Chapter 12 Chapter 12

Blood welled up. Red and bright. It dripped onto the concrete. His hands started to shake. Fear flickered in his eyes.

Then the blood stopped.

The edges of the cut turned white. Then hard. Then smooth. A scar formed in seconds.

Leo stared at his palm. A stood frozen with his eyes widened in shock of what just happened.

Maya grabbed his hand. She turned it over. Her fingers pressed the scar.

"Does that hurt?" she asked.

"No."

"It should."

She let go.

Leo looked at the knife. The blade was clean now. No blood. No rust. The brown spots were gone.

"The knife healed itself," he said. “It took my blood to heal itself.”

Maya took it from him. She looked at the blade. Then at his palm. Then at the knife again.

Denise kept looking from behind. “ Everyone here has a scar. Right Maya?”

Maya’s eyes were tightly closed. Her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth opened downwards. "I have never seen that before," she said. “I don't know what's going on. Maybe the game has changed. I don’t seem to know anything anymore.”

She gave it back.

Leo put it in his pocket. The handle was still warm.

He looked at the scar on his palm.

The knife had marked him on purpose. He was sure of it.

"Why...why am I the only one receiving these rewards? Denise. Weren't you given a mission too?"

She spoke from behind. "I was asked to go meet the person in the Anchor room. Perhaps it's you. As for my reward, I really don't know. What about about you Maya?

She pretended not to hear the question because she wasn't ready to answer it yet . "Uhmmm. This is not your city," Maya said.

Leo looked up to Maya. "But it looks like it."

"It looks like someone tried to draw your city from memory. And they got it wrong. They are just trying to confuse you."

Denise stepped out last. She turned in a circle.

"Where are all the people?" she asked.

Leo looked around. The street was empty. No cars. No people. No birds. Just the hum.

The buildings had no lights. The windows were dark. The doors were closed. Some were chained. Some had boards.

It looked like a city after everyone left. Or before anyone came.

"It is like a stage I think," Denise said.

Leo looked at her. "What? What are we kids?"

Maya chuckled. "It's not that simple Leo. It's indeed a stage. For a play. The buildings are just fronts. The street is just a set. There is nothing behind any of it."

Denise nodded. "That is exactly what it is. The Game builds places that look real. But they are not real. They are just enough to fool your eyes."

"Where are we really?" Leo asked.

Maya looked at him. "We are in the Game. That is all I know."

Leo walked to the edge of the sidewalk. He looked down the street. It was empty.

Then he saw it.

A payphone. On the corner. The phone was off the hook swinging back and forth. Back and forth.

There was no wind.

Leo stared at it. The phone swung. The cord twisted. Then untwisted. Then twisted again.

"Maya," he said.

Maya walked up next to him. He pointed at the payphone.

"Do not go near it," she said.

"I was not planning to."

The phone swung. Back and forth.

"Why is it doing that?" Denise asked. She had walked up behind them.

"I do not know," Maya said.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Everything here is dangerous."

The phone stopped swinging.

It just stopped mid-swing. The receiver hung in the air not moving. The cord was twisted.

Leo stared at it. His heart pounded.

The phone rang. It was loud and sharp. The sound echoed off the buildings. It bounced off the brick and came back. It sounded like ten phones ringing.

Maya grabbed Leo's arm. Her fingers dug into his skin.

"We need to go," she said. “Now.”

"Go where?"

"Away from that thing. If you pick that call , the voice you will hear will torment you forever. You lose your sanity."

The phone kept ringing.

Leo looked at the screen in his vision. A new message appeared.

Safe Room Designated: 1427 Mercier Street. Apartment 4B.

A floating arrow appeared. Pointing down the street. Away from the payphone.

Leo pointed. "That way. I just saw something.”

They walked.

The phone kept ringing behind them. It was louder now. Like it was mad they were leaving.

Leo did not look back. He had learned that rule. Never look back at something that smiles when it should not. The phone was not smiling. But it was ringing when it should not. Same rule probably.

They walked fast. The arrow floated ahead of his vision. Glowing.

They passed empty stores. A bakery with no bread. A barber shop with no chairs. A laundromat with no machines. Just empty spaces. Dark and cold.

They passed a fire hydrant. It was leaking. Water ran down the gutter. But the water was very dark and too thick. It did not look like water.

Denise stepped over it. Her boot missed. She stepped right in it.

The water sizzled.

Denise looked down. The sole of her boot was smoking. The rubber was bubbling.

"What the hell?" she said.

"Move," Maya said. "Move now."

Denise ran. Her boot left marks on the concrete. It was like a burn mark.

They ran down the street. The arrow led them past more empty buildings. More dark windows. More chained doors.

The payphone stopped ringing.

The silence was worse.

Leo could hear his own breathing. His heart was pounding.

The arrow stopped at an old brick building with four floors and a broken sign above the door.

Mercier Arms.

The letters were faded. Some were missing. It said MERCER ARM.

The door was unlocked. Leo pushed it open. It creaked.

The lobby was a small and dirty cracked tile floor with peeling wallpaper. A desk in the corner with no one there.

The arrow pointed up the stairs.

They climbed and Leo took the lead.

Leo's knee hurt. Each step sent pain up his leg. His hand hurt. His head hurt. His lungs burned.

Denise climbed behind him. Her boots left marks on the stairs. The smell of burned rubber followed her.

Maya climbed last. Her eyes kept moving up and down watching the walls and the ceiling.

Apartment 4B.

The door was dark brown wood. The number was nailed on crooked. The B was upside down.

Leo turned the handle. The door opened.

The apartment was a small one room.

There was a bed in the corner with white sheets clean and folded. They smelled like soap. There was a sink against the wall. Its faucet was old and rusty. A mirror was above it. The glass was cracked.

There was a window on the far side. The glass was dirty.

A wooden chair was by the bed.

That was it.

Leo walked to the window. He rubbed the glass with his sleeve. The dirt smeared. He could see outside.

The street was empty. The payphone was still there. The receiver was on the hook now.

The purple sky was darker. Almost black. The sun was lower. Almost gone.

The hum was quieter. Or maybe Leo was just getting used to it.

"This is my Safe Room," he said.

Maya nodded. She stood by the door. She did not come inside.

"You can come here between missions," she said. "To rest. To recover. To remember."

"Remember what?"

Maya looked at him. Her brown eyes were sad.

"Remember who you are," she said. "The Game will try to make you forget. Your Safe Room is where you fight that. It's trying to make you comfortable. When you don't, it takes back every privilege it gave you?"

Leo looked at the bed.

"Can you stay?" he asked.

Maya shook her head. "The Safe Room is for one person. The Game chooses who it belongs to. I have my own. Somewhere else in the city."

"Will I see you again?"

Maya nodded. "When the next mission comes. The Game will bring us together. Or it will not. That is not up to us."

Denise sat on the edge of the bed. She put her head in her hands. Her green eyes were closed. Her scar looked dark against her pale skin.

"My boot is ruined," she said.

Leo looked at her. "You can get another one."

"Where? There are no shoe stores here." You gave a frustrating look.

Maya pointed at the window. "Out there. In the city. There are places to find things. You just have to look."

Denise opened her eyes. "Is it safe?"

Maya almost smiled. "No. Nothing is safe."

She stepped back from the door.

"Rest," she said. "The next mission will come soon. It always does."

She looked at Leo. Her face was serious.

"Do not trust the quiet," she said. "It is a lie."

She closed the door.

Leo stood in the middle of the room. Denise sat on the bed. The hum of the city came through the window.

Leo sat on the floor with his back against the wall. His knee straightened out. His hand on his thigh.

He looked at the scar on his palm. The thin white line. The knife was in his pocket. He could feel its warmth.

He thought about his father's jacket. The blue one in the sinkhole. The way it looked when the bones moved.

He thought about the hand reaching up from the pile. Pale and thin.

He thought about the voice. Welcome, Player 7,445,212.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “What could be the next mission? What choices and decisions was Maya talking about? How much more can I take?

The city hummed.