Blackout

9. MICHELLE

Creeping down the stairs, Remus and I decided to turn on his phone light so we wouldn't trip. When we got down to the ground, I instinctively moved closer to Remus. This was barely a basement, it looked more like an abandoned prison cellar. The walls were random rusted panels. Pipes ran across the ceiling; one of them broken off and left abandoned across the cement.

Horror movie jackpot.

There were three paths we could go to; one of them looked like it was almost collapsing though. Between the other two the only difference was the pipes went into the on our right. Looking up at Rems I could tell he thought the same as me as his eyes followed the pipe line.

"Pipes?" He questioned as he turned to face me, I nodded.

Walking through the archway, I screamed when I felt a huge spider web on me. Remus clamped his hand over my mouth, muffling my scream as he dragged me back. I felt him pat me down, getting rid of the webs over my body as I shuddered just thinking about them. Remus chuckled a bit, making me scowl; that wasn't funny it was terrifying.

Once he was done Remus started forward again, this time making sure he was first. Then I froze in place as I heard something, pulling Remus to a stop, "What now?" My eyes were wide as I shushed him and strained my ears. I pulled his head down so I could whisper in his ear, "Voices."

Maybe I was insane, but I swore I heard voices after my scream. Remus instantly stilled, pulling me flush against the wall as he turned off his phone light. If someone was down here, if they heard me...

Pit.

Pat.

Footsteps.

My squeezed my eyes shut as I hid my face in Remus's jacket. Someone was coming. He heard the footsteps get closer, just around the corner probably.

"-upstairs," a gravelly voice spoke, Remus tightened his grip on me.

"No, no," another voice, "I know what I heard. Someone's down here."

"C'mon we have to get back to Boss. It was probably Bunny and Clown finishing up."

The voice became clearer, they were coming into the room we were just in from the left passageway. Remus and I crouched down to the ground, huddling in the corner of the tunnel to hide from their light. The two guys came into vision.

One was wearing ratty clothing and a hockey mask, the other wearing all black and a ski mask; how original. The ski masked guy was the one talking, "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about." They started walking around the room, the ski masked guy inspecting everything he saw. As they made their way towards our area, I looked up at Remus in fear. His face was tense with stress.

"On three we run," he breathed into my ear.

One.

Two.

"Don't stop," what?

Three, I ran as Remus pushed me forward before his hand left mine. Eyes wide, I looked back to see him running the opposite direction. Making it to the end of the hall I watched in horror as Remus tackled Ski-Mask down before rushing down the collapsing hallway. Hockey-Mask barreled after him.

As Ski-Mask lifted himself from the ground, he stood still for a moment; eyes scanning the room before landing on the tunnel I was in. He began to stalk towards me, his eyes seeming to find mine even while I was masked by the darkness.

"Nice distraction, didn't fool me though," then he flashed his light down the hall, illuminating me. My mind went into a panic, as the man stood at the opposite side of the hall. It was like he was dissecting my frozen form. We each stared at each other for a minute before he sighed and turned his head, walking towards the tunnel his partner ran down.

"Get out of here, kid; straight down that tunnel, last right."

The man stalked away, my feet finally managing to move. Straight down the endless hallway. My sneakers pounded away at the cement; myself mentally thanking God that I didn't wear my usual sandals.

As I ran tears welled up in my eyes; first Minnie then Remus. Why did I always wind up running away when they needed me the most? I knew I was no math for anyone in a fight; my arms barely able to do one pull-up, but why did I always wind up running away from my friends? I really was a terrible friend.

Eyes set forward, I ran faster and faster. If I could escape, I could call the police and get help. Maybe that's how I was meant to help them. Fear washed over me as I heard a scream echo down the hall. Escape; that's the plan.