Vivian's house smelled of freshly brewed coffee and old folders.
It was Saturday afternoon. Outside, cars could be heard passing every now and then, along with the distant sound of someone mowing the lawn. Nothing unusual. Nothing that suggested that four high school girls were sitting in the living room gathering evidence about a clown who killed people.
Vivian had spread several papers across the coffee table. Brittany was sitting to her right, going over dates. Ana had remained quiet since she arrived, her hands clasped together on her knees. Madeleine was looking out the window as if she still wasn't completely sure she wanted to be there.
—Well —Vivian finally said—. Now that all four of us are here… let's put everything together. For real.
No one argued.
Vivian opened the notebook.
—I'll start with Brittany and me, since we've been dealing with this the longest. Then you two can fill in the gaps.
Ana barely nodded. Madeleine sat up straighter.
Vivian went through the cases one by one.
First, Tairon's warehouse. Then the forest fire. Then Brittany's encounter with Gabriel in Trenton.
When it was Ana's turn, Vivian looked at her.
—You.
Ana ran her tongue over her dry lips.
—I was at home. With my grandmother. It was nighttime. I heard noises at the door. Four men came inside. They gagged me. Tied me up. My grandmother was in her room… I thought they were going to hurt her.
She stopped for a second. Swallowed hard.
—I was on the living room floor when the balloons started appearing. One came out of the kitchen. Then circus music started playing. And he appeared. The clown. He killed them all. Quickly. Without mercy. Then he looked at me, untied me, and told me not to open the door next time. And he disappeared.
The silence in the room grew heavier.
Madeleine spoke before anyone else could.
—Ours was worse.
Vivian looked at her and nodded for her to continue.
—It was the night of the game. Vivian and I were put into a van. They took us to a warehouse. There were more men there. Then they released us into the forest and told us to run. That if we survived until dawn, we could leave.
Madeleine hugged her arms.
—We ran. They separated us. They hunted us. One of them… transformed. His skin fell off. I thought they were going to kill us in the worst way possible.
She looked at Vivian.
—Then he appeared again. With balloons. With confetti. With that laugh. And he eliminated all of them.
Vivian lowered her gaze to the notebook.
—Exactly.
Brittany, who had been quiet, spoke in a low voice:
—Same in my case. Gabriel had me pinned against a wall in an alley. His friends were laughing. I couldn't get away anymore. And suddenly… the clown. He mocked them. Offered them ice cream. They shot him. And even then, he left them lying on the ground screaming.
The four of them stared at the papers.
For the first time, all their stories were together on the same table.
Ana was the one who broke the silence.
—He's not a hero.
—No —Vivian replied. He's something more like a hunter. He arrives when the violence has already started. He ends it. And leaves.
Madeleine ran a hand through her hair.
—So… what are we supposed to do?
—Nothing stupid —Brittany said immediately. We're not going to look for him. We're just going to keep gathering information. If someone knows something, if some strange news comes out, if we hear rumors… we tell each other.
Ana looked at the notebook.
—And if at any point it gets too… I'm out.
—No one's going to force you —Vivian replied. Deal.
The four of them nodded.
For the first time since everything had started, they were no longer alone with what they had seen.
---
Meanwhile, in his room, Ryan had his computer on and his notebook open.
Nexum was still growing. Slowly, but steadily. There were more profiles with portfolios. More projects paying to appear in the ranking. Some new reviews spoke positively about the platform.
Ryan wrote:
People are starting to trust it a little more. Still not enough. But it's no longer just an experiment.
He leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling.
It had been days since he had gone near the girls. He had seen them walking together one night and had decided not to interfere. Now something told him there were no longer just two of them.
He smiled on one side of his mouth.
—Four…
The mark on his chest burned for just a moment, as if reminding him that the other game was still underway.
Ryan lowered his gaze toward his chest.
—I know.
He turned off the screen, closed the notebook, and remained there listening to the silence of the house.
Outside, in Morris County, four girls had just gathered all their pieces on the same table.
And he, for now, was willing to let them play.
—Keep putting the pieces together.
He smiled in the darkness.
—When the time comes… the stage will already be set.
And this time, he turned off the light without looking toward the window again.