The Kairos Games

Chapter 24

 The stars are hidden by the clouds, leaving an eerie gloom over the campus. A door opens silently. Aaron emerges from the music building, guitar in front of him, a recorder in his hand. He strings the recorder through his belt loop and begins strumming the guitar. He sings, slowly, in a dark minor key, “This is Kairos… Where we learn stuff….”
    He steps slowly, on the beat, of course, and makes his way towards Sharp-Davis. “This is Sha-D… I don’t need a key…” Aaron raps on the front door, but no one answers. “Oh, dear. Looks like I’ll have to break in.” He pulls the recorder from his belt and plays a tune. The door, which just so happens to be coded to open when you play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on a recorder, snaps open. Aaron chuckles to himself and enters the building.
    The lights are off in every hall. He wanders through each of them, opening every door, checking every bathroom for signs of life. All the while, he continues to sing, “This is Kairos… Where we learn stuff… Only six left… Wonder who’ll be next?”
    He reaches the roof and glances around. Even in the dark, it only takes a few seconds for him to find her, pale-faced and exhausting, standing next to the edge.
    “This is Hannah… She’s got stamina… Look at that face… Should I have some grace?” He chuckles once again and pulls something from his pocket.
    Hannah gasps.

   There’s a crack in the glass on the back door. Andrea pokes it, uncertain, before entering the sketchy Nora lobby. She immediately crosses the room and unplugs the coke machine because that thing is just too dang bright. She turns to walk up the stairs, but suddenly, she realizes something is off. She turns around and looks at the couches. They’ve been pushed together in an L-shape, the longer one sticking out from the wall about five feet. A large blanket is draped across the two couches and tied to a chair on the other side.
    “Hello?” Andrea whispers. “Is someone there?” She listens closely, but all she can hear is a slow, quiet hissing. She briefly considers running away. It couldn’t hurt, right? Whatever is in that fort, well, that might hurt…. Despite this logic, she remains frozen in the middle of the room. She stands so still that when the door opens next to her, she jumps sideways two feet, hits the coke machine, and lets out a little yelp. Paige shushes her and closes the door.
    “Geez, Andrea. Chill out. It’s just me. Thanks for abandoning me back there, by the way. Real considerate.”
    Andrea looks as if she’s seen a ghost. “Dude, I thought you were dead! What are you doing back here? How did you get away from that explosion?”
    “I have NO IDEA! It was the creepiest, weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. You wouldn’t even believe it if I told you.”
    “Oh, I dunno. I think I might believe it. After all, some pretty weird things have been happening lately.”
    “This is the weirdest part, though,” says Paige, nodding in agreement. She holds up the bobble-head. He looks exactly the same as before, except his mustache seems a bit more pronounced. “He’s fine. Not even a scorch mark. Not only did it save my life and throw me out of harm’s way -- it saved itself!”
    “Wait… does this mean you could use it again?”
    “I don’t know! Maybe. I don’t see why not!” Paige sighs and plops down on the couch, playing with the end of her braid. She pulls away her hand quickly, though, making a disgusted face. “Ugh! The Koolaid isn’t sticking to my hair. Look, my hands are red! Why is nothing in my life going the way it’s supposed to right now?!”
    A loud hiss escapes from the fort. Paige jumps. She had not even noticed the odd set-up of the room. The blanket shakes as a dark, half-Asian figure emerges from the fort. Dani hisses again, louder, and glares at the intruders.
    “Shut. UP!” She yells. “I’ve finally found a comfortable place to stay, where I can sit and have my Friday afternoon introverted time, and you two just HAD to WALK in and RUIN MY DAY. GET. OUT!” She thrusts her hand towards the door and continues to huff angrily.
    Paige stands up and tightens her grip on the bobble-head. “Pipe down, Dani. We’re just as stressed as you are, so don’t even try to pretend you’re the only one who doesn’t want to be here. If you want the Games to end, just kill us and be done with it.” She says this confidently, putting faith in the little clump of plastic to save her life again. Andrea, however, is less encouraged. Finally working up the bravery she couldn’t muster before, she runs up the stairs.
    Dani takes off after her, screaming obscenities and occasionally slipping into Spanish.
    Paige hesitates, listening to the banging and screaming above her. Ironically, it sounds about the same as it normally does when people are living on the third floor. She briefly considers helping, but decides against it. It’s every man for himself, now.

     “Aaron…” Hannah mumbles, trembling. “What is that?”
    He twists the small item in his hand, caressing it like a puppy or a small child. “It’s an endpin. From a cello. Beautiful, isn’t it?”
    Hannah nods, nervously. “Yeah, yeah! It’s really pretty!” As she’s speaking, though, she can’t help but notice the sharpness of the little spike. “So, what’s it for? It keeps the cello standing up, right?” Just keep him talking, she tells herself. If you distract him long enough, maybe he’ll forget why he came up here.
    “It doesn’t keep it standing up. The cello was lying down when I broke it off.” He chuckles to himself and takes another step towards Hannah.
    Hannah leans back, but she’s already against the wall. It seems there may not be an easy way out of this. “Right, silly me. Ha. Say, Aaron, have you ever played a cello?”
    Aaron shakes his head. His eyes are still admiring the spike in his hand, but he continues to move forward. Soon he is within two feet of his victim. He stops and looks up.
    “Well, I bet you could learn it if you tried. You’re so good at the guitar!”
    Aaron places a hand over his heart. “Thank you, Hannah. That means so much to me.”
    “Really? Well, maybe you could do something nice for me, in return.” Grasping at straws, but maybe it could work.
    “I already did something nice for you, Hannah. Weren’t you listening to my song?” He gives her the most precious puppy-dog frown she’s ever seen. Hannah is not sure whether to cry or to scream. He grasps the spike in his right hand, pointing it towards her. He rests his other hand on her shoulder and sings in a whisper, “Look what I’ve got. Just give it a shot. Want my endpin? Watch it pierce--” He shoves the tip of the tiny weapon straight into her heart. Hannah screams louder than she’s ever screamed before. Blood rushes from the wound and covers her shirt. Aaron yanks the weapon out and plunges it back once again. He stabs her six times, waiting for her screams to subside. Finally they do, and her body falls limp against the wall. Aaron strokes her hair and clucks his tongue as he lifts her legs from the ground. He lays her on top of the wall and continues singing into her ear. “Watch it pierce your skin…”
    A moment later, the cannon erupts. Another tribute has passed.