Countdown

I searched his face for something that would indicate that he was lying. That he wasn't a horrible man who'd ruined my life. I wanted to see a glimmer of hope in his gnarled, scarred face.

I glanced over at Rogan and Mac, fighting hand to hand on the other side of the roof. Rogan looked over at me and shouted my name when he saw I'd been cornered by a man twice my size. He tried to move toward me, but Mac stopped him, pushing him back, and swung the crowbar like a baseball bat. I heard Rogan yell out in pain.

'Two minutes remain in this level of The Countdown.'

My hand was still against Kurtis's neck. He was smiling at me, but it wasn't friendly or warm. It was amused, as if he were daring me to try something violent. My despair and confusion amused him.

'Can't do it after all, can you?' he said.

'Oh, yes, I can.'

I closed my eyes, flexed my mind, and ripped into his.

::::::::::Filth

Disgust::::::::::

:::::::::::Anger

Betrayal:::::::::

:::::::::Rage

Certainty::::::

… and I'd do it again…. Love to take her now… no time left…. I'll win this fucking game…. So easy… bitch shot me… Want to kill her… like I killed her family. … Watched them bleed…. What a laugh…. I'll kill them all again…. Give me the chance…. Go to Offworld and do the same there….

The pain tore through my brain and I let go of him. It was even worse than before. Even worse than with Gareth. I couldn't see anything but white for a moment; I was blind from entering this bastard's mind. He was everything he appeared to be-scum of the earth.

And I knew for sure that he was the murderer who'd stolen my life seven years ago.

When my vision cleared and I was able to focus again, I saw him staring at me with widened eyes.

'It's true,' he said. 'You can do it. I felt it. You saw into my soul.'

I cast a fearful look over at Rogan and Mac. I could see that Rogan was bleeding, but he was still fighting hard.

'Yeah,' I said. 'I saw your soul.'

He pulled his knife out of his front pocket. 'All the more reason for me to slice you open and watch you bleed.'

'Kira!' Rogan yelled.

Without thinking twice about it, I lashed out and punched Kurtis in his injured shoulder. He screamed in pain and dropped his knife, but before I could twist away from him he grabbed my shoulders so hard I thought he was going to snap bone. I fought back against him as hard as I'd ever fought before: nails, teeth, fists, slashing and pounding anything I could reach. I tried to trip him, winding myself around his legs, and I felt him fall.

He still had ahold of me as he crashed against the side of the roof, and we rolled across it, and then suddenly there was nothing under my feet. I screamed and scrambled to grab hold of the building as we fell off the side.

My already short fingernails broke. My hands were sweating, slippery, but I clung to the building, trying to get a foothold below me.

The countdown began to thunder in my brain.

'Forty-five … forty-four … forty-three … forty-two …'

'Kira!' Rogan yelled again. 'Kira!'

Hand over hand, scraping roughly over brick, I tried to pull myself back up to the roof. Just before I got a firm hold on the siding, I felt a hand on my ankle and then a heavy weight. I looked down. Kurtis was dangling off the side of the building, a few feet lower than I was, and he had hold of my left boot. He stared up at me, his expression frantic.

My hand slipped a little, and I struggled to hold on.

'Help me!' Kurtis pleaded. 'Please don't let me fall!'

'Twenty-one … twenty.. nineteen …'

I forced the words from a throat that felt more like screaming at the moment. 'I read you, Kurtis, with my tainted psi ability. And do you want to know what I saw deep inside of you? Deep inside your soul?'

'What? What?'

'Not a whole hell of a lot.'

His hand slipped off my boot, and he was hanging on to the side of the building for a few seconds by only a couple of fingers. And then, with a terrified scream, he fell twenty-five stories to the street below.

Just before he hit I heard a loud bang from the roof. It scared me so much I almost lost my remaining grip.

What the hell was that?

'Rogan?' I managed. 'Rogan, are you still there? Are you okay?'

It felt like an eternity, but it was only a few seconds until I felt hands gripping my arms, pulling me back up to the roof. Rogan, bloodied and beaten but still alive, crushed me against him.

'Congratulations, Rogan and Kira, for completing Level Five successfully.'

'What happened?' I asked after a moment, pulling back enough to look at his face. I touched it gently.

'Ninety-foot implant rule,' he said. 'When Kurtis fell he went farther than that from Mac.'

I braved a quick look to the other side of the roof. A large body lay there very still, a dark stain where its head should have been.

I rested my head against Rogan's chest. 'The song 'Pop Goes the Weasel' is playing in my head right now for some strange reason.'

'I think that's very appropriate.' He managed to give me a very small grin.

I sighed heavily, feeling bone-weary. 'Kurtis begged for his life at the end. I couldn't help him, but even if I could have, I don't think I would have. I'm glad he's dead; is that wrong?'

'Not in my book. The bastard had it coming.'

'Rogan and Kira have only one more level to complete before they are considered the second set of winners ever in the history of The Countdown. Will they be successful? Or will the last level finally pull them apart forever? Stay tuned, subscribers. This game isn't over yet! '

I refrained from rolling my eyes. That freak seriously sounded like he was introducing a baseball team. Or doing an infomercial. Not hosting a game where death was the consolation prize.

This whole thing was sickening.

I frowned. 'Rogan, I really need to talk to you.'

He met my eyes, and his lost their warmth. 'Is it about Gareth?'

'Yeah. I talked to him face-to-face.'

His forehead creased. 'What is it?'

'I was able to read him. I know what's actually going on, Rogan. He's not really-'

Just then Rogan clutched his head and roared in pain right before his eyes rolled back into their sockets and he slumped forward. I caught him in my arms and brought him down to the ground as gently as I could.

Breathing hard, my gaze darting everywhere, I waited for them to trigger my own implant to knock me unconscious, but nothing happened. I knelt there on the top of the roof for a moment, then got to my feet, looking around at the three silver cameras that circled the area.

'What now?' I yelled at them. 'What do you want from me now?'

The announcer's voice boomed through the darkness. 'Kira Jordan was told that certain information was not to be shared with her partner. If she doesn't comply with this rule then she will face severe penalties.'

I gave the cameras a good shot of my middle finger.

'She was also given a choice earlier by the producers of The Countdown. If Kira eliminates her partner on camera she will automatically win the game. Her reward will he a first-class ticket to Offworld and enough money to start her wonderful new life.'