The Five Rooms

Chapter 9

I wasn't sure how much longer I could do this. I had managed to trip him and scramble into a little corner far enough back that I wouldn't be seen from most angles. But I was trapped, and considering the fact that we were in a room full of guns and ammo, who knows how long this could go on for. My heart pounds out of my chest, and I try to keep my breathing calm and quite, though it doesn't work quite as I planned.

Why would someone do this? Did they have no souls? How could they be this dark? My mind asks itself until I realize, this was survival instincts. They just didn't want to die, and have resulted to this in their attempt to be the last one standing.

I know this boy isn't going to just let me go, I'd either have to run quickly and try to dodge the bullets, or I'd have to fight my way out, because just sitting here was a death sentence, for sure.

I shift myself to get out when I hear a gunshot echo through the air in the room. My heart skips a beat, and my hand goes to my chest catching on my key necklace. It takes me a second to realize the bullet wasn't shot at me. I peak as far as I could out of the corner, and see Alec hiding behind a gun rack. He looked to be fumbling to get a gun out of a cabinet next to him. He didn't look injured so I let out a breath, then look to the boy, who was slowly getting closer to Alec

The boy was getting too close. In a few seconds he'd have an open shot of Alec, and Alec was still fumbling to get the gun out of the case in the cabinet. That's when I realized a gun wasn't what he was after, a big red padlock hung from the case of the gun. He was actually trying to wiggle a key out of a tight space between the gun case and the edge of the metal cabinet. But it wasn't budging. He was screwed.

Without even a moment of thought, or my usual minute of panic, I jump from my hiding spot. No weapons. No shield. I didn't have time to grab either of those, not that I would have thought of it in the heat of the moment even if I had.

"Hey!" I shout at the boy, hoping, praying Alec could get the key quickly and escape.

And if I was lucky, help me survive this too.

The boy turns around, his gun aimed at me now.

"Elena!" Alec shouts at me, his eyes wide and scared, not for himself, but for me.

He steps forward from behind the cabinet, and starts to run towards were the boy and I stand. Face to face. Or more like my face to his gun.

I don't watch him though, I watch the gun. I notice the boys hand tighten on the trigger again, and I close my eyes. He had no reason to stop this time, and I didn't want to see this. As long as Alec escapes, I'll be okay. One of us should get to go on.

The gun fires, but pain doesn't explode from my body like I had braced for. I feel fine. Confusion and worry rush through me as I open my eyes to see Alec on top of the boy, gun still spinning on the ground meters away from them. Alec punches the boy, hard. He does it again. And a third time, till the boy no longer struggles to get away.

With eyes wide I look from the boy's limp body to Alec, "Is he...?" I begin to ask him, scared of the answer I might get.

"No. Of course not! Just knocked out." He cuts off my question to reassume me, standing up and walking over to me afterwards.

I nod slightly and let out a relived breath. I only realize now that if he had died, I would have heard the voice in my head tell me so.

Alec nods slightly back at me, and goes back over to the corner and picks up his small, brass key that he must have gotten out at the last second, and thrown to the floor to save me. Instead of running to save himself.

"Now, let's go before he wakes up." He tells me, looking from me to the door of the room, obviously anxious to get out.

I hesitate for a second, my eyes looking from the cabinet to the boy and then back to Alec. Then nod at him, starting to walk towards the door that will lead us back on the path to my key. I hoped at least.

~||~

My mind has been running over the many things I did wrong in that incident, none stop, for what must have been twenty minutes by now.

I could list them all off: I didn't check before going into the room. I totally overdid the sarcasm when I didn't even mean to actually say a word of it aloud. I didn't call for help or anything when the first thing happened. But stupidest of all, I jumped out at a guy with a gun. He could have killed me. He almost did kill me. But that choice wasn't only stupid, it was brave as well.

I shake the thoughts of my faults away. But that doesn't keep the incident from starting to play over in my head. I was only now getting out of the shock I had been stuck in that whole time. So replying this all in my head shed a little more light on the situation that actually happened. The more logical look on it. That's when it hit me.

I stopped in my tracks, my eyes widening slightly in surprise. My breath catches and my pulse starts to quicken. It took me till now to realize. How hadn't I realized before?

"Alec?!" I call to him, louder than I had wanted, and with a lot more confusion and anger than I had meant to put into it.

Alec stops quickly, and turns to me. His face had confusion playing on it as he studies my expression. I didn't realize how sharp my expression must have looked to him until then.

"Yeah?" He says slowly, like he was nervous to know why I had called him, though from the way I'm sure I look, I don't blame him.

"You called me 'Elena'." I state to him, looking him straight in the eyes, accusation almost playing in my voice. "I never told you my name was 'Elena'. I never told you a name at all. Thus you couldn't have known from me."

Alec's expression changes slightly, but he was good at hiding what it had changed to. I can see his is obviously not sure what to say to that.

"Um... Yeah? I should probably explain." He tells me, his voice sounds nervous in my ears, but I try not to focus on that.

"Explain what?" I ask him, and even though it didn't really seem like the time, pressure starts behind my eyes, telling me tears are on their way. "I only told two people in this stupid place my name and you weren't one of them. Were you spying on me? Or do you work for whoever runs this horrid place? Or did you...?" I start, feeling a breakdown coming on as I let all the thoughts in my head spill out in words.

"Hey, Elena, calm down." He tells me, taking a step towards me, and reaching out to put a hand on my shoulder.

I jump at the sound of his voice saying my name again, and I step back out of his hands reach. I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want anyone to touch me. I didn't want to be here. I just wanted out of here.

I could feel the tears fighting their way out of me, but I try to hold them back. I didn't want to look weak in front of him, but I knew he could already tell how weak I was.

"Let me..." He starts to say, his tone meant to be comforting.

But before he can even finish his sentence, the stupid announcer voice rings in my head.

"Four dead." And with those two words echoing through my thoughts, I break.

My knees crash to the floor as I lose my balance and tears push past my attempts to keep them back and flow down my face. I close my eyes to stop them as best as I could. But I couldn't take all the stress of this any longer. I just couldn't. I'd pushed this all away from too long now. I needed to feel it.