The Game

by Scollins, Shane

  Parker looked at Lukas. “You’re going to need a lawyer.”

  Lukas lifted his chin. “You’re hired.”

  They’d made their way back to Parker’s office to go over a few things. Lukas was feeling overwhelmed at first, but Candice set him at ease. As they waited for the lawyer to return, she kissed him softly.

  “Can you believe all this?” Lukas asked.

  “It’s all bizarre enough.”

  “I mean, what are the chances that the Universe would thrust me into this and answer all these questions with one swoop?”

  “I can’t believe this lawyer just happened to be the lawyer. Of all of the law offices Angus could’ve walked into, why did he choose this one?”

  Lukas shook his head. “I wish I could explain that. Or any of this. Maybe in the end, the Universe just saw it fitting.”

  “Is that who you attribute all this to? The Universe?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I mean, why not Jesus? Why not Buddha? Why not Allah?”

  Lukas thought about it. He didn’t really have any answer. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, maybe you should think about that, too. Maybe in one of them you’ll find an answer.”

  Lukas looked at her thoughtfully. “You have a complicated relationship with religion.”

  Candice nodded slowly. “I’m conflicted. I believe in God. Don’t you?”

  Lukas pursed his lips. “I do, but I never really thought He might be the reason for any of this. God is a complex concept. On the one hand, we want Him to explain everything. On the other hand, we want to think we carve our own destiny. We thank God for the good and blame God for the bad. We want it both ways. But in the end, God might indeed be the reason for some things.”

  She smiled. “He might be the reason for everything.”

  “Maybe.”

  “My father ran to God to help him get over my brother’s death. My mother ran from God in anger. So if you wonder why I’m conflicted, you needn’t look any further.”

  “The great thing about God is that He, or She, or Them…they don’t discriminate…only religion does that. So, you can feel and believe whatever you want, to whatever degree you need. I’m not going to judge you.”

  Parker entered the room and went over to the large white cabinet. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He opened the cabinet and fished out a file. He dropped it on the desk and flipped it open. “First thing we need to do is open a secondary account for you, to draw off the trust right away, one that only you know about. We can use an incorporated name, just as Angus did. Eventually, we can get the entire estate under your control. It’s all in your name anyway, it’s just been the wrong man laying claim to it.”

  Candice smiled with uncertainty. “What’s in this estate?”

  Parker slid on a small pair of reading glasses. “Well, there’s the house up in Hackettstown, a modest four bedroom on eight acres. Estimated value on that is $485,000 because it’s in such disrepair. Then there is the vacation home in upstate New York, just outside of Ithaca in Cayuga Heights. That’s a three bedroom country cabin on a ten acre plot, estimated value on that is $535,000. Then there’s the beachfront home on Sanibel Island, Florida, a three-bedroom modern architecture style home, estimated at $1,850,000. Now mind you, these estimated values are from back when I took over the estate, so they’re a few years old.” He shifted to the next page.

  Candice looked to Lukas. “How freaking rich were your parents?”

  Parker pointed to the sheet. “Oh, there’s much, much more. In addition to those three homes, there’s also quite a bit of stock investments and cash. All told when your parents died, their estimated value was somewhere in the neighborhood of $187-million.”

  Lukas felt like this was a dream. He nearly fell off his chair. “Whoa…”

  Candice gasped. “That’s ridiculous.”

  Parker continued. “Of course, Angus has blown through about twenty-eight million in cash assets. He also converted about fifteen million in stocks. He has however, purchased the Iron Stone Mountain facility, as you know, which has an estimated value of $11.5 million in the land and facility. That may have to go back to the state however, as evidence in the commission of a felony.”

  Lukas pushed his hands through his hair. “This is unbelievable.”

  Parker slid a piece of paper in front of Lukas with a pen. “The best I can do now is get about three hundred thousand in liquid cash for you to live on until the mess is sorted out. The police are likely going to get the FBI involved in this, and they have a half-million cap on living expenses while they sort it out. If this drags on beyond a year, you can petition the court for more liquid assets. Of course, we can always sell something.”

  Lukas interrupted. “I’m sure that’s fine.”

  “Of course you can live in any one of the houses. They’re all in your name. You’re parents were very smart people, they made wise investments, they weren’t frivolous. Judging by their portfolio, they could’ve afforded much more than they had.”

  Candice finished scanning the paper Lukas was supposed to sign. “This is just a standard contract, saying you’ll pay the law firm a standard fee for their services.”

  Lukas didn’t even care to read the paper. He was too overwhelmed, this was all too impossible to believe. He trusted Candice to guide him to do the right thing, because right now, he couldn’t get anything straight in his head. He had been so many people, pretended to be so many things he never was, that he had no idea how to be himself.

  He stood up. “I need to get some air.” He left the office and walked out into the cold of the night. The plume of his breath was welcome, because it was certain. With each exhale, it would be there, consistent. It was a part of him.

  He sat on the bus station bench.

  Candice came outside, crossed her arms, and shivered. “Are you okay?” She sat next to him. “Are you going somewhere?”

  He shook his head no, then looked up into the darkness of the night. The streetlamps masked the stars, if there were any.

  “I know this is a lot all at once, Lukas. But we’ll figure it all out.”

  He shrugged. “I know…it’s just…”

  “What? You know you can tell me anything. I don’t have to reiterate that, do I?”

  He smiled. “No, you don’t.”

  “Okay, so what’s going on inside that head of yours?”

  “I don’t know who I am.”

  “Yes, Lukas Raven, you do know who you are.”

  “I know my name, but a name is not who you are. Who you are is what you’ve been. And I’ve never been…me.”

  “You’re wrong. You’ve been you all along. You’ve just been you with a different name.”

  “But I don’t know how to be anything other than what I was. Pretending to be other people is all I’ve known. It’s like I can remember my life, up until I was about fourteen, anyway, but it doesn’t seem real. It feels just like all the other lives I’ve led are, like it’s fake. When I was in high school, living as a boy named Michael Dreger, I had another boy come up to me and start a fight. I had no idea why this other boy was so mad. As it turned out, Michael stole his girlfriend. It turned out this Michael was a real jerk. He was a bully and a user. I really struggled to understand why I would become such a horrible person but then about a month into it, I realized. I had to try and change this kid’s reputation. Slowly and surely I did, just being me. Then a year later, I woke up in another kid’s body, different school and everything. I looked up Michael Dreger and learned he died in a freak accident, hit by a car. But I watched the news reports and everyone hailed this kid as the greatest kid. No one remembered what a jerk he was before I got his life. It proves I started out with good intentions, but then by the time I was out of school, it became all abo
ut me. I wasn’t helping anyone but me. I’ve been a selfish bastard.”

  “That’s not true. That’s only your interpretation. You didn’t ruin Craig Easton. You took a suicide victim and gave him a hero’s burial. You didn’t ruin Vince Markoe, not in the eyes of those who remember him. I’m sure that if we go back one-by-one and look at all those you’ve been you didn’t ruin anyone.”

  Lukas shrugged. “Maybe. I just don’t know what to make of my life. I just don’t see a central theme. I don’t know what it was all for, what it was supposed to culminate with.”

  “Life is what you make it. You said you’ve wasted all those opportunities, all those chances to live a life. Well, there was a reason you never stayed as any of those people. It was because you were meant all along to come back. You can’t blame yourself for anything, Lukas. You did the best you could while being thrown into a completely unimaginable world. This is your chance to be what you always wanted to be.”

  “But, what is that?”

  “It’s whatever you want. You’ve just been given the opportunity to have an amazing life. You’re rich beyond most people’s wildest dreams. This is nothing to be depressed about. There’s nothing to be guilty for. You’ve been given the gift of life — take it. Run with it. Become what you want to be and you’ll learn who you are. You’re still young and you have a lot of life in front of you.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “So, what you’re saying is I should take my money and go find some hot young babe to spend it with?”

  Candice pursed her lips, turned a half smile. “Sure, if that’s what you want. Go to Florida, live on the beach away from the snow, find yourself a hot babe who looks drop-dead in a bikini, and enjoy life for once.”

  Lukas bit his lip and nodded. “I think that sounds pretty good. You wouldn’t happen to know any hot babes that look great in a bikini, would you? Wait a second. What about your friend, Zyanna? She’s sexy, I bet she looks great in a thong.”

  Candice rolled her eyes. “Zee, no. You could do better.”

  “Really? I don’t know — she’s really hot.”

  “She is hot…but…” She stood and stepped back, held her arms up and spun around. “I’d like to apply for the position, if you’re taking applications.”

  “Hmmm…” He touched his finger to his lips in mocking thought. “You? I don’t know, let me take a look at you again. Twirl one more time.” He nodded in approval. “Okay, I think you might do. Are you a good kisser?”

  “Why don’t you judge for yourself?”

  She leaned into him and they kissed. It was exactly what Lukas needed. It made him feel like something, it made him feel real, and whole.

  Chapter 38

  The weather was perfect. Candice sipped a vodka and cranberry and thanked God for this moment. She looked over at Lukas, so handsome with his new haircut. It was shorter but still scruffy on the top. It took her a week of convincing but he finally cut it. She said the new Lukas Raven needed a new hairstyle.

  She adjusted the top on her new white bikini as a man walked by and smiled. It was normal for her to be a little self-conscious in a bikini, but this one was definitely more daring than any she’d ever worn before. Of course, the women down here in Florida were so beautiful, she was just trying to keep up with the trends. She wasn’t going to wear a thong though, that just seemed like one step too sleazy.

  The beach was never one of her favorite places as an adult, but as a teen, she and her girlfriends used to drive out to Seaside Heights a few weekends each summer. She realized now how much she’d missed it. Being a career-driven adult, left little time to enjoy things. Right now, she wished Zee could be here. Maybe when vacation time came around she’d come down.

  She could get used to this life living on the beach. Glancing over her shoulder at the amazing home Lukas’ family owned, she almost couldn’t believe it was real. The cubed white block architecture and spanning panes of smoked glass looked out to the ocean. The beach area was public, but Sanibel was not a typical Floridian tourist destination, at least not in the Spring Break sense. This was definitely a wealthier, mature section of the state. The beaches were pristine, with white and pink sands and lush tropical vegetation.

  Just as she closed her eyes, her cell rang. It was her mother. “Hi, Mom.”

  “You stole my life, you bitch!”

  Her breath halted. In spite of the beaming sun and eighty-eight-degree temperature, she started to shudder with cold.

  “C’mon, Candy, I know you can hear me. I know it was you. I know you took him, didn’t you? Where is he, Candice? Where did you stash that God-forsaken vegetable?”

  She gathered herself. “How did you get this phone number?”

  “How do you think, moron? Your mother is a very pretty lady, positively gorgeous. I can hardly believe she’s in her fifties.”

  Her voice strained. “You bastard! What do you want?”

  “I want to trade. You bring me my money, and I give back your mother. It’s that simple. I’ll even allow you to keep the invalid. I just want the cash. I want the hundred million in liquid wired to my account in the Cayman Islands. You do not call the police or I kill your mother. I will gut her like a deer and put her head on my wall. Do you understand me?”

  “You can’t get away with this. The police are already looking for you.”

  “I know, I saw the news, you bitch…I know all about the miracle of the invalid waking up from his coma. But you’re going to be my accomplice. You’re going to wire me the money. You’ve obviously gained control over Lukas’ mind somehow. I don’t know what voodoo witchcraft you used to pull this off, but I admit you’ve beaten me. I had it all worked out perfectly.”

  “The police shut your accounts down, I didn’t do anything.”

  “You expect me to believe that? So it’s just a coincidence that Lukas disappeared from my apartment right after you got away? And then…well, Candice, you know what happened. You somehow caused changes.”

  “The police did everything, I didn’t do anything.”

  “You’re a terrible liar, Candy. You expect me to believe that pictures just change, and — and — and things just switch, like, altering reality? Huh? You don’t think I’m an idiot, do you? I know you’re some kind of witch, some kind of voodoo princess or something. And you’re going to wave your magic wand, or mix up a potion or a spell or whatever it is you do, and you’re going to change it all back. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to change it. If my face isn’t back on my driver’s license, I’m going to kill her. I’m going to poke so many holes in her…well…get back to me at this number within twenty-four hours and remember: no cops, no help.”

  The call ended, but her adrenaline spike did not. She couldn’t catch her breath.

  “It’s him.” Lukas scared her back to reality with his comment. Up until that moment, she wasn’t even sure she was actually awake.

  “He has my mother.” She fought hard to quell the tears, but her anger quickly took over and pushed the tears deeper below the surface.

  “What’s he want?”

  “He wants me to change everything back.”

  “Then we give it to him.”

  She squinted at him. “Huh? How the heck can we do that?”

  Lukas shook his head. “You can kill me.”

  “I’m sorry, did you just freaking lose your mind?”

  “It could work, it could revert everything back. Then as soon as he uses the accounts, the police can nab him.”

  “No, there’s no way we’re doing that.”

  “It might be the only way.”

  “Stop being stupid! It’s out of the question. And you have no idea if it will actually work, you don’t know how any of this works. For all you know, you won’t even come back again. He’ll kill my mother and I’ll end up in jai
l for your murder.”

  Lukas sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Lukas, promise me you won’t get reckless.” She started to cry. “I can’t lose you again. And I can’t go on living wondering if you’re going to do something stupid in an attempt to change history.”

  He pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “I promise.”

  Candice looked up at the bright sky. The sun was so strong it nearly blinded her. She wanted to ask God why but there was nothing above but blue emptiness.

  Lukas reached over and took her hand. “You know we’re in this together. I owe you everything. You saved my life — I truly believe that. I believe in my heart that you were the reason I came back. Not because of Angus, not because of some destiny I can’t define. I came back because you were what I was seeking all along. And I won’t leave you. I’m sorry. I was stupid for suggesting that.”

  “But it’s not fair. You’ve suffered so long and I can’t ask you to—” She couldn’t finish the sentence before a swell of agony swept over her.

  “We just have to stick together, Candice. We can’t let him beat us. We’ve come too far to turn back. He dragged you into it again. We won the last game, we can win this one, too.”

  She took a deep breath. “Okay, so what do we do?”

  Lukas nodded slowly, took deep breath, then blew it out. “We wreck him — for good.”

  Chapter 39

  Christine Laguna knew her daughter had been through a harrowing event but she didn’t expect this. When she woke up in the middle of the night with a strange man standing over her, it was frightening. When he started going on about witchcraft and voodoo and how Candice had altered reality, it literally threw her for a loop.

  She thought for sure he was going to rape her; he made such insinuations, but so far he hadn’t done anything more than look at her like the creepy little man he probably was. He was inching near the sharp edge of his cliff.