It's Gonna Take A Little Time... A Little Time To Think Things Over...

Chapter 55: Too Close

TW: VIOLENCE, SOME NON-CON FACE TOUCHING, MANIPULATION.

PAMELA
We all sat on David's floor, surrounding the broken record as David's cracked voice explained what had happened. I immediately believed him, because A, the magic is weird, and B, I want Exer back too. Jackson however gave him a skeptical look and looked at the record casing when he brought up the fact Exer had said something about it before he left. Jackson snorted.
"Help. A whole lot of shit that does for us."

David looked confused and reproachful. Jackson sighed in irritation and turned it around, showing him.
"See? The note has fresh ink and weird writing. If you notice, the capitalized writing spells 'HELP'. So wow, thanks Ex. Could he have been anymore obvious?"

I elbowed Jackson. He was obviously upset and didn't know if he should believe the very desperate David or not. I could see why. David had been out cold for about two weeks and was probably upset about what had happened. Ron patted David gingerly on the back as the blonde broke a shard in half, obviously hoping something would happen.

"So he said the 'bad people' have him..?" I asked, surveying David. He nodded.
"Did he specify where he was or who took him?"
Jackson surveyed, causing him to shake his head.
"Did he say anything that could have been taken as a clue?"
David shook his head. Damn. Brenda was sitting on top of her bed, staring blankly at the wall. She was painting her nails a pistachio color, and the feathered lilac satin tank top she wore with striped shorts went well together.

One nail was half painted, her hand hovering with the polish.
"Bre?"
She looked up.
"You okay?"
I asked gently. She nodded.
"I'm thinking. It's just that judging David's story, it sounded like he wanted help, but he didn't want us to danger ourselves. However, did you tell us what he was wearing?"
Brenda blinked at her twin, who shook his head no.

"He had no shirt on, his side was all stitched up from where... He... Stabbed him and he had on jeans. There was also some sort of device on his wrists. He didn't have shoes on. And boy, he looked tired."
David's voice quavered a little as he explained the description. I noticed Ron and Jackson look at each other while I rubbed David on the back.

We had been through shit before, but this was different. Everything else had been solved quickly, even though they were random. Like the time travel came out of nowhere. I wish I could travel back and make everything normal. Then maybe Exer would be here. Well, that wouldn't have stopped Mr. Miller I'm sure.

I tugged a dark chocolate wave of my hair, blinking briefly. The diary hasn't worked since Exer's been gone, and I'm starting to think its because he isn't near it. Writing pointless words and that stupid book was going to do jackshit. I subconsciously yanked my hair a little harder and felt a couple of pops on my scalp as a few hairs came out. I winced and dropped them.

Jackson patted my knee. I smiled at him, but his attitude was starting to piss me off. Why was he all angry again? Can't he just be the happy boy I fell in love with instead of someone who hates life?! Ugh. There's more important things to focus on right now, like finding my friend.

EXER
I felt my head pounding as I opened my eyes. I let out a slight groan, and sat up. The side of my neck was screaming in pain, and when I touched it, agony exploded across my neck. I yelped and shot my hand away from it. Darkness filled the area, and I couldn't even see directly in front of me. I was in the chamber again.

A dark, clean room filled with nothing but a table. I could get up and walk, but all I would hit is the wall, and I couldn't escape. After a while they would come in and either take me somewhere to experiment on me, or they'd strap me on the table and do it there. I hated being strapped down.