“No one! Can’t you see?” Jax said. “It must be part of the game. It’s probably special effects. It’s genius.”
“Didn’t you read the message?” Ellis spluttered. “Karl Hunt lit the match, but you are all guilty. Someone brought us out here to punishus—not some random kids. Us! Isn’t it obvious? This is no prank.”
“Look, Ellis.” Jax was committed. “You can believe what you want. But you’re going to look like such an idiot when it turns out to be a prank. Just saying…”
“And if it’s not a prank, you’re going to look fucking dead,” Ellis snapped back.
This didn’t feel like a prank, simply because it wasn’t funny. Any way she looked at it, Ana knew it didn’t make sense. Taking a group of survivors, kids who had been through one kind of hell, and torturing them for amusement was beyond reason. No successful YouTuber would touchthis. They’d get canceled at the very least, and most likely arrested for reckless endangerment. No, this wasn’t a bad joke.
Oddly, the thought didn’t scare her. She felt wired and focused, but not afraid. Maybe she was numb and the reality hadn’t set in yet. Or maybe…maybe she didn’t care enough. She glanced across at Alex. His hair was tousled with sleep, and he still had the imprint of his pillow on his cheek. He caught her eye and gave a resigned half-smile. He looked sad and worried, his arm wrapped around the neck of his guitar protectively. Ana felt a pull of something inside.
No. She cared.
“I want it on the record that whatever happens, I ain’t responsible for any of you. I’m just the bus driver!” Benny said emphatically. The guy looked terrified. As the only legal adult within a thirty-mile radius, it wouldn’t look good if all the kids died on his watch.
“Yeah, that’s not really a good legal defense, is it?” Ellis said with a half-laugh. “If we all die and you’re still standing…negligence, accessory to murder, second-degree manslaughter…”
“How about we look at the facts?” Ana cut in, surprising herself. She held up her phone. “It’s already nearly nine-thirty. We can spend the rest of the time arguing, or we can try to figure out what’s going on.”
“Fair point.” Ellis stopped pacing and moved in front of Ana, taking over the room. “We need to share everything we know and gather as much information as possible.” Heads nodded in agreement.
Ana felt a small flash of irritation. Wasn’t that what she’d just suggested?
“Let’s start with the trip invites.” Ellis pulled the black card out of his pocket.
A couple of other cards were produced, and for a few minutes, they stood around studying the glossy invitations. The images were clearlycobbled together from random photos; a yurt with a woman meditating, a close-up of a mud-covered face with cucumbers over the eyes, a horse with a smiling rider. The most interesting image was in the background. It looked like the Motel Loba, only sleek and modern. Everything was in the right place, the reception area with its angular carport roof, the wings of rooms, even the palm tree.
“Photoshopped!” Ellis declared. “Someone made all of these invites and set this whole trip up. Think about it. Every year some super-rich parent donates a trip as the top prize in the school fundraiser, right? So, this year, whoever is behind this must have pretended to be a school donor and arranged all of this—the invites, the bus, the motel, just to bring us here. That’s a hell of a lot of effort.”
“But who…and why us?” Jade asked. “We won this trip in the raffle, which is random, right? I mean, that’s the whole point of a raffle—you buy a ticket and it’s luck who wins. So, what? We’re just really, really unlucky?”
“No, the message was clear. It said we’re all guilty. Clearly the raffle wasn’t as random as it was supposed to be. Somehow Bates figured out a way to rig the results. He must have known it was mandatory to buy a ticket, so we’d all have at least one entry. Which meant he could pick who he wanted to win—and he chose us. All of us.”
“How’s that possible? I can’t have beenchosen. It doesn’t make any sense. I’m not guilty of anything!” Jade’s voice kept getting higher and higher.
“I know. Me either.” Everyone knew Ellis wasn’t guilty—he was the big hero. “The only thing I’m guilty of is not getting fried into a charred hunk of dead meat.”
Ana felt like she’d been slapped in the face. She quickly turned away. How could he just casually throw out something like that? What was hisproblem? Images swept into her mind before she could mount a defense. She closed her eyes, willing them away.
“Don’t say stuff like that, Ellis. You’re not the only victim here.” It was Alex’s voice—one of the rare moments he’d chosen to speak up. Ana didn’t need to look at him to know that he’d done it for her.
“All right, I’m sorry.” Ellis sounded contrite. Probably surprised by Alex’s uncharacteristically sharp tone.
There was an unpleasant silence. Ana opened her eyes and looked around. Alex was standing next to her, his guitar momentarily discarded. Her protector. She was touched by the gesture, but she didn’t need protecting. She could look after herself.
“What I don’t get iswhowould do this?” Jade carried on, oblivious to the tension. “I mean, who would want to hurtme? Seriously, I’m not like overstating or anything, but people generally like me. Wait, unless it’s like a stalker…”
“Look, whoever this Bates is, it’s not some low-level stalker,” Ellis said. “They’re a rich, organized, and determined—”
“YouTuber,” Jax muttered in a stage whisper.
“Fuck’s sake, Jax!” Ellis sounded exasperated. He rubbed his hand hard over his head.
As Ana looked from face to face, she could tell that the mood in the room was sinking. They could guess all they wanted, but it didn’t change the fact that they had no idea who was doing this, or why.
But maybe they could start withhow.
“What if we’d said no?”
