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❝ HUMAN beings in a mob,
what's a mob to a king,
what's a king to a God, what's
a God to a NON-BELIEVER ! ❞

no church in the wild, JAY-Z ect.

THE BASEMENT LIGHTS suddenly came on, indicating the grabber was on his way there. finney and jaelin immediately got into their sleeping positions, pretending to be asleep.

they heard the basement door open, but there was a moment of silence instead of the grabber's voice. that was, until, they heard him whisper in a sing song tone, "i know you're not sleeping~"

finney and jaelin collectively sighed and got up. jaelin moved herself so she saw sat next to finney on the mattress, so if the grabber tried anything, she could easily go in front of him.

"we're starving."

"tell me your name, of course i already know jaelin's."

jaelin clenched her fists, wanting nothing more than to slap his mouth and tell him she didn't want her name be heard out of his dirty mouth.

"why do you care?" finney retorted.

"i usually don't. i find out eventually in the paper, they print out a nice big photo. with all the details i could ever want. all the things you boys lie about."

finney's expression didn't falter, "what's the difference this time?"

"well.." the grabber looked behind him, up the stairs, "well, it's complicated..it's too complicated. everything's different, nothings going right."

jaelin raised her brows, he's acting weirder than usual.

"you can let us go."

the grabber sighed, "i'm thinking about it."

the two teens shared a look before shifting in their places. "we promise not to tell anyone." jaelin assured him.

"yeah..you can blind fold us, drop us off on the street and we can walk home." finney added.

"well, tell me your name." the grabber tilted his head at finney whilst jaelin looked towards her best friend expectantly.

finney hesitated before answering, "taylor. taylor mullen."

this dumbass. jaelin flinched when the grabber stepped into the light and dropped the trays containing the food onto the floor, letting it spill everywhere.

then, he grabbed a newspaper from under his arm and held it up, throwing it across the room so it landed directly near their feet. finney picked it up and quickly opened it.

jaelin peered from his side, seeing a picture of finney and the sidewalk where he got kidnapped from. the lines underneath explained details about finney and contacts to call if anyone's seen anything. the usual, obviously.

"i was really starting to like you, finney." he said finney's name harshly with a rasp. he then kicked the tray and headed for the door, "i almost let you two go."

as soon as the grabber shut the door, jaelin face palmed, "for fucks sake finn-"

"he didn't lock the door." he cut her off, throwing the newspaper to the side and went straight to the door.

jaelin's jaw dropped slightly, "finn do you have a fucking death wish or something? i mean, really, lying about your name was one thing, but going upstairs whilst he's waiting with that belt is crossing the line!"

finney ignored her once again and continued to reach for the handle and open the door. suddenly, he stopped and rushed towards the phone.

jaelin eternally thanked whoever distracted him. she understood how desperate finney was to get out, but he couldn't act so roughly. one wrong move and it's both of their lives at stake.

"hello? bruce? billy- paperboy?"

jaelin watched as finney held the phone up to his ear before bringing it back down again. she furrowed her brows, confused on why finney hung the phone back.

"who was it?"

"i don't know..they didn't say anything and just hung up."

whoever you are, thank you.

FINNEY WOKE UP to the sound of something dripping on the floor. the sudden movement caused jaelin to wake up from her light sleep.

she rubbed her eyes, "finn what's wrong?"

she saw him take out his rocket which was also used as a flashlight. he turned it on and shined it across the room, as if he was looking for something.

he directed the light into the corner, and as he did so, he flinched slightly. by now jaelin had the most dumbfounded expression on her face, seeing nothing there that would scare her in the slightest.

finney then moved the flash onto the black phone. she assumed it was ringing, but finney's demeanour didn't hint at it, only because he wasn't as desperate to answer it than when it was ringing.

finney got up and picked up the phone, still using his flashlight. "hello?" he said into the phone before turning around abruptly, shining it onto the the corner again.

"hello..? hello?" he put his flashlight/rocket down slowly.

"you don't have much time." a much younger sounding voice came through the phone this time, "the grabber hasn't been sleeping. he thinks this might be it, that, he's gonna figure it out."

"who's gonna figure it out?"

"his brother upstairs." the boy told him before laughing.

finney furrowed his brows, "are you griffin?"

jaelin tensed at the mention of griffin's name. he must've been on the phone with finney this time. she frowned, knowing he was the youngest victim. it was more than cruel for him to experience this at such a young age.

"who?"

"griffin stagg." at this point, finney started pacing.

"probably. it's all a little hazy, but i imagine you two know all our names."

"every kid does...i didn't know you."

"nobody did. you spend so many years invisible and then every kid in the state knows your name. you don't have much time."

finney stopped pacing, "why hasn't he killed us?"

"you won't play the game."

"what game?" finney asked.

"naughty boy. if you don't play naughty boy, the grabber can't beat you. same goes for her, but i wouldn't know..and if he can't beat you, he can't move onto the next part. and the next part of naughty boy, is his favourite part."

"what's the next part?"

then, finney heard him laughing. jaelin, who was now stood beside him, heard the laughing faintly and raised her brows.

"you don't. have. much. time."

"you said that."

"he's not been sleeping."

"you said that too."

"yeah, well, he is now. in his chair. he passed out, waiting for you to play."

"what good does that do me? wait, the door is still unlocked." finney put the flashlight on the door.

"the door is still unlocked." griffin confirmed, glad that finney was getting at what he was saying.

"do we just..go?"

jaelin's perked up at his, "excuse me what?"

"there's a combination lock, on the inside of the storm door. it was my bike lock."

"your bike lock?" finney's eyes widened. jaelin rolled her eyes and stood with her left ear near the phone so she could hear griffin as well. she was getting agitated by just hearing finney's responses.

"yeah, he took it, when he took me."

"what's the combination?" finney eagerly asked.

"i don't remember."

"griffin!" finney desperately needed for him to remember.

"i remember being afraid that i'd forget it. that's why i wrote it down."

both their eyes widened as they examined the room. "what? where?!"

"i carved it, with a bottle cap, in the wall."

"which wall?" finney asked. jaelin looked around, "which wall, griffin?!"

"the one on the right. about shoulder height when your sitting down."

straight after he said that, jaelin looked at the specific wall and made her way towards it. finney tossed her the rocket as she put on the flashlight and went exactly where griffin told her it would be.

she scanned across the wall until she came across 5 numbers carved into it. "23317. 23317.." she then turned back around to finney, "23317!"

finney nodded before bringing the phone back up to his ear, "23317?"

"if you say so."

"what is it: 23-31-7, 23-3-17 or 2-33-17?"

"i can't remember."

jaelin frowned, "griffin!"

"i can't remember! you have to try them all. and you have to be very quiet about it."

"yeah..okay, thanks." finney then put the phone back as he held onto his rocket tightly in his hand.

the two made their way towards the door whilst finney repeated the numbers to himself. once they opened the door, they were met with the eerie staircase that either led to their freedom, or to their doom.

finney took a deep breath in and out before turning to jaelin, "watch my back?"

jaelin nodded, a determined look on her face, "always."

ׅ𖥔 ۫ iloveblondead speaks ! ⋄ 𓍯

guys the past couple
days have been a STRUGGLE.
basically i have no wifi
& the guy that was supposed to
do it today RESCHEDULED
TO NOV 22. A WHOLE MONTH
WITHOUT WIFI GUYS IM
LEECHING OFF OF MY FAMILY
& FRIENDS HOTSPOT TO WRITE.
this isn't okay i'm gonna kms

the things i do for u guys💔👎🏼

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