Page 98 of House of Deceit

He closes his book and leaves the room. I look back at Parker who is finally breathing evenly again.

“This is going to be interesting,” Parker says.

I never viewed Jayden as a real threat, but he’s right. I can only imagine the things he’s privy to.

“To say the least.”

We stand outside in all-black outfits as Jacob Jacobson explains the final elimination challenge we have to survive to make it into the final three. There is no immunity here. We all must compete. The top two will move on to week twelve. The bottom two will have to pray for salvation with votes.

Black cloths cover the four tables, one for each of us, while ropes hang down from above. The ropes are on pulleys, one for our left hand and one for the right.

The goal is to get our ball through the maze, avoiding the holes throughout that can drop our balls, forcing us to start over. The covers whoosh as they are pulled from the boxes. We have twenty seconds to look at the mazes and plot our course before the timer begins.

I make a mental map. While speed is important in this game, control is going to be the difference between winning and losing.

“Contestants, step onto your podiums.” We follow Jacob’s instruction and I block out everything.

No one else is here.

There are no cameras on me.

Alec does not exist.

The last one is harder, but I do it. This is for me. This entire game, I’ve worked to prove I could get to this point. That I deserved to be here despite the mix-up.

That I’m capable on my own.

As I ready myself, I can almost hear Courtney saying, “You got this, Charles,” to the TV.

Airhorn sounding, I grab onto the ropes and test them as we were not told how to control the board.

Pulling both ropes down at the same time tilts the board away from me. Releasing them both tilts it toward me. And then, of course, pulling one side only pulls that side up.

Cain’s ball has already fallen out of one of the holes and he has started over. Always quick to bull rush ahead in games of finesse or patience, he typically doesn’t do as well.

I pull both of my ropes, tilting the box away from me and pushing my ball into the maze.

Left.

Right.

Straight.

Back just a little.

Left.

Left again.

On and on it carves its way through as I move with slow, purposeful movements.

Cain’s ball drops through again and the string of curses will require a lot of bleeping for it to be shown to the audience.

I hit a long, straight stretch, but the hole in the middle only allows for the ball to skirt along one side and bypass it. Not wanting to start over, I pull and release my ropes inch by inch, my ball crawling down the path.

Parker curses, pulling my attention for a moment, as his ball drops from the bottom.

As I go to turn back to my table, Jayden’s lights up in green.

---