Nerve [Wattys2016]

Chapter Nineteen

His foot slipped off the platform, letting him dangle just inches above the track. "Ian!" I scream. The skin on his one arm that's gripping the railing is stretched tightly around his muscles. He swings his other arm up to the railing with a great amount of pressure. "Take your phone." He says through gritted teeth. I quickly grab it from him, and shove it into the first place I think of.

I stare, frozen in fear at him. I can't help him in any way. There's no way I could lift him. I'd be more of a hinderance than I would help. All I can do is watch and wait. "Come on Ian. Come on." I mumble quietly not wanting to disrupt his concentration. Ian pulls up his feet so they reach the platform, then brings the rest of his body upwards. I throw my arms around his neck once he's stable.. Still not exactly on the platform, but it's better than dangling behind the back of a moving train.

I feel one of his arms wrap around my back. "I thought you were mad at me." He mumbles.

"I might be mad, but that doesn't mean I want you to fall off the back of a train, you idiot." I tell him in response. I slowly take my arms away, making sure he's stable. He climbs into the main compartment of the platform, as he breathes heavily. I take a deep breath running a hand through my hair, then pulling out my phone.

Dare Complete.

"Take that you dumb game!" I shout annoyed at my phone.

Ian raises his eyebrows at me.

"What?" I ask. "They're greatly frustrating to me, and quite frankly- I don't care anymore if I upset them or not."

Ian turns to look at the platform shrinking into nothingness as we pull away. I stand in silence. When is this game going to end? More importantly, what are we supposed to do when it does?

"Do you know what the finale is?" I question Ian.

He glances sideways at me, "No.. I thought I told you that before.."

"Well, that was before I knew you worked for them."

Ian glances at me again and with pursed lips responds, "The finale is always different. I've seen videos of them from different countries, but they're never the same- not even close.."

"What are they like?" I press.

"I'm not allowed to tell you.. I've already told you so much, and if I say any more.." Ian trails off.

"How would they even find out I know these things?" I ask.

Ian grips the railing, "If anyone even suspects anything, they'll take you. They'll take you and question you, but if you don't give the answers they want to hear-" He trails off once again shaking his head.

I don't bother asking anything else. The conversation itself seems to make Ian uncomfortable, so I just push the comments and questions aside in my mind. We ride the train for what seems like only a short period of time when a tapping sound comes from behind us. We both turn to see people stacked up against the window sardine style.

"GO PLAYERS!" People shout from behind the glass.

"I'M BETTING ON YOU!"

"WE'RE SUCH BIG FANS!"

All these comments come muffled through the glass. Ian looks over to me smirking, "We're famous." I chuckle, "I guess we are."

"POSE FOR A PICTURE!" One of them shouts. If it comes through the glass sounding like a shout, I wonder how loud it is in that car.

I look over to Ian, "Um.. what should we do?"

"For a pose?" He asks to clarify.

"Yeah.." I respond.