Thread:Justjackbros/@comment-26348924-20150427092933/@comment-26348924-20150513015318

Chapter 5: Deals and Metal Doors

"AGH!!!" Jonathan screamed in pain. Jimmy was ripping his wound right open! Sage, utterly dumbstruck, didn't dare to move or speak, fearing that the vomit rising up her stomach just might break free.

He stopped when the wound was about an inch wide. Crimson blood started oozing out of it. "There! Sorry, I just had to satisfy my blood-thirst. I can't kill you yet, so I figured I had to make do with what's here," Jimmy told them, nowhere near apologetic. He licked the blood off his hand. "Oh, that is delicious!"

Sage wanted to gag. "Why didn't you just gut George, then?" Jimmy glanced at George, then back at her. "I could, but blood from a living person is just so much better, ya know?" he replied with a crazed grin. Jon struggled to keep his eyes open. "Y-you... sick psycho..." he grunted weakly. He responded with a hysterical laugh. "I sure am!"

"What did you do to the others?" Sage asked. "Nah, they're all good. Except for that Michael guy, though. He was killed by my pet bugs, sadly. I hated him anyway," he replied casually, admiring his bloody knife. The two gaped at him. An identical thought lingered in both of their minds: ''Michael's... dead?''

"Well, I have to get going," the idiotic teen said. "Don't worry, though. Soon enough, you'll know my secret. You all will."

Cackling, Jimmy headed out the metal door and shut it behind him. Jon and Sage were quiet, trying to digest everything. She then remembered that Jon was bleeding badly, so she tore a part of her sleeve and gently tied it on his arm with a handkerchief, covering up the wound. Blood seeped in the white cloth quickly. “T-thanks,” he muttered with a faint smile. “I don’t want to be stuck here with two rotting corpses, so stay alive, okay?” she replied a bit sternly. Jon chuckled feebly and nodded.

***

The group was paralyzed, unable to move on even though they promised themselves that they would. Val was still crying, Nick continued to space out, Kevin tried to calm Rire down, Jack sat  beside Val, motionless, and Johnny sulked in corner. The last thing they heard was Jon screaming in pain, the grotesque ripping of flesh, then static. Sage was never heard of. For all they know, they could’ve ended up like Michael: nothing but a dead body.

“I’m ba-ack!” Jimmy said cheerfully into his mic. No one flinched or dared to move; the sickening noises Jimmy left them drained all the hope and strength out of them. “Just kill us, Jimmy. Get it over with. Jon, Sage, Michael… they’re all dead. And I know that we will be, too. So stop holding back,” Jack mumbled loud enough for him to hear. “Ha! I knew I scared you all good!” he cried. “Jon and Sage aren’t dead yet. Ya know what? I’ll make you a deal.”

Kevin looked up. “What deal?” “It’s really simple: find the chamber before I find you,” Jimmy began. “If I catch you, I’ll have to grab a person and bring them there. That thing that happened to Sage? That could happen again if you fail another puzzle. If you find them, I let you go. If I send you all to the chamber, you’re dead!”

Jack beckoned everyone closer. They were now all determined to save Jon and Sage. “Should we risk it?” Kevin asked. “Even if I die trying,” Rire answered. Everyone else nodded in agreement. “Are you sure? I can save them, since I can’t die. You can just find a way out of here,” Johnny offered. Jack smiled. “You know what the message was from the beginning, Johnny: There is no turning back now.”

Jack straightened himself and said, “Deal.”

The moment the word came out of his mouth, the floor and the walls started to shift. Three concrete walls rose up the ground, dividing the gang into pairs. Jack was trapped with Val. “What the—” he heard Nick say. The lights blinked out, leaving them in the dark again. “There. That’s more like it!” Jimmy cheered. “This wasn’t part of the deal!” Rire shouted furiously by the other side of the wall. “Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you that. Teehee!”

By Jack and Val’s end, a pair of glowing yellow eyes flashed at the end of the dark hallway. Footsteps echoed as the eyes came closer. It was making a dash for them!

“Run!” Jack shouted as he grabbed Val’s hand and sprinted away. They made a few reckless twists and turns to shake it off their tails that got them lost. He spotted a metal door illuminated by the faint moonlight and without thinking twice, went in and closed the door. The two panted heavily while leaning on the door.

“Do you think he’s gone?” Val whispered. “I hope this isn’t another trap…” Jack pressed his ear against the cold metal door. “We might’ve lost him.” He pulled out his phone and used it as a makeshift flashlight. There were a few crates, rusty barrels, some shelves, and boxes. He pushed a barrel towards the door to block it, though it was hard with only one hand. Val stepped in and pushed it. “Just shine the light on me, Jack.” He nodded and kept the light on her as she struggled with it. After that, Jack went around to look for a light, since his batteries are just about dead. He found an electronic lamp by one of the shelves and turned it on. It flashed a faint light, but it was better than his phone so he put his phone back in his jeans’ front pocket and went back to Val. She was leaning on a crate, hugging her knees. He sat beside her and spent a few minutes in silence.

“You okay?” he asked eventually. “Yeah, I’m good, thanks,” she replied, nodding. Jack thought she was acting weird because she kept looking up the ceiling, like something was going to grab her from above. Then he remembered the sacs that hung from the ceiling…

“Stop doing that!” Jack scolded her. Val turned to him and blinked. “Stop doing what?” “Looking up! There’s nothing there, Val.”

<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">The two flinched when they heard heavy paces from outside. It stopped in front of the door, then  <span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">continued walking. Jack sighed, not realizing that he had halted breathing. Beside him, Val started shaking. “What did we do to him, Jack? Why is he doing this?” she sniffed. “He’s sick. He’s insane. He’s got nothing better to do,” he answered, clenching his fists in anger. “Why is this happening to us? Why us<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">?”

<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">Jack, unable to think of anything to calm her down, pulled her in for a hug. Gradually, she stopped trembling and calmed down. He would’ve never let her go if it weren’t for his phone, which started vibrating. He pulled it out to see that Nick was calling him. He selected Answer<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;"> and held the device to his ear.

<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">“Jack?” Nick’s voice came through the other line. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alive! Where are you?” “I don’t know… something chased us down and we got lost. Val and I found a room, so barricaded ourselves in,” he replied. Nick’s playfulness was triggered with the phrase “Val and I”. “You’re with Val? What’ve you two been up to, huh?” Jack felt his cheeks burn up. “What? Nothing! I—look, just try and find us, okay?” “Fine, fine. What should we be looking for?” he said. “A metal door,” Jack answered, eyeing the door. “Oh, great. Almost every other door in this building is metal,” Nick sneered. He frowned and tried to think of something that makes the door he meant different. “It’s not locked, but it won’t open very easily,” he told Nick. “Okay, Johnny and I’ll get there as fast as we can.”

<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">Nick hung up. Jack and Val sat in silence until she said, “Thanks.” Jack looked at her. “For the hug?” “Yeah,” she answered truthfully. “We’re friends, aren’t we?” That shot Jack painfully somehow, since it came from his own mouth. Val nodded. “What do we do now?” she asked. “Well, Nick said they’ll try and look for us. Give them twenty minutes. If they still haven’t found us, we’re leaving. We can’t risk staying here for too long,” he replied. She nodded again.

<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">“Hey Jack?” she suddenly said. “Yeah?” “I-I just wanted to tell you that I—”

<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">Something banged on the door, cutting her off. The two quickly got up to their feet. Panic froze them in place.

<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;">Whoever that was, Jack hoped that it was just Nick.

It's here! Also, it's a lot longer now. And like I said, more Valajack. XD

Your turn, Jon!

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