So... after seeing how happy you guys were that Milton came back, I've come to the conclusion that you all will hate me for this chapter. I've even worn my safety gear *a bullet-proof vest, a football helmet, and a baby porcupine who's quills are covered in a sedative*.
Disclaimer: If I owned Kickin' It, there would be a lot more angst, and Leo's hair would be exactly how perfect-long it was in the third season instead of how okay-now-that's-too-long like it is in the fourth season.
The fifth floor seems to be the most terrifying floor yet.
Picture this: a large room, about as big as a gym. We're on one side, the door's on the other. And in between us are large rocks with flat surfaces on top.
Floating rocks.
Floating rocks that DROP AT RANDOM INTERVALS.
There is no pattern to the drops whatsoever. As we stand here for like five minutes (too scared to go across), one will shake for about a second, drop, and then appear somewhere else. I remember playing computer games like this as a kid, where you're supposed to get the character without falling. Only, then, you had an unlimited number of lives, and the character never dies a grisly death.
As if that's not bad enough, the "blood thirsty creatures" that Kiara mentioned are underneath them. If one of us fall and the impact doesn't kill us, then the dogs surely will. I count at least six of them, but it looks like there's more. They're constantly moving around, so I can't tell.
Victor gives us a brief history of the patient on this floor; her name was Kamali, age twenty-three. She had some sort of weird personality thing in which she believed she was some kind of wolf. In reality, she was a cannibal. She killed people, ate what she wanted, and then left the remains out for the four vicious dogs that she kept as pets (though she claimed they were her 'pack').
Jack noticed a broken camera in the corner, the kind used to film something live. I remember that Kiara said that Halowane and her cameraman never made it out. The thought makes me sick to my stomach.
Jerry randomly mentions that he's hungry. In some sort of desperate attempt at a distraction, we all agree with him. Kiara gets out her AnyThings from Heidi's floor and we all dine on whatever it is we choose. My mind gruesomely compares it to a prisoner's last dinner before execution.
After finishing our meals, we finally stand up to face the music. That is, if the growling of blood-thirsty, human-eating beasts can be considered music. But, noise to one person is music to another, so to Kamali this must have been—
"We're screwed," Jerry says softly, snapping my out of my morbid thoughts. Spoken like a true Jerry.
"Maybe if we run across?" I suggest. 'So that if we fall then the drop would kill us instead of being eaten?' Ok, I'm kind of scared by how dark my thoughts are.
"That's not a good idea," Milton says. "One of them could easily just drop out from underneath your feet, and that momentum would make you fall."
"Well, walking isn't exactly the smartest idea either, is it?" Jack says, his tone hinting at a bit of unnecessary sarcasm. I flash him a look, but he doesn't catch it.
"One at a time, then, quickly but efficiently. The others can tell the person going when a rock is going to drop," Kiara states.
Milton purses his lips. "That could work."
Surprisingly, Jerry offers to go first. "Might as well get it over with…"
He goes across, and we watch, shouting warnings when needed, until he safely gets across. We proceed like that, one by one. There was a heart-stopping moment as I was going across, when the rock I was going to step on dropped and I had to change direction at the last second. I grabbed onto another one, and I could feel the monsters underneath me barking and jumping to get at my frantically kicking feet. But then, another rock came up underneath me and lifted me up.
Finally, the only ones of us left are Kiara and Milton. I can't hear what they're saying, but Kiara seems to be terrified of going across. She covers her face with her hands and backs away from the edge, her shoulders shaking. She's crying.
I close my eyes. She has to come across. We can't lose her just because she's too scared to come across. We were all terrified of going across, but we still did it.
"Come on, Kiara," Jack mutters quietly.
Milton puts her hands on her shoulders and says something. She slides her hands off of her face and shakes her head. Milton says something else. She nods. Milton removes his hands from her shoulders. She grabs his hand. Milton looks a little bit uncomfortable they both turn to the edge of the ledge. They're going across together.
We watch with bated breath as they gingerly step from one rock to another. Slowly, they make their way to our side. A fourth of the way. A third of the way. Halfway.
And then Kiara falls.
Those of us watching gasp as the rock underneath her drops from beneath her feet. She grabs onto the first thing she can, which is Milton's hand. Jack immediately goes to help, but he retreats when the rock he steps on rumbles in warning.
Milton struggles to pull Kiara up, slowly pulling her body upwards. But then, the rock he's kneeling on shakes…
…and falls.
I'm not sure how many of us scream, but I know it's not only the two that fall that do. I'm vaguely aware of Jack releasing me and surging forward to help. The next few minutes pass by in a blur as I sink down to my knees, numb, covering my ears in a desperate attempt to block out the sound.
First Eddie. Now Milton and Kiara.
Who's next?
Jack pounds furiously at an invisible barrier that suddenly bars him from going to his friend and sister. It can only be the work of Victoria. Jerry is standing off to the side, head bowed and clenched fists shaking. Deep down, Jack has to know that he can't do anything for them, that Victoria's only doing this so he doesn't get himself killed. I think he's just in denial. How could they have possibly survived? That knife or blade or whatever it is that Milton had can't possibly do much against the many beasts down there.
I try to voice my thoughts, but the words get stuck in my throat.
Suddenly, I realize that I can't hear Milton and Kiara anymore. My stomach drops. I sit down and curl in on myself, rocking gently and crying.
Jack's fists slow from their onslaught against the barrier, the banging turning into half-hearted taps. He slides down to his knees, resting his forehead against the obstacle with his hands on either side of his head. His shoulders shudder with silent sobs. Him giving up completely squashes the little flutter of hope that I don't realize I have until it's gone. I bury my face in my knees.
I don't know how much time passes, but we end up gravitating towards each other, like when Eddie died, only there's less of one another to crave comfort from. Jerry is sitting down and leaning against the wall. His eyes are red, and he sniffles every few seconds and wipes at his face. I scoot over and sit next to him. He leans his head on my shoulder.
Jack wanders over after a while and sits down on my other side, hesitantly grabbing my hand and squeezing. Tears stream down his face unheeded. I refuse to think of the last time I saw him cry. After a second, I squeeze back.
We started out with six. Our numbers are now half that amount. We have four more floors left to go after this one.
Can we possibly survive?
"I feel they're getting closer / Their howls are sending chills down my spine."
— Within Temptation, The Howling
As mentioned in the author's note at the bottom of the last chapter, due to poor planning on my part (sorry!) the rest of the chapters are gonna be short, just like this one. I'm really sorry, but there was a certain number of floors they were supposed to go through for each chapter and I broke the quota for a lot of them... I thought it wouldn't matter but they added up. So... sorry. Again. Review?
Until next time,
~BP
P.S. I want you guys to know that constructive criticism is welcome. Very welcome, in fact.
