There were two things Eric Forman knew for sure. One, he and his friends were all in trouble. Two, he was royally boned. And not quite like the "foot in your ass" backhand comments from his father when he was being stupid or snarky as a teen and recent years. He was completely, and by proper definition, joined to an object along an inclined plan wrapped helically around an axis. Screwed.

The smell of must, mold, and blood was permeating the air and seemed to gag him as he came to. His head ached with a throbbing pain that was similar to smashing the back of his head on a corner of an object. All he knew was everything everywhere on him hurt like hell.

His mouth was dry, so dry that his tongue felt more like sandpaper as it rubbed against the roof of his mouth for relief. Never would he think he'd be so thankful for saliva. And he felt hot, as if his body were on fire. More like his neck. Absentmindedly, he rubbed at the itchy skin on his neck yet recoiled instantaneously and yelped; only there was no sound except a violent wheeze.

'What the hell?' Eric thought as he gently pressed a finger back on his neck. 'Smooth, smooth' he mentally noted as he traced down, 'that feels like a gash.' He pulled back his finger and ran his thumb against the pad of his index finger. There was a liquid coating both digits now; and it looked almost black. Blood.

'Jesus Christ,' he thought, feeling his stomach reel with nausea. He glanced down now and was met with a bloody, nude chest. Wait.

"Donna!" He tried to call out but once again his voice was a pitiful wheeze. Where had she gone? Did she find him? If he was like this, he could only hope she was safe. He stood out of the bed and began to run for the door, but stopped as he realized something else.

'Why am I naked?'

Slowly, his mind worked to remember what had happened before he woke up. He and Donna were about to have some naughty fun time. And then someone walked in; was it Donna? And then black. He looked over to the bed and sighed with relief; there was another body on the other side; Donna. How had he not noticed? She made it in here after all. Maybe she accidentally just scratched him really bad on his neck; but why his neck?

'I guess we were trying to get kinky.' He thought with a grin, sliding back into the bed beside his fiancée. That didn't explain why he couldn't talk though; then again, with Donna involved, it did. He tried not to laugh at that.

He reached over lazily and ran his hand through her hair; it was soft against his touch. Same as her skin against his. He smiled as she reached a pale hand to hold his and he squeezed hers gently; the color of her nails looked beautiful with the ring on her finger. Wait. Her nails weren't painted when they got here.

Eric practically leapt out of the bed in horror and fell on the floor. He scrambled away from the bed as the person who had been lying beside him sat up and stretched; her thin, naked body illuminated by the moonlight from the window. Blonde hair met his eyes and he gagged.

"Laurie?!" No words, just sound. Pain shot through his entire throat and he coughed violently. Blood from his mouth spattered against the palm of his hand. The woman in the bed turned around and giggled.

"Nope, close enough. I'm glad to hear your voice, I was scared the cat got your tongue, after all."

No. No way.

Eric stared in horror as blue eyes glittered as Caroline beamed at him as she kneeled on the bed with only a sheet to cover her body from the waist down. Where the hell did she come from?

"You look confused, I'll answer your questions. I'm sure you're at a loss for words."

"That's an understatement."

"This is my revenge. You all wronged me and this is your chance to prove your worth. I never liked you, you were too twitchy, too mouthy. But you were the leader of Fez's friends, you kept everyone together. But can you keep everyone together when they're all going to die?"

"What do you-"

"SHUT UP!" Caroline screamed as she seemed to protract claws, like a cat. "You speak when questioned, got it?" Eric nodded.

"I will tell you where your friends are, but if, and only if you pay attention and make the right move, they will live. At any moment, I can kill them."

"Where are they?" Eric asked.

"That's for you to find out. And this isn't a game, Eric. You don't get three chances. The first choice you're thinking of making will get you killed. Think about it. Think about why your gang is who they are. Then proceed. I'll be watching." Caroline chirped and kissed his cheek. "I expect blood to be shed."

And with that, she ran out of the room.

Eric rubbed his cheek and scrambled to dress. His instincts told him to not believe her; but Caroline was psychotic enough to pull off a stunt like Ed Gein. It was completely possible for her; he just couldn't let it happen. His gut told him to find Donna, but his mind told him to think.

Why is the gang who they are? Kelso, Jackie, Fez, Hyde, Donna, him. Brought together through school. Fez was the last person to be their friend… Jackie was next. But she was always kind of there. Then Donna became an official "member" when she snuck into Kelso's treehouse and pushed him out; Eric and Hyde had to reward her for that. Kelso… he was the next one… they met in first grade. Eric thought he was cool because he was so tall but in reality he was a year older. Hyde.

Hyde was his hired gun. Although Eric and Donna knew each other longer, Hyde and Eric were technically blood brothers; he still had the scar to prove it. They initiated the gang; it was a game. Eric was the boss and Hyde was the hired gun.

Hyde was the first person he had to find.

Eric's mind told him that was the way he should play this card. One false move and someone could die. Although he couldn't trust Caroline on that he couldn't call her a liar either. He couldn't risk any of his friends' lives.

So where had Hyde and Jackie gone? He thought they were just in the living room.

Slowly, painfully, Eric crept down the stairs. Everything was dark and silent except the house creaked and groaned with every step he took. The air was thick with must and dust and was that blood? Eric coughed and covered his mouth; that was suffocating.

As he reached the ground floor, he heard thumping. And muffled screaming; honestly it sounded like Fez. A lot like Fez. Eric paused as he considered following the noise; should he trust his mind? Or his instincts?

This was what Caroline wanted of him. She wanted to drive him insane, didn't she?

Instincts it was.

Eric ran throughout the house, trying to locate where the screaming and noises were coming from. In the pantry, kitchen, living room, parlor… there was nowhere he could possibly be. But he stopped. It sounded like it was everywhere; but very close. Almost as if…

No way.

Eric stared at the all in front of him and waited.

"Fezzy?" He asked. The wall seemed to shake in response as a fist or a foot pounded against it. Eric's jaw dropped in horror; how the hell could he be in the wall? He soon decided he didn't want to know.

With all of the strength left from his training to go to Africa, he kicked the wall as hard as he could. Over and over he pounded his foot against the wall until a large enough hole was created for him to start pulling away the drywall and insulation.

It was a secret room; almost like a panic room. There was a huge amount of space; twice the width of a walk in closet and about the same length. Eric peered in and listened for Fez.

"Fez? It's Eric, where are you?"

"Ai, help me!" Fez cried. Wriggling was heard as he must have begun to crawl on the floor. Soon Eric saw his foreign friend in the dim light from the moon. He had his head covered; no wonder he couldn't see.

"Come here…" Eric murmured, and untied the sack. Fez's hair was in strings and his face glimmered with sweat. He quickly maneuvered his way out of the small hole in the wall and rolled over so Eric could untie his hands. Once free, Fez squeezed him in a tight hug.

"Eric, it's Caroline! She's fucking insane!" He cried, Eric nodded, and tried to squirm away from his friend. Fez got the hint, and backed off.

"She told me… we have to find everyone else. But there's a specific order to it. If I don't follow it then she's going to kill them." Fez scoffed and outstretched his hands.

"Eric, she is a lunatic. She's going to say anything! I know where Kelso is, we can find him and then…" Eric shook his head.

"Man, I know she's crazy. But I have to go with my gut."

"Was I the first person you thought to find?" Eric paused, "see? You didn't go with your gut? And is anyone dead?" Another beat of silence.

And a scream from outside echoed.

Slowly, Fez and Eric made eye contact. The young Forman felt as if all of the blood had been drained from his body. Suddenly order didn't have much of an impact in who to save. It seemed more like "find the source of the screaming and make it better."

"Was that Donna?" Fez asked, Eric shook his head.

"I think it was Jackie…"

"Ai…."

If Caroline thought he was the leader, then he had to make the decisions. Forget her, and her talk of playing the game right. This wasn't a game to him; it was about finding his friends and getting the hell out of dodge.

"Fez, you're going to stay with me until we find everyone, alright? Right now, we're gonna find Jackie. Then everyone else. But right now, we only worry about her. Got it? You have a voice of reason with Caroline… if we completely screw this up, maybe you can make it better."

"But I don't want to marry her…" Eric sighed and exited the house. He pressed a finger to his lips to silent Fez, and the shorter man nodded.

In the night, with crickets and wind, everything seemed more difficult to locate. Sounds ricocheted and echoed and maybe they wouldn't hear anyone properly. Maybe they wouldn't find anyone else.

"STEVEN!"

That was Jackie. Her blood-curdling scream stopped them both in their tracks. Eric and Fez both looked at each other, nodded, and bolted passed the Vista Cruiser and down the hill. It was officially two against one; although they were going against one of the craziest minds, more numbers seemed to help.

Eric just felt better about not having to go through this alone. And so did Fez.