Nerve [Wattys2016]

Twenty-Three

"Ian... I think I want to drop out.." I tell him.
"Of the game?" He asks.
I nod slightly, "Yeah..."
Ian smirks at me, "Come on.. We've been over this before, Vee... It's just nerves.. No pun intended."
"You're an idiot.." I start, "But I'm serious... I don't know what this finale will bring.... And I don't know if it's going to be safe... You know what I mean?"
Ian shakes his head, "It can't be any worse than the dares we've already gotten.. I mean.. I just hung off of a two hundred foot crane over the top of a New York City street..."
I look at the city, "But... the dares are coming faster, and they're getting more difficult.. I'm just worried about it.. I honestly don't think I want to continue."
"But we've done so good. We've gone through so many dares!" Ian exclaims.
"This doesn't sound like it's going to be close to the game, Ian! I'm just not comfortable doing it!" I strain back.
He sighs, "But you're my partner... You've gotten me through this game, Vee. What am I supposed to do if you leave?"
I shrug my shoulders, "Go on like you were doing before we met." My phone begins ringing as I swing, which is odd... I take a look and it's my mom. I answer the call to hear her breathing heavily, as if she's running around on the other line. "Mom.. Mom? Are you okay?" I question, nervously.
"Vee, did you do something with our money?!" Mom asks frantically.
I furrow my eyebrows and stop swinging, "What are you talking about?"
"Did you take any of our money?" She asks firmly.
"No... Mom, what's going on?" I question confused.
"Venus.. All our money's gone."
My jaw drops, "What do you mean all the money is gone?"
My mom starts breathing heavily, "I- I'm at the bank. I'm here to withdraw some money for grocery shopping.. They said all the money had just been withdrawn. I checked the other accounts, and they were all empty."
"What do you mean they're all empty?" I rub my face in frustration.
"There. Is. No. Money. Venus." My mom says slowly.
I take a shaky breath, "Did you double check? Did you triple check? Sometimes the banks are wrong mom..."
"I checked multiple times. I even had the manager come out. They all said the same thing. They didn't know who.. They said it was taken from an ATM or mobile.. Something with technology.. That's why I thought maybe it was you, but you wouldn't take all our money..." I shake my head at what my mom was saying.
"This isn't possible.." I mumble, "This.. this isn't... This isn't possible... "
I hear my mom shuffling around on the other end talking to people, "Okay, mom I'm going to go see what I can do."
She doesn't respond to me, so I just hang up. I looked over to Ian, standing up.
"What's wrong?" He asks nervously.
"All of my money is gone." I deadpan.
Ian stares at me for a moment, as if he's trying to decipher whether or not I'm being serious. Finally he squints at me, "All your money, just disappeared?"
"Out of thin air..." I respond. Wait a minute... What if- no... Could that be possible? That just seems illogical... I bring up the thought anyways, maybe Ian might be able to shed some light on the subject, "Could they have taken my money?"
Ian furrows his eyebrows, "Are you talking about Nerve?"
I shake my head, contemplating the thought. They're the only people who could do it.. They have access to thousands of credit cards of the Watchers. They could've easily gotten ours. I don't know how, but they could have.
"That's the only thing that makes sense..." I says in a daze.
I spot a cop car across the street of the park. "I'm going to the police." I say to Ian.
He looks at me quickly, to the police car, then back at me, "I don't think that's a good idea.."
"Why?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows as I begin walking.
"Because the guy leaning against the cop car-" I don't bother listening to the rest of what Ian has to say. Instead I jog over to the car. When I'm a few steps away I shout to him, "Officer? Officer excuse me."
He turns to look at me with a smirk on his face, "How can I help you?"
"My mom- she just called to tell me all her money was stolen, and I think I know who took it." I begin to explain.
The man looks me over and smirks, "Who do you think that would be?"
"I believe it was the makers of this game I play, called Nerve. Do you by any chance know what that is?" I ask.
He looks at me with amusement, "Yeah I know what that is."
"So, I believe they've taken my money. Do you think that's possible?"
He nods easily, "Oh yeah, they've definitely got your money."
I furrow my eyebrows, "Are you being sarcastic?"
"No, not at all actually. They've got your money." He assures me.
"How do you know?" I ask starting to get nervous.
A menacing grin spreads across his face, "Because I work for them."
I begin stepping backwards and glance around for Ian. He's no longer standing at the swings. I look around and can't find him.
I turn back to the so called cop, "Where's Ian?"
He pushes himself off the car and begins to walk towards me, "Oh, your boyfriend? My colleagues took care of him."
Each step he advances on me I take one backwards, "What do you mean they took care of him?"
"The finale is starting."

Authors note-
Helloo friends, I'm really sorry if this chapter looks weird I typed it some place I don't normally. Thank you all for the support and votes and comments. I would love to talk to any of you who would like to chat. I'm sorry I have to cut this short. I'm very very busy and could barely squeeze in a chapter, however I'll post another layer today. Have a great day my lovelies :)