~Ellie~
Was that a dream? Zac just had kissed me?
"Ellie, wake up," Zac implored. I opened my eyes. My head pounded. I closed my eyes again.
"Zac…I'm gonna die," I whispered.
"No!" Zac said. "Ellie, keep talking to me. What's going on?"
I heard his words, yet I couldn't answer. The door opened again, blinding me. The next thing I knew, my head slammed against the cold, hard floor. I felt like blacking out again.
"No!" Zac was screaming. "Don't take her away! Stop! She's in pain!"
A pair of arms grabbed me and yanked me to my feet. "Zac?" I mumbled.
"Ellie! No, please, don't take her! Please!" Zac's voice faded behind me.
I was dimly aware of walking. What was going on?
"All right, Miss Silverman, wake up," a voice said. I played dead. "Ellie!" A hard slap snapped my eyes open. "You tell me what Zac, Ike and Taylor are up to, and you will feel no more pain."
"I don't know," I lied. The girl slapped me again.
"Don't play with me!" she screamed. "What is your relation to Zac?"
I looked up at her. She had to be my age; blond, tall and very pretty with angry features. "Girlfriend," I snarled.
The girl laughed. "That will change soon, Ellie. You have only 3 days to live. The pain you're feeling in your head is a drug we put in your drink. You tell me how to get to Ike and Tay, and that pain will disappear."
"Never!" I said. The girl looked at me.
"All right. We'll come back for you later, when you see how much more pain you're in." I was hauled to my feet. As I was escorted back to the room, I tried to make sense of where we were. It looked to be some sort of abandoned building.
I landed hard on my back. "Great service you've got here!" I yelled.
"Ellie?"
"Zac! Where are you?"
"Over here!" I followed his voice and found him tied to some sort of pipe.
"Oh, my God…Zac…"
"Ellie, listen. You've got to find a way to untie me."
I groped around until I found the knots behind him. "Zac, they're melted together," I shouted in frustration. Zac clenched his teeth, thinking. Suddenly, I felt a lump in my back pocket. My mind cleared enough for me to remember what it was.
"Hold on a sec, Zac. I think I have an idea." I tore the small bag out of my pocket and let the various lipsticks and eyeliners fall out. Then I reached into the bottom of my make-up bag and pulled out the fingernail clippers. "This had better work," I commented as I began slowly clipping away at the ropes.
"Hurry, Ellie," Zac begged. "They're going to be back anytime now."
"And then what?" I sighed. "Get them furious because you're fine?" Suddenly, the last piece snapped and Zac fell into my arms.
"No!" Zac explained, looking me right in the eye. "Before you passed out, Ellie, do you remember? You had an idea."
"I did?"
"Yes! Come on, Ellie, you can remember it!" Zac pleaded. I strangled through my mess of a head, but nothing surfaced. I threw my head back in anger and saw it…
I lay on the window seat, near tears again. We'd heard nothing on the search for Ellie and Zac, and I felt myself on the verge of losing my mind. But then there was Isaac. He had helped me pull through a little while ago, and it had felt so good. No! I thought. I have to concentrate on Ellie and Zac.
What could we do? There had to be some way to bring them back to us. Now anger flooded my vision. I was so sad, mad, depressed, scared and frustrated. If I couldn't have Ellie as my best friend, life wouldn't be worth living. Who would do something like this, bring on so much pain and fear? Everyone else was being so strong, holding me up.
I knew that if they collapsed, I'd have nothing left to hold onto. I got up and began aimlessly wandering around. I had no control over my body. It just followed my feet up the gorgeous staircase, pacing the halls of the upper stories. I walked into a beautiful sunlit room, where a balcony overlooked a patio below. I followed a rose-red carpet to the end room where suddenly I stopped.
There was Celine, crumpled on the bed with sobs wracking her petite body.
"No," I whispered. Not Celine! Celine, who was our leader, the strong one, had given in. I felt numb. Celine had given into the pain and fear. If she had, then I knew it was over. I turned from the doorway and went back to the room with the balcony and opened the sliding glass door. Glancing over the edge, I looked onto the bricks below. It was a long enough drop, I figured.
"Yes!" I mumbled. "I figured it out! I wonder where Ike is. He should know about this."
I got up from my place in the kitchen and ran out into the living room. Ike was sitting in a chair, blankly watching TV. "Ike!" I hissed. He jumped and looked at me. "I know who is doing this!"
"Who?" Ike asked. I sat down beside him.
"Do you remember the concert at the Molson? There was a group of girls in the audience, holding up a sign. Do you remember what it said?"
"Taylor, I don't remember. There were so many freakin' signs…this isn't the time to be playing games!"
"Fine. I noticed them lurking in the hallway when Gabby left the room. The sign said The Scream Squad…"
"Oh, my God…" Ike whispered. "Taylor, you're a genius! Gabby needs to know…"
"No!" I said. "Gabby is holding a lot inside of her…she doesn't need to know right away. Promise me you won't tell her yet!"
Ike sighed. "All right, fine."
"Good. Now, do you have you Ike Cam? I know you shot video at the Molson."
"Yeah. It's in my suitcase upstairs. Come on."
Ike and I took the stairs two at a time. I found the videos and brought them over to Ike. "You go find Celine," I said. "We'll tell her."
"Okay." Ike and I separated. I headed towards Celine's room to pop the video in. I felt so much better now. We weren't out of the woods yet, but at least we had a lead!
I leaned over the railing. All these negative feelings…I just wanted them to stop. I didn't need this kind of pressure. I'll die before Ellie, I thought. Then we'll see each other in heaven. I raised my foot onto the railing.
I couldn't find Celine anywhere. Gabby would know where she is, I thought. I kept going down the hallway when I saw a shadow…a person's shadow.
I entered the room and looked around. I'd never been in this room before. Someone was out on the balcony. I recognized Gabrielle's curly hair…what was she doing?!
"Gabby, don't!" I yelled, throwing the door open. Gabby, balanced on the railing, turned her head to see who it was. She threw herself off-balance and fell!
I froze. I didn't know what to do!
