Inside this Twisted Labyrinth

Chapter Ten

AN: I know Mike and Vic are cousins to Nick in real life, but I'm assuming they're not first cousins due to the fact that according to an interview I saw once they didn't even know they were cousins when they first met, and they haven't know each other their entire lives. However, in this story, because it's my story and I want to, Mike and Vic are first cousins with Nick, and Nick's mom is the sister to Mike and Vic's dad. That's why Nick knows so much about Vic. As you've probably already noticed, I've hinted at their closer than real life relationship in previous chapters.

Also, I'm going to put a slight trigger warning for, I don't know how to word this, talk of death, I guess, or talk of killing oneself. I don't want to give too much away, but a couple of the characters are given the option of taking their own life as a last resort to avoid something worse.

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Day 10

Vic clenched his phone tightly in his hand as he stared down at the blank screen in abject misery. How could he be so stupid? Kellin's life was literally in his hands and he went and fucked it up.

"What's wrong? Did it not save to your phone?" Jaime asked, chewing on his fingernail until he realized how dirty it was. He made a face and spit on the ground.

"No. My batteries died. Guys, I'm so, so sorry," Vic said, still staring at his phone hoping it would spark to life, or he had imagined the entire dead battery thing.

"We can fix that," Tony said, sliding his backpack off his shoulders. He set in on the ground and dug around in the front pocket.

"How? Are we gonna plug it into the concrete? Cuz I don't think that actually works," Vic said, sounding a lot more snippy than he intended.

Tony looked like he was trying very hard not to call Vic stupid as he found what he was looking for in his backpack. "We have the same phone, remember?" he said, pulling out his cellphone. "We can just swap the batteries."

"Oh, yeah, that's ... " Vic said, feeling like a complete idiot, but also extremely relieved, as he handed over his phone to Tony when the guitarist gestured for it. "I'm sorry."

Tony just shrugged off the apology.

"None of us are thinking with a clear head right now," Mike said, with a small reassuring smile as he stepped up next to Vic. "Don't stress about it."

Vic nodded tightly in response and stuffed his shaking hands in his pockets. He had come close to losing it there, and now was not the time to fall apart. Later, after Kellin was safe in his arms and his brother and friends had escaped from this hellhole, he'd let himself fall apart. But for now, he had to keep it together, had to have all his wits about him if they were going to get out of here alive. They simply couldn't afford for any of them to lose it now.

"I'm okay," he told his brother. He forced himself to breathe evenly instead of hold his breath as Tony switched the batteries and pressed the 'ON' button on his phone. There was no logical reason why it shouldn't work, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

They all breathed a sigh of relief when the screen lit up and the battery sign at the top read 100%.

"We are awesome," Jaime said with a laugh that sounded suspiciously more like a sob. "Seriously, I love you guys so much right now."

Vic took his phone back from Tony, and with shaky hands managed to pull up the blueprint he'd save. "It's tiny, but do you think you can use this to get us out of here?" he asked, offering the phone to Jaime.