“I’m not going to lie,” Matt said, looking a little jealous. “I really would have rather gotten the cake challenge than the mud-water bucket challenge.”

Frankie looked at Matt from head to toe. “Yeah, even though the cake game was made to freak me out the most, I’m not so sure I would have rather done the bucket.”

Becca looked around the living room, which was getting darker as the sun set farther. “We’re running out of time, and we’re all out of clues,” she said. “Any ideas on what we should do next?”

Before anybody could say another word, the ancient television that sat across the room from the cracked coffee table came to life, filling the room with bright-green light from the glow of its screen. The loud sound of muffled signal static nearly caused Becca to jump out of her skin. Panicked and on edge, the group cried out in surprise.

Layered over the green background was the GM symbol.

“Good afternoon,” a voice boomed from the television. “Soon to be evening.”

Becca gasped as she recognized the voice as the one that had come over the loudspeaker that day at summer school. She remembered how confused she’d felt when she first heard it, how she’d had no way of comprehending just how twisted things were about to get. That feeling was back now, only intensified from the atmosphere of the old house.

“The Game Master,” Matt whispered.

“You’ve played the game well . . . so far,” the distorted voice continued. “But if you really want to see Elephant and Nacho again, you’re going to have to follow the books to the higher ground. I’ve seen what makes some of you afraid—but there’s still time for the rest of you.”

Becca’s blood went cold. There hadn’t yet been a clue for her, or Matt. He looked over at her, and they exchanged nervous glances.

“Who are you?” Frankie yelled in frustration at the screen, but then the TV turned off, leaving them in the quiet darkness of the living room once again.

Becca kept looking at the television screen, as though it might flicker back on and ask her what her fear was.

“Did you hear what the Game Master said?” she asked weakly. “They said that we’d played the game well so far. I thought we were getting a step ahead by splitting up, but it turns out that the Game Master knew we’d do that all along.” She felt like she’d failed her team somehow, led them astray by making them believe splitting up would be an unexpected way to cut corners on the game.

“You couldn’t have known,” Matt assured her. “It was smart to split up, Becks. The Game Master just knew you’d figure it out, that’s all.”