Free The Game by Shane Scollins Page B

Zyanna.”
    “Please don’t!” Candice burst out. “Please, I’ll do what you want.”
    “Candy, you’ve missed your chance. I guess you’ll never see her again. I told you, people in this game don’t get a second chance.”
    “Wait, please, I’ll play along. Just don’t hurt Zyanna.”
    There was another soft beep and the voice changed again, this time to a seductive woman. “Oh Candice, you have no choice but to play along. We know where you are every second of every day. But unfortunately, you’ll have to play along without your friend. She’s ours now. You missed your chance to spare her. But don’t worry, you will learn her fate soon enough, if you can last that long. Game on!”
    The call ended.
    “Now what?” Alexis said, but no one had an answer.
    “How could they know where I am?”
    “Turn off your phone,” Vince suggested.
    Candice turned off the phone. “Where are we? Do you own this place?” Candice said, looking around.
    Vince said, “I rent it.”
    Alexis took off her jacket. “Yeah, I own the record store and this place comes with it, so I rent it out to help with the bills. Usually I sleep downstairs in the utility room. But Vince lets me stay up here.”
    “Sounds reasonable.” Candice shrugged.
    “I’m taking a shower,” Alexis said and headed to the bedroom.
    “Do you both work at the record store?” Candice asked.
    “No,” Vince opened the fridge and took out a beer.
    “What do you do?”
    He twisted the cap off and took a swig. “I was a cop.”
    Candice unzipped her jacket. “But you’re not anymore.”
    He shook his head.
    “What do you do now?”
    “I live here.”
    Vince didn’t really want to go into it with her. It was nothing personal, he just didn’t like to talk about himself. He couldn’t talk about himself.

    Candice could tell he wasn’t going to offer anything personal. She found him intriguing. He was a good-looking guy with shaggy black hair and dark blue eyes. He had a good build, and looked to be just under six-feet tall. But there was something mysterious about him she couldn’t put her finger on. He seemed oddly out of place. But then again, this entire day seemed out of place.
    Vince plopped down on the sofa. “Help yourself to a drink or whatever. You and Alexis can take the bedroom. I’ll crash here on the couch.”
    She watched him settle into the long leather couch, and headed into the bedroom. Kicking off her shoes, she flopped on top of the covers and closed her eyes. It was only a few seconds before sleep came.

    Candice woke up. She looked over to the other side of the bed at Alexis, who slept like a baby. For some reason she had no idea how old Alexis was, but found her mind stuck on that. She looked about seventeen but acted far more mature. She was probably Candice’s age or close.
    A whiff of something horrible invaded her nose. She took a succession of hard sniffs. Something was burning. It smelled like plastic or rubber. The only reason she knew that smell was because her brother went through a short pyromaniac phase. He used to burn plastic things all the time and delight over the dripping and melting.
    She slid from the bed and glanced out the windows. The snow was still falling. A throbbing orange glow pulsated into the night and off the buildings across the street. Initially, she thought the light was a spinning beacon of an unseen rescue vehicle or work truck.
    Then she noticed the room vents were leaking with thin trails of ghostly smoke. “Fire…” she said to herself and then she screamed it. “Fire! Fire! Fire!”
    She ran to the bed and woke Alexis. “Get up, there’s a fire.”
    They both scurried to the bedroom door, Candice stopped, felt the doorknob, it wasn’t hot, so she ripped it open and saw Vince bolt upright on the couch. “Fire!”
    Vince was quick. He ran to the door and touched the knob, but quickly pulled his hand back. “The fire escape.”
    He ran to the bathroom, the girls followed. The