00:59
The numbers tick down.
00:58
‘Ryan,’ Emilia whispers, her throat tight, her eyes stinging.
I can’t do this. I’m not ready.
And he isn’t ready either. He is just staring straight up at the countdown, jaw slack, watching the seconds as they disappear.
00:57
‘Ryan. Say something.’
She reaches out to him. The chain pulls at her ankle but she manages to grip his shoulder.
‘Ryan!’ she shouts, shaking him roughly. ‘Speak! You need to confess –’
‘Emilia, I don’t know what they want from me. I don’t know why I’m here!’
‘You can’t stay quiet, you heard what they said! You’re running out of time!’
She glances at the countdown –
00:35
‘You should want me to stay quiet,’ he shouts. ‘If I stay quiet, they’ll kill me and you’ll live.’
Emotion swells over her in a wave, high above her head. She’s lived all this time feeling as though her sister died when she should have lived. She can’t have another person’s life on her conscience. Not like this. Not even a stranger. It has to be their choice. Their choice – not because of her.
‘We have no idea if these rules mean anything!’ she cries. ‘They could come in here and blast both our brains out but you’re not giving yourself even the smallest chance! And I won’t be able to live with myself if I survive by default. Please, just say something.’
00:12
He drops his head, his shoulders curling forward.
‘You’ve only got ten seconds!’
Please –
00:10
‘When my girlfriend broke up with me, I … I spiralled. And for the first time ever, I thought about hurting her. Only for a moment. I didn’t mean it. And I’m sorry.’
00:01
He lets out a juddering breath.
He’s done it.
00:00
The numbers climb rapidly back up, stopping again at sixty seconds.
Now it’s Emilia’s turn.
And then they will decide.
She braces herself, both of them staring upwards at the countdown, their heavy, panting breaths puncturing the silence.
The speaker crackles.
‘Emilia Haines. You have sixty seconds. Make your confession.’
00:59
Emilia swallows, her mouth suddenly dry, her throat hoarse and tight.
00:51
‘My sister was killed just over a year ago,’ she stammers, licking her lips. ‘I was at work and ignored her phone calls – if I’d answered maybe she would have survived. I’ve always blamed myself. I’ve always believed that it’s my fault she’s dead.’
She blinks up at the camera, waiting for the countdown to freeze. But it continues to drop.
What do they want from her? Do they want her to say it all? Even the part that she didn’t mean about wanting the killer dead? Or maybe they always let it run down to zero, their torture extending until the very last moment.
00:39
‘The man who hasn’t been found. The police haven’t been able to find him and he got away with what he did. I … sometimes – when I’m at my angriest, at my saddest … I wish that he was dead.’
00:22
She watches desperately as the seconds carry on falling away, time ticking relentlessly onward.
00:09
‘I can’t say anything else! What more do you want from me?’
00:03
00:02
00:01
She gasps, her heart hammering against her ribcage.
00:00
Emilia’s head drops forward, her shoulders shaking.
‘What happens now?’ Ryan cries out. ‘How do they choose?’
‘Ryan, look at me,’ she says, keeping her voice calm but his cries continue. ‘Look at me!’
He freezes, his eyes round and childlike, searching hers for reassurance.
‘Stay strong,’ she whispers. ‘Don’t let yourself spiral.’
He nods quickly then closes his eyes, his shoulders rising and falling as he tries to regain control of his panicked breaths.
Emilia tears her eyes away from him and stares up at the camera, bracing herself for the crackle of the speaker and the sound of one of their names.
But instead, another noise breaks through.
Metal on metal.
The lock on the door sliding away.