Chapter Twenty-Three - More Troubling Truths

"So, what did you do to get sent to detention?" Alex asked, coming to sit by Sawyer.

"Sorry?"

"The others told me you all got detention, and that's where you found the game. Bethany was on her phone in class, Fridge had Spencer write an essay for him, and Martha wouldn't participate in gym class."

"Oh. I got into a fight with a cheerleader."

"Oh, what happened?"

"I'm really into graffiti art, and her boyfriend, who's in my art class, was asking me about it. She took it all the wrong way, thought I was trying to steal him, which I wasn't, and she called me out on it."

"Who won the fight?"

"Me. But I still got detention."

"That's not really fair though, cause you were standing up for yourself."

"Yeah, but we still got into a fight. Pretty against school rules. How did you find the game?"

"My dad found it on the beach one morning when we went for a run, brought it back home with him. I was into games and stuff so he thought I would be interested. Next thing I knew, I was here."

They had it all planned out: while Martha distracted the guards - a role she was not thrilled in the least about - with help from Bethany, they would sneak into the Transportation Shed.

"It's called backpack power baby!" cheered Fridge after pulling out a huge pair of wire-cutters from his backpack.

"I think this is going to work," said Bethany, almost excitedly.

"Me too," agreed Alex. "She's pretty fly, and those guys don't meet a lot of new people."

"Fly?" questioned Fridge.

"Well not like Cindy Crawford fly, but still fly, you know?"

"Cindy Crawford? That's your go to?"

"Alex, what year do you think it is?" Spencer asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, no," sighed Fridge.

"It's 1996," Alex said with such certainty it was heart breaking.

"You're Alex Vreeke, aren't you?" said Spencer.

"Oh my God," gasped Sawyer.

"Yeah... Wait, what's going on? How do you know me?"

"Alex, I don't know how to tell you this," began Spencer.

"You've been stuck in this game for twenty years, man!" Fridge beat him to it.

"That's not how I would have done it..."

"What... You guys are messing with me." Alex looked to the others hopefully, but their expressions were sad.

"No, Alex Vreeke, everyone in Brantford knows about you," said Beth.

"Yeah, you're the kid who disappeared," said Sawyer. "Twenty years ago."

"I don't even know how to tell you this but, Dude, Cindy Crawford, she's like fifty years old now," Fridge told him.

"But still 'fly'," Spencer tried. Fridge didn't look so sure.

Now Alex was distraught, trying to wrap his head around this sudden news, this big reveal.

"Hey, we're going to get you home," Sawyer assured him. "We're all going home."

Terri spent the whole of the next day actively avoiding Russell - well, trying to - as they were still stuck in the jungle together.

They kept moving, hoping to avoid the mercenaries. And so far, they were.

As evening swept over the jungle, Terri found Russell by the creek, trying to shave in the fading reflection in the water.

"You'd be better to do that with a mirror," she said.

"Well, one is not always granted such luxuries in the jungle."

"Here, give it to me. You'll risk cutting yourself." She strode over, holding out her hand expectantly for the knife.

He appeared to hesitate. "My wife who is angry with me is asking for me to hand her a knife."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh be quiet and hold still." She took the knife and knelt before him. She owed him one, she supposed, with him having helped bind her wound and all. Plus, she had seen him struggling without a good reflection to go by, and without enough light to see what he was doing, and that had just been an accident waiting to happen.

She held the blade gently against his cheek. "Don't move." Slowly, she slid the blade across his cheek. This was a very intimate situation.

"There, that's better." She pulled away as he reached up to feel his now much less scruffy jaw.

"Thank you."

"Yeah." She set the knife down.

Dark now, he readied a fire and they both sat nearby, on either side of the flames.

"I guess all those weekend hiking and camping trips paid off," she remarked.

"Yes, they did."

"Why'd you take it?" she finally asked. In the end though, it all came down to the game. It was the game's fault, it was making him do all these horrible things. Why him? Why Russ?

He knew she spoke of the jewel. "Because it's been described as the heart and soul of the jungle, and I wanted it feel the pain of its heart being ripped out just as it had done to me. Losing you is my worst nightmare and it came true. And I felt so guilty - you should have stayed at home. I was worried something would happen to you, and something did."

Tears were forming in his eyes, she could tell. She felt them forming in her own eyes too. "Oh, Russ..."

"I felt so guilty..."

She sniffled. "You said I'd been gone months."

"Yes."

"For me, it was years."

"What?"

"Twenty years, alone, outside the game. I began to forget - everything. And then I really did." She pressed a hand over her mouth as that old but still familiar chill swept over her.

"Oh Terri-" He stood and came around to her side of the fire. She didn't object when he sat beside her, or when he pulled her into his arms, but instead melted into his embrace.

"I don't really want you gone," she admitted.

He breathed a heavy sigh. "Oh, that's a great relief. You had me worried."

"No, I could never want you gone. I love you too much. But we have to fix this. We have to return the jewel."

I know I was on a role there for a while, and I'm so sorry for the delay, but I've gotten caught up in writing other stories - hope this chapter makes up for the wait!

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)