Chapter 7: The Judge Comes Down

I sat down against the slab and put pressure on my hand.

Three fingers. The tips were gone down to the first knuckle.

It didn't hurt yet. That was the part that scared me.

The room was dark except for a thin line of light under the slab.

I could hear water somewhere. Slow dripping.

I sat there and did the math.

Draven had the exit. Draven had the corridor. Draven had the white light.

Draven had everything, because I pulled him out of a hole.

I laughed. It came out wrong.

"Okay," I said to the dark. "Okay."

I got up and felt along the slab with my good hand.

Smooth. No seam. No handle.

I went along the walls. Smooth.

No doors. No lever. No nothing.

I sat back down.

I don't know how long I sat there.

Long enough that the bleeding stopped and the pain started.

Long enough that I started thinking about my mother, which I try not to do.

Long enough that I started saying the truth out loud to keep myself awake.

"I built it," I said. "Every line. Nine games. All of it."

The dark didn't answer.

"I built it fair. No cheats. No loopholes. That's the point of it."

The dark didn't answer.

"I wanted them to know. That's all. I just wanted them to know it was me."

Then the slab moved.

Not up. It slid sideways, slow, grinding, one inch at a time.

Light came through the gap and got wider.

I got up.

The slab slid all the way into the wall and Fin stood there.

He was still in the black coat. He looked exactly the same as he did in the Hall.

He looked at my hand first.

Then he looked at my face.

"Come on," he said.

I didn't move.

"You broke the trial," I said.

"Yes."

"You said no cheats. No loopholes."

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