Note: I have some stuff regarding the first two acts of Trepidation in my profile. It's semi-detailed analysis of my feelings of them. Also, I'll be on vacation for a little over a week. So there'll be short hiatus. But I promise you I'll begin to work on Scene vi when I return.


Scene v


"Erk," Paula groaned as she struggled to push herself up off the floor. But it was nearly impossible to stand; the pain from the burn wound on her right foot was far too intense.

Paula's hand clutched the wall as she hopped on her left foot. "Paula, hey!" Kevin said as he turned away from the writing on the wall and moved toward his partner.

Kevin grabbed Paula's shoulders to help her stabilize. She gently placed her right foot on the ground with a groan. "We have to keep moving, Kevin. We can't stop now," Paula told him as he simply nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know. Here," Kevin whispered as he let Paula wrap her arm around his shoulders. The two detectives moved forward, Paula still hopping on one foot.

Geoff continued to stare at the wall. "What does it mean?" he asked Grace.

"I'm not sure…" Grace replied, "…maybe it's just something to keep in mind?" Of course, Grace knew all too well what this phrase meant and how important it was.

Alison must have written it on the wall.

"Hey, let's go guys," Kevin said as he passed by Grace and Geoff. He continued to aid Paula down the hallway as the other two followed.

"Are you in the force?" Geoff looked to Grace as he asked her yet another question.

"No, why?" she replied.

"Just wondering. We're all in the force, but you're just…" Geoff stopped talking for a moment to look up at Paula and Kevin. "You're normal, I guess. Jigsaw seems to like to pick on officers. What did you do to get here?"

"Too much drugs and alcohol, I guess. At least…that's what he said on the cassette," Grace explained.

Even when she said she was a drug user she could still uphold her innocence. Although, the funny part was that she had never touched either of those things. She was completely sober.

Kevin stopped moving; his eyes glanced to the side at a door. It had a slip of paper taped to it. The detective used his right arm (his left was supporting Paula) to remove the slip of paper. It read: "Hello Kevin. You'll notice that your gun is missing, the same gun you tried to threaten me with in your search for justice."

"Yeah, that's right. I'm gonna lock you up for good. You won't put anyone else into these sick little games of yours," Kevin chuckled as held his pistol with only one hand.

"Now," it continued to read, "if you wish to retrieve this weapon of yours, you'll have to play a game. Open the door before you."

Kevin obeyed its directions and moved Paula over to the wall and let her rest against it. "What are you doing?" Geoff asked as Kevin pushed open the steel door. A burst of hot steam came out of the room. Kevin grunted as he moved away from it.

The door continued to creek open as it revealed a pool of scalding hot water.

Kevin looked back down to the note and read aloud. "You'll see a small pool filled with blistering-hot water. Your gun, the weapon you so desperately need to perform justice, lies at the bottom of the pool. Is it really worth the pain, Kevin? You just may find that your gun will lead you to do very injust deeds."

"Let me see," Geoff said as he took the paper from Kevin who walked into the room.

A ladder was on the side of the pool to allow Kevin to exit it. He moved closer to the pool, already beginning to sweat.

"Can't we just wait for the pool to cool down?" Grace asked as Geoff slipped the paper into his pocket.

"No; there's heaters on the sides," Kevin said as he peered down in the water. It was impossible to see the floor of the pool.

With a sigh, Kevin began to remove the shirt he had on. "Wait," Geoff said as Kevin simply looked back at him. "Your clothes will protect you from the hot water. Keep them on."

"All right," he said as he pulled his shirt back down.

Kevin moved close to the pool as he took in a breath of hot air. He was the one that was the least injured at the moment and he knew it. Both Geoff and Paula had nasty wounds. Grace's wounds were minor, but Kevin wasn't about to let some poor girl--in his eyes anyway--take his place in a trap.

The detective took a few steps back and ran forward. He jumped forward and dove straight into the water. Kevin aimed to swim toward the center of the pool.

He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. Kevin wanted to badly to scream out in pain. It was like the water suddenly turning sweltering hot in a shower, except Kevin was forced to to withstand it.

Kevin's hands touched the bottom of the pool. The bottom was even hotter than the surface of the pool, and Kevin was forced to open his eyes to see where the gun was.

Jigsaw had placed chlorine in the pool as well. That, and the hot water, gave Kevin unbearable pain in his eyes. It far worse than accidentally rubbing soap into them.

Kevin shut his eyes tight and moved forward. His eyes were only open for a split second, but he saw the gun. It was only a few feet in front of him.

During what seemed like a whole minute, Kevin moved forward and patted the ground with his foot. He was slowly running out of oxygen, but he'd be damned if he had to go up to get air and then come back down.

Finally, his bare foot touched a hard object. He reached down and pulled a gun wrapped in plastic wrap from the floor. Kevin pushed up off the ground and swam violently toward the surface.

It had reached a point where the heat was making Kevin nauseous.

"Aaaaaaah!!" Kevin screamed as his head broke through the surface of the pool.

"Kevin, c'mon!" Geoff shouted as he reached his hand down toward the ladder.

He swam forward through the water. He stopped at the latter and threw the gun up over the side of the pool. It landed and slid across the tiled floor.

"Aaaah!" Kevin screamed again as he gripped the bars of the latter and climbed up.

Geoff grabbed Kevin's forearm and pulled him upward. The detective crawled along the floor. He did not stop moving, though. Kevin picked himself up off the ground as he ran through the open doorway.

Kevin ripped his vest off, and then threw his shirt off. "Aaaaaah!" he screamed again as he fell to his knees. His skin was pink and his whole body ached. At any moment it felt as though he would vomit. The pain he was feeling was white-hot and unbearable.

The cooler air was the only small aid he received for his burning body.


A metal door silently opened, the same door that Kevin ran through to get to Jigsaw.

Alison flicked a light switch and walked into the room. The lights were dim but allowed her to see.

"What do you want!?" Kaden screamed, coughing immediately afterward.

Alison didn't say anything to him as she walked over to two iron slots in the ground that were meant to hold a person in place. She held a mirror in her hands and placed it higher up on the wall so it was eye level with her.

"You're not Grace…" Kaden said, "…Alison?"

She turned to look at Kaden. Blood trickled down his mouth and his skin looked paler than ever. The antidote fought hard to combat the poison in his body.

"Yeah," she replied.

"You're in on this whole fucked up thing too, huh?" Kaden asked with a smirk. "C'mon!" he screamed as Alison flinched. "I'm supposed to be the murderer! The sicko! But here you are—" Kaden coughed and used his hand to cover his mouth. His head was still pinned against the wall with the cuff, which kept him from moving. "—here you are. Is that what you get for winning his game? Aiding him in his killings? I didn't get that for what I went through!"

Alison pulled out a pudding cup from her pocket and a plastic spoon. "John knows what he's doing. He's not some serial killer like you," Alison hissed. "He knows what justice is."

"Justice? Justice!?" Kaden screamed. "You call this fair? You call this justice? I call this fucked up! Fucked up! Fucked up!" Kaden stopped screaming and coughed violently.

Small drops of blood covered the floor beneath him. He tilted his head back as much as possible as he took in breaths of air.

"Just shut up and eat this," Alison said as she let the pudding cover fall to the floor. She put the spoon in the cup and fed the glob of pudding to Kaden.

"I think I'm capable of eating a pudding cup by myself," Kaden said. His hands were free and he quickly made a grab for the cup.

"Fine then," Alison said as she tossed the spoon to the side and simply gave Kaden the cup.

"You think I'll use the spoon to free myself? That's a little extreme isn't it?" Kaden chuckled as he used his tongue to lick the inside of the pudding cup.

Alison walked toward the other door, not speaking a word to Kaden.

"Why did Jigsaw choose you to help him? Think about it," Kaden said as Alison stopped. She turned her body around and was ready to tell him off. "It's because he's still testing you."

Alison remained silent as Kaden smiled. He knew he hit a nerve of some sort. "You're still upset over little Roy's death, huh? And Steven's too. He told you to move on, and you haven't. I don't think Jigsaw wants someone who doesn't obey his orders."

"Don't you listen you little bitch!" Alison shouted to Kaden. "I said, shut up!"

"Why don't you go make some other poor boy cut himself?" Kaden replied with a chuckle.

Alison yanked the door open and slammed it shut, leaving Kaden alone in the room as he laughed to himself, pushing the pudding cup to his lips. His tongue shoveled the sweet substance into his mouth.

Alison leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. Her hands gripped the side of her head as tears rolled down her face.

Is this really what Roy would've wanted? For her to become an accomplice to John's games? Roy wanted Alison to live her life. But is this what she meant?

Alison stayed in that same position, sobbing silently.


To be continued…