Dead End >> c.h au

Chapter Nine

        The world was shaking when Michael woke up. He scrambled around frantically. The floor had stopped moving, but he was still being moved. He seemed to be moving upwards, like he was in an elevator.

He felt along the walls and found that they were metal grates, surrounding him in a steel prison. The elevator came to screeching halt and Michael steadied himself with difficulty. He looked around himself, eyes stinging from all the tears he had shed.

“Hello?” he called for Ashton, for anyone, but he knew he was alone. He wondered if he would ever see another human being ever again.

                “Mikey!” a voice called faintly.

                “Luke?” Michael shrieked. He forced himself to his feet. “Luke, is that you?”

                “No, it’s Calum!” the voice answered. The elevator doors slid open excruciatingly slow and a bright light hit Michael’s eyelids painfully. He forced himself to keep his eyes open though, for just in front of him he saw Calum. His eyes were empty and it was like he had given up all hope. He was crouching low, nearly on his hands and knees, and Michael almost didn’t notice the ceiling pressing down onto his back.

                Calum wasn’t even fighting it anymore. He let the ceiling push him further and further into the ground. Seeing Michael gave him a smidgen of hope, but not enough to keep fighting. He knew he would die in this hotel sooner or later. There was no point to trying in fighting for the latter.

                Before Calum could even process what he was doing, Michael reached forward and pulled Calum into the elevator next to him. Calum rolled into the metal chamber and tumbled into his best friend. The doors closed behind him and Calum could see the ceiling beginning to return to its original height. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

                “Holy shit, Cal,” Michael croaked. He threw his arms around Calum and felt comfort in the embrace. Calum pulled him close. “What the fuck is happening? Where’s Sally? We need to get out of here…”

                Calum felt an artic breeze wrap around him like a blanket, chilling him to the bone. A deep chuckle echoed through the air around them and the two boys froze in fear. It was Luke’s laugh. “There’s no use, lads,” Luke’s voice said. It sounded like Luke, but Michael knew it wasn’t. Luke was dead. “No one ever survives the hotel.”

                Calum could barely speak. “We’re going to die, Mikey.”

                Michael almost laughed. “I’m looking forward to it.”

                The elevator dropped abruptly before another word was spoken.

***

                Ashton yelled until his throat was raw and he couldn’t yell anymore. They had taken Michael away from him. He had already lost Luke, he had no idea where Scooter and Calum were, and now he was completely alone. He wished they would just kill him already.

                The lights flickered on and off tauntingly, but Ashton barely reacted. He pulled his knees to his chest and rocked himself back and forth to try to keep warm. The basement they were keeping him in was colder than any other cold he had experienced. He imagined he’d freeze to death within minutes. He cursed himself for not listening to Calum back at the diner.

                “Ashton, honey, it’s okay! Mommy’s here,” Ashton heard his mother’s voice coo. Ashton clapped his hands over his ears. He knew it wasn’t real. His mom wasn’t here.