Trapped

Chapter 3

We didn't dare answer Toby's question. We didn't even dare to breathe as the thumping continued down the hall.

Toby gripped onto my shoulder's so tight I know I'll be bruised in that spot later.
"You don't think..?" Jackson mumbled in disbelief as he slowly crawled over to where the rest of us were sitting.

"Impossible," Xavier replied.

The thumping began again down the hallway. Toby slapped his hand over my mouth thinking I would scream.
But it wasn't me who did.
This electronic sounding off-key screech filled the room.
There was another thump, closer then the other's before. It was paired with what sounded like slow footsteps.

Mikey cried out and the footsteps outside came to a stop.
Toby's eyes flashed, he pulled me behind him as he stared at the door in horror.
"L-let's eat!" A cheerful female voice chirped from outside.
"Jackson," Xavier whispered quietly, "The vent."

I watched as Jackson grabbed his flashlight and clicked it on cautiously; shining his light towards the vent next to him. He examined the grate before slowly pulling it off the vent shaft. From what I could see the screws were missing and it came off the wall easily. Jackson gestured for me to come over.
I met his gaze with wide eyes as he continued to nudge his head towards the opening.
"Ladies First," he whispered. Glancing over at Toby, I slowly slipped myself over to the vent, glancing back for a moment I climbed inside and began to crawl slowly over to the next room, trying to make as minimal noise as possible.
I didn't make it far before the guys began grabbing the bags and slipping them into into the vent behind me. I grabbed them; slowly pushing them forward. I was afraid of what would come next.

"So Mikey..." Xavier whispered from outside the vent, "Since you're the one who researched these things....how can we stop them?"
I stopped what I was doing, peering out of the vent to listen in on this conversation.
I saw Mikey sitting in the corner, his face full of terror as he stared back at the guys.
"N-nothing...there's nothing we can do...we're all going to die..."

My jaw dropped, no way. He couldn't have given up hope that easy.
Toby saw my expression and turned to Mikey. "At least try to be a little more positive."
"We're going to die quickly." He answered, wrapping his arms around his knees.
"M-Mikey....there has to be a way," Jackson whispered, "short circuit their wiring? Something?"
Mikey shook his head, his eyes down. "Not that I researched..." he mumbled. "There where these five kids...Five like us...and they were murdered by a night guard who had worked here and shoved into the suits..."
"Okay so you're saying that they're Animatronics that have children's dead bodies trapped inside....?" Jackson lifted an eyebrow doubtful of such a fictionous sounding story.
"Y-yes," Mikey whimpered.
"I call bullshit." Jackson muttered beside me, looking unconvinced.
"If that's true then..." Toby started saying before Xavier cut him off yelling, "WE'RE SCREWED!"
"No! Xavier shut up or they'll-"
"Dum-d--d-dum" a voice chimed from outside the door.
"Xavier you idiot!" Jackson hissed tossing the last bag at me. I grabbed it and threw it in with the rest of them.

Mikey started screaming in a high pitched girlish sound as the door swung opened and there stood a 7 foot tall Animatronic bear.
"Oh my god!" I screeched,
I turned back around and slid deeper into the vent, pushing open the grate. It lead to yet another party room identical to the one we were just in.
I threw the bags into the room and climbed out the other side. I sat back and watched as Toby and Jackson crawled through.
"Where's Xavier and Mikey?" I asked them crawling back towards the vent.
Toby grabbed me around the waist, pulling me back from the entrance.
"Xavier's trying to get Mikey! Don't you dare try and go through. You saw that thing! It could snap you in half, Jane!"
I opened and closed my mouth as I felt deadpan on how to even respond to that.
"Jane please, stay back. We'll try and get out of here. All of us together, let's just think of this as a set back to our escape." Jackson offered.
"Okay, but what if one of them dies? Hm?" I balled my hands into fists in frustration.
"They won't, we saw it move. It moves really slow. They'll outsmart it. I'm sure of it." Toby said with determination.

After what felt like an eternity banging filled the vent as if someone was climbing threw it at top speed.
Xavier basically fell out of the vent. A look of horror on his face as he sat there. He was covered in blood,
My hands flew to my mouth in horror as his mouth words confirmed my fears.
"It..it got Mikey..." Xavier whispered, his eyes filling with tears.