Page 82 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

Hellokitten444:Love you, Malinka. Get out of there grrl, before you get hurt.

7SummitGrrl:Your gear isn’t even waterproof. And are those fake eyelashes?

YesICanFan:Tell us about your new line of skater pants.

Climb3rdude:This is such a mess. Do you guys not have a weather app? There’s a huge storm coming. Ever met a “climber” less prepared for the elements?

Angelwings:You’re beautiful, Malinka, and a hero to girls everywhere. Don’t let them get away with it. Justice for Chloe!

Dragongrrl:Malinka, get out of there. Go home. If people are getting hurt and going missing whenever Extreme is up to their tricks, what makes you think you won’t be next????

More comments, fade out.

29

ANGELINE

The air in the trailer was thick with tension, with the scent of sweat. Angeline felt as if her legs might give out beneath her, so she leaned against the long table in the center. It wobbled, gear knocking. She was overcome by exhaustion, horror at what they’d done. Fear, it was a kaleidoscope, bending reality. She forced herself to take slow, deep breaths.

What is real? What is true?

Had they really found Alex’s dead body? Had they really dumped him and his phone off a cliff? It had seemed right, like the only option then. Now it seemed like what it was. Depraved. The actions of people not in their right minds. Who had killed Alex? Where was that person now?

Her eyes fell on Mav. It could only have been him. Who else? But she just couldn’t believe that. She just…couldn’t.

“That little bitch,” hissed Mav, as if Malinka was their biggest problem. “She isnotthe winner. No matter what. Though, we’ll probably get a shit ton of views because of that.”

Angeline already knew about Chloe, the girl’s obsession with Maverick.It was not the revelation Malinka clearly had thought it would be. Angeline honestly couldn’t care less about Maverick’s little side pieces. She wouldn’t have given Chloe a second thought if not for the horror show of her disappearance. Lots of girls wanted Mav, threw themselves at him, were obsessed with him. Maverick, she knew, only really wanted Angeline.

Angeline walked over to peer out the window. The hiders were in a huddle by the fire pit, talking. What were they saying? There was still time for them to leave. Would they? The sky was darkening. Petra’s men stood statue-still.

How would they get out of this? How,how, had theygotten into it?

Mav sunk his head down in his hands. Gustavo looked off into the middle distance; he hadn’t made eye contact with her since the wall. Hector was a cartoon character of stress hair a mess, eyes bulging, looking back and forth between them. His forehead was beaded with perspiration.

Finally, he blew.“Can someone tell me what the actual fuck is going on?”

They all stared at Hector as he went on. “All the cameras I set up? They’re dead. I think there is someone out there. Sabotaging the game.”

Angeline just felt numb, stared out the window at the armed men. She needed to get out of this trailer. It stank of sweat and dread.

“Look at this,” Hector said when none of them spoke.

He opened an image on one of the laptops. A masked face filled the screen—bright white with button eyes and stitching for a mouth—lingered a moment, taunting, before the screen went dark.

“I told you,” said Maverick, spreading his arms. “Itold youthere was someone out there trying to hurt us.”

“I’m going out there,” said Gustavo, moving toward the door. “I’m going to find out who’s doing this.”

“No,” said Angeline, too quickly. She felt the heat of Mav’s gaze. “What if Mav’s right? What if someone really is trying tohurt us?”

“What do you mean?” Maverick barked at her. “What if Mav’s right?Alex is dead—someone killed him. There’s definitely someone out there. They’redefinitelytrying to hurt us, Ange. Theyarehurting us.”

Hector released a horrified sob.“What?”

Oh, shit. They hadn’t told Hector about Alex.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” said Mav, eyes filling. “We…found him at the hotel.”