Note: I'm deeply sorry that this chapter took so long. I've been away for about a week, and before I left, I had my chapter fully completed. But my internet died, and my memory stick wouldn't work in my girlfriend's computer. I was pretty upset. But here it is, at last. Enjoy.
Scene viii
Carl's body remained completely still. The only movements it made were the sudden spasms from the electricity leaving his body.
Paula fell to her knees as her bloody, mangled hands hit the floor. She looked up at the corpse of her ex-husband, tears in her eyes.
"Paula…" Kevin mumbled as she turned to look at him. She bore her teeth at him and struggled to get herself up off the ground.
"You bastard!" Paula screamed as she pushed against the floor with her crushed hands. The pain that surged through her body was hot as fire; it felt like her veins were igniting. But the hatred that she had for Kevin far surpassed this terrible pain.
Paula limped forward, her eyes set on the detective. "I saved your life!" she cried out. Pain continued to flow through her body every time she pressed down on her right, burned, foot. "And this is how you repay me?"
Before she could reach Kevin, the door at the end of the room suddenly snapped open. Geoff turned to look at the next hallway and gave a shout. "Paula! Stop!" he paused, "there's some cloth and water over here!"
Kevin didn't bother to look up and face Paula. He kept his head turned down, ready to receive whatever physical punishment that she had planned.
Paula stopped moving and looked back to Geoff who was now coming forward to help her to door.
Paula tilted her head to Kevin and said, "we've been partners for years. But I guess that all meant nothing to you, huh?" Geoff put one of her arms around his shoulders and aided her across the room.
Grace kept her arms folded across her chest, the pistol in her back pocket, as she walked past Kevin. "I wonder," she whispered to him. "Is there really any difference between you and me? A detective and a criminal?" she asked, waiting for a response, but Kevin said nothing.
"I guess not."
Policemen stood in front of Kevin's desk. Talking amongst each other as they moved through files on his desk as Shaan drew closer to them.
"There are no clues here at all, sir," said one of the officers as Agent Primo simply gave a sigh; his hand pressed against the wall.
Shaan Primo's eyes glanced around the room, a frustrated look on his face. "There has to be something that this Jigsaw girl is trying to tell us. The real Jigsaw hasn't been leaving recorders around for us to look at. But this girl has," explained Shaan, scratching at the back of his head.
"Maybe it's time to face facts," said one of the officers as Primo looked toward him. "This new girl is simply just…inexperienced. She must've just accidentally left the recorders behind."
Shaan couldn't believe the officer. If this girl was anything like Jigsaw, she wouldn't just accidentally leave something behind.
"Primo!" came the sudden shout of a detective in a different room. "You might want to come look at this!"
Curiosity overcame the agent as he followed the voice of the detective into a lit room. The detective stood in front of a series of filing cabinets; one of the drawers was wide open.
"All the drawers were locked except that one," the detective said as Shaan walked into the room. "And this file…" he held up a thin folder with only a dozen or so papers inside, "is missing a paper." He walked up to Agent Primo and handed him the folder as he quickly looked through it. The missing page was obvious.
"Wait—these are the directions to that abandoned building. The one with the—"
"I know," said the detective with his hands in his pockets.
"We can't make any clear assumptions yet. But I think we found where Jigsaw's holding his next game," Primo said with a smile, keeping the folder by his side. "Let's get everyone to Tobin Street. Before it's too late."
Paula sat on the ground, her hands in the bucket of cool water. Three other buckets were lined up against the wall, filled with cool water as well. However, no one else had injuries that needed to be tended to.
Geoff knelt down next to Paula and picked up cloth from the floor. "Hurry and let me wrap your wounds before you lose too much blood," he whispered.
As Geoff began to wrap cloth around Paula's hands Kevin walked silently into the room, hands in his pockets and his head tilted to the wall.
The four remained silent with Grace leaning against the wall. A few minutes passed until Geoff finally stood up, finished tending to Paula's wounds.
"We should keep going," Agent Geoff suggested. He helped Paula to her feet and aided her down the hallway. Kevin and Grace trailed close behind.
"Hey, look," Paula said, her eyes set on a door to the right. A piece of paper was taped to that door, as well as the one on the left.
Geoff moved to a spot in between the two doors. One of the papers read, 'Geoff', and the other read, 'Grace'.
"He wants us each to go into one," Grace said, moving up to her door. She turned to look Geoff in the eyes. "Alone."
"Do you know what's gonna happen?" asked Geoff.
"I didn't help Joh—err—Jigsaw, with this game."
Geoff gave a sigh and walked over to the wall and let Paula sit on the floor. "I'll be out quick, I promise," Geoff said, pushing open his door and walking inside. No more then a few seconds later it shut hard and a locking sound emerged from the door.
"Shit, John," Grace muttered as she pushed open her door. While it closed shut, it did not lock. She gave a glance back to the door in surprise before looking back to the contents of the room.
Grace moved forward to the desk, which had a lit candle on it. The candle was almost completely melted; a puddle of wax was building up in a small bowl in which the candle sat on.
She first picked up two bullets on the desk. She immediately reached for her pistol with the other hand. "You knew…" Grace muttered, inserting them into her gun's barrel, "…you knew I'd take the gun."
Her eyes wandered to the two pieces of paper on the desk. One of them had a strip of tape attached to the top.
Grabbing the piece of paper without the tape attached to it, she quickly noticed a key underneath the paper. But it wasn't a key to a door—it was a car key.
Grace muttered the note that John had left her on the paper. "If you happen to succeed this next and final challenge, drive to the following location." Her eyes moved down to a street address, a place where she instantly recognized. It was where she had first met up with John. "I, and my latest apprentice, shall be waiting for you. As for the other paper, you'll know to use it when, and if, the time comes." Grace finished reading the paper and put it into her pocket.
As soon as she finished with the first piece of paper, she grabbed for the next, pulling it toward her face as she read through it. Her eyes squinted and her face filled with confusion. She even read through it again just to be sure she was reading it correctly. "John…what are you planning?" she asked as she folded the paper up neatly, being sure to keep the piece of tape attached as she placed it into her pocket.
Before leaving the room she grabbed a note that must've been placed underneath the last paper. "'Leave Geoff and move on'…?" Grace read the note and let her arm fall to her side. "Should've figured," she chuckled as she moved back to the door. Grace pushed it open and lifted the note into the air to show Paula and Kevin, who seemed to have been sitting in awkward silence.
"Looks like Geoff won't be joining us any longer," she announced.
Geoff attempted to pull on the door that locked behind him. "Shit," he cursed, looking back to the room he just entered.
A single fluorescent light bulb was dimly lit. Providing just enough light to see the contents of the room. A several foot tall block sat in the center of the room. Geoff moved forward toward it when the sudden sound of static caught his attention.
"Hello, Geoff," came the sudden voice of Jigsaw from a speaker on the ceiling. "Welcome to your final challenge. Look before you on the desk, you'll find a pair of handcuffs on top of the board. Put on the handcuffs, Geoff. Like you've put on so many undeserving victims."
Geoff's eyes glanced down to the board and the handcuffs.
"You see evil everywhere, and you fight to put people away in prison. Some of those people were hardly guilty of anything. Your sense of justice has become obscure and twisted."
Geoff picked up the handcuffs from the top of the table and put them on his hands like Jigsaw ordered. Afraid that disobeying his rules would lead to grace consequences.
"The table in front of you has three slots. Each of the slots requires a puzzle piece to complete your game. There is one piece at each station you see around you. Start at the station at the bottom left corner of the room and proceed clockwise."
The agent turned to the corner of the room. There was some sort of tube that rose up from the floor.
"You'll go through a complete transformation if you succeed, Geoff. But you must learn the lessons of pain, letting go, and trust. If you can learn these lessons you will learn true justice. You will have no missing pieces to your puzzle. However, if you do not succeed these tasks before your fellow police agents arrive, and they attempt to open the locked door, a bomb will go off in this room. And you will die a criminal. For that is what these handcuffs signify. Can you break free of your 'criminal' status, Geoff? Can you truly become a man of justice which society sees you as? Live or die, Geoff. Make your choice. Let the game begin."
"So we just…go on without him?" Kevin asked as Grace gave a shrug.
"I guess so. But we better start going now. Geoff won't be out of there for a while, I'm assuming," Grace said as she simply let the slip of paper fall to the floor.
"Come o—" Kevin was interrupted as he extended his hand to help Paula off the floor.
"I'm capable of helping myself," she snapped. Her back leaned against the wall as her body rose up. While her right foot was burned, she was still able to use it, if only a little bit.
The three of them continued down the hallway and turned the corner, a flight of stairs leading downward caused Paula to suddenly stop moving and give a small groan.
"Here," Grace said, cautiously putting Paula's arm around her shoulders. Not wanting to spark any sudden anger within the detective. But she allowed it, and the two moved slowly down the stairs, Kevin close behind.
A grin came across Grace's face.
Paula would rather take a criminal's help than her own partner's.
John had created quite the mess it would seem.
The stairs ended and the three of them continued on until reaching a large room. Metal and wooden boxes were piled in the corners and a large, open, vault sat in the middle of the room. Several yards in front of the vault was a cassette recorder, and in front of the recorder was two stools.
Kevin moved toward the recorder and picked it up, quickly pressing playing as he turned toward Grace and Paula.
"Hello Grace, Kevin, Paula. And welcome," said Jigsaw from the recorder. "Grace and Paula, both of you take a seat on a stool you see before you. Kevin, look back to the open vault and walk in front of it."
As Kevin moved toward the vault Grace helped Paula onto her stool. Grace then proceeded to take her own seat on a stool.
"Look down into the vault Kevin," Jigsaw ordered as Kevin obeyed. It was completely dark inside the vault, but a handgun was visible on the very edge of the inside of the vault. "Pick up the gun. Notice it only has one bullet."
"…Kevin?" Paula asked, hearing what the recording said.
Kevin held the gun in one hand and the recorder in the other as he moved to Grace and Paula. "Now you have two choices, Kevin. You may kill Grace, and you and Paula both can go home happy while my whereabouts remain unknown. Or you can kill Paula. For if you do, I promise you that it will be known to the authorities of the Jigsaw Killer's true identity along with Grace's identity as Jigsaw's apprentice. I can assure you Kevin, that if you kill Paula I will give you no sort of punishment whatsoever. There is no right or wrong choice. I am no longer a part of this game from here on out. Who will live, Kevin? Make your choice. Let the game begin."
Geoff moved up to the tube in the corner of the room. There was a meal lid placed on top of it, but there was noticeable heat coming from the tube.
The agent grabbed an edge of the lid with his cuffed hands and pulled the lid off of the tube.
"Jesus!" he yelled as he took a step not only the steam that rose from the tube, but also the foul odor that came along with it.
Geoff moved back to the tube and looked down to see boiling, bubbling, blood in the tube. The tube was large enough for Geoff to fit both his hands into it. "Damn it. Damn it!" Geoff muttered as he took a step back.
The puzzle piece had to be at the bottom of the tube. Could he just wait until it cooled off and then try to get it out? No…Jigsaw said the police would be coming. But how soon was that? Kevin, Paula, and himself have been missing for over a day. It wouldn't be too long now. He didn't have much time to waste.
"Alright, alright," Geoff mumbled as he moved close to the tube. He took in a deep breath of air to prepare himself.
"Shit!" he screamed as he submerged his arms into the thick tube of blood.
"Aaaah!!" he cried in pain as he pushed his arms down further. The hot blood stung and scalded his skin.
"Come on!!" Geoff yelled again as his hands grabbed a solid object at the bottom of the tube. The boiling blood had reached just above his elbows.
Taking a solid grip on the object, he lifted his arms out of the pool and let the object drop to the floor. "Aaaah!! Damn it!!" he screamed in pain as the puzzle-shaped, metal object slid across the floor.
Geoff attempted to wipe the blood off on his pants and shirt, for what was worse about hot blood than hot water was that the blood stayed on the skin and continued to burn. If Geoff didn't get all the blood off quick, it would dry to his skin.
"What?" Paula screamed as she began to stand up.
"Sit still!" Kevin screamed as he pointed the gun to Paula who kept still, and then to Grace. "You too."
Grace stood still and did not smile or frown. The thought of reaching for her gun and shooting Kevin crossed her mind. But she quickly realized something by the way Kevin looked and how much of a struggle he had thinking.
Maybe…she wouldn't need her gun.
"I saved your life, Kevin!" Paula screamed with tears in her eyes, "and then you let Carl die! You owe this to me! You owe it to me!!" she shrieked as Kevin slammed his foot against the ground.
"Shut up!" he screamed to Paula who shook in her seat.
Kevin's eyes moved to Grace who remained emotionless and stared back at him.
Grace could die, right here and now. But Grace had even said it herself; she wasn't really working for Jigsaw anymore. So what would be the point? Unless it was all some sort of twisted lie. However, that couldn't be the case. Grace has been in too much danger so far, would Jigsaw truly allow that for his apprentice?
"Paula," Kevin said as she quickly looked up at him. "I'm sorry."
Kevin aimed the gun for her heart and fired. As the bullet neared Paula, words rung through her head for the last time.
"Is Kevin deserving of life, Paula? How far will you go to make sure that he, and his twisted obsession for justice, live? Kevin…would you make the same sacrifices to make sure Paula lives?"
Paula silently stepped toward Kevin. She bit her lip and looked down at him. "Would you?"
"Would I what?" Kevin screamed, anxious to escape the trap he was in.
"Would you really do the same for me?"
"Of course I would! I wouldn't watch you die like that sick fuck! You know that!" Kevin shouted, attempting to persuade Paula to release him.
Paula fell backwards on her stool as death hit her instantly. The perfect aim of a detective assured this.
Grace jumped out of her stool and backed away from Paula, toward Kevin's direction. "You killed her," Grace said with a chuckle. Relieved that Paula died instead of herself.
"But now," Kevin said with a smile. "The world gets to know who Jigsaw is. And you'll be revealed as his apprentice. Paula would've wanted me to do this. I know she would've!" he said with a chuckle. "I did it Paula!" Kevin laughed as he backed away from Grace who pulled the pistol from her pocket. "You think I'm scared of your empty pistol?"
Grace opened up the back of the pistol to show him two bullets in its barrel. "I got two bullets in this thing, Kevin," she said as she pointed it at him. Her eyes moved to the vault and she gave a malicious grin. "Get into the vault you sick fuck."
Kevin continued to move back to the vault, his hands partially in the air. "Me? The sick fuck? You're the w—"
"You let Jade die didn't you?" Grace asked with a chuckle as Kevin's eyes widened. "I helped John set that game up. I knew what was supposed to happen. And you let her die, didn't you? You killed Mary too. Then Carl, and now Paula. There's no way you're leaving this place without some sort of punishment. That's not how the man you call 'Jigsaw', operates."
"So what, you're gonna kill me?" Kevin asked as he stepped into the dark vault.
Grace grabbed the vault door with one hand. She looked up at it, realizing it would lock when it closed. "No. There's something much worse in store for you," Grace said as she slammed the vault door shut. A locking noise rang from it as it closed.
Pulling out the piece of paper from before, Grace pushed the strip of tape against the shut door and walked away with a smile.
"As for the other paper, you'll know to use it when, and if, the time comes." Grace finished reading the paper and put it into her pocket.
As soon as she finished with the first piece of paper, she grabbed for the next, pulling it toward her face as she read through it. Her eyes squinted and her face filled with confusion. She even read through it again just to be sure she was reading it correctly. "John…what are you planning?" she asked as she folded the paper up neatly, being sure to keep the piece of tape attached as she placed it into her pocket.
She looked down at the gun in her hand and chuckled. "Two bullets left. One for John's apprentice…" she placed the gun into her back pocket, "…and one for John."
To be concluded…