AN: Hey guys, sorry for the wait, I had the story in my head already, but I didn't get around to typing it until just now. So I do hope you'll accept my apology by reading this actually chapter-sized chapter. I had to do some re-reading to keep the characters from being too ooc, so I hope they're ok. If not, feel free to send me a pm and I'll fix them.
Something I forgot to mention in the last chapter is the timeline. Right now its set super vaguely in the middle of Twelfth Grade Kills. I don't think there'll be any mention of the plot later on, but I am going to be using the attitude of the characters towards each other which, at the moment is 'tentatively friends.' It'll probably get more ironed out as the story progresses.
*Tacks on disclaimer because I can't afford a lawsuit* I do not own the characters of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, they belong to Auntie Heather Brewer and her editor/publisher, nor do I own any of the Saw franchise, I'm just borrowing a few of its elements for the sake of my plot. The only thing I do own is this plot line, its mine and you can't have it so there.
Without any further ado, I bring you Chapter 2 of Unchained.
"I don't know."
"Is Henry ok?"
Joss looked back down at Henry, "I think so, I mean, he's breathing. Other than that I don't know."
Vlad took another look around, getting shakily to his feet. His head was spinning a bit, but he made his way to Joss and Henry, kneeling down beside his sleeping friend. He pressed his hand against the side of his face and neck, feeling what he could already hear, his steady and even pulse. Henry stirred at his touch, mumbling groggily, "what hit me?"
Vlad and Joss exchanged looks before Joss responded, "I'm not too sure, I don't," he shook his head, looking away, "I don't really remember anything."
Henry sat up, hand on his pounding head, surveying the room before him with wide eyes. "Where are we?" He asked, fatigue fading to fear and panic. "Who brought us here?" He asked in a smaller voice, more to himself.
Joss stood, looking towards the camera in the corner, thinking for a moment. "I think I have an idea," he said evenly, looking back to Vlad with a pointed stare.
"What, you think I did this?" Vlad asked incredulously, standing again. "Are you serious? I woke up here, the same as you!"
Joss shook his head, gesturing to himself. "No, not the same as me," he said accusingly, voice rising," you don't hardly have a scratch on you! Look at me, Vlad, someone beat the shit out of me! What is going on Vlad?"
"How should I know?!" He shouted back, his voice echoing in the small room. "My head hurts and I'm dizzy a-and besides, how do you know I wasn't beaten up, too, huh? Vampires heal faster than humans. Somebody could've broken my leg and I wouldn't even know it 'cuz i woke up here, same as you, no memory!" His eyes flickered with sudden realization. "How do I know it wasn't you and your damned Slayer Society? Bringing us here, sticking us all in a room together as some sort of messed up training exercise so you can kill me?"
"If that was the case, then why is Henry here?" Joss shot back, gesturing to his cousin, who was still sitting on the floor with his hand on his head watching them argue.
"I don't know, Joss, why is he here?"
The only sound for a moment as the two stared each other down was their tense breathing, the static palpable in the air. The silence was broken when Henry sighed, shaking his head. "We're stuck in a strange room together, obviously not by choice, and you guys sit there arguing, blaming the other over whose fault this is? Seriously? Ever consider the fact that no one here is to blame? That maybe the reason why we're here is because some sicko brought us here? I mean, look at this place!" He stood up too, headache forgotten for the moment to gesture, arms wide, to the room around them. "This place is straight out of a frickin' movie! So maybe instead of arguing like a Slayer and a vampire," he looked at his friends pointedly each in turn, "maybe we should work on a way out of here like the friends we all know we should be."
During Henry's outburst Vlad's eyes had cooled and Joss's angry stance had relaxed, both looking down in shame. "Yeah," Joss said quietly, "you're right man." He looked meaningfully back up at Vlad, meeting his eyes and after a moment Vlad sighed and nodded, looking away. Neither one needed to say it.
"Well duh, that's why I said it," Henry said dryly, earning a smile from the other boys.
Another moment passed in silence as Joss looked back up at the camera, inspecting it while Vlad went to look at the door. He looked it up and down, judging by just this side of it, it was thick. Placing his hands against it, he pushed with all his strength, trying to call on any extra he may have being the Pravus. He pushed on the upper part of the door, the lower, the sides to see if he could feel anything give, willing any possible movement or weak spot. Nothing. With a huff he gave up, they weren't getting through that door unless it opened from the other side.
"I think whoever's keeping us here is doing it on a budget," Joss said, still eyeing the camera. "This camera's old, so if it is someone from the Society then they're doing it on their own or with a small group of people." He looked at Vlad, meeting his gaze somberly, "I don't know how much money the vampires have, but I would imagine that they would have enough for a decent camera." He looked back up at the camera again, "it looks like they stole it from a strip mall about ten years ago or something."
Henry turned one of the grungy faucet handles on the short sink with a loud rusty squeak. An unappealing gurgle sounded and after a moment rusty red-brown water came out. "Well the sink works, but I wouldn't want to drink from that," he said with a disgusted look as the water took on a slightly more clear and appetizing color.
"I'm not sure that we have much of a choice," Joss said quietly next to Henry, looking down at the sink as well. They stood there morosely staring at the sink for a few moments until they heard Vlad tapping on the wall behind them.
"I wonder if there's anything behind the tiles," Vlad mused, rapping the tiles beside the door with his knuckle and his ear pressed against the wall.
Henry grabbed the stake from the corner it was still sitting in and handed it to Vlad, "only one way to find out."
Using the butt of the stake like a hammer, Vlad smashed in a few tiles all around the room, each time finding a solid layer of cinder block. With a frustrated yell he threw the now partially beaten in stake across the room which landed with a clatter against the tiled wall and floor. "Why are we here?!" He yelled to no one in particular.
From seemingly all around them came a deep, gravelly computer-generated voice, "you are here, Vladimir Tod, to prove my point."
Whoo! mini-cliffhanger! If you liked it, didn't like it, felt 'meh' about it, please do let me know in a review, I got my first ever review last chapter and almost did a flip I was so happy. Anywho, seeya next time!
Kattyllin