Hope

Chapter 14

         The lights turned on, but only enough for me to see a figure in the corner of the room. The lights got a tiny  bit brighter, and I could make out the face that had wide, terrified eyes in the corner.
         I knew something was up.
That figure was Riley.
Instantly, my mine started thinking of ideas about what was going on. I couldn't think straight. Olivia wouldn't betray me, no. She couldn't. How is Riley here? Why is Riley here? What's going on?
I snapped back into reality, Riley still pressing herself into the corner and hyperventilating. She looked terrified. Absolutely terrified. I felt so bad.
I remembered her telling me how claustrophobic she was. I looked around the room, it was quite small already. Maybe the size of a standard bathroom? And if this was a setup, it would get smaller.
My brain clicked. Snippets of Olivia talking to someone and then stopping one I came around the corner, her looking over my shoulder, the fact that she was actually talking to me.
And Kayden was with Riley. He would never do that in this universe.
This was all a setup. Olivia and Kayden were in on it. I finally realized.
And all of the mean things I said to Riley, believing that she lied to me. She never did. Olivia did. I was so rude but so wrong. I looked back over at her, and tears were welling in her eyes now.
I started walking towards her, but she pushed herself even further against the wall. I didn't know how to tell her what was going on, if Olivia and Kayden found out I knew what was going on, that would be bad.
I mouthed to her "it's ok" and then "I'll explain later." She got the idea and nodded, still petrified.
I walked over to her and held my arms open for a hug to try and help her. She didn't argue, and pressed her head against my chest, wrapping her arms around me. I embraced her, and it felt right. I felt peaceful for one second. I felt her relax in my arms. Everything was going to be ok.
But then the lights turned off. Pitch black.
Riley jumped, clutching me tighter. I rubbed her back trying to calm her down.
"What's going on Olivia?" I called out into the darkness.
A laugh rang out over a speaker that was placed in this room. It was Kayden's.
"Oh, so naive. Did you think we actually cared about you? You're so dumb. We can't believe you actually turned on each other that quickly," Olivia's voice said through the speaker.
"But why did you do that? What benefits did you get?" I asked back angrily.
"Well, we hate you two. And you two started to get happy, and we couldn't have that happen. Plus now you both look like fools. I also got what we did before coming here. You know, in the car. That was great too," she said. I could almost here her evil grin.
"What is she talking about?" Riley asked me, taking her head off of my chest to look up at me.
"Oh, what am I talking about? Only something so good. Asher is really good. He also has a big-"
"That's enough," I said, cutting her off. I didn't want to hear it.
I was so nervous. I looked down at Riley, trying to read her expression. I whispered "I'm sorry," to her. She nodded, placing her head back on my chest. I was really confused. She forgave me.
"On that note, Kayden, hit the button," Olivia said. I heard a click and then loud noises of the walls closing in. Riley started shaking, so I pulled her closer to me.
"Why can't you let us out? Haven't you had enough fun yet?" I called out, madness rising in my voice.
They both responded with laughing. There was another click and the walls closed in again. There was now about a space that was 5ft by 4ft.
"Just stay calm," I whispered to Riley, rubbing her back gently. She knew not to look at how small the room was, keeping her face in my chest.
          "You're sickos. You've both gone mad," I called out to them, getting a little paranoid myself.
           Then, a metal scraping sound started to sound out in the darkness. It was the door to get out opening.
           "Go on, go out. Go out the front way, that's the only one open," Olivia said over the loudspeaker. I didn't care if it was another trap, I wanted to get Riley out of this room. She was shaking badly.
         I grabbed onto Riley's hand, and she willingly took her head off of my chest. We crouched down, and I ushered Riley to go in front of me so she wasn't in this room alone. She crawled through the hole and I followed behind her, standing up when I got out.
        We stared at what was before us. I forgot that this led into a corn maze. It wouldn't be haunted though, since I realized Gebor's wasn't even open tonight. This was all Olivia and Kayden's doing.
         I wrapped my fingers back around Riley's hand. It was too quiet.
         Whack. I stumbled forward after I felt a slap make contact with the side of my head. I then whipped around, seeing Kayden and Olivia standing there.
         "Who's all tough now?" Kayden said grinning, rolling up his sleeves. I did not want to fight him. I was not going to fight him. I didn't care if this would ruin my reputation, Riley was not going to get hurt. Not here, not by them, not with me.
         "Run," I whispered to her and let go of her hand. We both bolted from the spot.
          "Cowards!" Olivia shouted from behind us, and I heard footsteps following. And then more footsteps. I turned around, and it wasn't just Olivia and Kayden anymore, they had brought a gang with them.
          Riley was running about 5 feet behind me. I made a left once the path split into 3 options.
          I turned my head again to make sure Riley came down this path. She wasn't there. Kayden and two of the backup people they had brought had already followed me down this path. I needed to get Riley.
          "Riley!" I called out, making a right, hoping it would take me to her path. No response. I looked to my right and saw this was the path she had to have taken, there were footprints.
         I went down the direction where the footprints lead, still running away from Kayden and his group. I couldn't lead them to Riley. I had to lose them.

•••

         I was running behind Asher. He made a left, but it was already to late to realize I had to turn. I kept running down the middle path. I turned my head to loon behind me, seeing Olivia and four other guys were chasing me.
         I was terrified. Where did Asher go? What was going on? How do I lose them?
         I looked ahead of me, and I saw something that looked like a dead end. I assumed it just split into left and right. When I got there, it didn't.
         I stopped and I turned around, Olivia and her gang now surrounding me with evil grins.
         "What are you going to do? And what for? What did I ever do to you?" I asked them, my voice rising.
         "Where's your Asher to save you now, huh? Where's your guardian angel Riley?" Olivia responded, her group getting closer.
          She was now only about 2 feet away from me.
          "Guess what Riley. He's not here," she said evilly. She pulled her fist back and threw it forward, hitting me straight in the eye.
          I stumbled backward, vision going blurry.
          "Get her," I heard Olivia said before the guys walked forward and started punching me.
           The stomach. The chest. The face. The stomach. The arm. The face. Over and over again. Everything went black. I fell to the ground.

•••

          I had finally lost them. I could hear them calling out for me, calling names like "punk." I went back to the path Riley had taken, following the footsteps quietly.
          I looked up, seeing what looked like to be a dead end and got confused. But then I saw a huddled up figure on the ground at that dead end. My heart stopped.
          I bolted. I didn't care if they heard me. That was the fasted I had ever run.
          Once there, I couldn't believe my eyes. I knelt down, covering my mouth with my hands in shock. And for the first time since I could remember, I felt tears forming in my eyes. One rolled down my cheek. This was my fault.
         "Riley," I whispered, putting my hand on her shoulder. I saw her bruises face that was bleeding from her mouth and nose. Tears fell quicker.
          "Riley," I said again, louder. I started to shake her. I wanted her to wake up now. She needed to wake up. She needed to wake up now.
          My heart started beating faster. "Riley," I said once more. I couldn't take it any more. I took her arm and I pinched it as hard as I could.

AUTHORS NOTE:
A bit of a cliff hanger, eh? This one was the longest one so far I think, and I really liked it. I didn't want it to be a cliffhanger but it just got too long. Thank you all for reading and the birthday wishes!