-Natalie's POV-
I hopped in the passenger's seat of the car and waited for Anthony to get in. He opened the door while I buckled my seat belt, "Where do you think you're going?" He inquired.
"To tell the others about the plan, duh," I answered sarcastically, "Now get your ass in here and drive me to Toby's."
He looked at me perplexed, "Couldn't you just drive yourself?"
"God, Anthony!" I shouted, "Do I have to explain everything to you? We've got to stick together, no one left behind. There's only...how many of us left? Five? So, we can't leave someone alone. Kalel will probably find them and kill them. I...we can't risk that."
He rolled his eyes and unwillingly got in. I handed him the keys and he put them in the ignition.
"How am I supposed to see out of your windshield?" He argued, pointing at the shattered piece of glass that was surprisingly still standing.
I sighed, "Just look over all of the cracks and you'll be fine."
He sat up in his seat a little and pushed on the gas pedal. We pulled up to Toby's house and got out of the car. Usually when you'd approach his house, Gryphon would bolt to the door and greet you. But he was long gone, and it felt eerie now that there wasn't his dog barking at you.
I approached the door and knocked, "Hey, Toby! Let us in!"
There wasn't any response that I could hear, so I knocked again, "Please! We've got to talk about the plan!"
"Why don't you just try turning the knob?" Anthony suggested, using his index finger to point to the scuffed up golden knob.
I crossed my arms, "Because that's rude."
I knocked again, but Anthony did what he said and the door glided open. "See? All you've got to do is turn the knob," He remarked with a smirk on his face. He walked in, "Toby! It's Anthony and Natalie! Where are you?"
I walked in just as a faint, "Help...me..." sounded.
"Was that you, Anthony?" I asked, tapping him on the shoulder.
He glanced down at me, "No. Why would I do that? Just to scare you?" I glared at him, "Seriously, Nat, that wasn't me."
My eyes widened as I realized it could only be Toby. "Toby!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I started searching all of the rooms for him. After running through his entire first floor, I found him, in the office, hanging from a noose tied to the ceiling fan.
I shrieked in horror. The only thing between his neck and the coarse rope were his turning-purple fingers. His eyes were squeezed shut as his legs dangled helplessly in the air, losing more and more swing as the seconds ticked by.
Anthony soon found me and saw the scene, "Oh my..."
"Help him!" I shouted, pointing at him.
"What am I supposed to do?" He cried, starting to panic.
"Cut him down!"
"With what?" He pulled out his gun, "All I have is this gun, and I don't have good aim."
"Just shoot!" I demanded, "It'll be worth a try, right?"
"But I might shoot him on accident and kill him! I don't want to kill anybody, Nat!"
"He's about to die anyways!" I argued, "He's either going to die from you hitting him, die because our argument has gone on way too long, or he's going to live if you just shoot the god damn rope!"
"Fine! I will!" He shouted, pointing the gun at the rope. His hands were shaky as he held the gun upward. He was trembling with fear. Toby had turned completely purple almost now. I closed my eyes and wait for the sound of the gun being shot - and I did.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Anthony drop the gun to the floor. My eyes slowly made their way to Toby, who was now dead, a small hole in his forehead beginning to drip with blood. I cupped my hands over my mouth as I began to cry.
"I...I..." Anthony stammered, trying to defend himself.
I shook my head, "He was going to die anyways, right?"
"This is why I didn't want to shoot, Natalie. Because I knew I wasn't going to shoot the rope. I don't have good aim. I'm surprised I even shot Kalel in the foot," He ran his fingers through his hair, "And now I can get arrested for murder. For murder! What is the world going to think when they hear that Anthony Padilla from Smosh got arrested for killing someone? Huh?"
I dropped my hands to my sides, "They're not. No one's going to find out. This is between me and you. And no one else."
He bent down and picked up the gun, sliding it back into his pocket, "So, Toby's gone. Now there's only Joey, Joven, Lasercorn, and us, right?"
Just then, the television turned on in the front room. I jumped, startled by the sound. The two of us bolted out there and saw that the news was on.
"Breaking news," The woman informed us, "Two years ago, there were two women, Kalel Cullen and Melanie Moat, who were sentence to life in prison for holding twelve people hostage. A few weeks ago, they escaped. And they supposedly wanted their revenge on those twelve people, who so happened to be YouTubers. And that's exactly what they did. Ten people have been accounted for as dead. The people including the older sister of Nachael, Rachael E., the next being the bowl-haired half of Smosh, Ian Hecox. The list goes on to saying Brian Rassmussen, known for his part as the announcer from Smosh's Food Battles, Melanie Moat, one of the original kidnappers, Mari Takahashi, Matthew Sohinki, both from the Smosh Games crew, Shane Dawson, Lisa Schwartz, Sawyer Hartman, and Joey Graceffa have all been unfortunately killed. Joey and Sawyer were found dead in their house today in California. It appears they were beaten to death, the object used for this was found next to Joey's corpse. Kalel Cullen is still out there, and we advise you to call..." Anthony turned the TV off.
"So, I guess Joey's gone now too," I stated sadly as silence filled the house.
"We've got to find Joven and Lasercorn, before they're killed too!" Anthony exclaimed, rushing out of the house and getting into the car, starting it up.
I ran out there and hopped in the passenger's side. I covered my face, "This is all my fault!" I cried.
"No, it's not, Natalie. Trust me. If anything, it's mine. For leaving Kalel in the first place," He reassured me, taking the guilt for himself, "It's always been my fault."
I glanced over at him, tears swelling in my eyes, "No, Anthony. It hasn't."
"Just shut up, Nat," He murmured under his breath, "I know it's my fault and I don't want you telling me any different. Now, let's just go get Joven and Lasercorn and leave California."
"But Kalel's going to find us, Anthony! She found us in New York, so I'm positive she's going to find us anywhere we go."
"What if we left the country?" He offered.
"No. We're not going to run, Anthony. We have to confront Kalel face to face."
He sighed, "What if she's stronger than the four of us?"
"She won't be," I answered sternly.
He looked at me with disbelief for a while and heaved a sigh. He backed out of the driveway and drove us to the Smosh Headquarters, where he hoped Joven and Lasercorn would hopefully be. And just like he predicted, they were, but dead. Both of them had bullet holes in their heads, kind of like the one Toby had. Theirs had started to crust over, though, and dried blood stained their faces.
"No!" He shouted as he punched the wall with his two fists, "God damn you, Kalel!"
I looked away from the terror and saw Anthony begin fill with rage, "Why? Why did she have to do this? Sure, we got her arrested, but she kidnapped us! And..."
I shook my head, "Let's not talk about it, Anthony. Look on the somewhat brighter side: we're the last two. She said in that note that she's only taking eight of us after Rach and Ian. She's taken eight. So that means we're the last two. We're safe."
He crossed his arms, "I don't feel safe."
I gulped. Come to think of it, neither did I. Sure, we were the last two alive, but Kalel's still out there. And we don't know that she was honest when she said she'd leave two to live.
"Why don't we just go home, Anthony?" I suggested quietly, "I think that's all we can do now."
He looked at me and slugged out of the Headquarters. I followed him out. This time, he sat in the passenger's seat. I slipped into the driver's seat and glanced over at him. I couldn't read what he was feeling right now. I don't know if it's like what I'm feeling or something totally different.
I pulled into our driveway and turned the car off, "We're home."
He didn't even look at me as he got out of the car and stormed into the house. I rushed inside, afraid of him being alone. He seemed really upset.
"Anthony!" I shouted as I burst through the front door and found him standing in the middle of the living room, staring at the family picture of him, Rachael, Ian, and me, "Anthony...?"
To Be Continued In the Next Chapter...