Xander pulled a bag from his backpack and shook it.

“Hey, kitty, I got you some tuna nibbles. Want some?”

Xander’s plan was to corner the cat and put it into some room away from the action. He knew Li was allergic to cats, and Omar would end up spending the entire game trying to befriend it.

“Here, kitty, kitty,” Xander said as he shook the bag again.

The cat didn’t come. After a few minutes Xander gave up. He pocketed the treats, grabbed his backpack and headed to the nurses’ station. He stopped and stared at the overturned gurney beside the counter. Hadn’t he set it on its wheels last time? His nerves were getting the better of him. He probably knocked the gurney over when the cat scared him. Or maybe it was defective.

He unloaded his backpack on the counter and sorted through the props. He laid out a couple of hospital gowns he had picked up from the thrift store, a box of chalk, surgical masks, a few plastic trays and a portable speaker. He also pulled out a makeshift map of the hospital layout that he had drawn up from his video footage. His plan was to start at the far end of the hospital and work his way back.

He scooped up the speaker and chalk, then headed around the corner. A desk and some chairs blocked the hallway doors. He cocked his head to one side, puzzled.

“Was this stuff here before?” he whispered.

He looked around, wondering if he had walked in the wrong direction.

“Weird,” he said after a moment. “Must be my imagination.”

He shoved the furniture out of the way and approached the first of the rooms he had staked out earlier. Room 176. The door he was sure he had propped open before was closed. He cracked it open, and something shot out between his legs. Xander shrieked and nearly dropped his speaker.

“Stupid cat,” he muttered.

The mangy feline scampered to the nurses’ station and hid behind the counter. Xander pulled the bag of treats from his pocket again. He shook a few out onto his palm, then tossed them on the floor.

“You hungry, little guy? Come and get it.” He created a trail of treats on the floor, leading into one of the empty rooms.

After what seemed like forever, the cat came out and sniffed the treats. Xander inched back and watched as it scarfed one treat and sniffed the next. Slowly the cat followed the trail of treats. Xander got ready. When the cat was a few feet into the room, Xander closed the door, trapping the cat inside.

The cat yowled through the door.

“It’s okay, kitty. I’ll let you out when the game’s done. Then you can have the rest of the treats.”

He headed back to room 176. He turned on the speaker and placed it under the bed so that he could broadcast creepy sounds from it. Then he left a message in chalk on the wall—You’re Next. As he wrote, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He ignored the impulse to look behind him.