Gwen found herself standing in an odd place. She was in a forest, but all the trees were a bright red, blocky like a video game. She turned around and was instantly hit with a sense of deja vu. From the lampost's placement and the way the houses lined up made her remember. Gwen felt her chest tighten like it was trapped in a vice. The sounds from before were coming back as she heard Freddy laugh. She was seeing things...
The car...
The-
Gwen was lulled out of her dream world by something pushing on her face. The goth slowly opened her eyes, allowing her to see Baby right in her face. The doll had a fearful look in her eye, which didn't leave as the goth woke up. Gwen sat up, only to realize she was wearing her outdoor outfit with the hoodie. She suddenly began darting her head around frantically. She wasn't in bed, but on a table in some mysterious room. She picked Baby up and brought her to eye level.
"Baby, what is going on!?" Gwen asked in panic.
"I don't know!" Baby replied with the same tone, "When I woke up, we were here!"
It was then the P.A. speaker came on in the room. Both shot their heads up, staring at the speaker. After a moment of static, Freddy's laugh pierced through, causing the intercom to pop.
"Well, well, well. Good Morning, my friends!"
Gwen overcame her shock and scowled. "We are not your friends. WHERE ARE WE!?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, my sweet little Gwendolyn. I've taken a page out of Baby's book... I've kidnapped you!"
Baby growled. "You know that wasn't me! It was Elizabeth!" Freddy just laughed.
"You were still her toy. You would've done it anyway. He put so much into us!"
"Is that why you kidnapped us?" Gwen asked, her tone wavering.
"Right! My game! Here's how this will work, my little cupcakes: You will try and escape this place, the spa hotel's basement, while I hunt you down! The exit is locked, however, so you'll have to find all four keys I've hidden around."
Gwen and Baby shared a look of shock, only for Freddy to laugh again, bringing the attention back on him.
"I'll be fair and give you until you leave this room. Once you do, you'll be hunted by yours truly. Have fun, Gweny!"
With that, the speaker shut off, leaving Gwen and Baby only able to hear the soft humming of the light above them and that banging from a very loud furnace. Gwen slowly felt her panic return as it suddenly hit her that she was trapped in a basement with a homicidal robot bear chasing her. Baby noticed her friend, so she jumped onto Gwen's shoulder, soothingly rubbing the back of the goth's neck.
"Calm down, Gwen", Baby said calmly, "Panicking won't help. I need you to think straight and hold your head high."
Gwen took a deep breath. "You're right, you're right." She took another deep breath, then gave Baby a weary smile. "Thanks Baby."
"Thank me later. First we escape this place." Gwen nodded and the two of them left the room. As they entered the hallway, a thought came to Gwen that made her worried.
'Do the others not know?'
Earlier...
Heather and Jo slowly got out of bed at the sound of Chris' ear bleeding airhorn. Jo quickly noticed Gwen had not stirred, which was weird. The jock walked up to the bed.
"Up and add 'em, Gwen. We got a challenge to get ready for..." She ripped off the covers, only for her stern voice to trail off at the sight of the empty bed. Empty, except for a note resting on the sheets. Jo picked up the note while Heather looked over her rival's shoulder. The notes writing was messy, but both girls could read it just fine...
And what they read made them feel uneasy.
Gweny owes me some playtime, so tell that egotistical yet lovingly sadistic host she'll be busy.
While Jo still felt uneasy, Heather scoffed.
"Oh please!" The queen bee said, "This is probably her excuse to get out of today's challenge so she can mess around with that stupid doll." Jo looked at her and shrugged, grabbing her stuff before following Heather towards the bathroom. After getting ready, they joined the others. As they passed by the spa hotel, Jo swore she saw something in the windows, but brushed it off. The two teams eventually made it to Chris, who wasn't happy someone was missing.
"Okay, where's Gwen?" He asked in irritation. This caused everyone to look around, only for Jo to walk up to the host and hand him the note. Chris quickly read it before tossing it over his shoulder. He shrugged.
"She'll come... Chef, go and get her." The cook nodded and ran off. Not like he'll find her...
The basement of the spa hotel was nothing like the rest of the building. The walls were unfinished, lacking wallpaper and insulation, and the floor was just worn out carpet or hardwood. The hallway was poorly lit, with twisted shadows forming around every corner. Gwen and Baby took is slow, trying to find the keys Freddy told them about. They checked room after room, finding only boxes and discarded tools. They turned another corner, slowly getting lost in the endless corridors.
"This is going nowhere!" Gwen vented quietly, "How can we even find the exit if we can't find the key-"
"Gwen, look!" Baby interrupted. Gwen looked to where she was pointing, and right there on a table pressed up against the wall was their first key. Gwen's spirits lifted immediately, and she ran over and stuck the key in her sweater pocket. Next to the key was a flashlight. Gwen picked it up and clicked it on, shining the light down the hall.
Big mistake.
Not far down the hall was Freddy, who seemed like he was just going to walk by, was frozen. Slowly, he turned towards his prey, his eyes glowing right red as he stared at them. Gwen quickly spun around and ran the opposite direction, Baby hanging on for dear life.
"You can run, you can't hide!" Freddy sang at her as he took big strides after her. "I'll always seek, I'll always find!"
Gwen could hear his stomps echoing through the hallways, his twisted song sending chills down her spine. She darted into a room and dove into a pile of boxes, hiding under them and a tarp. Freddy's footsteps got louder and louder until he slammed the door open. The door flew off the hinges, cracking and splintering as it hit the ground. Freddy stepped into the room.
"Knock knock, Cupcake", Freddy coaxed, "You can't escape your fate..." He began to search the room, so Gwen, as quietly as she could, snuck out from her hiding spot and left the room. She ran down another hallway and into another room, lightly closing the door. She slowly slid into a chair and began to quietly sob. Baby hugged her, giving hushed whispers of encouragement.
"How am I meant to deal with this?" Gwen whispered, tears sliding down her face. "I can't do this all season..."
"You're not facing it alone, Gwen", Baby said firmly, "And we will get out of this." The doll hopped off Gwen's lap. "Let's search these rooms, find those keys, and get out of here." Gwen sniffled, wiped the tears off her face, and stood up. She picked Baby up and began to search the room. Sadly there were no keys, but that didn't stop Gwen. She slowly opened the door, and continued down the hallway. This was going to be a long day.
Gwen and Baby had found three keys after an agonizing two hours. From having three close calls avoiding Freddy, accidentally going in circles and Gwen getting a small panic attack, the quest to escape the basement was almost over. Currently, the duo were heading down a hallway they hadn't been down yet, Freddy singing elsewhere in the maze. Gwen entered one of the many rooms, and to her luck, found the final key. Just as Gwen picked it up, she and Baby heard a noise coming from a nearby vent. Both shot their heads over, seeing a soft yellow light from behind the grate. Gwen was about to lean closer, only for the thing to speak.
"Y-Y-You bet-tter start rrrrrruuuuuunnnnnnnniiiiiinnnnnng-g-g-g-g, Gw-Gw-Gwen..."
The voice was too broken to make out who, or what, it was. That didn't matter to Gwen, who held onto Baby tightly as she barreled out the room. She could hear Freddy scream in rage, meaning he knew she had all five keys. Gwen's heart raced as she sprinted to wherever the exit was. She turned another corner and saw the exit at the end of the hall. She ran with all her might. Baby, who made it into the hood, let out a panicked squeal.
"GWEN!" The doll exclaimed, "FREDDY'S RIGHT BEHIND US!"
She was right. The bear was running to them, slowly gaining. Gwen, aware she couldn't go straight to the exit, turned sharply down a different hallway. Freddy stumbled, and could be heard crashing to the ground. Baby giggled as Freddy screamed in rage. Gwen turned another corner, hoping she could lure Freddy far enough away from the door so she could escape with lots of time to spare. Suddenly, however, Gwen's vision started to get blurrier and she was hearing the ringing again. She hid in a room as her breathing became labored. She then began to hear voices, but they weren't from Baby or Freddy...
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but... the crash... we couldn't save her..."
"NO! Do you f**king job and save her. She's still alive!"
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but she suffered severe damage when-"
"Gwen?"
"-save her. Stop lying-"
"Gwen!"
"Gwendolyn, she's gone."
"GWEN!"
Gwen was snapped out of her vision by Baby pounding on her chest. The goth's breathing slowed and her vision returned to normal as she looked down at the doll in her lap. Baby had a concerned look in her eyes, fully aware something was wrong. Gwen didn't say anything. She just hugged Baby tightly, trying not to cry. Even with her heart aching and throat tightening, she didn't cry. After a few moments of silence, Gwen stood up.
"Sorry for scaring you, Baby", Gwen said, still struggling not to cry, "I guess this place is just starting to get at me."
Baby, well aware that was a lie, just responded with a quiet "Yeah", and climbed back into the hood. Gwen carefully opened the door ajar, listening for Freddy. Oddly though, the basement was silent. Gwen opened the door fully and walked out into the hallway. Nothing. Still shaken from her... visions... Gwen just walked to the exit. To her and Baby's surprise, the door was open. She reached into her sweater pocket, only to feel nothing. The keys were gone. She just ignored it and walked up the stairs, opened the door at the top, and walked into a familiar hallway. She turned around, and felt her heart drop. The door to the basement, the place that led to her prison for the day... belonged to the room where she found Freddy and Baby. Baby noticed this too, if evident from her eyes widening in shock. But before Gwen could say anything, she felt Baby go limp in the hood. Gwen was about to check what was wrong when a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. She was then met with the face of Chef, contorted into a furious scowl.
"Do you have any idea how long I was looking for you, girly!?" The man yelled. Gwen shook her head. "Long enough to miss the challenge!"
Gwen tried to explain herself. "Someone locked me in the basement!"
Chef shot her a confused look. "Basement? This place doesn't have a basement!"
When Gwen pointed at the door, Chef gained a look of shock. He walked over and swung the door open, revealing the staircase that descended into the darkness. Chef turned back to Gwen, a genuine look of shock and concern on his face.
"I'll tell Chris", The cook ordered. He looked away for a moment before looking back. "How long we're you down there?"
"I woke up down there..."
Chef, the look of concern never leaving his face, nodded. "Since this wasn't part of any plan, I'll make you something proper for dinner since you missed breakfast, okay?" Gwen nodded and followed Chef to the lobby. When they arrived, Chris had just begun to enter with the Hamsters. Chris raised an eyebrow at Gwen as she silently walked by not saying a word. Courtney shot the goth a dirty look and was about to leave with the other Hamsters, but Sierra stopped them right passed the door so they could listen in on the host's conversation.
"Where'd you find her, Chef?" Chris asked, clearly annoyed Gwen missed the whole challenge.
"Someone locked her in the basement."
Chris froze while the Hamsters all felt there blood chill. Chris looked up at the co-host. "What?"
"She was locked in the basement."
"But this place doesn't have a basement."
"Apparently it does. There's a door down the hall that I don't recognize. She told me she woke up there."
Chris was left flabbergasted. Since when did this place have a basement? He and Chef chose to leave at that moment. The heroes, still listening in at the door, remained as still as statues. Gwen was locked in a basement the whole day. Even Courtney was horrified. Gwen was kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought down there. Sierra opened the door.
"Sierra, what are you doing?" Cameron asked.
"Going to check this basement out myself." The other Hamsters shared looks before following suit. The basement door was easy to find, and the sight of it made everyone uneasy. They looked down the staircase, only faintly seeing the open door at the bottom. Sierra was about to go down when the door at the bottom slammed shut. The Hamsters jumped at the sudden noise, only to freeze at the sound of laughter. Crazed laughter. Coming from the basement. Sierra slowly closed the door at the top of the stairs, before looking at the rest of her team. They were all thinking the same thing.
Someone else was on the island.
And he just locked Gwen away with no one knowing.
Gwen was lying in bed, Heather sleeping in the bunk above her. The goth looked to the other bunks, seeing Courtney's sleeping figure on the other bottom bunk. The elimination ceremony was largely uneventful, the only thing to note being Courtney and Duncan swapped teams. Jo got the boot, but Gwen could hardly care. Now she could make amends with Courtney. If she wasn't so broken.
The goth hugged Baby tightly as her head began to race with memories...
It happened after World Tour-
She shook her head. It was just a bad dream. Nothing else. Gwen closed her eyes to sleep.
But she couldn't. She was afraid Freddy would take her again. Or her would kill her right here and now-
Gwen's thoughts were cut off when she heard soft, gentle humming. It was Baby, humming a lullaby to help her friend. Gwen smiled as she closed her eyes, finally succumbing to sleep.
In the basement of the spa hotel, Freddy was bust putting the finishing touches on his secret project. He was glad Gwen hadn't found it, else his surprise would be ruined. And he hated ruined surprises. The thing was as big as him, only with brown fur. It had long claws and a mouth filled with pointed teeth. The most glaring feature was the groups of green tumors on the left side of it's head and left arm. The thing suddenly growled like a real bear, making Freddy look at it and grin.
He then unleashed a wicked laugh.
One down, three to go.
Something happened to Gwen, and Freddy definitely isn't helping. Also, what was he building?
