Missing (YouTube FanFic)

[Chapter 16] Coming To An End

**Joey's POV**

No choice, no choice. Now we don't have a choice! I said to myself. I carefully followed and tracked Rachael's footprints, checking for broken branches, anything that would help me to find Rachael. I occasionally screamed out her name. But It was no use, and nightfall was coming soon. But not like normal, time seemed to be sped up. Probably one of Kalel's tricks she has up her sleeve.

Soon enough the sun disappeared and the moon and stars came out. But regardless the time I still had to find Rachael. "Rachael! Rachael!" I made it to an grassy patch of land, covered in trees, bushes, and in the center a small pond that reflected the speckled dark blue sky above us. Next to the pond sat Rachael, weeping into her hands with her knees tucked into her chest.

"Hey, there you are." I said. I sat down beside her and saw her cheeks were wet and her eyes were bloodshot from crying.

"Go away, Joey," Rachael murmured as she turned away from me, "I want to be alone."

"Being alone could get you killed," I tried to convince her. But what she said in response was shocking.

"I'd rather get killed than live another day without Anthony."

For a couple of minutes, the only sound was the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves on the trees and bushes. "He means that much to you?" I asked her softly. She nodded her head yes. I looked up and across the water. I took a deep breath and I calmly said, "Kenya and I have been going out."

Rachael slowly looked over at me, "You what?"

"For a month now." I looked down at my hands. "At first I was really nervous on asking her out, and I was just like you. Miserable, and lonely."

"Thanks Joey, that helps so much." Rachael said sarcastically.

"That wasn't the point." I responded, " A week later, I knew that if I didn't say anything I would lose her." I took another deep breath. "So I asked her out, and to my surprise she said yes."

"And how does this help me?" She said.

"Anthony in his own way took a chance and attempted to tell you he loves you." I said.

Rachael just stared at me, a blank look in her eyes. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"He told Kalel no. He went to find you when we were in the caves. Above all, we are here trapped in this game because of you!" I took my hand and wiped a tear running down her cheek. "He did everything just for you."

"He died because of me," She murmured, "I'm not worth dying for!" She cried.

"Well, apparently you are." I said.

Rachael crossed her arms over her chest and looked towards the pool. A moment of silence passed, "Why didn't you guys tell me?" She questioned softly.

I looked over to her, "We didn't know how to tell you."

"You guys know that you can tell me anything, so nice try, but try again," She retorted.

I laughed and said, "I am so serious, we really didn't know how to tell you, and we didn't want to make you feel... Different seeing that you and Anthony weren't together." I responded.

"I wouldn't feel different, if anything I would be happy for you guys." Rachael commented.

"Well we would have felt the same way for you guys if you were together." I said, realizing I struck a nerve which triggered Rachael's reaction to start crying again. "Look Anthony would want you to not sit here and cry." She stopped crying, "Hey come on." I stood up and extended my hand out to her, she grabbed my hand. I pulled her up to her feet.

I slipped my hands into my jean pockets as we started walking in god knows what direction. Nothing was spoken between us for the longest time before I cleared my throat and told her, "You do realize that the only choice now is to have Kalel kill you. I think that's the only way out."

She glanced up at me, "Have me die? That's the way out?"

"I think so."

She averted her gaze away and was silent as we continued walking. Then I heard her say, "Okay, Joey, if that's how it has to be. Let it be that way. But I'm not going down without a fight." And with that, Rachael ran forward, leaving me in the dust.

-Rachael's POV-

I ran ahead of Joey, reaching the campfire that the men had built.

"Rach! You're alive!" Dan exclaimed as he rose to his feet and pulled me into a hug.

"Not for long," I retorted sadly as I hugged him back, "This game is coming to an end. An end that will only happen if I die," I stepped out of the embrace, "But I want to get my revenge before she kills me."

"How are you going to do that?" Shane asked me.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, sitting on the ground next to Ian who had been crying too, "But I need all of you to help me. To avenge Anthony's death and bring an end to this insane game."

"What do you need us to do?" Toby inquired.

I sighed, "Here's what I say. We go somewhere open. You guys hide somewhere while I walk out in the open, waiting for Kalel. She kills me, and you come and kill her. Okay?"

"No! We're not letting you die!" Phil argued, "There has to be some other way!"

"Phil, were you not listening to Joey?" Dan snapped at him, "He said that letting Kalel kill Rachael is the only way she's going to let us out!"

"But how is Kalel supposed to let us out if she's dead?" Phil then went on to ask. I hadn't thought about that, I just wanted her dead for what she'd done.

"There's another way out, and no one has to die." Shane remarked quietly. All of our attention was directed towards him. He looked up and heaved a sigh, "There's a reset setting to the game. " he said. " But Kalel is the reset button so we have to kill her.

"Wait...but if she dies in the game, does she die in real life?" Toby proposed, "Same with Anthony, is he dead in real life too?"

"Remember? I said that when Kalel killed him that he was different." Shane said.

"Yeah, we heard you! Can you tell us what that means!?!" Joey said in a stern voice.

"It means that when they are killed by Kalel, they are hurt in the game and out of the game. They are transported out of the game." my face lit up but then Shane said, "There still is no guarantee that he survived."

"Well, then there is still a possibility that he did make it, right?" Ian butted into the conversation.

"We'll just have to find out," Shane answered him. I covered my face with my hands and started to cry again. "But in the meantime, we can't just sit around here and wait for Kalel to show up. I saw we take initiative. We go find her."

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Joey snapped at him, "She could have..."

"Guys," I cut him off as I pointed behind him to see Kalel emerge from the dense forest that surrounded us. She stopped when she saw us. "I'll handle this."

"Wait, Rachael," Ian said before I could go over to her, "You can't do this alone."

"I'll be fine," I told him before I continued to approach her.

My slow walk escalated into a run and I bolted towards her, pushing her to the ground. The two of us started throwing punch after punch, hair pull after hair pull. The fight was fair until she pinned me to the ground and pulled a knife out of her boot. She held it high above me.

I laughed, which seemed to throw her off, "This is exactly what you wanted, right, Kalel? For me to be out of the picture. Well guess what?" I sat up slightly, "He's dead. Thanks to you. So, sure, take me out of the picture, but your picture's not complete without him." She just stared at me. I could see her hands starting to shake, "So, go ahead, Kalel. Kill me."

She gulped, "You tore Anthony and me apart!" She cried, adjusting her grip on the knife, "We were so happy!" I noticed that she was starting to cry too, "And then you came along and...and..."