Bedroom Games (9 page)

One by one, we hugged Lenore. I noticed that
she ignored Brodie, Katy, and Liam, though she hugged me. That
didn’t bode well, especially since she’d grouped Brodie in with the
other two Racers. That meant they considered him one of ‘them.’ I
was probably on the fence, but I could easily be lumped in with
them, too.

And that would destroy my game.

We waved goodbye to Lenore as she exited, and
then everyone ran for the bathroom to change clothing. We’d been
prepped by the voice over the intercom a half hour before the show
started. Once the vote-out had finished, we had a ten-minute window
while the evictee was interviewed and commercials ran. We had that
time to change out of our TV clothing and switch into challenge
gear. I switched into a sports-bra, tank top, yoga pants, and
sneakers just in time for the bell to chime once more.

“House Guests, please proceed to the
challenge area for this week’s Power Play.”

We filed out into the backyard, and I was
shocked at how the challenge area had been transformed. The entire
roped off area had been raised up, and it looked as if it had been
filled in with dirt so the ground was at least two feet higher than
it normally was. The raised ground had been set up to look like a
graveyard, complete with tombstones, and each tombstone had two
names written on it. It weirded me out to see one labeled “Brodie
& Kandis.”

Above each open grave, there was a pulley and
what looked like an enormous bag.

Liam walked forward and took the card
dangling from the first pulley and began to read. “Since I cannot
compete, I will be in charge of this competition. This challenge is
called ‘Up from the Grave.’ Each team will lay down in an open
grave. When the buzzer sounds, I will yank on a pulley and your
coffin will be buried. You must then dig yourself out and hit the
buzzer above your grave. The first team to hit their buzzer will
win Power for this week. As the winners of last week’s Power Play,
Katy and Liam may not participate.”

I sucked in a breath. “We’re going to be
buried alive?”

“It’s cool,” Brodie reassured me. “We’re on
national TV. It’s nothing bad.”

I crossed my arms under my breasts. It was
either that or start twitching madly. Buried…alive? I didn’t like
this. Not one bit.

“Contestants,” Becky’s voice piped in over
the intercom. “You have thirty seconds to get in your graves and
close your coffin lids. Go.”

Coffin lids?

Before I could protest, Brodie grabbed my arm
and dragged me forward, leading me toward the grave marked for our
team. Numb, I followed him and stepped down. Sure enough, it was a
big coffin, complete with red satin lining. “God, this is creepy,”
I said.

“Just lay down,” Brodie instructed me. “I’ll
handle the rest.”

I did, and Brodie immediately laid down,
practically on top of me, nearly squashing me. I yelped, but the
sound was smothered by his chest in my face. The coffin lid slammed
shut, and we were enveloped in darkness.

“Oh my god,” I breathed, panic flicking over
me. “Oh my god, oh my god. We’re buried alive.”

“Shhh, Kandis, it’s just a game,” Brodie
said, his mouth close to my ear in the darkness. His voice was low
and soothing, and his hand stroked my hair to calm me. “This isn’t
a real coffin. The lid’s made of some sort of chocolate bark. They
have speakers hooked up to this and an air tube. We can’t
suffocate. It’s just a game.”

My shallow breathing slowed, just a little.
“It’s really dark,” I said in a choked voice. “I don’t like the
dark.”

“Just think of it as playing seven minutes in
heaven,” he said, shifting. His weight was pressing on me, his knee
pressed between my legs. The coffin was barely big enough for both
of us, which made this extremely cozy—or awkward, depending on your
choice.

A nervous laugh bubbled out
of my throat. “Seven minutes in heaven? With
you
?”

“I’m a good choice,” he said, and sounded a
little stung by my amusement. “Why’s that so funny?”

“You only kiss a girl to get ahead in this
game,” I told him breathlessly.

“All contestants are now buried,” Becky
Bradley’s voice said from a small speaker somewhere near my ear.
“Start digging your way out at the sound of the buzzer.”

“You’re wrong,” Brodie said.

My thoughts were nervous, mad flickers. Where
was that buzzer? What if we didn’t hear it? Why was Brodie still
talking to me? “Wrong about what?”

“I’d kiss you without gameplay being
involved,” Brodie said, and I could have sworn his tongue flicked
against my ear.

Before I could question his confession, a
loud buzzer sounded, and I yelped, startled.

“Come on,” Brodie said, and I felt him jerk
against me. “Help me break the coffin lid.”

I lifted a trembling arm and ran my fingers
along the lid. It was cool and smooth…and slightly…oily? Was it
really chocolate? I hadn’t paid attention when they’d lowered us,
being too nervous about the whole ‘being buried alive’ thing. I
scratched at the lid, and shavings came off under my nails.

Brodie’s breathing was hard and fast in my
ear, distracting me from my own fear. He surged again, and I heard
him grunt. “This stuff’s thick,” he told me. “Come on. At the count
of three.”

I nodded into the dark, then realized he
couldn’t see that. “Okay.”

“One…two…three!”

He surged again, and I kicked upward at the
same time. The lid moved, but fell back down heavily again, and I
whimpered as some sort of dirt came in from the sides, spattering
me. They’d really buried us? That freaked me out all over again,
and my breathing became shallow, my lungs burning.

“I want out,” I said in a small voice. “I
need out.” I kicked at the coffin lid again.

“I know,” Brodie said. “I’m trying. Come on.
At the count of three again.”

“No,” I said. “Right
now
. I can’t
breathe!”

“You can,” Brodie reassured me. “It’s just a
stupid TV show challenge. Don’t wig out on me, Kandis. We need to
win this week, because we need that safety net. You hear me? I want
that money.”

“Money,” I breathed. I needed that money. I
needed to save Mom. I couldn’t afford to panic. “Count of three,” I
rasped, my fists clenching.

“Good girl,” Brodie gritted. “Again.
One…two…three!”

This time, there was a loud crack and pieces
of the coffin fell in on us as it broke. I sputtered all over
again, and my mouth filled with dirt. I spat it, shocked, and then
began to laugh as chunks fell on my face.

They’d buried us in cookies. The ‘dirt’ was
cookie dust. A chocolate coffin and cookie dust. I’d freaked out
over nothing.

I felt Brodie surge again, and my legs kicked
at the bottom half of the coffin. I clawed at the mountain of
cookies pushing on me, and a moment later, someone grabbed my hand
and hauled me upright. It was Brodie, his face and hair covered in
cookie crumbs. He looked like a mess, and he was frowning over my
shoulder.

I turned around and saw Sunnie and Casper
cheering, hugging each other as a light flashed at the head of
their grave.

Damn it. Second place.

“Sunnie and Casper, you have won this week’s
Power Play,” Becky called out over the chaos of breaking chocolate
coffins and the sound of cookies rolling everywhere. As I watched,
Jendan and Marla clawed their way out of their grave nearby, and
hands were emerging from the other two graves.

I rubbed at my face, which only caused more
cookie crumbs to fall into my eyes. I blinked hard, and then
Brodie’s fingers were brushing at my skin, swiping away the dust.
“We’re fucked now,” he said. “Unless I can work on Sunnie. Just be
ready.”

I nodded.

“Contestants, please return to the living
room,” a voice said over the intercom. Not Becky Bradley’s. “We’ll
return from commercial in three minutes, so clean yourselves up as
best you can.”

“Um, shouldn’t we help the others out of
their coffins?” Sunnie said, looking over where Fido and Jayme were
still struggling to get out, and I didn’t even see Mickey’s hands
anymore.

“Probably a good idea,” Brodie laughed, and
he offered me a hand. We climbed out of our grave and then headed
to Mickey’s side to help him out, while Marla and Jendan moved to
help Fido and Jayme.

We helped Mickey up, and when he held on to
my hand a little longer than I liked, I smiled sweetly instead of
shaking him off. I could deal with a little bit of handsiness…for a
time.

Katy handed all of us towels, and we mopped
cookie off of our faces as we trudged back into the living room.
One by one, we settled onto the couches. Mickey sat next to me, and
on instructions from the intercom, Sunnie and Casper sat in the
nomination seats, since they had Power this week. They’d been
awarded the Power Play necklace, and Casper now wore it around his
neck.

The TV monitor cut back on again, and Becky’s
smiling, bland face looked back down at us. “House Guests, I warned
you that there would be a twist this week, and now it’s time. Are
you ready?”

I looked at Brodie nervously and scanned the
faces of the others. They looked equally unnerved.

Becky began to speak again. “This week, to
get an idea of where the house is heading, we’re going to have…an
impromptu vote off. No one is on the block. You will vote as teams,
and you’ll cast your vote for the team you want gone. If your team
is voted off, both of you will be removed from the game. Does
everyone understand?”

Oh
shit
. A team vote off? With no
particular person nominated? If they all voted for Brodie, my ship
would go down with his.

This was not good.

“Great,” Becky said. “Sunnie and Casper,
since you have Power this week, you will vote first.”

They got up and clasped hands, heading out to
the confessional booth to cast their vote. I gave Brodie a tense
look, but he wouldn’t look in my direction. He seemed to be
assessing the others, watching their faces.

“Brodie and Kandis, please go to the voting
booth,” a voice piped in, and we jerked to our feet. I put my hand
in Brodie’s, and we headed to the booth. My thoughts were
whirling.

I was pretty sure Marla and Jendan would vote
for Katy and Liam. In fact, I was pretty sure most of the teams
would vote for Katy and Liam. But what if one or two tossed their
votes our way? We had to ensure that it wasn’t a tie.

So when we got in the booth, I leaned in to
Brodie’s ear. “I think we should vote for Katy and Liam. Make sure
that we know who’s going home and keep our heads off the chopping
block.”

To my surprise, Brodie grinned at me. “Took
the words right out of my mouth.”

“Really?” Just like that? Brodie was willing
to vote out his sister that quick? Jeez.

“Katy won’t hold a grudge,” Brodie said. “She
knows it’s a game.”

Then Katy was a better woman than I was,
because I’d sure hold a grudge if I were her. But if it were down
to myself or Katy, I’d pick myself.

“Kandis and Brodie,” Becky Bradley said, her
voice piping into the booth. “Do you have a vote?”

“We do,” Brodie said, and then he looked at
me.

I nodded. “We are voting for Katy and
Liam.”

~~ * ~~

The vote was five teams to one. Katy and Liam
would be leaving the house because no one else had voted for anyone
other than them. The remaining vote had been for Marla and Jendan,
and I knew that had been Katy and Liam’s vote. Brodie and I had
voted with the house.

Neither Liam nor Katy seemed surprised by the
vote, and they seemed to be taking it well. Liam shook hands with
the guys, and Katy went and gave everyone hugs, a wry smile on her
face.

When she came to me, though, she whispered in
my ear, “Don’t trust Brodie as far as you can throw him.”

“I won’t,” I whispered back. I already
didn’t. “I’m sorry I voted for you.”

“It’s okay,” she said, and she smiled at me.
“I get to spend the summer with Liam. I don’t mind being voted out.
You just watch out for that brother of mine. He’s sneaky.”

I nodded, and she turned to leave.

In one night, we were already down three
house guests. Nine people remained, and it was Brodie and me
against the rest of them.

Things were not looking good for the home
team.

CHAPTER FOUR

“
I’m starting to suspect
that Kandis doesn’t take me seriously. What’s a guy got to do
around here to get her attention?”
– Brodie
Short, Day 8

“I think I’d rather be back on the couches,”
I complained to Brodie as I fluffed my pillow and flopped on my
back in the bed.

Unfortunately for me, when I laid on my back,
it left me with a great view of the nooses hanging from the rafters
of the ceiling. Hanging Room, indeed. Someone had a sick sense of
humor.

After a week of being on the couches, we were
down to nine guests and four rooms. Mickey was on the couches,
Sunnie and Casper were in the Power room, and Brodie and I had been
chosen for the attic room that was ‘lovingly’ referred to as the
Hanging Room.

“There’s nothing wrong with this bed,” Brodie
mumbled, voice sleepy.

“You mean, other than the fact that it’s in a
haunted room?”

Brodie rolled over with a sigh, facing me.
“You don’t really think this house is haunted, do you, Kandis?
We’ve been here a week and no one’s seen a ghost.”

“No,” I said, eyeing one of
the nooses that dangled overhead. “But we have seen shadows and
heard things at night. And Sunnie said that when they slept up
here, she heard whispering in her pillow. I do
not
want to hear
whispering.”