The night was lonely: there was no moon in the sky, and clouds veiled the stars. Crickets and cicadas sang around them. The wind chilled the tears streaking down Keiba’s cheeks and trailed icily over her exposed flesh. It felt like they’d been walking for hours, but it really couldn’t have been longer than a few minutes.

Keiba stumbled over a wayward tree root. She came down wrong: her ankle twisted savagely in her heel. She refused to cry out as she fell, but a small squeak sneaked through her lips.  The grass was slippery and cool from its earlier watering. Moisture seeped into Keiba’s dress at her knees.

 “Wh-what’s going to happen when we get to the green light?” She asked. Her voice was surprisingly steady as she got to her feet. “Huh? And just who are you? What do you want from me?”

“You sound like you’re quoting from some horror flick.” The voice was feminine and very familiar.

“You could tell me something.” Keiba insisted.

“Ha. You should’ve already figured out who I am, anyway. I’m surprised you don’t recognize the voice, I mean you have fifteen minutes of it recorded.”

“Wait… Meaghan?”

“Ding, ding, ding! You ought to get a prize for you deductive skills, Keiba. Truly.”

She stopped. Fear was immediately replaced with anger. Of course it was Meaghan, dressed in a dark hoodie and leggings. How could she have missed all the signs?

“Meaghan, what the hell are you doing?”

“Keep walking, Keiba.”

“No. What exactly are you trying to accomplish by doing this?”

Meaghan pressed the knife with a bit more force to her skin. It wasn’t so much that the blade broke the skin, but if she applied a little more pressure, it would.

“You seem to have forgotten that I have a ing knife.” She hissed. “Now shut the up, Keiba. And keep walking.”

She remained perfectly still for another moment, but reluctantly obeyed.

As they walked, she tried to utilize the silence to think of a way out of her predicament. But nothing would come to her; she doubted that there’d be anything in the forest that could help her out. Maybe if she could somehow get the knife away… But how?

A few minutes later, they reached a small tool shed near the heart of the forest. Meaghan opened the door and ushered Keiba inside. On top of the wooden table pushed up against the corner was a box full of old, rusty tools and the green lamp. Cobwebs draped from corners and dust coated most every surface, except for the wooden chair sitting in the middle of the shed—that had been added more recently.

Keiba was made to sit in it as Meaghan turned to the table.

“Now you stay there while I—”

Keiba made a dash for the door. She’d almost made it, but she heard the crackling of the Taser again. Her body froze up instantly.

“Get back in that chair or I’ll Tase you again, Keiba. Now!”

Keiba sighed inwardly. She wouldn’t have been able to open the door in time anyway with her hands behind her back. She limped back to her seat and gingerly sat down again. She looked at her ankle; already, it had started to swell up. That was going to be a problem.

Meaghan approached her with a length of rope. She tied it around Keiba, pulling it so tightly that it’d eventually start to restrict blood flow to her arms. She walked to the table and dimmed the green light before walking behind Keiba to the boxes.

Keiba turned her head, but couldn’t see what was going on. “What are you doing, Meaghan?”

Meaghan didn’t answer, but she returned to view, setting an oil lantern on the table next to her knife. Keiba stared at it.

“What are you doing with an oil lantern?”

“Why would I tell you?” She asked, lighting a match. “It’d spoil the surprise.”

“You’re going to start a fire, aren’t you?” Keiba said, watching as she lit the wick.

“Aw, see? You’ve spoiled it.”

“Where are you going to do it, Meaghan?”

She just smiled and blew out the match.

“Okay fine, why use a lantern?”

“I’ve always wanted to. They’re so much classier, than the traditional gas and match don’t you think?”

“You’re sick, Meaghan. Really.”

Meaghan shrugged, staring at Keiba as she leaned against the table. Her casual body language irked Keiba like nothing else.

“Are you waiting for something?” She spat.

“Actually, yes. She should be here any second.”

And right on cue, the door was pushed open.

And Darcie stepped in. She’d changed from her dress into an outfit identical to Meaghan’s. She shut the door behind her and smirked. Keiba stared at her. She stared at her for a good, long second before she burst:

“You’ve got to be ing kidding me.”

Darcie turned to Meaghan, completely ignoring Keiba. “Did she give you too much trouble?” She asked. “You know how the big ones are.”

Meaghan shrugged. “It wasn’t too hard.”

“ you.” Keiba spat. “What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this? You have to know that you two are going to get caught.”

They rolled their eyes almost in sync. “You think we don’t know that?”

That gave her pause. “What?”

“Your mistake is thinking that we care, Keibs.” Meaghan smiled.

“I’ve already dropped out of school, Meaghan’s already going to jail since you and your little boyfriend snitched on her, so there isn’t really much else for us.”

“I’d much rather go to jail for the rest of my life than have to start all over again when I’m old. So why not rack up the charges?”

Darcie nodded. “We might as well get rid of a few mutual loose ends while we have the chance. Right, Keibs?”

Keiba stared at them, terror seeping into her heart. She was starting to connect the dots.

“No. Wait. Y–you can’t.”

“We can, Keiba. And we will.”

“We might as well tell her what we’ve got planned, don’t you think, Meg?”

“I suppose.”

Darcie’s mouth formed a tight-lipped smile. “When they let us know that you’ve won the competition, we’ll set this place ablaze in… a celebration of sorts. Only thing is, you’ll still be inside.”

Keiba stiffened.  No. She felt numb and sick. Her mind couldn’t fully grasp what they were telling her.

“But what if I don’t win?” It was a wonder she could even articulate that.

“There’s no question you’re going to win. Have you seen those other players?”

Meaghan nodded, adding, “I looked you up, Keiba. You’re Heller’s top cellist.”

Darcie nodded. “And she’s one of the judges? That’s a guaranteed win.”

“But what if I don’t?”

They looked at each other. Meaghan shrugged. “Fine. I don’t mind making a deal. If you don’t win, we won’t kill you. We promise.”

Which, of course, didn’t mean they wouldn’t beat her or torture her until she was almost dead, but Keiba would take it. What other choice did she have?

Meaghan glanced at her watch. “There’s another forty-five minutes until the competition’s over. I’m gonna go have a cigarette, Darce.”

Darcie’s nose scrunched. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

She shrugged, offering no explanation.

“Sure, whatever. Do what you want. Just not in here; I can’t stand the smell.”

Meaghan winked at Keiba before she walked out of the shed. She went a little deeper into the forest and crouched beside a tree. She lit her cigarette and leaned against the trunk with her hands in the pocket of her hoodie. She watched the smoke dance from the tip of her cigarette.

It really was a beautiful night: very clear and quiet. Meaghan smiled to herself as she took a drag and exhaled smoke through her nose. She couldn’t wait to see how wonderful the real fire would look as it burned its way toward the sky.

Darcie shook her head and sat on top of the table. She crossed her legs and leaned back on her arms, looking down at Keiba over her nose.

“You’re probably wondering why we’re doing this, right?” She grinned. “Well how about I tell you a little story while we wait for you to win? Hm?”

 

Banks, Min-Kyung, and York were near the music building. There hadn’t been any clues that Keiba had gone there, but York was determined to make sure. A flash of light caught Min’s eye. He looked toward the forest, squinting. He thought he’d seen something, but it was gone now. He shrugged it off; it’d probably been nothing.

A voice mumbled something through York’s walkie talkie, causing the men to jump. York freed the device from his belt and held it close to his mouth.

“What was that?”

“I said, Suki just got back to us.”

“And? What’d she say?”

“Meaghan’s gone.”

Min stiffened.

York sighed. “I was afraid of that. What does Suki say that happened?”

“A friend who’d claimed to be dropping off homework switched clothes with Meaghan. She was able to escape that way.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I wish I was, York.”

York ran a hand over his face. “Do you have any good news for me, Justin?”

“No. We haven’t found anything that might suggest that she’d come this way.”

“Neither do we. You all keep looking; we’ll do the same.” York put the walkie talkie back into his belt. “Well this is just ing perfect.”

Banks looked at Min. “We’ll find her, Min-Kyung.”

He nodded. “We have to keep looking.” Given what he knew about Darcie and Meaghan, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not they’d find her, it was whether or not they’d find her before they got through with her.

Banks nodded. “Where haven’t we checked?”

“We still have just about everywhere else.” York said. “Remember, we’re doing the entire west wing. We’ve barely searched a portion of it.”

Banks sighed. “We may need to get more men down here to help out. This’ll probably take too long with just us.”

“Agreed. We’ll call for them while we try the language building.”

Min’s grip was vice-like around the body of the flashlight. He had a really bad feeling that they were running out of time.

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Sorry, y'all, and thanks for putting up with the wait. We finally got a new router for the internet, so hopefully there won't be any more problems in the future *fingers crossed*