Irene and Molly headed back toward the stairs in pursuit of their new targets. But while they had been distracted by Ned's attack and the ensuing conversation, Jack had worked his way downstairs and located the source of the pounding. In a closet, in one of the unfinished rooms on the extreme back end of the lower level, Annie was still attempting to shake the door off its hinges. Jack pulled on the knob with both hands, yanking the door open, finally. Annie rushed upon him in relief, then backed off when she saw who her rescuer was. "What do you want?" she asked suspiciously.

"I don't think it's very fair that you should be stuck in there while we're all playing the game out here."

"Are you going to try to hit me again?"

"No," he assured her. "But you had better arm yourself. The game is getting a little vicious. I eliminated Clu, and Ned just went after Irene. I don't know how that turned out, though, all I heard was some screaming."

"Jack, listen," she said urgently, grabbing his hand. "You've got to stop playing. All of you have to stop. This is sick. And it isn't you. It's this place, it's got a pretty twisted history. Everyone who has lived here has had to play out this game, and believe me, it never ends well."

"How do you know?"

"I-well, that's kind of complicated. Just trust me. Have I ever been wrong?"

"Yes, many times."

"Well, I'm not wrong now. Please, listen to me, we've got to get out of here."

"All right, calm down. We'll leave. Right now," he offered. "Let's go."

"Not just us," she exclaimed. "Everyone!"

"Okay, we'll all leave. Why don't you go on out to the bus, and I'll go tell everyone that we have to leave now?"

"Okay," Annie agreed brightly. "No. Wait. Jack! Come on!"

"I'm sorry," he laughed. "I just don't believe that houses are evil. I saw that movie, too."

"It's not the house that's evil," she explained through gritted teeth. "It's okay, listen, there was this girl, and her brothers killed her, so she put a curse on the house and the people who lived in it, and all the brothers killed each other playing this stupid game. The house isn't evil, it's cursed, and as long as we stay here, we'll be cursed too. Stop being skeptical for a second and try to think about why you started playing the game and why it's important to you to win. Can you explain it? No? Well, that's why. This isn't really you. There's something making you act like this. That's why we need to get out of here."

Jack paused thoughtfully. It was true, he couldn't quite identify the reason that he had started playing or why he was determined to win, or at least not be eliminated soon. But cursed houses? He sighed. "Okay, maybe you're right," he admitted. "But even if I believe that curse story, which I don't, there is no way the others are going to leave. Maybe Carey, but my mom and the Bells are pretty into this."

"So we'll trick them," Annie suggested desperately.

"No. Maybe if you set the house on fire?"

"With what?"

"It was just an idea." There was a silent pause as Annie tried to think of a way to evacuate the house, and the sound of footsteps descending the stairs became louder. Jack let out a little scream and took off running again, leaving Annie to fend for herself. She looked around the room quickly, trying to find somewhere to hide, but there was no furniture, and the closet would be too obvious. The window. She pulled on it, but it hadn't been opened in a hundred years and was therefore resistant to this idea. She winced and broke the glass with her bare fist, which in retrospect might not have been the smartest thing to do, she decided. But the window was open now, so she took the opportunity to climb out and run into the surrounding trees, where she would be able to think of a new idea to stop the game while avoiding attacks from the other "players."

Jack, meanwhile, was not interested in her thoughts about the source of the game anymore; not when there were threats coming from four sides. With all of them working alone, it would be much more difficult to hide effectively, so the time had come to stop running and strike out again. Nothing would please the adults more than if he took out Carey, the next weakest player beyond him, so he couldn't do that--he wouldn't make it easier for them to get him. So it would have to be one of the adults. His question of which one to target next was quickly answered, as he locked himself inside a room with Molly.

"Jack," she said, surprised. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"So far." She smiled to put him at ease.

The other door was closed, but it swung open and Carey entered, looking behind him. "Oh," he said.

"Hi," offered Molly.

"Hi," Jack repeated.

"Am I interrupting something?" Carey asked.

"No," said Molly.

Jack said, "Kind of, yes."

Molly regarded him with surprise. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry," Jack replied simply, approaching her with his head down. She backed into the corner. He stopped, suddenly. "I can't do it, can I? Maybe Annie's right."

"Annie?" interrupted Carey.

"Yeah."

"Jack," Molly whispered, looking at him with something approximating malice, though her voice seemed to express regret or sorrow. "Run!"

He didn't ask questions. He obeyed. And she gave chase. Carey followed behind them, prepared to intervene. Jack ran into the next room, slamming the door behind him and locking it. Molly rattled the doorknob and yelled in anger.