I opened my eyes groggily and found myself sitting up against a metal object. I tried to push myself to my feet with my hands, but realized they were stuck behind my back. I got onto my knees and heard the rattle of chains.
She wouldn't...
Who says she wouldn't? Amanda has already probably killed multiple people. What's one more?
Is anyone there? I tried to say, until I realized there was a gag in my mouth.
I managed to stand up and survey my surroundings. I was in a basement somewhere. Not in the warehouse, of course. Amanda isn't that stupid.
My hands were chained behind my back, and the chain was being fed into the metal pillar I was resting on. I turned around, and saw an electric saw blade placed at neck level
Oh shit. I thought. I know this trap.
When the game starts, the saw turns on and the chains start slowly being pulled into the metal pillar.
Which meant that, once Amanda came, I would have one minute to convince her to let me live.
I tried to loosen my gag a little bit. It was tied so tight that my lips were cracking. I tilted my head to the side and rubbed the cloth on my shoulder, managing to loosen it up enough so that it didn't hurt. I tried pushing the gag out of my mouth with my tongue, but it wasn't loose enough. I shook my head back and forth, trying to loosen it up enough so that I could get the damn thing out of my mouth.
I heard a door slam. Someone started running down the staircase. I stopped shaking my head and started to walk to the other side of the room, where the staircase was, when I saw Amanda. She pointed a gun at me.
"On the ground!" She ordered. I got onto my knees, not wanting to lay down because I might've not been able to get up. "If you move, I'll shoot you."
Why doesn't she just shoot me and get it over with? I wondered, rubbing my cheek on shoulder again. It would be much quicker.
I managed to get the gag out of my mouth when I realized why.
This way she can just walk away, making the guilt easier for her to deal with. This way she doesn't have to see me die.
"Amanda. Do you really want to do this?" I asked.
"Shut up," Amanda hissed. I could hear hinges squeaking as she opened up a small door where the control panel was. There was a loud whirring noise as she pulled a lever, then closed and padlocked the door, shoving the key in her pocket.
I got to my feet, knowing that I had ten seconds to stand up before I was yanked closer to the saw.
Stay calm, stay calm. I knew that if I started to freak out, Amanda would leave.
"Don't do this, Amanda." I stumbled as a foot of the chain was pulled into the pillar.
"Shut up!"
"Amanda, look at me."
"No."
The sound of the saw made me more frantic as another ten seconds went by and I was pulled closer. I had to constantly remind myself to stay calm.
"Look at me, god damn it! Look at me when you're going to kill me!"
So much for staying calm. I thought, regretfully. I expected Amanda to run up the stairs, but she turned towards me and looked me in the eye.
I took a deep breath "Look, Amanda." Choose your words carefully. "You can't just kill someone without giving them a chance. I know you're going through some tough times, but please. Let me go. I can help you."
I stumbled again as I was yanked closer to death.
"I can help myself," Amanda mumbled bitterly.
Come on! Think! I had twenty more seconds before the saw would be able to touch my neck.
"We can just forget about this. Do you really want to kill me?"
Amanda turned away, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry."
"Stop! Police!"
The chain was yanked again as I heard someone running down the stairs.
Mark?
I saw Mark and his partner, Sarah Ebbett, running into the basement, guns drawn.
"I'll get Amanda." Mark ordered. "You stop the device."
Sarah made quick work of finding the control panel.
"It needs a key!" She called.
"Shoot the damn lock off!" Mark called back.
There was a loud bang! as Sarah shot the lock off of the door. She slammed it open just as the chain was yanked back and my neck hit the saw.
"The lever!" I yelled. "Please, I don't have much time!"
Blood was flying everywhere. The agony was almost too much to bear. I started to become dizzy, my vision edged with black.
The machine stopped.
"Are you alright?" Sarah asked as Mark tossed her a key that he got from Amanda. Sarah used it to unlock the chains from my wrists as I collapsed in her arms.
"I'm dying from blood loss," I mumbled. "What do you think?"
"I think that you're going to be just fine," Sarah whispered to me. She used the gag that was still around my neck to stop the flow of blood from my wound. She looked over at Mark. "We need to get her to a hospital."
"Quick, get her into the car," Mark said."I'll deal with Amanda."
As I gradually began to pass out from blood loss, I faintly wondered why Sarah didn't protest when Mark said he would "deal with" Amanda

"Do you realize what you've done?"
Mark didn't scream when he spoke to his fellow apprentice, though Amanda wished he had.
"She was going to tell John," Amanda whispered, hanging her head.
"You know the rules. "One, don't be obvious about your identity. Two, don't kill people. And three," He pointed to the staircase. "Don't touch a single hair on that goddamn bitch's head!" He started to raise his voice a little.
"Don't talk about her like that!" Amanda protested, raising her head to scream at Mark.
"This coming from the person who tried to kill her." Mark's voice returned to its usual monotone state.
"I made a mistake."
"Yeah, a pretty fucking big mistake. If John found out about this, I think he'd go back on his pledge not to kill people."
"You're not gonna tell him, are you?" Amanda asked. She started to cry again.
"No I'm not gonna tell him, you big crybaby. You think I'd risk making him angry?" Mark took a deep breath, trying to calm his anger. "You and I both know how John feels about Pam. He loves her like a daughter, and he'd kill to keep her safe."
Amanda started to cry even harder. She didn't want to think about what would've happened if Mark hadn't come.
"You go back to the warehouse," Mark sighed. "I'll clean up your mess."

I opened my eyes to a white room, trying to shield them from the blinding light right above my head. I noticed that there was an IV in my arm.
What's going on?
I sat up, which made the back of my neck throb. It all came rushing back to me as soon as I felt the back of my neck with my hand, discovering that it was covered in bandages. I pulled my hand back immediately, as if I just put it on a hot stove.
The door to my hospital room opened and Sarah and Jill walked in.
"Hi Pam." Jill said cheerily. She smiled at me, but her eyes didn't match her smile. She was obviously troubled about something.
"Jill? Sarah? What are you doing here?"
The two women glanced at each other. Then Sarah spoke.
"Listen, Pam. We have to make this quick. Right now, there are tons of news reporters out there wanting to interview you. You need to tell them that you survived an imposter Jigsaw Killer trap. Do not tell them who created it, or anything about John, Amanda, or Mark."
"You know?" I asked. Sarah and Jill both nodded. I considered what Sarah said, then shook my head. "Are you sure I should tell my story to the media if I'm going to continue being John's apprentice? Shouldn't we just cover this up?"
Jill looked at me sadly. "Sweetie, John and I talked, and we agreed it would be best if you stopped being his apprentice for awhile. Just until this all blows over."
It took me a moment to process what Jill said.
"What? Why?" I finally asked. "What will I do? Where will I stay?"
"It's just safer this way," Sarah explained. "And, as for sleeping arrangements, I think it would be best if you stayed at my house for a little while. It also probably wouldn't hurt for you to go to school and maybe get a job."
I made a face. School did not sound like something I want to do, especially after having an exciting, not normal life. "When can I come back?"
"Like Jill said, when this all blows over," Sarah said. "When you stop getting attention and people stop wanting to murder you because of it. There's a rumor going around that you're a Jigsaw Killer Apprentice, and right now you're on about twenty hit lists. Not only that, but someone, not naming names here..."
"Mark," I mumbled. "Mark wants me dead."
"Yeah," Sarah confirmed. "I'm actually the one who convinced him to save you."
"Well, thanks for that." I sighed. "It's probably going to look really suspicious if a cop was talking to me with the Jigsaw Killer's ex-wife instead of her partner. You'd better go."
Sarah nodded and walked out of the room, Jill following behind.
"Will I ever be able to come back?" I asked right before Jill walked out the door. She turned to face me.
"You will. I promise."

"Amanda and Mark are off working on a game, plus I have a hand gun with me. You should be perfectly safe," Jill assured as we walked into John's room. He was laying on a make-shift hospital bed, his eyes closed. Seeing him in this state tugged at my heart. I knelt next to his bed, wondering if I should wake him. Just then, he opened his eyes.
"Pam?" John rasped after he took his oxygen mask off of his face.
"Yeah," I whispered. "It's me."
"Ive missed you."
"I've missed you too." I took John's hand and started to massage it with my fingers.
"How have you been doing?" He asked.
I launched into my story about starting school again, earning a smile when I told him about skipping most of my classes. I told him about getting a job at Culvers, and about how I was planning to get my own apartment when I had enough money. He asked what I was planning to do for a living, and I told him that I was planning to be an engineer, since I knew so much about it already from the stuff he taught me. John laughed weekly. Then he started coughing and he had to put the mask back on.
"It's time to go," Jill said after awhile. I nodded, stood up, and kissed John on the forehead.
"See you later?" I asked. John just smiled, and I left with Jill, saying one last goodbye.
I guess I always knew that would be the last time I would speak to the person who meant the most to me. I didn't even get a chance to see his body after he died, they had already taken it to be autopsied.
I eventually graduated high school and, even with my dreams of graduating college, I still waited in anticipation for thd day I would be able to go back and continue John's work.