"Hailey? FOR GOODNESS SAKE HAILEY THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"
Those were the words spoken by Zander that woke Jake up in a fright.
"Woah, what's going on?" Jake asked, trying to wake himself up.
"HAILEY IS GONE. SHE LEFT WITHOUT A TRACE." Zander screamed, he paced around the room, nearly in tears.
Jake's stomach fell, he felt sick, he stood up, nothing felt real to him.
"Jake, are you alright?" Luke asked, turning over to the now pale teenager.
Jake silently went to get changed, he was in shock. It was Hailey who told him they'd be safe yesterday, and now she's gone.
Minutes had past, the gang sat in a circle, they were all in fear, Hailey was the glue that kept them together, and she was dead. They felt guilt that they weren't there to save her.
Slowly, the door opened, revealing a worried looking Elliot, he looked around, "Are you guys okay?"
Milly stood up and ran to him, in tears, "Elliot... They took Hailey. She's dead."
"Wait... What?!"
He looked at the rest who were sitting on the floor, staring into space, Zander was looking away, hiding his tears. He felt remorse, and he hugged Milly, "There, there. C'mon, you haven't seen her corpse yet, maybe she's just lost."
...
"You evil bitch. LET ME GO." Hailey screamed, trying to loosen the ties around her arms and legs.
Zoey chewed her gum and looked down in disgrace at Hailey, "HAH! No."
She looked around at Maria, Henry, Liam and Drew and sighed, "Why the hell did you take me here? I did nothing wrong, why don't we just work together for once and get to safety?"
"I ain't trusting a KILLER." Maria scoffed, kicking Hailey's leg.
The teal haired teenager angrily scoffed, "YOU'RE CRAZY. I'd never murder someone."
Henry and Liam kept to the distance, still regretting their choice, however Drew had gotten into the swing of things, finally getting revenge on the girl who ripped away his best friend. It felt glorious, he'd finally won. He looked at Hailey in the eyes, she looked tired, upset, confused and most importantly scared. It was pure satisfaction.
The group watched as Hailey started to break down, tears fell from her cheeks, "Just- If you're going to kill me or hurt me, do it now. I can't do this."
"Oh we aren't going to kill you, but we will hurt you. We will pay for what you and your clown show did to the poor students and teachers." Zoey cackled, lifting up Hailey's head to meet her eyes.
She stood back, and clicked her fingers, "Maria. Hit it."
Hailey raised an eyebrow, but then saw Maria racing towards her with a bat, before she could scream, there was darkness.
...
"Maybe we could talk to other survivors?" Elliot suggested, "I know Zoey and her little gang are still roaming, along with Daisy and her friends, we just haven't bumped into each other, everyone is using their room as a 'base', so they're safe."
Milly nodded, gripping tightly onto Elliot's hand, "I hope she's alive."
Zander stood up, "We need to just search. Search all day, we search until we see her, dead or alive. I am not losing my sister."
"We'll find her darling, don't worry. Your sister is strong, she won't give up that easily." Luke reassured him.
Lia noticed Jake's silent attitude and sighed, "She'll be fine. I've known her since middle school. She is stronger than you think."
Jake smiled at Lia, "I hope so, me and Hailey are practically best friends now, I can't stand losing her. She means the world to me."
Lia smirked, raising up an eyebrow, Jake noticed and rolled his eyes, "It's not like that."
"Sure, sure." Lia giggled.
...
Hailey woke up, her head was racing, she was still in the chair. Her body was sore, that bat to the head really hurt. She looked up at the ceiling, begging for anyone to walk through the door immediately. She couldn't think straight, when she got the courage to move her head, she looked forward to seeing Zoey right in her face.
"Looking a little bloody there. That's what you get for being so difficult and lying about the killer." Zoey grinned.
Hailey glanced over to the nearby mirror, and then looked down, her arms and face were full of wounds and bruises, that explains the pain in her body, she was too tired to speak. She was scared.
"Now talk." Zoey groaned.
"I-... I don't know anything, I promise you." Hailey said, beginning to have a panic attack, "Just leave me alone, I want Zander, I want Luke, I want Milly, I want Sean, I want Lia. For goodness sake I even want Jake."
Tears dripped down her face, and she gasped when the tears touched her wounds, since they made them ache more.
"I don't know anything, heck, we're even more confused than you are. Listen, I can help you through this stupid nightmare of a school trip, but let me go."
Zoey clenched her fists and yelled, "UGH! Stop lying!"
Hailey stayed silent.
"Remember that recording? Jake was right, you're useless without him, you're pathetic. That is why you and your little gang are out to kill." Zoey laughed.
She remained silent.
Drew added, "She can't respond, because she knows we're right. She has had a stupid crush on Jake for months and she knows she is just using him for fame and glory. That is why she took him away from us."
Hailey clenched her body, she tensed up, trying to rush all these thoughts out of her head, her body ached, her wounds were being left untreated, more bruises began to form on her body, she was a mess, and she finally spat out.
"LISTEN. The lights. Zander found out if you keep the lights on, the stupid murderer won't get you, we don't know why, but it worked last night. Just let me go, I promise I won't tell anyone what happened."
Zoey listened, "Hm?"
Hailey looked up at Zoey's angry eyes, "And I will promise to never 'steal' any of your little friend group again. If that is what you like to call it."
"MARIA. Let her out." Zoey ordered.
Maria quickly untied Hailey, she struggled to stand out on her own, she struggled to move. Everything hurt, suddenly, the door opened and she was pushed onto the floor. The door slammed shut behind her and yells were heard - driving the teal haired teenager's headache more insane. She slowly stood up, and limped down the corridor, screaming anyone's name, trying to get help. But no response.
...
"I'll go down here with Milly and Sean, I guess one of you can go to another floor, a duo go to a different floor, and someone stays on this floor." Elliot explained, still clinging on to a distressed pink haired devil's hand.
"We're a duo." Zander shouted, pulling Luke to the stairs to go search for his sister, he wasn't wasting any time.
Lia nodded, "Good luck finding her guys, and remember if you see Hails, scream."
Jake stayed silent, watching them all wander off. He felt darkness shroud his head, making him want to give up and cry until the killer finally saves him from this stupid life, but no. He had to continue for Hailey. If she was still alive, she needed him.
He walked endlessly through the corridors, trying not to lose hope, suddenly he found a shadow and he gasped, "HAILEY?"
He turned the corner and met eyes with Hailey, who was slowly stumbling down the corridor, "Oh my gosh, Hailey, what happened?!"
She stayed silent, trauma whizzed through her head, the only thing she did was hug Jake tightly and sob into his shirt.
"Who did this? I want names now." Jake sternly demanded.
Silence.
"Hailey...-"
She tugged onto this jacket and sobbed, "I want to go back to the hotel room... Please."
Jake gave her support to stand up and walk properly, he stayed silent with anger. Who on earth would do this to someone as innocent as Hailey? He hated to see his friends hurt, and he was determined to find whoever did this.
...
"Do you want any food?" Jake asked, turning to Hailey who sat in an emotionless, traumatic state on a chair in the hotel room.
She shook her head slightly, her eyes were dull, her face was pale. She was distressed, trying to recall what happened to her and why, she urged to tell the truth to anyone, but she couldn't. She felt helpless.
"WHERE IS SHE?" Zander gasped in a frantic tone, kicking the door open, "HAILEY? WHAT THE HELL WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?"
He marched over to Hailey, examining the wounds and bruises on her body, "Who did this? What happened? WE NEED FIRST AID."
Hailey tugged her arm away and whispered, "I'm fine."
"Fine... FINE?! Look at you, you're INJURED, badly." Zander shouted in a panic.
Luke broke his silence by edging towards the door, "I'll go find first aid at the reception."
Jake, Hailey and Zander watched Luke leave and Hailey whispered again, "Where are Milly, Sean and Lia..?"
"Well- They were looking for you, but they'll be coming back soon." Jake explained.
Milly quickly kicked the door open, and ran inside with Sean, Elliot and Lia following, "OH MY-"
Hailey covered her face with her hands, "Ugh, can we just not make a big deal..-"
"We're making a big deal." Zander growled, "Now I want to know who did this to do. Now."
He watched as his sister turned away, "Hailey-"
She stayed silent and then spoke,
"If I told you. It'll be over, for all of us."
Wrote - 30/04/23
1609 words.