by Amy Cross
“Elly -” Mark starts to say.
“Don't call me that,” I reply, looking down at the scrap of paper I'm still holding. It's the only thing I brought out as we left the burning building, and I can't help reading the name over and over again. “I'm not Elly,” I whisper. “Elly was someone who was created for the game. If we want to get rid of the game, we have to get rid of Elly too.”
“So you want to be known by your original name?” he asks. “Sophie?”
“I...” Pausing, I realize that Sophie doesn't seem right either. “Sophie was someone who was sacrificed so that Elly could live. I think...” Another pause, but finally I figure that there'll be time for this later. “I guess I don't have a name right now. I'll have to come up with one. Maybe -”
Before I can finish, a police helicopter swoops in low overhead, flashing the scene with a pulsating blue light as it heads toward the scene of the fire. The resulting gust of wind is strong enough to blow the piece of paper out of my hand, sending it high up above my head. I reach out to grab it, before realizing that there's no point. For a moment, I watch the paper as it billows through the air, but it's soon lost and gone in the dark of the night.
“We should go,” Mark says, putting an arm around me.
“Go where?” I ask.
“Anywhere. Money isn't an issue, and I still have contacts, people who can get us passports and anything we need.”
“I don't want to run,” I reply, turning to him. “I just want to live a normal life.”
“I can't promise normality,” he says, as we turn and start walking away, “but I think we can make it less hectic than the past couple of years.”
I know I shouldn't, but as we get to the end of the street I stop and look back. If anything, the orange glow in the distance is getting stronger, which I guess means that the fire isn't under control yet. Maybe it'll just burn forever and take the whole city with it, or maybe it'll peter out and be forgotten. Maybe someone somewhere will resurrect the game one day, maybe Bob was right that it was simply an inevitable part of being human. In some ways, the game will still be alive for as long as I'm alive, and it'll only truly die when I breathe my last breath. For now, though, I'm just going to focus on one thing at a time, and the first job is to decide on a new name for myself. Alice, maybe. I've always liked the name Alice.
I could be Alice.
Feeling a faint cramp in my belly, I turn and let Mark take me home.
ADDENDUM
Mr. Blue
1 – Richard Henley (1721 to 1722)
2 – Thomas Chambers (1722 to 1724)
3 – Argyle Stuart (1724)
4 – Francis Jones (1724 to 1731)
5 – Thomas Mount (1731 to 1755)
6 – Richard Pleasant (1755 to 1765)
7 – Benjamin Carlton (1765 to 1771)
8 – Michael Baxendale (1771 to 1790)
9 – Michael Holt (1790 to 1801)
10 – Robert Fenn (1801 to 1810)
11 – Michael Jones (1810 to 1819)
12 – Walter Sallis (1819 to 1831)
13 – Thomas Lloyd (1831 to 1845)
14 – Nathaniel Pelter (1845 to 1867)
15 – James Messingham (1867 to 1886)
16 – David Adams (1886 to 1890)
17 – Edward Lockhart (1890 to 1895)
18 – Vincent D'Oyly (1895 to 1896)
19 – Jonathan Pope (1896 to 1901)
20 – Robert Redvers-Cooper (1901 to 1928)
21 – Samuel Cole (1928 to 1949)
22 – Gordon Stenton (1949 to 1955)
23 – Richard Hobbs (1955 to 1970)
24 – Adrian Powers-Booth (1970 to 1984)
25 – Thomas Potter (1984 to 1985)
26 – Edward Longdale (1985 to 1991)
27 – Thomas Grant (1991 to 2008)
28 – Mark Douglas (2008 to 2013)
29 – Luke Sharpe (2013 to 2015)
Mr. White
1 – Benjamin Edgewood (1720 to 1751)
2 – Albert Carrington (1751 to 1791)
3 – Thomas Edgbaster (1791 to 1820)
4 – Sir Adam Hall (1820 to 1841)
5 – Sir Michael Mount (1841 to 1870)
6 – Doctor Charles Finch (1870 to 1885)
7 – Doctor Cecil Harlingham (1885 to 1889)
8 – Thomas Clint (1889 to 1895)
9 – Harrison Blake (1895 to 1901)
10 – Doctor Andrew Morgan (1901 to 1928)
11 – Doctor Graham Beech (1928 to 1940)
12 – Sir David Jameson (1940 to 1961)
13 – Mark Lane (1961 to 1965)
14 – Robert Craze (1965 to 1973)
15 – John Baker (1973 to 1980)
16 – Peter O'Brien (1980 to 1995)
17 – Edward Cunningham (1995 to 2000)
18 – John Sebastian Dunn (2000 to 2015)
Lady Red
1 – Elizabeth Edgewood (1721 to 1745)
2 – Alice Copham (1745 to 1751)
3 – Sarah Cole (1751 to 1755)
4 – Catherine Willard (1755 to 1789)
5 – Anne Mays (1789 to 1805)
6 – Sarah-Jane Denby (1805 to 1819)
7 – Lady Elizabeth Montgomery (1819 to 1825)
8 – Lady Victoria Smythe (1825 to 1837)
9 – Lady Sarah Lucas (1837 to 1840)
10 – Mary Harris (1840 to 1865)
11 – Catherine Staines (1865 to 1870)
12 – Lady Henrietta de Havilland (1870 to 1901)
13 – Elizabeth Carlton (1901 to 1915)
14 – Alison Bartles (1915 to 1931)
15 – Claire Baxendale (1931 to 1949)
16 – Louise Madison (1949 to 1960)
17 – Jacqueline Russell (1960 to 1978)
18 – Carol Banks (1978 to 1991)
19 – Susan Maynard (1991 to 2001)
20 – Alice Taylor (2001 to 2013)
21 – Elly Bradshaw (2013 to 2015)
Mr. Raven
1 – Benjamin Montague (1720 to 1725)
2 – Lord Benjamin Argyle (1725 to 1739)
3 – Doctor Sir Alistair Carmichael (1739 to 1780)
4 – Reverend Sir Thomas Dunstanton (1780 to 1801)
5 – Lord Matthew Phipps (1801 to 1835)
6 – Admiral Boyce Carruthers (1835 to 1860)
7 – The Right Honorable Sir Thomas Delton (1860 to 1899)
8 – Doctor Gregor Blackstone (1899 to 1920)
9 – Doctor William Everham (1920 to 1940)
10 – Doctor Benjamin Carruthers (1940)
11 – Sir Cecil Gainsborough (1940 to 1941)
12 – Admiral Charles Dunn (1941 to 1942)
13 – Sir Benjamin Laird (1942 to 1946)
14 – Doctor Basil Morley (1946 to 1961)
15 – Ellis Cape (1961 to 1980)
16 – Doctor Malcolm Stokes (1980 to 1990)
17 – Robert Stokes (1990 to 2015)
