Chapter 7 Save Me
It's been some days since the last project as Carlos slowly wakes up. He was dreaming of the Palm Woods and their apartment there. He opens his eyes with a smile and stretches his arms over his head.
He winces immediately and pulls them down slowly. His eyes grow wide and his smile vanishes as he finally recognizes his surroundings again. He's not at Palm Woods, he's still in the same cold, dark cell. By himself.
He quickly gets to his feet as he notices none of his friends are with him. Alone again.
But wait, maybe he's dreaming again. He closes his eyes and pinches himself. He yelps at the pain and opens is eyes again. No change.
Oh no… Wait… maybe, just maybe they were never taken in the first place. He was here all by himself.
He looks down at himself. If that was true, he would be wearing his own clothes now. He turns a disgusted grimace to the grey, dark clothes they had dressed him in. Couldn't they have at least looked for something nice?
Oh god, he was starting to sound like James now. Stop.. he couldn't think about that right now. Where were his friends?
His thoughts are soon interrupted.
"Ah, look who's finally awake?" Shane's voice rings in his ears. He looks up and glares at him.
"Where are they?" he growls at the man.
"Ooh, look at that. No more shy, little Carlos, huh? You gonna be a man now?"
"Shut up. Where are they?" He growls louder, stepping closer to the bars. "Tell me!" He shouts.
"There, there, no need to yell at me. I'll take you to them." Carlos can't stand still as Shane slowly opens the cell door. The three big guys are close behind and step towards him, but Carlos stops walking.
"You can call them back. I'll come quietly." Shane puts up a hand and the guys stop walking. He motions for them to turn away. They walk ahead and Shane walks close to Carlos, who avoids his gaze and just glares ahead.
They keep walking until they reach the large doors Carlos was forced to go through just days before for Kendall's project. His body shivers involuntarily at the thought of being in that box, nearly drowning. He shakes his head as he tries to get rid of the memory.
The door opens and Shane stands next to it. The three big guys walk through, but Shane just gazes at Carlos with a smile. Then he waves a hand inside.
"After you." Carlos tries to ignore the twinkle in his eyes and walks through the door. It's dark again.
Would he have to play hockey, too?
"Now, Carlos. It is finally time for your project. I'm sorry it took me this long, it was a lot of work. But it will be so worth it, you'll see." Again, his smile and demeanor makes him seem like an eager child. Carlos recognizes that look straight away. He always got that look when he was excited for something. Like when it was finally his birthday and the moment came where he could open his presents.
Shane moves to the light switches again. "Are you ready?"
"Just hurry up." Carlos says with an angry tone. He feels restless. Why couldn't he just hurry this along, so he could get all the pain ver with. He could handle it, whatever it was. He was good dealing with pain. Being so accident-prone, even with it never really being accidents, he was used to getting hurt.
Not that he enjoyed any of this. And the pain did feel different. But he could do this. The others had, why couldn't he?
And that's when he suddenly remembers the others. Where were they? During the others projects, they had all been part of it. Except for with James' project. He still didn't get that. Why was he the only one hurt that time? Why not them too?
"Okay, I can't wait anymore. Carlos, here is your project." The switches are forced down suddenly and the light flickers on. Carlos looks around in amazement.
He actually put the entire space to use. A giant maze, it seems, has been set up in the room. Thick walls made of wood make up the structure. Caros can't see over them, so there's no way of knowing what's inside.
"I heard you want to become a superhero, am I right?" Shane suddenly asks from right next to him, making him jump a little. He gives Shane a confused look. "And you lack direction." A large grin appears on his face. "Well, right now, both issues are addressed. You see, you will need a sense of direction to get through thi maze. But the superhero in you will have to do it in time as well."
"What does that mean?"
"Superheroes always rescue all the victims, right? They can never be late. Then they wouldn't be a superhero anymore, now would they?"
"What's yur point?" Carlos starts to feel irritated again.
"Well, since you want to be a superhero, I have given you some victims to save. They are inside that maze and you will have 30 minutes to save them. Once the 30 minutes are up and my buzzer sounds, it's game over. And whoever is left in that maze. Well.. you can guess." He winks at Carlos, who cringes. "You better get going, I don't think your friends can wait any longer."
Carlos' eyes widen as he quickly whips his head around to the entrance of the maze. His face drains of color as Shane chuckles beside him.
"Time to go." He pushes a button and Carlos can now see a large sports countdown board above the light switches. The red numbers light up and 30 minutes start the countdown. Carlos swallows hard and turns back to the entrance.
He breathes out deeply, before starting to run. The first hallway seems long and he just runs without looking. Then, two choices; left or right. He knows he doesn't have time to think and he heads right.
After running a little while, he suddenly sees a wall blocking his path. A dead end. Crap! He turns back and runs the opposite direction.
He nearly runs headfirst into one wall and slips on the floor, nearly crashing to the ground in another hallway. Then, the first obstacle stands. He gulps as he comes to a stop. Another box.
He walks up to it, not seeing anything at first. But on the other side he suddenly sees him, Logan. He is inside the box, staring at the ceiling with frightened eyes.
Carlos knocks on the front of the box, making Logan suddenly whip his head towards him. He immediately puts his hands on the front, saying something, but Carlos can't hear him.
"Logan, stop! What are you saying? I can't hear you.." he tries to read his lips, because Logan keeps pointing to the ceiling. He frowns. "Logan, I don't understand.." he sighs and walks to the other side of the box, to find a way out. Then, he finds a lock. He smiles and puts his hands on it. Suddenly, a loud beeping noise is heard.
It's followed by the muffled screams of Logan, who is pounding frantically on th walls. Carlos moves to the front and sees some sort of gas coming down from the ceiling. He then notices another countdown screen inside Logan's box. But this one reads 3 minutes.
He rushes to the lock again and tries to pull on it. It doesn't budge. He looks around, frantically searching for anything to break the lock with. The timer in the meantime just ticks away.
"Shit, shit.. come on.. anything.." He mutters and keeps looking arund when he spots something embedded in the wall. An axe is sticking in the wall. He runs towards it and tries to pull it out with all his strength. His face goes red as he pulls. He puts one foot on the wall and tries it again.
Still nothing. Then, he decides to put both feet on the wall and starts to pull again, pushing his feet on the wall and leaning backwards. Suddenly, he shoots to the floor, with the axe in his hands, landing on the ground with a painfully loud thud.
He ignores the pain in his back and the stars dancing in front of his eyes and gets up, hurrying towards the lock. He picks up the axe and starts to pound on the lock with a loud CLANG.
With relief he can see the lock coming off it's hinges. He pounds faster, harder and suddenly, the lock falls to the floor. He drops the axe and quickly opens the door. He is just in time to catch Logan as he falls out and into his arms.
He coughs and gasps for air. Carlos looks inside the box just to see the timer has stopped at 30 seconds and the gas is retreating again.
"You okay?" he asks Logan, who is lying on his stomach. He nods, while he tries to regain his breath.
"Just go, the other guys.." He gasps. Carlos nods and reluctantly helps his friend into a sitting position against the wall. He watches him for a little while, before Logan waves him off with a small smile. He rushes off again.
He reaches two more dead ends, before a second box comes into view, this one is much higher than the others. This time he doesn't need to go around it to find out who's inside.
"James.." He whispers, tears pooling in his eyes. His tall friend is hanging from the ceiling suspended by cables, surrounding his body. His eyes are closed tightly, Carlos can see he's trembling.
H rushes forward, but the moment he gets close to the box, another beeping noise is started.
"Oh no.." He looks up and sees another timer has started. Again, 3 minutes are on the countdown. He looks at James and gasps when he sees what the timer has set in motion.
One by one, the cables snap, and James has to use more and more of his own strength to keep from plummeting to the ground below.
"Oh, god… oh god.." Carlos trembles and hurries to find a way to save his friend. After searching a little while, he finds another lock. But this one can't be pounded off. This one needs a key. A key he doesn't have…
"Hang on, James.. " Just then he realizes and face-palms. "Oh, stupid, stupid, Carlos. Bad choice of words… not that he can hear me.. alright, now where's that key.."
He looks everywhere around him, knowing that it must be there, like the axe was. Why Shane has given him all these tools, he doesn't get. But he is grateful nonetheless.
"Come on, come on, where is it?" he searches the walls, nothing. He starts to crouch down and roams the floor. Suddenly something shiny catches his eye. There's a small opening in the box itself. It seems big enough to fit his hand through. He takes a deep breath and sticks his left hand in.
He reaches inside the opening for the key, which hangs on a wire. He has to stretch out his entire arm to make a grab for the key.
It wasn't that far away, was it? He reaches as far as he can, when his fingers graze a small object. He almost cries with relief and grabs a hold.
He starts to pull on the key, when suddenly it starts to pull back.
"What the…" He keeps a tight grip on the key and pulls on it with all his strength. But then all of a sudden, the key is pulled away from him, fast and hard. He tries to hold on. He knows he should let go, but he can't. He has to save James.
So he holds on and tries to pull the object back to him. But the wire is too strong and pulls further, until a loud POP is heard. Carlos grits his teeth and clenches his jaw, squeezing his eyes shut. His shoulder just got pulled from it's socket.
After the POP was heard, suddenly, the wire goes limp. Carlos carefully pulls it towards him. He has great difficulty, since every movement makes his shoulder hurt more. He blinks away tears and slowly stands up, with the key now in his hand.
He looks up and sees James hanging still, but only two more cables left. One holds his right arm, the other the left. He hangs on for dear life and his eyes are squeezed shut. Preparing for the impact he is about to make, tears rolling down his face.
Carlos moves towards the box and slides in the key, turning it. Just as the final cable is about to snap, James lowered down by a mechanism. He is sobbing as he reaches the floor. He sits on the floor of the box, not trusting his own strength to stand. Carlos can see he's shaking.
"James…" He quietly says, trying not to wince. James doesn't look up, he just stays on the floor, curled up in a ball. "James, I kind of need your help a little.." He winces as he moves his arm too much.
James looks up now and through his tears, concern flashes when he sees Carlos' arm hanging limply by his side.
"My shoulder popped out… Could you uhm.." James carefully gets up and without Carlos having to say it, he grabs a hold of his arm. He looks at him, seeking approval. Carlos nods and looks away.
James pulls as hard as he can. Carlos tries hard to keep from screaming out as his shoulder POPS back again. He looks at James, who hugs him quickly, trying to avoid his left arm.
"Thank you…" He sobs and then lets go just as fast.
"Just go find Logan, I need to find Kendall." James goes to shout after him, but he's already gone running again.
"The clock is ticking, Carlitos.." Shane's whiny voice is heard through a loudspeaker. He cringes when he hears him use the nickname only used by his friends and loved ones.
He runs through the hallways and tries not to look at the clock, its red, angry numbers screaming at him; 13 minutes remaining…
"Come on, Kendall, where are you?" he runs, and turns a corner when there it is; standing out like a glass coffin, Kendall's box. It's lying down, like a coffin. He runs over to it and sees Kendall, who looks at him with a smile?
He puts his hands behind his head, showing Carlos he's fine. Carlos smiles through his angst and goes to work on finding an opening. He walks forward, when he trips over something and crashes to the floor with a loud THUD.
He looks behind him and sees an almost invisible wire spun between the walls. His eyes widen in shock.
"Not again…" A small timer starts another countdown. 4 minutes.
He looks at Kendall, who is now no longer smiling. Instead, his eyes are wide and fixated on something in front of him. Carlos looks to the other end of the box and with great shock he sees small bugs starting to crawl through an opening.
They quickly start to crawl on top of Kendall, who is desperately trying to fight them off. Among the bugs, are small spiders.
He knows Kendall has a fear of spiders, always has. He may be a Spidey fan, but if an actual spider comes close, someone has to get it away from him.
Kendall pulls his legs up, but when that doesn't work, he tries to kick his feet at the bugs, trying to squash them or scare them away. But more come out and Carlos can see him freaking out.
Meanwhile, Carlos is busy trying to find out how to get him out.
"Come on, there's gotta be an opening somewhere around here.. Where is it?" he searches every corner of the box when he reaches the back of it and the bottom. "Aha!" He smiles when he finds a lever underneath the box. He looks up to let Kendall know, and he gasps. Kendall is covered in bugs, he can't even see his face anymore.
He quickly gets under the box and grabs a hold of the lever, pulling on it as hard as he can. First, nothing happens. Then, he feels tiny pricks of pain all of a sudden. He looks at his arm and then notices in shock that there are fire ants crawling over his arms.
He tries to throw them off, but they keep coming. He pulls the lever again and this time, the bottom falls out, making the bugs all scurry away and Kendall falls to the floor.
Carlos rushes over and starts to slap all the bugs away from his friend, who has been holding his breath and now gasps for air.
When most bugs are gone, Kendall lies there panting.
"Are you okay?" Carlos asks with concern. Kendall just nods from the floor, unable to answer because he's shaking so much.
"Carlos? Just 6 more minutes on the countdown and one more box to open!" Shane calls out in a sing-song voice.
"wait, what? But I got all of them out.."
"Not all of them, Carlos. There's one more box and I'd hurry if I were you. I hear, her biggest fear is fire…"
Carlos glances at the clock and then races off again, leaving Kendall to catch his breath.
He keeps his eye on the clock this time as he keeps on going.
After turning a few corridors, his hurt arm nearly forgotten, he finally finds the last box. It stands in the middle of the room, the finish of the maze. He smiles and runs over.
He looks inside and finds a young woman, couldn't be older than 21, tied to a chair in the middle. She's crying and screaming, but her sounds are muffled by a cloth in her mouth. She's blindfolded and Carlos' heart reaches out to her.
"Hold on, I'll get you out.." He tries to reassure her, but more so himself.
He searches the box, feeling every inch.
"Tick-Tock!" Carlos glances back and sees the last minute counting down.
"No, no!" he feels frustration setting in as he tries to find a door, opening or anything. "There's got to be something!"
He searches the walls, but can't find anything.
"..9…8…7.."
"No, please.. don't do this.."
"..6..5..4.."
"Please, just give me more time.." He pleads as tears start to run down his face.
"..3..2..1." A loud buzzer sounds.
"No, no.." He pleads and puts his hands on the handlebar of the door he just found. He pulls, but it won't budge.
"Sorry, Carlitos. I'm afraid you had to set a mechanism in working for that door to open. It's too late now."
"No, wait! Please don't hurt her. She's innocent. I don't even know her!"
"I'm afraid time's up. Say goodbye now. I would stand back if I were you. It might get a little hot."
"What?" He hears CRACKLING in front of him. He whips his head to the box and sees flames rushing in from the bottom. "Oh god.. oh god, no.. Stop, stop! Shane, please! You can't do this!"
"Aw, as much as I love hearing you beg and saying my name, it won't work. You wanted to be the hero, Carlos. But you couldn't save her. I guess you're not a hero after all. Hm, shame."
"No… No!" He screams as he pounds the door with his right fist, tears streaming down. Hands grab him from behind, pulling him away as the flames engulf the box. The girl's screams can be heard throughout the entire room.
Carlos struggles in the arms of the person who grabbed him.
"No.. No, I have to get her out.."
"Shh, Carlos. There's nothing you can do.." Kendall's voice sounds shakily from beside him.
"I have to save her…" He sobs, but Kendall just holds him tight. Soon two more pairs of arms engulf them both in a hug as they watch the box burn out and Carlos sobs loudly.
A while later, they are all back in the cell. Carlos has hardly spoken. He sits quietly while Logan puts his arm in a sling, using a torn piece of the blanket with them.
"Carlos, you were a hero just now. You know that, right? You saved our lives." James tells him. Carlos doesn't look up.
"I didn't save hers." He quietly responds.
James looks at Kendall, who looks at Carlos in concern.
"Carlos, there was nothing you could do." Kendall tells him.
"I could have. I could have saved her, if I had gotten there sooner, if I had found that mechanism faster.."
"Carlos.." Logan starts.
Carlos suddenly stands up.
"No! I could have saved her. She was there because of me. Because I said I wanted to become a superhero. But I'm not, because superheroes save everyone in time. She died, because I didn't save her!" He yells at them, kicking one of the walls in anger.
"Carlos, this isn't your fault." Kendall tells him again. Carlos whps around to face him.
"yes, it is! She wouldn't have been there in the first place if I had had a normal dream. None of you would have."
"A normal dream. Like hockey?" Kendall asks him. Carlos doesn't respond to that. He looks down at his hands. Kendall sighs and leads his friend to sit down on the bench. "You saved all of us in 30 minutes. There was nothing more you could have done. You were a hero to me." Carlos doesn't respond. He just looks at his hands. "hey, look at me." Carlos looks up. "You're my hero." He says in a somewhat girly voice.
Carlos chuckles a little through new sobs and tears. Kendall sighs again and pulls him into a hug as he starts to sob again.
"It's okay, buddy. I'll get us out of here.. I promise.." the other guys come to sit with them as they hold on to each other in comfort.
Meanwhile, behind the camera images, a man sits. He holds an angry scowl, while he grips a coffee mug so tightly in his hands that it shatters to pieces…
Sorry, it took me a while. I had trouble finding the time to write anymore. But I found myself feeling inspired for this chapter suddenly, so I had to write it.
Now, I am going to bed, another busy time up ahead. I'll try to update again soon, but can't make any promises.
If you have any ideas for this story btw, let me know
Thanks so much for all the support on this story and I hope you're enjoying it
Until next time & Love, Baxxie