welcome to the game // joshler [✓]

chicago is so two years ago

[thank you for 3k, i love you losers sm -frisk]

it felt like world had stopped spinning for a second, everything in reality came to a screeching halt as i began getting flashbacks of what happened a few weeks ago.

the man who was brutally mutilated right before my eyes, it was all coming back to me now. that was tylers fate, he was going to die in the most god awful way possible.

hundreds, heck, maybe even thousands of people were going to watch a killer monkey kill him. did jon know about this? was anyone going to stop it? or was this just a normal thing around here?

abruptly, reality caught up with me, and i realized that i was still in a conversation with jenna as she desperately tried getting my attention back, "josh?! josh snap out of it!"

i sighed a breath of defeat, "so now what? what can we do at this point?" i asked her, she crossed her arms, shaking her head in the same manner of loss and stood there in silence for a few seconds, before checking down both ends of the hall again.

"dallons alive," she said in a hushed tone, "they're keeping him in the psyche ward here," he went on to explain, "he escaped to find me... he told me to hang tight-- or to play dead if i had to."

my suspicion was cleared, now knowing dallon was still alive cleared the fog of guilt and tension that clouded the thoughts in my head. there were so many questions i wanted answers to, but i decided to ask the one that came to mind first, "is he okay?"

"h-he was fine when we talked a few nights ago,"
she sounded worried, "after they caught him... he never came back here... i don't know if he's okay right now."

i frowned, feeling my heart sink deeper into my stomach, but there was a thought emerging from within the hurt, a question i had wanted to ask her after dallons 'death',

"what did dallon tell you back there at the warehouse? right before he tried sacrificing himself, he told you something and you kept crying... so what was it?"

jennas gaze dropped to the ground, her skin flushed a sickly pale, she was quiet for what seemed like minutes, but was probably mere seconds, until she finally spoke up again, "he..." she trailed off, choking on her own words,

"he told me sarah was the one who t-tried to kill him," i noticed her eyes were watering, "that night," she took a deep breath to compose herself, as she wiped her escaped tears,

"brendon met up with his cult leader when he spilt up from us on the road. the original plan wasn't to kill dallon that night..." her bottom lip quivered,

"they were supposed to kill you,"

"a-and?" i couldn't express how i felt, but any synonym resulting with shocked and terrified would work pretty well in this situation, "and so, dallon didn't wanna go through with it, so sarah tried killing him instead..."

"so sarahs in on it? she's been trying to kill me this whole time? what about brendon?" jenna opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, until we heard footsteps emerging closer to us.

jon appeared from the darkness, his face filled with panic, "i'm so sorry to cut this short, but i hear people talkin' upstairs and it's makin' me paranoid." he explained, but jenna wasn't going back to her cell.

"w-wait," she stopped jon, "can't you take me with you guys? l-like hide me in your room or some--?"

"i would," jon shook his head, face flooding with empathy, "i really can't, i'm so sorry--" jenna interrupted him,

"i'm gonna DIE down here," she pessimistically blurted out, in which jon quickly dismissed by shaking his head, "you ain't gonna die, tomorrow morning i'll sneak some food down here for you, but i can't take you with us."

jenna looked pissed, but defeated at the same time. she glanced up at me, but all i could do was get stuck in the middle of it. this internal dilemma lasted a few seconds until for some reason, i sided with jon.

"he'll help make sure you'll be safe, jen," i have her a reassuring look, "i promise." her eyes welled up again, sadness showing true. i have her one last hug to comfort her. i hated doing it, but jon was right, it would put all of us in danger.

he made sure she was locked tight in her cell before we went back upstairs, i took one more look down the dark hallway and was filled with hope, and i was pleading this wouldn't be the last time i felt hope.

or the last time i saw jenna alive.