Laconic » a.i

3.0

//ashton//

"Ella has to go up to the door and ring the doorbell. Say you're my cousin and it's an emergency. Don't leave the house until I come back to get you," Annie explained as we sat in the van down the street. "Micha- Mike, Calum, and I are going to sneak around the back and make sure that no one's down there. Then we'll transport in, I'll get Bridgette and Luke unchained, and we'll be out."

"What if someone is in the basement?" Calum wondered. "Like, what if the older sister answers the door and the shorter kid and Mali are in the basement?"

"Mali-Koa should be easier to take care of since you're her brother and there's no way she'd hurt you-"

"But she'd be pissed if I betrayed her," he interjected. "Last time I didn't do what she told me, she tried to kill one of my best friends. Time before that, she may or may not have killed my girlfriend." He gestured to Noel who sat behind him in the second row of seats. She gave a tiny wave.

"Maybe you should go with Ella, then. After she goes inside, you show up asking for Mali-Koa." Annie decided.

"But you said you needed him in the basement with you." I reminded her.

"It'll be harder getting the locks off but we'll manage." she breathed with a nod.

"I'll go with you," Noel offered. "I've seen the spells and stuff Calum does, I think I know a few things."

"Alright, so now we just have to worry about Sabrina," Annie said, smiling evilly towards the back of the car where the three girls sat. "Emily, doll, are you opposed to being bate?"

-

//luke//

The voices in my head were getting louder again and it was making me irritable and nauseated because it was also causing a massive headache. Cooper and I stayed mostly quiet while in the basement because we didn't know what we were supposed to do. Saying it out loud, though, would make it seem more real that there was no hope for us; we were going to die.

You really are dumb, aren't you?

Didn't you just technically call yourself dumb since you're me?

Do you want to get technical or did you want to know how to get out of here?

How do you know how to get out if I don't?

I'm your subconscious, dipshit.

Unfortunately, the fact Bridge and I didn't talk gave me a lot more time to talk to myself and the other voices in my head.

Alright, then what do you suggest we do?

Use your gift, idiot.

What gift?

The gift of freedom.

I almost scoffed. I didn't have the gift of freedom, I just got the gift of getting out of the hellhole of a house.

That's freedom, shit-for-brains.

But it only worked for-

How do you know? Have you tried to use it before?

Well, no, but-

Then what better chance than now? Just concentrate. Imagine the chains just opening up and letting you down. Imagine being free.

I rolled my eyes but closed them and thought about the feeling of my wrists and ankles not being chained up. I thought about not hanging from a wall and being able to move freely and not be uncomfortable.

My feet hit the floor.

I opened my eyes and saw I was standing up right.

I turned to see Cooper gaping at me, "How'd you do that?"

"I'll explain later, I need to get you down so we can get outta-"

"Luke!" Annie's high voice shrieked quietly as she hurried over to me. "How'd you get yourself down?"

"I apparently have a gift." I shrugged.

"Get Cooper down and let's get out of here." Michael told the two girls, but his eyes were glued to Annie the entire time.

I leaned toward him and quietly asked about their relationship, "Are you two-"

"No." he practically growled.

Annie grabbed a copper key from the counter and brought it over to where the potions were. She flipped through the book while Noel began to grab a few jars from the shelves. Since when was Noel a witch?

"Found it," Annie muttered to herself and her and Noel dipped their heads to look at the book before going to work to mix some potion in a bowl between them. It didn't take long until Annie grabbed the key from the counter and dropped it into the mixture, uttering a few words before spinning her finger over the top of the bowl. The key levitated out, now glowing a faint pink. She turned toward us and went for Cooper, getting down to unlock her ankles. "Hold her up for me, please."

Michael and I each held under one arm and around her waist, making sure to keep her up. Annie stuck the key in and the shackles immediately fell off. Then she stood -- using a step stool by the counter -- to get her wrists free. Once they were off, we set her back down on the ground. She rubbed at her wrists which were red and would have marks on them tomorrow.

"Let's get out of here." Annie said as we all grabbed hands.

We were transported outside on the front lawn. We were about to make a break for it when Bridgette let out a yelp behind us.

-

//cooper//

Something -- or should I say someone -- caught my wrist and yanked me backwards. I yelled out as they twisted my arm, bringing me to my knees.

"Marcus, stop!" Annie yelled, running over.

"Marcus?" Michael asked as he followed behind her. "Dude, what are you doing? Stop!"

"We've been looking everywhere for you and you think you're going to just run away again?" he chuckled in my ear. "How cute."

"Marcus, just let her go!" Annie demanded, grabbing on his arm that held me and trying to pull him away.

He switched hands before flinging Annie off. She fell to the ground and Michael looked like he was ready to kill somebody. He threw himself at Marcus, yelling tons of profanities at him while I tried to scramble to my feet.

"Bridgette!" Ashton and Jeremy's voices shouted. I looked up to see them running onto the lawn.

"Get them out of here before they get caught too!" Annie squealed.

Jeremy reached out to grab my hand but completely froze where he was, staring behind me. Hands gloved in black leather came over my ears from behind me. I looked up at Jeremy with pleading eyes but he didn't move an inch.

"What are you-"

Everything went black before he could finish his question.