think you will. Just everything after you join.
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:02
From: CreepyTeepee
No point then, is there?
Just show me tomorrow.
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:03
To: CreepyTeepee
Oh, fine. They’re really cool to chat with, though.
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:05
From: CreepyTeepee
Al?
Please tell me you haven’t told internet randos we’re having a party?
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:06
To: CreepyTeepee
Of course not.
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:07
From: CreepyTeepee
Are you sure? You make bad internet decisions, remember?
We’ve only just stopped doing damage control from when your Insta priv account got hacked…
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:09
To: CreepyTeepee
You don’t have to remind me.
I wasn’t allowed to have my phone while unsupervised for months.
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:10
From: CreepyTeepee
OK, good.
Honestly, I don’t even know why I still have an account on here.
It’s nightmare fuel.
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:12
To: CreepyTeepee
Which is exactly why we like it…
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:14
From: CreepyTeepee
Yeah, yeah, I know.
In small doses.
In the daytime…
Outbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:16
To: CreepyTeepee
Oh, fine.
I’ll show you tomorrow.
Night xo
Inbox (@WitchesBrew_2007)
>Direct message< 10/27/2021 23:18
From: CreepyTeepee
Night, sweetie xo
Sunday, July 3, 3:03 a.m.
TONI
“What was that?”
“What? Stop being so jumpy. I knew I shouldn’t have let you smoke,” Reece snapped at her as he led the way along the upstairs corridor. He was hyped up, flinging open office doors so wide that they bounced off the walls on the other side.
“But I needed to calm down,” she whispered, trying not to wince every time a door swung. “All that adrenaline…I needed something to take the edge off.”
They passed the last office and emerged into the open space of the upstairs foyer. Streetlights shone through the windows that lined the front wall, and Toni could see that it had started to drizzle outside. A car droned past, just audible through a pair of thin glass doors that led out onto a small stone balcony.
“How far could they have gotten?” Reece growled. He peered into the large dark hall. Toni could see the scuffed salt circle on the floor, but other than that and the creeping shadows, it was empty.
“They must have gone the opposite way. Maybe we keep missing them. Or”—a realization struck her—“they’ve left. Gone to the police.”
“No, I don’t think so. They believed that whole Midnight Man thing too much to go outside.” Reece rubbed a hand across his chin. “I mean, look at the salt they left behind in the staff room. No, they’re still in here somewhere, scurrying around like little rats.”
“Maybe.” Toni’s skin prickled as she watched him head toward the corridor where the girl’s body was. She paused. What if they had escaped?
What if they told someone?
Surely now was the time for damage control. Maybe Toni should look out for herself for a change. The girl in the art room, Mei. That had all been Reece’s doing; Toni had been with Hugo and the others when Reece had killed her. Then he’d murdered Hugo too. Toni had nothing to do with anyone actually getting slaughtered, did she? She forced down the heat that rose from her stomach as she thought of the first scene. Overkill. She’d read that somewhere once and hadn’t understood what it meant until she’d seen the mess he’d made.
He was out of control.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Reece’s monotone singsong floated along the corridor. “Or I’ll huff…and I’ll puff…”
Toni weighed her choices. The stairs were right there. She could be down and out of the hut in less than a minute. She could be the one who went to the police—after all, all she’d really done tonight was stab that Callum kid, and last time she’d only held the girl still. Reece had been the one who’d dragged the blade across her wrists. She could still make something up; it wasn’t too late. She could say that Reece had coerced her. Threatened her or something. Even better, she could say she had meant to stab Reece, and Callum just got in the way. She was actually trying to stop the crazed killer…
A dark shadow filled the entrance to the hall.
“Hello?” She said it without thinking. As if they would answer her. Reece was down the corridor; she could hear his footsteps echoing down there. So who was it? Was it possible that he’d missed them when they looked in the hall? He was high as a kite, after all. He must not have looked properly. “Callum?” she tried. “Ellie? I’m…I’m sorry.” She took a step closer, making her voice small. “I’m scared too.”
The shadow melted into the dark room.
“Toni,” it breathed.
She turned and looked at the stairs, her skin prickling. She was paranoid and they were playing with her; they had to be.
“Toniiiiiii.” The sound slithered out from the doorway, as though it had a mind of its own. “Toniiiiiii.”
“Stop it!” She took a step toward the doorway, pausing to take a breath. The darkness in there was slick now, long fingers of inky blackness reaching out to her. She rubbed her eyes. Jesus, whatever she had smoked was strong. “I’m sorry, really.” She tried to inject a note of regret into her voice as she inched into the large room.
A breeze ran over her, gently lifting tendrils of her hair. Almost like someone was breathing right in her face. She swallowed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Callum. I was trying to stab Reece, to stop him.” Another breath from the far corner, almost a wheeze this time. “I want to help you get out of here.”
“Liar,” a voice hissed from behind her.
Toni whipped around. “Ellie, is that you? I’m telling the truth, I swear! We need to get out of here. Reece—he’s lost it. Maybe the game got to him or something.” She squinted toward where the sound had come from but could see nothing except darkness.
