Free Run by Francine Pascal Page B

locking it behind her, Gaia pulled the Duane Reade bag out of her messenger bag and shoved it, gun and all, under her bed.
    Then she tossed her messenger bag on her mattress, sat down at her desk, and opened the box. Wonderful. There was another video inside. And, of course, another note. This was getting old.
    "Wonder what this movie's rated," Gaia muttered.
    Gaia gathered up her stuff again and jogged back downstairs to the living room. She shoved the tape into the VCR and hit play.
    Gaia's eyes narrowed as an image of her own face -- so close up she could count her own pores -- flickered onto the screen. The camera panned back to reveal her and Renny sitting by the fountain. She felt the blood start to rush through her veins, bringing an angry flush to her face.
    Whoever had filmed this had been so close. How could she have missed him? How stupid was she?
    Lowering herself onto the plush couch, Gaia watched as she and Renny crossed the park. It was like some kind of morbid home movie.
    Isn't Gaia adorable, sticking that pistol into Frankie's shoulder, stealing his wallet, kneeing him in the groin?
    She hit the off button, pulled the cassette out of the slot, and proceeded to tear its celluloid guts out. After that, she did the same to the tape of Sam and Heather, which was still in her messenger bag. Then she unfolded the note that had come with the new tape, and read it.
    Then she read it again.
    "Suddenly Gaia really wished she'd lit that candle.
    You are doing surprisingly well. Your next test may not be so easy. Your friend in the wheelchair is to be your next victim. No violence is necessary. What we want is for you to HUMILIATE him. In public.
    This humiliation, Gaia, is to be thorough. Uncompromised.
    You will emotionally destroy this young man.
    And if you are wondering why . . . don't. You need no reason other than that I require you to do it.
    IF YOU FAIL, SAM MOON WILL DIE.

GAIA
    TOP TEN WAYS TO EMBARRASS A KID IN A WHEELCHAIR
    10. Buy him a pogo stick.
    9. Ask him how often he has to have his tires rotated.
    8. Tell him you'd like to borrow his chair to guarantee yourself a good seat for
Cats.
    7. Attach a bumper sticker that reads Warning: I Break for Orthopedic Surgeons.
    6. Totally fawn over him, and tell him how sorry you feel for him.
    5. Totally ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist, like everybody else does.
    4. One good shove down the handicap ramp.
    3. Invite him to visit the top of the Statue of Liberty.
    2. Ask him, You must really feel like a loser during the national anthem, huh?
    1. Say something anything of a sexual nature, implying that it's not just his legs that are permanently limp.
    I can't believe I am even capable of coming up with these things. It makes me sick. I make me sick.
    How am I going to do this? Why are they making me do this?

like lox?
And then the world went surreal on him. Because Gaia was not Gaia.

Seduction 101
    ED ROLLED HIS CHAIR OUT OF HIS eighth-period class and into the crowded hallway. He'd made it back to school in time for the chem exam, which, unfortunately, had been even more difficult than he'd expected. With all of the insanity running through his head, he'd be lucky to pull a C plus. Of course, in light of what was happening to Gaia and Heather, not to mention Sam, a C plus didn't sound too terrible.
    The good news was that the morning's searching had yielded major information.
    It was the noise. A noise he knew. Or used to know.
    He'd sat there in George's study for over an hour, viewing the video e-mail of Sam over and over. Just as he was about to pack it in Ed had noticed a noise in the background. It had been there all along. He couldn't imagine how he'd missed it, unless his eyesight was shutting down from all the staring and his ears were taking over. But as soon as he detected it, he recognized it.
    Wrrrzzzzzzzz. Clank. Wrrzz.
    It was a noise he himself had made for years. A noise he'd never make again.
    And he knew there was only one place in New