Square One

Amanda's P.O.V.

Amanda opened her eyes to be staring at a piercing white ceiling. The shock and its brightness forced Amanda to bolt upright in her hospital bed. A nurse came over right away to see what the commotion was.

She said to Amanda, "Mrs. Faulkner? Do you know where you are?

Amanda replied, "Yeah, a hospital. Where's Adam?"

The nurse answered, "He's over in the recovery room next door. You're daughter Natalie is quite the hero. If she had waited another minute to call an ambulance your husband wouldn't be alive. We were able to get him in to surgery right away. He-"

Amanda interrupted, "Surgery?"

"Yes," the nurse answered, "His lungs collapsed from having that panic attack. I've seen him before. Wasn't he one of the only people that survived one of Jigsaw's traps?"

Amanda snapped, "They were tests, not traps."

The nurse threw her hands up almost as if she just surrendered a fight or maybe it was just in aggravation.

Amanda called after her as she walked away, "Can I go see him? Adam I mean."

The nurse replied, "I guess, but if he's still sleeping come right back."

Amanda walked down the hospital corridor for what seemed to be hours (even if she was walking next door.) She finally found the next door that said Recovery written on it in white letters. Quietly opening the door she slipped inside to see Adam lying in his bed with his eyes half open. Upon seeing Amanda his eyes lit up with hope like the day she came to get him from the bathroom. Amanda sat down beside him with tears swelling in her eyes.

She whispered, "Adam I am so sorry. I couldn't move. I-"

Adam interrupted, "It's alright; I'm alright, and seeing that you're up and about I'd say you're alright too."

Amanda sobbed, "Adam, I'm not alright! God I thought I almost lost you again!"

Adam looked deep into Amanda's dark but soft eyes and said, "I'm not going anywhere."

Adam held Amanda until she cried herself dry. Then they looked around trying to avoid the subject of what got them landed in a hospital in the first place. Eventually Adam couldn't hide the uncomfortable thoughts in his head.

He looked Amanda in the eyes again and said, "So who do you think took over…for you know…Jigsaw."

Amanda looked around making sure that there was nobody else in the room before answering, "Two nights ago John came to me in a dream. He said that he had found someone new…someone who would play by the rules. He also said that she is closer than we know, and that I'd know who she is in time."

Adam stated, "We'll we've established that this new lackey is a girl, and she's probably somewhere in her mid- twenties…after all Jigsaw would want someone with a good outlook on machinery that only age would provide. Plus she would have to be your average Joe…or in her case an average Joan. This basically narrows it down to… a lot!"

Amanda's eyes narrowed and looked at a card on Adam's small end table. It was from Natalie. Suddenly looking at this card reminded me of the last thing John said.

Follow your heart.

Amanda was released from the hospital the following day with nothing wrong but a splitting headache and a sprained ankle from when they dropped her while loading her onto the stretcher. Since Adam was still in the hospital, Amanda would have to begin her investigation alone.

Amanda muttered to herself, "If John's got my little girl under his spell I swear to God I'll-"

Amanda was cut off as she almost ran right into Natalie's bedroom door. Natalie was at school at the time so that gave Amanda plenty of time to search her room.

Nearly throwing open the door Amanda was greeted by a blast of vibrant colors; after all Amanda and Adam gave Natalie her privacy. Amanda had completely forgotten that she and Adam had painted Natalie's room a bright orange the previous year. Along with the wall color was a pair of hot pink curtains behind her twin sized bed in the center of the room.

Amanda exclaimed, "Damn it!"

She sheltered her eyes from the brightness until they adjusted, and then she began to search around the room for signs of Jigsaw's presence.

Amanda said to herself, "Follow your heart."

Her efforts seemed to be worthless. Amanda searched for what seemed to be hours and she had found no evidence of Natalie being corrupted by Jigsaw.

Amanda had almost given up by the time she had looked closely into Natalie's desk where a small heart was carved into the surface of one of the desk's drawers. Nearly throwing open the drawer she noticed the box that had been brought to their door on Natalie's birthday.

Amanda shivered in anger as she remembered Natalie's bewildered expression as she opened the package. She had lied about the box's contents and kept it secret for so long. Looking inside the box Amanda remembered most of the materials from when she had been John's apprentice. There were the same tape recorders, the same tools, and the same tapes.

Amanda asked out loud, "How did John get this to Natalie, and how did he tell her about all of this?"

Amanda then remembered when she first agreed to continue John's work. John's words seemed to be only a faded memory to Amanda now.

"You will give everything to me; every cell in your body. When you walk down that corridor there is no turning back. Do you understand?"

Amanda saw his face vividly, and almost like she had answered she repeated out loud, "Yes."

Searching through the box Amanda came across blueprints made for traps. Some of the have been checked off in green pen, and others in red. Green obviously meant that the test was a success, and the red meant that the subject had died.

Deeming it necessary to keep this box away from Natalie, Amanda resealed its contents and picked up the small but heavy box. Turning to exit the room Amanda came face to face with Natalie.

Natalie snapped, "How long have I been here? I had the feeling that you'd ask that so I'll answer your question in the best way possible… long enough."

Natalie pulled a crow- bar out from behind her back and quickly hit Amanda over the head with it. Before Amanda could react she had dropped the box and had landed in a bruised heap on the floor.

Natalie looked at Amanda the exact same way that John would. She only saw failure. She looked at her tan carpet and said, "Shit! Now there's going to be a stain!"