It's been a while. I've been tres tres busy. Sorry!Nick and I turned back and began walking to the grocery store. Okay, this whole "deserted town" thing was getting a little creepy. I mean, yeah I've heard of ghost towns, but... this was weird. We walked past a few stores, all dark and empty, and a fair bit of houses, mostly dark, and... well... empty. I thought I saw a curtain moving, but no. That couldn't be. There's nothing in this God-Forsaken town to move a curtain. When we finally got to the grocery store, it was locked. And empty. Big shock there. Nick banged on the door,

"Yo, Paying customer!" He yelled. "Hello? Any one there?"

"Babe, there's no one here." I told him dully. "Did you really expect there to be?" I rolled my eyes. "Let's just go look for Carly and Wade." I suggested.

"Yeah." He backed away from the door and grabbed my hand.

"Maybe they're back at the gas station now? I'm sure they'll have drinks there." I suggested. We made the short walk back there, and just as we walked up on it there was a man walking out, closing the door behind him.

"Hey!" Nick called out. The man turned around. "I'm looking for my sister. And her boyfriend."

"They were looking for a fan belt or something." I mentioned.

"I don't think I've seen em." The man said. He didn't give it much thought, and I doubted he even cared about the question.

"This is the only gas station in town, right?" I asked.

"That's right."

"Then they were definitely here." Nick said, like he believed him about as much as i did.

"I just told you, I didn't see em." The man was getting aggravated.

"Does somebody else work here?" Nick asked.

"No. I own the station. And I would've seen them."

"Well, we were just here a few minutes ago, and you didn't see us..." Nick pointed out.

"You weren't even here." I added.

"Sorry. Can't help you." The guy said dismissively. There was some kind of muffled squealing noise. Like a whine or something.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. That was just my dog." The man brushed it off. "Actually, you know what, My brother was down here for a while. He could've helped your sister out. They could be up at the house." He pointed in the direction Dalton had gone.

"No, my friend went that way earlier." Nick told him.

"Really? Well, maybe he ran into my brother up there, then." He turned around to tie his shoe, and when he stood up, that squealing noise was happening again, only louder and more urgent. "Wanna head up to the house?"

"Yeah, whatever." Nick agreed. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him. As we started walking, the man walked up on my other side. I didn't like that. He was acting to strange earlier. The man freaked me out. He was attractive, yes. Very attractive. Especially for an older guy. Not that he was old, his dark hair wasn't even beginning to turn grey yet. But he was definitely older than me. I walked closer to Nick, who pushed me in front of him, then grabbed me with his other arm and took me to his side. Apparently, he didn't like me walking beside that man either.

"So, what's your sister look like anyway?" The man asked. Then,

"NICK! ISABEL! HELP ME!" We heard Carly scream from back at the station. I gasped as Nick pushed me back, hard. The man took a swing at him with something in his right hand, but missed. Nick got in two punches as I was standing up. We ran to the station, with the creep right behind us. We ran in the door, and I shut and locked it just in time. The man took off towards the garage part, so Nick ran in there and jumped on the door, keeping it closed while the man tried to open it. I grabbed a screw driver and put it in the side, so that the door was basically locked. The man took off towards the door again, and Nick followed. I don't know what happened next, I was looking for my best friend.

"Carly?" I called.

"In here!" It was coming from down the stairs in the back. I walked down them, but the door at the bottom wasn't budging.

"NICK!" She yelled.

"CARLY?"

"PLEASE HELP ME! I'M DOWN HERE!"

"Down the steps, Nick." I told him. He came to where I was, and kicked the door open. Mmm. I knew this wasn't the time, but man...

"Carls! I yelled, as I noticed Carly, bound to a chair, blood pouring everywhere and smeared all over her mouth. She definitely looked worse for wear.

"Thank God." She whispered.

"Jesus." I said as I walked over to her.

"It's okay. I'm here. I got you." Nick told her comfortingly. He began pulling off the tape so she could move again.

"Watch my finger. Watch my finger."

"Oh, my God." I thought I was going to throw up. That's where all of the blood was coming from.

"He did this too you?" Nick asked. She looked pained as I ripped off the bottom of the tank top she was wearing and wrapped it around her finger, trying my best to bandage it.

"Where is he?" She asked. I wanted to know the answer to that question myself. Nick just ignored her as he looked for something. "Where is he?"

"I locked him out." He finally answered. He came back with a knife thing and cut the tape off her legs.

"Where the hell's Wade?" I asked her.

"I-I don't know. He went into the house. This place is a FREAK SHOW!" I held her up by her arms and helped her stand up. She was steady, which surprised me. Judging by the mess, she had lost a lot of blood. I looked at Nick. I wasn't sure what was happening. I didn't know what to do. What to expect. He was looking back at me. The same unsureness I felt mirrored on his face.

We heard what sounded like a truck motor start up and drive away above us.

"He's leaving." Nick pointed out.

"C'mon." he whispered, wrapping an arm around me and grabbing onto Carly's arm. We made our way up the stairs. Still no sign of creeper. "All right, stay here." He told us when we got to the door between the garage and the store. He ran to the garage door and checked outside. Then he went rummaging through all the tools on the tables. He picked up a wrench. "Yeah." He walked over to where Carly and I were still standing, huddled together in fear of what would happen next. "Alright, cars by the road."

"Dalton's got the keys." I reminded him.

"Dalton." He said his name as though he had forgotten that his best friend was out there somewhere in this crazy town. "We gotta call the cops." He ran over to a phone hanging on the wall, but it was dead. Carly and I followed him into the store. "Shit. Is, where's your phone?"

"I-left it at the campsite." I realized just how stupid that was.

Nick walked over to Carly and put his hands on her shoulders, speaking to her as though he wasn't quite sure she was stable minded. "Hey, where's your cellphone?"

"It might be in the truck, up near the house." He turned to look out the window. "What about Wade? I think he has him too! What if he turns him into wax?"

"What do you mean, wax?" Nick turned around. Judging by the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing I was. Maybe she WASN'T mentally stable.

"You don't get it. They're all wax. Everyone!" She turned to me. "You believe me, right Is?"

I put my hand on her shoulder, "Of course, Carls. Now c'mon. Let's go get your phone." I lead her over to where Nick was standing.

"No, wait." She told us. She carefully lead us out the door and down the street. Nick and I looked at each other, still unsure of what to do. He grabbed my hand and I held on for dear life. "There was a woman in here. She was alive. She pulled the curtain back." She told us as she stopped in front of a gate. Nick jumped the gate and I stepped through the door with Carly. Like normal, civilized humans. Nick and I both stepped up on a brick to see in the window. He was perfect height, but I could barely see anything besides a glow. Then, the curtain moved. Nick and I both gasped and pulled back.

But the person on the other side of the window didn't seem to see us. She just pushed the curtain back. A few seconds later, she pulled it open again.

"The whole town is rigged." Carly whispered.

"That's impossible."

"You're saying that that's a real person..." Nick pulled me closer. "...underneath?"

"Yes! At the church, they were all like that! At least 20 more." Carly exclaimed, glad we finally believed her. "Listen, on the way up to his house earlier, Bo told us a story. about two kids. Their parents moved them out here. Trudy did all the wax stuff, and the husband was a doctor, but he had his license revoked. He told us how Trudy died from a cyst in her brain and the Doc shot his brains out. I think.. I think it's him. And his brother... must be Vincent from the art up at the house..."

Nick looked around. "We have to... find weapons. Protection. Get Dalton, Get Wade, Get out." I agreed. If we're going to survive in this freaky town, we would need protection. He pulled my hand and I grabbed onto Carly. We crossed the street carefully, towards the part of town with the stores. We were walking across a dark yard, and I could see a costume store ahead. Maybe?...

"He said he had a brother, right?" Nick asked. "Vincent."

"Yeah, at the house of wax, he did all the sculptures." Carly told him.

"Maybe he's the one that does all the wax." I suggested.

"What if he's around here somewhere?" Carly sounded nervous.

"Yeah." Nick replied. I rolled my eyes. He's acting all tough. I could tell he was scared to death. He started pulling me toward the road.

"Wait!" Carly whispered. "What are you doing? Nick, you gotta be careful!"

"I am being careful." Jackpot. A costume store with weapons in the front window. Nick pulled the wrench in his hand back like he was going to throw it at the store window. Carly quickly ran up and grabbed his arm.

"No, no, no! It'll make to much noise! Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?" She rolled her eyes. "He will find us." Nick turned on her.

"Yeah, chances are he will anyways. At least with his he might not wanna find us." He chucked the wrench and the window shattered. He jumped up to a man dressed in military uniform with a crossbow in his hands. "That's about right." I could see the disgust in his eyes as he looked at the innocent person trapped in wax forever.

*BANG!

The glass on the store's door shattered.

"Go, Is, Carls, run!" Nick said as he jumped out to us, as another shot was fired. He grabbed me and pulled me towards the theater, which was the closest building to us. I looked for Carly, but all I saw was a small figure, running as fast as she could, down the street away from us. I couldn't believe she'd just leave us like that. Maybe she'll get out alive.

"Carl." I gasped as we ran into the theater. Nick shook his head, pained.

"Just forget her, Is. She ran away from this guy, she ran to safety. She'll be waiting for us. We gotta survive for her. Forget her. Keep yourself alive." We ran into the screening room. When we did, a movie started playing. I didn't pay attention which one. "Isabel. I want you to sit, okay? Blend in. I won't let him get you." He sat me in a chair.

"Nick..."

"I love you, Is." He ran to the other corner of the theater, into the shadows. I heard the door open as Bo walked in. I froze, hoping he wouldn't realize the extra figure.

He walked down the isle to the front of the room. "I know you're in here!" He was counting the people on a row, when I saw his eyes narrow. He started to live his gun.

"NICK!" Nick shot up from the corner and shot him in the arm with his arrow. I got up and we met at the door. I heard a gunshot, but it didn't hit either of us.

"Is, hide behind the ticket stand. Don't make a sound." He kissed my forehead as I ducked down. Bo came out seconds later, and smiled evilly when he saw Nick standing there, pointed his crossbow at his chest. Nick fired, and the arrow hit his mark. Bo fell back, unmoving. I came out and stood by Nick, who picked up Bo's gun. "Empty shells. Check him for ammo."

I lightly pushed against him, to make sure he wouldn't wake, then got down and looked in all of his pockets. "There's nothing in his pockets." I stood up and looked at Nick. "Nick, what if Carly..."

"No, Izzy. She's going to be fine. Carly's a tough girl." He pulled me in, and kissed me. "She'll be fine." I sighed.

"Give me this." I grabbed the gun and threw it behind the counter. "Nick, let's get out of here."

We walked out the door and ran across the road so we could walk in the shadows.

"Psst!" Nick stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at me.

"What?" He asked. I shook my head.

"It wasn't me, Nick." Maybe it was Carly! I thought hopefully. "Carly?" I whispered.

"Hey!" We heard a female whisper coming from the shadows of a fence. Nick quickly pulled me behind him.

"Who is it?" He called.

"Don't freak out. We're the good guys." A male voice said reassuringly. We stepped towards the sound, and two girls and a guy stepped out of the shadow. They all looked worse for wear. "Two days ago, we were on a family trip, going to Texas, when we saw a sign for the house of wax. We decided to stop and check it out. But we had to leave our car up at some washed out swamp road thing. There were eight of us originally."

"My husband, two daughters, my youngest son, and my nephew were all killed by those... men. We somehow escaped being turned into wax. And I swore to stay here and try and revenge my family's deaths. But I haven't been able to get to the...men... to kill them." The oldest woman, who I guessed was the mom, told us. "I'm Sarah. This is my oldest son, Chad and my niece, Kate."

Nick was looking at them like he didn't know wether or not to trust them. He still had me sheilded behind him. I decided to take charge, and stepped in front of him. "We were on our way to a game in Baton Rouge. We decided to camp in a clearing, and some friends had to come here for a fanbelt. When they didn't come back, we came looking. We have two friends still at the camp site, my cousin and my brother are around here somewhere, and his sister just took off, running that way." I pointed to where she had went. "I'm Isabel. This is Nick."

so, yeah. lame ending, but here's where the twist starts :D. I'll try and get this next chapter out quicker.

xxx.