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Chapter Nine

The long tunnel from the library led into a small bathroom.

"This was one of the clue rooms," he said.

"The game stopped being fun awhile ago," I said.

AJ used his jump drive and unlocked the door. We went out into the hallway and began to make our way through the downstairs.

We were almost to where the hallway intersected the hall leading towards the front door when I heard a noise. We both stopped.

"It sounds like whimpering," I said. AJ nodded.

I held my board tightly and turned down the hall. As I got closer to the front door, I saw a shape on the floor.

It was Kacey.

And she was alive.

"Are you okay?" I whispered. She looked up. She was holding tightly to her arm.

"I was coming out of the hall closet and...there was a gunshot," she said shakily. She began to whimper again.

I slowly pulled her hand away from her arm. It looked like the bullet had grazed her, but it was a pretty deep wound. I set the board down by my feet and grabbed onto the sleeve of my shirt. I ripped it off and quickly tied it around her arm.

"We've got to get out of here," I said. "Can you stand?"

She looked uncertain. I grabbed the board, got up, and offered her my hand. She took it. She swayed for a second and then seemed to find her center of balance.

AJ had his back to the wall, keeping sentry during the whole exchange. Kacey and I walked back up to him.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded.

All three of us made our way to the basement. We crept down the stairs. I went down last. AJ and Alyssa were all the way down and I was only halfway when the one bare bulb flickered and went out.

We were plunged into darkness. Kacey screamed. I butt bounced down the steps until I felt Alyssa's body. I scrambled over it and crashed into the cement. I thought I heard the sound of heavy footsteps...the kind of footsteps caused by black boots. I practically crab crawled to a corner. I began to swing the board out in front of me desperately. I was blinded in absolute darkness.

Kacey's scream was one of panic. I wanted to call out for her, but if I did, I would give away my location. It wasn't until AJ's scream joined Kacey's that I felt propelled to move. Every hair on my arms stood up. AJ's scream was animalistic. A scream that signaled he was being attacked.

I don't really know what caused me to move, but somehow I ended up back at the stairs. I scrambled up them. I heard something behind me. I got to the door, flung it open and slid back into the hallway. I turned quickly to close the door, but a hand flew out.

"Please," the voice gasped. "She's coming for me."

It was Kacey. I let her squeeze through. I scrambled up. There was a huge hall table.

"Help me," I begged.

She lifted one end of the table with one arm. The thing weighed a ton, but the adrenaline must have given her the strength. We lugged it over to the door. I swear that the door looked like it was about to open the second we dropped the table down. I took Kacey's hand.

"I don't know how long that will stop her," I said. "Let's go."

We took off at a run. She followed me back up the stairs.

"In here," she said. "This is one of the game rooms."

She pressed her device against the door. I heard it unlock. We both ran in. The door locked behind us.

It was a small bedroom. There was a balcony.

"The balcony!" I gasped. "If we tie some sheets together we can get out."

"Good idea," Kacey said. She started to pull the sheets off the bed. "How far down is it?"

Now, I've got to tell you that I'm not a balcony person. But this was a matter of life or death. I walked over to the double doors and opened them wide. I stepped out onto the small balcony and looked down.

It was a long way down.

I came back in. "How many sheets do we have?"

Kacey held up one pathetic sheet. "This one."

Even if we ripped it, it wouldn't be nearly long enough.

"That's not going to work," I said.

Tears filled her eyes. She fell down on the ground and pressed her hand to her arm.

"I can't believe this," she said.

"I know," I said. I sank down beside her. I glanced at my watch. It was almost four in the morning.

Kacey lowered her head to her knees and burst into tears. I wrapped an arm around her. I felt helpless. At least we were locked in the room.

Except that Ivanka could get any of the by-pass keys at any time.

I got up slowly. Kacey looked at me.

"What are you doing?"

I walked over to the panel. I reasoned that if the panel was working, she could bypass the red light. But it the panel was busted...

There'd be no way for her to get in.

I glanced back at Kacey. My board was laying beside her. I knelt down and picked it up. I walked back over to the door and swung with all my might at the panel.

Sparks flew out. But the red light stayed lit. And so did the lock on the door. Kacey gasped.

"What--"

"Even if Ivanka has a bypass key, she won't get in," I said. "This will buy us some time. If people don't start hearing from us they're going to get worried. I bet once the sun rises, Ivanka will want to get the hell away from here so she isn't caught. I think we just might be safe."

Kacey's tears continued to fall but she started to brush them away with her hand.

"That's really smart," she said weakly. I smiled.

"Well, I have my moments..."

We sat quickly side by side. My hope was that whoever was watching Baylee and James would be the first ones to sense something was wrong.

Poor Baylee and James.

They were orphans.

"Will your boyfriend get worried if he doesn't hear from you soon?" I finally asked.

Kacey looked over at me. Her chest rose and fell. Her shirt was sticky with blood stains. She looked back down at the floor.

"I don't have a boyfriend," she said. Another tear welled up and began its descent down her face.

"If we don't get out of here, I'm going to die a virgin."

My eyes widened. Virgin? Her? There was no way.

She was too hot to be a virgin.

Wait...a hot virgin.

I licked my lips.

Oh boy.

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Author's Note: You're getting this chapter a day early because I will be out of town later tonight through Friday. I am going to try to get a chapter of Heartbreaker or Fallen Angel posted later this afternoon.