Sam and Colby: The Penitentiary

78 (the end)

I'd never been more nervous than I was pulling up to the Traphouse. We were back home, but we'd have to tell everyone what happened. I wasn't sure if I'd ever be ready for that, but we had to do it anyway.

We all got out of the car and grabbed our stuff from the trunk, Sam cradling the old camcorder in his hands.

"Bro, can I use that for videos? What if I made a vlogging with an old camcorder series?" asked Jake.

"It's all yours once we finish telling everyone everything," said Sam. We made our way up to the door and pushed it open.

"They're home!" I heard Devyn squeal from the kitchen. The girls all ran out, followed by Kevin and Reggie.

"Wait, where's Tara?" asked Jake.

"With Sugar," said Reggie.

"Dude, shut up. He doesn't know, remember?" said Kevin.

"Oh, shit. Uh, she's in the living room," said Reggie.

"Damn it Reggie, you can't keep a secret for shit," Tara said, walking into the entryway to join us. Except in her hands was a tiny little brown dog. "Anyway, meet Sugar."

"I'm gone for four days and you buy a dog?" Jake laughed.

"More like four months," mumbled Corey.

"What?" asked Kat.

"We've... we've got to tell you guys something. About the trip," said Corey.

"Do we get to see the footage before the viewers?" asked Devyn.

"You get to see the footage, yes. But no one else does," said Sam.

"What?" asked Kat.

"Let's go to the living room. Reggie, did you get that tape player I texted you about?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, it's in the living room," said Reggie. "I hooked it up already."

"Okay, good. Let's go talk," said Sam.

We waited for Aryia and Cassie to come over before we played anything. We decided it'd be easiest to tell everyone at once.

"Okay," Sam sighed as he pushed the first tape into the player.

"You're not going to believe us if we tell you, so we're going to show you instead," I explained shortly.

"Huh?" asked Cassie.

"Unless you traveled in time or some shit I'm sure we're going to believe you," laughed Aryia.

"Uh, yeah, about that...," Colby said.

"We did," said Corey.

"Did what?" asked Kevin.

"Travel in time," said Jake.

"Bullshit," said Reggie.

"No, he's for real. Deadass. You guys know how that prison we went to has been closed for over a decade?" I asked.

"Well yeah," said Kat.

"Then explain this," said Sam, pressing play on the tape player.

The five of us all settled onto the couch along with everyone else and watched the footage that we'd lived through. The video had the date stamped in the corner, further verifying that we'd been in 1977.

I didn't watch the video. I didn't want to. Instead I decided to watch everyone's faces to see their reactions.

They all started out a little confused, but when Sam switched to the second tape they started to understand. I guess while I was sleep Sam and Colby had gone somewhere to film them explaining everything that had happened. By the time the last tape had finished, everyone sat there in silence. Kat and Tara had tears streaming down their faces and everyone else had a dropped jaw.

"Bro," Aryia said, speaking first.

"Hold on, you tried three times? How long were you there?" asked Kevin.

"The first time we were in for about three and a half months. The two tries after that were both four days," said Colby.

"Three months?!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Yeah. Three months," I replied.

"How the fuck did you survive that?" asked Devyn.

"I didn't," Colby chuckled. "Like I said in the tape. I got shot and died. Nessa strangled Ray to death and we started all over again."

"Wait, what's it like to die?" asked Reggie.

"You just... die. I don't know. It's like falling asleep. You don't really remember it," Colby shrugged. I looked over at him, a little worried. I realized he hadn't talked about it at all. But he probably didn't want to. He'd tell us about it when he was ready.

"Are you all okay, though?" asked Kevin.

"Physically, yeah," said Sam. "I'm signing us all up for therapy."

"Ew, no," said Jake.

"Nah, man, Sam's right. You go through something like that? You need to let it out," said Aryia.

"Especially you, Colby," I said, looking over at him.

"Yeah, okay," he sighed.

We all spent the rest of the night in our rooms. Jake with Tara, Corey with Devyn, Sam with Kat, me with Colby, and the Krachouse back at their house. We all needed some time to be home with the people we loved.

I'd never been so grateful for everything in my life. I had love, I had friends, I had a family. I had people I'd been through hell and back with. I knew the future of the channel was going to change drastically.

"Hey, babe?" I asked.

"Hm?" asked Colby.

"What are we going to do for the channel now?" I asked.

"Well first we're going to take a fat break. We're not doing anything for a while," said Colby.

"Okay, I can agree with that," I said.

"We might go back to exploring. Sam and I really miss it," said Colby. "And you're welcome to come along, obviously."

"Okay. I think that's more of a you and him thing, though. I'll let you two go back to your roots on your own," I said.

"Whatever you want, baby," he replied.

"I've got you. I already have everything I want," I smiled at him.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you more."

THE END

this might be the end of the asylum series. i'm not sure yet. i'll post later and let you guys know some goals to hit if i want to write a fourth book. what do yall think? do you want another one? let me know!! i love you all