⏳   Chapter 9. The Past Story

Dmitry, Sigita, Alina, Nicholas, and Nikita sat in front of the headmistress in her office. The first one was talking to the woman, the others were listening attentively.

— So, are you saying that you were all kidnapped by an unknown masked man, handcuffed to chairs with a lethal mechanism, and forced Dmitry to perform his tasks?

— Correct.

— Then why didn't we find any gears at the scene and the key to the handcuffs was in your pocket?

— He set me up. They'll confirm that I didn't kidnap them, that I'm a vicitm too. He probably put the key in my pocket while I was asleep.

— Why wasn't anyone with you? Where did the masked man disappear to?

— When he heard the hatch opening, he pressed the remote, which destroyed all the mechanisms, and then jumped.

— Jumped? Right off the roof? You mean, killed himself?

— No, of course not. I remember the lyceum building. He jumped off the side where there's another roof down below, over the entrance that covers it. He could have broken the window, gone inside, and escaped from there.

— And you seriously expect me to believe you? You think I'm that dumb? Who would do that? Why would he do such a terrible thing to you? My theory is that you wanted to do something illegal, but we found you, and now you're trying to justify!

— When you took us into your office, did you see a second where we could be alone? We didn't even have time to come up with a story this big! Is it really that hard for you to check the windows? While we're here chattering, he's long gone!

The headmistress opened her mouth to laugh at Dmitry as the lights in the office suddenly flickered.

— What is it? — she suddered.

— He's come for us.

— Who's «he»?

While the bewildered headmistress was trying to figure out what was going on, the speakers on the desktop started up. A horrible distorted voice emerged.

«Yes, I have indeed escaped, and gathered you here to continue our game.»

— Stay calm, — Dmitry announced. — Don't let him scare you.

But the headmistress didn't listen to him and shouted:

— What do you want from us? And would you be so kind as to turn off that blinking light? It's annoying as hell!

The lights continued to run steadily.

«I don't want anything from you but the game. If you lose, I'll destroy your life, headmaster, and your, dear classmates. If you win, you can leave, and I'll never come back.»

— «Classmates»? — the woman was taken aback. — He said «classmates»! Is he a classmate of yours?

— We suspected, — Alina confessed. — And it turned out to be true. He uncovered this when we were alone with Nicholas.а

— Come on, start your game! — Nikita was ready to rant and rave.

«Well, you've got it all figured out, so let's start the game! Tell me, what was your former classmate like?»

— Stopped studying with us, — Sigita answered. — He was replaced by another student. If I remember Maxim's words correctly, that student was him.

— I didn't know you were in touch with Maxim, — Dmitry was surprised.

— Not in life, but sometimes online.

— Why did he tell you that? When did it happen?

Sigita rolled her eyes:

— Is it that important? I think you just don't want me socializing with others.

— I don't? — he stood up and grinned. — I don't? Oh, I never had a chance from the start! And you think I don't like you socializing with someone else?

The students and the headmistress looked amongst themselves, afraid to ask Dmitry to stop. He was too angry. Sigita also stood up and answered him loudly:

— But yet somehow you still kept chatting with me online! Somehow you tried to talk me into meeting you in real life, and even though I didn't want to, you still conti...

Dmitry interrupted her:

— Do you ever feel hopeful? Although... — he waved it away. — Who am I asking? An excellent student, who is not bothered by her parents with grades at all, and who doesn't need to feel hopeful because she already knows she'll be fine!

— Says an excellent student who benefits from the grades themselves!

— Answered by a man who has never fallen in love!

Already in a second he regretted the choice of the last word, and the two froze in awkward silence.

Nikita was the first to speak. He stood in front of them:

— Dmitry, Sigita, stop swearing. This man is provoking us on purpose. It's part of the game. Dmitry, you said yourself that we must remain calm. That's what we're going to do. Let's sit down and continue our discussion.

All three of them sat down. Nikita continued:

— Now, Sigita, tell me, when did you start communicating with Maxim, and why did he tell you this?

She sighed.

— We started communicating in the tenth grade, after New Year's Eve, in January. At that time Michael had already disappeared. He and I were just having a good conversation. But actually, he was trying to be nice to me. It's just that I couldn't go online very often, so I answered him rarely, and our communication didn't develop.

— What did Maxim tell you about Michael?

— They were friends, but Michael moved to another country because his parents got a good job offer from there.

— What country? What city?

— Too unusual to forget... Vienna, Austria.

— Under what circumstances did you and Maxim start communicating?

— Maybe we should be discussing Michael, not Maxim?

— It's just that there's something unclear here. Tell me please. It's important.

Sigita reluctantly obeyed:

— After some time of chatting online, he asked me to meet him after school. I couldn't do that because my parents always come to pick me up, in which case they would have to wait. He persuaded me for a long time. And once I finally got the chance to stay for a while. I was a little nervous, so I took Alina with me.

— He chose an unusual place for the meeting, — Alina added. — An empty classroom on the third floor. He picked the lock with scissors. It didn't look like a decent student, but you know, I liked him so much I didn't pay much attention.

Catching the strange looks of those present, the girl justified:

— Look at him yourself: he's so nice, so smart... Anyway, we entered the room, and he showed us an interesting way to cheat in math.

Dmitry's heart raced with excitement:

— Only in math? Did he tell a way for biology as well? Sigita?

— No, that one was invented by my older sister. The way he said for math wasn't suitable for biology.

Hearing that, Dmitry calmed down:

— Got you. So what was the way he said for cheating in math?

— The answers were right in front of the teacher's nose, — Alina explained. — To the right and left of the electronic board hung white papers where the clues were written, but in ink that could only be seen through specially coated glasses. He gave us two copies of the glasses and pens so we could test this method at home.

— So, did it work? — Nikita asked skeptically.

— To our surprise, it worked! I really liked this method! But I didn't use it, because I already know everything in math, — Sigita smiled.

— But there's something wrong here...

— What? Maxim is so clever! Of course, I didn't expect such a thing from him, but still he's... not my type.

— Why not?

— Just that he's been acting, how shall I put it, a little obsessive. I think normally he would have offered it to me a little differently.

— Sigita, you said you have a sister. Alina, do you have one?

— Yes, a younger one. Why do you ask?

Nikita lowered his head, brought a hand to the face, closed his eyes and, ignoring the question, softly uttered:

— They're dead.

...

Sandra was Sigita's twenty-one year old sister and worked as a makeup artist in one of the largest cities in her country. She hadn't seen her and her parents in a long time, so after getting a few days of vacation, decided to visit them. Twenty-four hours into the trip, she stood at the doorstep of their house, but when knocked on the door, no one opened for her. She glanced at her smartwatch: it was exactly three o'clock in the afternoon. Sigita, along with her mother, should have already arrived by car from school. Class had ended twenty minutes ago.

«Maybe she was delayed... Though for what reason? She's an excellent student, so there's no need for reports. She always comes back on time.»

The girl turned the knob. To her surprise, the door was unlocked. She stepped inside and checked the rooms. No one was there. Then Sandra decided to wait for her sister in her room. But as soon as she got there, the door slammed shut with such a bang that Sandra jumped. She turned around and tried to open it, but someone had it locked.

— What's going on? Sigita, is this some kind of prank?

«Not a prank. It's a game» — speakers blared from the corners of the ceiling.

...

Anna, Alina's fourteen-year-old sister, was a little late at the lyceum. She had to go to the math teacher and hand in her homework notebook that she forgot to give in class. Then she went to her apartment, where she and Alina lived. It wasn't far to walk. The girl went up to the fifth floor, opened the door with the key, and, rejoicing at the end of the school day, went to her room, the door of which was open.

«Didn't I lock it before I left?»

She threw her briefcase on the floor, sat down on the bed and picked up her phone, but suddenly the door slammed shut. Anna almost dropped the device out of surprise. She got up and checked the window, which was closed, so the reason was not a draft. The girl tried to open the door, but couldn't. Apparently, it was locked.

— What's that? Alina, are you in here? Why did you lock the door?

Instead of Alina, an unfamiliar voice answered her from the speakers in the corners of the ceiling:

«No, it's not Alina. It's me. I'm here to play a game with her, and her friends. And the game... has just begun.»

...

— Who are you? What kind of game? — Sandra was saying, slowly looking around.

«Take your phone and scan the QR code that is on your bed.»

When she looked at the bed, she did indeed find a note there, and picked it up. Then she opened the QR scanner on her phone and pointed at the image. Soon the site loaded.

— This is a video?

«Live stream.»

— It's Sigita! And next to her... Someone else.

...

Anna held the phone in both hands, looking at Alina and her classmates:

— What are they talking about?

«Discussing the game and trying to win.»

— But what's the price of losing?