Chapter 12

"Guys," said Kendall, his voice pinched in panic. "Guys wake up!"

No noise. No murmurs. Nothing.

Katie, his precious baby sister, was as white as a ghost in the face. His mother looked worse. Her red hair hung limply across her slack face. Logan and James were lying on their stomachs, arms stretched out ahead of them. They were probably the ones who were dragging him and Carlos. Oh, and poor heroic Carlos! He lay on his stomach, his skin a whitish blue color. If he didn't get them to wake up, they'd probably be dead soon. No one in the Palm Woods would find them either until their bodies started to decay and stink.

"Stop it Kendall," he chided himself. "You can't think those thoughts! You've got to get out of here!"

Kendall tried to prop himself up with his elbows when pain shot through him. He had somehow managed to forget that he just got done being stabbed in the chest with a knife. Kendall clenched his teeth and continued to prop himself up. He'd have time to dwell in pain later. Right now, he had to save his family and stop the killer from getting away.

Once propped up on his elbows, Kendall reached toward James and tugged on his leg. No response from him still. Kendall peered ahead and saw that the exit to the vent lay a couple feet ahead away. Fresh air was within reach.

The vent was cramed with their bodies, but Kendall had to make it to the vent. Kendall pushed James's body up against the side of the vent and tried to slide under his body. He had to do the same thing with Carlos, Logan, his mom, and Katie. By the time he made it to the grate, he was feeling extremely light headed again.

Kendall reached out and grasped the grating of the vent. He pushed and pulled, trying to get it to give way. It wasn't budging.

"Help," choked out Kendall weakily. "Anyone."

The only sound that Kendall got in response was the roar of the furnace as it heated up once more.

"No," cried Kendall breaking down, allowing the tears of frustration to roll down his cheeks. "No..."

Suddenly Kendall heard some rustling. He peered out the grating. Even though they were in an elevated vent in the basement, Kendall could look down into the gloom and see a flashlight beam. Kendall hesitated breifly. What if it was the killer? Kendall decided to yell for help still even if it was the killer. They were about to die. What difference could it possibly make? At least he would die trying.

"Hey! Up here!" yelled Kendall as loud as he could in his weakened state.

The flashlight beam stopped its sweep of the basement. Kendall held his breath and yelled again. The beam soon pointed upward at his face and a familiar gruff voice asked, "Who goes there?"

Kendall wanted to cry again; this time with relief. It was Buddha Bob!

"It's me! Kendall!" he shouted.

"What are you doing up there Kendall?" asked Buddha Bob.

"It's a long story! But we need help!"

"We?..."

"Yes, my whole family is up here! Please Buddha Bob! Help us get down! We need to get to a hospital!"

"I'll get you guys down in a jiffy!" exclaimed Buddha Bob.

Kendall could hear various clinks and clanks as Buddha Bob searched for something in the basement that could help them escape the ventilation system. Buddha Bob found a ladder and climbed up to the vent.

"What's going on?" he asked as he unscrewed the vent.

"Jett tried to kill us," gasped out Kendall, feeling weaker than he had ever felt in his whole life. "We need to stop him."

"I thought you said you need to get to a hospital?" said Buddha Bob, clearly confused.

"That too!" exclaimed Kendall exasperated.

Buddha Bob finally managed to get the vent undone and he reached his arms in to help Kendall out. One by one, they got out of the vent system and were handed down the ladder to Kendall who was at the other end. Kendall didn't know how he had the strength to stand up let alone hold each of his loved ones in his arms until he could gently put them on the ground. When the last of his loved ones was placed gently on the floor, Kendall felt the full extent of his injuries. The concrete floor underneath his feet seemed to call his name, beackoning for him to lie down, and he felt like he was going to collapse. He didn't know if it was out of relief or out of exhaustation. Probably a combination of the two.

"I'll get an ambulance," said Buddha Bob. "Just stay right here."

"K...call the police too. They have to know about Jett," mumbled Kendall as he laid down on the floor and curled up into a ball, his eyelids fluttering, threatening to go back to sleep now that he knew everyone was safe.

The last thing that Kendall saw before he closed his eyes was Buddha Bob quickly exiting the basement to go get help.

Snow. There was just so much snow.

It was so cold. Kendall wrapped his arms around his shivering body in a vain attempt to keep himself warm. A little ways ahead in the snowy blizzard, Kendall could see the shadow of his Mom talking to a police man by a wrecked car. The wrecked car looked like it had skidded off the icy road and hit a tree, completely destroying the front end of it. Kendall was told to stay in the car and watch Katie, but she was asleep. Plus standing outside it wasn't like he was abandoning her. Kendall was too worried about his Mom to stay out of the cold.

"I DON'T CARE!" he heard his Mom's voice yell, intensifying in pitch. "WHERE IS HE?"

"I don't know madam," said the police officer.

"You said he died in the crash so why am I told that nobody can find his body?"

Kendall knew his Mom was shuttering with tears. He could tell by the sound of her voice.

The wind seemed to be picking up. Kendall whipped his head to the west to glance across the icy pond that lay a little ways away. The wind was starting to blow so hard that it was picking up the soft snow and blowing it across the ground, creating a wall of pure white.

Kendall squinted his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things, for across the pond Kendall thought he saw a shadow of a man. But once the wind died down, Kendall saw that whatever had made the shadow was gone and that he was left once again with his broken Mom and baby sister.

Even though Kendall was only five, he knew that it was time for him to step up and be the man of the house. He had to care for the women in his life now that his Dad was gone. He could see what his Mom looked like once his Dad left their lives. He couldn't bear to see that pain again.

He had to be the man that didn't fade away when the winds of chaos died down.

"CLEAR!"

A pulse of electricity surged through Kendall's chest. Kendall could feel the pain throughout his chest, but he did not possess the strength to open his eyes.

"CLEAR!"

Another pulse of electricity. This time Kendall managed to open his eyes. Groaning, he looked upward into the bright florescent lights surrounding him.

"He's alive!"

Kendall looked to his side and saw ecstatic doctors. That was when everything came flooding back to him. He was in the hospital. They all were. But where was everyone else?

"Where..."

"Don't talk," commanded the doctor, silencing Kendall's question before it could even be spoken. "You need to regain your strength."

"Where is my family?" choked out Kendall, not willing to be silenced.

"They're fine..."

Just by looking at the small speckles of fear reflected in the doctor's eyes, the fear caused by uncertainty, Kendall knew that something was wrong. He had seen that look before when his Mom lost his Dad.

"You're lying!" declared Kendall. "YOU'RE LYING!"

"We need to sedate him," commented the doctor. "We need to calm him down."

Kendall knew that there was something terribly wrong. He wasn't insane.

A needle punctured Kendall's skin and Kendall could feel himself getting sleepy. The last thought that he thought before he went to sleep was that Jett had permanently damaged his family and he would make sure he paid.