The Game

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, without a word from Andy. Work turned hectic as a flood of disappearances and murders were reported days after Andy left. There was no pattern to the killings. Nothing to indicate a serial, yet the rapidity of them made him wonder. All of the photos he received of murders were kept in a single folder. Searching for clues was nearly impossible. There was nothing. Other than the dead body, wounds to indicate how they died, and maybe the ballistics based on the blood spray to know where the killer stood. But the weapons and way of death varied and were rarely used more than once. The next murder victim only added to the confusion of this string of murders. A psychologist was killed in her office by a long bladed dagger.

Josh left the cases alone for a while and left for a weekend vacation. He checked into the Little Grand America, before walking down the street to have dinner at Denny's. He needed time to rest, to forget about the murders for a while. Then maybe he'd have the clarity to find the clues needed to stop all of these pointless deaths.

Josh inserted the key into his door. The electronics temporarily pulled the lock out of place so he could enter. He was exhausted as he entered the dim entryway. He rubbed his eyes. His head came up and he stopped.

"Andy?" he asked.

"Hello, Josh," she replied.

She was dressed in a black sports bra and a short black, pleather skirt. She wore thigh high heels and a black trench coat. Her brown hair was tied up in a bun on the back of her head. She held an open beer in her hand.

"What…? What are you doing here?"

"Beer?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"You know I don't drink," he replied as she stepped towards the drink cooler.

Andy nodded, but still pulled out a glass of ice and a water bottle for him.

Josh watched how she observed him. Something in her gaze was different. Her clothes were definitely something he'd never seen her wear before. But she walked around in them like they were the most comfortable clothes in the world. Had she really changed that much in the months previous? Andy smiled and handed him the glass and bottle.

"Why don't we sit down? It's been a while," she said.

"It has," he agreed.

They sat together on the couch and Andy took a drink of the beer in her hand. She leaned back, letting the beer bottle dangle from her finger tips. Josh set the glass on the coffee table and opened the water bottle. He took a sip.

"You've changed a lot," Josh observed, gesturing to her clothes.

"Life has not been kind to me," she said.

"I can imagine. Were you able to find your family?"

"What was left of them."

"I'm so sorry, Andy."

"I can't say that I am." She took another drink of her beer.

Shock crossed Josh's face.

"How is your case going?" she asked, changing the subject.

"It's… been hard. Each time we found another victim, I found it hard not to think of you."

She nodded. She took another drink.

"Why did you disappear, Andy?" Josh asked.

"The game was over."

"Game? Andy…."

She glared at him. "Drop it, Josh."

"Sorry."

She scoffed and shook her head.

"Andy?" Josh asked after a moment. "Where have you been all these months?"

"Right under your nose."

"But you never returned home."

"Home? Such a place does not exist. Never existed."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm a tool, Josh." She started to lift the beer to her mouth once more and Josh knocked it from her hand.

Out of reflex, she let the rebounding motion catch his arm and twist it behind him while her other arm wrapped tightly around his neck. Josh gasped and his fingers gripped her arm to try and pull her off. Andy shoved him forward on the couch and stood.

Josh gasped and coughed, holding his hand to his throat.

She crossed the room and retrieved the beer bottle. There wasn't much left, but she finished it anyway.

"What was that, Andy? Were you trying to kill me?"

"I'm trying not to kill you."

His eyes met her. Shock dropping his jaw this time.

"We should play a game," Andy said, starting towards the couch.

Josh was quick to get off the couch and hurry for his bag. He ripped it open, but his gun wasn't there anymore. He turned back to Andy. She pulled her trench coat back on the right side and set her hand on her hip. There she held Josh's gun.

"The game is quite simple," Andy continued, as if nothing had happened.

She set her left foot on the coffee table and unzipped the side pocket. The zipper never made a sound. From the pocket she pulled out two identical syringes. She held them up for Josh to see that both liquids were clear.

"What I have here is a poison and a harmless saline solution. Which one is which? I will let you pick the one to inject me with first. I will then inject you with the one left and we will see in the morning, who is alive and who is dead."

"I won't do that."

She smiled. "There is more riding on this chance game than just your life."

She set the two syringes on the coffee table and zipped up her boot. She straightened, letting her trench coat cover Josh's gun once more. Andy pulled out two champagne glasses and lifted the bottle from the ice. She popped off the cork before filling both glasses. Josh riffled as quietly as he could through his bag for his knife, but he couldn't find that either. He stopped and acted like he hadn't been doing anything when Andy turned to face him once more.

"Come now, Josh. That's no way to play a game."

"Cheating death is a game?"

"Isn't it what you Humans try to do every day? Try your best to make it one more day, hoping to die of old age instead of something else?" She approached him and handed him a glass of champagne before sitting on the end of the bed. She took a sip and waited.

Josh studied the cup in his hand before glancing over to the syringes Andy had left on the table. He took a sip and continued his debate. His gaze remained on the syringes as he emptied the glass. She removed her trench coat and filled his glass again. Josh turned to Andy. His gaze looked her over before turning firm. He had made his decision. Emptying the champagne glass, he approached the table and picked up a syringe. He pulled off the cap and turned it on himself. But before he could inject himself, Andy slid her arm in, forcing him to inject her.

"Cheating isn't allowed, Josh," Andy said.

He pulled the empty syringe out and stepped back. His eyes were wide, startled that she had moved that quickly. He started to reach for the second, but Andy reached it first.

"Let's finish this part of the game, shall we?"

She stepped towards Josh and he backed away. He still didn't want to believe that this was happening. Each step back allowed her to manipulate his movements until he fell back onto the couch. Andy knelt over him. She used her teeth to pull the cap off before injecting the liquid into Josh's arm. She pulled it out and set the empty syringe on the table, her assignment completed.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" she asked before lightly kissing his lips.

Josh only started to respond as his arm came up to take his gun back.

"The game won't be over for a while, so what is it you want to do until then?" she asked as he slid the gun from its holster.

"This," he said, pulling the trigger.