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gjnhjfdhns: Part FORTY-EIGHT: Broken Sky


We came upon some stairs and nothing else; it was a dark, closed-off piece of floor with only a way up. Naturally, we went up. Everyone had fallen silent, just the scuffle of footsteps and laboured breathing in the air.

Eventually, we came upon another, closed-off area with a door. Mitchell opened it, and we all winced; bright light flooded out of the room, overloading our visual sensory capacitors.
Okay, our eyes. Whatever, same thing.

"Shit, man, close the door! They'll see the light!" I hissed, storming in. Everyone followed suit, and Brian shut the door behind him.

What a /mistake/.

When our eyes finally adjusted to the rush of light, we found ourselves in a huge, white room, with the highest ceiling I've ever seen, and lights underneath the glass floor. The scary thing was that the crazy-high ceiling was covering with GIANT. METAL. SPIKES.

And it was slowly descending.
Angel groaned, spinning around and trying the door again. Surprise, surprise- it was locked. I was beginning to think that this place was becoming slightly predictable- no less dangerous or life-threatening, of course, but I can't say I didn't see that coming.

"Well. We're fucked," Brian commented absently, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sideways," I added.

"Up the ass," Mitchell finished.

It seemed everyone had the same, apathetic, we're-doomed-but-what-can-we-do? feeling I did. Except, of course, for Angel, who was banging her head repeatedly against the door that kept us from safety, and the person screaming in the corner of the room.
No, assholes, I didn't forget to mention /her/. I just hadn't noticed until my ears picked up on the far away sound. I started to run in her direction, because what else was I going to do, lay down and die? Eventually?

NOT TODAY!

...

Well, maybe today. But that's beside the point.

As I got closer, I realized that the screamer was all tied up, and there were two ropes going from her up the corner into the ceiling- and one was tied to some sort of switch, but I couldn't tell which one, they were jumbled together in a crazy mess. The girl was someone I didn't recognize, with long-ish brown hair and freaked out eyes.

"Hello, stranger!" I said, brightly, a wan smile on my face. "How's it going?"

Behind me, Angel had a much more fitting answer.

"OHMYGODWHATTHEJUNKWHOAREYOUHOW'DYOUGETTHERE?!"

I guessed then that I wasn't glad anymore that she's the one who's kept her sanity. Did I say I was glad earlier? Did I run to the school earlier for a chance at safety? Did I get beat up in a mall earlier?

Man, I don't remember anymore.

All I could think about is how it must have been really, really late. Waaay past when I had promised my parents the party would end.

I hope I don't get grounded.

During my reverie, the stranger filled the others in on the details of her capture- at least, what details she could remember, which weren't very much. She said her name was Christina, and that she remembered a guy who sounded suspiciously like Evil Airplane Man before nothing else. She was, coincidentally, hanging around her school before everything went black.

Mitchell crouched down, inspecting the ropes and where they led. I joined in on the fun, following the lines up through the ceiling and around and around Christina. It seemed that if we destroyed one of the ropes that led into the ceiling, the switch would activate (or deactivate), but if we destroyed the wrong one... What would happen, then? Didn't there need to be some crazy terrible consequence?

"Hey." Mitchell held up a lighter. "This yours?"

Christina shook her head.

I frowned. A lighter and ropes... He didn't want us to light one of the ropes on fire, did he? That'd just set the other one aflame, too- and ignite Christina along with it.
But... I couldn't see what else to do, and the ceiling was getting lower and lower. How long did we have before the spikes came down completely, and we were either impaled or forced to lie in broken glass and lights or both? We'd be crushed if something wasn't done.

Oh, fuck you, me. We're not setting anyone on fire.

"Mitchell, can't you cut her out or something?" I asked.

"No. This thing's too thick." He frowned, flicking the lighter open and shut, open and shut. It seemed that he had come to the same conclusion I did.

"We're sooo dead." Angel had, too.

Brian was strangely quiet. And there was the lighter, snap-fwip-snap-fwip-snap.

I looked at Mitchell, and then followed his train of eye to Christina, and then back up at him.

"No way, man."

He glared at me.

And then he lunged forward and set fire to both ropes.

Christina screamed, trying to struggling out of her bound prison; Angel cried out, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes widening; Brian's frown deepened.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!" I yelled at him, shoving him away. I tried patting the fires out with my hands- ow ow ow ow- but to no avail.

"Do you want to just /die/?" he growled, pulling me away. I kicked at him and continued to try and stop the fire, but he was being a jerkwad and Christina was screaming and Angel was freaking out.

"I'm not gonna live by doing /this/!" I yelled, struggling.

"I am!" He retorted, causing my struggling.

I flung my arm out and grabbed one of the many ropes binding Christina and /pulled/. For a terrible moment, the ceiling seemed to be falling faster, but both ropes snapped and everything stopped. The ropes around her unraveled into a heap with a soft /clump/, and she scrambled to get away from the flames.

I stared. We all did.

"See, it all worked out," Mitchell mumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

I frowned at him, completely unsure of just who I was frowning at.

Is this what we've come to?

Angel helped Christina up, and we watched as the flames engulfed the ropes.

Christina was shaking.

Is /this/... what we've come to?

There was a click as the switch fully deactivated, and a shuddering as one of the walls slid upward, revealing a door.

And then I remembered that we were in a race.