Pieces Part 1

In the Cargo Hold - Maurice

I ran down at full speed; I finally reached the bottom. As I stepped down, all I could see in front of me was darkness.

That was when a voice—or the relics of one—strained from behind me; "HM HMMGBSHA."

My throat constricted when I turned. Behind me was Amber, with her fiery scalp sweating bullets down to her damp eyelids.

I began to run towards her, and I hugged her. I hugged her so firmly that my arms went numb.

It felt like once, once again, in my life, I could be at peace.

In our embrace, Rob and Kevin strolled into view, whistling teasingly. "Woo... Look at this. So cool! Looks like a movie!

One of the girls asked, "Hey, why is that girl tied up?"

Skipping past her, Kevin said in a saccharine voice, "Hey Amber, we came to save you... and it was all my idea!" Amber flailed through her restraints, swinging her head from side to side.

Rob snickered. "Hmm, looks like she doesn't want your help."

One of the girls said, "Untie her so she can speak for herself."

I was so caught up in the moment I assumed that was what Amber was freaking out about.

I reached to untie her hands; she started shaking the chair.

I then reached to take the tape off her mouth, and she tried to fight me.

I crooned for her to calm down; "Let me take this off, and you can ramble all you want." As she continued to fight, I held her head still and took the tape off, ungagged Amber yelling, "DUCK!"

The power went out, followed by a big "BOOM!" Before I could react, I fell to the floor with Amber's chair falling on top of me.

The power flickered back on. I fixated on Amber, who was now crying on top of me.

All the tension in my jaw melted away. "Why are you crying? You are safe now."

Amber pounded her fists on my chest, sobbing with greater intensity. "You idiot!!! I was trying to tell you there was a trigger set up to shoot if anyone tried to set me free."

Rob yelled, "We've got to stop the bleeding."

The girls began to get sick, and the police's footsteps grew louder. "The shot came from down here," Walker descended the stairs and ordered, "Alright, everyone put your hands up!"

We all surrendered, but my hands glided down as I lost consciousness.

The last sound I heard was, "Maurice!"