Chapter Five (Part Three): The Games

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All four of the hostages' stomachs were beginning to rumble with discontent. Everyone was becoming more edgy and panicked. It was now approaching night-time, and just earlier that morning the boy had temporarily left their ranks. None of them knew where he was, and Tony began to doubt that he would be back.
"Why the hell would he come back if he found a way out?", he said. "If he found a way to get free, then he's probably halfway back to his fuckin' home by now!"
"He wouldn't do that", Lindsey said. "He wouldn't leave us here alone."

Before he could complain or argue any longer, they all heard a single thump at the door. Kayla and Richard stood up to join Tony and Lindsey, and they all huddled around the door. Suddenly the knob began to turn, and the door was cracked open. Tony was the first one to barge out, and after he did he went running off down the hallway. Kayla and Lindsey were next, and they rushed forward to check on the boy, who was slumped up against the opposite wall of the hallway.
"Are you alright?!", Lindsey asked with a concerned look on her face.
"I'll be alright for now", he said.
Kayla noticed that his left hand was discolored and badly injured. It wasn't until she forced him to let her have a closer look that she determined his outer layer of skin was in fact gone, and in its place was a thin layer of flesh. The boy insisted that he was fine. Richard came out last, but unlike Tony he wasn't eager to see what else this house had in store.
"How did you get out?", Richard asked.
"I opened the door", the boy said.
"But how did you? I mean - I thought no one could on their own. You saw what happened to Tony."
"Tony was opening the door with a different kind of strength than I was", the boy said.
Richard didn't quite understand what he meant, but nonetheless didn't question him any further. The two women helped the boy up to his feet and supported him.
"We need to get Tony back here. It's dangerous for him to wander on his own."
"He'll get whatever is coming to him", Kayla said.
"No. If I can help it, I want everyone to be safe. I don't want anyone to be hurt", the boy said.
"Oh come on, that jerk has done nothing but complain this entire time, and the only thing he's managed to do is dishearten us all", Kayla said.
"Everyone deserves to be safe and away from danger. No one should have to die, especially in their own ignorance. That is the saddest death of all", he said.

Kayla didn't know why this boy was feeling sorry for Tony, or why he wanted to help him, but she remembered what Richard had said earlier that morning about following the boy.
"Well, us three are with you. Why don't you tell us what you've found while we go searching for Tony?"
"Very well", he began, "I went to search the house, and make sure there wasn't anything like that door knob which might catch us off guard. I didn't want to leave you all in there, but I knew this was something I wanted to do alone, in case it was dangerous."
"What did you find?", Richard asked.
"I found more rooms, with more things rigged up like traps. I can only guess they are a part of this man's game, and that we will be forced to play each one before he allows us our freedom."
"What kind of traps?", Lindsey asked.
"You'll see soon enough", he said.
They continued to search for Tony, and they eventually found him outside the door to one of the rooms where apparently a trap had been rigged.
"What the hell is in there? What the hell is that?", he kept saying to himself, as the others approached him.
"Yes, I remember that room", the boy said. "It's a small room like a hallway, but the panels on the floor do not look normal. At the end of the hallway are five bags marked "Food". He probably wants us to try and reach it."
"Well I'll be a damned fool if I don't try!", Tony said. Tony ran in to the room, and was but two steps deep in walking down the hallway when suddenly he shrieked in pain and jumped back. "I-I-It's fuckin' hot!", he said.
The floor panels were set up to be scorching hot. Kayla licked her finger and tapped one of the panels, only to hear the brief "Ssssssst" sound as if she was testing an iron.
"We're all starving man! We need that fucking food!", Tony said.
"Well we can't get it can we!?", Kayla argued with him.
Richard was staring at the floor panels, and Lindsey was glancing towards the boy, who was sitting down.
"Are you really hungry?", the boy asked Lindsey.
"I'm doing okay. Don't think you have to, I mean, don't worry about going to get-" but the rumbling of her stomach interrupted the rest of her sentence.
The boy rose quietly, and stood in front of the floor panels. He hovered one foot over the first panel.
"What the fuck're you doin?", Tony said.
"STOP!", Kayla yelled.
"Don't be a goddamned fool", Richard added.
The boy tapped the panel with his toe for but a brief second. Tony looked up at the ceiling and took a big sigh. Richard looked to the ground and shook his head. Kayla had her eyes closed and her hands to her face. Lindsey was looking at the boy.
She put her arm on his back, and said, "It's okay. Really. Don't worry about i--" but her stomach rumbled ferociously once more. By the time Tony had looked back down from the ceiling, and when Kayla had re-opened her eyes, and when Richard looked his head up, and when Lindsey had time to scream, the boy was already halfway across the hallway, sprinting to the bags.

---

The first step was agonizing. The second step was torture. Anything after that could be summarized as Hell. He guessed it would take about seven steps if he sprinted to reach the other side, where he could collapse on to the food. Luckily for him (if there was such a thing), he didn't have to sprint to and back in one set. Two steps away from reaching the food the boy felt his foot buckle underneath the intense pain that spread through and up his leg. He half-stumbled the last remaining step, which in turn caused his leg to drag across the final blistering panel.
"WHY!?", Lindsey screamed. "Why did you do that you idiot?!" She began to cry.
"Hol-y shit, boy!", Tony yelled. "What the fuck're you thinkin?"
"Are you alright!?", Richard yelled.
"Can you hear us?!", Kayla screamed at him.
The boy lay on the ground, and looked back at all of them. He couldn't speak, so only gave the 'thumbs-up' sign with his good hand. He looked on the wall next to him, and saw a switch. He flipped it, curious as to what it might do. He heard the sound of something crackling, then the sound of something shutting off. He tried to gather his bearings, but passed out thirty seconds later. When he finally came to, he saw Kayla above him with a hand on his forehead.
"What happened?", he asked.
"You passed out after running down the hall. We saw you flip some switch, and then about ten minutes later Lindsey went running after you", Kayla said.
"She what?!", he said.
"The floor wasn't hot anymore. We expected to see her crumple to the ground after two or three steps, but she just kept running. We thought she was in pain because she was crying, but when she reached the end she threw herself on you. We realized the floor wasn't hot anymore, and all went after her."
The boy looked around, and saw the girl sitting with her back against the nearby wall, hugging her knees. She ran to him, even though she knew it was dangerous...
"The food?", he asked.
"Tony and Richard have already eaten their share. I have too, you know, with the baby and all I'm kind of eating for two. Lindsey still has hers, and I kept yours safe for you." ('Safe from Tony', she added in a whisper).

The boy half-crawled and half-walked over to Lindsey. "Aren't you going to eat?", he said. "I know you're hungry", he said.
"Why did you go and do that? You could've been killed", she said.
The boy opened up her bag, and for the first time he noticed what kind of food was actually in there. There was one slice of bread and about one cup of water. This was some kind of sick and twisted joke. He had risked his life for this? He handed her the food from her bag.
"Eat", he said.
"I-I saved it for you", she said.
"If you think that I'm going to take your food, then don't eat it", he said. She unwillingly ate her small portion of bread and drank the water.
"Now you eat yours", she said.
"Maybe later", he said, and he tucked it away.
They all walked back to the hallway, wondering where to go next. It was getting very late, and soon they all realized they would have to sleep somewhere. Not knowing anywhere else to go, (and not wanting to go back in to the room with the ankh on the wall) they all simply rested in the hallway until they all fell asleep. The boy had his back to the wall, and was favoring his hand which was still recovering. His feet where still painfully sore, and he knew they would probably never be perfectly normal again. "All for a little bread and water", he said to himself.

---

In the morning the five began to search the house again. It was raining, and the sound of thunder could be heard amidst the pattering of rain against the house. Tony and Richard both gave the boy a respectful distance after his actions from the other day. Tony had even managed to shut up and not quite complain as much. The boy was having trouble walking on his own, so Richard helped him along with Lindsey. They headed in the opposite direction of the hallway with the hot panels, and past the "Ankh Room". This lead to a foyer where a staircase lead down, to where the front entrance appeared heavily barricaded. The only other path was a hallway next to the front entrance, which lead to a door. The boy told them that the door lead down to a cellar, but he didn't know what was down there. When they reached the bottom Kayla turned on a light switch, which revealed a set of brands lying in a rack along the wall. There were about twenty of them in total.

A television popped up from a panel in the floor just as it had the first day they were in the house. The old man appeared again on the screen.
"Congratulations on making it this far. Also, an extended round of applause on your ability to reach the food I so carelessly misplaced. This special game is one that I invented personally. May you please notice on your left an open furnace. On your right lies a rack of brands. These brands each appear flat, but in fact they have untraceable indentures in each of them. When applied firmly to human flesh, it will produce a box number. The number that appears with the word "Correct", is the answer to this game. After finding the answer, locate the pull-out shelf underneath the stairs that corresponds to the brand. Inside will be a clue vital to your survival. Oh, and if you attempt to pull out any shelves and chose wrongly, well. Let's just say I didn't warn you, hmmm? Best be off!" And the television lowered back down in to the floor panel before it clicked back shut.

Tony wrangled a brand off the rack, turned on the furnace, and heated it up.
"What are you doing", Kayla asked.
"What's it look like I'm doin, huh? I'm gonna try and press this against my shirt or somethin", he said.
"But he said that wouldn't work!", Lindsey said.
"Do I look like I'm gonna listen to what he has to tell me? Do I?", he retorted.
Tony heated the brand to a sufficient temperature and pressed it firmly against his white t-shirt which he had laid on the table. As it turns out, the man wasn't lieing. Tony threw the brand down on the table.
"Did you really think that would work", Kayla asked.
"What, you got any better ideas", he said.
"Let us two take turns", Richard said, as he motioned to both himself and Tony. "That boy has suffered enough, and women shouldn't have to be any part of this."
"Fuck that, old man!", Tony said. "I'm not gonna fuckin' brand myself like a god damn cow or somethin!"
"Well at this time we do not have much of a choice. If we want to get out of here we have to play these sick games, and until then--", a loud, inhuman scream interrupted Richard. It caused everyone's stomachs to twist and their heads to pound.
The boy was on the table lying on his back. He held the brand up to his chest, and pressed it down firmly. The pain was immediate and intense, but it subsided after about twenty seconds. The pain, however, was ten times worse than the floor panels, and it left behind a stinging sensation.
"What in the world are you doing?!", Lindsey yelled, as she ran towards him and threw the brand off his chest.
"Is he all-right?", Kayla asked.
"I'm fine", he said through a grimace.
Richard and Tony peered over the women's shoulders to glance at the mark the brand had left.
"SORRY! Try again!"
"Wrong one", Tony said.
"Who gives a shit about that?!", screamed Lindsey. "Can't you see how much this hurt him?"
"Hey, don't blame me on this, he did it to himself!", Tony defended himself.

"Hand me another brand", the boy said.
"Are you crazy? No way!", said Lindsey.
The boy stared her in the eyes, and she stared resolutely back at him. He then stared at Richard. "Hand me another brand Richard", he said. Richard, who was not as strong as Lindsey was, did as he was told. Somewhere deep down he did it because he knew he didn't want to be the one being branded. The boy stuck the brand in the fire, and laid on his back again. He held the brand up to his chest, and pressed it in firmly. He let out another pathetic yelp of pain, this time longer and louder.
"SORRY! Try again!"
Lindsey didn't want to watch. She also didn't want to stop him. How could she? How could she stop this boy? He was too strong for her. Not physically, but in some other way.
He heated another.
"SORRY! Try again!"
Another.
"SORRY! Try again!"
Another. This time the pain lingered.
"SORRY! Try again!"
The boy was panting now, and covered in sweat. His entire chest seemed to be on fire, not just the portions he had branded.
Another.
"SORRY! Try again!"
Lindsey winced each time he pressed a brand to his body. She could only fathom the unbearable pain he was putting himself through, for the sake of strangers, some of which didn't even deserve it.
Another.
"SORRY! Try again!"
Lindsey began to cry. She turned to face away now, and went to go sit on the steps where she hugged her knees. Kayla went over to console her.
Another.
"SORRY! Try again!"
Another.
"CORRECT! Box #20!"

The boy reached for another brand.
"Hey, hey, wait a minute!", Richard said. "That's the correct one! It says Box 20! You picked the right one!"
Lindsey and Kayla ran over to the boy and examined his chest. Sure enough, he had finally managed to pick the right brand. The boy was thankful. He was beginning to think he'd have to go through all twenty, which even he thought to himself might be too much. He relaxed his body and let the pain slowly consume him. He closed his eyes and laid his head back on the table. Lindsey and Kayla stayed to watch over him while Richard and Tony opened up the Box labeled 20 on the shelf underneath the stairs. It wasn't a cardboard box, but rather those which people receive mail in, like small tiny rectangles where letters fit inside. Inside was a key, and it was labeled "104". Tony went up the stairs and Richard followed after him.

"Lindsey, Kayla", the boy gasped.
"We're here", Lindsey said.
"Get my food bag on the chair next to me please", he asked.
She did as he requested, and he held it in front of himself. He broke the piece of bread in half, and extended one of the pieces to Lindsey. "Share this bread", he said. "And share half of the water. I don't want Tony or Richard mad they didn't get any, but Lindsey I still hear your stomach, and Kayla...", he paused for several seconds to swallow, "You're eating for two, remember?", he said with a smile. "If you two don't eat it, I'm giving it to Tony and Richard, and I know both of them will. Please, both of you, take these. You need them more", and then he temporarily passed out.
Lindsey and Kayla took his generous gift, but only because they knew otherwise it'd go to Tony, and also because they couldn't argue with an unconscious person. Lindsey tried pouring a little of the water in to the boy's mouth, but ultimately gave up when even while unconscious he refused.

Tony was flying up the stairs and past the Ankh Room. He found a door with the number "104" on it, and forced the key in. He rushed inside the room, fully expecting another type of game, but it was empty. He shut the door behind him, and soon yet another television began to rise from a floor panel. "Tony Margalosa", the old man said. "Have the others been keeping you back? Do you feel they are a hindrance? Well, no matter. This is the final game, Tony. But, this game will also only involve two people. I want you to kill the boy, Tony. Remember what I said about teamwork. It takes everyone's participation in this game to win. You are the final piece of this puzzle, Tony. The only person who stands in your way is the boy. I trust you will do the right thing."

---

Richard came crashing in just as the television began to descend in to the floor.
"What'd he say?", he asked. "What did the freak say?!"
"He said, that there was one last game", Tony said. "He said, that we were almost free, there's only one more thing that we have to do."
"Great!", Richard said. "What is it? What do we have to do?"
"He didn't say", Tony said.
Kayla, Lindsey, and the boy all arrived about five seconds later, and Richard told them what he had just heard from Tony. Tony gave the boy a menacing look when he first saw him, but quickly hid his expression. The boy did not seem to notice anything.
"So what do we do now?", Richard asked. "We're back at square one again!"
"We'll just have to think it over", Kayla said. "We've managed to come this far, thanks to--"
"Yea, we have managed to come this far", Tony said. "And we aren't gonna give up now! We can do whatever it takes to get out of here! I swear I will get out of here!"
"Let's rest for tonight", suggested Lindsey. "I think we all need some time to think about things, and he (she motioned to the boy) needs time to rest."

The boy, Kayla, and Lindsey all remained in the empty Room 104. Tony went to go pace around the foyer, and Richard was resting at various spots in the hallway. Soon twilight crept through various windowpanes of the building, and most of the building was shrouded in darkness and shadows. Kayla, the boy, and Lindsey had fallen asleep in Room 104, and Richard had fallen asleep just outside in the hallway. Tony was still walking around the foyer, when he noticed how late it had become. In truth he had been planning his next move for hours. He didn't like the idea of hitting a defenseless boy much, but he also knew that he would do almost anything to get out of this house. He picked up a blunt piece of wood that was part of the barricade at the front door, and walked slowly up the stairs. He wasn't even sure what he was going to do. Did he have his motives mixed up? Was this the right thing? He could do nothing about the creaking of the floorboards, so he simply proceeded and quietly as he could. He walked past Richard and peeked his head through in to Room 104. He couldn't see well, because there we no windows in this room, but he could make out three different body shapes. Two of them were lying close together, and when he leaned in closer he could tell one of them didn't have their shirt on. "That's the boy", Tony said to himself. If it was possible at this point Tony might have even cried for what he saw himself doing. He took notice of exactly where is head was, and lifted the blunt object high over his head. "This is it, I -HAVE- to get out of here!!!", he yelled. He was swinging it down with a giant roar, when the motionless person next to the boy leaped through the air and sheltered him. Richard came running through the door ten seconds later, and knocked a figure with a wooden object in their hands to the ground. The third figure in Room 104, who was sleeping in the opposite corner, began to stir with puzzlement.

Tony had successfully identified the boy while in the room. He held the blunt piece of wood high over his head, but didn't take notice of the second figure next to the boy. Lindsey had awoken when she heard the loud creaks of the floorboard. When she saw the shadow of a man in the doorway, she knew it had to be Tony. Richard was a much larger man, and their frames were very different. She could glimpse from the corner of her eye that he was carrying something, and then saw him about to attack the boy with it. She threw herself on top of the boy, and the blunt object hit her square in the back. She writhed in pain and began to cry. Richard wrestled the unknown assailant to the ground, only to realize it was Tony. Kayla awoke and saw Lindsey on the ground in terrible pain. The boy was lost in all of this. Lindsey was lying on top of him and crying, Richard was wrestling with Tony, and Kayla was running towards him. He soon noticed that Lindsey was bleeding from her back, and began to use his shirt (which he was using as a pillow) to try and stop the bleeding.

"What the hell!?", the boy yelled. Everyone was a bit taken aback, even Tony. None of them had seen the boy -angry- before. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Before anyone could answer, the boy got within an inch of Tony's face. Richard had him pinned to the ground, but he didn't know how long he could hold him there. "Listen to me, Tony. If you want to hurt me in any way then I will have to suffer the outcome of such a matter. If you have a problem with me, then I suggest you say so and we can settle it. But don't you -ever- harm another person here, no matter what the reason is. Violence of any form is against His ways, and I will most certainly not condone any such behavior against another living person! Should you choose to believe the masked man instead of us, then be my guest. But let me ask you one thing, Tony. Who are you going to trust? The man who kidnapped you? Or the people who are trying to help you escape alive!" The boy had nearly yelled the entire thing right in Tony's face at the top of his lungs. The boy returned to Lindsey, who was now being treated by Kayla.
"I think she's going to be okay", Kayla told the boy.
Richard lessened his grip on Tony. The boy half-expected Tony to leap from the ground and start pummeling him in to submission. But Tony just sat there, with his head down, staring at the ground. The boy knew that Tony was reflecting. The boy didn't like to yell, but when he saw someone harmed in front of his very eyes, he couldn't help it. He had always tried to protect people from such danger, but this time, it was someone else who had protected him.

---

No one was surprised to see the television come up from the floor. "You've passed the second-to-last game. Congratulations!", the man said with a twisted sort of pleasure. "The last game will take place tomorrow morning. Take the door at the end of the hallway and just keep walking. You can't miss it! Night!" The television descended back in to the floor. Tony remained motionless, as did Lindsey. Richard was back out in the hallway, pacing back and forth. Kayla was helping the boy tend to Lindsey.
"Don't worry", the boy said to Lindsey. "Soon you'll be able to get that treated, I promise. We'll be out of here tomorrow. Don't worry", he said again.
Lindsey was still in pain, but it had subsided for the most part. The bleeding was not severe, and it had stopped before she lost too much blood. No one went back to sleep for the rest of the night. Tony stayed in the room propped up against the wall, staring between his knees. Richard continued to walk around outside, although he'd periodically sit down for a few minutes. Kayla stayed with Lindsey, but the boy returned to the Ankh Room. There he got on both of his knees and stared through the Ankh shape high on the side of the wall, and began to pray. The boy prayed for the safety of the others, and for one final surge of strength.

"I understand now, God", the boy said. "It took me a long time, but now I know. I started to realize when I was off on my own after getting out of this room for the first time. I searched all the rooms, but I also took a peek through the keyhole of that one locked door at the end of this hall. It was then I knew what you were trying to tell me. Please allow me to do the right thing, God. Amen."

In the morning everyone was curious as to what they had to finally do to get out of the house.
"Now what?", Richard said.
"He said we'd play the last game today", Kayla said reassuringly. "We're going to leave today."
Lindsey was silent the entire morning, as was Tony. All four of them were gathered in Room 104, but the boy was still in the Ankh Room. When they finally found him, they noticed he was asleep. He woke up after he heard them walking in to the room, and sat up to look at the Ankh one last time. "Thank you god", he said out loud.

The boy got up and started walking down the hallway of the Ankh Room, Room 104, and the passage whose panels has previously scorched his feet. The boy now had an injured hand, burned feet, an aching chest, and worst of all the pain from seeing another person hurt before him. He could barely manage to limp on his own, but pushed anyone back who tried to help him walk. When they all finally reached the end of the hallway, the boy looked through the keyhole.
"This is it", he said. "It ends here."
He turned the knob, and opened the door.
"W-W-When did that get unlocked?", Richard said.
"Probably overnight", Tony managed to say. He had been much more quiet since the night before. Something about the boy had actually managed to scare him. "He isn't normal", Tony kept saying to himself every time he looked at him. The boy stepped in to the hallway past the door, and everyone followed him.

---

This hallway was completely unlike the others. It looked like it belonged in some branch of the Pentagon or some secret underground bunker of the White House. The sides of the walls had panels stretching the entire length of the hall. On each panel was a flat-screen television which had a live video feed of the man who kidnapped them. He was sitting in his black leather chair as usual, with his mask and robe. The floor was marble, and at the end of this long hallway stood a large mahogany door.
"Is it through there?", everyone but the boy asked.
"Yes", came the voice through over ten different televisions. "The final game, is through there. However, only one of you will be allowed to enter. If more than one person enters that door, then you all will die here. Also, a bit of a disclaimer if you will: The person who enters through that door will experience the last living moments of their lives."
Everyone looked at one another with frightened eyes, but the boy simply stared at the door.
"I know, that does seem somewhat cruel, but on the positive side, those who are left will be set free. Of course, I know that no such person is capable of such a human act, and thus you will all be doomed here to die. A bit tragic, actually..."
"Why?!", Lindsey screamed. "Why can't you just let us all go! Why are you doing all of this? What is the point? Why...?"

"Child, I am sure you have noticed by now that people can be incredibly brave, selfish, caring, and a whole slew of other things. Up until this point you four have practically free-loaded off this boy, allowing him to single-handedly carry all the pain and suffering. There is no such thing as angels!! There are no saviors of this world, who protect us from evil, and shelter us from any wrongdoings! The world is set in motion through corruption, and thus through corruption it will continue to turn. You five are merely my validation! Now, once and for all, I can finally prove not only to myself, but the non-believers as well, that no one in this world can possess the heart of something other-worldly! Humans only breed in corruption, raise children in corruption, and bathe in the cest pool of misconstrued morals and values!! Good-bye everyone. It was quite nice knowing you, but rest assured your deaths will allow for the uninterrupted cycle of corruption to continue."

Lindsey, Kayla, Richard, and Tony, all stared at the back of the boy's head. They couldn't tell now, but he was already limping slowly towards the door.
Kayla admired the boy's bravery and kindness. She remembered how he gave her and Lindsey his portion of food, which was probably worth more than their lives to him at that point. She remembered how he said, "You're eating for two, right?", and simply smiled. Something about that smile. It just wasn't something a normal human would do.
Richard was astonished by the kind of willpower the boy had managed to show up until now. He finally realized what the boy meant when he said he used a different kind of strength than Tony. Richard still didn't know where he got this strength from or how he used it, but he knew that it had worked up until now.
Tony looked tentatively at the back of the boy's head. He was at this point completely out of his mind. He had questioned his entire life up until now in one single night, all because of what that boy had said to him. He didn't know why he listened to him, or why it impacted him so much. The only thing he knew, was that the boy knew something about life that he didn't.
Lindsey was crying as she watched the boy. He had saved her life once, and he had suffered in this house in an attempt to do so again. She could not believe the power that one person could have. It bordered on being something inhuman and abnormal. Over the past few days her heart had been connected to the boy's. She was not in love, but rather consumed by it. It was not a romantic feeling, but a universal one. She never in all of her life would have imagined such a person existed.

Lindsey was the first person to snap out of her trance. She slowly looked down the boy's body, from his head, to his back, to his feet. She saw that he was limping slowly towards the door. Her mind flashed back to the day the boy had saved her in the locker room. "You are still searching Lindsey, searching for something to heal you.", he had said. The words rang in her ears. Her heart, deep within her chest, was in pain for such a long time. It had been drained from running an extremely strenuous race. But he had helped connect that heart to God. She was not about to admit to being the most religious person in the world, but he had helped her connect her heart to God. Suddenly Lindsey was hit with a realization. It was like God was speaking to her through her heart, which the boy had helped heal. "Without him, feeling what I feel now would not be possible", she said to herself. "I was meant to do this. He wants me to save him. The world -needs- him. I can't let him do this!!"

"No!!!!", Lindsey screamed. The boy, and everyone else too, turned to look at her. She was crying profusely now.
"I-I'm s-sorry", she stammered. "I-I can't l-let you!"
The girl stood still for a minute longer, before taking the first few steps of a sprint towards the door. She had gone from motionless to flying in just under half a second. The boy was already halfway down the hallway, and the girl was exactly next to where he was standing, still throwing everything she had in to her powerful sprint.

"No", the boy said to himself. "She can't..."

(To Be Continued)