Darry's POV…

I yawned. It was finally the end of the day. All that was left is to check up on Ponyboy and Soda and make sure they made it to bed. I rapped on the door before opening it. My eyes immediately zoomed in on the lump on Soda's bed then to Ponyboy's. No lump. Where the hell was that boy? Curfew was a half hour ago. I walked up to Soda, shaking him awake. Soda grumbled, peeking out at him from one eye.

"Mmm?" Soda grumbled.

"Have you seen Ponyboy?"

"Pony? No… Why?"

"He's not in bed."

"What?"

I bit my lip. "This is important. When was the last time you saw him?"

I knew that Ponyboy stuck to Soda, Two-Bit, or Johnny and Ponyboy was smart enough to come back to his room or to not leave. But what if he did try to leave?

"This morning."

Blood running cold, I ran out of the room. "Sound the alarms."

In seconds the corridors filled up with red light and rushing people.

"Hey, Superman." Steve jogged up to me. "What happened?"

"Ponyboy's missing."

Steve shook his head. "He's not the only one that's missing. Johnny and Dally are too."

o-o-o

Ponyboy's POV…

My hands were clamped over my ears, eyes squeezed shut. I tried to imagine myself in another place: home. Yeah, that seems nice. Home. I thought about sitting in my room, book in hand, wrapped up in a blanket. I thought about the pat on my head each morning before having to go to school. The warm smile before being forced to the hellhole. The hellhole that maybe was where my schizophrenia completely developed. Developed like the cliques in school; like the weak circle of freaks each with faces that were the wrong answer on a test. My face was also the smudge left behind.

The screams that passed through my fingers were just like mine when I was dragged inside the closet. My screams made it feel like my throat was tightening. Made it feel like the noose – the only thing holding me up in this world—was about to snap my neck.

Words were growled and they really got to me. I tried to lock them out, but in reality I was only locking myself in with the insults.

I had no clue of how long I stayed in the dark closet with the bullies looming over me when the door opened, flooding the closet with light brighter than a flash of lightning. The kids scrambled away from me, eyes wide like they were deer caught in headlights. After getting over the phase they bolted out of the room, leaving me and the man behind. The man with the bloodstained garbs almost invisible to the eye. But I saw it. I saw the red blood on his white clothes causing black stains. I saw his fingers twitch uneasily. I saw his eyes follow mine to his clothes. And I have never seen anything more terrifying.

I had to open my eyes again to block the memory from appearing in my head. Then: silence. Only a sharp inhale and a groan sounded. I peaked my eyes towards the medical table, regretting it. Bob wasn't moving; wasn't breathing. He was dead.

Bob's body was lifted up and throw in the fire pit. All I could do was watch in horror as the fire consumed his body, the room filling up with the smell of burning flesh.

"Who wants to go next?"

Survival of the fittest… As soon as I thought that, I felt guilty. Why did I think that? Was I really that afraid that I would make sure that I would push them towards that madman? What was I thinking? It's not like it would change anything if they were placed on the table before me. We will all end up dead in the end. He will not be caught. Our bodies will not be found or recognized. We will all be turned to ashes.

The flames that flickered nearby smiled at me, motioning me with its ghastly hands. It's calm demeanor and warm eyes gave me chills. I didn't want to grasp its hand, letting it hug me in its arms. I want to move farther away.

Someone… help me…

The lock to my cage jangled, door swinging open. A hand grabbed my arm and dragged me out. I struggled against the psychopaths hold, trying to rip myself free – trying to save myself. I squirmed in his hold, only making the grip tighter. I kicked my leg, trying to come in contact with him. Finally, I bit down on his hand, making me taste his blood. He yelped, dropping me instinctively.

"You little bitch!" He cursed and went out to reach for me again. But I scrambled up to my feet and sprinted towards the door, fiddling with the lock. I had to open this lock to free myself from the room. Free myself from torture. I can't stay trapped here any longer. I swung open the door, a hand grabbing onto my clothes, but I elbowed back on what was behind me. There was a crack and then I stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind me and I ran down a hallway, not knowing where I was going. An alarm blared, but I passed that off as nothing.

"Whoa! Ponyboy?" I had bumped into Two-Bit. "You okay? What happened?"

"T-Two-Bit." I stumbled with my words, hands still shaking.

"Everyone was searching for you. Where were you?"

"There you are! Where the heck were you?" Darry stomped over to us, glaring. But I couldn't think straight. I kept thinking back to Johnny and Dally, how I left them behind for my safety. I could have saved them.

"Jo-Johnny and D-Dally—"

"What about them?"

"Taken—"

"By whom?"

"Golly, Darry, let the boy speak!" Cherry said, walking over worriedly. She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and I'll be lying if I didn't say that it didn't comfort me. I took a deep breath. I explained what I just went through.

"What do we do?" I whimpered.

Two-Bit laughed at my question. "I know what we can do."

o-o-o

I just realized there is only going to be one more chapter. I'm sort of relieved in the same time sad. This fanfiction kept getting me into writer's block situations and I'm glad I won't have to deal with that. But I'm sad that some of my readers won't read my future stories. But at least I know some of you will :) My Outsider family, love you all. 3

Also! A Poll is now up on my profile for my next fanfiction. So that's a thing. You should check that out.

Replies:

Pony'sgirlfriend: You'll have to read and find out . As much as I love to give out spoilers, I must not.

staygold-fandom: Aaron Wright is THE man. The whole director and tormentor.

The Curtis Crew: Thanks, I tried .

Seth Clearwater: You'll see if they do next chapter.