Breaking The Loop

Chapter 11

     After me and Mono finish laughing we walk up the litter ramp leading to the exposed boards and climb out the hole in the wall. Mono walks forward and I follow behind him. We walk out from behind a trash heap; as we walk a light shines onto us. I look over to see the bright light of the Signal Tower. "Mono..." He turns his head and stares at the tower as well.

     "I don't like the feeling I'm getting from it." He mutters darkly. I nod me head and we continue forward. We jump down from the rooftop onto another one. I follow Mono to a outdoor shed with trellis walls. We climb up the trellis and onto the roof. I see the little puzzle and wonder who's gonna catch who. "This is an area where we have to do some catching isn't it?" Mono askes. I nod my head. "Ok, well how about I catch you?" He asks. I nod my head.

     He boosts me up onto the cement block with the pully system. I pull the coat hanger back towards us and Mono jumps onto it. I move him over to the fire escape on the other building; he drops down onto it and I drop from my cement block. Mono grabs onto the fire escape railing and holds out his hand. I walk backwards and run into the jump.

     I catch his hand but the rain has made our palms slick; my grip on his hand slips. He lurches forward and grabs my arm with both of his hands and yanks himself backwards. I fly upwards and we crash onto the fire escape together. I groan and roll over. "That could've gone better." I grumble. "Yeah, but we're both alive."

     I look over at Mono and he smiles warmly. I smile back and push myself up so I'm standing. Mono stand as well and we walk over to the ladder. Mono goes first and I follow him upwards. On the second landing of the first escape I see the ladder is just a bit out of reach. I go over and boost Mono up; his weight pulls the ladder down and he stumbles backwards into me.

     I push him back onto his feet and we continue upwards. On the third landing the ladder is broken; we use the pipe connected to an AC unit to climb upwards. On the fourth landing there's nowhere else to climb upwards, so we climb through a window. The building is very creaky and I grab Mono's hand. He looks over at me and I pull my hood over my face embarrassed. "Just... let's go." I mutter.

     I hear Mono click on his flashlight and I push my hood back so I can see. We walk around an overturned filing cabinet and climb up some exposed boards. As I jump down next to Mono I hear something shift.

I think it's time to RUN!

     As something heavy hits the floor me and Mono run over to a door with no door knob; we push it over. We tumble downwards as the door gives way, we push ourselves up and continue running. I trip over a board and cry out, Mono turns at the sounds of my voice. The floor gives away under him and something crashes on top of me.

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     I open my eyes to Mono's flashlight flickering out. I try to get up but something is on my legs, looking around I see I'm trapped under a sofa. "Damnit!" I hear a groan and see Mono lying on the ground next to his flashlight. "MON-" My lungs collapse into a coughing fit. "JAY!" Mono runs over and grabs my arms.

     He tugs me out from under the sofa and we fall backwards onto the floor.

My chest really hurts.

     Mono sits us up as I continue coughing. He holds me in his arms as I slowly recover and start breathing normally. "You okay?" He askes after a few moments. "Yeah..." I reply shakily. He helps me stand and my legs shake terribly. "I'm... I'll be okay." He smiles at me. "Good." We walk over to a door and Mono boosts me up. I pull on the doorknob and it opens slowly.

     I drop down and my legs buckle sending me to my knees. "DAMNIT!" Mono helps me up and throws my arm around his shoulders. We continue down the hallway towards a room with light coming from it. We walk into it and I hear the sounds of the TV.

WAIT! NO, NOT HERE!

     I pull myself away from Mono and grab his hand. "Mono! Uhm! Can we go somewhere else?!" He turns to me, confused. "Jay, this is the only way through. It'll only take a moment." He smiles at me, drops my hand, and walks towards the tv. He covers his eyes and I watch him start to manipulate the tv.

     Once he gets pulled in I rush over to the tv. I grab his shoulders to pull him out of there. For some reason it's harder than before. Suddenly loud whispering static filled my ears.

Don't... stop! Let him.... go.... You're ruining it! Let Mono go!

     The buzzing of the static gets louder. "Agh! MONO!" Suddenly Mono stops walking forward on the screen. "Jay?" His voice is so far away. "YEAH, IT'S ME! PLEASE COME BACK! I NEED YOU!" He turns towards me on the screen. I feel tears slipping out of my eyes as the static gets worse. "Ple-ase! Don't... don't open the door!"

     He reaches towards my hands within the tv and as our fingertips brush the door at the end of the hallway shoots forward and crashes into Mono. "MONO!" He stands up, the eye peering down at him from the door starts glowing. "FORGET IT!" I push myself forward, pushing through the tv screen. Somehow I manage to push myself into the hallway. I shake my head and look backwards. The room is there.

     Mono is in front of me, the eye starting to glow brighter. I grab his shoulders and toss him backwards, through the screen and into the room. "JAY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He puts his hands onto the screen, they melt through. I grab one hand and smile sadly at him, tears falling out of my eyes. "Run." I push him backwards, spin around, and I jump opening the door.