Chapter 11: Captive

Anthony was slowly waking up. He saw blurry and noticed that he was moving. He slowly looked up and saw a male mannequin that he held in his arms. Anthony wanted to separate himself from the mannequin, but he felt weak and still felt the pain in his belly. He heard screams in the distance.

Anthony wanted to look around, see where the mannequins had brought him. But he could not because he still looked blurry. The mannequin kept walking. Until he went inside somewhere, Anthony saw that it was darker and was laid on the ground by the mannequin.

Anthony heard the sound of a chain and a loud click at his legs. The mannequin left the darkroom and did something close with a loud crack. Anthony heard the clink of a key in the lock and the mannequin walked away.

"Am I in a dungeon?" Anthony thought and the world began to fade around him. "I must…" And he closed his eyes. "Escape…"

A man was running through a graveyard, he was panting and was afraid. The man tripped over a fallen gravestone. "I see you…you can't run from me…" whispered a soft woman's voice.

The man stood up quickly and kept running by. But suddenly something grabbed his leg and he fell again to the ground.

The man looked startled and saw that a hand stuck out of the ground. The hand was of a skeleton. The man tried to break free but more hands came out of the ground. They grabbed the man's arms and legs and they kept coming until the man cannot move.

Anthony watched the whole scene at a short distance. He was startled, the man was his best friend Ian. Anthony wanted to scream, but no sound came from his throat.

Ian looked at him anxiously. "Anthony, please help me!"

Anthony wanted to run to him, but he could not move and he looked at his feet. His feet were poured into the earth. He tried to break free. "Help me! Hurry!"

Anthony looked up and saw that the skeleton hands pulled Ian down. He panicked and pulled his legs, but there was no movement to get into. Ian started to scream. Anthony saw that Ian slowly disappeared under the ground.

Anthony woke up and sat up straight. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, but he was relieved. It was just a nightmare, it was not real. He looked around and he was in a small square cell. It was dark and it was a little illuminated by the light of the hallway. The bars were dark black and were covered with rust spots.

The ground was of soft sand and the walls of solid black bricks. There was no window and Anthony heard something. He looked around and saw a dark figure in the corner of his cell. He saw something moving it was big and did something to the figure.

Anthony tried to focus himself and heard a strange noise. He did not like that. Suddenly Anthony heard squeaks and there were more things moves towards the dark figure. Anthony slowly crawled back until he felt the bars in his back.

He knew what it was, they were big rats and they were eating the dark figure. Whoever the figure was, he or she was already dead. Anthony looked at his ankle. The mannequin had fixed him with a chain. The end of the chain was riveted to the wall.

"Dammit." Anthony said.

"Hello? Are you awake?" asked a voice. Anthony turned around and saw a young man sitting in a cell across his own. The young man's skin was light brown tinted and his black hair was down to his shoulders. Anthony doubted he was a boy or a girl. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a faded print of a tiger and black jeans.

"Are you a normal human?" the boy asked. "Who are you?"

"Yes I am." Anthony said. "My name Anthony Padilla."

"Anthony Padilla?" the boy asked and he got a big smile on his face. "You are one of the Smosh guys! Me and my cousins always looked at all of your shows. You guys are really amazing."

"Eh…Thanks, glad you enjoyed it…" Anthony said. "But who are you?"

"I'm Enrique Victoria." He said. "I've been a year stuck in this world."

"A year?" Anthony asked. "Were you alone?"

Enrique shook his head. "I was here with my friends and my brother Ramirez. But they got caught by that stupid puppet mistress."

"Puppet mistresses?' Anthony asked. "Who is that?"

"That is the bitch that is in control this world." Enrique said. "And she is the one who controls the mannequins. I bet you have seen them?"

"Yeah, I saw them." Anthony said and he got the chills when he thought about it. "Were those guys….normal humans?"

"Yes, they were my friends." Enrique said. "She turned them into those things. And she will turn us too."

The fear began to grow in Anthony.

"If the circumstances were different, I would have asked for an autograph." Enrique said with a faint smile. "My cousin Estefana wanted to marry you and…" Enrique looked at Anthony. "Is Ian also here? Is he with you?"

"No." Anthony said. 'We lose each other during the chaos in the town. I don't know where he is. He is maybe at the resistance, according to the mayor."

Anthony thought of Corvus and felt guilty. He had helped him and that he had to pay with his life.

"If he is at the resistance group, he is with my friend Allison." Enrique said. "She is the only one of my friends who is still alive."

Anthony looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Anthony….If the puppet misters turned us into mannequins, we will be dead." Enrique said. "We are beyond saving."

"Are you kidding me?" Anthony asked and looked around. "We have to escape."

"Nobody has succeeded." Enrique said flatly. "We are dead."

"We can't give up now." Anthony said. "If we escape we can find our friends and get out of this hell hole."

Enrique said nothing and didn't look at him. "Come on Enrique, you have to help me." Anthony said and stands up. "Think with me, there must be something we can use…." He saw that Enrique did nothing and that irritates him. He had so many questions for Enrique, but he will ask them soon when they get out of this place.

Anthony gave a tug on the bars, but there was no movement to get into. He looked further into his cell. He looked at the dark figure in the corner. Anthony swallowed and picked up his courage.

He walked slowly towards it and fell forward. Anthony looked up, his chain was not long enough to reach the dark figure. Anthony swore under his breath and stretched his arm. He tried to touch the figure in the hope he could get something sharp, but he failed.

A rat saw him and tried to bite him. Anthony pulled his arm away and quickly backed away. The rat started to squeak and continued what he was doing, further eating the dead flesh.

"I told you." Enrique muttered. "It is hopeless."

"Shut up." Anthony muttered back. "How did you get caught?"

"I wasn't pay attention." Enrique said. "I hid and they found me, that's all."

Anthony nodded and looked again to the dark figure. He was sure he had something on him. Anthony makes some noise with his chain and it chased the rats away. He moved on to the figure until he could go no further. Anthony stretched out his arm.

"Come on….Come on…" Anthony whispered. He could almost touch the figure. "I almost…there…" Anthony sighed, he did not succeed. The figure was too far away to reach.

"Enrique, is there anything in your cell you can use?" Anthony asked and walk back towards bars. He saw Enrique did nothing. "Come on man, you can't give up now. Look for something."

Enrique said nothing and it makes Anthony angry. Before he could say something, he heard a heavy door open slightly. Anthony looked through his bars and saw that the prison had an endless corridors and it was lit by torches. Anthony was surprised that the floor of white marble and it was spotless. He did not expect that form a dungeon. Maybe the puppet mistress likes clean rooms.

He heard footsteps and they were coming closer. Enrique looked up. "They are coming." He said softly.

The mayor hurried through the town. He wanted to speak Jack as soon as possible.

He could not forget the words of Sheriff Grimm.

"Take him to the castle." said Grimm. "Be sure he comes there in one piece."

A male mannequin lifted the unconscious Anthony in his arms. Grimm looked at the mayor. "I have a message for you from our ruler." he said. "We know you are a member of the resistance group. Say to them that it is hopeless to fight against us."

"How did you know?" the mayor asked surprised.

"It doesn't matter." Grimm said. "Tell them to stop. And if you have normal people, give them to us and our ruler will reward you."

"I…I…"

"Just do it." Grimm said with angry eyes. "Or I will destroy every one of you."

The mayor knocked on a door of a small building. The door went open and a female vampire with a pink dress stood in the door opening. "Mayor?" she asked surprised. "Can I help you?"

"The horse with a carrot came by midnight." The mayor whispered.

The vampire looked at him and nodded. "Come quick, sir." she said.

"Thank you, Bianca." the mayor said and he quickly went inside.

"Is something wrong sir?" Bianca asked and took the coat of mayor.

He nodded. "I'm afraid it is, my dear." He said and they walked further into the house.