different ▸ m.c.

twenty nine [last]

Michael's POV

I slip the gun into my pocket as I trust my instincts and run through the darkness. It turns out there was a staircase so I didn't fall into a bottomless pit or anything.

I blindly made my way up the stairs, occasionally tripping or running into the wall. Eventually, I made my up and to a dimly lit doorway.

Keeping one hand on the wall next to me, I slowly made my way through the darkness. It was silent and that made me suspicious because of this really was the floor Allie was on I was assuming she'd be screaming or crying or something.

I heard a muffled sob from somewhere in the room.

"Allie?" I call out and follow the sobs.

I reach a door and open it, revealing another dark room. My hand searches the wall and finds a light switch. I turn it on, light filling the room and revealing Calum, who is sitting the corner of the room crying.

"Calum? How'd you get up here?" I ask frantically.

Calum starts shaking and he rock back and forth. He looks up at me from his position on the floor and just shakes his head quickly.

"Calum, are you okay? What's wrong?" I run to his side.

His breathing gets faster.

I place my hands on his shoulders and shake him. "Calum! Snap out of it! What's wrong?"

"They need a life." He mutters. "They need a life."

"What are you talking about?"

"They need a life." Calum repeats.

"Calum, tell me what that means.

"They need a life." He looks me in the eyes. "They're bringing me back but they need a life."

"I don't understand why you're so worked up about this. I'm going to save Allie." I say as confidently as I possibly could.

"You can't save her. They need a life. They aren't going to stop making me alive so they need someone to die. Someone has to die." He stands up and paces around the room.

"No, I can fix this." I say.

"No, you can't."

"Calum, yes I can."

"No, you can't! This is all my fault." He gets back into his fetal position on the floor. "All my fault, all my fault." He mutters.

"How much longer?"

"50 minutes." Calum mutters. "50 minutes and it's all my fault. All my fault."

"Calum, stop that." It was started to creepy me out.

Calum crawls to a wall of the room and softly hits his head against the wall. "My fault."

I go over to him and drag him away from the wall. Calum fails his ams and screams while sobbing. I immediately let go of him. He stands up and puts his hands on either side of his head. He squeezes his eyes shut and paces the room.

"You have to help me." I tell him. "Do you know where Allie is?"

"Second door to the left." He whispers, looking at me wide eyed. "I'm sorry."

"Everything's okay, Calum." I try to reassure him but I know nothing's okay.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Calum?" I want to leave to go find Allie but I'm afraid to leave him alone.

"Just go, Michael!" He yells, startling me. Then he goes back to mumbling. "It's all my fault, I'm sorry."