My Trip To Nowhere... Chapter Fifteen

I heard Nicky gasp in astonishment. Josh was gaping at Rio’s Other-Half. I kept my gaze locked on Rio. I didn’t realize how hard my fists were clenched until now.

“But… but Rio wouldn’t let himself get caught… it's impossible.” Nicky spluttered.

Rio’s Other-Half merely smiled. Then it dawned to me. No, Rio couldn’t have… “What have you done to him?” I demanded again, this time more threateningly, stepping closer. My hands were shaking slightly. No way could they have…

“No…” Nicky said, as she understood what I was trying to find out. “You… didn’t?”

Rio’s Other-Half looked straight into Nicky’s eyes and said quietly, “Rio… isn’t here anymore.”

It was like as if I had been punched in the face. A cold feeling of sickness rushed through me. I had only known Rio for a few hours… I stood limply, taking it in. Josh looked stunned. But Nicky - looked furious. I turned my head to glance at her, but as I did, she pushed pass me and flew a punch at Rio’s Other-Half’s face. He must have not been expecting it, for he did not duck in time. Nicky’s fist struck his cheek hard and he staggered back in shock. I gaped at Nicky. Nicky made to move towards Rio’s Other-Half, but I was too quick. I took hold of her waist and tried to pull her away. She was so tensed and her hair brushed against my face as she struggled to make me let go of her. I was surprised how strong she was. I felt her slowly slipping out of my grip as she struggled, yelling, “You bastards! You can't have killed him! You can't have killed Rio!” I put my arms around her waist, and firmly but gently pulled her away. I felt her body relax slightly. Once I was sure she wasn’t going to hit Rio’s Other Half-Again, I loosened my grip.

I glanced at Nicky’s face. Her eyes were narrowed and bright, brimming with tears of rage and aggravation, glaring at Rio’s Other-Half. Her lips were shaped in a snarling manner, her bottom lip was quivering slightly in fury, and she was shaking. I put a hand on her shoulder to soothe her. I looked up at Rio’s Other-Half to see him and Allison and Richard standing together, looking furious. I suddenly felt afraid. If they had killed Rio… then they will have no objection in doing the same to us.

“So…” Rio’s Other-Half hissed. I noticed his right cheek was scarlet. He took a slightly unsteady step forwards. “You will not come with us, then.”

I also took a step forwards. I did not know what else we can do to escape, but I knew that we still had to carry on trying – there was no giving up. So then, I said in a low voice, “No.”

“So be it.” he snarled, and in a quick motion he flung his fist to my face and I felt a hard blow on the side of my head, and cried out, as I staggered backwards, to the wall, head throbbing. I heard Nicky scream, and I tried to look up as stars began to pop out of nowhere. I saw his outlined figure coming towards me, fists still raised. I ducked, and I heard a crunch, as his fist made contact to the wall behind me. I made my way unsteadily to Josh. I felt someone put an arm around me, and tried to see who it was. I recognized Nicky’s touch. I blinked rapidly, and pulled away. I realized that Richard and Allison were crowding around us. I turned to see Rio’s Other-Half, standing with a bloody fist, looking at me with murderous eyes.




TO BE CONTINUED…

My Trip.... To Nowhere - Chapter Fourteen

“I had a feeling that you were somewhere near.” Rio said, smiling pleasantly at me.

“What’s going on?” I demanded. “What did you mean when you said you were happy here? What did Allison mean when she said that it was all a mistake in thinking that we were being used? Aren't we meant to be escaping?”

Rio gave me one brief smile, and walked towards the door. He turned his back to me and took something out of his pocket. I heard a soft click. He had locked the door.

“I want to stay here. And so does Allison and Richard.” Rio said carefully, as he turned around to face me.
“But why?” Nicky asked.

“Can’t you see how awful this place is?” Josh asked.

I looked at Rio carefully. He was keeping his steady gaze on me as he walked nearer to us. There was something familiar in his behaviour.

“You guys don’t understand. It was all a mistake.” Richard said. There was something similar in Rio’s, Allison’s and Richards’s behaviour.

“What was?” Josh asked.

“When we thought that we were being used to make clones. To make a better version of us. All that isn’t true.” Allison said.

Silence...

“Then… explain all the white light. Explain the beeping noises I heard when I first came here… and… explain why I couldn’t move… and why I couldn’t open my eyes – had I been… drugged? If so… why?” I asked slowly, all the time keeping my eyes fixed on Rio.

He simply looked at me.

“Why do you want to stay at this… this place?” Nicky asked.

I couldn’t read Rio’s facial expression. But I could see that he was very calm…

“Yeah, dude, you can't just stay here.” Josh said.

In fact, Rio looked too calm… and so did Richard and Allison. Somehow, their expressions looked very familiar… His eyes I noticed looked very cold and seemed to have no feeling in them.

I suddenly realized. My mind flashed back to that luxurious room I was in before; the knock on the door; the person who came in; my… Other-Half, so –

“You –” I gasped, and took a step backwards. Why did I not realize before?

He smiled very slightly, and cocked his head to the side, “What is it, Tom?”

From the corner of my eye I saw Nicky frown in confusion at me.

How did I not realize before? I thought to myself. Look what I had gotten us into now! If only I had remembered to duck back down, then the three of us would remain unseen! You fool, Tom!

“Something wrong… Tom?” Rio asked, his lips stretched in a sardonic smile.

“Where is the real Rio,” I demanded, taking a step forwards to face… his Other-Half.



TO BE CONTINUED…

My Trip... To Nowhere - Chapter Thirteen

We were all blinking rapidly. Bright white light was suddenly surrounding us, almost blinding us all. We stood there for quite a while, letting our eyes adjust to the sudden bright light, which was a huge contrast to the darkness.

“Man, this is bright.” I heard Josh say.

We were in a room, similar to the dungeons, except it had no cells. Just dull dark grey stone walls encircled us, and piles of boxes lay scattered on the floor. I was amazed that I hadn’t knocked into them earlier. I quickly scanned the place, in case of guards – or worse. I looked around at Josh and Nicky.

“You guys alright?” I asked.

They both nodded.

I was suddenly aware that we were all still holding hands, and I hastily let go of Nicky’s hand. I saw her blush slightly.

I glanced around the room again, and spotted a door. I made to move to it, but then I stopped dead in my tracks. Voices. Voices on the other side.

I whipped around to face Nicky and Josh.

“Hide” I hissed, and grabbed Nicky’s arm. I led her and Josh to a big pile of boxes to hide behind.

We were just in time, as the door opened. The three of us were crouching down. I glanced at Josh. He opened his mouth to whisper something to me but I put a finger on my lips, gesturing urgently for silence. I glanced over the box, and then ducked back down. Then froze. Huh? I looked back over the box. Rio? Then I ducked back down again. I looked at Nicky. She looked back at questioningly and I mouthed Rio’s name. Hers and Josh’s mouth fell open. They made to get up from their crouching position, but suddenly, I held them down. They looked at me in protest. I was suddenly unsure. I glanced back from behind the box, and then ducked back behind it. Rio wasn’t alone.

“Sir,”

The three of us jumped, and then remained squatting down behind the boxes.

“What?” we heard Rio say.

“We can’t find the rest… We’ve searched everywhere…” I’m guessing this was one of the guards.

There was a cold silence. Then,

“Well then, keep searching.” Rio said, with a hint of a warning.

“Yes sir.”

Then, footsteps. Footsteps walking away.

“Wait.”

“Yes sir?” said the guard, sounding uncertain.

“Have you found that other guard who seemingly got himself lost?”

“Er… Aye, do you mean Old Shorty sir?”

“Whatever his name is” Rio said, insensitively.

“Er… Yes sir, we did.” The guard said nervously. I could almost picture him looking anxious.

“Well?” Rio demanded.

“Well… Sir, you see, the prisoners… the prisoners had… imprisoned him in one of their cells.”

Ringing silence - and I did not dare to breathe. I began to think rapidly. Then,

“Very well, I shall see to him. Meanwhile… get the prisoners back. Find them. Bring them to me without harm. If I see a mere scratch on them…”

“But Sir,” the guard said, “Why? What does it matter if they are wounded or not?”

“Just do as I say.” Rio hissed.

There was a few seconds of silence, and then, the guard said, “Oh right. Of course, yes Sir.” Then, we heard footsteps as the guard walked away.

Nicky glanced at me, and I shook my head. Rio must still be in the room. Then, we heard the door open, and we stayed still again.

“Rio, we can’t find them.” Someone said. I recognized that voice. I glanced at Josh and Nicky to confirm who I thought it was – Richard.

“It’s like as if they disappeared.” said someone else. I also recognized that voice. This person must be Allison.

But whats going on? Why are the guards so friendly to them? Aren’t we meant to be on the run from them? Why are they looking for us?

There was a momentary silence, and then we heard Rio say, “Tom is very clever. He is quick on his feet and he thinks fast. Of course it will be difficult to find him. But to explain everything to him…”

“Explain what?” we heard Richard say, then, “Oof!” as I looked over the box to see Allison stamping on his foot.

“To explain that the guards really meant no harm, and that it was all a mistake in thinking that we are being used.” Allison said in a loud clear voice.

Her words rang in my mind. Nicky and Josh both looked shocked.

“I am happy here.” Rio said. And with those words, he turned his head slowly into my direction. I ducked back down quickly. Damn it! I had completely forgotten to duck back down! I looked at Josh and Nicky in panic. Then, suddenly a shadow loomed over us. We looked up to see Rio smiling at me. The three of us jumped back, and stood a few metres away from Rio, and Richard and Allison who joined his side.




TO BE CONTINUED…

My Trip.... To Nowhere - Chapter Twelve

It was very dark, and we were all holding hands as so not to get lost. I held on to Nicky’s as she was in between me and Josh, with me leading the way. My other arm was waving blindly in front of me in case of obstacles. We were all so quiet. As time passed I began getting confident in walking in the dark. My hand finally touched something flat and smooth in front of me. I assumed it was a wall. I felt it, and followed it to the right. All this was happening so slowly… so long have we been trying to escape, and yet it seems as if we’ve met a few minutes ago. I felt a bump on the wall. I felt it. A switch! Could it be a light switch? I stopped walking, and felt Josh collide with Nicky, who bumped into me.

“Sorry.” I whispered, turning my head around, although I couldn’t see them.

“What is it? What did you find?” Nicky whispered. I could feel her breath on my cheek.

“I found a switch. Do you reckon it's a light switch?”

“We could try it.” She replied.

“But we’ve gotten this far, what if it raises an alarm or something?”

“Go for it.” Nicky squeezed my hand gently, and I slowly reached up for the switch with my other hand.

*


“You irritating lot are beginning to wear my patience.” A cold voice said.

Rio spat out from behind the bars, “They will get away. They will be free. And then… they will warn the police about you… and you others, and whoever is behind this.”

“In your dreams… my dear Rio.”

Rio looked up in disgust at the person who spoke.

“Who is behind this?” Rio demanded.

His Other-Half merely smiled coldly at him. Then his gaze shifted to look at the two limp figures on the floor behind Rio – Richard and Allison.

“It’s for me to know… and for you to find out.” He smiled coldly and irritatingly at Rio, and turned to walk away. “Oh… and…” He turned back to look at Rio. “…I will find your friend Tom, and his two companions, and I will lure them back to the dungeons, you mark my words.” He hissed, and turned sharply and walked away.



TO BE CONTINUED…

My Trip.... To Nowhere - Chapter Eleven

I gaped at him. Me? I was never usually the one who was left in charge.

“But… why?” I asked. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me again.

“You proved to me that you are… pretty clever… and quite daring.” Rio said slowly.

“And so what? Look, Rio, I don’t know this place at all. You’ve led us this far, you can't stop now.”

“And so… I will continue leading the way. I am only leaving you to figure out another escape plan.”

“But to do that, I need to know this place.”

Rio paused, and then he smiled again. “And you did it again… Tom, you don’t know it, but you can be very sharp in spotting things.”

He paused as I waited.

“And so… don’t hesitate to point out any other flaws in our plans to escape… the only reason why we haven’t managed to escape before... was because no one had pointed them out.” He said finally.

I nodded.

“Is everyone prepared to face a difficult situation?” Rio asked.

I nodded again, and I could feel everyone else doing the same. I looked up to see Rio’s facial expression. He looked back at me briefly, and I could see that it must be a very hard plan to follow…

“Ok… so, here’s how it goes…”

*

I was running down a passageway with Nicky and Josh by my side. We had come to a decision that was hard at first… to split up, and escape – if we don’t meet again… we don’t go looking for each other, and we just carry on. But I was hoping… hoping that we will all meet again.

We came to a stop at a door. I was panting slightly from running, and so was Nicky and Josh.

“What… now?” Josh asked, breathing heavily.

I looked at the door. I moved towards it. I reached out to turn the door knob. I felt a hand on my arm, and stopped.

“We don’t know who’s in there.” I heard Nicky say.

“There's only one way to find out.” I said grimly. I reached the door knob, and turned it.

I felt Josh and Nicky holding their breaths, and I couldn’t help but do the same as the door swung open.

Everything was pitch-black, and seemingly empty.

We stood there, not knowing what to do.

“Shall we… move on?” Josh asked.

I didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t turn back and risk getting caught, but I wasn’t sure of moving on. I turned, and looked back at where we came from.

“We can't go back.” Nicky said softly.

“But the rest…” I started

“They have Rio. And we…” she paused and I looked at her. “…we’ve got you.”

I raised a hand to gesture for silence. I had heard something. Josh and Nicky fell silent. We all stood still like statues and listened carefully. I strained my ears.

Footsteps. Distant footsteps slowly getting nearer.

My heart pounded hard against my chest, and I glanced at the dark doorway.
As I did I briefly caught Nicky’s eyes and saw the fear in them.

I took a deep breath, and led the way quickly, but hesitantly through the doorway.



TO BE CONTINUED…

My Trip.... To Nowhere - Chapter Ten

The dungeon was like a maze – with twisting passages and dead ends. How Rio knew his way around, I don’t know. I decided now was not the right time to ask, and just followed close behind him with Nicky by my side. Everyone was as quiet as mice. I could barely hear our footsteps as we ran lightly through the passages. I could only hear us breathing, and the loud thumping of my heart. At last, we came to a stop at three doors. I expected for Rio to go through one straight away, but he stood still.

“What?” I asked. “What is it?”

Rio stayed silent, thinking.

I waited, and then turned to Nicky, who was also looking at the doors in confusion.

“Two of the doors weren’t here before…” Nicky said. “Are you sure we went the right way, Rio?”

I saw Rio nod. “Definitely.” He looked at the doors. “They are new. And so one must be old.” He walked to one of the doors, and peered at it as if to check it out.

We all waited as he peered and checked all three doors.

He turned around with a satisfied smile. “And so… the old one must be the right one.” He turned back and made to open the middle door which I noticed looked slightly battered and had a small scratch at the side.

“Wait.” I suddenly said. A thought suddenly came across my mind.

Rio stopped and turned slightly so his head was turned to the side to look at me sideways.

“If they have made new doors… it might mean that the doors lead to a different place…” I said.

Rio turned around fully to look at me.

“…so how can we be sure that that door is the right door?”

Rio frowned at me in recognition. I could feel the others holding their breaths. I then realized that no one has dared questioned Rio as their leader. I looked at him carefully, and felt Nicky move next to me.

He nodded at me. But it did not seem as if he was saying I was just right. It also seemed to say that he had a different opinion of me – a higher opinion.

“You’re right.” He said, finally.

He nodded again, and looked at me. “You are definitely right. We are screwed.”

I looked at him with surprise. “Screwed? But you can think of anything! You brought us through the right passages through the dungeon, and it was you who thought of all of this!”

Then we heard voices from the other side of one of the doors.

“Hide!” He hissed, and led the way to a nearby cell which was in the shadows. I marvelled at his quick thinking of cover. We all crouched low in the back of the cell. Just in time, as the door to the right opened and a guard came out, saying over his shoulder to someone we couldn’t see,

“I won't be long – just going to see where old Shorty had got to – bet he got himself lost again…” still grumbling, he made his way through the dungeon in the direction where we just came from.

I looked at Rio for assurance.

He simply looked at me.

“Surely… surely there's something else we can do?”

He shook his head defiantly, and looked straight into my eyes, with encouragement and defeat. It was as if me questioning him just now was a huge deal. Then, he said,

“It’s all down to you now.”


TO BE CONTINUED…

My Trip.... To Nowhere - Chapter Nine

“Just let him move to my cell, you dumb-ass.”

I looked up at Rio, who spoke, and the guard turned to him.

“‘Oo, me?”

“Yer, you.” Rio replied, also in the same accent as the guard.

“Bu’ why?”

“Cuz I sed so.”

“Cuz you sed so?”

“Yer, cuz I sed so.” Rio replied. He caught my eye, and I tried not to smile.

“O’” replied the guard.

“So you got a problem wiv dat?” Rio asked.

“No… it just dat -”

“Dat wha’?”

“Nufin.” The guard said uncomfortably.

“Gud. So move ‘im ‘ere.”

“Aye, dat I will do.”

I watched in amazement as the guard took some keys out of his pocket, and unlocked my door. I had nearly forgotten what I was meant to do, until I glanced up to grin at Nicky. She looked at me with urging eyes, and pointed at the guard. At once I remembered everything. Once the door swung open, and the guard stepped back to let me out, I turned to him. He looked up at me as my right fist was raised.
“Ay, wha’ are ye –”

DOOSH!

I swung my fist right across his head, and he staggered back to Rio’s cell, but he still clung onto his keys.

“Wha’ ye did dat for –”

I knocked him again, and this time he slumped to the ground, weak and presumably knocked out. I bent down to pick up the keys he dropped.

There were four keys attached to one ring. I picked one at random and fitted it into the lock of Rio’s cell door. He was on the other side of the door, smiling slightly.

“Good one, Tom.”

I looked up while turning the lock over. “Not a problem.” I grinned back.

I stood back and swung their door open. Rio and everyone else poured out. All had an excited and relieved expression – apart from Rio who looked calm.

I felt a hand on my arm, and turned around. But before I could do so properly to see who it was, a voice breathed close to my left ear,

“You did really well.”

I glanced around and saw Nicky, smiling.

“Right… so this… stupid guard…” I heard Rio say, and turned to look. Others were crowded around the guard who was at Rio’s feet.

“We could put him in there,” A boy I remembered was Richard said, pointing to their old cell.

Rio grabbed the guard from under the armpits and dragged him into the cell. Then he locked the cell door, leaving the guard a prisoner.

“Lets see how you like it…” Rio muttered, and slipped the keys into his pocket.

“Right.” He turned to all of us, with a slight smile on his face. “Follow me…”



TO BE CONTINUED…

My Trip.... To Nowhere - Chapter Eight

Everyone looked so different after Rio explained what we should do. So sharp. So alert. We were ready. He knew the passages of the dungeons of by heart from attempting to escape before. All we need was…

“A distraction,” Rio muttered.

Even Nicky, whom I noticed before who sat in one place, gazing in the same direction, now stood up, taping against the bars impatiently, looked somewhat ecstatic. I looked at her, and noticed she is very pretty. How can anyone lock up someone like her? She must have noticed I was looking at her, and glanced in my direction. I quickly looked away.

“Aha.” Rio said at last.

I looked up at him. He was looking at me with bright eyes – a contrast to his dark hair, and hollow look.
I felt uneasy.

“What?” I said

He smiled at me, and said, “You.”

Everyone in his cell turned to look at me.

“What about me?”

“When the guards come to give us food, you can complain that you don’t like being on your own in one cell. So…” He trailed off, with an encouraging smile at me. Everyone else in his cell was smiling at me, and nodding. I could feel Nicky’s eyes on me, but I kept my gaze on Rio.

“So…” I said, also trailing off, waiting for a conclusion.

“So… after you convince the guard that you want to join us, the guard will open the cell door and you…” He paused to grin. “… Knock him out cold, and take the keys, and free us.”

I was dumbfounded. Me? Knock a grown man out cold…? Me? Ha! I actually started laughing. They looked at me like i was crazy.

“What?” Rio said, looking slightly annoyed. “Whats so funny?””

I stopped laughing, and looked at him. “You… you don’t actually think I can knock him out cold, do you? I mean… what with?” I gestured around my small cell. “I got nothing!”

He looked perplexed. “With your own two fists of course.”

Then it was my turn to look puzzled. They were all looking at me expectedly. All right. If they want me to… to knock out this guard, then… I’ll try… but no promises that I would be able to.

I nodded. “All right then…”

And so we waited.

We waited for the time for a guard to come to deliver us some food. I noticed that everyone was slowly getting bored, and were going back to their habits of gazing gloomily at a random spot on the wall.

Then, from the distance we heard shuffling footsteps getting nearer to us. Rio glanced at me and nodded at me in encouragement. I glanced at Nicky, and found she was looking at me. When our eyes met she smiled at me also encouragingly, and I returned the smile. Then, the guard came to view. He was short, and looked a bit on the overweight side. He shuffled nearer, and saw he was carrying a basket of food for us. He opened a small flap at the bottom of Rio’s cell door, and pushed some of its contents in. Then quickly shut it. He shuffled to my cell door, and was about to open it, until I said,

“How come I'm all alone here?”

He looked up at me. From up close I noticed he had a dopey expression on his face.

“Eh?” he said.

“How come I'm all alone here?”

“Aye, that’s right ye are.”

“Yeah, but why am I?”

“Why am you wha’?”

“All alone.”

“Alone?”

“Yes. Why am I all alone here?”

“Why shud’ I give a damn?”

“I want to move to their cell,” I nodded in Rio’s direction. I noticed that he was trying not to smile.

“An’ since when did ye thoughts ma’er to me?”

“I'm all alone here.”

“Yer all alone der.”

“Yes, and I want to move.”

“Ye wanna move.”

I was starting to get impatient. “Yes I want to move.”

He looked thoughtfully at the other cell.

“Well it don’t make no sense dat you’re alone ‘ere.”

“Yes, it doesn’t.”

“I cud move yer.”

I nodded.

“I beta check wiv mi boss.”

“No!” I said quickly.

“Why not?” he asked me, looking at me shrewdly with those dopey eyes.

“Because… because then it would mean that you have to go to him and come all they way back.”

“Aye, tha’ is a good point tha’ is.”

“So will you let me go to the other cell?”

“Wha’ for?”

“Because I'm all alone here, and I want to move.”

“Bu’ why wud dat concern me?”

I sighed, and glanced at Rio. This is going to take some time…



TO BE CONTINUED…