"It's a shame we'll all be separated next year," I said, breaking the silence that was only going on for a couple of minutes. My three friends, Michael, Athena, and Andrew only replied by hanging their heads low. Michael is tall, somewhat chubby, long hair (only to his eyebrows), and is obsessed with Lady Gaga. I call him Sir Gaga at times. Athena is super smart, taller than me by an inch, has short black hair, and wears glasses. Andrew's like a skyscraper to me, short hair, but it's fun to play with, he's self-centered, but still cool. He has the squishiest cheeks ever. Ask anyone. And then, there's me: the short one known as 'Shrimp'.

Four students of Warner Middle School all going separate ways, like Athena's going to Fountain Valley, Andrew's going to Westminster, Michael's going to La Quinta, and I'm going to Ocean View. The sad part is we just met each other this year, near the end of May. The reason how we met is confusing, but all I know is that we met each other through one, short, squeaky-voiced person: Christy. She went straight home instead of staying with us four just to spend more time with her pet chickens, but I still have my other friends here. I sort of wish I could go back to 7th grade, and meet those three sooner, but the past has already been done. It's best if I spend the rest of our 8th grade year with them, but my parents won't like it, because I have to walk home if I stay afterschool. They get worried that some whacko will come and kidnap me. Like that'll ever happen. Would it?

"We only knew each other for a week," Athena added, "and already we're drifted into four different paths."

"Christy had to introduce us at the last minute," Michael snapped. His voice was very deafening. I can tell, because Andrew nearly jumped out of his skin. We were all assembled in a circle (or a square if you'd like to call it that) Athena on my left, Andrew in front of me, and Michael on my right. Apparently, I wasn't the only one that noticed Andrew's astonishment. Athena, Michael, and I all stared at Andrew while he was just about to go back to daydreaming. Good thing he was ticklish. Athena and Michael poked him from both sides, and he jumped again.

"DON'T POKE ME!" Andrew yelled, "You know I'm sensitive."

"You're always sensitive. Are you really that tired?" I replied.

"Didn't you just come from P.E.?" Athena spoke up.

"Do you have any food?" Michael asked. What a redundant question he must ask, but he always skips lunch, so of course he'd ask that.

"We'll get food later," Andrew answered Michael, leaving Athena's and mine aside, "Can't we go home?"

"To whose house do we go to?" Athena asked, "not mine, because no one's home."

"I live in Fountain Valley," Michael added.

"My house's boring," Andrew whined. Now, it's all eyes on me, "Shrimp's house, anyone?"

"Fine, my house it is," I said, grabbing my stuff, and started ahead of everyone. Michael ran after me.

"Aren't the others going?" I questioned.

"Oh, they're going. Andrew's just got to do some revenge work from when Athena dumped some ice down his back,"

"Oh yeah, that was pretty funny," I giggled, twisting my head to look behind, but there was no sight of the two. Athena probably chased Andrew back into the school. I faced straight ahead again, and continued my conversation with Michael. "How do you think he'll get her back?" I waited for his reply, but it seemed like he took forever to give me one, like he was deep in thought. I turned my body to where Michael is—or was. What in the world, I thought to myself. He just randomly disappeared. My whole body went into a three-sixty, but they were all gone.

"Michael? Andrew? Athena? Where are you?" I began to panic, but the fear faded as something came across my mind, "Oh, I see what you guys are doing. Look, you guys tried to scare me last time, and it won't work the second time," I smiled to myself, and then…

ZZZZZTT!

I immediately was on the ground, but I didn't feel the impact of the ground hitting against my skin. I was all frozen up. Someone used a taser on me! My heart was racing. I had no idea what was going on, but I won't be finding out for a while. My vision began to fuzz up, and I was out like a light.

My eyelids cautiously opened, and I noticed I was in a dark room. The only light on was the one I was in. The illumination's so bright, I still can't see a thing. Suddenly, three more other lights turned on, and there were my friends on a wall, tied up against it, and they're passed out still, and they were just a couple of inches from the ground. I looked up at my arms, and down at my legs, and—same thing— I was tied up, my feet don't even touch the ground, and the rope's so firm, it might've cut off my circulation. I began to struggle lose, hoping that it'll loosen the ropes, and I'll be able to slip free, but that wasn't even a good idea after I tried it.

"Don't bother. You'll only make the ropes tighten," a disembodied voice spoke up from the darkness. I stopped moving, and looked into the shadows around me.

"Come out, whoever or whatever you are, and let us go!" I shouted to all directions of the room, since I had no idea where this rogue was. Too scared to show your face, I see, I thought to myself, and just continued attempting to get free from this tight cord. I heard footsteps, and they were coming in my direction. Black dress shoes showed up into the light, left first, then right. Then it was followed by black pants, and a white dress shirt, with a silly looking bow tie. The bow looked like it was for a five year old's head, not for him to wear. His face appeared in the light, and I could see him clearly.

"Who in the world are you?" I questioned. His face appearance had an eye patch on his left eye, and his beard was so swirled, you'd probably joke that he got it done at Dairy Queen. He was really pale, and he had this cool hairstyle with his chocolate colored bangs falling on his right side. If only we changed that pimple-infested face of his…

"Dude, what happened to your face?" I was curious, but I think I only made things worse, "please tell me that's make-up, because that face of yours is totally—"

"SILENCE, CAPTIVE!" the black drenched person retorted. His gruff voice echoed throughout the room, but surprisingly, my friends were still unconscious. It certainly was a deafening shout, but not enough to actually make me deaf.

"Where are we? What do you want? Why are we here? How come we can't get out of he—"

"You ask too many questions. Just shut your trap, and let me speak for once." The man interrupted, rudely. He should at least answer my questions, "First, I'll answer your first question: who am I?" He paused for a moment, only to brush his bangs to the side. "I am Dr. Viktor, but you may address me as 'Master'." This dude looked like he was in his thirty's, and why in the world would I call him 'Master'?

"I'll pass on the "master" thing. I'll call you Vik. How's that sound?"

"Enough with your questions."

"You only answered one!"

"If I answer more, will you please BE QUIET?!"

"Okay, but only because you said 'please'," I said innocently. I think I just made him more livid. I perceived a sound, which was him taking a deep sigh of frustration; probably from my questions.

"My face is just naturally like this, and you are here because you're just mere teenagers wandering alone on the streets, and I'd like the blow you guys up, and—"

"I think I got something in my ear, because I think I heard you say you wanted to blow us up," I laughed a weak laugh, but the expression on Vik's face said he actually did say that, and he meant it.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by a dim-witted teen, I'm going to—"

"HEY! I HAVE A 3.9 GPA, I AM NOT DIM-WITTED!"

"KEEP QUIET!" Vik said, throwing his hand at me, and something came out. It was coming in my direction, and it stuck into the wall, right next to my right cheek, barely missing me by an inch. I examined what he threw, and it was a knife. He's got knives now?! I think I'll keep quiet or else next time he won't miss. "Where was I? Oh, yes," he began to clear his throat, "I'm going to blow you four up in this lair. Does that answer all your questions?"

"You missed one: How would you like if I call you "Vik" instead of "Master"? It suits you more," There was a long silence after. He began massaging his temple, taking in a deep sigh. "Whatever, go ahead," and he averted from me, and began walking back into the darkness.

"You're not as evil as you look. You're too easy, I mean, come on! You gotta be at least thirty or something! In case you didn't know, you're twice as old as I am!" I exclaimed. Oh, just great. Me and my big mouth. Even though I can't see Vik anymore, he discontinued walking, because his footsteps had stopped tapping. They came back, and so did Vik, back into the same light as I.

"Are you stating that I appear old to your eyes?" His voice sounded scary as he asked me that, "I'm twenty-two!" Vik's sharp hands squeezed my shoulders, anger filled his eyes. He then let go, relaxed himself, and started to guffaw, "it's a good thing the bomb has already started, so you brats don't have much time to live. How's that for an old person?" My eyes enlarged at this, and I began wriggling. "Have you not been listening? Your pathetic attempts to get out will only make the ropes tighter! Enjoy your last day while it lasts!"

"How long have we been out?" I asked, panicking. I hope not too long ago. It'll give me enough time to think of a plan to save me and my friends, or at least my friends.

"Oh, you've been out for a whopping twenty consecutive hours," he laughed some more. The most I've ever slept was thirteen hours, and that was between breaks from my naps. "Don't worry. It took me and my men three hours to get all you kids here and in these ropes. The bomb started seventeen hours ago, so you have just about seven hours left of your lives, but you wasted an hour talking to me, so it's six."

"Are you kidding me?! You're giving us six hours to live?!"

"Six plus the eighteen that just passed by, so twenty-four," he corrected. I honestly loathe this Vik guy.

"You're psychotic!" I riposte, but that just made Vik smile.

"That's what they all call me," he responded. "After all, I am a mad terrorist," he began strolling backwards into the darkness, "and they all died happily ever after the explosion," evil laughter followed this statement, and he departed from my sight. I don't care if this rope tightens my wrists or ankles; at least it'll tighten enough to squeeze my hands and feet off and I can somehow help me and my friends to escape. I began struggling through the ropes, tugging at them. Groaning noises came through my left ear, and I faced the direction, only to see Andrew waking up. He was mumbling, but I believe he said 'make me a sandwich'. His eyes opened up, and widened as he saw nothing but his tied up friends, and only one of them was attempting to escape.

"What did you do this time, Shrimp?!" he shouted at me.

"I didn't do anything! It's that Vik's fault!" I snapped. "Stupid terrorists nowadays."

"Who's Vik? Actually, forget that, how do we get out?"

"I'm not the one with the Valedictorian thing, you know! Not only that, you're smarter than I am! Why don't you come up with something?"

"I just woke up! My brain isn't fully awake!"

"WELL WAKE IT UP, EINSTEIN!" While I was screaming at Andrew, my dominant hand broke free from one of the ropes' grasp—and it left some rope marks. I began tugging at the rope that had my left hand in place. I watched Andrew, examining the area. I'm guessing he's trying to find a way to get out of here. Some honors student he is.

"Why don't you try to wake up Athena?" I suggested. Andrew just glared at me.

"Gee, now why didn't I think of that?" he rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, because Athena's a heavy sleeper! Not even the school bell can wake her up! I need something to throw at her."

"You're still tied up. Let me handle that," I reached into my right pocket, and got my phone out. I'm not good at throwing things, especially things that are ten yards away from me, but I took the chance, and tossed the electronic at Athena.

"THE SKY'S FALLING!" she screamed. A look of surprise slapped onto her face—or you could say the phone did, too.

"No, the place is gonna blow!" Andrew corrected, pulling the ropes that held onto him, and Athena followed suit.

"Don't move, you guys! Vik told me that if you keep moving around, the ropes will just hold on even more! Try to wake up Sir Gaga!" I directed. They're still tied up, so all they could do is scream at him.

"MICHAEL, WAKE UP!"

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"

"SO HURRY AND AWAKEN!"

I only rolled my eyes at their failing attempt to wake up the last sleeping person. I took in a deep breath, and screamed.

"LADY GAGA'S HERE AND SHE'S WAITING FOR YOU OUTSIDE!" and that seemed to work, since his head rose, and he looked ecstatic.

"WHERE?!" he asked a bit too joyfully. He looked around, only to see darkness, and his three friends all tied up, making some effort to break free. "What's going on?"

"We're gonna die," Andrew said dully, "Is that enough?"

"Where's Lady Gaga? I don't see her," Michael asked, trying to scratch his head, but his hand stayed put. He looked up, and saw two cords tied around his wrists. As he complained about how in the world he got here and how there's no Lady Gaga, I finally got my left hand free.

"I'm free!" I exclaimed joyfully, and my voice boomed through the room, but then I slowly started falling forward, I looked below me, and –crap—my legs are still tied. I began to plummet towards the metal ground, and landed on top of my forearms. I dislike this. I've began pulling at my legs.

"I think I'll just try to get out of these ropes anyways," Andrew said, and yanked the rope with his right hand, and made it. It didn't even look like he used any effort at all. Show off. He probably wanted to make an impression in front of Athena, since this is their last year together, and we're pretty much screwed in this lair unless I can get these lines off of me. Instead of going after his left hand, Andrew easily kicked the rope off of his right foot.

"WHY ARE YOU SO STRONG?!" I whined. "When you're done, help us!"

"That's what happens when I exercise everyday," Andrew shrugged, glancing at Athena for a second, and turned away. Of course, he did mean to look all tough in front of her. I peeked at Michael, and all he was doing was having his head in the clouds. Probably another Lady Gaga fantasy he's having. Then, I just remembered something.

"Oh yeah, and also when you're done freeing yourself, can you get my phone near Athena's right foot, and return it to me?"

"You threw that at me?!"

"You're a heavy sleeper! I had to!"

"Who told you that?" Athena had a puzzled look on her face. "I'm the lightest sleeper ever!" I glared at Andrew, and Athena followed my eyes to see what I was looking at. My friend was finally released from the ropes, and dusted himself off. He looked at Athena, then at me, then at Michael (who was still in his fantasy world).

"What?" he asked. He glanced at me, then Athena, then back at me. "Is there something on my face?" a smile crawled onto his features when his eyes were on Athena again. Her expression shows she's agitated by his smirk.

"Yes, and I'll slap it off once I get out of this!" she screamed. Andrew backed away from her, but he had to free her, whether she's angry or not. He approached her vigilantly after she looked away from him. He pulled at the bottom ropes, and managed to get them off. Then he reached up to her wrists, and with no trouble removed those, too.

"It's nice for you to help your loved ones first," I said sarcastically. "Now help me! My feet are not supposed to be in this position!" They weren't. When I fell, I could've sworn that I disjointed them. Andrew ignored me, and continued on with being with Athena. I think they're in their own dream world, and they forgotten about me. I let out an annoyed sigh, and just went on attempting to liberate myself.

"You get Michael, and I'll get Shrimp," Athena said to Andrew. His reply was a simple nod, and then he headed off to the still-fantasized Sir Gaga. His Lady Gaga obsession irritates me, but I can't change that, because if I try to, he'll just say he was "born this way."

Within minutes, we were all finally down from the wall, and with five hours to spare.

"Okay, Andrew. You're the oldest. Now think of a plan," I uttered.

"Just because I'm the oldest, doesn't mean I'm the smartest."

"Here's the thing: you are the smartest," Michael added. "Straight A student in the high classes."

"But—"

"Forget you. Athena, you got any ideas?" I asked as I spotted my phone and walked over to pick it up. "How about I use the light from my phone to search through this blanket of black?" No one had any better ideas; especially Andrew. He makes me very disappointed. Everyone shrugged, so I assume they said, "Okay, we'll follow you, Leader!" I turned my iPhone on, and walked into the darkness, with only a small light guiding us through. "Athena, you never slapped Andrew like you said you would once you were free from the trap."

"Oh yeah!" she exclaimed. I heard a loud smack, and a loud screech, but that screech didn't sound like Andrew at all.

"I'm not Andrew!" Michael shouted between small breaths, trying to pacify the area he was harmed in. I overheard small giggles, which I guess belongs to Andrew. Another smack followed, and it sounded as if it was twice has harder than the last one. Andrew shrieked in pain. I was laughing so hard, my hand loosened its grip on the phone, and let it slipped through my fingers.

CLICK! CRACK!

"Oh, great. We have no light. Just keep walking straight then," I suggested, and started onward. I believe" I just lost my friends, because I can't feel their presence behind me. "Are you guys there?"

"I'm lost!"

"Andrew, is that you?"

"I'm too far away from you!"

They're pretty much screwed if they don't calm down. I just kept walking forward, and ran into a partition, and there was a lever touching my left hand. I felt around it, and tried pulling the lever either up or down. The lever chose to go up, and all lights went on, and all three of my friends reappeared. Andrew somehow got all the way to the far side of the room, and Athena and Michael were right next to each other near some metal entrance.

Wait a second…

That's perfect! A way out! Now I just need to find some way to get it open up.

"There has to be some kind of button around here, or anything to make that door open," I said to myself, searching all over the walls. I only saw one, and that was for the lights. I know that, because my hand is still holding onto the handle. "You guys, help me find a button or a switch or anything to get out of here!" Andrew searched the right side of the room, Michael and Athena on the other side, and I'm still where I am, amused by my friends' way of searching.

"Don't call my name, don't call my name!" Sir Gaga began screaming—or singing as he would call it. His singing is totally off. He's probably tone deaf. "Alejandro!"

"We won't call you that; we'll call you Michael. And please keep your singing in your head. Some of us would really like to be able to hear birds chirp once we get out of here," Athena said, rolling her eyes. She gazed up, and gasped.

"Hey, you guys! I found something!" the guys and I ran over to her to see what she has to show us, and she pointed up. We all stared to where her finger was pointing, and saw a button that was labeled "Open Door." The bad thing about this is where the button was located: ten feet above ground level.

"That's great. Andrew's not even tall enough to reach that," I groaned. My eyes searched around the room to find something that will be of assistance. I heard a grunt, then a crack, then a sigh of disappointment. I turned around and saw another phone with its parts scattered around. Then I noticed Andrew, looking down at his phone.

"Dude, my phone works way better than your Motorola piece of poop," I pointed out. "Plus, it's too light."

"How about shoes?" Michael suggested, "We all got two, and they'll fall back to the ground, so we'll have unlimited number of shots."

"Too bad the time isn't." Athena mumbled.

It took us way too long to press the button. So long, we just lost an hour.

"If a situation related to this ever happens again, at least one of us should've been in a sport that involves good aiming." Michael managed to say between breaths. It's just throwing and hoping we'd make it, but he's not a very athletic person, so of course he would be exhausted from all this throwing (truthfully, Andrew's the one that got it. Michael's throws were too weak). We all ran towards the door, and managed to get into a hallway of mazes. There're so many doors to choose from, but only one of them leads to the exit.

"You and Andrew take the door to our left. Michael and I will go through the right door," I commanded. Andrew began to attempt saying a joke.

"But if you're going through the right door, wouldn't that make us go through the wrong door?" He laughed a weak one. No one was laughing with him. No time for jokes, you idiot. Athena opened the left door, and ran inside, and Andrew followed. Sir Gaga and I followed suit, but with the door on the other side. The room's abnormally dark. It was like seeing through a blind man's eyes. I stuck my hand in front of my face. Normally, no matter how dark the room was, you should at least be able to see your hand. This room followed a whole different rule.

"Do you have a light on you?" I asked my friend. There was no answer.

"Michael?" I called again. I felt a tug pull at me, and soon I was running, but I didn't know where I was going. All I could do is depend on whomever or whatever is guiding me. This person or thing appears to be skilled at running the dark. So far, nothing had stopped us from going in the pace we were running in. A small light from afar began to become visible to me, and we were heading that way. Once we reached the light, I looked behind, and saw a shadowy hand reach out for us, but shrieked once it got to the light, and pulled itself back in. I began to examine what had been helping me get out of the darkness, and saved me from it. When I saw the face, I was surprised.

Apparently, Michael chose the right day to bring is night vision goggles.

"You're welcome, Shrimp," he smirked, and stared out to what was before us. It looks like a beach.

"Wow, I didn't think getting out would be this easy. How are we going to get the others?"

NEVER MIND, I'LL FIND SOMEONE LIKE YOU.

Michael froze where he was, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his cell phone. As expected, it's full of Lady Gaga with Adele singing her song as his ringtone. He flipped his phone open, and whispered in it.

"Hello?" All I heard was muffling sounds, but it sounded somewhat like screaming on the other end. "Athena? How did you get my number?" more inaudible sounds for me. "What's going on over there? Athena?" A panicked face slapped onto Michael, and he began walking around in small circles. "Athena?!"

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

He pulled the phone away from his ear, closed it, and returned it inside his pocket. His face seemed to darken. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Something happened to the others," he said silently.

"We have to go back there and find them!" I shouted.

"It'll be my pleasure," a freaky voice chimed in. Michael and I turned and…

ZZZZZTT!

We fell to the ground with a thud, and soon, Vik's face appeared right above us. Not this dude again! Why does he have to come now? Unable to move, I slowly watched the shadow hand reach out for us. Two hands grabbed our legs, and pulled us in the darkness.

Opening my eyes again, I noticed we're back where we had started, and instead of ropes, some sort of metal cuffs wrapped around our wrists. Looking ahead, Vik comes out of the darkness.

"You four taught me better to use these instead of ropes. Stupid of me," he said, bumping the palm of his hand to his forehead.

"Yeah, no kidding," one of my friends commented, making a disgusted face.

"You guys were out not too long. Only about three hours," he brought a watch up to his face, "Oh, and the timer's still ticking."

Great. One hour left. There's no way we'll get out in time. When we were in ropes, it took us an hour to get all of us out. Who knows how long these will take us! Vik continued his small talk.

"I'll be outside, waiting for your death to arrive," he announced. He stared at the timer, and smiled. "Two down, fifty-eight more minutes to go." Cackling, the floor below him opened up, and he fell in. No scream, so that must've signified that that's his escape way, or something.

"We're doomed," Michael griped, "we'll never get out of here before the explosion!"

"What's that guy's problem? I'm annoyed by people that just smother others for the heck of it!" Andrew shouted, "I mean, twenty-three hours ago is the last time we'll ever see daylight!" His voice had anger all over it. He turned his head to Athena, who seemed hurt. His annoyance disappeared at the sight of her afflicted pain.

"I get it: we all have great animosity towards this guy, but hating him won't do us good. Plus, it's almost a full day. Someone's bound to be searching for us now," I tried to lighten the mood, but there expressions never changed. They all still had sadness within them.

"My parents aren't even home," Athena spoke up, "they're on business trips. I'm stuck at home with my aunt that never comes by to watch over me."

"I live with my grandparents, but they're always sleeping," Andrew dropped his head. I wonder… Why isn't he under the same roof as his parents?

"Parents are never home. It's either they're out working or out drinking with their buddies," Sir Gaga added. So no one's going to look for us? No one knows we're missing? My family can't find me, mainly because…

"I'm an orphan." That surprised everyone. All their eyes turned to me, jaw dropped, eyes expanded. I exhaled, "There are caretakers there, but they focus on the little ones, and they believe older ones, like me, can manage to take care of ourselves. If anything happens, they say it's not their responsibility. Of course, they won't know if I'm missing." Tears welled up in my eyes, trickled down my face, and hit the ground.

"Maggie! Look!" Michael shouted. I raised my head, and looked at him. His eyes gazed at the ground, and I followed. There was a small hole. I didn't notice that before.

"What happened?"

"Your tears!" Andrew yelled, "It burned through the ground!"

"Is that even possible? They're in the middle of the pH scale." I said

"Ranging between a six to a seven!" Athena bursts out. "Whatever the place is made of, it seems to burn up when anything that's acid, even just a little bit, touches it!"

"Wow, this Vik bloke is dumber than I bargained for," I smiled, "anything else we have on us that's also acidic?" Andrew looked down, and answered, and I knew what he was talking about.

"Anything other than Andrew's answer?" I asked, rephrasing it.

"Saliva!" Michael hollered, "It's easier to collect than tears, and it's also six!"

"No more science for now," I looked at the cuffs. I spat at it, and, surprisingly enough, it began to dissolve, "That's awesome." More tears welled up, but they were of happiness, and I burned more holes into the ground. If I keep crying, then I won't be able to have a place to jump. I shook my head, and spat at the cuffs around my wrist. I beamed at the thought of my right hand finally free. Everyone spatter onto what was holding them. Everyone except Michael.

"What's wrong now?" I asked, annoyed that he isn't making an attempt to be released.

"Don't you find it revolting to spit?" there was a hint of disgust in his voice. He looked like he was going to revolt himself, and he wasn't doing anything. Probably from watching us.

"So you would rather die than to free yourself by doing something totally unsanitary?" Hopefully that'll get him to do something. I watched him carefully, waiting for him to start. Eventually, he did.

Everyone's free, and we got…

"Thirty minutes left, you guys!" Michael announced, looking at his phone. "Do you think we'll make it?"

"Sure we will!" I said, trying to put a smile on my face, but it failed to stay. I gazed at the opening in the ground where Vik went through to get out. I positioned my finger so that way it'd be pointing right at it. "There!" we all rushed straight towards it. Andrew was about to take a leap, but Athena pulled him back, making him plummet, and land on his rear. She turned to him, gave him a teasing smile, followed by a, "Ladies first." She jumped in, and then disappeared. I glanced at Andrew, who was still sitting on the ground. I was about to laugh, but placed my hand over my mouth, and jumped in. It's like those tube slides at Chuck E. Cheese's. I felt myself jump twice; it must've been the guys. I began giggling as I was going down, until I reached the end. There were two men in black waiting for me. I shifted my body so that my head and my feet would be on both ends of the tube. I moved my hands to hit one side of the pipe, and my feet on the other side. I wasn't wearing anything on my hands, so while sliding down, I burned them, but at least I slowly came to a stop. Now, I was only a couple of inches away from the exit. I let out a breath of relief, but then two things hit me, mentally and physically: The guys were right behind me, and the guys.

We were screaming on our way down, and the three of us landed right on top of them. I raised my head, but everything kept moving. I shook my head, and everything was clear, and I saw Athena being held by two other men, with Vik right beside them, clapping his hands

"You kids are intelligent," he said with a smile, but it obviously means that he was hiding something, "but not intelligent enough." He took out his timer, looked at it, and his grin widened. "Ten minutes. I doubt any of you guys will make it." Glowering at him, I got onto my feet. Vik swayed towards me and the pile of unconscious males. He pulled out a control that had a crimson button on it, and it was glowing every 2 seconds. He pressed the button, and the whole place began to shake. I fell onto Andrew, who was trying to get on his feet again, but failed to accomplish due to the shaking and me tumbling above him. By the time I faced where Vik was, he vanished. I looked around for him, but no sign of him. Just his annoying deep voice. "Good luck finding your way out!" he cackled.

"We'll never get out of here!" Athena complained. I didn't give up hope. I'm still determined to get out and finish my last year of middle school.

"Don't quit now! There're doors over there!" Andrew announced, pointing to his right.

"Too many doors!" Michael protested.

"Then we'll need luck to be on our side!" I added. "Go to the second door on the left!" I started rushing towards the entrance my instincts told me to go through, and I was hoping we'd get out that way.

"Why don't we split up?" Andrew asked, confused. Obviously, if we did separate, there's no chance we'll find each other again. Before I could open my mouth to speak, he shook his head, "forget it."

Two minutes left until the place tumbles on our heads, and we finally reached the end of the hallway and to our surprise, there were escape pods right there. I exhaled a relieved sigh, thanking God that the passage way we went through was the way out.

"We made it!" Michael exclaimed, jumping up and down. A grin was glued onto my face, and I rotated to look at the others that made no sound whatsoever. Their faces were more like horrified.

"There's a problem," Athena quoted, aiming her fingers towards the pods. "Count them."

One, two, three pods. There are three, so what's the problem?

"Three," Michael answered.

"Three, as in one of us won't be able to make it." Andrew explained. We were all looking at each other now, wondering who'd be the one to stay behind.

"If only those pods were large enough, we'd be able to fit two people instead of one," Athena managed to say with a hint of disappointment in her voice that one of us won't be able to make it out alive. I really love my friends, and I wouldn't want anything happen to them. I'd sacrifice myself just for them to be alive, so I did what I had to do.

"You guys go. I'll stay behind."

"What?!" they all exclaimed, surprised. There was an explosion above us, all of us ducking, our hands flew over our heads. A monotone voice spoke through the smoky air.

"The lair will self-destruct in ten, nine…"

"Hurry!" I said, pushing them to the escape pods. Athena almost fell over, but regained her balance. Andrew continued running to claim his pod, and Michael looked back, sorrow filled his eyes.

"I'll miss you, Maggie," he said to me, tears falling down his cheek.

"I'll see you guys again someday," I managed to smile at him. Another explosion happened, and a large, heavy rod fell on top of me. Michael shouted to me, but Athena pulled him away to his pod.

"Five, four, three..."

Soon, my friends were sent to the sky, and gone from my sight.

"Two..."

Another bang happened on both my left and right side, and a weighty wall began falling towards me.

"One..."

Kaboom!