Wicked Game (Play The Game Sequel)

Chapter Two: Lie Until You Believe Your Own Lies

"What was your relationship with Carrie Thomas?" the officer asked me. The dim lights and my weary vision didn't allow me to see his face clearly. The only clear thing was his rough voice talking to me with neutral emotions.

"She was a schoolmate. We shared a few classes. We started to get along a little while later after we had an assignment together, but that's all."

"How did you know Carrie was at the church tower?"

"She called me," I lied. “I-uh, I didn't know it was her when she called. The reason I decided to go there was because I was already tired of this game of strange phone calls…"

"Phone calls?" the officer asked,interrupting me. I couldn't tell him the truth, if I did, I had to explain many other things. It seemed to me the best thing to say, but I had to be more careful.

"Yes," I replied with a strong tone. "I was receiving strange phone calls. At first, I thought it was some kind of bad joke, but then it started to become a frequent thing and there weren't any more silent calls, suddenly those calls became warnings. She knew about my school life and it seemed to me she knew a lot about my personal life as well. So, I was afraid my brother might get hurt."

"And you never told him anything?" the officer asks with a sly tone.

I bit my tongue, remembering quickly about two nights ago. The sleeping pills on Roger's tea while I tried to plan perfectly my escape to put an end to my stalker's wicked game.

Roger. My beloved brother.

Would he ever forgive me if he knew I've been a filthy liar?

"No. As I said, I never imagined things would get so strange. Especially because I didn't know who was to blame."

"So you're trying to say you never recognized Carrie Thomas' voice in any of those calls?"

Shit.

If I hesitate, they will know I'm lying. And if they know it... it will be the end of us. All of us who had been involved in this game.

John. My dear Johnny.

Freddie. Darling Freddie.

Roger. My beloved brother.

Brian. My one and only lover, whose life is on the verge. The one I love the most. The one I would protect with my very own life if needed. The one I love and I can lose in a matter of seconds.

To think of being far away from him in these precise seconds gives me chills down my spine. I wonder of course if he's finally awake. If my name will be the first thing he says once he wakes up again. If after this mess, if he returns to my side, will I be able to speak with the truth and tell him I want us to start over again but with no strings attaching us to this past filled with lies and confrontations.

Only a bright future in which we would cling together as one, leaving all to chance.

"Like I said, I didn't know it was her because I never heard her voice," I started, trying to make my lie a convincing story. "It was a surprise to me to know she was the one calling. I don't know how she did it, but her voice sounded distorted, almost inhuman. I thought at the beginning it was probably some random lad making phone jokes but, once she started to say personal things about me, I got really afraid."

"What kind of personal things are we talking about here?"

"The clothes I had worn that day at school for example. She sometimes recalled places I had visited or stuff like that. Like someone stalking me closely but without me even knowing it at first," I said. This was of course no lie, at least not completely. She stalked me for a long time. And don't ask me how she figured about some details of my personal life or how she even got inside Brian's flat, I just know she was a perfectionist in the art of stalking. She did it very well.