PART FIVE
Susie dragged a struggling Phoebe down to the bottom floor, not slowing down her pace.
"Stop…PLEASE!" Phoebe shouted, trying to pull away. However, years of living on the street and learning how to survive were wasted against this strong woman.
They continued along the corridor until they finally stopped outside the fuse box. Susie fiddled with the cover, took it off and fiddled with the switches.
"That should keep them busy for a while," she muttered. She turned to Phoebe, smiling widely.
"Wait a minute…Susie Moss?" Phoebe hesitated, and then her eyes widened. "You're the woman who dated Chandler a couple of years ago…am I right?"
Susie scowled at her. "I wouldn't call it dating," she answered.
"No, of course not," Phoebe snapped, "You just wanted to publicly humiliate my friend…at the time I thought it was funny. Hilarious. But now…"
"You think that locking Chandler in that bathroom was good enough for revenge?!" Susie whispered, staring wildly at Phoebe. "You have no idea what I went through during school…no idea."
"Susie, you were both ten years old!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Chandler was just a boy when he lifted your skirt that day…how can you be still upset by that?"
"I couldn't get a date in years!" Susie exclaimed, "Everyone remembered who I was…even years later. I was teased every single day!"
Susie began to cry, and all Phoebe could do was watch and listen. "Even before the school play, I was constantly teased by kids. They would push me in rooms, laughing as they heard me struggle to get out. They locked me in you see…I couldn't get out. Halloween was the worst…they knew I hated it, but they still used to scare me with their stupid pranks…masks, skulls and creepy messages on the walls." No longer being able to control her sobs, Susie collapsed on the floor, burying her head in her hands.
"So…so you have the been the mystery helper in the scare war!" Phoebe shouted, "You broke into my friends' apartment, painted all that weird stuff…"
"…And I followed Chandler to and from work." Susie stopped crying and smiled, "I got him pretty paranoid a few days ago…he kept turning around." She started to laugh. "I did it for months…he never saw me."
"You stalked him?!" Phoebe shook her head in disgust. "How did you lock Monica in that apartment?" she asked.
"My brother is a cop…I stole his special keys." Susie laughed harder, standing back up.
"You need help." Phoebe told her, "I'm sorry all that stuff happened to you when you were a kid, but that still doesn't give you any right to act like this."
"Chandler made the teasing worst!" Susie shouted, "How dare he do that to me?!"
"Chandler probably had no idea about the bullies!" Phoebe argued, "If you knew him as well as I do, you'd understand that what he did to you that day wasn't personal. He loves to joke around."
"You still have no idea what my life was like." Susie said bitterly.
"You think you've got problems in your life?" Phoebe laughed.
"Your life can't be a problem…your life is perfect." Susie replied, scowling.
"Ok then…listen to my life! When I was just a baby, my father walked out on my mother. I haven't seen him since. For whatever reason, my twin sister hates me. My stepfather is in prison. When I was just 14, my mother killed herself and I had to live on the street until I was 19. My stepbrother is marrying a woman old enough to be his mother and they're trying to have kids. Recently, it turns out that the mother who brought me up until she died isn't actually my real mother…my real mother is still alive. That's not all…two of my best friends, Ross and Rachel, are hardly speaking to each other at the moment because Ross won't admit that they wasn't on a break when he slept with someone else. Joey, another friend of mine, had his TV character killed off on Days Of Ours Lives! Two of my other best friends, one who you have been stalking and the other, Monica, won't swallow their stupid pride and admit that they're crazy about each other! So, yeah, my life is so perfect!"
Susie widened her eyes at Phoebe. "That's your life?" she asked, looking at her in disbelief.
"Yes. Want to trade? I'd be glad to."
Susie scowled. She turned away from Phoebe and walked further down the hallway.
"Where are you going now?" Phoebe demanded.
Susie walked back down with a large bottle in her hands. She unscrewed the cap and started to spray the floor with the clear liquid that was coming out from it.
"What…what are you pouring?" Phoebe asked nervously.
Susie didn't answer. She continued to cover the entire hallway with the liquid. When the bottle was empty, she pulled out a lighter from her pocket. She twirled it around her fingers, staring at Phoebe.
"Oh my god…" Phoebe muttered. "That's oil you poured, wasn't it?"
Susie nodded slowly. "I'll give you 15 seconds to go upstairs and warn your friends…after that it's goodbye Chandler and company!" she laughed.
"You can't do this!" Phoebe yelled, beginning to run up the hallway to her friends.
"Yes I can! That's five seconds gone already!"
Phoebe turned back around, glaring at Susie's triumphant smile. She ran back over to her and grabbed her hand.
"Hey get off me!" Susie yelled, struggling from Phoebe's strong grip on her wrist.
"No…I…won't." Phoebe replied through gritted teeth, trying to grab at the lighter.
As they struggled, Phoebe lunged for the lighter causing Susie to fall to the ground. The lighter fell to the floor and it ignited.
"No!" Phoebe screamed. She ran down the hallway and outside, desperate to get out of the way of the spreading flames. Susie followed her.
"It's too late." Phoebe heard Susie whisper.
Phoebe watched in horror as the flames spread throughout the building.
"You can't get back in there." Susie pointed out.
*****
It was difficult for Monica, Chandler, Ross, Joey and Rachel to make their way through the dark room without crashing into a guest. In fact, it was impossible. Monica felt someone grab her arm and she screamed, pulling away.
"Mon, it's ok… it's me." Chandler told her, "I just don't want all of us to get separated."
"That won't be difficult." Ross' sarcasm was heard.
Chandler felt around for an object, any object. Anything to just attract the attention of all the guests. He grabbed what felt like a glass and dropped it on the floor. It made a large crash and the room fell silent apart from annoyed grumbling coming from Monica.
"Ok, everyone listen to me!" Chandler shouted, "If we all just calm down for a minute we may get out of this mess without someone getting hurt! First of all, the people who are standing nearest to my voice…can you tell me exactly where we are?"
"We're by the kitchen table." A voice said behind him.
"Right ok, that helps things." Chandler felt around for the table, and brushed up against something. "I think I've found it," he muttered, feeling around.
"Um…Chandler?" Monica's voice said in the darkness, "That's me you're groping."
Chandler immediately withdrew his hands. "Sorry." He said, glad that it was dark enough for no one to see him blush.
"That's ok," he heard her whisper in his ear. He grinned, almost forgetting he was in a room full of 40 people.
"Wait a minute," Ross' voice announced, "I think I've found the switch!" he pressed it, and nothing happened.
"It's just like before!" Monica whispered, panicking. "Let me out of here!" She rushed to the door, feeling around for the handle. She felt somebody place a hand on her shoulder. It was Chandler.
"It's going to be ok," he whispered, "Calm down."
Monica grabbed the handle and pulled. To her relief, it opened…and then, looking down the hall, she gasped and slammed it shut again.
"Monica…what is it?" Chandler asked, seeing the door slam back shut, causing it to block all the light again.
"There's…there's a fire." Monica whispered. She opened the door again, dragging Chandler out into the hallway. She slammed it shut behind them and pointed to the thick smoke down near the stairs.
"Oh my god!" Chandler exclaimed. He ran down the hallway, and he saw the flames slowly rising higher. He coughed, trying not to inhale the smoke. He went back to Monica. "We…we can't get back down. There are too many people to get down the fire escape so…so we're trapped." He told her.
******
END OF PART FIVE: I hope you like the way I portrayed Susie. I needed her reasons as to why she tortured the friends to be believable, so therefore, this part had more seriousness and suspense.: