Chapter Five (Part Two): Flashback

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"Maybe someone here, would like to tell me, just what the -fuck- is goin on, huh?", the Italian man said loudly.
"What, you think any of us know? Shit man, look around. Everyone's confused", the black man replied.
"This is fuckin' bad, man, fuckin' bad. What the fuck is this shit? Games? Fuck man...", the Italian man continued to complain.
The pregnant woman could only sit on the ground and continue crying. The girl could only stare at the boy. The boy got up and walked over to the pregnant woman, and put his arms around her. She willingly accepted his gesture and put her hands over her stomach. "Am I going to die here with my baby?", she asked herself. She thought of her husband waiting for her at home this very instant. She thought of how sad he would be when he realized she had been one of the people taken from the bank. Thinking of him only made her cry harder and fiercer.

"Will you shut the fuck up!?", the Italian man yelled at her. "I can't think with that fucking bawling going on!"
"Please don't yell", the boy said calmly.
"Don't yell?! Don't fuckin' yell!? Look kid I don't know what your deal with this shit is, but in case you haven't noticed, we are gonna fuckin' -DIE- if we don't get out of here. Some fuckin', some fuckin' Satan worshipper or something has got us locked up, and I swear if I get my hands on him I'm going to..."
"Violence will not solve anything. It won't make anyone feel better, not even yourself. Hurting that man will bring no good. We must forgive him, and pray for him", the boy said.
"Yea, alright. You can pray, but I'll be breakin' his fuckin' arms off", the Italian man said.
"M-Maybe we should just get acquainted, since it doesn't look like we can do anything else for now", the girl suggested.

"Alright. I'm Tony. I'm 27. I work in a family restaurant, or I should say, I used to. Now I'm a part-time fuckin' -hostage- whose going to -die- in the next few days."
"I'm Richard", the large black man said. "I'm just a truck driver. I was getting my paycheck this morning, when suddenly that freak came barging in and took us all hostage. I'm just a poor son of a bitch, no one special. How 'bout you? You doin' okay with that baby?", he asked, as he nodded over to the pregnant woman.
"I-I'm fine", she said. "M-My name is K-K-Kayla, and my husba--" But that was all she could manage to squeeze in to her bouts of crying.
"My name's Lindsey. I was at the bank just getting money for a weekend trip this upcoming weekend. Now, I just want my family. I want to see my friends. I...I don't want to...to..." but then she, too, began to cry.
The two men looked at the boy. "I'm a nobody", he said. "I was at the bank, to get some money for a friend. I saw the man, but it was too late. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything without risking anyone being harmed."

The men gave him an odd look, and then everyone sat in silence for several minutes, before Tony started ramming the door with his shoulder. It was the middle of the night now, and the only light in the room was the ankh shape on the ground, cast by the moon in the clear night sky. The only sound was that of Tony banging on the door incessantly. Finally, a voice came over a speaker that was situated on the ceiling by a corner near the door.

"The first game we are going to play, involves you getting out of this room. As you may have noticed, the only way in or out of that particular room is through the door in front of you. The knob to this door will begin to surge with electricity. If anyone touches that knob for more then ten seconds, they will die. The knob will also not open the door until it is turned approximately five and a half times clockwise. Simply touching the handle will cause your body to go in to temporary shock, so therefore you must work together to open the door. I will leave the rest up to you."

---

"Electric knob my ass", Tony said. He wrapped his shirt around his hand, and went to open the door. After touching the knob though, he immediately started shaking furiously. Kayla started to cry, and Lindsey jumped back in fright. Richard raced over to Tony and pulled him off the knob, but the electricity was so powerful that even Richard jumped a little from simply touching him. The boy stood underneath the ankh, and stared at the knob on the door. No one could open that by themselves without risking death. Even then, it would cause severe strain and pain to the body to even try something like that. It was now approaching approximately 2AM, and Kayla fell asleep, followed by Lindsey and then Richard. Tony was the last to fall asleep, after unsuccessfully trying to open the door two more times. The boy sat in the light of the ankh, and stared through it and up to the moon. He closed his eyes and began to pray for strength. "Now more than ever God", he prayed, "I need strength."

Richard was the first person to wake up. It took him some time to take in his surroundings. The sun was barely rising, which meant he hadn't even gotten five hours of sleep. He looked around the room, only to notice someone was missing. There was Kayla, Lindsey, and Tony, but the "nobody Kid" was nowhere to be seen. He quickly woke up Tony and told him what was up.
"What the hell!?", Tony said angrily. "That fuckin' brat ditch us? He escape without us? Man, what the fuck!"
"Don't say that", Kayla said. "Just because he isn't here, doesn't mean he's abandoned us."
"I bet that kid is with the fuckin' guy who kidnapped us!", Tony yelled. "How else did he get through that fuckin' door!? You saw what happened when I tried to open it! No way he could have! He's with the guy I tell you!"
"Maybe he's right", Richard said. "No way that Kid could've opened the door on his own."
"No", Lindsey said. Everyone jumped, for they didn't know she was awake, but she was sitting indian-style behind them and staring at the door. "No, he did not abandon us. And yes, he opened the door on his own."
"How the fuck you know all that?", Tony demanded.
"Because, he put this in my hand last night, sometime while I was sleeping, I guess." It was a note, written on a mini-notepad with an incredibly small pencil, which was still lodged in the spiraling of the notepad:

"Lindsey,
Please help others stay calm. Remember what I said.
I will be back soon. Need to find out what's going
on. Don't follow or open door, it might kill you."

"You know that kid?", all three asked at the same time.
"Well, yes and no. I met him about three months ago. But I haven't talked to him since then. But he isn't normal."
"What happened between you two?", Kayla asked.
"Well. He saved me..."
"Saved you?", Richard asked.
"Yea."

---

"Just what the hell are you talking about?", Tony asked forcefully.
"It was about three months ago, like I said. It was the beginning of the school semester, and I had been going through a lot in my life. Back then, I had a really bad problem with the way I looked, and I didn't really eat much. Well, I didn't eat at all. I was anorexic, because I thought I was ugly."
"Oh brother...", Tony said.
"Just let her tell the story!", Kayla said in Lindsey's defense.
"Well, I suppose it isn't that big of a deal to hear a story like that, but well, one day, I had taken a lot of diet pills just before a track meet. I started to feel really dizzy, so I decided that I'd just throw them up. It wasn't like I didn't have experience forcing myself to throw up. But I tried and tried, and couldn't manage to force myself to throw up. My mouth was so dry, I just couldn't do it. Everything got kind of dim, and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the locker
room shower next to some strange boy, well, next to "him". I'll never forget what he said to me after that."

"Hi Lindsey [I had no idea how he knew my name, but didn't say anything]. Lindsey, has anyone ever told you that you look good? [I was all the sudden both frightened and embarrassed]. I know what you were doing Lindsey, and I know that you know that it isn't very good for you. I know that you want to look a certain way, or feel a certain way within your body, but there's something you have to know. The only way that you should 'feel' about the way you are, is from your heart, and not the shape and structure of your body. I'm sure you've been given this speech already by you parents, some school counselor, hell maybe even both. But I'm not going to tell you to stop what you're doing." [Then he put both his hands on either side of my waist, which caused me to shiver a little]. "What I feel here, is not what I should feel. What I feel here, is not best for you Lindsey. What I feel here will not make you happy. I doubt telling you that you'd be perfectly beautiful within your own body even if you ate three meals a day would cause you to change, but I suppose it's worth a shot." [Now he got within an inch of my face, and stared me straight in the eyes]. "We are all God's children, Lindsey. Each and everyone one of us can be beautiful on the inside, which will in turn reflect the beauty on the outside. You are hurting intensely on the inside Lindsey, and I can see this by how you look on the outside. I don't want you to hurt any longer, Lindsey. I want you to be comfortable with who you are on the inside, and open your heart. Connect that heart to others, and learn to feel comfortable within the body that has been granted to you. I doubt that you will stop your habits right away, Lindsey. I know that it is going to be very hard for you to start eating, since you have this obsession which plagues you. Your small and fragile body portrays your small and fragile soul. You are still searching Lindsey, searching for something to heal you. Until that day comes, I will pray for you." [And then he kissed me on the forehead, ran his hand through my hair, and left without another word]."

Richard stared at the ground. Tony was on his back and looking at the ceiling. Kayla was sitting next to Lindsey, taking in every word she said.
"Wow. And what happened after that?", Kayla asked.
"Well, it was like he said. I didn't stop right away. But, something about his eyes, and how he kissed me. Some days it still feels like it tingles. Then, one day, I looked in the mirror, and put my hands on my waist right where he did. I thought to myself 'This doesn't feel right. This isn't me.' Then I realized what he was telling me. My parents, the nurses at school, and my friends, they all wanted me to stop doing this because it was hurting me. But the boy, he understood. He knew that I did this -because- I was hurting. When I understood that he knew what I was going through, I decided to try and take his advice. I opened my heart to others, and told them how I felt. For so long everyone could see on the outside, but for once in my life I let people know what was going on inside. I was surprised how much support people gave me! I started to eat more, but only in small increment increases each day. I'm more or less eating normal portions now, but it is all because of that kid."

"Alright, look, that's a nice little love story, or whatever story, but in case you didn't notice, we're dying. And also, if you knew this kid, why didn't you say anything before?", Tony asked.
"I wanted to, but I was too scared. I knew he had recognized me, but he didn't say anything. Something told me, that if he wanted everyone to know, he would've acknowledged me."
"Wanted everyone to know what?!", Tony asked incredulously.
"That he was someone, or maybe, some-thing- different."
"O-ho! That's fresh shit that right there is! Well, I suppose I'll just sit quiet and patiently here until our hero comes back like he's Je---"
"Just calm down", Richard had said, breaking his silence. "There's nothing else we can do but wait for the boy. Whatever he has planned, is the only plan we have. I don't know who or what that kid is. All I know is somehow he got out, and that means he's the guy I'm gonna follow."
"Yea, yea, hold your pants on fatass", Tony said.
"I agree with him", Kayla said.
"Me too", added Lindsey.
"Fine, fine, then", Tony said reluctantly. "We'll wait for wonderboy to get back and 'follow his path to freedom'", he added in a mocking tone.
"He'll be back", Lindsey said. "I know he will."