CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Darren's POV
"Are you sure you haven't seen them?" Zane asked me for about the millionth time.
I sighed, wishing he would just shut up, "Absolutely positive. Man, I told you already. I've got no clue where they are."
I really hoped he couldn't tell I was lying. Zane was pretty gullible, but I wasn't going to underestimate him here.
He opened his mouth to speak, and I sucked in a silent breath.
"Alright. I guess we'll just have to find them. But first, let's get Van, Ned, and the boys. They can help."
I tried to hide the relief from showing on my face.
"Great. Let's go."
Zane grabbed Jim, and we started walking towards the elevators. I felt a sudden poke on my shoulder and opened my mouth to scream. A hand flew over my mouth to stop me.
"Relax, Darren," a voice whispered into my ear. "Just keep walking so they don't notice me."
The hand fell away from my mouth, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Jeez, Carson, you scared me," I breathed.
"Hmm...my bucket list. Number One: Scare Darren. Check!"
I rolled my eyes, but couldn't keep the smile off my face.
"Number Two: Get Darren to smile and roll his eyes at the same time. Check!"
I narrowed my eyes and scowled at him.
He grinned, "Alright, alright. I'll stop. You're almost to the elevators anyways. But, listen. Get to Van and Ned, okay? Take some time, though. I'm going to be getting Jay and the rest out while you're doing that."
I nodded.
"Good. After you've got them, find a way to get everyone to the entrance...except Vanessa. Tell her about Paul. I have a feeling she'll go to where he is."
I nodded again, "Tell Van about Paul, and everyone else to the entrance. Got it."
Carson bit his lip, and I could tell he was struggling to keep the pain off of his face. Once again, his strength amazed me. My thoughts were cut off, however, when Carson spoke again.
"I have...a few things I need to work out with her. But, here. Take this."
He handed me a cell phone, and told me to text him when Van was headed Paul's way. He said that we would work out a meeting spot after that.
"Okay, thanks!" I whispered to him as he dashed silently away.
I turned back around to Jim and Zane. They were chattering away, obviously unaware that Carson and I had just worked out a whole escape plan.
They really are stupid, aren't they. Boy, am I glad I'm not with them anymore.
I looked up ahead. The elevators were only a few feet away. Zane and Jim were still talking. I stopped before the doors, but they just kept on walking.
Oh, goodness, this is going to be hilarious!
Sure enough, they walked right into the elevators. I doubled over in laughter, the sound echoing throughout the empty floor.
"What the Hölle, LS?" Zane shouted, rubbing his head.
Okay, that's taking it a bit too far! What did Zane being stupid and running into the elevator have to do with Carson?
A buzz in my pocket snapped me out of my thoughts. I smiled when I saw who it was from.
Did I ever tell you about my amazing ability to move elevator doors? ;) ~The Magician
I seriously didn't get that guy. I mean, if I were him, Zane's comment would tick me off. And Carson's over here making jokes about it. Yep, that was it. Carson was officially insane. Eh, but aren't we all. Especially Carson. And Zane.
My former friend was now pacing around going on about just how stupid Carson was. He even claimed to have seen the guy poisoning his food one night. Yup, definitely Zane.
Shaking my head, I pressed the button on the elevator door.
"You guys coming?" I asked as the doors opened.
They walked in, Zane still muttering about Carson. Seriously, what was his problem? Right. Everything.
We exited the elevator, coming face to face with Van, Ned, and the other WIO boys.
"Uh, hey," I greeted awkwardly.
Ned grinned, "Darren! Glad to see you're back!"
I nodded, flashing a smile. Ned opened his mouth to speak more, but before he could, Jim interrupted.
"HIM's gone."
Ned's mouth hung open, his eyes widening, "Tell me you're kidding."
"I wish I could."
Ned growled, his hands curling into tight fists.
I gulped. Ned didn't get like this very often, but when he did...
"Where's LS?" he asked through gritted teeth.
At that exact moment, the phone in my pocket buzzed. I pulled it out slowly. I looked at the screen to confirm it was from Carson. It was. From Paul's phone. I had to conceal my smile at his brilliance. He sure knew what to do. Especially since Zane had come up behind me and had started reading the message as well.
Why, hello there, Darren. Such a surprise we have HIM now, huh? Well, reality check, buddy! We do. And, we have somebody else as well. Somebody I think Vanessa would like to see. Tell her he's in a place. Not the place, but a place. One only he, she, and I know about. That's it. Oh, yeah! One more thing. My name is Carson.
"Who's Carson?" I heard Zane ask.
Putting on my acting skills, I looked up from the device.
"LS."
Ned snatched the phone from my grasp and began to read the message out loud. When he had finished, he looked over to Van questioningly. I turned my head as well.
Vanessa was extremely pale. She ran her hands over a spot on her shoulder.
"Van," one of the boys spoke up. "Are you alright?"
She didn't reply. I shook my head. The plan was ready for action.
I got the phone back from Ned and shoved it in my pocket.
"Okay, guys," I said. "They have to be leaving sometime soon. We need to stop them."
Several of the boys were nodding their heads. I took another breathe before continuing.
"They know of only one way to get out. We need people there. Lots of them. Get everyone. Jay and HIM will not slip through our grasp so easily!"
Everyone agreed and raced off to gather up the rest of the WIO. Except for one person. I walked over to Vanessa, who was still rubbing that spot on her shoulder.
"Van?"
After several seconds, she finally looked at me.
"Do you need to go somewhere?" I asked quietly.
She nodded, and started walking. I followed.
Here we go.
~~~~~
Paul's POV
I groaned as the nightmare continued to haunt me. But, it wasn't really a nightmare. It was a memory. And a terrible one.
-----
"What the Hölle?" I screamed at Vanessa, unable to contain my rage an longer. She put the word on her should. The word. She knew how much I hated it. And, yet, here she is with it permanently etched into the skin on her shoulder.
"Paul I—" she tried to plead with me
"I DON'T CARE! YOU KNEW HOW I WAS GOING TO REACT!"
"But—"
Tears were streaming freely down her face as she tried to grasp my arm. I threw her off. I needed to go do something to someone. Right now.
Vanessa must've known what I was going to do, because she threw herself in front of the door.
"Move," I growled.
"No."
"Move," I repeated, a little louder this time.
"No."
"Move before I do something I really don't want to do."
Her figure wavered and her hands started shaking, but she held her ground.
"No," she stated for the third time, her voice trembling.
I sighed, impatient with her. Well, I'd warned her.
I walked calmly forward. Vanessa's gaze never left mine, though I could see the terror in her eyes. I cracked my knuckles. She inhaled sharply. I drew back my fist.
-----
I awoke with sweat soaking my body. I could barely breathe, the memory was so horrendous. I was about to stand up, when a searing pain shot through my entire body. I groaned, wondering why I felt this way.
"You took an innocent little kid, and you completely ruined him."
My eyes widened.
"Never did you take a second and realize just how evil of a man you were being."
I grabbed my head with shaking hands.
"You destroyed that cute, smiling little boy."
"STOP IT!" I bellowed.
This was just great. Now I had mental pain and physical pain. Wonderful.
I decided to get out of this room. Or, at least turn the lights on. Then, I would know where I was. I finally managed to get up and walk to the light switch. As soon as the lights were on, I gasped.
I moved as fast as I could towards the door, not wanting to be here anymore. I twisted the knob, and yanked on the door.
It was locked. He had locked me into this room.
My hands fell numbly to my sides, and I collapsed onto the floor. Curling into a tight ball, I shoved myself against the wall. I squeezed my eyes shut, not able to bear the sight of this place any longer.
It hadn't even been a minute before I heard the doorknob being twisted. My breathing hitched, and my heart started thumping loudly in my chest. I stood up. If the person about to enter was the person who put me in here, there would be a dead body in this room in a few minutes. And it sure wouldn't be mine.
The door opened a crack, and I prepped myself for the attack. I was so ready for this. And I had been. For sixteen years.
*****
OH MY LORD, GUYS!!!! IT'S BEEN FOREVER! I feel SO guilty right now for not updating in over a month. I bet you all hate me right now. You can go ahead. I hate myself, too. But, I know that y'all are wanting to know why I didn't update for so long. Well, I suck at excuses, but here ya go. So, I had started this chapter the day after I published the last one. I wrote a little each day (just a few sentences). And then, we went on vacation for about a week and a half. Yeah, I didn't write. At all. So, when we got back, it took me a LONG time to get back into the "feeling" of the story and everything. I wrote a little bit more. Yay! Yeah, no... I wanted to start doing a little school early, to try and get ahead (I'm homeschooled). My mom goes ahead and starts all my subjects. That day. I started freaking out and going super-school mode, so I barely wrote. But, tonight, I was determined to update. And here I am. So, yep, now I have school so it's going to be taking me longer to update. And yep again, that was my extremely stupid excuse for why I didn't update in forever. I know, it sucks.
Okay, moving on to what's going on in the story. Vanessa...what's going on with the "word" she has on her shoulder? Why does it matter so much to Paul? Speaking about Paul, what's up with his sudden desire to kill? Who opened the door? And is everybody going to make it out safely?
Moving on again...to the SURPRISE! Yay y'all! So, my goal was 5,000 reads. Now I have over 6,500!! OMG OMG OMG OMG! I am SOO happy! And I also got my comments goal of 100. Yay again! Now, for the surprise. I have decided to...*drumroll, please***...WRITE A SEQUEL! Yuppers! Don't worry, it's not going to be crappy and dragging-on like some of the other sequels out there. I'll tell you a little secret about it (don't worry, it won't really spoil anything) when I reach my new goals and/or votes goal. Well, THANKS SO MUCH GUYS!! And I hope you're excited about the SEQUEL!
Okay, so I've decided to start doing a little fun fact every chapter. Here's the first one.
Fun Fact #1: Carson was never part of the original story.
Shocking, right? I told you this book has come a long ways. Just think about what it would be like with no Carson.
As for the dedication...that one isn't hard. This girl has done so many things to help me with this book. Jeez, I can't even imagine where I would be without her. I can tell you this, I definitely wouldn't be updating right now. Heck, I probably wouldn't even be writing this story anymore without her. So yes, my friends, I hereby dedicate this chapter to suzy_bn!! Thanks for everything, Blakers!
I guess that's it guys. My apologies for the following: super-long amount of time since last update, I won't be able to update as much because of school, if this chapter sucked, the never-ending author's note. Sorry again!
:) :P :D