Deceived

Him

I have been betrayed. I never really trusted the kid anyway, but still, it hurts. He was lying the whole time. He really had seen Autumn and knew who she was and he was the one to kidnap her and bring her here in the middle of the night. I realize all this as I watch him turn into some sort of weird creature. Normal people don't do that. But what kills me most is that he did this to Autumn. She never really had any friends and I don't blame her for not being more cautious. I can't just stand here and watch him kill her though. I have to do something.

I recognize my parents on the other side of the tube Autumn is trapped in. They are standing next to a huge lever that I am guessing turned on the water. So if I can get to that...

Before I can even move though, Max, with his huge claws and incredibly sharp teeth, steps in front of me, blocking my way.

"I'd appreciate it if you would step out of my way," I say through gritted teeth.

He laughs, a disgusting sound against Autumn's pleas for help. "You really think you can save your sister now? She's gone buddy. Dead. As in, you will never see her again." He lets out another harsh cackle. "There's no point standing around here wasting your time so I suggest you leave and carry on with your day. Unless, of course, you would like to watch?"

I scoff, "Yeah, actually I think I may stay and watch for a while. I was just heading over to get a better view before you came and blocked my way," I pray that he's dumb enough to fall for my trick.

Fortunately, his face brightens, "Oh well sorry, here I'll help you find a seat." I follow Max a couple feet before he stops, about fifty feet away from where the lever is. "Is this a good view?"

"Mmm," I stand on my tiptoes and pretend I can't see. "Not really. I think we should move a little more to the right." I move a little closer to the lever. And closer. And closer. Until I am about five feet away. Perfect. "This is good," I say."

Max frowns, "Are you sure because-," But while he is talking to himself how he doesn't understand how I can see better from here, I am already running to the lever. I am about two feet away by the time Max notices this.

"You tricked me!" he yells, anger and hatred clearly audible in his voice as he runs after me.

"Sure did, buddy!" I yell back, continuing to run faster. I am almost there. The lever is just arms length away and I am just about to reach it and pull it, when a cold, wrinkly, manicured hand grabs my wrist. I jump back in surprise and see a middle aged woman, probably in her early forties, glaring at me. She looks exactly like Max. Next to her is man who I am guessing is her husband. He looks oddly familiar and I can't feeling like I have seen him somewhere before. With a start, I realize it's the same man I met outside my parents' house the other day. The one who told me to make sure I go through the woods. Now I realize it was all a set up so I would meet Max and he would bring me here.

"And just where do you think you're going little man?" The lady asked. Her voice was more like a croak and it sounded like it belonged to someone way older than her.

I stare at the ground trying to come up with a reasonable lie, "I, uh, was trying to find my parents. I was going to tell them this isn't nearly enough water to kill Autumn. She's a strong swimmer and it takes a lot of water to be able to drown her. Believe me I know from experience," I bite down hard on the inside of my mouth at that last statement to keep myself from screaming. "Now can you please tell me where I could find my mom and dad?"

Max's parents look shocked by what I just said but they nod and point to a door. I thank them and start running again. I stop near the lever and pretend to catch my breath, leaning as much weight as I can against it.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" Max's mom yells but it's already too late. The lever has been pulled and the water has stopped.

I look at them and smile, "Oops, my hand slipped."

"Do you know what you have done?" Max's dad goes on a whole rant about how I have totally messes everything up and how foolish I am but I am not listening. My eyes are focused on Autumn. Her eyes widen and she glances around in confusion. Then they land on me, and if possible, her eyes widen even more. I smile and look around for a way to lift the tube. But I don't need to because I see it lifting itself. I look around and see my mom on the other side of the acid pool. She has her hand on a big red button and I see a faint smile playing at her lips, but it's gone as quickly as it appeared, when my dad walks out of the door behind her. Her face goes pale as my dad starts yelling something I can't make out.

The tube forms a bridge across the acid and Autumn walks across it with shaky legs. She stands in front of me for a minute and stares at me. I stare back, waiting to see if she figures it out. She stares at me a little while longer with a completely blank expression on her face, until something finally starts to click. She gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. My smile widens.

She uncovers her mouth and says, "You- you're Eric."

At this point, my smile is so wide, my mouth is starting to hurt but I can't help it. "Took you long enough."

Then suddenly, she throws her arms around me and starts crying into my shoulder, "I've missed you so much, I thought you were dead! Where have you been?"

I sigh, "It's a long story."

Sorry if this chapter wasn't all that great :( I have terrible writers block but I will try to make the next ones better. Please vote and comment!! :)