The Confession

"A Bomb?" was all Jason could mutter.

"Yes, a bomb has been placed under the floor of this room, and it will detonate in one minute. it is powerful enough to destroy the entire room and kill everyone in it." Said the voice on the loudspeaker.

"Why are you doing this to us?" asked Sherry in a scared voice

"Because I know one or more of you are responsible for the death of my son, Ryan." Said the voice

"Your son Ryan? Then you must be Mr. Sullivan." Said Ben confidently.

"Yes, I am Roger Sullivan, and I know one of you killed my son."

"Your son died in a car accident last year; no one killed him." Said Ben

"That's a lie! I know someone killed him," said Mr. Sullivan

"Mr. Sullivan, Ryan was our friend, and I can assure you no one killed him," said Rachel

"You all can continue this charade, but in less than 40 seconds, you will all be dead, like my son," said Mr. Sullivan

"What is it you want? Do you want a confession?" Asked Jason

"No, I want you all to die. But if one of you confesses, maybe I will let the others go free." Said Mr. Sullivan

"Ok, I confess, I killed Ryan." Said Ben

"How did you kill him?" Asked Mr. Sullivan

"Why does it matter? Just let my friends go as you promised." Said Ben

"I promised you nothing, so unless you tell me what I want to hear, you will all die!" said Mr. Sullivan

"Ok, we were fooling around, and I shoved Ryan back, and he stumbled and fell and hit his head on some rocks. I didn't want to hurt Ryan; he was my friend. It was an accident, honest. I didn't know what to do, so I returned to our campsite, found everyone else, and told them what had happened. I was going to take full responsibility and turn myself in to the police, but everyone else told me not to and that we could stage the scene to look like an accident. So that is what we did." Said Ben

"So everyone else was involved in the cover-up?" Said Mr. Sullivan

"Yes, we were all involved in the cover-up." Said Rachel

"That means you were all involved, and you all deserve to die. You have 10 seconds to live." Said Mr. Sullivan

"No, you can't do this to us. Let my three friends go; as I confessed, it was me that killed Ryan." Said Ben

"Seven ... Six ... Five ..." Said the voice

Rachel and Sherry started to cry and hugged both Ben and Jason.

"Four ... Three ... Two ... One ..."

Everyone stood still momentarily, waiting for the explosion, but nothing happened.

It was quiet for several seconds, and no one said anything out of fear; in fact, no one even took a breath.

Finally, Jason spoke up. "Where's the explosion?"

"I don't know," answered Ben.

"Mr. Sullivan, are you still there?" Asked Sherry

There was no answer.

"Mr. Sullivan, what is going on?" Asked Rachel

Again, there was no answer.

"I don't think Mr. Sullivan is going to kill us." Said Ben

"I agree." Said Jason

"What was this all for then?" Asked Rachel

"I think Mr. Sullivan wanted a confession. He wanted to know the truth about what happened to Ryan." Said Ben

"So, what do we do now? Do we go to the police?" Said Sherry

"And do what, confess about how Ryan died?" Asked Ben

"No, tell the police that Mr. Sullivan tried to kill us." Said Sherry

"Mr. Sullivan did not try to kill us. He only threatened to kill us to get us to confess." Said Ben

"Isn't threatening to kill someone a crime?" Asked Rachel

"Maybe, but Mr. Sullivan deserved to hear the truth. This whole cover-up has been eating me up. I have been feeling ill since this all started and haven't been able to sleep either. Maybe now that the truth is out, I can continue without the guilt." Said Ben

"So what do we do now?" Asked Jason

"I think we just leave, and we all promise not to say anything about what happened last year at the lake or today." Said Ben

Everyone nodded their head in agreement, and then they all left together.