The End of MindCrack

Chapter 16: Escape

 Xavier woke up in the dark. His throat hurt, but he was alive.

 "Xavier, are you okay?"

 Weakly, Xavier shook his head which set the room spinning. Then he realized that Etho couldn't see him. "Not really."

 "Vechs. What were you thinking?" Etho snapped.

 Xavier's assailant mumbled an apology as Xavier thought that before this, the closest he'd ever heard Etho to being mad was the time he had played Ragequit Holidays. This went way beyond that video.

 "It's fine really," Xavier croaked painfully. He wanted to elaborate, but the thought of forcing more words out through his injured throat was a daunting one. "But we should get out of here."

 "Hold on," interupted a new voice Xavier vaguely recognized as Captain Sparklez'. "Etho, who is this kid and are we really sure we can trust him?"

 "Maybe Vechs is right to go at him. It could be a trap," added Kurt, the words accompanied by the faint shuffling of soft-soled shoes on the concrete floor.

 An uneasy quiet settled over the group. Finally, Etho broke it.

 "Xavier, where's Blame?"

 Xavier had been sure that Etho would support his claim to be a friend. Now he felt the blood rush from his face and his stomach dropped. Of course. The question was nothing if not a test. Etho knew that Blame and Xavier had been following him. Now Xavier showed up without Blame, something the older man would be unlikely to allow. If Xavier admitted that Blame had been captured, would Etho cave to his friends' suspicious and suspect Xavier of plotting with the kidnappers? And, for pity's sake, did he really have to talk to explain it all?

 "It's kind of a long story and I don't think we have that much time," Xavier managed. "Can we please go? It's going to take us some time to figure out how to get out and we really don't-"

 "Get out? How about the way you got in?" Vechs asked, his voice betraying that he shared Jordan's misgivings.

 "If they hadn't locked the front door that might work." Xavier felt himself losing patience. He was trying to help. Why couldn't they just accept that and come? But then again, if Xavier had been tricking Etho, it was a perfect trap for certain. He tried a different tactic.

 "Etho, if I'd wanted to get you kidnapped, would I be here trying to get you out? Blame's distracting the guards right now." Technically not a lie. "We'll pick him up on our way, but we have to go."

 For a heart-stopping moment, Xavier wasn't sure Etho would listen. And it wasn't like he could blame him for listening to his friends rather than a strange kid. And then, surprisingly, Kurt came to Xavier's defense.

 "If we go and it is a trap, we can't be any worse off than we are right now."

 Jordan and Vechs reluctantly agreed and Xavier lept for the ladder, followed by Jordan and the MindCrackers. The group stood in the dim light filtering through the dusty kitchen window.

 Xavier realized that it was easy to see who had been held longest. Etho moved gingerly, as if his head was hurting him. Which, Xavier thought, if he'd been knocked unconscious it probably did. Vechs had disappeared about two months ago, just before Minecon. He blinked in the light, but it seemed like Miss Christy didn't believe in torturing or starving her prisoners. Kurt's kidnapping, by Xavier's reckoning, must have been back around PAX East in the spring. Walking around, he reminded Kurt of an old man, stiff and unused to complete freedom of movement.

 Jordan was the worst. Xavier had no idea when Jordan had been taken, but it must have been significantly longer than the others. He reacted to the light as if it were blinding.

 Vechs had found his way to the door and was probing at the lock. "I wish Seth were here," he muttered absently. Kurt, Etho, Jordan, and Xavier split up, trying to find another way out. It wasn't long before Etho found something the others had overlooked.

 He crossed the kitchen, dragging a chair behind him. Standing up on it, he reached for the window latch and pulled open the pane, wrinkling his face in disgust at the trailing cobwebs. It was the work of seconds to punch out the rusted screen and he carefully climbed through the small opening, narrowly missing landing on his head on the ground outside.

 "Hey, guys," Etho hissed through the window, catching Xavier and Kurt's attention.

 Xavier hurried over, clambered up on the chair and slid through the window, handling his smaller frame a bit easier than Etho. Kurt, Vechs and Jordan followed, each easier than the last with their friends outside to help.

 "You said Blame was here?" Vechs asked, his voice a low whisper now.

 "Yeah. I'm supposed to get you all out of here and then come back to let him know we're safe," Xavier said, not at all sure why he was lying. It didn't seem like the greatest career move. Xavier took the four youtubers to the spot Blame had left him and started to leave. He hesitated, turned, and asked Etho the question that worried him most.

 "Etho, your kidnapper claimed you didn't remember anything, but you remembered me. you were just pretending, right? To forget?"

 Etho's face went blank and he slowly shook his head. "I remember some things, but not everything. I remember that you were trying to help me, but I don't know what with. Or why you were helping. I know you're all calling me Etho, but it's not a name I remember ever being mine. I'm sorry."

 Xavier felt his blood chill at the older man's words. What was he going to do now?

 The answer was easier. He would deal with it later. For now, Blame was the main concern. He turned and left. For the millionth dime, Xavier considered just leaving. But he couldn't really. Not now. Especially not now.