Lori: Oh man, you guys. Another update!
To Golden-Heart: You need to get an account on here girlie! You always leave such nice reviews on all our stories but there's no way to say thanks. I'll just say it here, thanks for all the great reviews :)
Jaeh: My fault it took long. T.T Here goes!
Devin led Riley right up to the entrance of the funhouse and grinned down at him manically. My own special little toy! The first one that lasted this long! He wanted to squeeze every last bit he could out of Riley, before it was time to stop playing.
"Oh, little Riley. You get to be my little mousey now. It'll be so much fun!"
Riley didn't respond to his tormenter. Devin placed his hand lightly on Riley's back and grinned when he felt a shudder run through the young man. "Come on, now," he chuckled, shoving Riley into the funhouse. Devin looked about, grinning at his handiwork. It was dark, exactly how he wanted. He, of course, knew where everything was stationed, lying in wait for its unsuspecting prey.
Devin sensed Riley's fear increasing by the moment. His toy's breathing sped up, and he began to shake again. Devin smiled and deliberately slid his hand around Riley's shoulders in a faux comforting manner. He could tell Riley wanted to pull away, but wouldn't dare to. Devin laughed inwardly, taking pleasure in the little wisps of fear that he got from his plaything.
"Here's where I set you loose in my little maze," Devin said conversationally. "Mice are considered vermin. And what do we do with vermin, Riley?"
"K-kill them," Riley whispered.
Devin laughed heartily. "Well, yes. Obviously. But you're missing a step. No, we set up traps. Sometimes these traps are worse than if we simply just kill the critter." His voice slowed, enunciating each word with menace and delight. "They're left to die a slow and painful death. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Y-yes…" Riley answered, fear emanating from him, and Devin smiled deliciously. Then Riley whimpered, as Devin tightened his grip over his arms.
"My personal favorite would have to be the sticky traps. When a mouse gets stuck on one, there's no way for them to get off unless they tear off a limb."
Devin smiled fondly at Riley. "I'll give you a word of advice, Riley. Don't touch the walls." He patted Riley on the head. "This is a maze, and you're my little mouse. And if you're the mouse, think of me as the cat. And cats love playing with their food." He leaned closer to Riley. "And like a mouse, you need to not make a peep; otherwise the cat will find you and gobble you up."
Riley shook like a leaf, but didn't retort anything back. Devin grinned. "I have to say Riley – I enjoy this nice obedient state you're in."
Devin squeezed Riley's arm again and smiled when the younger man moaned in pain. He wanted to make sure Riley recalled the pain inflicted on him, reminding the young man that Devin would always be a step behind him.
"Listen carefully, Riley…" Devin stroked the side of Riley's cheek. Riley tried to flinch away but Devin held his face still. "You've been such a good toy for me. I'm really having a blast, so I'll give you an ultimatum. Now, I normally don't do this, but with you I'll make an exception. If you can get escape from this maze, and not be caught, I'll let you go."
He watched Riley's eyes widen slightly. Devin chuckled and patted the side of Riley's face. "That's right, little Riley. You're one of my favorites, and so I'll give this one to you, okay?" Devin explained, like how one would explain things to a child. "I'll give you a bit of a head start, before I go after you. So I suggest you hurry up." A little smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and he ran fingers through Riley's hair, and Riley turned his head away.
Then he shoved Riley away from himself. Riley stumbled a few steps, still staring at Devin. Devin grinned at him and pulled out a stopwatch. "Well, I'd get going if I were you."
Riley turned and ran into the darkness. Devin chuckled to himself and leaned back, looking down at the quickly increasing numbers. Your time is almost up my little pet. Then the real fun will begin…
He clicked the stopwatch off at two minutes. Devin grinned to himself, and started stalking forward. "Ready or not, here I come."
"Riley! Olly olly oxen free! Come out come out wherever you are!"
The voice echoed in the maze, bouncing against walls. It sounded disembodied and surreal, and the creep factor of the funhouse increased a hundred times. Goosebumps broke out on Riley's skin, and despite the cool, dark corridors, he was sweating.
"Have to get out have to get out have to get out…" He whispered, repeating the phrase like a mantra. Riley came to a fork, and he glanced about anxiously to see where he should go. "Have to get out. Left or right? Dammit." He took a left, and promptly tripped over something, barely suppressing a yelp.
Riley backed up, and pulled his leg back. Whatever he tripped on hooked into his skin, and he bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming as he pulled it out. Blood trickled, and Riley felt cautiously for whatever tripped him. It was a long stretch of wire with pointy sections – barbed wire, apparently, and he stumbled back to go the other way.
Riley stretched his hand out in the darkness. Pinpricks of light shone through the ceiling, hitting small spots of floor and wall here and there. He held out a hand to the wall, and then remembered Devin's little tip about the wall's sticky paper. He drew back, and got on his hands and knees. He didn't know where he was headed. It was just so dark and he didn't know where he was going…
Intersection. Left, Right, or forward? Riley opted for another left, hoping that there would be no surprises this time. In the distance, blinking lights – black lights, the one that made white clothes glow weirdly, shone in the corridor. Riley hurried towards it and stopped under its disconcerting glow. He looked left and right, reaching another intersection, and decided to go left. There was some sort of faint light in the distance, coming from a possible sizeable hole in the wall, enough for Riley to peep through. He rushed in blindly, and headed straight into something sharp and he yelped audibly this time, and jumped back.
He fell to the ground, and Riley's hands immediately went to his foot. It felt like it was impaled by shards of glass – which, he soon found out, was indeed glass. He repressed the urge to moan, but came out with a squeak anyway.
Someone laughed from…from somewhere. He couldn't tell; the voice seemed to come from everywhere. "Ha, you're sounding more and more like a mouse, Riley. A squeak, eh? Have you found the traps yet? Of course you have. You squeaked like a small, terrified little rat who's about to get caught!" Devin declared in a sing-song voice. "Come on Riley, enough of the silly games! Oh wait; I wanted you to play this one!" Devin let out a disturbing giggle, and Riley shuddered. He grabbed the shards of glass to pull them out – the huge ones, anyway – and ran back in the opposite direction. Riley's fear tightened in his stomach. He imagined Devin catching up to him, grabbing him… cutting him again and again, Riley chest seemed to burn with fresh pain – NO! Riley thought angrily to him himself. I have to concentrate. I have to get out of here… I can't make noise.
The yelp had given away his position. He cursed inwardly. The whole funhouse was void of sound except for some clinking sounds – what they were, Riley didn't want to know – and occasional heavy padding of feet, presumably Devin's. Riley's feet were light on the cemented floor. He bet that he was leaving bloody footprints because of that damned glass, and the fact that he was leaving a trail for Devin to find annoyed him more than the possible new traps of pain that waited for him as he ran blindly forward into –
"ACK!" Riley screamed this time. Something hooked into his shoulder, and he pulled at it. He felt a small piece of his skin come off with it – and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming. He didn't know what it was, but he promptly dropped and crawled on the ground to keep from the dangling hooks. Pain… pain was nothing new to him now. Coupled with the cuts on his arms and chest, a cut on his shoulder seemed trivial.
Riley crawled forward, and promptly reached a dead-end. But there was a hole in the lower portion of the wall, and he peeked outside. He blinked away the lights, and looked for anything familiar in the distance. There was nothing, and so he turned back. He took a left at some point – he didn't know where he was going anymore, but something screamed at him to get a move on. Maybe it was his instincts, or maybe it was the sudden heavy footsteps he heard close to him.
"Riley! Come on, don't be afraid! I won't hurt you!"
"Like hell you won't…" Riley murmured under his breath. He shook his head, trying not to imagine what Devin would do if he caught him. Riley ran faster as thoughts still ran unbidden through his head. He ducked under iron nails and mannequin hands hanging in the ceiling. He turned another left, and tripped on a thick rope. That gave his head a pretty good bang, but Riley paid it no mind. Whatever was in front of him was more important than a little head bump.
It was a small mouse trap – the one that snaps close when something toggles the cheese or the switch. He crawled back a little, and stood up. Small lights hit the floor from the ceiling, and illuminated some spots in the floor. It was filled with traps, from those snapping bear traps with the huge teeth to the small traps for mice. Riley's eyes widened in fear, and he stumbled back to turn around another corner.
Then he stopped. Something kept on tugging at the corner of his mind, and he frowned. There has to be a reason why these traps are here, and not in the other corridors. His mind reasoned, and he bit the inside of his cheek in thought. But what was it? Why could it possibly be – he's herding me. Riley clenched his fists in anger. He's herding me towards one direction, so that he could find me easily. He knows every nook and cranny of this place and… He's driving me to one spot so – damn!
Riley gritted his teeth, and stepped over the rope he tripped on. He stared at the traps determinedly, and started to kick them to one side. He's expecting me to run through this blindly… He clenched his fists again, and almost kicked and set off a trap. He stopped, and took a deep breath. He waded through the snares with great precaution, and managed to reach the other side without damage.
Then he broke into another run. He turned a right, and saw a bed of nails put together with squares of plywood. He stretched his arms, and started pushing at the bed. It budged after a few more tries, and Riley exerted his exhausted and pained body and pushed it until he reached an intersection, and managed to slip right.
That was when he saw it in the distance.
Stars. He saw stars. And fluorescent lights. He expected another dead end, but dead-ends didn't contain stars or fluorescent lights. Riley almost whooped for joy, and started forward.
Then he saw his last obstacle. It was a bed of coals – glowing red-hot coals, laid on the floor. The embers were on fire.
Oh God, how am I gonna go through that?!
Hope seemed to fade from Ben's vocabulary as they searched for the fun house. He rounded another corner. He knew that time was running out, and each second that he didn't find Riley… I don't even want to think what that psycho might do to him.
They passed another circus tent and Ben shuddered as he recalled the events before. The image of Riley just hanging there like a rag doll still haunted Ben. He doubted he would ever scrub it away from his psyche.
"Both of you, follow me. It's the first building we were in, near the front of the carnival." Ian hurried forward with Ben and Abigail in tow.
Ben glanced at Ian, and Abigail followed his line of sight, and looked back at Ben. "When the FBI arrives, they'll take him back."
Ben nodded. "He'll go back to prison, yes."
Abigail almost looked sad, and shook her head. "He helped us, Ben."
"He broke the law, Abigail." Ben nodded, and sighed. "I know he helped. But he broke the law. A single sin outweighs all the good one has done. And he's the one who started this whole thing in the first place. Jail is where he belongs."
Abigail sighed, and walked forward, pulling on Ben's hand. "Come on."
They stopped in front of the building, the giant grinning face of the clown staring at them, almost seeming to mock them.
"Ben-" Abigail began, but then stopped talking, and seemed to be straining to hear something. "Do you hear that?" she gasped.
Ben nodded and whirled around toward the gate. "Sirens!"
Dozens of vehicle pulled up short including, and ambulance, fire truck, police cars and a SWAT vehicle. Abigail exhaled gratefully and placed a hand on Ben's arm. Ben blinked rapidly at the lights and noise and then gasped at the person sprinting toward him.
"Peter!" Abigail shouted as he came up to them. "Oh my God – you have to help us – he has Riley–"
"I need you to calm down Ms. Chase," Sadusky said firmly. "I'll get the whole story from you later." He glanced around, as if looking for someone. "But where is our friend Mr. Howe?"
Abigail and Ben spun around only to see that Ian had disappeared. Ben shook his head, and glanced at Abigail. Her head shook slightly, and Ben's mouth straightened into a thin line. "He left."
Abigail frowned, and glanced at Ben. "He ran off. Of course he would run off."
"Get a team looking for Ian Howe," Sadusky shouted to a police officer who nodded at him and began shouting directions.
Sadusky turned back to Ben and Abigail. "The police will escort you back, you can't be out here, it's too dangerous."
"Peter, Riley is out there, and who knows what the psychopath is doing to him!" Ben shouted, desperation in his voice. Sadusky had never heard Ben sound so scared before, Abigail knew, but the man sighed with sympathy and looked at Ben in the eye.
"I have a pretty good idea what he's doing to him. Devin Osmand was on our most wanted list for years before we finally caught up with him. He was hired by clients to either kill or torture people, either for information or their amusement. He's a sadistic psychopath, and extremely dangerous. He's always a step ahead of everyone, and I'm willing to bet this whole carnival is booby trapped."
"But Riley-" Abigail began to implore. Riley needs –
"Listen to me," Sadusky said urgently. "The SWAT team is going to cover every inch of this place –"
A sudden deafening roar filled the area, and flames burst up all around them. Shouts sounded all around them, and Abigail and Sadusky were thrown to the ground. Sadusky positioned himself to shield her, and Abigail threw hands over her head. When the smoke cleared, Abigail watched firemen valiantly trying to put out the flames. She was still a little disconcerted, and Sadusky helped her to her feet.
"A bomb. I knew he rigged this place," Sadusky cursed under his breath. Abigail never heard him curse before, and she paused to look at him worriedly. With these circumstances, though, she felt like she was about to let loose with a few curses, herself.
Abigail's eyes darted around the place, looking for Ben's familiar comforting presence. The bomb had frightened her, though she wouldn't admit it aloud. She went pale when she realized that she couldn't find him anywhere – it was like he disappeared. Oh my G- did something happen to Ben?! "Ben!" she screamed. "Where's Ben?!"
Ben had run forward in the confusion, only looking back to see Abigail safely pulled from harm's way by Sadusky. He thought he heard someone call his name, but he ran into the funhouse. Asking Sadusky politely to let Ben help look for Riley wouldn't work, so he headed straight for where he thought Riley was.
As he entered, he was struck but the sudden immediate silence that engulfed him. The sirens and shouts were rendered completely silent. It was as if someone hit the mute button; all he could hear was his own heavy breathing and heart pounding in his ears. Ben blinked, trying to get his eyes used to the darkness.
Riley… where IS he? "RILEY!" Ben shouted the name, but it seemed like it was being swallowed up by the darkness. "Come on buddy," he yelled, his voice catching. "Where are you?"
Then he heard another voice, exhausted, terrified, pained and hopeful at the same time. "Ben?"
"Oh my God," Ben gasped. He's here – he's alive – I'm coming Riley! "Yeah. Yeah it's me. I'm going to come get you, j-just stay where you are." He began to run forward.
"No…NO! Ben- don't come any closer, there's-" Riley's voice suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and Ben stopped in horror. Riley?! Oh my God – what... "RILEY?!"
Riley stared at the broiling coals and repressed the urge to howl in frustration and fury. There's no other way around is there… he thought blandly to himself. Fine! It's not like my feet haven't been unscathed throughout this anyway.
Riley inhaled, mustering up some semblance of bravery, trying to convince himself not to think of the pain. He stepped forward - but he couldn't. He was caught in something invisible; it was preventing him from going forward. Desperate to get it off himself, he stumbled backwards and hit the wall. Riley blinked. Oh SHIT. He tried tugging himself off, to no avail. The more he struggled the more stuck he become. His arms and back were pinned to the wall. He even tried to rip his shirt off, but everything was just stuck and he panicked. NO, NO, NO how could I have been so STUPID!? He screamed in his own head, still desperately trying to peel himself off. I walked right into his hands…
He let out a sigh that came out more as a sob. So this is what a fly feels like… waiting for the spider to come and suck it dry… He hung his head, silent tears trickling down his face. He tried pulling again, but the attempt went nowhere. He stopped, and stood limp and defeated. He couldn't move, couldn't do anything but wait.
When he heard Ben's voice he thought it was a delusion, brought upon by exhaustion or the fact that he wanted to escape so much. But then when he heard Ben's voice again, he dared to hope.
He heard the panic in it, but he heard the promise behind the words, and that gave him more hope than he ever had during the ordeal. Ben was going to find him. Even if he came too late, Ben wouldn't break his promise. He would search for Riley.
Riley barely had the energy to call back. "Ben?"
"Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah it's me. I'm gonna come get you, j-just stay where you are."
Then Riley's heart plummeted. Ben was walking right into the trap, just like he did. He had to warn him. "No…NO! Ben- don't come any closer, there's-"
A hand was clamped over Riley's mouth. NO! Devin had caught him. "Well, well, looks like I caught a fly in my web after all."
Riley tried to shout again but his words were smothered in Devin's hand. "Aww…. Did you want to warn your little friend over there? Sorry 'bout that," Devin sneered. Riley struggled but he was held fast to the wall. He screamed, but Devin's hand muffled everything, and his scream was reduced to a moan.
"I'm sorry this had to end," Devin whispered over Riley's panicked, harsh breathing. "I enjoyed this."
Riley whimpered and thrashed, trying to peel himself off, but he couldn't move. He didn't care if his skin came off, he had to get away. He tugged at his arms, but Devin held him fast, and tears of frustration streaked down Riley's face.
"No, no, no… shhh," Devin murmured, stroking Riley's hair. "It's all over now Riley. Game over."
Ben… oh God, don't let Ben get trapped too…
He felt a sudden sharp prick in his neck and his body numbed over. A moment later darkness completely engulfed him.
Jaeh: -stares- O.O
Lori: O_O Oh. My. Gosh. Please read and review!!!