Rivalry

Chapter 3

-Liz POV-

THUD!

I jolt awake, hearing a bang of some sort. What was it? I rapidly look around, trying to find the source of the noise.

Ugh.. this isn't going to go anywhere if I'm half blind. Grabbing my glasses off the nightstand and putting them on, I can see that its 1:06 AM.... WHAT? 1:06 AM??? What the actual heck?

I cautiously get up and look around my room... Huh. Everything looks normal. Nothing is knocked over... Shoot, I'll have to look around the house until I can sleep again...

Quietly getting up, I turn on the lights in my room, and every other room. I can almost hear my heart thudding in my chest as I check around... Nothing in the living room... Nothing in the kitchen... Nothing in the bathroom... Nothing in moms room...

I freeze up as I hear a faint scratching from Jacobs room. Ever so quietly opening the door, I peek inside to see- GOD DAMN IT JACOB! AN OPEN WINDOW??? Ughhh.... Leave it to him to leave his window open. And the scratching was just his blinds moving against the window from the slight breeze outside. How idiotic is that?

I close the window, silently scolding myself for being so easily scared. Grr... Jacob's going to hear it from me tomorrow...

A few minutes later, I'm in bed again, wanting to doze off into a sleep that will last until at least 6:00. Only problem now seems to be that I can't get to bed. Ugh... I'm just too paranoid. But hey, I think that's only normal when you're home alone.

I let out a sigh. Yep, definitely can't sleep now. Geez, I might as well just stay up and wait for mom to come home.

As I open my eyes, I get the vibe that something is terribly, terribly wrong. Scanning my half-blurred vision from the side of my bed to the end of it, I see a figure staring back at me.

The figure is over in a flash as a scream rises in my throat, smothering it by tightly gripping his hand over my mouth. A knife is also brought to my throat as I tried to struggle, persuading me to stay as still as I humanly can.

I finally get the chance to get a closer look at him, and god.... How do I describe it? He has paper-white skin, a smile much too wide, long unruly black hair, intense eyes, a white hoodie stained red or pink at the bottom (I honestly can't tell without my glasses), black pants.... And god.... He smells like blood.

I wait for him to do something human... Lift his hand away, cut down with the knife, or even just blink. Ever so slowly he lifts his hand, though keeps the knife rested against my neck.

He smirks, speaking in a low tone "We're going to play a game called true or false... Say 'true' if yes, and 'false' if no." He chuckles, adding on "And there WILL be consequences for answering false." He hints at that by flicking his eyes down to the knife at my throat, but quickly reconnecting eye contact. "Are you Elizabeth Beaton?"

"Uh... T-true..." I manage to choke out a whisper, scared out of my mind.

"Do you know Cassie Jones?"

"True..." I answer. God... how does he know us and why is he asking?

He smirks "Do you work with her?"

"Not on a regular basis, but-"

"True or false" He demands, pressing the knife just until it makes a mark.

"True!" I blurt out, not wanting to be hurt.

He thinks a second before asking more, carefully choosing his wording "Will you work with me to catch another killer, saving your family's life?"

"What do you mean-"

"True or false" He harshly repeats.

".... True...." I half-mutter, not intending to carry out anything I say.

He lightly chuckles, taking off the knife and stepping back, looking pleased. "Good... Heh.. And don't even try with the police, they're no good." With that, he quickly turns to leave, as if more pressing matters are calling him away.

I muster up my courage, finding my voice "Wait... Who are you?"

He gives a low chuckle as he answers, walking out "You'll find out soon enough..."

I'm left laying on my bed, shaking, petrified with fear from what just happened. Shit.... What did I get myself into...?

•••••••••

-Cassie POV-

It's three in the morning and I'm awake, researching the strange game. It's called "Legend Of Zelda, Majora's Mask." I'm very confused, seeing as from what I've found out, there isn't supposed to be a file named "Ben" that's almost nearing the end of the game, and this game isn't even supposed to be able to be on the 360. It doesn't show anywhere on the whole wide internet anything about a Xbox 360 version of a Nintendo 64 game...

I sigh and turn off my computer. I can't sleep, I need to figure this out.

I hear a strange whoosh come from the living room. I run from the kitchen, where I moved the computer to, to the living room to see the Mask of Majora main screen. What the heck...

Oh, and did I mention that apparently you're not supposed to burn to death in the game, and that the music isn't supposed to be totally creepy?

I hesitantly pick up my Xbox controller and oh-so-slowly press start. The game zooms to the next screen. There's the one file, titled "BEN" that I've been playing on. I'll admit that this game is running very well for having a sketchy case and CD.

I should make my brother proud and finish this game. I sigh and sit down. I select the BEN file and start up playing.

This is where I realize that I'll get no sleep tonight, game or no game.