Chapter Ten - Monster
Co-written with Renegade Vic
A/N: Thank you, teenageroadkill, for consistently reviewing! Makes us oh-so very happy :D
The key hit Ava square between the eyes and fell to the floor.
"Ow! Dammit!"
She crouched and seized the shining, silver key, momentarily distracted by Mike, who was still being swung around by the device.
"Jesus, fuck…don't fucking let go!" she snarled, turning and stumbling across the room to the locked 'door', directly below where the timer was mounted.
0:20…0:19…0:18…
Shit, shit, shit!
Fumbling with the key, Ava managed to shove it into the keyhole and turn it sharply, the sound of the engine cutting off almost a second later. Not bothering to check if Mike was alright, she pulled open the door and reached in, grabbing the antidote from its chain.
The device was slowing down and she could just make out Mike's form now, clinging to the chain for dear life.
"Give it a few seconds before you let go," she called, unable to suppress the smirk that spread across her face. "Don't want to risk anything."
"Fuck…you!"
The sentence was broken in two as he swung around, still fast enough to ensure serious injury if he let go now.
"He's gonna be…pretty fuckin' dizzy, huh?" Jonas was nodding at the device, looking relieved that his fellow 'house mate' was alive.
"He's alive though. That's what counts," Ava murmured. "The more of us in one piece, the better."
Jonas turned and looked at her for a long moment, his eyebrows furrowed. Ava stared straight back, her face blank.
"You're one fucked up individual," the black man said. "But you ain't a psycho, are you?"
The corner of her mouth twitched.
"Believe whatever you want to believe."
With a resounding crash, Mike hit the floor and rolled out of the way of the chains, which had by now slowed enough that they couldn't hurt anyone as seriously.
"Fuck! Where is it?"
As Mike lay on the floor, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, he realized one thing in painstaking deal.
He had never been this dizzy in his entire life.
"Urgh…fuckin'…" Mike groaned, the contents of his stomach still spinning even after his body had stopped.
Then, without warning, they stopped spinning- and Mike rolled onto his side just in time for another coughing fit to rack his body. This time, it wasn't blood that was forced up- but the remnants of the sandwich he had eaten before he had been drugged and knocked out.
Disgusting. Mike continued to retch even after his stomach had been emptied, the dry heaving overwhelming everything, blocking out the world around him. It didn't matter anymore, that he was in a house full of a nerve gas, that he had just earned an antidote- that he had just discovered who had killed Mitchell Harris. All that mattered was that he stopped trying to vomit.
"Hold still, dammit," Ava murmured, rolling him onto his back and injecting the antidote into his arm. The sting of the needle was just enough to bring Mike back to reality, and he shook his head, marveling at how quickly the room had stopped spinning while he was sick.
"Guh…thanks." He attempted to stand, but found that his knees refused to cooperate. "Someone…gimme a hand, huh? We still need to…to find antidotes for…you three- wait, you six, no, fuckin'…how many of you are there, Jonas?"
They all shared a laugh at that. Somehow, Mike had survived his test- and it was a source of comedy for the others. Maybe they really would make it out after all.
"Just one, man. Take it easy, you earned yourself a break," Jonas replied, attempting to hide a grin at Mike's dizziness-imposed antics. "Don't need you crashin' around like a moose in a fuckin' china shop, huh?"
"Moose in a china shop?" Ava raised an eyebrow at Jonas, who was now being holding up Mike with Daniel's help, the rocker looking thoroughly green in colouring. "Haven't heard that in a while."
"Oh…god…the spin is rooming…" Mike groaned, his face toward the ground as whatever else remained in his stomach attempted to purge itself. It wasn't hard to see why he could barely stand. That device was like the amusement park ride from Hell. Get on and die, basically speaking.
"Come on, we need to keep moving." Amanda was already halfway out the door, her eyes wide with fear, despite the situation. Ava didn't understand. Mike had survived and had the antidote rushing through his system. Didn't that amount to some kind of emotional response from her? She wanted Mike to be tested and he'd lived. What was wrong with her?
Then again, Ava was hardly the right person to pass judgment on that kind of behaviour, given her history.
"Give the man a second!" Jonas protested, Mike's heaving breaths cued perfectly to get his point across.
"We don't have a second! We need to keep moving. Please!"
"Amanda, what's wrong?" Ava's eyebrows were furrowed in concern and confusion and she could feel goosebumps rising on the back of her neck. Not a good sign.
A groan resonated from within the seemingly endless pit of needles and the eyes of a demon snapped open, pupils dilated and burning with all the fires of Hell. An arm, muscular and marked with prison ink and stuck through with filthy needles rose up and clutched the edge of the pit, hauling its owner up, another arm joining it. The furious creature pulled itself from its intended tomb and focused on the door.
Xavier Chavez gnashed his teeth, fury coursing through his veins and becoming his essence of life. That fucker…was gonna pay…
"They're all gonna fucking PAY!"
"We have to move. Trust me- we have to find the rest of the antidotes." Amanda's pleading was getting more frantic by the second. Whatever was bothering her seemed to be doing a damn good job of it- that much was obvious to Mike as he watched her hanging around the doorway, glancing down both ends of the hallway as if she were waiting for something.
They were all here. What was the problem?
"All right…I can move. Need my shovel, though," Mike grunted, swaying from a low crouch to stand and step haltingly toward the tool. The handle had cracked a little, but it was still sturdy enough to lean on.
"Okay- now come on! We have to get going," Amanda urged, falling in step behind Jonas and Obi, who led the way out of the room. Mike hobbled along just behind her, his equilibrium still quite off, but the additional balance of the shovel-turned-walking-stick keeping him from listing too far to either side of the narrow hallway. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that Ava was following closely behind him, with Laura and Daniel bringing up the rear.
The sound of footsteps, reverberating through the floor above them, froze everyone in their tracks.
FUCK.
Xavier.
Mike's grip on the shovel tightened as he realized what Amanda must have realized moments before. If the muscle-bound drug dealer was still alive, he'd be coming for blood- probably everyone's, for leaving him there. Definitely Mike's, for beating him down, and almost certainly Ava's for taunting him. Amanda probably wasn't much better off- she had escaped, thanks to Mike.
At least he didn't know about who Daniel was. That much, he'd never find out.
"We need to find somewhere to hide," Mike whispered. "Better if it's somewhere with furniture we can shove in front of the door."
"We've still gotta find those needles," Jonas reminded him, his voice raspy. A thin trickle of blood was running from the corner of his mouth. The Sarin was really kicking his ass, now- and he was right. Three of them still hadn't been given a dose of antidote. If they tried to wait it out until Xavier succumbed to the gas, they'd be dead too.
"All right. Obi…I'm trusting you, man. You take Laura, Ava, and Ad. Go down to the basement, keep the lights off, don't fuckin' let Xavier hear ya. All right?"
"I want the shovel," Obi replied. "Have to have a way to fight." Mike nodded, handing him the shovel without another word.
"Amanda, Jonas, Daniel…you're comin' with me. We're gonna find the rest of the antidotes. Get 'em into you…and away from him." Mike gestured to the footsteps above them.
We should find him first, the cold drawl of the Puppeteer echoed in the depths of her mind, claws scrabbling at the internal defences that kept the monster caged. Should tear him limb from limb…
Ava squashed it, the human survival instinct surpassing the inhuman need to kill. The time was almost up and she had antidote running through her system. She was weak, but she was definitely getting out of here alive, that was for certain.
Laura gently grasped Ava's arm.
"Come on, let's go."
Taking one last glance at the other three, Ava nodded at them, her eyes hard. She hoped they'd get out alright…
"Come on!"
With a brutal tug, Laura pulled her down the hallway after Addison and Obi, who had already moved ahead.
"Watch yourselves!" Ava called over her shoulder as the blonde pulled her away, turning a corner and quickly catching up to the other two.
"Basement…basement…where's the fucking basement?" Addison 'whispered', her voice low and frantic.
"We need to get down there. Fast," was Obi's response, his face schooled into one of blank calm as they hid from the homicidal maniac in the floor above them. "I think it's this way…"
He moved silently over the carpet covered floorboards that creaked with every step taken by the others.
Addison was having a silent panic attack, Laura seemed to be as calm as Obi himself and Ava…
Ava was at an emotional crossroads, which was agitating because never in her life had she had this issue before.
She had no doubt that Mike could handle himself and probably protect Amanda and Daniel easily, but she could sense that something was going to go wrong. There was something that she was missing here.
A heavy footstep above them made the four of them freeze, releasing a collective breath as Xavier didn't break through the ceiling with the nail bat and slaughter them all.
"Let's move," Obi murmured, moving across the foyer and pushing open the basement door. "Come on, hurry up!"
Addison was first down the stairs, almost tripping over in her haste to hide. Laura followed her, her hand still clenched around Ava's arm, and Obi followed, closing the door behind them.
"What now?"
Obi looked up at the basement door, shaking his head.
"Hope to whatever God you worship that that fucker dies before he gets to Mike and the others."
"We need to go back down, past your test, Mike," Amanda whispered, the four remaining survivors clustered tightly in the hallway. "We haven't been down that way yet."
"Right. I'll go first, you follow me, keep Jonas goin'. Daniel, you're gonna keep eyes out behind us," Mike instructed, pulling the knife from his boot and shifting his grip to a reverse-hammer stance. He'd gotten good at knife-fighting; Dave had been big on it for a while, and had wanted a sparring buddy, so he had taught what he learned to Mike.
If they ran into Xavier, Mike would probably be more than a match for him. He'd found an antidote, while Xavier hadn't, and he was armed with a weapon he knew how to use. He had been unconscious for quite a while- and was probably in a similar state to how Jonas was doing now.
"Whatever's left can't be that fucked-up again, right? I mean…this Jigsaw guy, he's gotta run out of ideas at some point, right?" Daniel asked, now walking backward with his hand gripping Amanda's shoulder to keep from losing track of anyone or running into a wall.
"You wish, kid…this shit's been on the news for months, they keep findin' all kinds of fucked-up shit all over the whole city," Jonas rasped. "This is nothin'."
"There's another door over there," Mike cut in, pointing to a door at the end of the hallway with a faint band of light shining beneath the door. "Lights wouldn't be on if it wasn't important, right?"
Five minutes had passed. Five fucking minutes.
Ava's whole body was coiled tighter than a spring and a mixture of apprehension and fury boiled in her stomach.
She couldn't stand being cooped up in this tiny room much longer, hiding and helpless when she could be out there killing that motherfucker that couldn't have the decency to just die and cease being such a nuisance to them all.
"Fuck, FUCK!"
Addison smashed her fists against the wall.
"I can't just fucking wait like this! He's up there, maybe butchering them and we're down here like fucking rabbits down a foxhole!"
"Fantastic analogy," Ava shot back, happy to have an outlet, albeit minor, for her mounting aggression. "Maybe you should stick to doing what people pay you for, huh?"
"Hey, fuck you! At least I'm not some sicko murderer that gets off on stringing people up!" Addison snarled, starting forwards, a move Ava mirrored.
"You want to fucking make something of it?"
"Both of you, shut up!"
Laura stood between them, a hand stretched out to each in an effort to shove them apart.
"Jesus, what's wrong with you?"
All the fight drained out of Ava, much to the chagrin of her inner monster and she took a step back.
"Sorry…" Saying it actually made her choke momentarily. "Can't fucking deal with the lack of space down here. I can't breathe."
"Claustrophobic?" Obi inquired. Ava shook her head.
"No. Nothing like that."
More like killer instincts. Like the need for fight or flight, this feeling was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. She couldn't just sit back and let this all happen.
She heard a roar from above, distinctly human and masculine. Xavier. Or what was left of Xavier.
And by the sounds of it, he was more than a little pissed.
"WHERE ARE YOU!"
Xavier's challenge- there was nothing it could be, but a call for blood- was definitely loud…but it sounded like he was moving in the wrong direction to find them. That meant they still had time.
The door swung open easily as Mike turned the knob, revealing a small room- with a glass box, suspended by chains, hanging in the air just above head level. Standing upright in the center of the box was a syringe, filled with the precious antidote. A padlock held the box shut, in plain view from the door. On closer inspection, it became apparent that a pair of holes were located in the bottom panel of the box.
Too simple. Anyone with half a fucking brain cell could tell that the holes were a trap of some kind. They had to find the key to the lock, or smash the box open.
"Look around in here. There's got to be a key," Mike murmured, glancing around the room. Where could Jigsaw have hidden the key? Was it the same one that they had found in the room they started in?
"There." Daniel pointed to a small end table in the corner of the room just as Mike noticed it himself. On its surface sat yet another envelope; as Mike drew closer to inspect it, the name "Gus" became legible on its front.
Gus? Who the hell was Gus? Was he the greaseball who had died in the room they started in? Who else could he be?
Mike tore the envelope open eagerly, tipping its contents onto the table. Another tape fell from the envelope…as well as a key.
"You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me," Mike groaned, bringing the key back to the padlock and testing it. It fit perfectly- and unlocked the box. Without a second thought, Mike opened it and grabbed the syringe, pulling it free. Some kind of adhesive had been keeping it standing upright all this time- the cap was sticky.
"Jonas. C'mon, man. You need this one. I don't wanna hear any shit about there not being antidotes for Sarin, or not trustin' anyone. I got one, I'm feelin' better."
"A'right, Mike. I trust you, man," Jonas wheezed, shedding his jacket and rolling up a sleeve of his shirt up past the elbow.
Track marks, as well as what looked like a gunshot wound. Was Jonas some kind of hitman, or had he been in a gang?
There would be time to figure that out later. Right now, their primary focus was keeping everyone alive. Mike pressed the hypodermic tip against a particularly large vein in the older man's forearm, pumping the contents of the syringe into his arm smoothly.
"Six down…two to go. Go on back with the others, man. You're not in any shape to keep walkin' around- but they might need you if that fuckbag shows up. Between you and Obi, you can take him, huh?" Mike remarked, grinning. Jonas nodded, seizing Mike's hand in both of his own, then shifting one down to grasp Mike's wrist.
K2K. Mike had seen a few of their members at races exchanging the same handshake.
Better that Jonas didn't know he knew.
"Yeah. Look, Mike, man, I'm not gonna forget this shit when we get back on the outside. You an' me, we ain't blood but we're family, you got that? You need somethin', me an' mine got you."
Jonas wasn't one for eloquent, drawn-out speeches, but what he said, he meant. K2K had been the closest thing to a "decent" gang that the city had seen in years- most of their soldiers weren't smart, but they were loyal, and that was something that had faded with the mob-town "glory days."
"Thanks, Jonas. I'll remember that- same offer goes to you," Mike replied, nodding as they broke from the handshake and his newly-made comrade stepped out into the hallway, treading slowly and quietly.