Murder Love ||Mafia Byler Story||

Part 13

Third Person POV:

"How will we get him back?" One of Joyce and Hopper's advisors questions. "We have the money, shall we send a representative to make the deal?"

Joyce and Hopper exchange a look. "No," Hopper says. "They want us, not representatives. We shall go."

That caused many shouts, but in the end, they made the decision.

"Let's see what those bastards want," Joyce says as the family enters the limo. Jane has joined them, wanting to find her brother as well. "We all know it's not just money."

Jane holds the slightly crumpled paper with the note, signed by Karen Wheeler.

"Whatever it is," Hopper says. "We'll get our boy and get out. We may have to kill a few on the way, so be careful."

The drive was tension filled and silence, but thankfully it was short.

The three family members get out of the car and enter the building, where someone was waiting for them. A random man smiles when he sees them.

"Ah, are you the Byers?" He says, moving forward and shaking their hands.

Joyce glares at him. "Where is our son?" She growls, seething. The man smiles again, nodding a few times.

"Yes, yes," He says. "Right this way."

They follow him to a door on the far end of the warehouse, and when the man opens it, it's revealed as a maze inside.

"Are you expecting us to find him in this maze?" Hopper question.

The man chuckles. "Oh, goodness no," He says, shaking his head. "No, you'll follow me to the room," He enters the maze, and the family follows him. He seems to have it memorized, and speaks as he talks. "I assume you understand that we have a few reasons as to why we've taken extra measures."

"Just get us to our son and we'll give you the money," Joyce says. "You work for the Wheeler Mafia, yes? I hope you don't want more 'peace'."

The man didn't respond. He guided them farther into the maze before he stopped in front of a door. "Ah, here we are," He says, opening the door. It was almost pitch black inside, but the outside light made it possible to see another figure tied to a chair.

Joyce rushed forward as Hopper and Jane slowly entered the room. The man enters as well, closing the door and turning on the lights as Joyce reaches the boy.

"Wi-" She says. "This isn't Will."

No, no it wasn't. Mike was tied to the chair, completely knocked unconscious with a gag in his mouth.

"Whoops," The man smirks when the Byers family turns to him, glaring daggers. "Remember: Save one to save both."

Then a sound equivalent to a small bomb sounds, and the man collapses, blood pouring from his mouth. Jane shrieks and grabs onto her father, who wraps an arm around her protectively. Joyce stares at the dead man in shock.

The family looked up when they heard the sound of a locking door.

"What do we do?" Jane questions, turning to look at her mother. She stares at Mike in dismay. "That isn't Will. That's the Wheeler boy."

Joyce frowns, staring at the ground. "Save one to save both," She repeats.

The wall behind them turns into a screen, and instructions appear.

Get out of the escape room
Do not kill your specimen
If one dies, the other one does too

"Okay.." Joyce says. "So, somehow, whoever is in control of this, connected Will and Mike. So we need to get out, and then we might find Will."

"How do we get out?" Hopper questions. "This room is completely bare."

As he said that, the left wall flips around, showing multiple different tools and objects. The right wall flips after that, showing a strange game.

"Okay.. Okay.." Joyce says, scanning over the objects and the game.

She turns to Mike, pulling off the gag. Other than a bruise on his cheek, he looks unharmed. "Can you wake him up?" Hopper questions.

Joyce shook Mike's shoulders harshly. "I think he's sedated," She says, checking his temperature and his pulse. "I'm assuming we have to manually move him during this 'game'."

A small hissing noise came from one of the corners, and the group turned to see a hole where water was slowly coming out of.

"Shit," Hopper says. "We need to figure out how to get out of here now."

Joyce rushes over to the tools area. "No weapons, so we have to use our wits, not brute strength," She mutters. "What does the 'game' say?"

"It looks like a puzzle," Jane says. "Is there anything over there that is the shape of a screwdriver?"

Joyce grabs one, throwing it to Hopper. He places the shape into the puzzle, and a green light appears above the puzzle.

"Okay, so it's just a puzzle using tools," Hopper says. "Is there a small jar?"

Jane glances around. "A candlestick?"

"A hand mirror," Hopper says, tracing with his hands. The water was a few inches tall now, soaking all of their shoes.

"A necklace?"

"A computer mouse."

"Scissors."

Jane and Hopper's voices got more and more stressed the quicker and higher the water gets, and soon its up to Jane's chest.

The girl swims over to where Mike was sitting, the water up to the top of his neck. She quickly unties and rips the ropes holding him, making sure he stays afloat in the water as she swims back over to Hopper.

"Okay, last thing," Hopper says. "A lock and key?"

Joyce moves to grab it, but knocks it under the water. "Shit," She says. She takes a deep breath before going underwater, blindly grabbing for the object.

"Joyce!" Hopper shouts as the water gets close to his height. He swims above the puzzle.

The woman pops up, holding the lock and key. She gasps a few times and swims over to give it to Hopper, who shoves it into its place. The water was less than half a foot below the ceiling, and Hopper grabbed Mike to keep him afloat.

Then, the puzzle wall slowly moves downward, making all the water in the room rush that water. Jane screams as they all get pulled into the room, the water covering them for a few seconds before leaving them soaked on the floor of the next room.

"Everyone okay?" Hopper says, laying Mike on the floor.

Jane and Joyce nod, but then Mike starts gagging, silently choking. Joyce notices first, gasping. "No no no," She says, grabbing Mike's face. "No!"

"Does that mean we failed?" Jane asks, before gasping. "Or did Will die?!"

Mike continues choking, before his body goes limp, his eyes rolled up in the back of his head. Joyce and Hopper stare in horror while Jane let out a sob.

Then-- Mike gasps, lurching forward, clutching his neck.

"Oh thank god!" Joyce says, hugging Mike tightly. Mike blinks multiple times, confused on where he was. "Oh god, that means Will's not dead!"

Mike blinks more. "Where am I?" He mumbles, his eyes drooping.

"The sedative is still in effect," Hopper says, crouching next to Joyce. "Don't worry, you'll wake up soon," He says to Mike as the ravenette sways before slumping against Joyce, asleep again.

Hopper picks Mike up and begins carrying him piggy back style.

"C'mon, we should keep moving," He says.

<^> To Be Continued

(1.1k words)

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