A Crybaby in the Badlands: HALSANIE

13 - can't Control a Mad Hatter

Wakey, wakey...

My eyes slowly opened and I was blinded by a bright light, and I groaned and looked away. I tried shielding my eyes, but my hands were tied behind my back, and a dirty rag gagged me. I did my best to keep my tongue off of it.

The light lowered a bit, and I recognized Hayley grinning at me. She was wearing a deep red jumpsuit and rubber gloves, and her hair was tied back into a ponytail. "Hello, Assley," she spat, snarling at me with a smirk. "I've been waiting for you to wake up. Everyone's still asleep..."

I quirked a brow, oblivious to what she meant by 'everyone'. I didn't even know where I was, or why I was there, but as I recognized sticky blood stained to my cheek, I knew something was up. Something bad.

"Oh, sorry, you probably have some questions," Hayley giggled, removing the rag from my mouth. "Shoot. Oh, but not really. That's my job." She removed a pistol from the front pocket on her jumpsuit and scanned it fondly. She licked her lips and slid it back into her pocket, looking up at me. "Go on."

I spit on her, a huge glob that had been building up in my mouth landing all over her face. "Where the fuck am I?" I asked.

She narrowed her eyes at me and put the rag back in my mouth. "You don't get anymore questions since you can't behave, but, I'll answer that one. You're at the crime scene of your death. Obviously you're not dead yet, because we're still waiting for our final guest."

She turned on a light, and I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the brightness. I looked around, spotting Melanie tied up across the room to a stone pillar, and it appeared that we were in an abandoned parking ramp. After further observation, I noticed Brendon, Gerard, Pete, and a couple others from our lunch crew gathered, also including Tyler. What the fuck was this?

I heard footsteps approaching, the sound of their echo unsettling as it bounced through the area. "Oops, lights out again!" She quickly hit the switch on all the lights she'd set up throughout the column of the parking lot.

"Hayley? I'm here, I still don't know why you wanted me to come here, though." I recognized Josh's voice instantly, and suddenly, fury built up inside me. "Hello?"

"I'm here Josh," Hayley summoned in a sweet voice, and I shook angrily. So Hayley and Josh formed a plot to fucking kidnap and ultimately shoot all of us? Were they fucking nuts?! "I have some people who want to see you..."

Josh approached in the darkness, and the lights were suddenly blaring again. I groaned once more, and realized everyone was awake now, except Melanie. Was she already dead? From where I was, I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"What the... Hayley, what the fuck is this?" Josh exclaimed. Why was he acting so surprised? Or maybe... he wasn't acting..? "Why are all of our friends here?"

"They aren't our friends, Josh, they're yours! Now, here's your chance to choose... Them, or me?"

Josh looked around in disbelief, still clearly taking in the situation. "This has to be some sort of joke..."

"Mm! Mmmph!" He looked towards me. Great, so I'd gotten his attention, but he didn't understand the language of 'Mmm'. "Mm! Mm mm mm mm mm mm!" That meant, 'get me out of this rope!'

He started over, but the click of the hammer setting on Hayley's pistol stopped him in his tracks. "Josh, you need to choose. You either choose them, and join them, or choose me, and kill them."

I couldn't see Josh's face, but I knew he was probably paler than a ghost. "Hayley, you're being unreasonable, okay? Put the gun down, and come here."

Hayley grunted and stomped her foot. "No! No, Josh... N-No, I won't. You need to fucking choose before I choose for you!" She aimed the pistol around him and at me, and I narrowed my eyes at her. "Me, or... that bitch!"

I nodded to her, as if to say, 'bite me', and I knew I was fucked when I saw her hand tense, and she squeezed the trigger. A bullet landed right in my shoulder and I screamed around the rag.

"Try me, bitch!" she snarled. She eyed Josh as I rocked back and forth in pain. "Last chance, Josh. Me, or them."

"Them, you psycho bitch!"

"...Okay..." Hayley shot him in the leg and he dropped instantly. I heard the muffled screams of everyone else across the room over mine. I looked back to Melanie... She was gone.