Killgame

KILLGAME

A Novel by Victor Menard

© Copyright 2005-2008 Victor S. Menard

CHAPTER ONE

Summer was coming to a close. It was time to think about which frat house or sorority to pledge to, among other things. They all were going to Winema State College, at least for this, their freshman year. This summer had dragged on for what seemed an eternity. Perhaps it was because so many things had happened in the last four years or more than likely they were just so bored with any activities, that were scheduled to draw their interest. No doubt, they each had the attention span needed for anything. Most activities left them cold. Will, Mandy, Josh and Kyle all with near-genius IQ's got bored with normal pastimes and events, so sought out those unusual activities which could challenge their minds.  Kyle McCann had, by the grace of God and the guidance of his parents, managed to keep busy with activities which both challenged his intellect and his physical stature. Mandy, Josh, and Will were virtual time bombs waiting to go off. 
Even though he was above average in looks, Will Putnam struck out with the girls more often than not. Perhaps it was his attitude that contributed to this fact. He had gone out with a few of the girls that were popular but when he took on an air of "I'm better than you are" it left them cold. His demeanor soon spread and within a short period of time, no girls would even think of accepting a date with him. Mandy Gavens, a cheerleader and very popular with most of the high school crowd, suffered from the boredom of everyday teen-age life. She always sought out activities that were on the edge. At five foot eight inches, she was taller than most of the other girls. Mandy had reddish brown hair, a soft complexion, and blue-green eyes that could melt the coldest heart. She was three or four pounds overweight for her size and stature but no one ever seemed to notice. Josh Franks had always been a loner. His geeky appearance left him with few friends and those he was able to call friends were also "geeky". How the four of them banded together to form their own little clique mystified almost all of their classmates and most of the teaching staff at Grant Union High School. "Hello, is this Josh?" Mandy inquired of the voice at the other end of the line. "No, but I'll get him, hang on a sec." Mandy could hear the faint voice of someone saying, "Josh, it's a girl, asking for you," Josh's little brother Arny, quipped. "That must be Mandy, tell her I'll be right there," Josh replied. "Hi Mandy, how's tricks," Josh responded, knowing that his wording would piss her off. She hated his juvenile antics but put up with it for the sake of Will and the rest of the 'troupe'. "We're all meeting for lunch down at Burgertown, are you gonna be there?" "Sure I'll be there" He hung up the phone and finished the game of Mantra he was playing on the computer.

CHAPTER TWO

One by one they drifted in, quickly filling the booth in the far corner of Burgertown's sit-down area. Burgertown had been a local institution for what seemed like eons. Everyone ate there at one time or another. They had the best milkshakes in the country, bar-none. Will ordered a double bacon pizza burger with everything, large fajita curly fries, and a thick chocolate malt. Josh ordered the same and a side of cheesy ranch dip. Mandy on the other hand, ordered a single ranch burger with lettuce and pickles, medium curly fries, ranch dip for her hamburger, and a small pineapple-banana shake. Kyle saw no reason to buck tradition, so went with the double burger too. Kyle didn't much care for fries so he ordered a side of potato salad and a large peanut butter shake with whipped cream and a cherry on top. "So, what's the plan," Kyle asked impatiently. " "We're burning down the school, what do ya think, hoser," Will sneered, directing his comment at Kyle. "Really!" Kyle inquired, honestly believing Will's statement. "Won't you ever learn," Mandy said with mock sympathy. At this point, Kyle's face wrinkled up in a frown, knowing full well he was the butt of Will's joke. "I've got to stop falling for his mean-spirited attempt at funnyness," thought Kyle. Kyle was always naive to the jokes and innuendos slung at him by Will and sometimes Josh. They had all come here for a reason and Kyle demanded to know what that reason was. "So, why did you call us all together Will?" Kyle said emphatically. "Let me see, I know, there's a new game going around," Will paused for effect "Somebody in a small college in upper New York state came up with it. He was taking a drama class at the time." "Go on, tell us more," Mandy said, her voice laced with excitement. "Well, anyway, he was a nut about makeup and special effects as well. Seems he got together with two or three others. When he pitched his idea to them, they were hooked. They staged fake murders at prominent college social events. The makeup made it look so real, no one knew it was only a game." "And how does this pertain to us?" Josh queried. "Don't you see," Mandy and Kyle chimed in. "If we do the same the thrill will be tremendous!" "There is one slight twist to the game, though." "A twist, oh yea!" "Will you all swear an oath of complete secrecy about what I'm going to suggest?" Will insisted. "We swear," they all repeated, one by one. "Anyone giving away the secret will be dealt with very harshly," Will barked, simulating a knife with his finger, which he drew across his throat. "OK, here goes," Will spoke in hushed tones so that only his immediate crowd could hear. "We're going to step it up a notch. Instead of fake murders, we will be doing the real thing. Makeup will serve to hide our true identities. We will, however, start with a few fake murders to climatize Winema State into our 'game' " "Wow!!" was all that Josh could say. The others seemed awe-struck but said nothing, preferring to nod their heads in agreement. "Last chance, anyone want out?" "Not me," affirmed Kyle. "Nor me," Mandy exclaimed. "Me either," Josh intoned. "Let's make a pact then, and seal it with our blood," Josh suggested. "Good idea," Will affirmed. "We hereby make a pact between the several of us, namely Will Putnam, Josh Franks, Mandy Gavens, and Kyle McCann, that we will never reveal to anyone the manner, style, or actions of our game, hereby known now as 'Killgame'. This we do and sign our names in blood to attest to this pact." Josh stated matter-of-factly. They each sliced open their right forefinger enough to smear his or her name on the paper lying on the table before them. When this ritual finished, they all wiped their hands on napkins, taking the napkins with them, as they arose and left the dining area of Burgertown. Kyle stuffed the piece of paper with the scrawled names on it in his pocket as he walked away from the booth. No one had witnessed their macabre ritual, luckily. Each one went in a different direction as they exited Burgertown.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Gordie entered Electronics-R-Us first, then Will followed. He immediately headed for the rack of stereos, then stopped, the sign blared out, "Own your own forensics lab! Everything you need is right here in this box." A neon orange arrow pointed towards the bright green and blue box just below the sign. After scanning the box, the list of things included, and the price tag, Gordie homed in on a large stereo over by the back wall. It had everything he could possibly want in a stereo, five speakers, surround-sound, a twelve channel digital graphics equalizer, and both dual deck cassettes, both capable of recording, and finally a five disc CD player-recorder. "Wow, he exclaimed. "This is fantastic, isn't it Will?" Will nodded in response. His focus was on the forensics kit that lay before him. "Sir, can you help me," he called out to the clerk behind the counter. "I'll be right there," came the response from the chubby-faced young man, who was just finishing up with another customer. He walked over to where Will was standing. "My name is Sam, what can I do for you today?" "I'd like to look at this" Will responded as he pointed to the colorful box to his left. "Ah, another one interested in crime scene investigation. We've only had these in stock for a couple of days and it seems almost every body wants one." Sam handed Will the box, allowing him to examine it thoroughly. "This really does have everything," Will commented. "Will you take a check?" "I'm not sure if I can for that amount, let me check with my supervisor." He disappeared into the back room, returning shortly with a slight grin on his face. We'll be more than happy to accept your check, just need a photo id and a credit card for verification. "Here you are" Will said as he pulled the requested items from his wallet. He then produced a check book and began writing out the check. "Electronics-R-Us" Will filled in as the payee. "Two Hundred Twenty-Nine and 95/100ths," he wrote in longhand across the amount line. Signing his name on the signature line, Will handed it to Sam, who wrote the driver's license and credit card info on the top edge of the check. "Got to stay low key on this purchase so no one will get the least bit suspicious," Will thought. "You ready to check out more places in here?" "Yeah, gimmee a minute, will ya,” Gordie muttered. He realized that the stereo he was eying was way too expensive for his limited budget and his parents would never spring for something they didn't think of as necessary. His association with Will and the others would change all that though once he became aware of their game plan. "I'm not waitin' any longer," Will said with a bit of anger in his voice. He tapped on the counter next to Gordie's arm, hoping to snap him back to reality. "OK, OK," Gordie whined. Will clutched the package under his arm and reentered the main corridor of the mall with Gordie following closely behind him.
   

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

He sat, huddled over a large reel-to-reel tape recorder, listening to the conversation that had just taken place at the "Burger Shoppe". Gordie wasn't into spying on anyone, but he didn't trust Kyle and Mandy, based on what his sources had told him about them. That was when he decided to plant a bug on Josh. Getting close enough to actually plant it had been the tricky part. Josh had worn a bright colored windbreaker, that first day they met and had taken it off briefly to try on a coat his mom was thinking of getting him for the start of college. Gordie deftly placed the bug inside the windbreaker, just below the lapel. "I knew they were up to something," he muttered, hearing Kyle's admonishment about "messing up our plan." He may have looked a little "nerdy", but Gordie Crukshank was a genius in his own right. It wasn't simply a bug but a tiny sophisticated "nanotechnology" device, capable of migrating from one place to another, even to the point of embedding itself in the top layer of skin, where it could lie undetected for as long as necessary. True, Gordie couldn't actually make this type of device at home, but he had access to his father's lab and other facilities and materials where his father was a bio-technics research scientist. NanoBiotics was the actual name of the company, but his dad often referred to it as the "cleaners" partly due to the huge "clean room" that was necessary for most of the work that was carried on there. This room had air that was filtered more than four times, a precision humidifier that held the humidity level at exactly 43.3 percent. Gordie was a familiar face at Nano Biotics. His dad was working hard on having his son follow in his footsteps and security clearance for Gordie was his biggest achievement yet." "I wonder what they're up to," he thought. It had taken him several days to "grow" the listening device and now it was paying off, bigtime!  He marked the tape for future reference and put things away so as to not arouse suspicion if his dad or mom happened to look in on him."