PAX: Living Nightmare
(A/N: Sorry for the wait. Have majorly changed up and improved the story from what it originally was, so there were a lot of chapters I needed to add or fix on my original draft of it. Still not entirely happy with this chapter, but enjoy nonetheless.)
Pewds and Cry Play Amnesia
Felix and Cry waited. There was nothing so far. Just then, though, they heard the sound of a crying baby and started. Quickly they turned and saw some figures costumed as Amnesia monsters heading away carrying a baby in their arms! "That's the baby Mark mentioned!" Cry exclaimed, eyes widening in horror. Dammit, now they had a choice. Either they tried to save Mark and Aaron, or they tried to save the baby.
"F***ing choices," Felix groaned, thinking fast. "Mark and Aaron should be able to hold their own for a little bit longer, but that baby doesn't stand a chance in hell."
"So we just leave Mark and Aaron?" Cry asked.
"I don't want to, bro. You stay here and wait. I'll get the baby," Felix said.
"No. I don't think so. We aren't separating! We saw how well that worked for Mark and Aaron!" Cry protested.
"I'm going after the baby. I want to stay here and help them, seriously, but they aren't helpless," Felix stubbornly insisted. The baby, on the other hand, was.
"Who says I don't agree with you?" Cry asked, standing up. "Let's go." He looked back at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and sadness came to his eyes. "Sorry guys," he murmured sadly. He hated leaving them like this, but this was a decision that didn't have a right choice. Quickly he and Felix began stalking after the figures who were dressed in Amnesia garb.
YT
Quietly the duo trailed the 'grunts' and 'brutes' to a huge house. It looked like something out of Amnesia alright. "You think this might be the kidnapper's main base?" Cry whispered.
"I got no clue, Cry," Felix answered. "Looks like we're finding out the hard way." Silently he started towards it. Cry followed cautiously, looking uneasily around.
"Oh god I hate this," Cry apprehensively said. "I feel like he knows we're here."
"With our luck he probably does," Felix stated pessimistically. They reached the trap door that the monsters had entered and looked around. They met each other's eyes nervously. "Basement. We start out in the f***ing basement."
"Been nice knowing you, man," Cry said.
"Same here," Felix answered. They took a deep breath and pushed open the doors, entering the manor. They looked around. A cool breeze blew through. Cry shuddered. "I hate Amnesia," he said.
"Love-hate, you mean," Felix teased, smirking. Cry smirked back. Yeah, that was probably closer. They began searching the room they were in.
"Found a lantern," Cry soon said, pulling said lantern out.
"I got a few tinderboxes and some oil," Felix replied, going over to him and handing him the oil. He pocketed the tinderboxes for himself. "We're set. You taking the lead?"
"I do have the lantern," Cry replied. He filled it with the oil and lit it up. He lifted it, looking around. "Oh boy this is going to be a nightmare," he muttered.
YT
They went down the corridor and through the house. Every noise and sound made them jump, prepared for something to pop out at them any minute. Cry stopped and shuddered, grimacing. "What is it?" Felix asked.
"Water part," Cry dryly answered. Felix grimaced, looking uneasily at the water. They exchanged uncertain looks. "Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three!" Cry exclaimed. Immediately they charged into the water and began running. Splashing was heard behind them.
"No f***ing way!" Felix exclaimed. "Get on a box, Cry!" Quickly the two leapt up onto one and gawked down at the water. A figure was swimming there.
"No way. Is that a barracuda?" Cry asked.
"Possibly?" Felix tightly replied. "Or Snakehead. Can't make it out from here." He didn't have an encyclopedic knowledge about fish either, so for all he knew he was way off.
"Dammit!" Cry exclaimed. "How are we supposed to outrun a fish in water?" he demanded. At least it wasn't a Kaernk, or however you said it, like what was in the games.
"Dumb luck?" Felix lamely offered, shrugging. "Look on the bright side, human isn't their favorite food."
"This nut job we're dealing with might have starved it for just this reason," Cry pointed out.
"Good point," Felix said, grimacing. Just then they heard a baby crying and froze.
YT
"Felix, tell me that's the baby," Cry said.
"Oh god I hope so, bro," Felix replied. The crying continued distantly.
"Okay, this is good. Alright. Now we just have to get to it. This psycho just had to be this twisted," Cry said. He was silent a moment, thinking. "Remember when I said Amnesia often had backstories that involve people being brutally tortured or experimented on…"
"Why?" Felix asked.
Cry looked gravely over at him. "I stand by the possibility Mark and Aaron aren't the only prisoners here," he stated, remembering the note Mark and Aaron had found that had claimed as much.
Felix looked sharply over at him, eyes wide. If this whack job was going for authenticity, he was doing a damn good job at it. If there were other captives in this place like the note Mark and Aaron had found said… Oh boy they had their work cut out for them. They leapt into the water and began racing towards the sounds of the crying baby, desperately trying to stay ahead of the dangerous looking fish pursuing them. "This is crazy!" Felix exclaimed. A door was up ahead. Immediately they yanked it open and got up onto the steps out of the water. The fish swam around for a bit then retreated. Cry turned around, cautiously going up the stairs. Felix watched the water a moment longer then followed. Cry had paused outside of a door, reading a sign. He glanced back at Felix. "Dungeons," he gravely stated. "I'm… I'm afraid the blood we see won't be fake…" he admitted. Felix shifted nervously then put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. Boldly he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Cry followed.
YT
The two covered their noses, nearly gagging. "Point for Video Game Logic. You can't smell the blood and decay," Cry choked.
"This can't be healthy!" Felix exclaimed.
"It isn't," Cry replied, grimacing. Ugh, they were going to get sick after this, he knew they were. They heard the baby crying. It sounded closer. Now they heard a woman screaming a man's name. The man sounded like he was fighting back against something. Felix and Cry exchanged alarmed looks. Quickly they ran towards the sounds. "Hey! Hey!" Cry called out. "Is anyone here? Hey! Leave them alone!" He knew full well he was inviting the Grunts and Brutes down on them both, but if there was a chance these were real people they were hearing, there was no way in hell he was letting it go!
They raced around a corner. An arm suddenly stuck out through the doors of a prison. Felix screamed in horror, leaping back. "Oh Jesus!" he exclaimed in alarm, backing away quickly.
She was speaking. She was begging something in a different language. The two exchanged looks, shivering, and approached. "M-Ma'am?" Cry asked. She kept speaking. "Ma'am, we can't understand!" Cry exclaimed.
"Yes we can," Felix numbly replied. Cry looked curiously at him. "Cry, she's speaking my language!" Felix went to the bars quickly and looked in. He gasped, paling, and pulled back. "C-Cry, sh-she's real and I-I don't think she's an actress," he stammered, shaken. Cry gulped and went to the bars, peering through. He cringed and quickly looked away. Felix looked back into the cell cautiously. The woman was clothed in, well, you know how the bodies in Amnesia were clothed… or weren't rather… She looked emaciated. God, how long had she been here for? Felix stepped back.
"Say something to her," Cry pled, voice stressed. He noticed a camera blinking. He got the suspicion they were being live-streamed right now. Thank goodness he'd put on the mask when they'd first arrived in this place. Ugh, what was he doing worrying about his identity being revealed? Right now that wasn't even close to a priority.
"Don't worry about it. I've got this, Cry," Felix calmly replied. He turned to the bars and went to them. Calmly he began speaking to her in their native tongue. She almost cheered in delight on hearing it being spoken to her.
"What did you ask?" Cry asked.
"I asked how long she'd been here," Felix replied. "She's asking if we're police." He turned back to her, answering solemnly in Swedish. He would revisit the 'how long have you been here' question later. She burst into tears on hearing they weren't. Felix felt a tightening in his throat. She looked up at him, eyes miserable, and made a rocking motion as she began to speak again. "Oh s**t…" he said, feeling suddenly ill.
"What?" Cry whispered.
"Cry… the baby Mark and Aaron found is hers…" Felix answered. Cry caught his breath. Just then they heard a man scream. The woman began shrieking, trying to rip the door off the hinges. She was screaming a name again. Her husband's, most probably. Felix grabbed the door, trying to pry it open. "Cry, find a key!" he insisted desperately.
Cry didn't move. After a moment he turned. "There isn't one, Felix," he said.
"You haven't even looked!" Felix shouted.
"Yes I did! If there's a key it isn't in this area!" Cry argued. Felix turned desperately back to the captive. This was so bad! Cry shook his head, closing his eyes tightly, then all at once raced in the direction of the man's voice.
"Cry! Cry, wait, we can't leave her!" Felix called after him.
"You get her, I'll get the man!" Cry called back. Felix blinked then turned to her. She was frantically pointing and screaming at him to save the man. Felix hesitated but soon nodded.
"I'll be back," Felix promised in Swedish, squeezing her hand. Immediately he ran after Cry.
YT
Cry and Felix burst through a door and gasped. Balcony! They looked over the edge. Two figures disguised as Grunts were wrestling with a desperately fighting man. "Stop!" Cry shouted furiously at them. "It's not him you're after, stop it!" Instantly he began running down the steps. Felix followed, scowling and grabbing a loose board. He might find use for it here. The man's voice was raised excitedly. Cry and Felix both knew they had a very short window of opportunity to save him. The Grunts would just as soon kill the guy as look at him. Felix vaulted over the railing. It was quite a drop. He cried out in pain as he hit the ground, but the pain would pass. He didn't think anything had broken, though there was definitely a sprain if nothing else. Or maybe it was a small fracture. He ran toward the grunts, board held like a bat. They released the man and fled, forgetting that they were supposed to be the pursuers. Cry grabbed a chair as he reached the bottom of the stairs and threw it after the two Grunts. One stumbled but caught its balance again. They raced through a door and were gone
Cry and Felix turned quickly to the man. He was lying shivering and bleeding on the ground. They ran to him. "Oh god, what did they do to you?" Cry asked.
The man desperately asked a question. "He's asking if we're police," Felix said. He replied quickly but reassuringly. "I told him we weren't, but that we're here to help," he explained to a puzzled looking Cry.
The man asked a question. "What did he ask?" Cry asked.
"If his wife is still alive," Felix replied. He turned to the man and replied in the affirmative, nodding. There was another question. Felix's face fell. "He asked about his baby. I'm going to tell him we don't know where it is." Felix responded swiftly.
"No," the man sobbed, covering his face.
"Oh man, what did they do to you?" Cry asked, surveying the man's injuries in appall. They'd done a number on him with whatever they'd used. At least they hadn't wrestled him to one of the torture devices that killed you flat out. Yet. That was something. Oh who was he kidding? The man probably wished he were dead right about now.
"Why are you here?" Felix asked in Swedish. "Do you know where the key to your wife's cell is?" he asked.
The man pointed towards a cell. Cry headed that way. He pulled open the door. "Score!" he exclaimed, grabbing the key. "This must unlock the woman's cell! The Grunts probably didn't have time to grab it." He returned to Felix and the man.
"Find my baby," the man said in Swedish.
"We don't know where," Felix answered.
"I will show you what I know of this place so far," the man said. Felix inwardly sighed in relief. This prisoner knew something about the layout of this manor, then. That would be a huge help. "Free my wife."
"We're on it," Felix replied. Switching to English, he said, "Cry, free his wife." Cry was already heading up the stairs. Felix and the man followed.
YT
The woman fell into the man's arms sobbing in misery and fear. "Great, two more to get out alive," Cry said. "We've hardly held our own!" He couldn't for the life of him understand how Mark and Aaron had kept going this long.
"I know," Felix gravely said. The man and the woman were talking in Swedish. Finally the woman nodded, though reluctantly.
The man turned to them. "Cover her, please," he said to Felix. Felix immediately removed his coat and handed it to the woman. She put it on, covering herself.
"There might be shirts in one of the wardrobes here," Cry lamely offered the man, shrugging. At least if this Amnesia layout was as authentic as everything else there would be. Felix translated the remark to the man.
"I'm fine. We have to find my son. My wife will stay here with the key in case we need to retreat into somewhere safe," he said to them. Felix translated to Cry. Cry exchanged uncertain looks with his friend but nodded nonetheless. The man was in his thirties, they presumed. So was the woman. The woman went back into the cell and locked it behind her. She put her hands on the bars. Her husband kissed them gently and nuzzled her. He said something to her in Swedish.
"What did he say?" Cry asked.
Felix was quiet. Finally he bowed his head, closing his eyes. "He… he promised her he'd be back…" It was more or less the same promise he'd given Marzia… And in so many words the same assurance Cry had given Cheyanne. Cry cringed.
The man kissed the woman's hands once more then turned to them. "Come," he said. They nodded and followed him. Honestly they were glad to have someone older than them around. Felt kind of comforting even though, you know, technically they were the saviors they guessed.
YT
The man led them the way the Grunts had gone. "The man who took us is crazy," he said.
Felix translated to Cry. "No kidding," Cry dryly agreed.
"He took my baby," the man said.
Felix again translated then turned to the man. "We know," he replied. "He kidnapped two friends of ours for some sick twisted game. They found your kid in a house being smothered by plastic. They lost him when they were taken again." Dread came to the man's eyes. Felix bit is tongue sharply. He probably shouldn't have been so blunt. The man didn't speak again.
Soon enough the man stopped. "That hatch," he said, pointing up. They looked. "Go through it. It opens into the upper part of the house. My child is there, but there will be trouble too. There is a computer and phone inside. I tried to get there but I was caught and brought down here then tortured."
"How long have you been here?" Felix asked him after translating to Cry.
The man thought a moment. "Months," he finally answered. "This man, he has a plan but I do not know what. I will go with you up there."
Felix translated to Cry. Cry frowned and looked at the guy. "No way, man, you go back to your wife. We'll take this," Cry replied seriously. "You're in worse condition than our friend Aaron is. Possibly," Felix translated to the man.
The man shook head. "It's my son," he said. Felix translated to Cry.
Cry cringed, hesitating, then looked to Felix for direction. "He has a point," Felix said, shrugging. He wasn't happy with the idea, but given the baby was kind of this guy's child, yeah. He doubted the man would be deterred from helping them out… He couldn't say he wasn't glad for it. The man nodded then started up the ladder. He pushed open the hatch and disappeared. He beckoned for them to follow. They did so, though cautiously, and climbed up after him. After all, it might not be a good idea to trust. This could all be part of the setup; or the man could have been threatened into turning them over if the madman had his child.
No sooner had they climbed up through the hatch when they heard the crying baby. The man was across the room before they could blink. "Hey, wait up!" Felix called after him. They raced after him. He darted up the stairs. They followed. He was heading towards a bedroom. All at once they were there. The man threw open the door. The baby was lying on a bed, unclothed and kicking and screaming. The man sobbed and ran to the child, scooping it up and holding it close.
"We've got to get them out of here," Cry murmured to Felix.
"I know," Felix replied. He turned to the man. "Let's go. We don't have a lot of time."
YT
By some miracle or other—or by some plan of the maniac's—they made it back to the cell the woman was in. With them was the father and the baby. They were all running. Brutes were pursuing quickly. The woman was quick to open the cell door and let them in. She locked the door behind them the moment they were inside. The Brutes slammed into it and began shaking the bars. They couldn't enter, though, and so soon they retreated. Probably to ask their leader what to do about the situation. Needless to say, they couldn't be here very long without endangering the family more. They were most definitely being live streamed now too, they'd determined. "Mark and Aaron had better appreciate this," Cry said, panting for breath.
Felix immediately began speaking to the family in Swedish. The family was overjoyed to hear their native tongue again. They all too eagerly answered everything he was saying to them. That relief began to fade, though, when the conversation seemed to take on a much, much darker and more solemn tone… Finally the conversation stopped. "What did they say?" Cry asked Felix.
"They might or might not be meant to get out of this place, but we certainly aren't," Felix answered. Cry shifted nervously, looking around the area. They had to go. Like now.