To whatcoloristhesky: Do I get eternal love? Ha ha.

To anonymous GAH: Feel better soon!

Hey, real quick, I just wanted to recognize all my faithful reviewers. I've written a couple other stories on here (most of which suck; don't read them), and this is the first one that's broken a hundred reviews! You guys ROCK! So here's a quicker update for y'all. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: 'tis not mine.

Forget It . . .

Steve had never felt more useless in his entire life.

Every nerve in his body was burning, screeching at him to move, to push Pony out of the way, to do something, but he could only stand and watch as Montresor, faster than what should have been possible, ripped up the boards of the bridge like a wild animal and hauled the kid up by his backpack. He could only watch as that monster leaned down and whispered something to Pony and, grinning, broke his leg like a twig. And he could only fall to his knees as Montresor took off with his best friend's kid brother, limp and screaming, into the storm.

The mud wrapped around him, cooling his burning cuts and gashes. He had no idea what would happen to Pony now. Maybe he could have run away before, but with a broken leg? He had no chance. Anything could happen.

Stupid kid. Stupid, stupid Ponyboy . . . Why can't he ever use his head?

Steve clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms. Who was he kidding? He and Pony may never have gotten along very well, but there was one thing they had in common: Soda. Pony had rescued his big brother's best friend, and what had he done to repay him? Let him fall into the hands of a serial killer. Soda would never look at him the same way again.

The rain fell harder through the gaping, splintered hole in the bridge, drenching his face. He opened his mouth, desperately needing a drink. Oddly enough, some of the drops tasted salty.

-0-0-0-

"I can't see a damn thing out here," Darry grumbled.

No one bothered to make a snarky comment. The rain fell in rivers down the windshield, the wipers doing hardly any good. They'd been driving for fifteen minutes, ten miles over the speed limit. Two-Bit knew that on a clearer day, Darry would have gone at least twenty. Which irony for you; his parents had died in a car crash, but if it meant getting to Pony faster . . .

"There." Soda sat up, pointing. "There's the bridge. Stop the car."

Darry obeyed and all three got out. In two seconds they were soaked to the bone. Two-Bit ground his teeth. He hated getting wet.

He'd only ever been to the bridge one other time, about three years ago, when Dally had dragged him down to throw mud at squirrels and jump out at whoever was walking by. Two-Bit had been too drunk to feel bad about it at the time, but Dally enjoyed the hell out of it. Dall was like that.

He blinked. He hadn't thought of ol' Dallas in a while. At least, he tried not to.

"Ponyboy!" Darry hollered, bringing him back to the present, "Pony, where are you?"

"Pony!" Soda shouted.

Behind them, two cruisers pulled up. Hitchcock, Dunham, and two other officers came up.

"He won't hear you over the rain," Hitchcock said, "We'll need to search the woods."

"Hold up." Two-Bit held up a hand. He'd been staring at the bridge for a while, and he suddenly realized something wrong with it. He took a few steps forward, then started running.

The center of the bridge had been torn apart, leaving a gaping, splintered hole. Looking down, he thought he saw footprints.

"What in hell . . ." Darry breathed, staring at the mess.

Two-Bit shook his head, swore, and jumped down into the ravine. His feet sank into the mud. He swore again and looked around.

Curled up against the side of the ravine was a shivering, gasping blob, rain water washing blood and mud into the footprints he had seen before. Dark, stringy hair was plastered to a familiar face.

"Oh, Christ. Steve!" Two-Bit knelt beside him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders. His teeth were chattering so hard his lips were bleeding.

"Steve?" Soda's voice. "Steve's here?"

"What happened, man?" Two-Bit asked as gently as he could.

"Is that . . . Is that s-s-s-Soda?" Steve rasped.

"Yeah, he's here. So's Darry and a couple cops. C'mon, let's get you outta here."

"The kid," he whispered, "He c-cut me l-l-loose. M-Mon --"

"Tell me in a minute." As carefully as he could, Two-Bit lifted his friend up into his arms. Steve winced. "Hey, Darry!" Two-Bit called, "Help me out here!"

Darrry was above them in an instant. "Oh, boy. Hand him up."

It took them a minute or two longer than they would have liked, with Steve trembling too hard to get a good grip on Dare's neck, but they managed it. Darry backed up, cradling Steve, so Two-Bit could climb out.

Soda came running, eyes wild. "Steve! Oh, gee, I --"

"I'm s-sorry," Steve breathed, "The kid . . . I-I couldn't . . ."

"Shh, it's okay, we'll --"

"What about the kid?" Dunham cut in.

Soda's eyes darted from the cop to his best friend. Darry closed his eyes. Two-Bit turned his face up to the rain. Oh, god, here it comes.

"M-Montres-sor," Steve gasped, "The bridge . . . He g-got Pony. B-broke his l-l-leg . . ."

"Which way did he go?" One of the other officers asked.

Steve, grimacing, raised an arm to point across the bridge.

"Dammit," Dunham growled, "We can't get the cars down there. We'll have to follow on foot."

"We'll do our best to find your brother, Mr. Curtis," Hitchcock said, "You should get your friend to a hospital. I'll contact you as soon as we find anything."

Darry looked a little reluctant, but nodded. He turned toward the truck. "Two-Bit, you'll have to sit in the bed."

"That's fine." This day just keeps getting better and better.

-0-0-0-

I had no idea where I was.

Montresor carried me through the woods, running so fast everything turned to a green and brown blob. He kept one thick arm around my waist, my broken leg continually bouncing, hitting trees. I was trying hard not to give him the satisfaction of screaming, but it was so hard. Eventually I blacked out.

When I woke up my head was throbbing worse than my leg. Every raindrop sounded a hundred times louder than it should have. I groaned.

Carefully, I rolled over and looked around. I was in a small, wooden room, under a window through which rain and branches came in. A tiny plastic table and chairs set was in the far corner, a floral tea pot in the center. Two soggy teddy bears sat in the chairs, and the third was empty. In the other corner was an old wooden doll house, wet and rotting.

Through the haze in my mind, I wondered where the little girl was. I tried to sit up, but my leg gave a painful throb and I fell back down again. A rain drop fell in my eye.

Oh yeah. I was really using my head here. Darry was gonna kill me. Unless Montresor killed me first. Personally, I'd rather go with Darry.

They must have found Steve by now. He'd told them what happened, and the cops and Darry and Soda were on their way. I'd be okay. I'd be okay.

Jesus, I need a cigarette.

There were footsteps beneath me. My heart pounded and my eyes searched the room for the entrance.

Montresor appeared by my knee. "Comfortable?"

I realized I was shaking. "Where am I?"

"This was my daughter's tree house. I built it for her."

I blinked. I'd never thought that he'd have a family before. You just don't picture a serial killer with a wife and kids. But then, he couldn't have always been this way.

"What was her name?" I found myself saying.

He glanced at the empty chair in the corner. His eyes, before so full of hate, now were soft, distant, almost . . . Loving. As if he could see her drinking tea with her stuffed animals again.

"Lila," he murmured, "Her name was Lila."

I stared at the empty seat, too. Half of me wanted to know all about her, the other half wanted nothing more than to get out of this tree house and be back with my brothers.

Montresor slowly turned toward me. "Do you know," he said slowly, "what happened to her?"

Something in his eyes . . . I suddenly realized I didn't want to know, wanted to black out again and wake up next to Soda, safe and warm and dry.

"Your father killed her."

My breath caught. "No . . ."

"Yes. And do you know what he did afterward?"

My vision blurred with tears. I don't want to know I don't want to know I don't want to know I don't --

"He laughed." He growled. I blinked away tears and saw him staring at me like I was something dirty. "And when your brothers come to save you, just like I did to save Lila, I'll laugh, too. I'll laugh so hard, I'll cry."

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