Chapter 6 Hockey Pucks…
Another day has arrived, or at least, it seems like it, as all the boys wake up in their cell once again. Logan awakes to find Carlos no longer in his arms. His eyes shoot open and he looks around the cell wildly.
Then he breathes a sigh of relief when he sees his young friend leaning against James, as he speaks to Kendall. They sit quietly, James nodding once in a while, while Kendall talks now and Carlos just stares between his friends.
Logan goes to get up, when pain shoots through him. Oh, right, a madman electrically shocked him. He hisses as he stands up anyway and slowly makes his way over to his friends.
"Hey, look who finally woke up." Kendall says with a smile as he looks at Logan. Logan smiles back a little before hissing again as he leans down to sit again. Kendall watches him with concern, but when he offers a hand to help him, Logan waves it away.
Everyone is quiet for a moment as Logan looks at all three of his friends slowly. Kendall is still smiling at him, but there is something else in his eyes. Concern, anger and… determination?
James smiles as well, but Logan can tell he is just trying to be brave in front of Carlos. Carlos… he looks the worst off still. His bruises are fading slightly, but he gazes at his friends through small eyes. He tries to smile, but it fades straight away. Logan can't blame him. He looks awful, exhausted and trembling slightly.
They probably all are, from the lack of decent food and water. Not to mention sleep and then there is of course the games…
He moves his gaze back to Kendall and then it clicks in his head suddenly. He smiles wider.
"So, do you have a plan yet?" Kendall grins slightly.
"Well, so far we.."
Kendall is suddenly interrupted by another voice.
"Good morning, boys. Isn't it a great day today? The sun is shining and.. Oh, my bad. You can't see that in here, can you?" Kendall immediately balls his fists seeing Shane's face at the bars again. "Did you miss me?"
"What do you want, asshole?" Kendall grits his teeth.
"My my, Kendall. Such strong language this early in the day. You know, I did mean to let you all rest up for a few days before I started the next project. But all this scheming you're doing… Frankly, it needs to stop." The guys exchange worried glances. How did he know?
He grins widely. "Yes, I know about that. You see; I know everything." He tells them in a whisper before startle to cackle in laughter. "Oh, you should see your faces. No, there's a camera right up there, in the left corner."
All guys wear looks of horror as they look up towards the now very obvious camera. The red blinking light seems to stand out in the dark room so suddenly. All are wondering how they could have missed it. It was right there, all this time.
"Well, come on Kendall. It's time you get to start your project." The other guys eyes widen as the three big guys come in. they haul Kendall to his feet and start to drag him out of the cell. The guys get ready to defend him, but Kendall looks at them and shakes his head.
James gets up anyway.
"James." He looks at Kendall with pleading eyes, but Kendall shakes his head again. He wants to help his friend, but once Kendall gives you his look, you'll know to listen to it.
The only reason he goes with them, not kicking and screaming, is because he knows, as long as they have him, they won't hurt his friends.
"You're awfully quiet, Kendall. You're normally the spirit of the group, the one that back talks all the way. You're not sick are you?" Shane asks him as they lead him down the hall. When Shane tries to put a hand to his forehead, he angrily shrugs it off. The grips on his arm tighten as he struggles. "Ah, there it is." Shane smiles as Kendall keeps glaring at him.
"Just keep your hands off of me!"
"Oh, don't worry, Kendall. I won't lay a hand on you. Oh, isn't this just exciting? I've been looking forward to this project. I worked so hard on it, you're going to love it!" He claps his hands like an excited schoolgirl.
"Let's just get this over with." Kendall grumbles as Shane opens a large door.
The room is dark, making Kendall squint his eyes to adjust and see what's inside. Suddenly the lights flicker on, lighting up the middle of the room. Kendall's eyes widen. A small hockey rink has been set up in the middle of the enormous warehouse like room.
Two goals have been set up facing each other. Kendall looks next to him and sees Shane standing by a large duffel bag.
"Time for a game." The way he says it and the look in his eyes make Kendall shudder.
A few moments later Kendall finds himself dressed completely in hockey gear, including a helmet, a stick, padding and roller blades. Not only is he dressed for hockey, he is dressed as a goalie.
"So, what am I supposed to do with all this?' He asks, staring around in confusion, as he is alone in the middle of the hockey rink with Shane standing on the side, watching him.
"Isn't it obvious? You're going to play a game of hockey."
"Uh, it's a little hard to do by myself." He knows there is more to it, but he can't help taunting Shane a little. He loves irritating him, it reminds him of Gustavo. Too bad Shane doesn't seem very responsive to it.
"I know. That's why I have some opponents lined up for you." He grins widely, when the door opens and the three large men walk in. All dressed up in hockey gear.
Kendall can't help but stare in slight fear at the large Freight Trein sized men. He was going to have to play them? By himself? He'll never survive…
"What's the matter, Kendall? I thought this was what you always wanted? Weren't you the one who dreamed of becoming a hockey star?"
"This isn't a fair game. It's three against one!" He gulps as the three men grin menacingly at him.
"Oh, I do apologize. I completely forgot to explain the rules of this game. You see, you won't just be playing a game against them, no. You will have to defend your own goal from them, whole they try to shoot in those colored pucks." Shane points towards the three men. They step aside and there are three piles of colored pucks. Green, Yellow and Red.
"What's the point of the colors? Are they worth more points?"
"That is one way of looking at it." Shane says with a chuckle. Kendall stares at him in confusion.
"You see, Kendall, these pucks represent how much you value your friendships." Kendall follows him as he starts to walk towards the light switches. "Each color stands for one friend. Green." He flips a switch, making it echo loudly through the room. A light is turned on and Kendall watches with wide eyes as it illuminates a see through box, surrounded by mechanisms. Kendall doesn't even want to question what they do; all he sees is Logan, who looks back at him with a desperate plea, holding his hands on the front wall.
"Purple." Another switch is flipped. Another see through box is illuminated, with only some sort of machinery on the top. This one holds Carlos, who is sitting on the floor, looking scared. When he notices Kendall, he scrambles to his feet, wincing a little at his bruised body. He puts his hands on the front and starts to pound on it, yelling what no one can hear. His eyes are wide as he looks at Kendall and seems to be saying his name.
"And finally, red." The last switch is flipped. Kendall gasps at the last box. There is James, strapped to a table. He blinks heavily, trying to adjust to the sudden light. Then his eyes widen and he screams and struggles to get loose. In this box, the mechanism is painfully clear. At some distance above his head are long knives, just etching to claw at his skin.
"What is wrong with you? You sick bastard!" Kendall yells as tears stream down his face at the sight of his friends in such despair.
He wants to race towards Shane and beat him up, but strong arms wrap around him fast, preventing him from going anywhere.
"No, let go of me, just let go! You sick son of a bitch! You can't do this!"
"Oh, but I can, Kendall. You see, their lives are in your hands right now. If you refuse to play, I'll be forced to punish them." Kendall stares back at his friends once more with pain in his eyes.
"And if I do play?" Shane waves his hand and the goons let go of him.
"Well, you'll need to make sure they don't score any goals. For every colored puck to go in, the mechanisms will be turned on. If you watch the boxes closely, you'll see ten stripes on the front. Every stripe represents the number of pucks scored by them." Kendall watches the boxes and now recognizes the ten stripes.
"And if I stop a puck?"
"Nothing will happen then. But I will say, they are pretty good. It might be difficult to stop them."
"What happens when the mechanisms go on?"
"Oh, well, would you like a demonstration?" Shane asks in surprise, pulling a remote out of his pocket.
"No, no, that's okay. Never mind. I'll stop the pucks from going in anyway."
Shane shrugs. "Suit yourself. Good luck, Kendall. You're going to need it."
Kendall swallows hard, before skating towards his goal. He refuses to look at his friends again, afraid that if he does, he'll just break down. Right now, he needs all his strength. He makes a swift decision. He decides to put all his anger and frustration into his game.
"This one's for you, guys." He whispers to himself as he takes a deep breath, getting into position.
The first guy smiles at him evilly, ready to shoot the first green puck. He pulls his stick backwards and shoots as hard as he can. Kendall tries everything to stop it, but a loud buzzer tells him he didn't.
He whips his head towards Logan's box as the mechanisms come to life. He watches in horror as the left and right wall starts to move forwards, towards Logan. Logan backs into the back wall in fear as he sees the walls drawing closer together. Then, all of a sudden they stop. Kendall notices they stopped right at the first stripe of Logan's box.
Oh no…
He doesn't have time to react, as the second guy gets ready to shoot a purple puck. Kendall barely has time to turn back to watch the puck come flying his way. And into the goal…
The buzzer sounds once again and Kendall slowly turns his head towards Carlos' box. Carlos still has his hands on the front of the box, saying something no one can hear, when suddenly, the mechanisms start to work. Carlos watches the floor suddenly when water starts to seep in. He looks up at Kendall in fear as he tries to stay dry. But it's no use. Soon, his feet are completely underwater. The first stripe was reached.
Kendall gulps, but he quickly remembers what happened last time. He needs to focus. He turns around to face the next opponent, who is just getting ready to shoot. When he does, again, Kendall isn't fast enough to stop him. James' mechanism comes to life with a roar and the knives above his head start to slowly move downward.
James can be seen screaming, but all the boxes were made soundproof. Kendall tries his best not to break down at the predicament he put all his friends in. He needs to keep going.
About an hour later, half the hockey pucks are gone. Kendall feels exhausted. But he needs to keep up his game. He has been getting better. So far, he has stopped five pucks in total. Unfortunately, Logan and Carlos' pucks can barely be stopped. Those guys are just too good. Logan is on his fourth stripe, while Carlos is already up to his waist in the water, making five stripes. Kendall has already spotted that the last two stripes go above his head.
James' pucks are a lot easier to stop and Kendall has found an obvious weakness in his opponents' game. Whenever he plays, he has to shoot to the right side or the middle. He can't play to the left. Kendall is trying to pinpoint all their weaknesses, but so far, the others are more difficult to read.
"I am so loving this game. Go Kendall!" Kendall tries to ignore him as Shane is cheering him on from the sidelines, taunting him. "Oh, but since we're halfway there, let's kick it up a notch. Boys, let's speed things up!"
Kendall opens his mouth in shock. They weren't playing at full speed?
He quickly gets ready, but he is not prepared for the green puck to come flying towards him in near warp speed. He breathes heavily as it flies into the goal, he never even had a chance.
Logan's walls etch closer together; making the pale boy put his hands on them. They're not touching him yet, but if he stretches his arms to the side fully, he can press against them.
Kendall tries his best to get ready, but before he even has a chance to get into position, a purple puck flies through his legs.
"No, no…" He mumbles desperately at himself as the men pick up speed. They follow up on each other much quicker than before, no longer waiting for Kendall to get ready.
The water in Carlos' box goes higher up, touching his chest. Carlos looks around, frantically trying to find something to hold on to, to pull himself up. But he finds nothing.
James lies still on the table. The knives have only moved once, but he is still terrified, squirming to get away. Suddenly, they come to life once more. Kendall watches in pain as the knives move down once again.
"Come on, Kendall. You're not getting tired are you? I don't think your friends will appreciate it if you give up now." Kendall growls.
Alright, that is it. No more thinking, put your head in the game, Kendall. It's now or never.
With that, Kendall gets ready for the fight of a lifetime. Bring it on…
A while later has Kendall panting in front of his goal. He tries not to pay attention to the few hockey pucks left on the floor and he hasn't looked back at his friends either. He has managed to stop more pucks now, but the few that went by… he doesn't want to know which color they were. It'll only take him out of his game.
"Hey, Kendall? Don't you want to see your progress? I mean, I have to congratulate you for saving James' life. Even if those last two pucks do go in, the knives still won't touch him. Hardly. But the other two, well, they have less chances." He tries to ignore Shane's voice. "Come on, Kendall, just look at them. They're your friends. Don't you want to see what your dream caused them? The only reason I chose this game is because I know how much you love it. How does it feel, Kendall? To know that your friends will have nightmares for years to come because of one silly game of hockey? Huh?"
He shuts his eyes for a small moment, breathing in deeply, trying to prevent the oncoming tears from reaching him. Then he decides to steal one last look at his friends. He never should have. His eyes widen as he sees Logan trying his best to keep the walls from crushing him. He has turned around, so that his back is against one of the moving walls, giving him just that little bit of extra space.
And Carlos… The water is at his chin now. Three stripes remain. He only stopped one puck. One… If he lets one more puck through, the water will rise above his head. Two pucks remain.
Lastly, James. Shane is right though. He has stopped most of James' pucks. Only three stripes have been touched. No matter what happens, the knives won't hurt him.
He turns back towards his opponents, trying to clear the images of his friends out of his head.
A green puck comes flying his way. He puts his full body into defense mode and then squeezes his eyes shut. He missed it, he knows he did. He waits for the buzzer to sound. But it never does. He opens his eyes and looks at Logan. He too has his eyes closed and his arms out in front of him, stopping the wall from moving. But it doesn't. Kendall looks down in his glove and actually finds the puck right there.
He smles greatly, wants to cheer, but then a buzzer does sound. His eyes widen in fear and he watches Logan again. Nothing happens. But even Logan's eyes are widened now as he watches in fear in front of him. Kendall slowly turns his head. He gasps, the water level in Carlos' box is steadily rising again, moving above his chin, over his mouth and going higher. Carlos struggles to keep his head above the water and trashes around wildly, his eyes show so much fear, it breaks Kendall's heart.
Now, more determined than ever to finish the game, he turns around. Only to find the next opponent not even ready.
"What are you waiting for? Shoot the damn puck!" His eyes keep casting over to Carlos in a hurry. "Come on! Shoot!"
The guy just smiles evilly and slowly moves towards the red puck. And in one movement, he shoots it as hard as he can, propelling it towards Kendall, who watches with wide eyes. He pants heavily when the buzzer sounds.
What was that? He couldn't play before… He casts a glance towards James, who looks up in fear as the knives come down further. They stop at the fourth stripe. Kendall turns away, but then he hears the mechanism move again. He whips his head around and sees the knives going down even further.
"Wait, what's going on? You said they only go down one stripe for each puck!" Kendall yells at Shane, who is laughing his head off like he's gone completely insane.
"Yeah, but that was such a nice shot, I couldn't resist. Oh my god, you should see the look on your face… Priceless, just priceless…"
Kendall can only watch helplessly as the knives move down to the last three stripes. By this time, James has tears streaming down his face. Kendall does as well.
"Please, just stop… Don't do this.." Kendall pleads as he falls to his knees, sobbing. "Please don't make me go on…"
"Oh, come on, Kendall. I only made sure they're all even now. Well, except for Carlos. How long do you think he can keep his head above the water like that?" Shane watches with amusement as Carlos struggles. His head goes under for just a small moment, but he picks it right back up again. Everyone can see he's having a lot of trouble with it.
"Let's go, Kendall. Only one more puck for each of them." Shane claps his hands and Kendall reluctantly pulls himself back on his feet. He wipes his arm across his face to get rid of the tears and stands in front of the goal again.
"Just hurry…" He whimpers. The first guy comes up to the last green puck. Kendall breathes heavily and tries to focus as best as he can on the puck.
When it is finally shot, it seems to fly in slow motion. He moves as fast as he can, somewhere in the distance a buzzer sounds.
"No…" He can hear the mechanisms moving. He watches as the walls move one last time. Logan's eyes grow wide and he tries everything to stop them from crushing him, he moves up, he puts his hands on them.
Kendall has tears streaming down his face once again as the walls stop moving. He can't even fully see Logan anymore.
"Oh, god… Just hurry up, come on!" he yells through his sobbing and gets ready once again.
A purple puck is shot towards him and he tries to catch it, tries to stop it, but he stumbles and fall forward. The buzzer pounds in his ears. In horror he watches the water level rise even further. Carlos tries to swim up, but he doesn't have the strength left. He struggles as the water rises above his head. He pounds on the walls, trying to get out.
"Stop, please.. That was the last one, just let him out, please!" Kendall screams from the floor, but Shane just smiles at him.
"Not until you finish the game, Kendall."
He slowly gets ready again, but he can't even see the red puck anymore. His vision is completely blurred. He can see an object coming towards him, and he throws himself at it. This time no sound is heard as he is lying on top of the final puck.
He sobs on the ground. "Let them go… I'm done now, let them go!"
"As you wish." Shane says with a chuckle. He presses a button on his remote and the mechanisms move back into their first position, right before the front walls open up.
As Carlos' wall opens up, all the water streams out of it. He falls to the floor, coughing as he tries to catch his breath.
When Logan's walls part, his eyes are wide and he puts a hand to his chest, also trying to regain his breathing with loud gasps.
James is still crying when the knives go back up into the ceiling and his restraints are gone. He hurries off the table and out of the box, falling to his knees, sobbing.
Kendall watches his friends while he himself sobs on the floor. He can't go to them.
"This is my fault… I did this to them…" he mutters to himself. He doesn't even notice being lead away from them. He suddenly finds himself in a small area, where his clothes are thrown at him. He slowly changes back into them and then stands on shaky legs as he is lead back to their cell.
There he finds James sitting with his knees pulled to his chest, still sobbing. Logan sits with his back against the wall, still gasping for air as Carlos holds him, coughing ever so often and his breath wheezing.
He goes to sit at a small distance away from them. He's afraid to look them in the eyes.
"Kendall?" He looks up to find Carlos staring at him with, concern? "You tried your best. They were just too strong…" He croaks.
"How can you say that? You almost drowned because of me, Carlos.. How are you even sitting up right now, talking to me?"
"Would you rather have me lying on the floor, gasping for air?"
"No, I just… This happened because I like hockey."
"Kendall… we all… like… hockey…" Logan's voice suddenly mentions, gasping for air between every word.
Kendall doesn't respond. Instead he just watches his friends for another moment. He is still surprised at how well Carlos seems to be doing. But when he looks closer, he notices he's wrong. He is heavily leaning on Logan, while rubbing soothing circles on his friend's back to help him breathe. His eyes are open wide, he looks t be in shock. Of course, that's what it was. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's in shock. That's what happens when you're in cold water and go through a traumatic experience like this… wait…
"Carlos? Are you wearing different clothes?" Carlos snaps his head up to look his friend in the eye. The other guys slowly move their heads towards him as well.
"They didn't want me to get sick." He quietly replies, before looking down at his feet and avoiding everyone's gaze.
"Carlos, did you dress yourself? Please tell me you dressed and undressed yourself…" Kendall asks, dread creeping into his heart.
Carlos doesn't look up. "I tried to… but I was so tired and cold…" He softly tells them.
"Oh my god… I'm going to kill them... Did they touch you?" Carlos whips his head back up.
"No! They didn't, alright? I-I-I got other clothes from them and they took me back here, okay? I-I'm fine…" The way he avoids their gazes and the sudden increase of his stutter makes the guys exchange looks. But the tone of his voice also makes them drop the subject.
Kendall takes one more look at James, to find him again with tears pooling in his eyes. The sight breaks his heart all over. With all the strength he has left he crawls over to his friend and envelops him into a big hug, letting his head rest n his shoulder as he starts to cry into it.
No matter what happens, he needs to stay strong for his friends. He can't show them how much this whole 'project' has affected him. How he is on the verge of breaking down. He couldn't protect them. They nearly died because of him. Because he likes hockey. Thankfully he already gave up on that dream. He'll never be able to play it now without those memories etched into his mind…
Wow, didn't mean for this chapter to get this long. It's not fully what I intended, but I hope you still liked it.
A lot more is coming up, and up next you might be able to guess already ;)
Anyway, lot more whumpage coming up, so keep reading and I hope you're enjoying it. I'm off to bed, hoping to write more this week, but not making any promises!
Thanks for all the support and until next time!
Love, Baxxie