Dark of Dawn

...

Writers Note: No one dies in this chapter. Don't worry.

Lucas watched the fire in front of him. He'd never pondered over something as hard as this. Freshman year he had to choose which girl he liked, but now he had to choose who lived and who died.

There's nothing more he wanted to do than to just cry and beg for forgiveness. He was weak, he wished he hadn't put them in that position but it happened.

As he closed his eyes to stop a tear from being shed, Riley sauntered towards him.

She'd previously taken a shower and cleaned herself up from Maya's blood.

"I can't believe she's dead," the brunette sat down next to Lucas. "Maya's dead."

Lucas could only rest her head on his shoulder, "You're going to be okay."

A wave of silence took over and Riley cried. She spent thirty minutes trying to forget about everything and nothing happened. The memory of Maya being eviscerated came back.

"Where are they?" the brunette asked referring to Smackle, Zay and Farkle.

"They'll be back soon."

"It's been an hour since they've left. I don't think it would've tooken them that long."

Lucas looked at Riley then looked away.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's...nothing."

"This isn't the time... If something happened i'd like for you to tell me..." she stared at him firmly, but he never replied. "Lucas!"

"Okay," he waved off. "I found something in the answering machine and...well, take a look for yourself."

The Texan sauntered towards the corner of the living room and Riley followed, tucking in her cotton sweater.

"An answerphone?" Riley questioned once he stopped infront of the machine.

"I tried to contact someone for help and when I pressed that button, it showed me this message."

"What was the message...?"

Lucas pressed the button and sighed.

"Mrs. Minkus, it's me Sargeant Wilcox again. We've been through the case files and there's nothing we can do. We have no legal power to restrict his movement. If you need further information please call my cellphone. I'm really sorry."

The message ended, leaving the two in silence.

"I've been thinking," Lucas began. "What if this is about the man we saw?"

"Or the man Farkle and Zay saw..."

"Either way; whoever this man was...he's free."

"What are you trying to say?" Riley probed.

"That we shouldn't wait for the rest to come back. We lost Maya already, what if they're dead too?"

The brunette shook her head. "No."

"Riley every minute we stay here, with the lights on..." he gestured around the room. "We're putting ourselves at risk."

"If we contact someone, we can tell them that we have friends here at the lodge..."

Riley wasn't convinced.

She didn't want to leave her friends; especially after she'd just lost one.

"I can't. I wont leave them..."

"I'm not waiting Riley. Either you wait for them alone..." he grabbed her hands. "Or you come with me. It's your choice."

She looked around the room hoping i'd somehow provide an answer. Her eyes met his green ones.

Riley had never realized that Lucas stared at her with such love. She never realized that until now, when both their lives depended on the decisions they made.

She nodded, "I'd go anywhere with you."

...

"Luccas, where are we going?" Riley asked as Lucas lead them down spiraled stairs.

"Trust me. I know where we're going. Farkle's dad would come down here all the time and one day Farkle and I did too. If I can remember...at the end of that hallway, there's a door to the left. We can't see if from here, but once we get closer..." the two approached the end of the hallway.

"We could see it," Riley continued.

The two stared at each other for a split second, not letting their emotions get in the way.

"What's with the walls?" Riley then asked, looking around.

"Last time I was here I was seven years old and Stuart wanted to take off the wallpaper," he touched the wall. "I guess he never finished."

Riley and Lucas continued to walk. The two spent the remainder of their time trying to find a way out that they hardly talked to each other.

Many turns were taken. Left and Right.

Lucas wasn't sure if he was leading Riley the right way or if he was just lost. The only thing he could see from where he was, was a red door.

"Through here," he said.

Once Riley and Lucas stepped in they immediately regretted it.

Dried blood marked the white tile walls, alongside chains that hung from above. They saw rats running around and a pile of ants nibbling on one.

"Oh no," Riley whined.

"Holy shit!"

Riley sauntered towards the left of the room while Lucas walked straight. The brunette found a pair of red scissors lying and she decided to pick it up.

"Riley, c'mon. This way."

"Yeah. Coming."

She sauntered towards him as they entered another room. "What if that's where the killer was hiding?"

"Maybe. But whatever it is…we need to get out of here."

Riley nodded. "Should we go in through there?"

Lucas shook his head as he stared at the door. "I don't think so. Maybe we can-"

He stopped himself once he turned around. A man with a large machete stood there facing them. He couldn't catch a glimpse of him since they were running, but what he could make sure was that the man wore a mask.

Riley was ahead of Lucas when they began to run, the man pulled Lucas back and threw him flat on the ground. His hands wrapped around his neck as he began to choke him.

Lucas struggled to move him off him. He hit the back of the man's face with his fist but nothing moved him. It wasn't until Lucas used his knee to hit the man. Once he was about to run away, he felt something slice the back of his foot. There was no time to stop and worry about it so he continued to run. Leaving the man alive...

Zay and Farkle starred at him.

A gaunt man wearing a heavy coat and thick pants stood in front of them. He had string circling his shoes to make sure they stayed in place, in his hands were a machine he used as fire. His eyes fixated on Farkle and the only thing he could do was gulp.

"Say you Minkus's kid?" he asked.

Farkle stared at Zay then back at the man, but before he could say something a loud screech stopped him.

"Here take this and get out 'a here." He threw Farkle his bag and they continued to run.

Zay was ahead of Farkle when he catched a glimpse of a white-demon like monster. They made their way back to the surface elevator where Zay pulled on the lever once more, once it took them to the highest level they ran out in hurry.

As much as Zay wanted to stop he couldn't. He was out of breath and could feel the pain in his lungs, Farkle wasn't too far behind but he stopped just in time. Zay almost fell of the cliff they were on, he overlooked the fall and cursed. "FUCK! What do we do?"

Farkle knew his idea was crazy, but he could work with crazy.

"We jump..."

And so they did...

...

Writers Note: Ya'll listen to Shakira's Chantaje ft Maluma. It's a Spanish song so for the people who don't know the language; it's time you learn it. Song is lit. Chantaje is Spanish for blackmail, which surprised me. Once again thank you for the reviews and thank you for reading. Let me know what you think by dropping a review. And if you're a guest (who plans on leaving a review) please give yourself a username. Thank you.

jaleftwich02: Thank you for the compliment and always remember the story is already written. I can't and won't go back to change anything. And let the next chapter show you what I meant by exploring Zarkle. Don't forget to review. All love.

ChampagneTasteMoney: When I was planning this story I thought of many possible outcomes, but the ending is what really built the plot. The ending is what I dove into first, the beggining was the easiest to plan because it was calm. Then I added the whole bunch of drama which i'm personally proud of. Anyone could die next, who do you think that is? I'm dying to know what you're theory was.

Eloi22: Maya is only dead in this story. There are plenty of others where she is alive so don't panic. =) And who knows? Will there be more deaths? Will the killer make another appearance?

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