Truth or Dare (43 page)

“What’s
wrong
with you?” Sydney sputtered. She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket. “I’m calling for help,” she muttered to Caitlin. She frantically thumbed her keypad. The
No Service
icon showed on her phone.

“Didn’t you know?” Tricia said sweetly. “There’s no service out here. Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

Sydney tightened her grip on Caitlin’s arm, pulling her toward the stairs. “Come on, Caitlin. Let’s go help Tenley.”

Tricia was laughing behind them as they hurried down the stairs, Caitlin holding tightly to Sydney. Black spots danced in front of her eyes, but she angrily blinked them away. Ever since she’d left the hospital, she’d felt the concussion tugging at her, tempting her with sleep, but she kept fighting back, refusing to give in.

They found Tenley in the engine room, pushing frantically at a line of buttons beneath a large computer screen. “I can’t get this stupid boat to turn around!” she yelled out in frustration when she saw them. “It’s like it’s locked or something.”

Caitlin tried to focus her vision as she studied the screen. On it, a green blinking dot was moving steadily along a mapped-out route. She looked closer, her heart seizing up. At the end of the route was the marking for a rock. “She’s taking us to the Phantom Rock,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. The sound of a door slamming shut made them all jump. Caitlin turned around. On the other side of the cabin, the door at the bottom of the stairs was now sealed.

“No,” Sydney whispered. She ran to the door, yanking at the handle. But it didn’t budge. “It’s locked,” she cried. She pulled frantically at
the door, again and again, but still it didn’t open. “We’re trapped in the cabin.”

“Hello, girls.” Tricia’s voice blasted over the boat’s speaker system as a second screen in the engine room suddenly flickered to life. It showed Tricia standing on the deck, holding several red tubes in her hands.

“The captain’s video monitoring system,” Sydney whispered. “Guinness showed it to me.”

“As I’m sure you might have guessed, we’re en route to the Phantom Rock,” Tricia said. Pulling out a lighter, she flicked it on. The flame leaped into the air, casting a shadow across her face. “I’ve decided it’s the perfect place to set off my fireworks.” She touched the lighter to a wick at the end of one of the red tubes, smiling as it began to sizzle. Quickly, she tossed the firework into the air behind her. “I’ve been waiting all week for this,” she yelled as the firework went off with a boom. A shower of color burst into the sky. “It’s a nice touch, isn’t it? I thought the new Lost Girls deserved something special to send them off.”

Tenley made a strangled sound.
“Lost Girls?”

Tears sprang to Caitlin’s eyes and she reached for Tenley’s hand. Sydney was furiously twisting the ring on her pointer finger. “Why are you doing this to us?” Sydney asked angrily.

“Because you deserve it,” Tricia said simply. She paused to light another firework, tossing it into the air. An arc of red exploded in the sky above her. “Remember all those games of truth or dare you used to play… games I was never allowed to join?”

“This is because we wouldn’t let you
play
with us?” Tenley howled.

“Of course not,” Tricia said. “It’s because of the time you
did
. I know
you remember the game, Tenley. The one Marta convinced you to let me join. You think of that dare as your crowning glory, don’t you?” Tricia stared straight into the camera. “Tell everyone what it was, Tenley.”

Tenley looked as if she was about to deny it. But then she said, almost as though in defiance, “The Phantom Rock.”

“That’s right,” Tricia said, applauding. “You dared me to swim out to the Phantom Rock. And then you dared Sydney to go after me, and try to pull me under.”

Caitlin closed her eyes. The memory of that day rushed back to her. Tenley had been on a roll, her dares growing wilder and wilder. Sydney hadn’t even been playing with them—hadn’t even been
friends
with them—but Tenley thought it would be hysterical to get her to prank Tricia. She’d waded out into the water to give Sydney the dare, making Caitlin come with her.

Sydney of course had been appalled. Caitlin still remembered the way Sydney had looked at them, as if they were something awful, deformed. Without saying a word, she’d swum off, leaving Tenley laughing in her wake.

“I almost drowned out there,” Tricia said, her eyes flashing as she stared at them from the screen. “Something had my foot. I was sure the Lost Girls were trying to pull me under.” She shook her head angrily. “I thought I was going to die. When I finally managed to free my foot, I yanked away so hard I slammed right into a reef. Do you remember what happened next?” She laughed sharply. “The top of my bathing suit tore away. That’s when I saw Sydney swimming nearby, watching as Fatty Patty had to swim to shore half-naked. I got back to find everyone laughing, calling me a
whale
. Taking pictures. Posting them. And that’s when I found out Sydney had been in on it, that it had been her dare to pull me under.”

Tricia lit two more fireworks. They blasted into the air, tracing colors across the sky. “You know, you were the worst of them all, Syd. We were almost friends! But then the second they let you into their little game, you stabbed me in the back.”

“That’s not true!” Sydney said vehemently. “I swam out to see if you were okay. But I got stuck. The current was too strong. I never even made it all the way.”

Tricia narrowed her eyes at Sydney. “You really think I’m going to believe that? No one said no to Tenley. Not even our little holier-than-thou Angel,” she added, gesturing toward Caitlin. “But it doesn’t matter. Now I’m the one in control.” She smiled smugly. “I figured, how better to give you a taste of your own medicine than the ultimate game of truth or dare? Winner takes all.”

Caitlin felt something wet sliding down her cheeks, and she realized suddenly that she was crying. “I’m so sorry, Tricia,” she said desperately. “
We’re
so sorry. It was a stupid game and we were
kids
. We made a mistake! But we don’t deserve this. Please stop.” She choked back a sob. “Turn the boat around.”

“Still playing good cop to Tenley’s bad, aren’t you, Angel?” Tricia sighed. “I’m afraid it’s much too little, much too late. Besides,” she added cheerfully, “I have a whole show planned out for you girls! And as Tenley knows from the pageant circuit, the show must always go on.”

“You’re insane,” Tenley shouted. “You’re just like your aunt!”

“Please don’t do this, Tricia,” Sydney pleaded. “I’ll do anything you want. Just please come down and turn the boat around.”

But Tricia ignored her, setting off several more fireworks. Tricia leaned in close to the camera, until her nose was almost touching the screen. “You’re going to love what I have planned next, Sydney,” she said. “I’m just sorry you can’t be up on deck to see it in person.”

Flicking the lighter, Tricia crouched down on the deck. There was a rope at her feet, and as she hummed under her breath, she touched the lighter to it. Instantly there was a pop and the rope burst into flames, several plumes of smoke rushing upward. “I call this my first act,” she announced, straightening up. “Do you hear that sizzling? That’s the sound of fire on an oil-soaked rope. Don’t worry, Syd. I know you can’t see it down there in the cabin, but I’m not keeping the flames all for myself. Any second now, it will be reaching you….” She looked off to the side, counting on her fingers. “Five. Four. Three. Two. And here we go.”

A terrible hissing noise came from the stairwell, and Caitlin spun around to see the flames bursting into the cabin, racing along a rope that had been threaded under the door—and along the perimeter of the cabin.

“No!” Sydney screamed. Avoiding the rope, she raced over to the door and slammed her shoulder into it, trying to break it down. “Smother the flames!” she yelled back to Tenley and Caitlin as she slammed into the door again. “Smoke builds fast.”

Tenley began stomping wildly on the flames. Ignoring the stabbing pain in her head, Caitlin threw her coat over a section of rope, trying to snuff it out. “There’s got to be a fire extinguisher somewhere,” she said desperately. But she couldn’t see one. The flames were growing, flitting left and right and up and down until it wasn’t just the rope that was ablaze, but the floor, too. Smoke thickened the air, and Caitlin covered her mouth with her sleeve, coughing violently.

“This is even more fun than I thought.” Tricia’s voice came through the speaker system, echoing around them. She let out a laugh, gratingly cheerful, as the flames rose and leaped around them.

“Let us out of here, Tricia!” Tenley screamed, jumping backward as the fire nipped at her sweater, sending flames flying across her stomach.
Hacking from the smoke, she tore her sweater off, flinging it onto the ground. The fire was gaining strength, and Caitlin felt dizzy as she stumbled left and right, trying to avoid the flames. She could feel the smoke working its way into her lungs, making every breath a struggle.

“You know, I left some meds down there in the engine room, Caitlin,” Tricia said, her voice pouring through the speakers as she ignored their cries. “Feel free to take a couple if you want to end this for yourself. You’ll only need two, maybe three, to do the job. My pills are a
little
stronger than yours.” She let out a sharp laugh. “I think good old Dr. Filstone had me taking Xexer back in middle school.”

The smoke was wrapping around Caitlin, dulling everything. Sounds were fading; her vision was blurring. Even time itself seemed to be slowing down, the world moving in slow motion. Something hot seared her ankle and she stumbled backward, smashing up against something.

“Caitlin!” Tenley’s voice sounded far away, but Caitlin could feel her hands catching her, keeping her from falling.

She tried to say something, to thank her, but her mouth wouldn’t move. She was being tugged under again, and this time she couldn’t stop it. Her eyes drifted shut. Blackness closed around her like a coffin.

The dream was just like one she’d had before. She was in the red basement, sitting on the floor. The beautiful woman was sitting next to her, but instead of singing, she was crying, black rivers of mascara running down her face. In her lap was a one-eared teddy bear, and as she cried, Caitlin knew without a doubt exactly who she was.

Something shook Caitlin awake and she whimpered softly, fighting to open her eyes.

“Caitlin!” Tenley’s voice was in her ear, her breath warm against her skin. “Are you okay?”

“My kidnapper,” Caitlin whispered groggily. She could feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness. “Not Jack. I finally know.”

Tenley’s eyes widened. “Who—” she began, but she was interrupted by a loud splintering noise. It tore through the cabin, echoing off the walls. Suddenly fresh air rushed in, filling Caitlin’s lungs. She coughed as she sucked it in, more and more, clearing away the spiderwebs from her brain.

“I got the door open!” Sydney yelled. Caitlin fought to lift her head as she looked across the cabin. Through the smoke, she could see that the door had been splintered right down the middle, a fire ax now lodged inside it. “We have to get out of here!”

Tenley rushed forward, dragging Caitlin with her. “Come on, stay awake, Cait,” she begged. “You can do this.”

Caitlin focused every ounce of energy she had left on getting to the cabin door. She held tightly to Tenley as they zigzagged toward it, biting back a scream as a flame caught her arm.

“Just a little more,” Tenley said. “We’re almost there.”

But just as they were about to dive for the doorway, a patch of flames suddenly blazed in their way, stopping them short. Sydney ripped off her coat, throwing it over the fire to put it out. As she did, something flew out of its pocket, skittering across the floor. It was a chain, gold and shiny, with four charms dangling off it.

Caitlin gasped as her eyes landed on a familiar gold angel charm. It was her and Tenley’s anklet! She didn’t have time to wonder why Sydney had it. She just grabbed at it blindly. “Come on,” Tenley yelled. She ran up the stairs after Sydney, pulling Caitlin with her. They burst out onto the deck one after another, gasping wildly for air.

There, in the middle of the deck, was Tricia, holding several lit fireworks in her hands. “I have to say, I didn’t think you’d make it out. But
since you did… I have one last dare for you.” She waved the fireworks in front of her. “I dare you all to jump in the ocean… or these babies will be going off right here. And trust me, it won’t be fun to be scorched alive.”

“You’re crazy!” Tenley screamed. Her face was red with rage as she lunged for Tricia, jostling the fireworks out of her hand. They shot upward, exploding only seconds later, one after another, in a beautiful, golden display.

“That was supposed to be my finale!” Tricia’s face hardened. “You’re going to be sorry you did that, Tenley.”

Tenley lunged for Tricia again, but this time Tricia was ready. She grabbed Tenley’s shoulders, ramming her backward toward the edge of the deck. “Get ready for a swim,” she snarled.

“Stop!” Caitlin raced forward, the world spinning and tilting around her as she threw herself at Tricia. She slammed right into her, and Tricia cried out in surprise as she stumbled sideways. Losing her balance, Tricia let go of Tenley, crashing to the floor. Caitlin took a dizzy step backward, satisfaction rushing through her.
She’d done it.

No sooner had the thought entered her head than the boat smashed up against something in the water, sending a huge jolt running through the deck. Caitlin’s mouth opened in shock, but no sound came out. She could feel a hand on her shoulder—pushing or pulling, she couldn’t tell which. And then her feet were slipping out from beneath her, her arms wheeling wildly through the air.
Help
, she tried to scream. But if she did, the sound was drowned out. Because the wind was shrieking in her ears as she went flying over the side of the boat.

Cold, salty air whipped around her, and for a second she felt almost free. It was as if she had wings, as if she could just spread them and fly away. But then the Phantom Rock rose out of the water like a mountain,
glistening wet and jagged-tipped, and her wings failed her. Caitlin plummeted downward, landing against the rock with a deafening thud.