Rabbit Hole

False Helper

WARNING: Gunshots, Manipulation, Grief.

The issue with splitting up, other than the obvious reason, is that people aren't up to date with what everyone's been through.
And when you have manipulators and murderers running around, that can be dangerous.

Nyla's POV

It's been almost 15 minutes, and I've been wandering the halls aimlessly the whole time. I haven't had a run in with any of the guards, let alone the four ringleaders, but I've not found any of the others yet. But I need to. They have to be warned about Elliott. He was at his worst in that final confrontation, and next time he might not stop at a threat.

As I keep walking, I finally catch someone walking past, but I can't be sure. He's not wearing anything the guards would wear, but something seems off. After a closer look, I recognise him as someone in the group.
Andrew.

"Andrew, I need your help."
"Huh? Nyla, what happened?"
"He's dead."
"He's dead? Who's dead?"
"Bill."

At that moment, he suddenly changes to more of a suspicious tone with the questioning.

"What did they do to him?"
"N- nothing."
"Wait, what?" He drops the suspicion. "Then how'd he die? And where are the others?"
"Jules is dead."
"She is?" he seems shocked, but slightly dissapointed.
"Yeah, bullet to the head. Instant death."
"From who?"
"Bill."
"Why?"
"It was the hypnosis. His eyes were blue, and he was acting completely different to the Bill I knew."
"His eye colour changed?"
"Yeah, then it went back for a bit."
"Wait it did?" he sounds really shocked, and kinda concerned.
"Elliott snapped and grabbed a brick, before hitting him in the back of the head, which got his eye colour back to normal."
"Then what happened?"
"Elliott didn't stop. He caved his head in."
"So, does anyone know about this?"
"No. Nobody knows. He's out there, and I don't know what he'll do if someone tries to stop him on our side."
"Yeah, I can find him."
"Wait, what happened to your group?"
"A door came down. I got seperated. I've been looking for them. You?"
"Jules is dead, Bill is dead, and there's no way I'm staying with Elliott."
"Did you know about her?"
"Huh?"
"Did you know about Jules?"
"Oh, yeah."
"How? I found out by going through the files. She isn't there, she never went to Wonderland, everyone in iteration VII is dead, including the doormouse."
"Bill mentioned it, and we checked the CCTV tapes."
"You what? Did you see anything in the file room?" He's acting incredibly suspicious. What happened.
"No?"
"Oh thank god."
"Why?"
He goes silent.
"What happened?"
"Oh, it was kinda a bloodbath. A few guards got in. It was gruesome."
"Wouldn't you want us to see that? We all kinda think you're a coward. No way you'd be scared of us seeing you take out guards."
"You're pissed off at that too?"
"Obviously! You put the mission at risk!"
"It was what I thought in the moment, ok?"
"So what happened in the room?"
"A bloodbath!"
"Really?"
"Yes! I'm not lying!"
"Wait. Did you actually kill anyone yourself?"
"Well- uh- I did kinda-"
"And this was after the split?"
"Yes?"
"So who was in there? Why didn't you stay with them? What did you do?"

He goes silent again, before looking up, and I finally see that he was hiding something much more sinister.

"You didn't need to know."
"Know about what?"
"The King of Hearts."
He presses a button, and I see six guards enter the room from the sides.
"You-"
"Of course. Nobody does half the shit I did without having a deeper plan."
"So what happened in the room?"
"I captured Liv. Jade, Nick, Amanda, none of them could do shit."
"There wasn't a bloodbath?"
"Oh, there was. I escaped, but the guards who helped? Not so lucky."
"So you took Liv in?"
"Yep. She's gone now."

This doesn't seem right. You're telling me Liv couldn't beat Andrew in a fight, and just let her take him with no help? I call bullshit, and I know how to check.

I pull out the radio. Sure enough, Liv's light is off, but Jade and Nick's are.

"What happened to Jade and Nick?"
"Nothing. I mean, I didn't see, I got out before the fight really got going."
"And Liv, you sure you got her?"
"Yep. She's currently tied to a chair, waiting for the process to begin. There's something horrific behind that metal door, let me tell you."
"Ok then, so why isn't Liv's light turned on? She's incapacitated."
I show him the radio. He quickly checks his, realising his error.
"Ok, I lied. She got away. That what you want to hear? Forgot I can't get anything past you, apparently."
"Why?"
"Intimidation. Also, if that's a radio, why has nobody used it to communicate?"

He thinks he raises a good point. Why did we call it a radio, ease. Jules herself said it was a radio-like device, but that meant shape, not operation. We all know that.

"It's quicker to say. We all know it doesn't actually communicate. Stop stalling for time. What are you gonna do now?"
"Well, I can't take you in, can I? What would we do with you? You're already a girl, and the control wouldn't do much."
"Bill was already a boy, and he was hypnotised with blue."
"That's different, that was a male mind. We don't know how it works with women."
"So you accept Bill is male?"
"Besides the point. But, we can't let you tell anybody about what you know about the cure. Or Elliott. It helps to have a little friendly fire running during a revolution, ruins the whole damn thing. So, we kill you."

The guards all raise their guns at me. Andrew pulls out a pistol himself.

"You don't exactly have a weapon, do you?"
He's right. I left it in the CCTV room.
"I wanted to do it my way. I wanted to do it peacefully."
"And how the fuck's that working for you? Peace doesn't work in this fight. Either you're prepared to kill, or you're prepared to die."
He aims the gun at my head.
"Nobody shoot, just aim. I want the kill. Only do it if something goes wrong."
They oblige, all placing their guns on safety.
"Any last words?"
He think's he's in control, doesn't he?
Well he's the one facing away from the corridor.
And I see something he'll hate.
"Next time, focus less on the theatrics, and more on what's behind you."
Suddenly confused, he turns around. Rookie mistake.
Ace stares him down with a gun pointed at his face.
"There you are, dickhead."
"Shit. Shit!"
Andrew runs out the nearest door.
The rest of the guards fumble with the safety while Pat grabs a can of Lynx.
I can only watch as Pat sets the guards alight, while Ace guns them down.
One with a shot to the head.
One with a stomach full of lead.
One with a shot through the heart.
One with a shot through the mouth and out the back.
And the final two are just gunned down with a flurry of bullets.

"Hey! Twat! Get back here!" Ace yells after Andrew, who has locked the door. "FUCK!"
"What the hell was that?" Pat asks.
"He's working with Wonderland."
"Yeah no shit." Ace seems to already know. "Nobody gets that close to the guards without attacking without being safe from them."
"Where's the rest of your group?"
"Bill killed Jules, Elliott killed Bill and went off the deep end. He's dangerous."
"Oh fuck. I knew I should have stopped that bastard."
"But I found out one good thing."
"What?"
"There's a way to reverse the hypnosis."

Suddenly, Ace notices a flash on the radio. I don't understand at first, but we all quickly recognise it as morse code. Jules made us learn it as a safety measure. It says one thing: metal door. From Kat's light, before it stays on permanently.

"Looks like we're gonna need it. Pat, try find everyone. Nyla, get a weapon. We got a fucking rescue mission on our hands."

All of us arm up and get ready.
I've lost enough people to the hypnosis.
I won't let anyone else be taken.