[EDIT: 2/15/2018]
Cody and Trent stared at the cryptic home. The wind was picking up, and the thunder was getting louder. There was a wooden hanging bench set that was next to the entrance of the back porch, the wind swinging it slightly, letting it have an eerie, yet ominous feel to it.
Cody took a deep breath.
Was he scared? Heck yes he was. But knowing he had Trent by his side with his gun, he feels somewhat a bit safe.
Besides...he has to find Gwen. He has to know if she's still alive.
"Hey, Cody," Trent said, breaking out of the tech geek's thoughts.
"Huh? What?" he asked.
"Maybe we should call the authorities," Trent said as he put his gun away in the waistline of his jeans and fished his phone out of his right pocket.
Cody blinked. "Oh...yeah! That's...that's actually a good idea." Why didn't he think of that?
Trent chuckled. "Hey, it just hit me too. That way, we won't run into any-" he stopped talking once he activated his phone. "...Huh."
"'Huh'? What do you mean 'huh'?" Cody asked, feeling like he wasn't gonna like the answer.
"It's just...my phone's...kind of acting up," Trent stated.
"It is?" Cody looked over Trent's phone.
It was glitching profusely.
"Whoa, that's...odd," Cody said with unease.
"Yeah..." Trent turned to his friend. "Cody, try your phone."
Cody did just that and fished his phone out of his right pocket. He turned it on...
...It was glitching as well.
Eyes widening, he softly says, "What the...?"
He tried to push the home button, but it didn't do anything. The phone's screen just kept spazzing. The time was even wrong.
"...Trent...something's going on here." Cody said in dread.
"You don't have to tell me twice, buddy." Trent was starting to feel uneasy as well.
Cody turned back to the house. The lights in the house looked like they were all out, it was gonna storm outside soon, and Gwen could be in potentially grave danger.
He pursed his lips.
Thunder clapped once more.
Cody felt a hand on his left shoulder, startling him. He turned his head, seeing that it was just Trent.
"Cody...do you think we should move forward?" Trent asked him, his expression grave.
The tech geek turned his attention back to the home...
'...We're the only ones that can save Gwen, aren't we?'
He felt a little anxious about this...but his eyes narrowed with determination.
"...We should. We need to keep going. We've been wasting too much time already." Cody said with resolute.
Trent nodded. He let go of Cody's shoulder, put his phone in his right pocket and got his gun out of his jean waistline with the same hand. "Then we should be ready for whoever comes at us."
Cody nodded as well. He put his phone in his right pocket and fished something in his left pocket; a small flashlight.
Trent smirked. "Come prepared?"
Cody smirked as well. "Don't doubt the Codemeister."
They soon advanced towards the back porch, passing the wooden hanging bench as it kept swinging from the wind, making it eerier than it should be. They entered the porch, the sound of shoddy age-old rustic wood clomping onto their shoes. Taking a left to go to the far left entrance of the house, they walked further to soon see a closed door.
Trent readied the gun in his right hand, pointing it upward.
Cody went to the door first. He gulped, reaching slowly for the doorknob and placing his hand on it...
He paused, not turning it.
"...Do you want me to go first, Cody? I do have a gun." Trent softly asked and advised him.
Cody stared at the door for a couple of seconds, and after much little thought, he nodded and said to him in a quiet voice. "If that's okay."
Trent nodded. Cody stepped out of the way as Trent went in front of the door. Readying his gun, he took a deep breath. To be honest, he was scared as much as Cody was. But he's doing this for two people; Gwen and Cody.
He slowly reached for the doorknob...turned it...
…And swung it open, pointing the gun at whatever could be waiting behind the door.
...No one...
Just pitch darkness.
With a sigh of relief, but kind of uncomfortable by the pitch blackness inside, Trent turned to Cody. "Okay, man. Maybe it's a good time to use that flashlight."
Cody nodded. "I'm on it."
He stepped beside Trent and turned on the flashlight.
It looked like a back foyer. There was another door ahead that was closed also.
Cody sighed. "Great. Another door."
Trent hummed. "Well...we should keep moving then," he advised.
They entered the home, leaving the door opened. They approached the other door, Trent once again readying his gun. The musician opened it...
Natural light flooded in, as it appeared to be a hallway. There was what looked to be a wooden storage cabinet at the end of it, a window behind it. At the right, an opening to another room was there.
They entered the hallway. Cody closed the entrance to the hallway door behind him just in case.
As they kept going, they saw that the hallway walls looked like they were in disrepair. The wallpaper looked dirty and some of it was peeled off, showing the bare wooden bones of the house. The ceiling also looked to be in disrepair. Two lone shutter doors were resting against the left and right side of the wall, while there were paintings on each side of the walls. The paintings almost looked simple, but yet still held a sinister vibe to it as they walked through the hall.
They went further down the hall, Cody closely behind Trent.
As they neared the cabinet, it looked like it was yellow taped haphazardly on the doors, almost as if someone was keeping something inside it.
They ignored it for now and took a right to enter what looked to be a kitchen.
...A dirty, disgusting, unkempt kitchen.
More natural light came into the kitchen, showing the disarray of the area. The walls in the kitchen looked worse than in the hallway, as well as the ceiling, where a lone fan was hanging above a table, four chairs being situated near it. To the left, was a sink, in it and its counters full of dirty dishes, pots, and pans. There was a wooden stand with a microwave, to its right a fridge next to it. On the right side of the kitchen, there were two cabinets, all rotted and rusted looking, as well as wooden planks seem to be leaning against them. Up ahead, where the table is placed in the middle of the kitchen, a partly opened oven was placed a little to the left, adjacent to a counter, where it was in front of the side of the fridge.
As they moved into the kitchen, they were greeted by a horrid stench. On the table, there were plates filled with remains of what looked like an eaten spoiled chicken breast, some ham, and...who knows what else. There was a brown pot with its lid closed at the bottom edge of the table, while there was a newspaper on the far upper end of the table. Lastly, an even more peculiar thing that both men caught, was that there seem to be food cans lying on the floor everywhere.
"Oh my gosh..." Cody said as he gagged at the smell surrounding the kitchen.
Trent grimaced at the odor. "These guys definitely don't know how to clean up."
As they advanced further into the kitchen, Trent went around the table to check the newspaper, while Cody walked up to the brown pot. The tech geek noticed that there were cockroaches on the table near the pot, which his face contorted in disgust. Curious, however, he lifted the handle of the lid with his right hand to look inside the pot.
The stench overflowed him as he gagged again. He looked inside the pot, the unappetizing brown slop that's supposed to pass as gumbo, looking unrecognizable and just plain revolting. What contents he could make out looked like pieces of rotten meat, as well as probably some insects that were unlucky enough to be in this abomination.
He felt something crawl on the hand that was holding the lid. Startled, he let go of the lid on the table, letting it rest on its bottom side as he saw a lone cockroach crawling up on the palm of his hand.
"Ah!" he quickly swatted the roach off his hand. Once it was off, he shivered. "Ugh...that's just gross."
Trent, however, didn't pay attention to Cody. He instead said to him, "Cody. Come take look at this for a second."
Curious as to what his friend found, Cody went around the table and stood beside him. Trent was looking down at the newspaper on the table intently.
"Read the front of this," Trent told Cody as he pointed at the newspaper.
The tech geek did just that, reading the main article of the local parish newspaper. "...Over 20 missing in 2 years?" Cody said in wide-eyed shock.
Trent nodded, his eyes holding a grim look to them. "...I'm having a feeling this place has something to do with it."
Cody stood there, having that feeling of dread creeping up on him as he gulped. Has this property been kidnapping random strangers? If so, then why?
Could...could Gwen be one of them?
"Cody...do you...still want to keep going?" Trent asked him, feeling his friend's unease.
Any logical person would say 'no', but...
Gwen panted, her voice cracking as she spoke. "I love you, Cody."
"...We've come this far." Cody said, his tone neutral. He turned to Trent. "If Gwen is still alive, we can't abandon her...we need to keep moving."
Trent smirked softly. "Got your back, buddy."
Cody nodded a small smile, appreciating Trent's company.
They turn around away from the table as they walked out of the kitchen, towards another part of the house. The ceiling just looked like it was falling apart and all the wallpaper of the house was practically peeling off, everything looking like it's in shambles. To their left, it seems to be the front of the house, but the front entrance is blocked by a large knocked over bookcase, as well as some other planks of wood that are strewn across the door. There were also white bags of trash scattered around, under the bookcase, and around it. The most strange thing though, was that the door behind the knocked over bookcase was all boarded up...almost as if whoever lives here was trying to keep them in...
They looked to their right to see a staircase leading up to the second floor. Further ahead past the staircase was a cabinet, a vanity mirror to the left wall, and to the right, a small room was under the stairs. Past all of that, there was a small hallway that has a door at the end of it.
Trent was the first to ask. "So...which way?"
Cody contemplated on it, looking at the choices of which path they should take. "...Maybe..." he looked upstairs. "...Wait here, Trent. I'm going to take a look upstairs."
"Are you sure?" Trent asked with a frown.
"Yeah...I'll call you if I see anything." And with that, Cody went up the stairs. The stairs made several creaking noises as he climbed up them in a slow and steady fashion.
Once he reached the top, it looked like a dark, old, molded, crusty room with a support beam. He turned on his flashlight to see better.
But in doing that, he found something interesting.
The support beam...has a button switch on it.
Cody blinked.
The light above the button was flashing red. Curious, he went up to the switch. It said 'STAIRS'.
Confused, but once again, curious, Cody pushed the button with his hand.
...Nothing happened.
Cody frowned. "Guess that means it doesn't work," he mumbled. When looking to his right though, he saw another area.
He walked around the support beam and saw a chair, a desk with a lamp on it and a cabinet next to the right.
The tech geek shined the light on the cabinet.
On the top of it...was a VCR videotape.
Gazing at it for a moment, Cody went over to it and picked up the videotape.
It was labeled 'Derelict House Footage'...
"Cody?" called out Trent.
"I found something." Cody instantly informed.
"You did?"
"Yeah. I'm coming down."
And with that, Cody went down the stairs, turned his flashlight off and show Trent what he found.
"A videotape?" Trent queried.
"Yeah..." Cody looked over to his right to where the other hallway is. "Come on. Let's keep moving."
Not arguing with that, Trent and Cody went on ahead past the staircase, past the small storage room underneath the stairs, which housed a shelf that carried tool boxes and...a rusty chainsaw.
They both saw the electrical power driven tool and couldn't help but have a foreboding feeling in their stomachs when they saw that.
Cody shook his head at any grim thoughts concerning the chainsaw, as well as Trent. Not dwelling on that any further, they still kept moving, reaching the small hall. There was another door to a room to their right. Cody still checked the door up ahead however as he fiddled with the doorknob.
It was locked.
He frowned. Why would this door be locked?
"Cody."
Cody turned to Trent who opened the other door in the hall.
"I think I found a TV in here." the musician informed. "I also might need your flashlight."
Coming over to where Trent is, he turned on his flashlight.
The room looked like a living area. The bottom of the room has surrounding square wooden paneling and there were two plush leather chairs, a plush leather couch. There was a coffee table in the middle of it of the couch and chairs, whereas a piano was on the right side of the wall. Further in the back left side of the wall, was a fireplace, and next to its right was a large bookcase. There were bordered up windows to the left as well, some of the natural light flowing in as best as it could. On the right side corner of the room, was an old medium box-sized looking TV, the static was apparent on the screen. But what caught both men's eyes was that there is a VCR on top of the TV.
As they close in on the television, Cody spot something on the coffee table. He shined the flashlight on it.
It was a picture.
"Wait, Trent..."
Trent stopped. "What?"
Cody stared down at the picture. Kneeling down, he placed the tape down on the table and picked up the photo.
His eyes widened in shock.
"Oh my gosh...this is Gwen."
"What!?" Trent came over to where Cody was. They looked at the picture as Cody shined the light on it.
It was a black and white enlarged photo of a woman sitting. Her attire seems to be a little dark, but what made Cody realized it was Gwen was that her face was being shown in the picture. Her hair almost looked longer, but her face was what the tech geek recognize the most. What frightened Cody though, was that Gwen looked like she was sedated.
Trent's eyes widened in shock as well. "Oh man..."
Cody was starting to breathe heavily, trying to calm himself. "Just...just what is doing this to her?"
It was then he looked at the videotape on the table. Dropping the photo on the table and picking up the tape, he stood up, his eyes narrowing at it as he shone his flashlight on it.
"...I think this is here for a reason."
Trent glanced at the tape and back at Cody.
Cody stood silent. After a moment of staring at the tape, he turned around and went to the VCR above the TV. He stopped.
He's afraid of what he'll possibly see...
"Hey...Cody."
The tech geek turned his head at Trent.
Trent had an understanding frown on his face, almost as if he's encouraging him to put the tape in. "...We come this far."
...Cody nodded. "Yeah...there's no turning back now."
He turned his head back to the TV and insert the tape into the VCR. The TV turned on, and they waited until the TV accepts the tape.
Once it accepted it, the screen played out the name of the recording.
"Derelict House"
Dulvey Haunted House – Rehearsal
Cody looked at the date. "Wait a minute...this was filmed at least a month ago."
Trent took notice of this too. "Whoa...so they've been missing for some time as well?"
"We'll find out," said Cody. He looked at the name belonging to the video. "...Clancy Javis?" he asked with a raised brow.
Raising an eyebrow at that as well, Trent said what was on his friend's mind. "Strange name,"
They kept watching the video...
...It was starting...only to see a face pop up.
"Boo!"
Trent and Cody jumped. Soon though, Cody recognize who the face was.
"That's Chris!"
"Whoa...it's really him," Trent said baffled. "...And yet his face still looks the same."
Cody gave out a small chuckle.
"Give me a break, Chris." said the taller short blonde haired guy with a short-sleeved shirt and jeans as he readjusted the tie on Chris, which he was wearing a suit.
"Hey, I only work with professionals," complained Chris. "Speaking of which, make sure the sound is right this time. I don't want a repeat of Amarillo."
Cody snorted. "Well, he certainly sounds the same."
"That was two freaking years ago!" the blonde guy says as Chris walks up to a building with a turned-on flashlight...which looks like the same house Cody and Trent are in now.
"I don't do ADR!" Chris calls out to him as he walked further. The guy waved the cameraman(who was probably Clancy) to follow them.
As they walked to the house, Chris spoke to the guy 'quietly' "This new guy? I'm not feeling it."
The guy sighed. "Again?"
"Just don't be surprised if we have to make a change."
"Hey, I'm right here!" said the cameraman.
"Hey, hey, don't breathe down on us, man!" Chris said as he turned around to face the camera. He turned to the guy next to him. "What do I tell you, Andre?"
The man named Andre shook his head and turned to Clancy and mouthed a "Sorry,".
As they entered the porch, Chris says, "New plan. We do a walkthrough of the inside first, then we shoot the intro."
"Just like we always do." Andre rolled his eyes. "Just try to say the show's name this time?"
"Yeah, sure thing!" Chris said as he shone the flashlight on his face. "'Tonight on Spook Houses; another worthless crappy hellhole!' Happy?"
Trent snickered. "Someone's not happy with their new job."
Andre just threw his hands up in exasperation. "Ecstatic."
As they walked to the same closed door that Cody and Trent went into, Chris asked Clancy. "Are we rolling?"
Clancy seemed to make a nod as Chris says. "Alright, let's go." The former reality TV show host tried to open the door as he handled the doorknob. It seemed to not open.
"Aw come on, you piece of crap..." Chris said in frustration.
"Get outta the way." Andre pushed Chris away, fiddling with the doorknob himself.
"It's locked!" Chris argued. But then Andre decided to go through a different approach and kick the door open. Chris just stood there, shrugged, and walked in.
Andre just looked at him in disbelief and said in sarcasm. "After you."
As they entered the home, Chris asked Andre. "So, why are we in hell this time?"
"Do you ever prep?"
"What's to prep? Crappy house. Spooky sounds. Ooh, is it haunted?"
Andre sighed.
As they went further down the hallway, Chris was once again complaining. "Damn, man...this sucks. I was once a big shot reality TV show host, you know?"
"Seriously, Chris? Are you still going keep going on about this every time we do an episode?" Andre asked in annoyance.
"Hey! I was very well known, I'll have you know!"
Andre scoffed. "Only in Canada,"
"What was that?"
"...Nothing."
They were close to the kitchen entrance.
"Well, what's the story, Andre?" Chris asked.
"Abandoned farmhouse. Missing family. Foul play suspected." Andre listed. "The usual."
"Abandoned farmhouse? Missing family?" Cody pondered.
"Huh. How long did you say this place has been abandoned?" Chris asked.
"Three years," Andre confirmed.
"Three years? That's...that's when Gwen went missing." Trent speculated.
His gaze still intent on the screen, Cody nodded. "Yeah..."
"Clancy! Get a shot of this! This would make a great cutaway." Chris told Clancy as the cameraman took a shot at the cabinets. "So...Hillbilly Joe and his family go missing-"
"Not hillbillies, Chris, the Bakers. Jack and Marguerite Baker...and they were quiet, not backward." Andre corrected the former TD host. "Lot of bad rumors about their son Lucas. Bad seed apparently."
The conversation left at that as Clancy was filming the kitchen, let it be the table, sink, fridge, and microwave. He soon went back to the two cabinets and opened one of them to see if anything was inside. Seeing that there is nothing, he closed it, only to hear a 'squishing' sound.
"Ah, crap!" Chris exclaimed. Clancy turned the camera to Chris, seemingly stepping on some feces'. "I knew I shouldn't have worn my good shoes!" Chris whined. He then looked up at a painting. "...Oh hey...this could make a great backdrop. Hey Andre, what do you think?"
...There was silence.
"...Andre?" Chris shined his flashlight around the kitchen. "Andre." Clancy started to look around as well with the light on his camera. "Andre!" Chris called out one last time. "Clancy, did you see where Andre went?"
"Um...sorry, I was filming."
A groan came from Chris. "Son of a bitch..." Chris then used his flashlight to guide him as Clancy followed him. "Andre!"
They were soon in the foyer with the staircase.
"Where is he!?" asked Chris as he shone the light, looking for Andre. "Un-freaking-believable! This is the last time I work with that guy! I mean, producers, they come and go, but a good cameraman like you, Clancy? You stick with me."
They could hear Clancy mumbling, "Oh, now I'm a good cameraman..."
Soon, they walked into the same small hallway and were about to pass the door to the room that both Cody and Trent are in now. Then...they heard a noise.
Startled, Chris and Clancy froze. It sounded like some sort of loud door was closing.
Turning to the door where the sound came from, Chris looked at it in confusion. "Whoa...what...what was that? Did you hear that?"
"Y-Yeah..." Clancy replied.
As the two kept watching the tape, Cody was beginning to not like where this was heading...
"Andre?" Chris called out.
There was no answer.
Chris approached the door, reaching for the doorknob and opened it.
"Andre?"
As they entered the room, Chris' flashlight shone all over the living area. There wasn't any sign of Andre. "Dude...where the hell is he?"
They passed the chairs, the piano, and the TV that was on the small table.
"Andre, where are you man!?" Chris called, getting a little worried. He flashed the flashlight around the room. "Just what is...?" He then flashed the light at the fireplace. Pausing for a second, he looked at it...
"Wait a minute..." Chris steadily walked over to it.
"What?" Clancy asked, worried.
"...What the hell?" Chris went closer...he then reached his hand underneath the fireplace. It looked like he was pulling something.
A peculiar sound was made. It sounded like...a small door just opened.
Something caught Clancy's eye to the right. One of the square wooden paneling next to the bookcase near the fireplace...was opened ajar.
It was a door to a crawlspace.
Both Cody and Trent's eyes widened at this reveal.
"Whoa...C-Chris, check this out!" Clancy stuttered.
Chris saw what Clancy was looking at as he flashed the light on it.
"...What the? ...Oh hell no. No. No, no, no, no man. Nah uh. No. You gotta be kidding me here."
Clancy turned the camera onto Chris' shocked expression.
After registering what just happened, Chris shook his head to clear out on what he needs to say. "Okay, y-you know what? New deal. W-We find Andre, and we go. I mean, screw this show."
"Uh...y-yeah. That-that sounds like a plan." Clancy agreed.
Chris looked at the small door for a couple of seconds. He took a deep breath and began to walk over to the crawlspace. He squatted and shuffled to the opening, with Clancy right behind him.
They soon entered a different room. It was a narrow confined space, but at their right...there was a hole...with a ladder that was leading down somewhere.
"Oh man..." Chris said, his tone starting to feel a little uneasy.
"I-I thought this house was abandoned?" Clancy stated, his tone sounding really anxious as well.
Chris audibly gulped. "Uh...um...o-okay...alright...okay..." they neared the hole with the ladder. The former TD host stopped in front of it hesitantly, turning to Clancy as he spoke, "Hey! Um...c-can you go first?"
"What!?" Clancy exclaimed incredulously.
"I mean, hey, don't worry, I'll follow ya! I just...need you to film my hero shot for when I come down! Heh..."
Clancy just stared at him, probably in disbelief.
Chris cleared his throat. "I mean, come on man, we gotta save Andre from...who or whatever is in...here."
"...I'm only doing this for Andre," Clancy muttered, as he hooked his camera to his headpiece.
"Cool! Okay! Don't worry, I'll be right behind ya!" Chris reassured.
Clancy looked down at the latter and into the hole. He took a deep breath and began to put a foot on one of the steps. He began descending down the long latter...
Once he reached the bottom(it had been a long way down), he turned around.
The light shone what appeared to be a basement-like area, with a stone column along with some stuff covered by tarps.
But what caught Clancy's attention...was that he found Andre straight ahead, back turned and in front of the wall...
"What do you see? What is it?" Chris called from above.
Clancy, mustering up the courage, went over to Andre. Apparently, the producer didn't hear them as he still stood there with his back facing Clancy.
"Andre? ...Dude?" Clancy said in unease.
Once he got closer, he put his hand on Andre's left shoulder...
But soon, Andre's weight gave way, as it's revealed that his mouth was shoved on a metal pipe. There was a 'slurp' sound and Andre went limp.
Clancy made a horrified gasp.
Andre's face was stark white, his bottom lip, mouth, chin, and neck all running down with wet blood. There was also blood dripping from his nose and his eyes.
His whole body fell onto Clancy, as he tumbled to the ground, with the back of Andre's head on his stomach.
The camera has a close up look of Andre, his eyes looking dull and lifeless...
He was dead.
Clancy started to breathe heavily in horror, hyperventilating as he stared at Andre's dead face.
It was then he heard something...
Footsteps.
At the camera's upper left corner, there was someone approaching.
A pair of baggy pants and mud boots were coming towards Clancy.
"No, oh shit, no! NO! NOOO-"
There was static...
And the video ends.
The two men looked at the TV screen, their eyes widened in shock...
"...Cody...someone is definitely here." Trent said, stating the obvious.
Cody didn't say anything for a bit.
Trent turned to Cody in concern. "Cody?"
...It was then Cody quietly turned around and walked towards the fireplace.
"Cody?" he said his name again.
He paused as he shone his flashlight at a picture that was above the mantle of it.
"...That must be the missing family."
Trent blinked. "What?"
Cody squatted and looked for whatever activated the crawlspace.
He found a lever handle.
"Cody?" Trent inquired once more.
He reached up and gave the lever a pull.
It made the same opening sound, indicating that the crawlspace door had been opened. Trent turned to the opened door and back at Cody, who got up and turned to Trent, his face serious.
"...We gotta keep moving," he said in determination.
Trent gazed at him...he nodded, putting his gun in the waistline of his jeans. "I'm with you, man."
Cody took a deep breath through his nose and glanced at the slightly ajar crawlspace.
"You know..." Trent began to say as Cody broke eye contact from the secret door to stare at him. "No sane person would do this."
Cody frowned at that.
Trent smirked though. "But I really admire that you would really go this far for Gwen. Gwen is lucky to have someone like you to care for her."
The tech geek's lips formed into a smile.
"Plus, I'm ready to save her as well. Whoever is down there, we need to be on full alert."
Cody nodded. "Right..." He turned his attention to the opened crawl-space. "Well, let's do this."
Cody went first as he pushed the secret door to let them have an entryway. Before Trent could begin following him though, he went up to the fireplace to look at the picture that Cody was talking about a while ago.
From the light that was shing through, it looked to be an old family photo; a man and a woman, with their two children; a boy, and a girl, sitting on the couch together.
"Trent?"
The musician turned to the voice. "Sorry, coming."
When Trent entered the secret room, the same hole with the same latter greeted them.
Cody and Trent advanced over to the hole, preparing themselves for what could be waiting down there.
It was then, Cody could only think one thought.
'Don't worry, Gwen...we're coming.'
*BONUS*
Kitchen
A month ago...
...Chris woke up in a groggy state.
"Ugh...what...?"
Getting his bearings, he tried to move...but he couldn't. Struggling, he felt like his whole body was tied up around the chest. The only thing that he could move was his arms, but even then, something felt constricting on them.
He looked down at his arms to see that his wrists were all tied up as well.
"W-What?" Chris said, slightly panicked. He looked up.
There was a camera on its tripod, staring right at him.
Chris took in his surroundings frantically. It looked like they were in the kitchen of the house. He could see a lamp on the floor, illuminating the area a bit, and right next to it was a knife. Immediately though, he could see Clancy laying on his side next to the fridge, a little further away from the lamp and knife.
The former TV show host soon realized that he was strapped to a chair, his ankles tied up as well.
"Oh, shit..." he frightfully whispers. Usually, Chris felt like he was in control of these certain type of situations whenever he was back on Total Drama...now, it seems he is in no way in control of what is happening right now. And that scares him...
Everything is quiet...Chris does not like the quiet.
He turned his head to Clancy, who hasn't moved. "Hey...hey...hey!" he whispered loudly.
Clancy didn't move.
'Oh come on, don't tell me he's dead!'
Clancy didn't look like he was in any critical damage. He could just be knocked out. He glanced at the knife that was near the lamp.
'Okay...maybe if I can wake Clancy up, he can get the knife and cut these ropes...damn, I cannot believe this is happening to me!'
He had to make some noise to wake the cameraman up. Looking at the camera on the tripod, he had an idea. He raised his wrist bounded hands and tried to lightly touch it. It was far from where he was sitting, not to mention he was tied to a chair.
"Come on...just a little more," he whispered.
His knuckles grazed the leg of the tripod forward. He made a slight push...
The camera tripod leaned back. It soon knocked over, making a bit of a sound.
Chris was wondering if doing that was even a good idea.
But his doubts were proven wrong when he saw Clancy stirring.
Feeling relieved, Chris whispered to him. "Hey! Hey Clancy!"
Clancy woke up, getting up on his knees. He took a glance around the place, looking disoriented.
"What-" he began to say in his normal tone of voice.
"Shhh!" Chris hushed him.
Clancy turned to the source of the sound. Eyes widening, he said, "Chris?"
"Yeah. Hurry, grab the knife. Cut me loose so we can get the hell out of here!" he instructed while whispering loudly for him to hear.
Clancy glanced at the knife that was near the lamp. Not wasting time, he struggled to get up as he sluggishly walked while on bending knees. As he neared the knife, he clumsily knocked over the lamp.
"Oh damn it, come on!" Chris quietly exclaimed.
"Sorry..." Clancy said in a hushed tone. He was probably still out of it. He grabbed the knife with both hands and proceeded to walk up to the chair bounded Chris.
"Here, cut the ropes on my wrists!" Chris instructed in a rush.
Clancy knelt down in front of Chris and started to use the knife to cut the portion of the rope that was in between his wrists.
He kept sawing the knife on the rope.
"Come on, come on!" Chris whispered in frustration.
"I'm trying!" Clancy said in equal hushed frustration. "Just hold still!"
As he kept cutting the rope on Chris' wrists, his grip went loose and he dropped the knife.
"Son of a-would you hurry it up!?" Chris frantically and quietly said through clenched teeth.
"You try doing this without accidentally cutting someone's-" Clancy said in irritation but was cut off.
A loud creaking sound came from somewhere...
Clancy turned his head back at the sound. Chris gazed into the pitch darkness in front of him, his face expressing fear and worry.
...It got quiet.
Feeling anxious, Clancy picked up the knife and didn't waste any more time, turning back to Chris and cutting the ropes as fast as he can.
"Come on...come on, we got to get out of here," Chris whispered steadily, but his tone still laced with slight panic.
Clancy nodded, agreeing with Chris for once as he cut the ropes with the knife. He almost got one rope done...
Until someone silently and quickly came up from behind Clancy.
Chris' eyes dilated, his mouth agape in horror.
"Clancy..."
"I'm trying," Clancy said as he looked like he was about to cut the rope.
The person behind Clancy, who looked female, was holding a hatchet in her right hand.
"Clancy!" Chris repeated his name more forcefully this time.
"What, man-"
Then the woman shoved the hatchet into Clancy's back, protruding out of his chest.
"AAGH!" Clancy exclaimed in pain, dropping the knife.
The cameraman gurgled as blood came out of his mouth, the stab wound emitting blood out of him, staining his shirt. The woman took the hatchet out of him, as Clancy tilted over to his right, and landed on his side.
Chris, eyes widened, started to hyperventilate.
But upon quick closer inspection of the woman, he recognized her face.
His mouth dropped in shock.
"Wait-GWEN!?"
The woman, who was in fact, Gwen, turned her attention to Chris. She appeared feral, her teeth gritting, and her eyes looking crazy. But what was most noticeable, even in the dim light, was that her skin was all gray. Gwen growled, looking like she has the intent to kill.
"Whoa, whoa!" Chris said in his normal tone of voice. "Gwen, h-hey! U-Uh...how-how ya been? D-Didn't expect you to be here!" he stuttered, trying to put on his best showman's smile, almost failing as fear was slowly creeping up on his features.
Gwen just glared at him with ragged breaths. Hand tightening on the hatchet, she raised it up.
Chris' showman-like 'charm' dropped instantly. "W-wait, no! No! NO!" he panicked.
Gwen slammed the hatchet blade right on Chris' left leg.
"AAAAAAH!" Chris yelled in agony.
After keeping the knife in his leg for about three seconds, she roughly got the blade out of his leg. Chris grunted and panted in pain, trying to somehow ease the stinging sensation that was thrust onto him.
Still raggedly breathing, Gwen reared back the hatchet to try to stab Chris fully.
But then, Gwen shook her head, closing her crazed eyes, as she placed her left hand on her forehead.
"Wha...what?" Gwen said, opening her eyes. They looked normal again, but they soon widened in shock as she looked down at the wound she inflicted on him. She then looked up at the former TV host. "Chris?"
"OH NOW YOU RECOGNIZE ME!?" Chris screamed, evident that he was still in pain.
Gwen, staggering back a little, looked horrified at this scenario, and began apologizing. "Oh Chris...I-I'm so sorry, it's...it's not me! Wh-what are...what are you doing here!?"
"I'M BEGINNING TO WONDER THAT MYSELF!" Chris yelled in anger. "AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
"I...I-" Gwen tried to explain, but then someone tackled her.
It was Clancy, still alive and breathing.
"Ah!" Gwen exclaimed.
Clancy pushed her into the dark area of the kitchen. Chris could hear a struggle going on...
He then heard a ragged yell, the yell sounding like it was coming from Gwen.
He could hear sounds of stabbing...
More stabbing...
...It went silent...
Chris, his leg still hurting from the hatchet wound, gasped and panted.
After a moment of agonized waiting, he called out. "Gwen!? Clancy!?"
...Something flew across the room, bouncing off a wall and rolling onto the ground...
Chris gazed at it...
His eyes dilated in terror.
He started to hyperventilate once again when he can identify what it was...or rather, who it was.
The object...was Clancy's dismembered head.
"Oh...oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh, SHIT!" Chris then began to yell. "SOMEONE!? ANYONE!? HELP! HELP!"
He heard shuffling from inside the darkness.
Not knowing what to do, he did the only one thing he could do; beg for his life.
"Gwen? Gwen...? Okay, look, I'm...I'm really sorry! I was a sadistic host, and I really shouldn't have taken pleasure in all the turmoil I caused you kids during those challenges! Really, I am!"
The shuffling continues...until Gwen slowly came into the light. Her skin looks...normal. Or as normal as her pale skin would have looked.
Gwen's expression, however, looked alarmed, her hand covering her mouth as if she processed the situation. One look at the dismembered head of Clancy made her gasp in horror.
"Oh...oh my gosh..." she turned to Chris, her eyes about to water over what she has done. "Chris...seriously, t-this isn't me, I'm not doing this, I swear!"
"Hey, okay! Whatever you say! Just...just don't kill me! I'm too beautiful to die!" Chris desperately and pitifully bargained.
But then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness walked out a taller figure from behind Gwen, holding what looked to be a shovel.
Chris' eyes widened in fright.
"Chris, I mean it, I'm not doing thi-!" Gwen froze as she saw his expression, as well as now hearing the footsteps from behind her.
"Shit. You still trying to fight the gift, aren't ya girl?"
Before Gwen could even turn around, she was whacked on the back of her head by the bottom flat part of the shovel, instantly knocking her out as she collapsed on the floor face-first.
Chris yelped at the surprise visitor.
With Gwen unconscious on the floor, the taller figure walked up to his tied up victim. The light showed his intimidating features as he was holding the shovel with his left hand. His eyes glared at him behind his glasses, almost as if he's boring a hole into his skull.
"Well, pretty boy...looks like you'll get to be my son's plaything after all..." His glare lessened as he cracked a sinister smile. "Heh-heh...nighty-night." He reared his fist back.
"WAIT! WAIT!" Chris tried to plea but was met with a punch to the face. The chair tumbled over on its side, bringing Chris down with it.
Head hurting, and about to lose consciousness, Chris groaned weakly. He looked up to his left to see the man above him.
Chuckling cruelly, the man raised his boot and slammed it on the former TV show host's face, knocking him out cold.
Oooookay...I think this is gonna be where things get a little M-rated. So...I'm going to be safe and put this on the M-rated section. ^^;
But yeah, what do you all think? Nothing much happened, I don't think, but believe me, we'll get to the nitty-gritty here real soon! ;D
So yeah, tell me what you all think of the chapter in a review! Or fave and follow! Or do all three! Either way, they all make me very happy! ^_^
Thank you all for reading! Keep on rocking everybody! :D
-TSP