My Story ^_^
This is my story I FINALY decided to let you guys read it but you probaly won't!
"Hit me!" Lilly said smugly with her poker face. Lilly, a very pretty girl with shoulder length blonde hair and her dazzling blue eyes. "Darn, bust." Lilly folded her cards and returned them to Jack. Jack, a tall 9th grader, very slim with neat brown hair and hazel eyes. Amy and Brian still held their cards with confidence. "Hit or stay?" Jack was the dealer. "Hmm, Er...stay." Brian showed his King of hearts and his 8 of diamonds. Brian was the shortest of the four although he was the smartest. Brian played the guitar for a while now and was very good. He was also very short for his age. His brown eyes and dark brown hair always made him look decent. Now everyone was staring blankly at Amy. "Hit." Amy was very talented and very beautiful. She had a secret crush on Brian since the 6th grade. Amy although pretty was very tall and had long brown curly hair, but her green eyes always managed to catch Brian’s attention.
Amy looked at the card Jack just handed her and smiled faintly. "21." Amy turned over her cards to show an Ace of clubs, an 8 of hearts, and a 2 of hearts. She won again. "Nice!" Lilly always admired Amy. The 4 were best friends and were stuck playing cards. "Anyone up for another game?" Jack asked although he knew the answer as of they already played about 50 games. "No thanks." Brian looked out the window and lit another candle. "I wonder when the rain is going to stop and we will get power back?" They were all at Amy’s house for a sleep-over. It was Amy’s 14th birthday. "Don’t talk so loud my parents might wake up!" Amy hissed from her area of the room.
"I’m going to go get something from the kitchen." Lilly said as she picked up a candle and looked into the darkness of Amy’s house. "I better go with you." Jack stood up and started walking with her into the kitchen. "Man. This stinks." Jack was escorting Lilly to the kitchen. "Your telling me!" They got into the kitchen and used the candle light to look around for the fridge. "Here it is." Lilly stood still and Jack soon knew why.
A dark figure just ran by outside the kitchen window. "Oh my god." Jack hissed across the room. "Put the candles out." Lilly still stood still. "Is the door locked, I mean if it is we are perfectly safe right?" Lilly looked even more frightened, "No, it’s not." Jack’s jaw dropped, "How...do you...know?" Lilly started walking back to Brian and Amy. "They’re gone." Lilly started to sob silently. Jack started freaking out and was wondering what to do. A deep voice spoke from the darkness in the corner of the room. "You mean these 2?" The man was wearing a black cape and a mask. The most hard to miss thing was the fact that on both sides of him were Amy and Brian. Lilly almost fainted.
"What do you want?" Lilly was screaming now. "I want all of you to come with me." "Never!"
The sound of the man’s voice sent chills down Jack’s back. "Then you leave me no choice." The man pulled out what seemed to be a gun. A handgun. He pointed it at Lilly’s forehead. "Now, will you come with me?" "NO!" It was not Lilly that spoke but Jack. Lilly could see tears streaming out of his eyes and running down his cheeks. "Take us, just don’t hurt her." Lilly was more scared then she ever had been before. Then everything happened so fast that by the time Lilly could think about what happened she realized that she was sitting in the back seat of a junky car right now with Jack on her left side and Brian and Amy on her right. All 3 of them were asleep. She wanted to scream. She had too. She wanted this man who did this to them to go away. She couldn’t. Her hands were bound behind her back with thick rope and her mouth along with the others had been gagged.
Every minute Lilly spent in the black car she felt worse and more scared. Her hair was all messy from something. She thought it was probably the wind. Lilly then thought of her father and her mother who was pregnant and about to have a son. Lilly was going to be an older sister. She was excited because her whole life she was an only child. Just the thought made her cry and want to go home. Brain was moving a little and he grunted but he was still asleep. Lilly then looked out the window trying ever so hard to think that it was all just a dream. No, it can’t be, she thought. It was still very dark outside the black car that she was riding in but at least the rain stopped.
Amy suddenly opened her eyes but Lilly did not notice until Amy started struggling against the ropes and trying to scream through the gag. Amy looked really scared. Amy mumbled something through the gag, trying to tell Lilly something. Lilly did not understand. A terrible odor soon filled the car. The smell of whatever it was made Lilly and Amy want to vomit. All they could do was hope they would live. The man driving the car seemed to not notice anything that was happening.
Amy wanted to abscond when she realized that she could not disentangle herself from the ropes. Her thoughts were livid and unimaginable. Amy and Lilly stared at each other with tears coming down their cheeks and falling onto the car floor and seats until the car came to a stop. The man slowly opened the car door. He looked back and stared directly at Amy. She felt chills run down her spine. The man got out of the car and slammed his door shut. Jack and Brian woke up immediately only to find themselves in this car. The car that would haunt their dreams for a long time. The car that they would never want to see again. Suddenly Brian started struggling against the ropes but he could do nothing. He started to cry, everyone could see. Then the man was next to Brian. Who was closest to the door. The man opened the door and pulled Brian out of the car. Brian noticed the man still had his gun but it was tucked into his belt. The man pushed Brian against the car and spoke. "I am going to take the gag out of your mouth if you promise not to scream, ok?" Brian started to think. Why? Why would he obey this kidnapper. What if he did scream. "Ok?!?!" He was getting frustrated. Brian with courage nodded his head.
The man pulled the gag out of Brian’s mouth and put it on top of the black car. "Now listen boy. I don’t want to hurt you but if I have to I will." The man was speaking through his black mask and all Brian could do was remain silent. "So. If you try to do anything to stop me and my plans. You and your precious ‘girlfriend’ will pay! Got it?" Brian looked down and said softly, "Y-y-yes...sir." Brain looked back up. "Good and tell your friends the same thing." The man said has he started reaching back for the gag.
Inside the car the odor was getting stronger and stronger. It was getting hard for Jack to breathe. He wanted to get out. He was worried about Brian. What was the man doing to him. Where were they going? All these thoughts were racing through his head while Amy and Lilly just sat there like nothing was going on. The door opened and the man shoved Brian back into the car with the gag still in his mouth and the ropes tightly bound his hands hurt with his every movement.
The car started rumbling again. The odor got worse. The next thing they could think of was that the car stopped again. How long was it, they thought. They were all feeling light-headed. The man honked the horn once. But what for? The man got out of the car and stood outside for a little while. They could not tell. Soon enough the door on Brian’s side opened yet again. The man reached in his hand and pulled out Brian, then Amy, then Lilly, and finally Jack. The man just threw them on the ground as though trying to hurt them. By now Amy and Lilly were so light-headed and dizzy being the girls that they could hardly stay awake.
When Amy and Lilly awoke they found themselves in a small room. With not much furniture. They were both laying on the ground. There was not a lot of light, so it was hard for them to see through the semi-darkness. Brian and Jack were no where to be found. The gags in their mouths were gone but their hands were still tightly bound against their wrists, digging into their skin with each movement. Amy look over at Lilly and said, "Where are we?" Lilly noticed she spoke. "Uh, I don’t know." The door to the room opened as the light slowly crept into the dark room. "Hello girls." It was the voice again. The voice of the man who would forever haunt them. They sat silently.
"Now I am going to explain the rules to MY ‘game’" The man said with an evil grin on his face. Lilly started shaking as if cold. "Are you kidding me!" Amy shouted as she attempted to stand up. The man simply put out his hand and pushed her down. "Serious as death itself." Amy was aghast at his behavior, but then again. They were being kidnaped. "Anyways, the rules are simple. See those metal bands on your wrist? Well wait of course not, they are behind your back. Silly me! Ok, so blondie." "My name is Lilly!" The man grinned and said, "I really don’t care." Lilly pouted. "Ok. So. ‘Lilly’ yours band has a flashing a blue light which means you must find one of the boys you were with. But his band must also be flashing with the blue light. If you run into the boy with the flashing red light. My guess is you should run. You only want to trust your team because only one team will make it out alive. Welcome to Manhattan." The man paused. "And you, curly, you have the flashing red light band. Obey the same rules. Boy, red light, stay way from blue, trust team mates. Once you found your ‘team mate’ you will look for a...capsule. It could be anywhere. Now there will be clue’s. I will hand each of you a cell phone. A cell phone that can only receive calls, not make them. So don’t try anything sneaky. At times I will call the cell phone and give you clues. Because those bands, will tell me where you are at all times. No use trying to leave the city, and no use hiding. Like I said, only one team will survive. How will you know the capsule is yours? Easy. It will have the same color light as on your band. Once you have the capsule open it. Get the key. And unlock your band from your wrist and you are free to go. Go back to Connecticut. Do not try to talk to any people. They can not see you or hear you. Go ahead if you want to. Between the 2 teams you are aloud to do anything you wish to the other team. Even if you have to kill." Lilly and Amy could not believe what they were hearing. "Well that’s it."
Brian and Jack woke up in a similar room. Soon they were accompanied by the man. The man explained the rules carefully to Brian and Jack but he had a special catch for both of them. He gave each of them a knife instead of a cell phone...
Lilly was the first one to leave the room. She had to start looking for her partner. She did not want to leave Amy behind but she had to. She had to live. As she was pushed out into the streets of Manhattan, she could barely breathe. It was freezing cold. Lilly started walking down the streets scared and cold. Her hands have been freed of the ropes so she could move freely. The band with the blue light was stuck and would not come off. Lilly went into a store and she started to wonder what time it was. She saw a women with a watch. "Excuse me." Lilly cried out. No answer so she spoke louder. "Excuse me!" she shouted again. She finally ran up to the lady, and stood in front of her. I don’t believe it she thought. This lady...can’t see me.
Jack was the next person to leave his room on the other side out the city. Jack has never been to New York. He left Brian but he wanted to find Lilly. He had to. The thought of death and what the man said to him made him think over and over again. "Kill if you have too." Why me he thought why me? Jack kept walking down the street. It was extremely cold outside but Jack was used to the cold weather. He looked down at the pocket knife given to him. He didn’t want to use it. What if someone from the other team attacked him. Then he started to wonder. Who was on his team.
About a half hour after Lilly left, Amy was thrown out onto the cold streets of Manhattan. Lucky she had a jacket. A warm blue wool jacket her grama made for her just a while ago. Amy started to wonder what time it was. She looked at her watch. 3:00 a.m. Wow it was late she thought. Although Amy was not the least bit tired. Amy then looked at the metal wristband right next to her watch. The red light constantly blinking was annoying her. She was scared and did not know what to do. Amy kept walking until she came to the entrance to the subway. She said to herself quietly, "Maybe...I can take this to the other side of the city."
After Jack left the small room Brian got worried. Brian just sat and waited for what seemed like forever. Yes he did wonder what time it was but he did not have a watch. While Brian waited many questions raced through his head. Does this man have a motive? Seemed to be the more popular thought. Brian has never been more scared in his life. Brian had to find Amy he had to tell her something in case they did not make it out alive. Soon the man came back to the room and pushed Brian outside. Brian has been to New York on countless occasions. So he knew his way around pretty well. Brian started walking around to the boat that would take him to the statue of liberty.
Lilly, after realizing nobody could see her, sat down on the sidewalk of the busy street. She was scared and freezing cold no matter where she went. Lilly was thinking of a great name for her soon to be younger brother. She liked the name Chase, and the last thing she was talking to her parents about was naming him Chase. Now Lilly might never get to see him, or her parents. Lilly only wished she could go back in time. Maybe she thought. Just maybe. There was a way out. It seemed so impossible all this was happening. In order to stop herself from bursting out in tears Lilly stood up and pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and started walking again. She smelt food. Suddenly, she realized how hungry she was but there was no use. Nobody could see her. Her stomach rumbled but she just kept walking.
Jack was walking around aimlessly. He did not know what to do. He was so frustrated and scared. He did not want to use the knife he was given but if worst came to worst what would he do. Would her kill one of his best friends. He did not know. Jack shuddered at the thought of what was going to happen next but he continued walking until he got tired. Jack found the steps of the entrance to someone’s house so he casually sat down.
Amy was down underground in the dark and disgusting place of the sub way. Maybe this was a bad idea she thought. The next train was at 3:45 and it was 2 minutes after 3:45. A lady’s voice appeared from the intercom. "Uptown train 604 will be boarding in about 30 seconds. Please stand behind the yellow line." Amy looked down. And then down the dark tunnel. She saw the lights of the train here it comes. Ut-oh. She didn’t buy a ticket. Oh well. She could not be seen. Unless the man was lying to her. The train door stopped right in front of her and she got on the train. The train was painted a very blue-green color. Amy took the closest seat to the door in case of an emergency. The train started rumbling. "Welcome, we will be arriving shortly." the voice said again from the intercom. The train was picking up speed. Faster and faster. The train was rumbling really hard. The lights seemed to flicker on and off but she thought it was her imagination. The train stopped and everyone got out of their seats. Amy did not want to stay on this any longer than she already had. She quickly got off the train and only looked once behind her as she started sprinting up the staircase and back into New York.
Brian was walking to the boat that would take him to the Statue of Liberty. Oops. He accidently walked into a wall. He backed up and started walking again. This time he hit his nose. "Ouch!" Brian did not see a wall anywhere around. "No use trying to escape the city." Brian mumbled and remembered what the man said. How Brian thought. This is impossible. Brian stopped walking and watched the other people quickly walk next to him and through the wall he could not pass.
Lilly was still walking all around town. She was thinking of an idea and things to do. Nothing. This seemed like one of those scary horror movies. Lilly knew it was real. All of it. Lilly came to a stop. Her body felt as though someone just threw a blanket over her and she started feeling warm. Across the street Lilly saw Jack sitting on the stairs of the huge public library.
Lilly started walking across the street. Faster and faster. "Jack!" Lilly called. Jack lifted his head to see Lilly sprinting towards him. "Lilly!" Jack wanted to give her a hug. From where Jack was sitting he could not see the color of the light on Lilly’s wrist band. Jack was worried. What if she attacked him? Lilly continued running to Jack. Lilly hoped that Jack’s wristband had the blue flashing light on it. Maybe then this would be over soon. Lilly got closer and closer to Jack. Jack put his hand’s behind his back and said, "Hey Lilly.." His voice was very quiet and scared. Lilly was wondering why his hands were behind his back. Jack reached for the knife in his back pocket. "So Jack, what have you been up too." Jack stopped and looked up. "Well, nothing much really." He reached back for the knife and opened the blade. Jack did not want to but he might have to. He just had to see the color of her wrist band. Jack thought of an idea but it would prove him useless. Lilly held out her hand with the wrist band. Jack saw the blue light blinking.
"Oh, Lilly, your on the blue team." Lilly pulled back her hand. Jack was scared. He still had his hand with the red blinking light wrist band behind his back. "Yeah, but I’m on the red team." Lilly’s happy expression turned to a frown. Maybe she should run she thought. Jack did not want to hurt her but what if she had a knife and attacked. Lilly just stood there. Jack had the perfect opportunity. He did not want to hurt her but he wanted to live. Jack pulled the knife out from behind his back and swung the knife at Lilly. Lilly backed up a few feet and the knife barely missed her arm.
"What are you doing Jack!" Lilly was shouting with tears of fear streaming out of her eyes. "I thought we were friends." Lilly was stuttering and Jack still held the knife in his right hand. "All I have is a cell phone. Jack please! I’m not playing I swear. I would not hurt you." Jack started to cry. "Get out of here!" Jack shouted at Lilly. "Jack. Im not. Please." Jack looked at her again and started to cry. "I said go!" Jack’s face was turning red. Jack swung the knife again, purposely missing. "I will! Now go. Get out of here!" Lilly looked at Jack with an expression of fear and betrayal. Lilly continued crying and turned and started running. Not once did she look back or say a word. She was scared. She never thought one of her best friends would try to hurt her. Jack stood there watching her run away. He dropped the knife to the concrete floor and sat down again. Jack started crying. He was thinking how could he do that? How? He was so upset with himself by the time he looked up Lilly was gone. Lilly was panting and was pretty far away. She stopped to take a breath and started walking again.
Lilly could not bring herself to remember what just happened. She could not believe it. She went inside a diner and sat down at a table. Maybe she could hide here, after what just happened she now knew that Brian was on her team and Jack and Amy were on the other team. Then Lilly started thinking. What if Brian and Amy already met up? The endless possibilities of what could happen were racing through her mind like a dog chasing its tail.
Meanwhile Amy got off the train to find herself in Central Park. This place was so beautiful she thought. Amy sat down on one of the nearby swings. Amy was swinging into the air. She could feel the wind blowing through her hair. "Ah.." Amy whispered to herself. She imagined that none of this happened but she knew once she opened her eyes that she would have to face reality. She did not want to. She kept her eyes shut, just dreaming. The swing stopped, and Amy fell off the swing. She opened her eyes and broke her fall with her hands. Her hands were scraped. "Sorry, Amy." Amy looked around and saw what made the swing stop. Jack was standing there looking down at her. He held out his hand. Amy grabbed Jack’s hand and Jack pulled her off the ground.
"I’m so sorry Amy." Jack was saying to her brushing the grass off of her back. "Oh, don’t worry about it’s just a scrape." Amy suddenly remembered that this was a game. Jack might not be on her team. Amy took a couple steps back. "What’s wrong?" Jack asked raising one eyebrow. "Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m on your team." Jack smiled. Amy could tell it was a fake smile and that Jack was holding back tears. Jack held out his other hand to show the red flashing light. Amy sighed and said, "Ok, how did you find me? What should we do next?" Amy could not stop asking questions they just came flying out of her mouth.
"I saw you come out of the subway and I don’t know what we should do next." Amy looked down and shuffled her feet. She reached into her pocket and showed him the cell phone. "He gave this to me and Lilly." Jack looked at her. "Who?" "The man. He said we would not be able to call anyone only he would be able to call us." She opened up the phone. "He said he would call us when necessary." Jack looked at the phone then felt the pocket knife get heavy in his pocket. "He gave me and Brian these." He said as he pulled the knife out from his pocket.
"Oh, ok.." Jack shoved it back into his left pocket. "He said to use it if we have to." Amy sat back down on the swing and looked up. She looked back at Jack and said, "Have you ran into any of the others?" Jack didn’t know what to say. If he told her yes, he would have to explain everything. If he said no then Amy would never know and he would not have to tell her what happened. After all he thought, some things are better left unsaid. "No, have you?" Jack quickly said then he thought what if Amy ran into Lilly and she told him everything. "No. Gladly. I would not know what to do." Jack sat down on the swing next to Amy and said quietly, "Maybe we should go find the key." Amy thought for a minute and nodded her head.
Brian started walking. He didn’t know where he was walking but he knew he was walking. Brian was thinking of things to do if he ran into someone from the other team. He could not think of anything. He was walking down an extremely busy street. He wondered what time it was. There seemed to be a lot of cars. He kept walking, looking through the store windows to see if he could find anything interesting. About 5 minutes later Brian looked into a Betty’s Diner. Sitting there at one of the tables was Lilly.
Brian did not know what to do he ducked out of view from the window so she could not see him. One side of him wanted to go and talk to Lilly. The other side of him thought against it thinking that she might be on the team. He stood up straight, and he was going to talk to Lilly. Brian needed to take a chance even if she wasn’t on his team. After all he still had the knife the man gave him. Brian slowly pushed the door of the diner open. The bells that hung from the top of the door jingled as he walked in. Brian closed the door and started walking towards Lilly. He passed all the people sitting at their tables. Still nobody saw him. Brian’s heart was racing but he just kept walking. "Lilly!" He couldn’t help it. He shouted across the cozy diner, and started running. When he reached the table Lilly was at, he was out of breath. Lilly turned her head to see Brian and she sighed in relief. "I’m so glad you’re here Brian."
Lilly and Brian were sitting across from each other at the round wooden table in the diner. Lilly and Brian were both relieved they were on the same team, but Lilly was still scared. Brian looked up after regaining his breath. "Have you ran into anyone else?" Lilly was not going to sit there and lie to one of her best friends. "Yes..." "Who?" Lilly brushed her hair out of her eyes and said, "I ran into Jack. He tried to kill me." Brian almost fell out of his chair and started shouting. "What?!?!" Lilly started crying and the thought of what happened flashed through her mind. It was like one of those bad nightmares, that every time she closed her eyes she would see the things that happened with her and Jack.
Brian slid his chair across the wooden floor to sit next to Lilly. Brian extended his arm and put it around Lilly. "It’s going to be ok." Brian whispered in her ear. Lilly was feeling warm and better now that Brian was here. She felt like she just had a fresh cup of coffee. The door jingled and Brian looked back at the door. "We should leave." Lilly looked at Brian and saw exactly what he saw.
Jack and Amy just walked into the diner making the door jingle. Brian and Lilly dove under the table to avoid from them being seen. This is what Lilly feared the most. When this whole thing started Lilly knew something like this was going to happen. Brian grabbed her hand and started crawling out from underneath the table. They crawled to the restrooms of the diner. Once they got in there they both stood up. "How?" Lilly was crying like crazy. "How could this happen. Manhattan is huge, and yet here we are in the SAME diner as them. How?" Brian just shook his head. "I don’t know. All I know is we need to get out of here."
Ring Ring. Ring Ring. Lilly’s pocket started to vibrate. Lilly knew what it was. Brian just stared at her and looked at what she was pulling out of her pocket. Ring Ring. There it was again. Lilly pulled the phone out of her pocket and pressed the talk button. "Hi Lilly." It was him. She wanted to hand up but at the same time she wanted to hear what he had to say. She turned the volume of the phone up so Brian could hear. Brian leaned closer. "So Lilly, I see you found your team mate. Also just incase you didn’t know Amy and Jack are in the same diner as you!" He sounded ecstatic. This just made Lilly really mad. "Don’t hang up or you could lose this game. Soon I am going to call Amy and tell her that you to are in the building. Ut-oh. Sounds like trouble to me. Anyway. There is only one back exit. I will give you 5 minutes before I call the other two." Brian leaned closer. "Ok." Lilly stated solemnly. "The back exit is at the end of the hall but the door is locked. Where you might find the key? The janitor closet right across from where you are. You have 5 minutes to get out. Otherwise they will be getting a call. Haha. Then when you get out be expecting another call. Have a nice day. Go." The phone shut off and Lilly
carelessly shoved it into her back pocket. "Go!" Brian screamed.
Brian didn’t want to know what the phone was for or how she got it. He would ask her later. Right now Brian was concentrating on getting out of the building. Brian opened the door and let Lilly out first. Then Lilly opened the door to the Janitor’s closet and saw a huge mess. Brian walked in soon after her. "Oh my gosh. We are never going to find it." Lilly said with her hopes ruined. "Just look!" Brian started rummaging through all the stuff, throwing useless items to the floor. Lilly started to do the same thing. Brian looked everywhere. In the box of nails, in the box of gloves. Everywhere but the one place at the top shelf that Brian could not reach. "Lilly. I think I know where the key is." Lilly stopped looking in the mop bucket. "Where?" Lilly said quickly. Brian pointed up. "Up there. I can’t reach it but maybe you can." Lilly stood on her toes and stuck her arm up into the air. She grasped the edge of the shelf but she could not get anything on top of it. "I can’t reach!" Brian saw the mop bucket she was just standing on. Brian picked the bucket up and flipped it upside down. The bucket made a loud thunk as it hit the floor. Lilly put one foot on the bucket and then the other. She stuck her arm up in the air and put her hand back on the shelf. She moved her hand desperately around the shelf. She felt something. She found it. "I got it!" Lilly grabbed the key and dropped it down to Brian. He caught the key and opened the door. "Come on, lets go." Brian shouted at Lilly. Lilly jumped off the bucket and ran out of the door with Brian right in front of her. "Come on. Five minutes is almost over." Brian shouted as he reached the end door. Lilly was soon right next to him. Brian put the key up to the keyhole. "It won’t work. Maybe we got the wrong key." Lilly looked at the key. "No. Your just trying to put it in the wrong way." Lilly grabbed the key from Brian and shoved the key into the keyhole. The door clicked and swung open. Brian and Lilly ran outside into the bright early morning. Lilly slammed the door behind them.
Ring Ring. The phone started ringing again. "Answer it." Brian yelled. Lilly pulled the phone out and pressed the talk button. "Hello, hello, hello. Congratulations you made it out of the building. Very well done. Very well. Now that you are out of there I guess I can give you the hint to where the capsule is. Yes, the capsule that will take you home and so on and so forth. Your hint is. This place is where tons of famous people go to perform. Shows, plays, and musicals all happen here. Remember find your capsule only. Bye!" The man hung up. "Brian you heard that right?" Lilly asked as they kept walking around to get back to the main street. Brian nodded. "What could it be." Lilly asked. "I am thinking, Broadway Theater but I’m not sure." Lilly held his hand and said, "It’s a start."
Amy and Jack pulled the chairs out from under a table back at the diner and sat down across from each other. "So Amy, what do we do now." Ring Ring. "It’s the phone." Jack looked down at Amy’s pocket. "Answer it." Amy stuck her hand into her back pocked, drawing the phone from it. Amy pressed the talk button. "Hi Amy." It was the man. Amy mouthed the words to tell Jack it was him. Jack understood the message and tried to listen in. "Um..hello.." Amy replied as she spoke through the end of the phone. "I see you found your team mate. Well, I was watching the charts and it looked like Brian and Lilly were in that exact dinner. Too bad you did not find them. They are on their way to find the capsule. Now I will give you your clue. This place is where tons of famous people go to perform. Shows, plays, and musicals all happen here. Remember only look for the red capsule. Good luck. Bye!" The man hung up the phone and Amy could hear the dial tone. "Let’s go." Jack said smugly. "Where are we going?" Amy asked looking around. "To follow them." Jack said and pointed out the diner window. There they were Brian and Lilly, holding hands and walking. "Remember what the man said? He said that both teams capsules would be in the same area, so if we find ours we can leave and be free." Amy nodded.
Brian an Lilly were not far from the diner, but they continued walking. Brian’s hand was starting to sweat from holding Lilly’s hand but he did not want to let go. Lilly was watching Brian and occasionally he would stop and look at the street signs until he spoke. "Here we are, 42nd street. Broadway should be right down this street.
Amy and Jack saw Brian stop so they stopped as well. They did not want to be seen to avoid any conflict. This was it for them. Jack knit his brows as he saw Brian say something to Lilly. "If only we could hear them."
Lilly and Brian kept walking. They were walking down the last street they would be in. Or so they hoped. Brian let go of Lilly’s hand to scratch his head as they got closer to the entrance. Lilly’s eyelids began to feel heavy and her footsteps seemed to grow louder, but she knew it was all in her imagination. Soon she would be home with her parents, and without 2 best friends.
Brian stopped again. "Here we are."
Brian stepped forward and grasped the handle of the big door and pulled it open. Brian held the heavy door open for Lilly. Lilly blushed and walked inside. Brian was leading Lilly and was holding her hand again. Lilly heard a voice and so did Brian. They walked into the big theater and it was a wonderful sight. The theater was big as anything with hundreds of people sitting down and watching. Some people in tears. Some people were with their families and others were alone. Lilly remembered how her family and her used to go everywhere together but this time was different. She was alone, without her family. The play of the Lion and the King was going on. It was fantastic. It almost put Lilly to tears, but Brian knew there was no time to waste. Lilly could feel that her hand was being tugged by Brian. "Come on Lilly. Lets go. We don’t have any time." Brian hissed as he pulled Lilly away from the stage.
Amy and Jack were still hidden but this time in the theater. Amy saw the stage as well but was not as emotionally attached as Lilly was. Jack and Amy decided to find their own capsule, on their own. Amy started leading Jack up the shinny wooden stairs. Their steps echoing through the building with each step they made. 1, 2, 3 steps they were going up. Jack was close behind her and looking around the small room when they made it to the top. They couldn’t see anything, it was entirely too dark for any human to see. Jack started groping for the light switch, he couldn’t find it. "Amy, give me the cell phone." Amy understood why. The light from the cell phone would help them look around. Jack looked in a direction of the room before he could even get the cell phone and said, "This is not the right room." What Jack saw was the blue blinking light and that’s all he needed to know that this was not the right room. "Amy look to your right." Amy looked over and she too saw the flashing blue light. Ring Ring.
The phone was ringing and Amy pressed the talk button and the phone which she was already holding. "Hello.." Amy knew who it was before he could even say anything. "Ah, Amy nice to hear your voice again. That was a nice trick, following Lilly and Brian like that. Unfortunately this is not the correct room for you. This room contains the capsule for Lilly and Brian. I suggest you get moving and go find yours. Good luck." The phone light went out and Amy put the phone back into her pocket. "Jack, lets get going. Nothing here is for us." Jack walked back out the door they came in and started walking back down the stairs.
Brian and Lilly walked around for a long time now and found nothing. Lots and lots of nothing. They thought they went in every room, but still found nothing. "Lilly, remember those stairs to our right when we first walked in?" Brian said looking at Lilly. Lilly was thinking and trying to recall what had happened when they got there. "Yes, I do. I remember." Lilly responded enthusiastically. "It is our last chance other wise we might end up being the ones stuck here forever." Lilly nodded and started following Brian.
Brian and Lilly stopped to see what they feared. There they stood right in front of them. Amy and Jack. Jack and Amy saw them as well. Brian pulled out his knife and Lilly backed up from Jack as he pulled out his. "Jack, Brian, Stop!" Lilly yelled as she jumped in front of Brian. "I said stop." Lilly shouted again standing in front of Brian. "Lilly, move." Brian pushed Lilly out of the way and swung the knife at Jack.. "I thought we were all best friends!" Amy was screaming now and Amy and Lilly were both crying as Jack and Brian went at each other with the pocket knifes.
Amy saw Jack was about to hit Brian hard. Amy still had a crush on Brian even though she knew it could never be. Amy charged at Jack getting ready to knock him down. Amy hit Jack hard from the side as Jack fell to the floor and dropped his knife. Jack moaned in pain as he hit the floor. Amy was still crying and backed up from Jack. "Brian and Lilly go now." She was speaking through her tears. "Go."
Brian grabbed Lilly’s hand and started taking her up the stairs. Lilly looked back to see Amy kneeling besides Jack crying with her hands over her face. Brian and Lilly kept going, skipping steps. They were almost at the top. Brian opened the door and Lilly and him ran into the dark. Brian stopped to look around, he saw the flashing blue light and started walking towards it.
Ring Ring. The phone was ringing right before Brian got to the capsule. "Hi Lilly." It was obvious who was on the phone. Congratulations. You guys are most likely to win. I just hope you know this means leaving your friends behind forever. Also, you may be wondering why I did this to all of you. Well it is simple. When I was a kid. Only about 8 years old. All of your parents killed my parents. Your parents were driving home one night. Before you were even born. They crashed into my parents car and killed them. Both of them. Your parents all got away easy. So what more better way than to punish their kids? Exactly. How does it feel? Well now you know why I did this. Mwahahaha. Goodbye!" Brian reached the blue light and bent down. He closed his eyes and his hands started to shake as he picked up the capsule and opened it. Brian pulled out two keys. One for Lilly one for himself. Brian handed one of the keys to Lilly. "This is it." Brian said as he leaned in and kissed Lilly. Lilly blushed in the darkness. "Goodbye." Lilly and Brian stuck the key into the keyhole of their bracelets.
Lilly and Brian thought they were going blind. A white light was all they could see. Lilly and Brian started feeling dizzy and passed out on the floor. When Lilly awoke she was laying on the ground outside of her house. She stood up, the bracelet was gone and it felt good to be back home. Lilly looked around at her house. Her parents car was gone but besides that everything seemed normal. The birds were chirping and it was a perfectly sunny day outside. She walked up to the doorstep of her house and tried to open the door. It was locked. Lilly looked underneath the doormat for the hidden key. She picked it up and put it into the keyhole. The door clicked and swung open. Lilly dropped the key and looked inside. Nothing was there, her house was empty. Lilly walked inside her footsteps echoing through the empty house. "Mom!" Lilly called, there was no answer. "Dad!" Once again no answer.
Lilly started crying and ran back outside. She saw the two newspapers laying on the grass which needed to be mowed. Lilly picked up the news paper for today and almost fainted at what she read. What was on the front page would change her life. "Parents of two die in a car crash on their way home from the hospital." Lilly saw the photo of her parents and their car in the news paper. She was scared and frightened. Lilly would never get to see her family again. She could not stop crying. Her tears were streaming down her cheeks glistening in the sunlight.
Lilly continued reading one part over and over. "Parents of two." Lilly then realized that her parents must have had the baby while she was gone. Lilly had a brother out there somewhere. Lilly did not know what to do but cry.
-12 years later-
Lilly was shopping in a super market one day for food. She was walking down the milk isle and grabbed a gallon of whole milk. Lilly was about 26 now and had her own house and was an Elementary School teacher. After she found out her parents dies she was sent to a private school and because of the tragedy they gave her a scholarship for college. Lilly never saw here younger brother or Brian again. She was trying to get over everything that happened. What’s done is done. Lilly hasn’t thought about the kidnaping since she was 17. Know everything was about to change all over again.
Lilly walked to the check out lane to buy her food and leave. Soon another man and his son were waiting in line behind her. The man introduced himself. "Hi I’m Brian." The man said and stuck out his hand. Lilly stared at him for a good while and noticed he was kind of short. Lilly shook the man’s hand and said, "Im Lilly, very pleased to meet you." The man named Brian was looking at her. "Have we ever met?" He asked as he loaded his items onto the counter. Lilly looked back, "I don’t think so." She didn’t want to remember she thought. It could not be him.
"Dad, did you get the good cereal?" The man looked down at his son and patted his head. "Yes Chase I did. I got your favorite." Lilly turned her head at the name Chase. Brian said, "Im so sorry, I forgot to introduce my son. Well he is not really my son I adopted him. His name is Chase. Chase meet Lilly." Chase stepped out from behind Brian. "Hiya, nice to meet you." The kid said and shook her hand. Lilly laughed. "Your really cute." Chase laughed back. "Thank you ma’am."
Lilly paid for her food. "Well Brian and Chase it was nice meeting you." Brian and Chase looked at Lilly as she left and they both waved. "Goodbye!" They shouted as Lilly walked out of the store. Little did Lilly know, Brian was once her best friend and Chase was her brother.
"Hit me!" Lilly said smugly with her poker face. Lilly, a very pretty girl with shoulder length blonde hair and her dazzling blue eyes. "Darn, bust." Lilly folded her cards and returned them to Jack. Jack, a tall 9th grader, very slim with neat brown hair and hazel eyes. Amy and Brian still held their cards with confidence. "Hit or stay?" Jack was the dealer. "Hmm, Er...stay." Brian showed his King of hearts and his 8 of diamonds. Brian was the shortest of the four although he was the smartest. Brian played the guitar for a while now and was very good. He was also very short for his age. His brown eyes and dark brown hair always made him look decent. Now everyone was staring blankly at Amy. "Hit." Amy was very talented and very beautiful. She had a secret crush on Brian since the 6th grade. Amy although pretty was very tall and had long brown curly hair, but her green eyes always managed to catch Brian’s attention.
Amy looked at the card Jack just handed her and smiled faintly. "21." Amy turned over her cards to show an Ace of clubs, an 8 of hearts, and a 2 of hearts. She won again. "Nice!" Lilly always admired Amy. The 4 were best friends and were stuck playing cards. "Anyone up for another game?" Jack asked although he knew the answer as of they already played about 50 games. "No thanks." Brian looked out the window and lit another candle. "I wonder when the rain is going to stop and we will get power back?" They were all at Amy’s house for a sleep-over. It was Amy’s 14th birthday. "Don’t talk so loud my parents might wake up!" Amy hissed from her area of the room.
"I’m going to go get something from the kitchen." Lilly said as she picked up a candle and looked into the darkness of Amy’s house. "I better go with you." Jack stood up and started walking with her into the kitchen. "Man. This stinks." Jack was escorting Lilly to the kitchen. "Your telling me!" They got into the kitchen and used the candle light to look around for the fridge. "Here it is." Lilly stood still and Jack soon knew why.
A dark figure just ran by outside the kitchen window. "Oh my god." Jack hissed across the room. "Put the candles out." Lilly still stood still. "Is the door locked, I mean if it is we are perfectly safe right?" Lilly looked even more frightened, "No, it’s not." Jack’s jaw dropped, "How...do you...know?" Lilly started walking back to Brian and Amy. "They’re gone." Lilly started to sob silently. Jack started freaking out and was wondering what to do. A deep voice spoke from the darkness in the corner of the room. "You mean these 2?" The man was wearing a black cape and a mask. The most hard to miss thing was the fact that on both sides of him were Amy and Brian. Lilly almost fainted.
"What do you want?" Lilly was screaming now. "I want all of you to come with me." "Never!"
The sound of the man’s voice sent chills down Jack’s back. "Then you leave me no choice." The man pulled out what seemed to be a gun. A handgun. He pointed it at Lilly’s forehead. "Now, will you come with me?" "NO!" It was not Lilly that spoke but Jack. Lilly could see tears streaming out of his eyes and running down his cheeks. "Take us, just don’t hurt her." Lilly was more scared then she ever had been before. Then everything happened so fast that by the time Lilly could think about what happened she realized that she was sitting in the back seat of a junky car right now with Jack on her left side and Brian and Amy on her right. All 3 of them were asleep. She wanted to scream. She had too. She wanted this man who did this to them to go away. She couldn’t. Her hands were bound behind her back with thick rope and her mouth along with the others had been gagged.
Every minute Lilly spent in the black car she felt worse and more scared. Her hair was all messy from something. She thought it was probably the wind. Lilly then thought of her father and her mother who was pregnant and about to have a son. Lilly was going to be an older sister. She was excited because her whole life she was an only child. Just the thought made her cry and want to go home. Brain was moving a little and he grunted but he was still asleep. Lilly then looked out the window trying ever so hard to think that it was all just a dream. No, it can’t be, she thought. It was still very dark outside the black car that she was riding in but at least the rain stopped.
Amy suddenly opened her eyes but Lilly did not notice until Amy started struggling against the ropes and trying to scream through the gag. Amy looked really scared. Amy mumbled something through the gag, trying to tell Lilly something. Lilly did not understand. A terrible odor soon filled the car. The smell of whatever it was made Lilly and Amy want to vomit. All they could do was hope they would live. The man driving the car seemed to not notice anything that was happening.
Amy wanted to abscond when she realized that she could not disentangle herself from the ropes. Her thoughts were livid and unimaginable. Amy and Lilly stared at each other with tears coming down their cheeks and falling onto the car floor and seats until the car came to a stop. The man slowly opened the car door. He looked back and stared directly at Amy. She felt chills run down her spine. The man got out of the car and slammed his door shut. Jack and Brian woke up immediately only to find themselves in this car. The car that would haunt their dreams for a long time. The car that they would never want to see again. Suddenly Brian started struggling against the ropes but he could do nothing. He started to cry, everyone could see. Then the man was next to Brian. Who was closest to the door. The man opened the door and pulled Brian out of the car. Brian noticed the man still had his gun but it was tucked into his belt. The man pushed Brian against the car and spoke. "I am going to take the gag out of your mouth if you promise not to scream, ok?" Brian started to think. Why? Why would he obey this kidnapper. What if he did scream. "Ok?!?!" He was getting frustrated. Brian with courage nodded his head.
The man pulled the gag out of Brian’s mouth and put it on top of the black car. "Now listen boy. I don’t want to hurt you but if I have to I will." The man was speaking through his black mask and all Brian could do was remain silent. "So. If you try to do anything to stop me and my plans. You and your precious ‘girlfriend’ will pay! Got it?" Brian looked down and said softly, "Y-y-yes...sir." Brain looked back up. "Good and tell your friends the same thing." The man said has he started reaching back for the gag.
Inside the car the odor was getting stronger and stronger. It was getting hard for Jack to breathe. He wanted to get out. He was worried about Brian. What was the man doing to him. Where were they going? All these thoughts were racing through his head while Amy and Lilly just sat there like nothing was going on. The door opened and the man shoved Brian back into the car with the gag still in his mouth and the ropes tightly bound his hands hurt with his every movement.
The car started rumbling again. The odor got worse. The next thing they could think of was that the car stopped again. How long was it, they thought. They were all feeling light-headed. The man honked the horn once. But what for? The man got out of the car and stood outside for a little while. They could not tell. Soon enough the door on Brian’s side opened yet again. The man reached in his hand and pulled out Brian, then Amy, then Lilly, and finally Jack. The man just threw them on the ground as though trying to hurt them. By now Amy and Lilly were so light-headed and dizzy being the girls that they could hardly stay awake.
When Amy and Lilly awoke they found themselves in a small room. With not much furniture. They were both laying on the ground. There was not a lot of light, so it was hard for them to see through the semi-darkness. Brian and Jack were no where to be found. The gags in their mouths were gone but their hands were still tightly bound against their wrists, digging into their skin with each movement. Amy look over at Lilly and said, "Where are we?" Lilly noticed she spoke. "Uh, I don’t know." The door to the room opened as the light slowly crept into the dark room. "Hello girls." It was the voice again. The voice of the man who would forever haunt them. They sat silently.
"Now I am going to explain the rules to MY ‘game’" The man said with an evil grin on his face. Lilly started shaking as if cold. "Are you kidding me!" Amy shouted as she attempted to stand up. The man simply put out his hand and pushed her down. "Serious as death itself." Amy was aghast at his behavior, but then again. They were being kidnaped. "Anyways, the rules are simple. See those metal bands on your wrist? Well wait of course not, they are behind your back. Silly me! Ok, so blondie." "My name is Lilly!" The man grinned and said, "I really don’t care." Lilly pouted. "Ok. So. ‘Lilly’ yours band has a flashing a blue light which means you must find one of the boys you were with. But his band must also be flashing with the blue light. If you run into the boy with the flashing red light. My guess is you should run. You only want to trust your team because only one team will make it out alive. Welcome to Manhattan." The man paused. "And you, curly, you have the flashing red light band. Obey the same rules. Boy, red light, stay way from blue, trust team mates. Once you found your ‘team mate’ you will look for a...capsule. It could be anywhere. Now there will be clue’s. I will hand each of you a cell phone. A cell phone that can only receive calls, not make them. So don’t try anything sneaky. At times I will call the cell phone and give you clues. Because those bands, will tell me where you are at all times. No use trying to leave the city, and no use hiding. Like I said, only one team will survive. How will you know the capsule is yours? Easy. It will have the same color light as on your band. Once you have the capsule open it. Get the key. And unlock your band from your wrist and you are free to go. Go back to Connecticut. Do not try to talk to any people. They can not see you or hear you. Go ahead if you want to. Between the 2 teams you are aloud to do anything you wish to the other team. Even if you have to kill." Lilly and Amy could not believe what they were hearing. "Well that’s it."
Brian and Jack woke up in a similar room. Soon they were accompanied by the man. The man explained the rules carefully to Brian and Jack but he had a special catch for both of them. He gave each of them a knife instead of a cell phone...
Lilly was the first one to leave the room. She had to start looking for her partner. She did not want to leave Amy behind but she had to. She had to live. As she was pushed out into the streets of Manhattan, she could barely breathe. It was freezing cold. Lilly started walking down the streets scared and cold. Her hands have been freed of the ropes so she could move freely. The band with the blue light was stuck and would not come off. Lilly went into a store and she started to wonder what time it was. She saw a women with a watch. "Excuse me." Lilly cried out. No answer so she spoke louder. "Excuse me!" she shouted again. She finally ran up to the lady, and stood in front of her. I don’t believe it she thought. This lady...can’t see me.
Jack was the next person to leave his room on the other side out the city. Jack has never been to New York. He left Brian but he wanted to find Lilly. He had to. The thought of death and what the man said to him made him think over and over again. "Kill if you have too." Why me he thought why me? Jack kept walking down the street. It was extremely cold outside but Jack was used to the cold weather. He looked down at the pocket knife given to him. He didn’t want to use it. What if someone from the other team attacked him. Then he started to wonder. Who was on his team.
About a half hour after Lilly left, Amy was thrown out onto the cold streets of Manhattan. Lucky she had a jacket. A warm blue wool jacket her grama made for her just a while ago. Amy started to wonder what time it was. She looked at her watch. 3:00 a.m. Wow it was late she thought. Although Amy was not the least bit tired. Amy then looked at the metal wristband right next to her watch. The red light constantly blinking was annoying her. She was scared and did not know what to do. Amy kept walking until she came to the entrance to the subway. She said to herself quietly, "Maybe...I can take this to the other side of the city."
After Jack left the small room Brian got worried. Brian just sat and waited for what seemed like forever. Yes he did wonder what time it was but he did not have a watch. While Brian waited many questions raced through his head. Does this man have a motive? Seemed to be the more popular thought. Brian has never been more scared in his life. Brian had to find Amy he had to tell her something in case they did not make it out alive. Soon the man came back to the room and pushed Brian outside. Brian has been to New York on countless occasions. So he knew his way around pretty well. Brian started walking around to the boat that would take him to the statue of liberty.
Lilly, after realizing nobody could see her, sat down on the sidewalk of the busy street. She was scared and freezing cold no matter where she went. Lilly was thinking of a great name for her soon to be younger brother. She liked the name Chase, and the last thing she was talking to her parents about was naming him Chase. Now Lilly might never get to see him, or her parents. Lilly only wished she could go back in time. Maybe she thought. Just maybe. There was a way out. It seemed so impossible all this was happening. In order to stop herself from bursting out in tears Lilly stood up and pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and started walking again. She smelt food. Suddenly, she realized how hungry she was but there was no use. Nobody could see her. Her stomach rumbled but she just kept walking.
Jack was walking around aimlessly. He did not know what to do. He was so frustrated and scared. He did not want to use the knife he was given but if worst came to worst what would he do. Would her kill one of his best friends. He did not know. Jack shuddered at the thought of what was going to happen next but he continued walking until he got tired. Jack found the steps of the entrance to someone’s house so he casually sat down.
Amy was down underground in the dark and disgusting place of the sub way. Maybe this was a bad idea she thought. The next train was at 3:45 and it was 2 minutes after 3:45. A lady’s voice appeared from the intercom. "Uptown train 604 will be boarding in about 30 seconds. Please stand behind the yellow line." Amy looked down. And then down the dark tunnel. She saw the lights of the train here it comes. Ut-oh. She didn’t buy a ticket. Oh well. She could not be seen. Unless the man was lying to her. The train door stopped right in front of her and she got on the train. The train was painted a very blue-green color. Amy took the closest seat to the door in case of an emergency. The train started rumbling. "Welcome, we will be arriving shortly." the voice said again from the intercom. The train was picking up speed. Faster and faster. The train was rumbling really hard. The lights seemed to flicker on and off but she thought it was her imagination. The train stopped and everyone got out of their seats. Amy did not want to stay on this any longer than she already had. She quickly got off the train and only looked once behind her as she started sprinting up the staircase and back into New York.
Brian was walking to the boat that would take him to the Statue of Liberty. Oops. He accidently walked into a wall. He backed up and started walking again. This time he hit his nose. "Ouch!" Brian did not see a wall anywhere around. "No use trying to escape the city." Brian mumbled and remembered what the man said. How Brian thought. This is impossible. Brian stopped walking and watched the other people quickly walk next to him and through the wall he could not pass.
Lilly was still walking all around town. She was thinking of an idea and things to do. Nothing. This seemed like one of those scary horror movies. Lilly knew it was real. All of it. Lilly came to a stop. Her body felt as though someone just threw a blanket over her and she started feeling warm. Across the street Lilly saw Jack sitting on the stairs of the huge public library.
Lilly started walking across the street. Faster and faster. "Jack!" Lilly called. Jack lifted his head to see Lilly sprinting towards him. "Lilly!" Jack wanted to give her a hug. From where Jack was sitting he could not see the color of the light on Lilly’s wrist band. Jack was worried. What if she attacked him? Lilly continued running to Jack. Lilly hoped that Jack’s wristband had the blue flashing light on it. Maybe then this would be over soon. Lilly got closer and closer to Jack. Jack put his hand’s behind his back and said, "Hey Lilly.." His voice was very quiet and scared. Lilly was wondering why his hands were behind his back. Jack reached for the knife in his back pocket. "So Jack, what have you been up too." Jack stopped and looked up. "Well, nothing much really." He reached back for the knife and opened the blade. Jack did not want to but he might have to. He just had to see the color of her wrist band. Jack thought of an idea but it would prove him useless. Lilly held out her hand with the wrist band. Jack saw the blue light blinking.
"Oh, Lilly, your on the blue team." Lilly pulled back her hand. Jack was scared. He still had his hand with the red blinking light wrist band behind his back. "Yeah, but I’m on the red team." Lilly’s happy expression turned to a frown. Maybe she should run she thought. Jack did not want to hurt her but what if she had a knife and attacked. Lilly just stood there. Jack had the perfect opportunity. He did not want to hurt her but he wanted to live. Jack pulled the knife out from behind his back and swung the knife at Lilly. Lilly backed up a few feet and the knife barely missed her arm.
"What are you doing Jack!" Lilly was shouting with tears of fear streaming out of her eyes. "I thought we were friends." Lilly was stuttering and Jack still held the knife in his right hand. "All I have is a cell phone. Jack please! I’m not playing I swear. I would not hurt you." Jack started to cry. "Get out of here!" Jack shouted at Lilly. "Jack. Im not. Please." Jack looked at her again and started to cry. "I said go!" Jack’s face was turning red. Jack swung the knife again, purposely missing. "I will! Now go. Get out of here!" Lilly looked at Jack with an expression of fear and betrayal. Lilly continued crying and turned and started running. Not once did she look back or say a word. She was scared. She never thought one of her best friends would try to hurt her. Jack stood there watching her run away. He dropped the knife to the concrete floor and sat down again. Jack started crying. He was thinking how could he do that? How? He was so upset with himself by the time he looked up Lilly was gone. Lilly was panting and was pretty far away. She stopped to take a breath and started walking again.
Lilly could not bring herself to remember what just happened. She could not believe it. She went inside a diner and sat down at a table. Maybe she could hide here, after what just happened she now knew that Brian was on her team and Jack and Amy were on the other team. Then Lilly started thinking. What if Brian and Amy already met up? The endless possibilities of what could happen were racing through her mind like a dog chasing its tail.
Meanwhile Amy got off the train to find herself in Central Park. This place was so beautiful she thought. Amy sat down on one of the nearby swings. Amy was swinging into the air. She could feel the wind blowing through her hair. "Ah.." Amy whispered to herself. She imagined that none of this happened but she knew once she opened her eyes that she would have to face reality. She did not want to. She kept her eyes shut, just dreaming. The swing stopped, and Amy fell off the swing. She opened her eyes and broke her fall with her hands. Her hands were scraped. "Sorry, Amy." Amy looked around and saw what made the swing stop. Jack was standing there looking down at her. He held out his hand. Amy grabbed Jack’s hand and Jack pulled her off the ground.
"I’m so sorry Amy." Jack was saying to her brushing the grass off of her back. "Oh, don’t worry about it’s just a scrape." Amy suddenly remembered that this was a game. Jack might not be on her team. Amy took a couple steps back. "What’s wrong?" Jack asked raising one eyebrow. "Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m on your team." Jack smiled. Amy could tell it was a fake smile and that Jack was holding back tears. Jack held out his other hand to show the red flashing light. Amy sighed and said, "Ok, how did you find me? What should we do next?" Amy could not stop asking questions they just came flying out of her mouth.
"I saw you come out of the subway and I don’t know what we should do next." Amy looked down and shuffled her feet. She reached into her pocket and showed him the cell phone. "He gave this to me and Lilly." Jack looked at her. "Who?" "The man. He said we would not be able to call anyone only he would be able to call us." She opened up the phone. "He said he would call us when necessary." Jack looked at the phone then felt the pocket knife get heavy in his pocket. "He gave me and Brian these." He said as he pulled the knife out from his pocket.
"Oh, ok.." Jack shoved it back into his left pocket. "He said to use it if we have to." Amy sat back down on the swing and looked up. She looked back at Jack and said, "Have you ran into any of the others?" Jack didn’t know what to say. If he told her yes, he would have to explain everything. If he said no then Amy would never know and he would not have to tell her what happened. After all he thought, some things are better left unsaid. "No, have you?" Jack quickly said then he thought what if Amy ran into Lilly and she told him everything. "No. Gladly. I would not know what to do." Jack sat down on the swing next to Amy and said quietly, "Maybe we should go find the key." Amy thought for a minute and nodded her head.
Brian started walking. He didn’t know where he was walking but he knew he was walking. Brian was thinking of things to do if he ran into someone from the other team. He could not think of anything. He was walking down an extremely busy street. He wondered what time it was. There seemed to be a lot of cars. He kept walking, looking through the store windows to see if he could find anything interesting. About 5 minutes later Brian looked into a Betty’s Diner. Sitting there at one of the tables was Lilly.
Brian did not know what to do he ducked out of view from the window so she could not see him. One side of him wanted to go and talk to Lilly. The other side of him thought against it thinking that she might be on the team. He stood up straight, and he was going to talk to Lilly. Brian needed to take a chance even if she wasn’t on his team. After all he still had the knife the man gave him. Brian slowly pushed the door of the diner open. The bells that hung from the top of the door jingled as he walked in. Brian closed the door and started walking towards Lilly. He passed all the people sitting at their tables. Still nobody saw him. Brian’s heart was racing but he just kept walking. "Lilly!" He couldn’t help it. He shouted across the cozy diner, and started running. When he reached the table Lilly was at, he was out of breath. Lilly turned her head to see Brian and she sighed in relief. "I’m so glad you’re here Brian."
Lilly and Brian were sitting across from each other at the round wooden table in the diner. Lilly and Brian were both relieved they were on the same team, but Lilly was still scared. Brian looked up after regaining his breath. "Have you ran into anyone else?" Lilly was not going to sit there and lie to one of her best friends. "Yes..." "Who?" Lilly brushed her hair out of her eyes and said, "I ran into Jack. He tried to kill me." Brian almost fell out of his chair and started shouting. "What?!?!" Lilly started crying and the thought of what happened flashed through her mind. It was like one of those bad nightmares, that every time she closed her eyes she would see the things that happened with her and Jack.
Brian slid his chair across the wooden floor to sit next to Lilly. Brian extended his arm and put it around Lilly. "It’s going to be ok." Brian whispered in her ear. Lilly was feeling warm and better now that Brian was here. She felt like she just had a fresh cup of coffee. The door jingled and Brian looked back at the door. "We should leave." Lilly looked at Brian and saw exactly what he saw.
Jack and Amy just walked into the diner making the door jingle. Brian and Lilly dove under the table to avoid from them being seen. This is what Lilly feared the most. When this whole thing started Lilly knew something like this was going to happen. Brian grabbed her hand and started crawling out from underneath the table. They crawled to the restrooms of the diner. Once they got in there they both stood up. "How?" Lilly was crying like crazy. "How could this happen. Manhattan is huge, and yet here we are in the SAME diner as them. How?" Brian just shook his head. "I don’t know. All I know is we need to get out of here."
Ring Ring. Ring Ring. Lilly’s pocket started to vibrate. Lilly knew what it was. Brian just stared at her and looked at what she was pulling out of her pocket. Ring Ring. There it was again. Lilly pulled the phone out of her pocket and pressed the talk button. "Hi Lilly." It was him. She wanted to hand up but at the same time she wanted to hear what he had to say. She turned the volume of the phone up so Brian could hear. Brian leaned closer. "So Lilly, I see you found your team mate. Also just incase you didn’t know Amy and Jack are in the same diner as you!" He sounded ecstatic. This just made Lilly really mad. "Don’t hang up or you could lose this game. Soon I am going to call Amy and tell her that you to are in the building. Ut-oh. Sounds like trouble to me. Anyway. There is only one back exit. I will give you 5 minutes before I call the other two." Brian leaned closer. "Ok." Lilly stated solemnly. "The back exit is at the end of the hall but the door is locked. Where you might find the key? The janitor closet right across from where you are. You have 5 minutes to get out. Otherwise they will be getting a call. Haha. Then when you get out be expecting another call. Have a nice day. Go." The phone shut off and Lilly
carelessly shoved it into her back pocket. "Go!" Brian screamed.
Brian didn’t want to know what the phone was for or how she got it. He would ask her later. Right now Brian was concentrating on getting out of the building. Brian opened the door and let Lilly out first. Then Lilly opened the door to the Janitor’s closet and saw a huge mess. Brian walked in soon after her. "Oh my gosh. We are never going to find it." Lilly said with her hopes ruined. "Just look!" Brian started rummaging through all the stuff, throwing useless items to the floor. Lilly started to do the same thing. Brian looked everywhere. In the box of nails, in the box of gloves. Everywhere but the one place at the top shelf that Brian could not reach. "Lilly. I think I know where the key is." Lilly stopped looking in the mop bucket. "Where?" Lilly said quickly. Brian pointed up. "Up there. I can’t reach it but maybe you can." Lilly stood on her toes and stuck her arm up into the air. She grasped the edge of the shelf but she could not get anything on top of it. "I can’t reach!" Brian saw the mop bucket she was just standing on. Brian picked the bucket up and flipped it upside down. The bucket made a loud thunk as it hit the floor. Lilly put one foot on the bucket and then the other. She stuck her arm up in the air and put her hand back on the shelf. She moved her hand desperately around the shelf. She felt something. She found it. "I got it!" Lilly grabbed the key and dropped it down to Brian. He caught the key and opened the door. "Come on, lets go." Brian shouted at Lilly. Lilly jumped off the bucket and ran out of the door with Brian right in front of her. "Come on. Five minutes is almost over." Brian shouted as he reached the end door. Lilly was soon right next to him. Brian put the key up to the keyhole. "It won’t work. Maybe we got the wrong key." Lilly looked at the key. "No. Your just trying to put it in the wrong way." Lilly grabbed the key from Brian and shoved the key into the keyhole. The door clicked and swung open. Brian and Lilly ran outside into the bright early morning. Lilly slammed the door behind them.
Ring Ring. The phone started ringing again. "Answer it." Brian yelled. Lilly pulled the phone out and pressed the talk button. "Hello, hello, hello. Congratulations you made it out of the building. Very well done. Very well. Now that you are out of there I guess I can give you the hint to where the capsule is. Yes, the capsule that will take you home and so on and so forth. Your hint is. This place is where tons of famous people go to perform. Shows, plays, and musicals all happen here. Remember find your capsule only. Bye!" The man hung up. "Brian you heard that right?" Lilly asked as they kept walking around to get back to the main street. Brian nodded. "What could it be." Lilly asked. "I am thinking, Broadway Theater but I’m not sure." Lilly held his hand and said, "It’s a start."
Amy and Jack pulled the chairs out from under a table back at the diner and sat down across from each other. "So Amy, what do we do now." Ring Ring. "It’s the phone." Jack looked down at Amy’s pocket. "Answer it." Amy stuck her hand into her back pocked, drawing the phone from it. Amy pressed the talk button. "Hi Amy." It was the man. Amy mouthed the words to tell Jack it was him. Jack understood the message and tried to listen in. "Um..hello.." Amy replied as she spoke through the end of the phone. "I see you found your team mate. Well, I was watching the charts and it looked like Brian and Lilly were in that exact dinner. Too bad you did not find them. They are on their way to find the capsule. Now I will give you your clue. This place is where tons of famous people go to perform. Shows, plays, and musicals all happen here. Remember only look for the red capsule. Good luck. Bye!" The man hung up the phone and Amy could hear the dial tone. "Let’s go." Jack said smugly. "Where are we going?" Amy asked looking around. "To follow them." Jack said and pointed out the diner window. There they were Brian and Lilly, holding hands and walking. "Remember what the man said? He said that both teams capsules would be in the same area, so if we find ours we can leave and be free." Amy nodded.
Brian an Lilly were not far from the diner, but they continued walking. Brian’s hand was starting to sweat from holding Lilly’s hand but he did not want to let go. Lilly was watching Brian and occasionally he would stop and look at the street signs until he spoke. "Here we are, 42nd street. Broadway should be right down this street.
Amy and Jack saw Brian stop so they stopped as well. They did not want to be seen to avoid any conflict. This was it for them. Jack knit his brows as he saw Brian say something to Lilly. "If only we could hear them."
Lilly and Brian kept walking. They were walking down the last street they would be in. Or so they hoped. Brian let go of Lilly’s hand to scratch his head as they got closer to the entrance. Lilly’s eyelids began to feel heavy and her footsteps seemed to grow louder, but she knew it was all in her imagination. Soon she would be home with her parents, and without 2 best friends.
Brian stopped again. "Here we are."
Brian stepped forward and grasped the handle of the big door and pulled it open. Brian held the heavy door open for Lilly. Lilly blushed and walked inside. Brian was leading Lilly and was holding her hand again. Lilly heard a voice and so did Brian. They walked into the big theater and it was a wonderful sight. The theater was big as anything with hundreds of people sitting down and watching. Some people in tears. Some people were with their families and others were alone. Lilly remembered how her family and her used to go everywhere together but this time was different. She was alone, without her family. The play of the Lion and the King was going on. It was fantastic. It almost put Lilly to tears, but Brian knew there was no time to waste. Lilly could feel that her hand was being tugged by Brian. "Come on Lilly. Lets go. We don’t have any time." Brian hissed as he pulled Lilly away from the stage.
Amy and Jack were still hidden but this time in the theater. Amy saw the stage as well but was not as emotionally attached as Lilly was. Jack and Amy decided to find their own capsule, on their own. Amy started leading Jack up the shinny wooden stairs. Their steps echoing through the building with each step they made. 1, 2, 3 steps they were going up. Jack was close behind her and looking around the small room when they made it to the top. They couldn’t see anything, it was entirely too dark for any human to see. Jack started groping for the light switch, he couldn’t find it. "Amy, give me the cell phone." Amy understood why. The light from the cell phone would help them look around. Jack looked in a direction of the room before he could even get the cell phone and said, "This is not the right room." What Jack saw was the blue blinking light and that’s all he needed to know that this was not the right room. "Amy look to your right." Amy looked over and she too saw the flashing blue light. Ring Ring.
The phone was ringing and Amy pressed the talk button and the phone which she was already holding. "Hello.." Amy knew who it was before he could even say anything. "Ah, Amy nice to hear your voice again. That was a nice trick, following Lilly and Brian like that. Unfortunately this is not the correct room for you. This room contains the capsule for Lilly and Brian. I suggest you get moving and go find yours. Good luck." The phone light went out and Amy put the phone back into her pocket. "Jack, lets get going. Nothing here is for us." Jack walked back out the door they came in and started walking back down the stairs.
Brian and Lilly walked around for a long time now and found nothing. Lots and lots of nothing. They thought they went in every room, but still found nothing. "Lilly, remember those stairs to our right when we first walked in?" Brian said looking at Lilly. Lilly was thinking and trying to recall what had happened when they got there. "Yes, I do. I remember." Lilly responded enthusiastically. "It is our last chance other wise we might end up being the ones stuck here forever." Lilly nodded and started following Brian.
Brian and Lilly stopped to see what they feared. There they stood right in front of them. Amy and Jack. Jack and Amy saw them as well. Brian pulled out his knife and Lilly backed up from Jack as he pulled out his. "Jack, Brian, Stop!" Lilly yelled as she jumped in front of Brian. "I said stop." Lilly shouted again standing in front of Brian. "Lilly, move." Brian pushed Lilly out of the way and swung the knife at Jack.. "I thought we were all best friends!" Amy was screaming now and Amy and Lilly were both crying as Jack and Brian went at each other with the pocket knifes.
Amy saw Jack was about to hit Brian hard. Amy still had a crush on Brian even though she knew it could never be. Amy charged at Jack getting ready to knock him down. Amy hit Jack hard from the side as Jack fell to the floor and dropped his knife. Jack moaned in pain as he hit the floor. Amy was still crying and backed up from Jack. "Brian and Lilly go now." She was speaking through her tears. "Go."
Brian grabbed Lilly’s hand and started taking her up the stairs. Lilly looked back to see Amy kneeling besides Jack crying with her hands over her face. Brian and Lilly kept going, skipping steps. They were almost at the top. Brian opened the door and Lilly and him ran into the dark. Brian stopped to look around, he saw the flashing blue light and started walking towards it.
Ring Ring. The phone was ringing right before Brian got to the capsule. "Hi Lilly." It was obvious who was on the phone. Congratulations. You guys are most likely to win. I just hope you know this means leaving your friends behind forever. Also, you may be wondering why I did this to all of you. Well it is simple. When I was a kid. Only about 8 years old. All of your parents killed my parents. Your parents were driving home one night. Before you were even born. They crashed into my parents car and killed them. Both of them. Your parents all got away easy. So what more better way than to punish their kids? Exactly. How does it feel? Well now you know why I did this. Mwahahaha. Goodbye!" Brian reached the blue light and bent down. He closed his eyes and his hands started to shake as he picked up the capsule and opened it. Brian pulled out two keys. One for Lilly one for himself. Brian handed one of the keys to Lilly. "This is it." Brian said as he leaned in and kissed Lilly. Lilly blushed in the darkness. "Goodbye." Lilly and Brian stuck the key into the keyhole of their bracelets.
Lilly and Brian thought they were going blind. A white light was all they could see. Lilly and Brian started feeling dizzy and passed out on the floor. When Lilly awoke she was laying on the ground outside of her house. She stood up, the bracelet was gone and it felt good to be back home. Lilly looked around at her house. Her parents car was gone but besides that everything seemed normal. The birds were chirping and it was a perfectly sunny day outside. She walked up to the doorstep of her house and tried to open the door. It was locked. Lilly looked underneath the doormat for the hidden key. She picked it up and put it into the keyhole. The door clicked and swung open. Lilly dropped the key and looked inside. Nothing was there, her house was empty. Lilly walked inside her footsteps echoing through the empty house. "Mom!" Lilly called, there was no answer. "Dad!" Once again no answer.
Lilly started crying and ran back outside. She saw the two newspapers laying on the grass which needed to be mowed. Lilly picked up the news paper for today and almost fainted at what she read. What was on the front page would change her life. "Parents of two die in a car crash on their way home from the hospital." Lilly saw the photo of her parents and their car in the news paper. She was scared and frightened. Lilly would never get to see her family again. She could not stop crying. Her tears were streaming down her cheeks glistening in the sunlight.
Lilly continued reading one part over and over. "Parents of two." Lilly then realized that her parents must have had the baby while she was gone. Lilly had a brother out there somewhere. Lilly did not know what to do but cry.
-12 years later-
Lilly was shopping in a super market one day for food. She was walking down the milk isle and grabbed a gallon of whole milk. Lilly was about 26 now and had her own house and was an Elementary School teacher. After she found out her parents dies she was sent to a private school and because of the tragedy they gave her a scholarship for college. Lilly never saw here younger brother or Brian again. She was trying to get over everything that happened. What’s done is done. Lilly hasn’t thought about the kidnaping since she was 17. Know everything was about to change all over again.
Lilly walked to the check out lane to buy her food and leave. Soon another man and his son were waiting in line behind her. The man introduced himself. "Hi I’m Brian." The man said and stuck out his hand. Lilly stared at him for a good while and noticed he was kind of short. Lilly shook the man’s hand and said, "Im Lilly, very pleased to meet you." The man named Brian was looking at her. "Have we ever met?" He asked as he loaded his items onto the counter. Lilly looked back, "I don’t think so." She didn’t want to remember she thought. It could not be him.
"Dad, did you get the good cereal?" The man looked down at his son and patted his head. "Yes Chase I did. I got your favorite." Lilly turned her head at the name Chase. Brian said, "Im so sorry, I forgot to introduce my son. Well he is not really my son I adopted him. His name is Chase. Chase meet Lilly." Chase stepped out from behind Brian. "Hiya, nice to meet you." The kid said and shook her hand. Lilly laughed. "Your really cute." Chase laughed back. "Thank you ma’am."
Lilly paid for her food. "Well Brian and Chase it was nice meeting you." Brian and Chase looked at Lilly as she left and they both waved. "Goodbye!" They shouted as Lilly walked out of the store. Little did Lilly know, Brian was once her best friend and Chase was her brother.