(Author's Note: Okay, people who read my stories have probably realized that I love long chapters, but this was one was just ridiculous in terms of length, so I split it into two chapters and that's why this one is short (the end of this one was the only good place to cut off).
Also, big thanks to FlareonWolf for helping me write this one! She wrote part of this chapter and it's definitely because of her that I've been able to improve my writing!)
Cryptic investigation
Chapter Four – Interrogation
Thursday morning was even bleaker to Rudy than the previous day had been. Snap had now been missing for two days, and he and Penny had still been unable to find any clue as to where he had gone or what had happened to him. Even the weather seemed to reflect their hopelessness; there was a thick layer of gray clouds in the sky, casting the school grounds in a gloomy light. Rudy hated the fact that he had to stay at school for the day when Snap was in some kind of trouble somewhere, and he should be continuing his search. No one in the Real World could help him or Penny, or even understand that they had to do something important, and there was no way to explain it to them. In ChalkZone, they had many of their Zoner friends on their side, but here, they were alone in this.
As Rudy walked up to the school building, the thick layer of dark clouds obscuring the sky only seemed to add to his dismal thoughts. He and Penny both knew that with the field trip looming ahead of them tomorrow, this was the last day that they would have a long enough period of time to thoroughly continue their search before Tuesday.
When their classes began, neither he nor Penny were able to pay any attention to the lessons; they spent most of class staring out the window, pondering what else they could do to find Snap, or desperately waiting for class to be over so they could try to do something about it.
However, having been too busy searching for Snap the previous day, Rudy hadn't done any of his homework. This landed him in detention with Mr. Wilter during the lunch period, which ruined all his plans of sneaking into ChalkZone during that time. He knew that at least Penny had brought her pieces of magic chalk to school again, and she had done at least enough of her homework that she didn't get detention, so she would be able to search without him. But at the same time, he felt useless just standing in the classroom writing sentences over and over again on the chalkboard. The entire time he was copying lines, he kept pausing to look out the window toward the schoolyard, frustrated that he couldn't tell Mr. Wilter that someone needed his help and he shouldn't be standing in the classroom wasting time. He sighed and continued writing, knowing that even though he wouldn't finish with enough time to go into ChalkZone before class started again, at least he might be able to talk to Penny and see if she had any other ideas, or better yet, had found something.
Outside in the schoolyard, Penny was equally frustrated that she hadn't managed to find anything on her brief excursion into ChalkZone. Knowing that lunch would be over soon, she had been forced to come back into the Real World. Walking back and forth near the main entrance to the school building, she waited for Rudy to reappear, staring up at the miserable looking clouds covering up what should have been a blue sky.
"I don't see why Tabootie's so mad," she heard Reggie mutter as he walked out the door, presumably coming back from some task Mr. Wilter had given him. "I get detention all the time!"
Ignoring him, she glanced up at their classroom's window, hoping Rudy would be finished soon. She realized that if Reggie had just finished and Rudy was still inside, he must have been really distracted, and she didn't blame him. She was wondering whether Mr. Wilter would let her help him with his detention when Rudy appeared out of the school's front doors, looking furious.
"I can't believe this!" he shouted, without caring who heard him. "Of all the days-"
"Rudy, calm down!" Penny told him, standing up and walking toward her friend.
"Calm down?" Rudy shouted. "I was supposed to be helping you! I shouldn't have been stuck inside! We should have been looking-"
"Shh!" Penny warned, glancing warily at the other kids nearby. "Look," she said in a whisper, turning back to Rudy, "we'll start looking again right after school. I know you're worried…I'm worried too…but we can't do anything about it now…"
Rudy found this entirely unhelpful. "I know!" he replied. "That's the problem!"
"I know…" Penny sighed, then tried to sound hopeful. "But we talked to a lot of people in ChalkZone. They're all looking. One of them is bound to find out something soon."
"Maybe…" Rudy sighed. He looked up gloomily as the school bell rang. He felt a few rain drops and looked up, seeing that it had started drizzling. Rain meant that they would likely end up cooped up in the classroom during the next recess. There would be no opportunity to search ChalkZone then. Rudy felt his last remaining bit of hope dwindle. "But what are we going to do when we have to go on that field trip tomorrow, Penny?" he asked. "If we don't find Snap… I mean, it'll be hard enough as it is to sneak into ChalkZone, let alone with enough time to search…" He was starting to think that their only opportunities to look for Snap during the field trip were going to be at night, and even then it might be difficult to sneak away.
"I don't know…we'll find some way, but…" Penny paused as a teacher walked by, telling the remaining students to get inside. "We'll talk about this after class. Who knows, maybe the recess won't be cancelled after all." They went back into the school building, Penny heading to her locker to store her magic chalk – she didn't feel safe just keeping it in her backpack after Terry Bouffant had showed up recently – and then quickly following Rudy back to their classroom.
ooo
However, luck was not on their side, and they were forced to stay inside the classroom during the last recess. Together they huddled at the back of the room, pretending to be working on Rudy's comic together, and conversed with each other in low whispers, planning out what they would do once they got into ChalkZone after school. None of their plans seemed efficient enough, and Rudy was having trouble keeping calm. He knew that anyone in the Real World noticing something was wrong would only hinder them, not help, as they needed to be left alone to think about it, but as the day had gone on, he'd become increasingly desperate.
"Okay…well, we can meet up at your house again, and say we want to do our homework together," Penny was saying. She and Rudy both realized that, otherwise, it might be hard to convince their parents to let them stay so long after school again, when they hadn't fully completed any homework in the past two days, but they had to try.
"Yeah, good idea," Rudy said with a nod, though he certainly didn't feel as hopeful about this as Penny was…or at least was trying to seem. He glanced over at the windows; the rain had already stopped, but they wouldn't be able to go outside as the school grounds would be wet. The rain had come at the worst possible time.
After school, however, things got even worse.
Penny's mother had refused to let her go to Rudy's house until she completed her homework, which Rudy knew could take a long time, especially part of it involved finishing up a science project that she had taken on for extra credit last week and had to be completed before she went on the field trip. He spent the early afternoon searching ChalkZone himself until he was forced to come back for dinnertime. He knew that Penny would have tried to give up on the science project in order to help him, but he also knew that her mother would find that strange, especially if she couldn't come up with a good excuse, which would be hard to do, since she had been working hard on it before the events of that week had occurred. It would seem very strange for her to stop now, but he hoped she could think of something.
ooo
Snap awoke in a slight daze. A muffled noise had disturbed his sleep – as uncomfortable as it was – and he groaned to life and looked up, staring forward into the blackness in confusion as he tried to ignore his pounding headache. It took him a second to remember where he was: the abandoned building he'd been dragged into at least a few days ago... He knew he couldn't have been asleep for long; he'd only managed to fall asleep for a few minutes at a time since he'd been in this place, and he felt like whatever sleep he'd just gotten hadn't been much longer than that. As he woke up more fully, the reality of his situation dawned on him again, much stronger this time. He was trapped, deprived of food, water and comfort. And his friends... He missed them so much. Isolated for even a short period of time was painful, and he longed for their company. Why hadn't they come yet? Didn't they have some sort of plan regarding the ransom notes his captors had been sending? They would know he was in the Real World, and this place had a chalkboard…so why hadn't they come?
He hadn't wanted to believe that his beloved friends had abandoned him or their search. For hours on end, he had repeated the same persistent thoughts: they were coming... They would find him before his stomach shriveled with starvation, or before the deprivation of sweet, sweet water would finish him off. But now, as his tongue began to dry and his head pounded each and every second with the constant reminder that he was alone, he was beginning to lose faith in his friends. He was nearly out of faith for himself. And he knew it was only a matter of time before that faith was gone completely.
He had been in the same room for a while now... It was getting difficult to determine how many hours or even days had passed. He knew it had to have been at least two or three days, but how was he to tell? There was no light in the room, and no windows, so he was unable to even know the time of day by the changing Real World light outside. He couldn't even guess if it was night or day. This had made sleeping difficult, as he fell asleep at random times when he felt drained, but would always wake up almost as soon as he did.
His back ached, his brain had lost a large portion of its water, and it felt as if something with large talons was clawing at his stomach, demanding to be filled with something. He was constantly feeling dizzy, and it took a lot of effort even just to stand. But, worst of all, his captors – the reason he was imprisoned so barbarically – would not be able to feed or provide him with water. They didn't possess magic chalk like Rudy did. However, he knew that was what they were after... He wished with his entire being that the magic chalk would never fall into their hands, but at the same time, a tiny voice in his head tried to convince him that he wanted Rudy to suddenly appear and give in. He was suffering without a way to reduce it, and felt like the only way he would get out of this alive would be some kind of miracle. Either that, or Rudy cooperated, and gave them what they wanted…
A suction sound reached him as the door to his 'prison cell' opened. His instinctive action was to leap to his feet and shoot through the door, but the scenario only played out in his head; he was far from capable of jumping to his feet in his current state. The door opened, but instead of showing him a way to freedom, it revealed only the hall of a deserted building. He swallowed hard as he felt a sick feeling in his stomach.
Two tall familiar figures invaded the room and sealed the door closed behind them, severing any hope Snap might have had of leaving the confines of his prison. They carried chairs and set them in the middle of the room, as well as a larger and brighter light than the one they'd brought in before. Terry sat on the left and Bob on the right, the latter carrying something large and requiring both arms to hold. The object was wrapped in a cloth, and Snap furrowed his brow and tried to guess what it may be, and what they'd brought it for, but he had no clue. And whatever it was, this man certainly seemed to think it would somehow aid him in getting what he wanted.
"Alright, Snap," Terry began with a hiss, attaining her authoritative composure, "It's been two days and Rudy hasn't given up any magic chalk, so it's time for you to give us answers."
She pulled her seat closer, and her captive pressed his gloves against the wall behind him for support as he shakily rose. He didn't respond, but merely kept his eyes narrowed.
"How often does Rudy enter ChalkZone? Would he for sure have seen our messages by now?" she snapped, almost calmly at first. Snap continued to keep his mouth closed as his chest heaved, and she growled and repeated the question, shouting this time.
"I already told you," he began, swallowing again to gain some moisture with little success, "I ain't tellin' you anything!"
But to Snap's rather serious response, the man beside Terry only laughed. Terry turned to him with confusion, unable to determine the cause of his laughter. Snap was confused as well, and after Bob stopped laughing, the two stared at each other and Snap was unsure how to react. Did he find his suffering amusing?
"What's so funny, Bob?" Terry grumbled. Bob ignored her, however, and showcased a sinister half-smile.
"I have ways of making you talk!" he boasted, indicating his wrapped-up object. Snap's eyes fell to the strange mysterious item, and his curiosity quickly turned to something closer to dread. Whatever his captor had hidden, it couldn't be pleasant.
Terry turned her focus back to Snap and sighed. "Tell us what we want to know, or things are going to get worse for you. Would Rudy have gone into ChalkZone and seen our messages yet?"
After Snap still refused to speak, Bob took his object, stood up, and placed it on the seat behind him. He began pacing across the room for only a moment before he said, "Your precious friend has abandoned you, hasn't he?" He gave his captive a condescending smile.
Snap's attention was immediately drawn to Bob, and he glared with newfound intensity. "Rudy wouldn't abandon me!" he said as loudly as he could manage.
"Wouldn't he?" He stopped a moment just to see Snap's reaction, then continued. "Then that's why you won't tell us anything about him. You don't know. You don't even know if he bothered to come looking for you."
"That's not true!" Snap shouted, but Bob didn't even flinch. Snap's fists tightened and his teeth ground together. "Rudy wouldn't..." He trailed off as he began to contemplate it himself. There had been no sign of Rudy, or Penny, at all. As much as it seemed crazy to think about it, and he hoped he was just too exhausted to think straight, it did seem as if, for some reason he couldn't even begin to guess, his friends had abandoned the search.
"You keep thinking that, then," Bob said with a smirk. "Now, as you've already been told, we need to know some things." He looked toward Snap, confident that soon the answers would follow. "Tabootie doesn't appear to value your friendship." He stopped pacing, and he faced Snap again, staring down at him with disdain. "I've written him letter after letter, but I haven't gotten a single response. Rudy hasn't gone looking for us, our creations haven't arrived with the magic chalk, and there's simply no sign he cares at all-"
"Tell us whether Rudy would have seen our messages yet or not!" Terry intervened, and Bob looked rather aghast. Snap got the impression that Bob was usually the one to interrupt.
Once again, Snap remained silent. He could only think of his friends now, and the picture was beginning to solidify; Bob was sending them letters, but they weren't responding at all, and Rudy hadn't even thought to look through the chalkboards. His doubts for his friends were growing, and although he tried his hardest to fight the absurd thoughts, he was starting to believe them.
The door opened with an audible sound, and a short, dark-haired man poked his head inside. Snap looked up, focusing first on Vinnie Raton and then on the airspace above him. He still could see nothing distinguishable; the walls were all dark and there was only a small amount of light coming from another place somewhere further down the hallway.
"This is pointless," the man murmured. Snap imagined he'd been listening to their conversations somehow. "He's not gonna talk!"
"Do not interrupt, Vinnie!" Bob cried.
"We...we've been comin' back to this building to talk to 'im for two days now! If he won't talk, then I say we pack up and go," he insisted, but the other two adults merely scoffed. Bob turned away and crossed his arms, frustrated. He was about to spin around with an argument when Terry spoke up.
"We'll do this our way," she replied, slightly hushed as if she thought it would prevent Snap from hearing their somewhat unprofessional discussion. "Have you got a better plan?"
"Well, no—"
"Then leave us to the job, and go back to planning your theme park!" Terry exclaimed, and watched as her associate scrunched his face but made no further move to retort.
As he pulled the door closed, Vinnie mumbled, "Still think your griffin's smart enough to come up with a decent plan now?"
Bob's eyes widened, but right before he shouted after him, Terry growled, "Do NOT reply, Bob!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Bob shouted. But instead of taking his anger out on his accomplice, he swung around to Snap. "You'd better tell us soon!" he boomed, his patience wearing thin and his temper on the brink of exploding.
"What makes you think...I'd tell you anything?" Snap questioned, his head hanging and he stared back at him. Just witnessing the three uselessly debate made him feel heavier with exhaustion.
"Because I am the one and only Bob Newland, creative genius and creator of animals much smarter than he thinks." He pointed dramatically at the door that Vinnie had just left through and continued, "I'll get what I want because I am inventive enough and smart enough to obtain it." He clearly took pride in himself, and he pushed out his chest as if trying to show off the pocket on his shirt.
"You're not so special. There are heaps of Bobs in ChalkZone!" Snap sneered.
Bob's eyes narrowed, and his face became contorted with disdain and utter indignation. He snatched the object from his chair and ripped the cloth off, revealing a large water gun which was looked like it was filled with a tank of water. Deadly Real World water.
Snap's heart skipped a beat. He was thirsty, but not crazy enough to even think about wanting to drink Real World water. No, this water would wash away his very body, and the thought of this lunatic having that ability at his command was more than terrifying. If he made one mistake...told one transparent lie, he could lose a limb, or worse.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Snap yelped, springing up and leaping back to thud against the concrete wall behind him. He stared at the water gun in horror and began breathing heavier than before.
"If you don't cooperate, I'll start by spraying your foot off!" Bob threatened, his teeth bared.
"And then you'll regret keeping quiet," Terry added confidently.
"All right, all right!" Snap began, raising his voice. "Just...lower that thing, will ya?"
Bob seemed slightly satisfied by Snap's compliancy, but it was clear that he had no intention of relinquishing that which gave him power. Snap was still staring at the water gun, and now he knew he was in trouble. His interrogators now had means of torture and a sure way of convincing him to respond to every question asked.
"Answer our question," Terry started, shoving her face into Snap's with wide, hungry eyes.
"I already told you," he growled, "I don't know."
"You're lying!" she accused, looking to Bob. Snap guessed she expected him to threaten him.
Bob kept the gun at Snap's eye-level, and the defenseless Zoner began to feel increasingly outmatched. "I swear I don't know!" he cried.
"Then I'll ask you something you do know," Bob began, grinning again. "Where does Tabootie keep his magic chalk?"
At this, Snap felt a stab in his chest. It was true that he wasn't sure why Rudy hadn't done anything about the ransom notes, but he did partly know the answer to this question. "I..." he threw his eyes restlessly about and lowered his tone. "I don't know."
"I know you're lying," Bob hissed, his finger teasing the trigger.
"It-it's true!" Snap protested, his arms still pinned against the wall. His voice shook and he licked his lips with nervousness.
Bob applied the needed pressure to the trigger, and a forced string of water gushed from the nozzle. Snap was utterly horrified for the brief moment he thought his hand was melting off, but as he opened his eyes, he realized that the wall beside him had taken the shot, not his glove! He felt a small bit of relief, which was quickly replaced by alarm as his interrogator fired it again, and he dodged to the right and away from the splashes. However, Bob was quick to let go and swing the gun back to his prisoner, and Snap froze instantly, his eyes stationed on the barrel once again. As Bob demanded that he spill the truth, Snap caved and held his hands up again.
"All right, all right! I know!" he yelled, and Bob fell silent, holding his weapon steady. "I don't know where Rudy keeps his spare chalk," Snap continued, and Bob's eyes lit up again. "But! ...I know where he gets it from."
"Do go on," Terry encouraged, sounding gleeful now that the water gun had had some effect.
Snap's gaze switched between the two adults, and he held his tongue, but as soon as Bob's finger began edging closer to the trigger of the water gun, the words tumbled out. "...The Magic Chalk Mine! There's a magic chalk mine in ChalkZone. It grows inside and it's where...Rudy gets it." After he'd finished, dread filled his mind as he realized what he'd just told them. Though he knew they had no way of accessing the mine from outside ChalkZone, it still didn't sit well with him that they knew, and he wished he could have thought quick enough to make something up.
"Excellent," Bob grunted, a tiny smile tugging the corner of his mouth. But he wasn't about to stop there. "Now, tell me why Rudy hasn't responded to any of our messages. He would have gone into ChalkZone again since we started writing them, wouldn't he?"
"I…don't know," Snap said warily, barely taking his watchful glare from the water gun. Truthfully, he didn't know; he had no idea why Rudy and Penny hadn't already devised a plan to free him, and he could only begin to guess what could have been keeping them from doing so.
He looked up to see Terry make her way to the room's only exit. She opened the door, leaving it ajar (probably to taunt Snap with a suicidal opportunity to try to escape), only to return moments later with a small chalkboard.
Bob grabbed the chalkboard by the edge and propped it against his chair in front of his captive. He grabbed his piece of regular white chalk and wrote a few words. "Your Rudy friend refuses to respond to my ransom letters. I've sent him many already. He either doesn't care about you, or somehow they aren't reaching him. Doesn't your useless town have a postal service?"
"As a matter of fact, we do," Snap huffed.
"Well then, why isn't your precious friend begging me to release you?"
Snap was starting to have greater trouble focusing. Everything kept going blurry in front of his eyes. As the chalkboard in front of him faded in and out of view, something suddenly clicked, and he understood. "If you're just writing words and then erasing them," he began, "they'll just fall in a heap on the ground. How do you expect people to make sense out of them then?"
"Tell me how to work it, then!" Bob demanded, slamming the chalk into the section of the wall above Snap, who watched fragments crumble into the ground.
"You need to draw it like a letter." Snap hardly cared what Bob's reply was going to be. He had suddenly understood – finally understood – why Rudy and Penny hadn't come for him. There had been no way for either of them to read the ransom notes. He felt ashamed for having doubted them earlier. Of course they hadn't given up – they'd just had no idea where to look.
"What?" Bob blurted. He turned back to Snap, silently demanding answers.
Snap had quickly realized that, although Bob's lack of knowledge of ChalkZone provided clarification on why his friends hadn't arrived, it also meant that they were nowhere near being able to find him. His sudden burst of energy had faded, and he was back to feeling weak and disoriented. "You need to..." Snap wanted to get up and snatch the chalk from Bob and show him personally, but he felt too weak to attempt it, and he was sure it would only make his captor angry. "You'll need to draw a box around the words, so it looks like a letter. Then erase it."
Bob narrowed his eyes, possibly embarrassed by the simplicity of the problem. Obeying with slight reluctance, he drew a rectangle around his words. He stepped back to admire it before erasing it and getting busy and writing a proper letter.
Snap breathed a sigh of relief as Bob seemed to believe him, and suddenly noticed something. The door to the hallway was still open. Terry hadn't bothered to close it. Snap's line of sight was directly through the entrance, and he suddenly felt a tingle of excitement. He could escape. If he convinced his legs to speed out the door, he would be free. His heart began to thump wildly in his chest, and his mind raced with warnings, excitement, and questions with no answers. This was an extremely rare opportunity; Terry wasn't paying attention and Bob wasn't even watching. He stood up a bit taller, his feet tingled, longing to propel him in the desired direction. He had to do it.
Frantically his eyes darted from Terry to Bob, whose back was turned, and he readied himself. He remembered little about the building's structure, but maybe if he ran out, he would— 'Oh, no!' he thought desperately as Terry stood and crossed to the door. He gritted his teeth and felt his stomach pang with disappointment as she shut it loudly. He felt his entire upper body drop as he acknowledged that what may have been his only chance to escape had slipped from his grasp. And, not surprisingly, it was foiled by one of his captors. Yet, when he thought about it, he was glad he hadn't attempted it, because he knew that he wouldn't have made it far.
"I'm assuming this is right?" Bob questioned, getting Snap's attention. The words were arranged in letter format, and a rectangle bordered them. Regretfully Snap nodded, and Bob made a doubtful noise, taking one last look at it before clearing it from the board.
Following that was a bombardment of questions Snap hardly knew any of the correct responses to, and came close to being sprayed with the water gun several times. Terry and Bob had grown impatient and immensely aggravated with his lack in knowledge, and in the end had stormed out, only marginally satisfied. The unpleasantries involved in further interrogation took its toll on Snap, and after a few hours, he was completely drained of energy. Not that he had had much to begin with; he had felt weaker and weaker all day. After they left him, his mouth was drier, his stomach was hungrier, and his head pounded with the incessant continuation of pain. But the worst part was over…at least for now. At least he was away from them and the threat of being dissolved, even if it meant being in a cold room with no light, but now that he'd realized why his friends hadn't come, he knew that he was still far away from being rescued. Since Terry and Vinnie had probably come in the afternoon or evening, as that seemed the most likely time, and the interrogation had lasted several hours, that it had to be evening or night by now. Rudy didn't normally come into ChalkZone that late, so he was probably too late to see the message that night.
ooo
After dinner, Rudy ended up stuck having to complete his own homework downstairs, having been told by his parents that he couldn't go 'back up in his room to draw' until he finished it. He knew that it was because he hadn't done his homework in the past few days, but he was too worried about Snap to care about doing a good job. As he tried to hurry as fast as he could, he continually checked the time or looked out the window at the even stormier sky outside, realizing with growing disappointment that Penny must not have been able to talk her way out of finishing her science project. At the moment, he wished more than ever that she could be there with him. He hadn't realized it before, but her confidence and words of hope had been helpful to him, even just a little bit, and he only noticed now that he was alone. He tried to convince himself that she would stumble upon the answer to Snap's disappearance soon; after all, she was good at figuring things out. But as the time ticked by, and he realized that this was their last day before the field trip, he knew that they were running out of time. They had talked about meeting up during the night in ChalkZone, but it still simply wasn't enough time.
Luckily, Rudy managed to finish his homework fast (especially since he wasn't bothering with accuracy), but he knew that until Penny could come over, he would only be able to go into ChalkZone in short intervals; if she called, his parents would come up to his room to find him. It was getting later, and he was starting to worry as he climbed back into his room from the portal after having done one of his quick searches.
"Rudy!" his mother's voice called, causing him to hurriedly erase the portal. He went downstairs to find that Penny had called him at last. Feeling a little hopeful again, he took the phone into his room.
"Penny! Are you ready to-"
"Rudy, I'm really sorry…" Penny's voice came back at him, making his hope fade away immediately. "I'm not going to be able to come over there to help until a little later. You see, I had to help my mom with some of the animals, so I didn't get to work on the project until now."
"Do you think you'll still have time to come over afterward?" he asked. "If not, I guess we can still sneak into ChalkZone at night…"
"Well," Penny began hesitantly, "I left my magic chalk back in my locker at school. I guess I was too worried about Snap…but don't worry, I talked to Mom and we might be able to have a sleepover tonight, since tomorrow is the field trip. After I finish the project, of course. You can give me another piece of chalk then."
"Okay," Rudy replied, feeling relieved. "Good idea. I'll go ask my parents about it too. How long do you think the project will take?"
"Not much longer. I just have to go to the library to pick up a book first. That shouldn't take long either. My mom's busy so I'll have to walk, but I'll be quick."
"Walk?" Rudy replied, looking out the window at the evening sky. It looked even more gloomy now that it was a bit darker. "But it's stormy outside."
"Well, it hasn't rained since we were at school today, and it's not dark yet. I promise I'll hurry."
"Okay," Rudy replied. "I'll talk to my parents about the sleepover!" Penny got off the phone and Rudy ran down the stairs to talk to his mother and father. If they could have a sleepover, that would give them much more time, and they wouldn't have to sneak away. He would still have to make his trips into ChalkZone brief, because he would need to be there when Penny called back, but he was feeling a bit more optimistic already. This was their first stroke of good luck, and he could only hope it would last until they found their missing friend.
ooo
The dull sound of thunder rumbled throughout the confines of the building, but it barely registered to the captive who, after what seemed like quite a while since Bob and Terry had last left, was losing hope that Rudy was going to show up any time soon, even though he now knew that a proper message had been sent. Snap knew that he and Penny had to be looking for him; there was no way they would have just given up, but he also knew that it would take them a long time for them to find him. He realized now that they hadn't found him before simply because there had been no way to get the messages that Bob had been writing to them earlier, but since they hadn't showed up after that…maybe it was too late for them to sneak into ChalkZone that day. Snap had guessed that it was around late evening, and if Rudy and Penny hadn't had time to see the message Bob Newland had sent, that would mean…he would probably have to stay in the room another night.
As he lay on the floor, hoping he'd somehow be able to go to sleep despite his hunger and the burning dryness in his throat, he stared at where he was pretty sure the door was – not that he could even see his glove in front of his face in the darkness – and a sudden panic overtook him as he realized he might not even last that long. How long could someone go without water? How long had it been already? Terry had said two days, hadn't she? It was hard to tell; his memory was so fuzzy. But it had to have been two days, at least. He was faced, certainly not for the first time, with a desire to keep frantically looking for some way out of the room, as futile as that was, but he knew the only thing besides the door and its wooden frame in there was concrete, and he'd tried unlocking the door several times the previous day, and the frame, though old, held firm. Before, he had tried exploring every corner of the room the best he could in the darkness, over and over again, looking for some way out, but he hadn't found any such place. And now he was so weak, he didn't even think he had the energy to try again.
But if he didn't do something, what would become of him in this place? Slowly getting to his feet, which took even more effort than he'd thought it would, he shakily moved toward the wall and felt his way to the door, ignoring his pounding headache which had gotten even worse after the interrogation session. When he reached the thick wooden frame he stopped, a sudden wave of dizziness overcoming him and making him collapse to his knees on the floor. He closed his eyes, waiting for it to pass, and then opened his eyes again to look at the black nothingness that he knew was the door. Feeling another wave of panic, and out of sheer desperation more than anything, he grabbed the door's handle and weakly moved it back and forth, knowing in the back of his mind that there wasn't any point in trying to open it, but not caring until…he realized that the handle was actually moving.
It wasn't locked.
Snap's heart skipped a beat, he shakily stood up once again and, summoning what little strength he had left, started to pull the door open. He was lucky that it opened toward him, since he didn't think he'd be able to push it open with that heavy object in the way outside the room. He struggled a bit since the door was heavier than he thought…or maybe it was just that he had almost completely run out of strength.
Once he'd opened the door, he found that he could see a little bit. There was some very dim light flooding into the hallway from some window somewhere, and even with the obstruction in front of the doorway he could still faintly see the outlines of light beyond it. He put his back against the table and tried to push it out of his way. Not surprisingly, it didn't budge, and he quickly became too exhausted to continue.
However, he soon noticed in his dazed state that there was a small space between the door frame and the table on the left side; it must have been put back pretty hastily. Remembering that they would probably notice him soon, he flattened himself against the side of the desk and slid out through the small space, feeling glad for once that he was in the Real World where he had that ability. Once on the other side, he detached himself from the desk, then stood up and looked around.
The hallway, which he had only briefly glimpsed before, was only dimly lit, and it looked to be a cloudy evening outside, from what he could see from the window at one end of the hallway. The dim lighting illuminated a long, filthy narrow space crowded with all sorts of broken furniture and trash. He had seen this before when he had first been taken here, but only briefly, and in this surreal darkness with the occasional flash of lightning from the window, it looked eerie.
The sound of voices reached him and he turned to look in the other direction, the side of the hallway that he knew led to the stairs that would take him to the bottom floor, and to the door that would lead out of this terrible place. From one of the rooms on the side opposite the one his prison's door was in, he could hear Bob, Vinnie, and Terry discussing something, yet he couldn't make out any of their words.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he carefully snuck around the piles of junk, his vision growing more limited the further he walked away from the window. He passed his enemies' door without incident, and soon arrived in a place that was better lit than any other part of the building on the top floor - the big room that opened up into the downstairs floor. Standing near the edge of where the upper floor dropped off – he wondered why there was no longer a rail here – he could see all the way down to where the building's front door was – his ticket to freedom.
Hardly daring to believe this opportunity had arisen after such a long time of hopelessness, he carefully walked down the stairs, well aware that they were both old and made of wood, and were likely to make a lot of noise, and made his way down into the junk-strewn room on the bottom floor.
Once again he had to rest, feeling like even that short journey had taken every last bit of energy out of him. But there was no way he was going to stop for long, not with freedom so close. He felt another wave of dizziness but the moment it cleared he moved to the door as quickly as he was able to, paused to glance upstairs for any sign of movement, and, seeing none, opened it.
What he saw outside completely horrified him. The sidewalk and the street beyond it were all covered with a thin layer of water, which he could now see was steadily beating down from the cloudy sky above. "What?" he gasped, not realizing that his voice was rising in volume as he opened and closed the door repeatedly, not wanting to believe what he could see plainly before him. "No…no no no no NO! This can't…be happening!" Even as he watched it, he could see the rain beginning to beat down harder, and he realized, with a sickening feeling, that the rainfall had just barely started. He was too late. His only hope…his one opportunity for freedom, was now completely cut off.
Just as he was frantically contemplating what to do next, where it would be safe to hide, a door opened upstairs and he heard footsteps. Turning around, he saw Bob Newland standing at the top of the stairs, looking only mildly surprised and annoyed.
"Oh no, guess I forgot to lock the door," he muttered in a mock-worried voice. "Well, congratulations," he told Snap. "You're oh so clever at escaping that you've earned your freedom. Guess there's nothing I can do from all the way up here." He leaned against the stair rail at the top of the stairs. "Well, go on," he said, watching as Snap stood frozen by the door. "The door's open. You're free." Snap didn't move as Bob walked down the stairs and over to him. "Yeah, I didn't think so," he said with a smug grin, slamming the door closed again and grabbing Snap's arm, beginning to drag him toward the stairs. Though Snap tried to drag his feet on the floor, he didn't have much energy to fight back with, and he could not resist as he was roughly hauled up the stairs and thrown back to the floor of his room. "Now, stay in there!" Bob yelled, now suddenly sounding as if he had been furious all along, and he stepped out of the room and slammed the door shut, and locked it, behind him.
"Vinnie, go get some fixative," Snap heard Bob say from behind the door.
"We don't have any!" he replied.
"Then go buy some!" Bob shouted. Snap heard the door where the three of them made their plans close, and everything was silent again except for the now louder and steadier sound of the rain lashing against the sides of the building.