The Midnight Game, page 2
“It’s still connected through a temporary corridor. I thought this would be a good place to start, though, since the door is wooden. No alarms, all that jazz.”
The hairs on Mei’s arm stood on end as a cold breeze tickled her skin.
A wooden door.
They were really doing this.
“Hi, everyone!” a perky voice cut through the tension just as Mei’s watch beeped its reminder. Eleven thirty. “Hope I’m not late!”
“Not at all.” Mei rolled her eyes as another boy jumped up from behind what she assumed was the teacher’s desk to greet the final member of the group. The girl in the doorway smiled shyly and ducked her head behind a curtain of blond hair that Taylor Swift would be proud of as the boy approached her. “You’re just in time. I’m Reece—”
“I thought we weren’t using real names,” Mei said, regretting it instantly. Scary girl narrowed her eyes.
“How do you know that’s his real name?” she purred. “He could have made it up.”
“I don’t…I just…”
“I don’t…I just…,” the girl mimicked in a high-pitched whine. “Oh, calm down. You’re way too tense.” She uncrossed her legs and scooted to the edge of the desk, letting her boot-clad feet brush against the worn green carpet.
“Uh-oh, she’s right, though. I did use my real name.” Reece shrugged, smiling at the newcomer. “Guess I’m not too good at following rules.”
Mei’s mouth dried up. That was not a good start.
“I’m Ellie.” The blond girl smiled. “I guess we would find out anyway, right? I mean, we have to write our names down. For the ritual.”
“That’s true,” scary girl agreed. “I’m Toni.”
“Hugo,” rich boy offered, one meaty hand in the air. “Hugo Winstan—”
“First names only, genius,” Toni snarled. She fixed her eyes on Mei. “You?”
“I’m Mei,” she managed to say, words tumbling from her mouth in a hurry. “Like the month, just spelled differently. It’s Chinese, I’m half Chinese…” She bit her lip, hoping it would stop her nervous rambling. Her voice was smaller than she’d liked. She hadn’t thought she’d be so scared.
“And I’m Callum,” the skinny boy in the hoodie spoke up. He approached the rest of the group and placed a bundle in the center of an empty table. Dull golden thumbtacks, a fistful of torn paper, and six pencils, all in varying degrees of falling apart, scattered across the hard surface. “Are you ready to play?”
07/01/2022 06:30
YeahBoi_121: How we all feeling this bright and sunny morning?
HotDog45: WTF? What time is it?
YeahBoi_121: 6:30, just having breakfast.
YeahBoi_121: Take it you’re not an early riser.
HotDog45: Fell asleep with my headphones in. Didn’t realize I had such a loud alert for this thread. Fuck me up.
06:32
FrenchBanana: Lol. Someone butt-dialed me once when I was asleep with pods in. Scared the life out of me.
YeahBoi_121: Morning @FrenchBanana. You still on for our adventure?
FrenchBanana: Suppose so.
User3678: They can’t WAIT ;)
FrenchBanana: I’m about to do a bit of research this morning actually. Gotta get the bus to school and it takes FOR. EVER.
User3678: School? How old are you?
CreepyTeepee: Wait—this is a good point.
YeahBoi_121: Morning @User3678 and @CreepyTeepee. Almost the whole gang.
06:34
Donttalktome12: I’m here. Not fully awake, but here.
YeahBoi_121: Morning @Donttalktome12
FrenchBanana: Stop being so cheerful @YeahBoi_121, it’s weird.
YeahBoi_121: Sorry. Just being polite.
FrenchBanana: @User3678??? @CreepyTeepee??? What do you mean? What’s a good point?
06:35
FrenchBanana: Hellllooooo. I need to go soon!
06:36
User3678: Isn’t it obvious? Frenchy told us they went to high school. Which means they’re seventeen—or younger.
CreepyTeepee: Exactly. None of us actually know each other, do we? What if one of us is lying?
HotDog45: About what?
CreepyTeepee: Oh, I dunno. Age. Motivation. Bad intentions. I mean, we’re agreeing to meet up at midnight in God-knows-where. It’s a bit sus, isn’t it?
YeahBoi_121: Nah, I don’t believe that. Surely we’re all good eggs.
User3678: Good eggs? How old are you @YeahBoi_121?
FrenchBanana: Lol. I guess you’re right, though.
FrenchBanana: None of you are murderers or human traffickers, right?
06:40
FrenchBanana: RIGHT?!
06:42
Donttalktome12: No, we’re just a gang of good eggs who are talking about summoning a demon…
06:44
HotDog45: A WHAT?
HotDog45: I’m sorry, I must still be dreaming. Who said anything about a DEMON???
FrenchBanana: Someone hasn’t done their research…
HotDog45: You literally just said you didn’t yet either!
FrenchBanana: Of course I have. A bit, anyway.
CreepyTeepee: You didn’t even search it on here after our chat last night @HotDog45?
HotDog45: No…did everyone else?
User3678: Yep.
YeahBoi_121: Me too.
Donttalktome12: Same. Wanted to know what we were getting ourselves into.
HotDog45: Damn. I was too tired.
06:50
FrenchBanana: So we’re all off to…school or wherever today, right?
06:51
FrenchBanana: For the record, I turned sixteen last month.
FrenchBanana: Anyone else up for sharing their personal details?
06:55
FrenchBanana: OKKKKKKK…right. Gotta run.
CreepyTeepee: I’m seventeen :)
YeahBoi_121: Eighteen here.
HotDog45: Yeah, I’m eighteen too.
User3678: Seventeen. What about you @Donttalktome12?
Donttalktome12: I’m the baby along with @FrenchBanana.
FrenchBanana: Guess we have to meet up to see who’s lying…
HotDog45: We could send pics.
User3678: Yeah, ’cause those can’t be faked.
FrenchBanana: I really have to go! @HotDog45 do your research!
Donttalktome12: We’re chatting later, right? I might have news on a venue…
CreepyTeepee: Yeah, I’m back late. Say eight-ish?
FrenchBanana: Good for me! Bye, guys.
HotDog45: Me too, see ya!
Donttalktome12: Cool.
User3678: Can barely wait.
06:59
YeahBoi_121: Has everyone gone?
07:00
YeahBoi_121: See you later.
Saturday, July 2, 11:35 p.m.
CALLUM
Callum swept his eyes around the barely lit room and swallowed—hard. The security lights mounted over the doorway did nothing except cast unnatural shadows over the other faces in the room. It was definitely too late to back out now.
Right?
“Where did you get all this stuff?” The small girl—Mei—trailed her fingers across the ragtag selection of pencils he had collected.
“Just around the room,” he gestured to the temporary cabin, or the hut, as his mom called it. “There were loads of random pencil pots still lying around, so I rummaged through them. Same with the rest.” He gestured to the shreds of lined paper. “Ripped those from an old exercise book I found in a cupboard, and the tacks are from a display board.”
“They don’t look very sharp,” Toni mused, picking one up with her chipped black nails. Callum gave her a quick once-over while she was distracted; he took in the silver pendant around her neck. It was strung from a thin chain, classic-looking, which seemed completely at odds with the rest of her outfit.
“Or very hygienic,” the blond boy—Hugo, Callum reminded himself—said. “No offense.”
Callum’s lip twitched and he bit back a smirk. “None taken. I was here early to open up, so I had a look around while I was waiting. Take it or leave it.” He slid himself onto the desk next to his stuff. “So, everyone still down for this?”
The room fell silent for a second.
“Hell, yeah.” Reece laughed and the air seemed to lighten a little. “I can’t wait to sneak around this place. I haven’t been in an elementary school since…well, since I went to one.”
“It’s nothing special, hate to tell you.” Callum laughed back, the other boy’s excitement infectious. “It is pretty big in there, though. In fact…” He slid from his spot and walked over to the teacher’s desk, pulling a laminated sheet from the wall with a soft pop as the ancient adhesive detached itself. “Here.”
“What is it?” Mei asked.
“Floor plan.” Callum put the sheet on top of the pencils and pointed to an area that was shaded red. “It’s a fire-safety thing—there’s one in every room. They’re usually by the door, sometimes near the teacher’s desk. But this red bit shows where you are, and the arrows point you to the nearest fire exit.”
“Not much help if we can’t leave the building,” the blond girl muttered. Ellie? God, he wished these people had name badges.
“True,” he conceded, “but they’ll be useful if you find yourself lost.”
“Or worse,” whispered Mei, “trapped.”
Another second of silence.
“Anyway,” Callum said, trying to inject some level of confidence into his voice, “it’s just a heads-up, you know. Hopefully we’ll stick to the plan, stay together. I know my way around. But just in case you do get lost”—he tapped the laminate with a bitten nail—“these should help you get your bearings.”
“Great!” Hugo boomed, making Ellie jump, which sent a ripple of laughter through the group. He winced. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Ellie smiled, putting one hand on Hugo’s arm. Callum could see his face turn red, even though the room was dark.
“I’m just a bit nervous, you know?” said Hugo. “But I’m sure we’ll all look out for each other.” She squeezed his arm, and his chest puffed out ever so slightly.
“Definitely,” he agreed.
Callum bit back a laugh and cleared his throat. “Should we go over the rules one more time?” He pushed up the thick cuffed sleeve of his hoodie and squinted down at a heavy digital watch on his arm. “It’s eleven-forty, so we have time. As long as we start at five to midnight, we’ll have time to do everything.”
“Maybe ten to?” Mei chipped in as she fished around in her backpack. “Just in case?”
“Fine by me.” Callum looked at each person in turn. Ellie smiled shyly and nodded, which meant that Hugo and Reece, who both had their eyes glued to her, did the same. He moved his attention over to Toni, who just looked bored with the entire proceedings.
“Yeah, whatever,” she said, before turning her attention to Mei, who was now flipping through the pages of a reporter’s notebook, absorbed in her task. “What are you looking for, brainiac?”
“The rules,” Mei answered, unfazed by the snide name. “I wrote down everything I could find about the game and turned it into a list of rules. Ah, here they are!” She started to pull pages from the notebook, the wire at the top tearing through the perforated edges with a dry whisper. “I copied them out for each of us. You know, since we can’t have our phones to check.”
“Such a suck-up,” Toni muttered, but the rest of the group drowned her out with their thanks. Callum made a mental note not to get stuck in a room alone with Toni. The sarcasm would kill him before anything else did.
“Ready?” Mei cleared her throat and began to read aloud. “Rules of the Midnight Game. Rule one…”
“What time is it?”
Callum saw Mei’s cheeks flush ever so slightly at Toni’s interruption.
“Rude,” Hugo mumbled, but Mei smiled tightly.
“It’s fine,” she said evenly. “Callum, what time is it now?”
He checked his watch again, silently agreeing with Hugo. “Eleven forty-two. Two minutes later than the last time I said.”
Toni stretched, sticking out her black-clad legs from her seated position on the table. “I’m going out for a cigarette. We can still do that, right, Miss Rules?”
“Until midnight, yes.”
“Wonderful,” Toni sneered. “Feel free to carry on without me.” She let her heavy boots thump onto the hollow floor and stomped over to the doorway. The whole cabin shook with each step, as if its thin frame had forgotten what it was like to have living, breathing human beings within its walls.
“Oh, we will,” Callum heard Reece, the sporty-looking, energetic dude, mutter before he passed a sheet of the rules over to Ellie, who twinkled back at him, much to Hugo’s annoyance.
Toni was clearly not the fan favorite in this group.
“So, where were we?” Hugo accepted a sheet from Mei and scanned the page. “Rule one—”
“Oh, wait,” Ellie interrupted him, looking over to the windows. “We should wait until Toni gets back.”
Reece snorted a laugh. “What? Why? She’s been nothing but a b—”
Ellie cut him off. “Because it’s fair, that’s why. Would you leave me in the dark like that?”
“No, but you’re…nice,” Reece finished weakly. Callum watched the faces of the others as he finally relented. “Fine. Let’s give her until quarter to. If she hasn’t finished her smoke break in two minutes, we start without her. Yeah?”
“Fine with me,” Callum agreed. Hugo and Mei nodded as Ellie smiled at him and mouthed “Thank you.”
Callum pulled his legs up onto the table and crossed them, watching the others.
And waiting.
07/01/2022 12:42
FrenchBanana: Hey guys, anyone around?
12:44
YeahBoi_121: I am.
CreepyTeepee: Yeah, me too. On my lunch break. What’s up?
FrenchBanana: Oh, nothing’s up. Just trying to do some research and can’t find much. Think it’s definitely a creepypasta. You guys?
CreepyTeepee: Not had time yet. Tonight’s job.
YeahBoi_121: Same.
FrenchBanana: Oh. OK. Well, send some links if you do come across anything?
CreepyTeepee: Sure.
YeahBoi_121: Ditto.
FrenchBanana: Thanks.
12:57
Donttalktome12: Hey @FrenchBanana, you still online?
12:58
FrenchBanana: Hey! Yeah, don’t have long, though.
Donttalktome12: Thought this might interest you…
Donttalktome12: https:/ThePrestfieldTimes.com/localnews/crime/girl.found.dea…
FrenchBanana: What did I say about red flag behavior?
FrenchBanana: What’s this got to do with TMG?
Donttalktome12: Just read it. Gotta run.
13:03
FrenchBanana: @Donttalktome12 you still there???
FrenchBanana: HOLY SHIT.
FrenchBanana: Guys, you need to read this. I’ve gotta get back to class but…Jesus.
Saturday, July 2, 11:44 p.m.
TONI
Toni glared back at the hut through sore eyes. Whatever liner she had chosen that night was starting to burn, irritating her tear ducts. Cheap shit. The smoke didn’t help, either, but she took another long, luxurious drag anyway, pulling the toxins deep into her bloodstream before expelling a cloud of noxious gray. She studied her fingers, chipped nails stained yellow by the nicotine. She should really quit; it was a disgusting habit, but at times like these, it was the only thing that kept her calm.
She took one final pull, the only sound in the darkness the cigarette paper being eaten alive by the burning embers. It was bitter and she winced as the heat hit her lungs, but the process calmed her nerves, and once she was grinding the end into the gravel of the playground, she felt much better. Ready to go back and join the random group assembled in the cabin.
She headed inside, sliding her hand into the pocket of her short black pinafore dress. All black tonight, down to her long sleeves and tights. All the better to hide from the Midnight Man, surely. Not like that dimwit, Ellie, with her bright blond hair and summer clothes. Or Reece in his luminous red tracksuit. Idiot. They were going to stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. Ah, well, not her problem. Toni climbed back onto the rickety porch and pushed open the door with one hand, easing a piece of gum out of the packet in her pocket with the other. She popped it into her mouth before entering.
“Rule one—”
“You started without me!” Toni interrupted dramatically. The rest of the group turned to look at her and she snickered. “Oh, please, what’s this? A séance?” They had moved to sit on the floor in her absence, forming a circle in front of the door that led into the rest of the building.
“Sorry, I…we did wait, but…,” the little geeky one started to stutter, and Toni realized the rest of the group were staring daggers at her. Oops, she seemed to have riled everyone up before the game had even started.
