"Darling, I'm a nightmare dressed as a daydream."
Underneath the golden heart and perky smile, Carly strived for chaos. Carly had a deep, dark secret of a hidden power, connected to the minds and emotions of others - a secret that Carly's step-brot...
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CARLY WAS SCREAMING — though, she wasn't the only one.
As gravity pulled the lift downwards, Carly was certain that they were going to crash. It was moving too fast to be possible, where everything rattled around them, the sound barely there other than their screams.
"Shit! Shit!" Dustin screeched.
"We're going down!" Steve shouted. "We're going down!"
"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin cried out.
"We're gonna die!" Carly screamed, trying to hold onto the railings.
"Why don't these buttons work?" Dustin's voice was shrilly and the words were hard to catch.
Erica forced herself closer to Dustin. "Press the button!"
"What do you think I'm doing?" Dustin shouted back.
"Come on, press something!" Steve panicked. "Just press the button!"
Their screams continued, followed by Erica's encouragement, where a button was repeatedly pressed. The left came to a stop, colliding a little bumpily to the base as Carly fell backwards, supported by a stack of boxes as she groaned.
"My groin," said Steve. "It fell on my groin. Dustin! Get this off of me! I can't move."
As Dustin helped Steve, Carly stood up again, very thankful for the cupboard boxes as her head had collided with one. Already, she was battered and bruised from the previous night, so she did not need any more injuries to hide.
"Here, Robin," Carly offered her hand to her friend, helping her stand. "Are you okay?"
Robin took her hand, standing. "I'm alive. Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, I'm great, now that I know that Russians can't design elevators!" Steve shouted, pushing past Dustin towards the buttons.
"I think we've clearly established that those buttons don't work," Robin said.
"They're buttons," Steve insisted. "They have to do something."
"Yeah, if we had a keycard," Robin argued.
"A what?" Steve questioned.
"It's an electronic lock," Robin explained, walking towards the doors that were sealed shut. "Same as the loading dock door. If we don't have a keycard, it won't operate, meaning—"
"We're stuck in here," Dustin finished.
"Yeah."
"But..." Carly's eyes were wide with fear. "The Russians could find us."
"Just so you nerds are aware," said Erica. "I'm supposed to be spending the night at Tina's, and Tina always covers for me. But if I'm not home for Uncle Jack's party tomorrow and my mom finds out you four were responsible, she's gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat."
