𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞

ix

•••••••••

After Lucas had been calmed down a bit, after he was convinced he was now insane, Finney helps the boy stand up, his hands on his cheeks. Finney and Lucas were roughly the same height, so there was no looking down or up at each other. Finney wipes Lucas' cheeks, ready to ask him about what happened.

"What did he mean, 'Burn the page'? Did he say anything else? Do you know how he was talking to you without using the phone?"

"Huh-He said go upstairs and burn th-the page" Lucas sniffles, "That's it. I don't know how- or why"

"It's okay. We'll figure it out, 'kay? Sit down, I'll try breaking through into that freezer. Alright?" Finney speaks, slowly leading the curly haired boy to the mattress.

Lucas nods, sitting down and declaring he'd try to figure out what Billy Showalter meant. 'Burn the page' what page? How would he burn it?

Finney walks back into the hall to initiate the plan Vance had given him, breaking through the wall into the freezer. Then through the freezer, into the storage room and to their escape, freedom.

Lucas looked back at the phone, connection wire still frayed and hanging off, a clear line in the wall where the line ran many years ago to make the phone work. It was raining outside, not hard, just light rain that would feed anyone's flower garden for them. The rain splashed on the window lightly.

What Lucas would give for a ladder to just watch the rain outside.

Lucas heard the impact of concrete on the concrete-porcelain mix that Finney was now putting all his energy into. There was one light bulb back there that illuminated the room, Finney grunted every time he hit the wall, Lucas knew he couldn't force so much energy out of him at once, probably ever.

Lucas looks at the door, slightly cracked open. The Grabber must have the day off. Still dangerous if they went upstairs now, after what they did, but if Lucas could figure out what the hell Paperboy was talking about that'd be great. There was something he needed to get rid of but he didn't know what.

A page could mean anything, a newspaper, magazine, journal, book, anything. He didn't have time to go through every book or journal in that house upstairs. He didn't even know if their kidnapper was home or not.

So he walked to the door, quietly opening it and becoming silent as he hit the third stair. No one was there. The house was silent and quiet. Except for that damn dog that was around there somewhere.

He walks into the kitchen, looking around for something, anything that he could rip out and destroy, whatever Paperboy had meant. A newspaper sat on the living room table, Lucas rushes over to it, on the cover was a picture of both Lucas and Finney. A broadcasted missing person's report.

Well, I guess there was his page, easy enough. He picked up the newspaper, looking at the description that each boy had under their yearbook picture. It wasn't entirely wrong, except Lucas' eye color. Whoever reported him missing said he had hazel eyes when he had dark cyan eyes, odd but just a tiny detail.

Just as he was about to rip the page off of the other papers, the kidnapper's van turned into the driveway. Scared and worried, Lucas dropped the newspaper, running back down into the basement and slamming the heavy door shut, panting as he slid down the metal door.

Finney looks over at the curly haired boy, his eyebrow raised as he looked like he wanted to scold him, but didn't. He just sighs, moving back to destroying the wall. Lucas, after catching his breath, joined him, helping him clean up some of the concrete powder that was spilling onto the floor.

Even from the basement they could hear the van leaving the driveway, maybe the kidnapper forgot something, but now was the time to focus on escaping.

<•>

The boys had reached the panel in the back of the freezer, Lucas handing Finney his tiny spaceship to use it as a screwdriver while he scooped more of the concrete powder away. Finney couldn't make the spaceship work, so he runs to the toilet, cutting off a piece of something to make it work, unscrewing the screws that kept the panel together.

The two agreed Lucas would go in first to open the freezer or move anything that would've been in their way.

Finney removes the panel, throwing it to the side as Lucas climbs in, goosebumps running up his arms as he turned back to Finney, a slab of meat in his hands. Finney looks in, seeing the freezer was filled with meat, probably for the dog that ratted them out, taking the slap from Lucas and tossing it aside.

After removing about half the meat was in the fridge, Lucas progresses to the freezer doors, trying to push them open like the opposite side of a fridge, but they didn't budge. He obviously never tried opening a fridge from the inside, so he didn't really know how to open it. He shoves his shoulder into the doors, basically running into them like he was a character on TV breaking into a secret room or a house or something.

After multiple minutes of ramming his bruising up shoulder into the door, Lucas sighs, climbing out of the freezer, his fingers turning blue. He realized an important thing neither of the two thought about.

You can't open the fridge from the inside.

"It's over, Finn"

Finney tears up, all hope he once had lost. He slides down the wall, whimpering and sobbing. He didn't want to die like the others, he wanted to get out and live and get a chance to be a kid again.

Lucas stares at the floor as he begins crying, sliding down the wall. It was over, they were going to die, a horrible, painful death.

There was no hope, no pages burned or memories destroyed. There was nothing left.

Except two sobbing boys, knowing they were only part of the never ending cycle.

AN- well uh. idk my laptop died and I was to lazy to pull the movie up again lmfao 💀💀💀 anyways hope you enjoyed. next chap will hopefully be up tonight or tmr lol