Trust in Him

Chapter 7: Through the Looking Glass

Previously:

The tape ended its message with a click. "…Diane?" he said to himself. Why was a name so unfamiliar to him important now? "Who the fuck is Diane!" He turned to the girls where he might find an answer. All he found was one face filled with revulsion and another showing growing rage. He tried to say something, only to be decked by a single punch from Teresa. Albert sat on the mirrors with hand on his cheek surprised of what happened.

"Diane…was a friend of mine." Teresa said, holding her aching hand close to her. Her hand felt like it pounded on a wall. "And she was Brian's fiancée."

Brian lay on his stomach feeling the cold floor of the room he was locked in. It had been exactly thirty minutes since everyone left him there, cold, alone and desperate. He had been pulling at his chain, clawing at the shackle locked around his ankle, but all of his attempts would end in naught. He screamed for help, his voice just barely audible through the walls.

He was locked away for his decisions, his choice to help people. Did it make him a bad man to protect those who had ruined their own lives? Was defending those who needed a second chance at life make him a criminal? He was an honest, tax-paying, law abiding citizen and has a family to take care of. But all of that changed when she died.

Diane Carmine, the love of his life. Her death turned Brian's world on its head, the remains of their dream of a perfect life were left burning at her grave. She had died from a horrible car accident. He saw the car she used that day turned almost upside down with flames burning inside the car and outside, an image forever burned in his mind.

He received a call from a friend who told him Diane had been in an accident. It was terrible news. Immediately, he got inside his car and bolted to where Diane was. He couldn't bring himself to think of something horrible that could happen to her. "Please be okay. Please be okay." Brian kept praying as he sped through traffic.

Grayson and Keith weren't with him. They were with Brooke. This wasn't the time to bring them along. It would break their hearts if something were to happen to their mother.

When he got there, his face twisted in agony as he saw the wreck. An ambulance was there. It was starting to depart. They must've gotten Diane out of the car. That positive thought burned to ashes when an officer saw him and asked if he was Brian Michaelson. After he replied, he was handed a small purse that survived the fire and a small photo inside. Diane had died on the spot.

All of that raw emotion of anguish flow right out of his eyes as tears upon seeing the scene. There he cried, on his knees as the fire fighters put out the devouring flames on the vehicle. It had been the darkest day in his life. His life had fallen apart.

Soon afterwards he quit work, started locking himself in his room where he would grieve his loss day in day out, for a whole week. He even contemplated suicide, but couldn't bear abandon his sons. His two sons, one nearly an adult and the other just a mere child, but he was proud of them both. He just couldn't think of leaving them alone with memories of misery. His death would burden his beloved sister of the responsibility of caring for them. She had her life ahead of her, a goal to reach for, something Brian didn't have after Diane's passing. Everything was just a sad, miserable orchestra and he was just waiting for the final note to play. That was when everything would end.

For the first time since the week of Diane's death, he cried.

If somehow, someway he were to escape alive from the clutches of the killer who put him there he would change everything wrong in his life. He would spend every waking moment with his children and make amends to his sister. He would quit drinking and start living an honorable life, something he has been trying to accomplish for months. Just thinking about those times he had wronged those he loved filled him with heartache. Before he could, he would have to overcome his first problem to a new life. He would have escape.

-TiH TiH TiH TiH-

Who the fuck do you think you are?" Albert caressed his cheek that was now burning with pain. He tried to stand, eyes locked with Teresa, only to be pushed back down again.

"You," Teresa's voice shook with raw emotion. Albert didn't know that a woman her size was capable of such strength. But she only got lucky because he wasn't paying any attention to her. Now he was and she intended to get his full attention. "You ruined him. You ruined him!"

"And who are you to talk, huh? You're in here too. You must've done something to him too." Albert said. It was his turn to accuse her, even if he didn't know her connection to him. But that changed when she flinched. "That's right. You did something too? See, everyone in this is sick in the head!"

"Don't change the subject!" Sam stepped up beside Teresa. "You're still a fugitive for multiple counts of blackmail, rape and aggravated sexual assault. Nothing is ever going to change that! All those women you harmed, those women who were humiliated and killed, forced to live with a life threatening secret never being able to fight back because they were afraid that you'll ruin their careers. They've-" Albert threw a wild punch to her cheek, knocking her down to her side. Teresa let out a surprised gasp. She quickly rushed to her side and saw where he had hit her. Sam's cheek was beginning to swell as blood began to drip from her lips. Her hands gently touched the area, which made Sam flinch.

Albert shook his hand thrice to get some feeling back as he slowly approached the two. He took great pleasure in hitting Sam, almost giving him a moment's reprieve from his friend's death and from the psychological torture that Jigsaw had been endowed on them. Right now he didn't care about his test. It didn't make sense to him. What he was planning to do made sense to him.

The lights above him casted shadows that angled to cover the emotionless eyes from the two. He looked at the two with evil intentions. He reached past Teresa and grabbed a fistful of hair Sam's, forcing her to stand up. Instead of begging to be released, Sam tried to fight back. This made Albert slam the side of her face on one of the mirrors. The force of his brutal attack cracked the surface of Sam's reflection. When Sam moved against him, he slammed her against the mirror again just to make his point clear.

He was breathing down her neck, every breath sent a chilling wave down her spine, an act he enjoyed doing to his victims. Teresa sat there terrified, not knowing what to do. Even if his attention was focused on Sam she may need to watch what she says or do. She doesn't want anything bad to happen.

"You're right." Albert whispered in Sam's ear. "I am a criminal. It's an urge I can't fight. I admit it, I'm a predator. This….is my vice." Sam could feel his hand hover over her back as it slowly went down her spine. She gasped and tried to move, her resistance earned her another forceful push towards the mirror. The cracks on the surface grew longer, splitting Albert's facial reflection on the mirror as a long pointed piece fell off. "Question is, what are you going to do about it? You're a lawyer, you can figure it out, right?"

Teresa eyed the piece of glass that fell off. Albert's attention was fixated on the woman who had sought his capture long ago. Her hand shook as she slowly reached for the mirror fragment without making any sudden movements. "How about you, huh? You have tried everything in your power to win every case handed to you. What makes you any better than me?"

Her next move was critical. Sam's future rested in her hands. When her hand had finally made it to the fragment, she gave out a silent sigh to calm herself and gripped the fragment tightly. Its sharp edges tore the skin on her hand, cutting through the tissue and collided with the muscle as blood started to run out of the tear. She didn't notice this, her mind concentrating on what she planned on doing with the fragment. With a shout, she swung her arm towards Albert and the fragment stabbed the side of his knee.

The perverted film maker screamed upon feeling the sharp edge slice through his skin, the fragment implanting itself on the muscle until Teresa pulled it out a few moments later. Sam elbowed Albert off of her to free herself. She gave him a taste of his own medicine and pushed him face first into the glass he had damaged with her face. The mirror gave away, broken glass were now littered around them as Albert continued to cry out in pain. His face had been embedded with shards of glass, some fortunate enough to blind his left eye.

"God…damn." He muttered as he wiped the blood coming from his eye. He tried to open it and more blood came out. The wound on the side of his knee had already decorated his pant leg with enough blood that it stuck with the wound. Though he could barely see it, the clock had gone past the thirty minute mark and was now at twenty-nine minutes.

He was about to stand when Teresa pointed the sharp fragment towards his face, just mere centimeters away from his cheek. "Don't you dare move." The point of the fragment was dripping with blood, his blood. He raised his hands as a gesture of his surrender. He could notice her hand shaking, in fear perhaps or she was still surprised she had stabbed him. He would have grinned, but didn't want any more punishment. That choice would not be for him to decide.

Sam's skull ached with pain. Albert's actions had left an effect on her, her eyes blurred with the trauma she had suffered from him. Nonetheless, she saw the remains of the mirror she broke with Albert's face and was surprised at what she saw. There was a small hole behind the mirror. It was dark, but big enough for someone to reach in.

I want you to destroy your former self and begin your transformation. Reach out to the truth and you will find what you seek

That was what Jigsaw had meant in the tape. Albert needed to destroy the mirrors and see if the key was inside the holes. "Teresa. I know what to do now." Teresa saw the hole beside her and it got her gears to grind. Even Albert turned his head to see what the two women have discovered. Sam took the fragment from Teresa's hands and stood in front of Albert. "Stand up."

He looked at her with contempt and turned away. "I said stand up." Sam forced the fragment's edge against his cheek until he yelled at her. "You're going to do what that tape told you."

"Or what!" Albert shouted. Being told what to do was the biggest sin one could commit against Albert. He was a director before his criminal urges got the best of him. It was him who should order other people around, not the other way around.

"You'll follow the rules or you'll never see the light of day." Sam pushed the sharp edge against his skin until it ripped his skin. Blood seeped through the wound slowly, some sticking onto the mirror's surface.

Albert would have replied, but the situation had worsened for him. It may be two against one, the two being weak women he could take care of, but the traps around him could be used against him. Not if he could turn the tables to his favor. Sam saw his features twitch as he thought of a plan, which made her force the blade even harder, bringing him back to reality. "Are you going to follow the rules?"

Hesitantly, Albert moved his head to a nod. Sam smiled and pulled the mirror from his face. "Good. Now stand up." He stood up silently, carefully eyeing that piece of the mirror in the lawyer's hand. "Now, reach in that hole and see if you can find the key."

Albert's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He looked at the hole beside him and only saw darkness. It was a narrow mystery, one he can solve if he were to reach inside. "You're crazy. I'm not doing this by myself." The film maker said. "Even if I did I won't make it in time."

"That's why you won't." Sam then turned to Teresa, who stood idly after examining the hole behind the mirror. "You'll help him, isn't that right Teresa?" She may have trusted Sam, but the idea of helping scum like Albert didn't bode well with her. After much thinking in such a short amount of time, she finally agreed. "You start on the other side. He'll start over here."

Teresa walked over to the other side of the platform and checked the mirrors. After the lights being turned on, she had just noticed how filthy the room was. Aside from its walls and pipes all over the room being covered in rust, the floor was littered with garbage. Even the platform they were standing on had its own collection or trash. Scattered pieces of paper covered most of the reflective floor. Dirt was smudged all over mirrors, almost blocking Teresa's image.

Although she agreed to help, there was no way she could break the mirrors all by herself. Brute force was not her forte. She needed an aid, something to strike the mirrors with and maybe, just maybe, she could find what they were looking for. Then she spotted a small pipe right at the edge of the platform.

"Hey Sam, maybe this could help." She tossed the pipe towards her direction and it landed near her feet. "I'll try getting this one."

Sam picked up the rusty pipe and pushed Albert to the side. She grasped the pipe with both hands after putting the fragment in her hands inside her pockets and gave one of the mirrors a solid whack. The mirror made a circular crack right where she hit it. Sam then shoved the pipe horizontally exactly on the crack and the rusty conduit went through the glass. Parts near the crack fell off and were followed by more as Sam tried to clean out the edges. "Have fun." She handed the pipe to the bloody Albert, his injured eye almost giving her a glare.

As they were breaking one mirror at a time, Teresa looked for another pipe she could use for herself. In her search she found a plank of wood right near the edge of the platform. Another barrage of glass being shattered came as she walked towards the plank. Albert reached inside the hole and suddenly screamed. Teresa looked sideways, seeing Albert's arm now scratched and cut everywhere. The sleeve of his shirt wasn't enough to protect the skin underneath it as it looked like it went through barbed wire. The bloody sight made her foot accidentally knock the plank off the platform and on a red tile, activating it. The gun above the tile discharged, a loud boom almost tearing through their ear drums.

"Teresa, what the hell-?" Sam turned towards her out of concern. In that moment, Albert took the opportunity and hit Sam with the pipe across the back. Before she could react, Albert grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her to his side right near the edge. Teresa almost went for the weapon Sam held before Albert's attack, but stopped at the sight of Sam standing over the end of the platform right underneath the shotguns with the only thing keeping her alive was the criminal with the bloodied eye.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," He said with a wincing smile. "That is if you want her to die."

He tossed the pipe towards Teresa and pointed to the wall of mirrors behind her. "I'm tired of breaking these mirrors. It's your turn now."

"But YOU'RE supposed to do it. It's you test!" Her voice rose to a level Albert didn't like. He gently pushed Sam towards the shotguns but didn't let go. His hostage gave out a panicked shriek after seeing the shotguns positioned above her. "Okay, okay. I'll do it." She took the pipe from the floor and got up slowly.

"Now be good girl and hurry up." Albert pulled Sam against him and took the piece of broken glass in his hands so he can threaten her with it. Teresa had already begun on one mirror, her swings definitely weaker than his. She eventually broke through, revealing another hole. She immediately looked back on Albert's arm, the disgusting effect of reaching inside the dark hole. With no choice, she put her left hand in slowly at first.

When her wrist was inside, she could feel something around the hole. It was cold and sharp. Broken glass. There was broken glass placed inside the hole. She could feel her skin being torn away as she delved deeper. As soon as her elbow was in, her pain would turn into torture. Unmerciful spikes replaced the glass, puncturing and stabbing her arm as she squirmed in pain. "Now you know how I feel." Albert said behind her.

Teresa's arm filled the hole and yet there was nothing valuable inside. She drew out her arm gently, trying to lessen the punishment it took when she was reaching in. "Nothing." said Teresa, clutching her arm.

"What do you mean "nothing"?" Albert pointed to the other mirrors with the makeshift blade made out of glass. "Keep looking."

Sam wanted to struggle out of Albert's hold. Punch him, kick him, anything to get out, but they were in a room where one mistake they could make might be their last. So instead of fighting, she just stood still as Albert threatened Teresa continuously as she tried to break another mirror. Sam isn't entirely helpless. She is always thinking. Every good lawyer had to be smart to survive in a courtroom where everyone was bound to a certain set of rules. Even now she was bound to her a set of rules, her own rules. First rule: always try to find a way out.

Teresa had already broken another mirror and was already reaching in with her left arm once again. The cuts were now longer and deeper making it easier for the harmful obstacles to puncture the muscles. After a few moments, she was again at the end of her reach. Again, nothing. Before Albert could bark more order at her to hurry up, she swung at another mirror with the pipe and broke it in three more swings.

There was about twenty four minutes left on the timer on the wall. The more time she spent worrying about herself, the more possible the collar around her neck would explode. She used her right arm to reach in. Her left arm had suffered more than she had expected. Blood dripped from her wounds, some droplets would come down on her other cuts. All of her suffering would end when she felt a small object pass her fingers. She straightened and felt the object again. It's the key. "I think I found it."

Albert's smile grew ear to ear. "Wonderful." He pushed Sam aside and walked up towards Teresa. "Pull it out."

She twisted her arm so she can grab the key with her fingers. Once she had it in her grasp, she pulled the key and her arm out. The three didn't know that he key was tied to another trap. Above the hole Teresa had clawed in, the mirror hid a Colt Python .357 Magnum positioned as if it were held by a living being. Its long silver nose pointed towards the mirror and loaded with a single bullet. The trigger was tied to the key underneath it by thread of thick yarn. Upon its pulling, the revolver was activated, firing the bullet outside and hit Albert.

The film maker fell to the ground and immediately yelled out in agony. The bullet had entered and exited through his right shoulder. Blood exited from his wound as Teresa looked on, her hands on her mouth. Sam didn't waste any more time by taking the key from her, putting it in the keyhole and deactivated the tiles. The red lights turned to white, the door that was unreachable earlier now swung open.

Teresa looked at Sam and then at Albert, who was trying hard to get up on his own accord. "What do we do with him? Leave him here to die like what he and Christian did to Brian?"

"No." Sam shockingly replied. She even surprised herself after all he's done to her. "Jigsaw said that we needed to change ourselves for the better. We're doing that by not letting anybody else die."

"How…..touching." groaned Albert. He was already sitting at the edge of the platform while the two conversed.

"Shut up. We're not wasting any more time." Sam took the pipe from Teresa's hands and nudged Albert forward. "Lead the way."