Stockholm Syndrome (Twisted Lucas Baker Love Story)

Beating the Game

"The big barn fight will end him," Lucas said quietly. "How could he get past that huge molded brute?"

I was about to say, "he will find a way," but I kept it to myself. I didn't feel like I needed to point out the obvious.

"I'm not used to having my skills matched," he said. "I'm used to being the smartest."

"You are the smartest, babe," I said. I turned around and put my arms around his neck. Smiling, I said, "There is no way he would have been able to create all of this. This entire place is a product of your intelligence, your creativity."

"I love your smile baby. It makes me feel better. You make me feel normal sometimes," he said.

I didn't say anything because I felt extremely awkward at that moment. I knew he was society's idea of a sociopath. He kept me here against my will at the beginning. And, this wasn't Eveline's doing. He locked that poor little Oliver in his attic until he died and decomposed. That was when he was a child! I couldn't lie and say he was 'normal.' That would have been a lie and an insult to him.

"Normal is—" but I was interrupted by an explosion on the screen. We both turned to look. Lucas' face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to the barn fight!" He exclaimed with an announcer's voice. "Keep it clean, gentlemen. We have rules."

Ethan yelled, "Fuck you too."

The elevator reached the bottom floor and it screeched to a halt. The door slid open slowly.

"It's how you deal with hardships that make you a man, Ethan," Lucas said as the molded giant slowly walked out of the elevator.

The monster began walking toward Ethan. He was loading his shotgun when the molded vomited acid all over Ethan, causing him to cry out in pain.

When the molded was preparing to vomit again, Ethan took two shots with the shotgun. This slowed down the molded for a moment before he began vomiting again. Ethan ducked in cover before the acid could reach him. He was safe there as he reloaded the shotgun, preparing to put two more shots into it. When the monster finishing regurgitating, Ethan put two more shots straight into its head. The creature went down.

"Fat man down! Fat man down!" Lucas yelled through the mic. "Meh, he wasn't my favorite anyways.."

Ethan rode the elevator up, taking him to a new hallway where he would eventually find the charred remains of Clancy. Tied to Clancy's neck was the code to the keypad door that lead to the Happy Birthday game.

He made his way back to the door. As he was about to push the pin in, Lucas went over the mic, "yo buddy! This is a test of skill, so no cheating. That shit your carrying...get rid of it."

Ethan dumped all his items into his item box and proceeded to plug in the pin. The door opened and Lucas cleared his throat before he said, "have a nice day."

Ethan stepped into the room and out of vision. The light has not kicked on yet. The door shut and locked behind him. All I could see was the clown dummy and the soft glow of the candle.

The candle moved. Ethan was on his way to the cake room. As he stepped through the doorway, the water put his candle out. There was a moment of complete darkness and then the lights kicked on. I was able to see him again.

"Alright. How about we play a little game?" Lucas asked. "All you got to do is light the candle and put it on the cake."

"Kiss my ass," Ethan shouted.

"Ethan, language," Lucas corrected him. "There are children in the building—somewhere—I think. I'm not sure anymore."

Lucas chuckled and then looked at me. I shrugged. Where was Eveline?

Ethan proceeded to work through the puzzle as if he had done it before. He knew the combination to the door without the clown tearing up his arm. Without taking the winding key, he didn't spill the oil on the floor.

"Lucas, could he have gotten the Clancy tape?" I asked.

"Fuck, I didn't even think of that!" He shouted. "Goddamn it!"

We both stared at the screen as Ethan put the candle on the cake. When the cake exploded, it didn't ignite oil. Instead, the bomb fell onto the floor. This really pissed Lucas off. This was supposed to be his 'Grande Finale.'

"Motherfucker!" Lucas screamed at Ethan. "You were supposed to die!"

Ethan ripped a piece of wood from the wall and shoved the bomb through. He stepped away as the bomb blew the wall to splinters. I was right near the wall in Lucas' office, by the alcove that blew up. Splinters and flames burst through the wall, stabbing and burning me. I grabbed my face in agony.

Lucas was seething. He was breathing heavily as he screamed, "That was supposed to be for you, goddamn it!"

Lucas looked at me. Ethan was only a few feet away from us. The smoke from the explosion gave us just enough time to make our getaway. Lucas grabbed my hand, helped me stand, and we ran through the door.

Ethan reached the room just in time to see the chair spin.

We reached a "safe" area and Lucas turned on his video chat with his computer. "Well now, Ethan! That little stunt you pulled hurt my girl. Now I'm really pissed off!"

"What the fuck do you want?" Ethan asked.

"You...dead!" Lucas said. He chuckled and said, "guess that's not in the cards. Not yet."

"Lucky me," Ethan said. "Look, unless you have any more surprises up your sleeve, I suggest you—"

Lucas didn't let him finish his suggestion. He said, "now that would be tellin' Ethan. And I don't do spoilers." Then, he cut off the connection.

I was standing in front of an old, broken mirror. I started pulling splinters out of my skin. Then, I pulled off the dead, charred skin. I looked like shit. Lucas came over to me and wrapped his arms around me. He spun me around and I looked at him. "I'm hideous," I whispered. "At least I will heal quickly."

"You aren't hideous..." he said quietly. "You are beautiful, and alive. That's all that matters to me."

I smiled and kissed him. Suddenly, I didn't feel so good anymore. I started getting weak in my knees and I would have collapsed to the floor if he didn't catch me. He lowered me to the floor. I felt distant. Everything was going blurry. I'm dying, I thought.

"What's wrong, babe?" Lucas was freaking out. "Eveline?!"

Suddenly, Eveline entered the room. She giggled as she looked at me.

"Eveline, what's wrong with her?" Lucas asked frantically, sweat forming on his forehead.

"I don't really like her anymore," Eveline said. "So I took away her gift."

"Eveline! Give it back! Please give it back..." Lucas begged.

"I don't think so," she said and disappeared.

"No!" Lucas started crying. "You can't leave me, baby! I need you."