Part 49 - Where am I?

Pugsley

I can't say that I didn't entirely enjoy waking up to see that I was tied to a chair like this, but it also wasn't the most amazing situation to be in right now.

Especially when my mouth was also restricted by a piece of cloth that tasted like soot, making it impossible for me to ask where the fuck I even am in the first place. The last thing that I can remember from last night is Slurp- I mean, Isaac, drugging me out of nowhere, causing me pass out, and then after that, it's just blank.

I don't know how I got here, or what purpose me being here serves anyone, but the one thing that I do know, 

I need to get back home.

To her.

Her voice was the last thing I heard before I blacked out, and if the way she had been shouting for me through the forest was any sign about how she was doing right now, I could only assume that my absence was worrying her, and I can understand why.

If it were her in my place right now, I wouldn't stop looking for her until I physically couldn't anymore, even if it cost my comfort, or any amount of sleep, if she were the one who was missing, I'd find her, no matter what it took.

But I didn't want her to do that for me. 

Not when I don't know what Isaac's plans are. I don't want her to come looking for me if it means that she'll end up getting hurt too, I just don't think I could live with myself if it was my fault that this psycho did something to her that I couldn't undo.

I was far from Nevermore, that much I knew for sure. The sound of the bird calls outside were different from anything I'd heard back at school, and that meant even if I were able to get myself out of these restraints, which right now didn't seem very likely, then it would take me a while to get back to campus, and that was only if I could manage to navigate through unknown forest.

As of right now, I don't think that brute forcing myself out of this place is the best plan, so I'll have to come up with something else.

It was pretty obvious just by looking at the walls around me that I was in a log cabin of sorts, but I couldn't remember any landmark like that when I looked over that map when I was planning out my venture to find the skull tree, so once again that piece of information only led me to a dead end. But anything I could figure out about this place might help, so I suppose it wasn't completely useless.

I wasn't alone in here either.

Isaac was standing not too far away, of course, being the one who kidnapped me in the first place. Well, I guess it was sort of kidnapping, but if I think about it, I kind of kidnapped him first when I locked him up in the shed, so tit for tat.

Still a pretty dick move though, I thought we were friends.

There was also this other woman standing out of my view that I didn't know, but her and Isaac seemed pretty close, like they were dating or something, so I could only assume that was the relationship between them until they specified otherwise. 

She looked a lot older than him though, I mean I'm not judging or anything, everyone has their preferences, but I'm pretty sure she would have been a full grown adult by the time he was born.

I'd never seen her before, so I couldn't say for sure who she even was, but if she was working with Isaac on whatever plan he was concocting, then she couldn't be all that great. She was kind of creeping me out if I'm being honest, and that says a lot, knowing the sort of people I'm used to being around.

And the third person who seemed to be in on whatever was happening, who was currently not anywhere in the cabin to be seen after he went out 10 minutes ago or so, was Tyler. I recognized his face from the newspaper back when he first broke out of willow hills along with Isaac, and I was surprised to see that he had come back into town after all. But what did a maniac Hyde have to gain from helping Isaac and a random woman?

None of what was going on right now made much sense to me.

I just missed Y/n, but I knew if I wanted to get back to her, my best bet was to wait out this whole thing until I had a good opportunity to run away.

The question of when that would be was still left a mystery to me though, a mystery that I didn't have much time to ponder before I heard the sound of footsteps against the floorboards approaching from behind me, and my eyes locked onto the tall figure who walked up beside me with a deranged grin on his face.

"Not very fun...to be tied up,"

He reached for the cloth in my mouth and yanked it out to hang around my neck above the chain that was already there, keeping me stationary in the chair along with the ropes holding my wrists to the arms that were digging into my skin through my sweater. 

I had the chance now to say something, anything really, but I kept my mouth shut as he continued.

"And treated like a pet, is it?"

Okay, I think I may have deserved that one. 

But in my defense, I had no idea that he would turn back to human after everything that happened, all I did was bring back a zombie, I was under the assumption he would stay as such. Either way, keeping him chained up was probably not the brightest idea I've had, because now I'm like 99% sure he resents me for it.

My eyes follow his movement as he turns to face me, crouching down next to the table and looking at the plate that was sitting there, and while I was kind of hungry right now after having not eaten a single thing since last night, which was only a snack, I'm not fond of the idea of accepting food from this guy, I can hold out a little longer if I have to.

I stayed silent, and I only felt a tiny bit guilty about keeping him locked in that shed. I mean honestly he's done some pretty fucked up stuff since he ran away, he literally killed multiple people, and didn't care for a second that he also tried to kill my dad and Y/n, so I wasn't feeling too much pity for this guy. 

To sum it up, he's a murderer, kidnapper, most likely a thief, a runaway in the eyes of the police, and is starting to sound like quite the manipulator. I dug up a madman, just great.

And I did not want to give into whatever weird mind games he was trying to play on me, but he pushed the plate a little closer to me.

What'd he expect me to do? Pick it up?

"Mystery meat sandwich, your favorite..!"

His tone was condescending, sarcastic even. Which I now knew how to pick up on because of Y/n, that girl lives and breathes sassiness. Although I think I prefer receiving it from her if I'm being honest, because she never means anything bad behind it. This guy on the other hand...

He took the food off the plate and into his hand, as he started to lift it even closer to my face. And before I had the chance to protest what I realized he was about to do, the familiar rotten taste was forced upon my mouth, almost making me choke. It was even more foul than usual, and don't get me wrong it was still good, but it was like it had been left out for one too many days in the sun.

With the sandwich now hanging between my teeth, Isaac stood from his spot next to the table, and one of his hand raised up to my shoulder to give me a less than gentle pat before he smiled that same evil grin at me as he spoke.

"Conserve your energy, you're gonna need it."

With that, he finally walked away from the table, leaving me sitting here with food stuffed in my gob, really fucking confused about what he meant by 'conserve my energy'.

I waited until he took a few paces out of my personal space, before I spat the sandwich back out and onto the floor with a grunt. I may be hungry, but I'm not THAT hungry.

Also how does he expect me to use up the energy I have anyway? It's not like I can go anywhere, so his statement was kind of pointless. This guy seemed to have a real love for being dramatic, and in all transparency, I was trying really hard not to laugh at him because of it.

I mean who needs that many long pauses when they speak? It's a waste of time if you ask me.

But I wouldn't say that to his face though, even though technically now I could, with my mouth free of any cloth or food. I suppose I could try yelling for help, but I doubt it would do me any good with how far I figured we were from any kind of populated area. 

Isaac may be a little odd, but he's not an idiot. 

So I kept my thoughts to myself, and listened in to the conversation he had started to have with the woman whom I still could not see without turning my head. And I mean hey, it's not exactly sneaky if they realize I'm eavesdropping, but maybe I could figure out what their plan is if I listen close enough.

"I wish I was at least in one of these pictures..."

Her tone was longing, sad even, and it almost made me feel bad for her in some respects. Because I think I could understand to a degree what she felt, but on the other hand she's part of the reason I'm tied up here right now instead of hanging out in my dorm with my gorgeous best friend, so my sympathy for this woman ended there. Also I'm pretty sure both her and Isaac might be a little on the crazy side, so probably best not to feel sorry for them.

I heard the sound of Isaac's boots tread across the floorboards again, creating a loud stomping noise that only came to a stop once he had reached the other side of the room to where the woman stood, and I may or may not be using the reflection in the window as a sort of mirror to see what they were doing.

They had to be dating, I mean why else would they be that close with each other? It's either that or they're really good friends.

Isaac sighed, wrapping his arms around her body and looking at her through the mirror while she longingly stared at the photos tucked into the wooden frame, inspecting them as if they were a treasure she'd found, but would never truly have.

"I never understood your desire for a normie life.."

Shocker. Haha get it? 'cause...yeah no maybe not the right time for jokes.

I internally roll my eyes, and maybe a tiny bit externally too since they couldn't see me.

I don't think he would get the idea of wanting to be a normal person if it bit him in the butt.

Boy it's getting really hard to keep my mouth shut with all the things he's saying, but I'll manage.

I curl my fingernails into the center of my palms to distract myself from the urge of being sarcastic about this whole thing, because I'd like to leave this place very much alive thank you, and I don't think being a smartass is going to help.

The pressure of my nails digging into my skin was just the right amount of pain. Not so much that it was making me bleed, but just enough that I could finally enjoy the silence that I was willing myself to keep as I continued to listen in on their conversation.

"But...knowing what Stonehurst did to you in that lab..."

Both of their expressions morphed to show more of a sad smile, and I suddenly felt very out of place, like maybe I shouldn't be hearing this after all.

Did what in which lab? I am so very lost right now. These two are starting to freak me out a little, is this some kind of weird adult thing? Because if so then I would very much like to go home now please and thank you. I have no desire to end up on the news more than I already have.

"Neither of us got the end that we deserved..."

They were getting more and more quiet with each word they spoke, and I did end up having to focus a bit more to hear what they were saying.

"That changes tonight."

Yeah okay but why I do I have to be a part of it? This isn't really giving me much clue as to why I'm tied up here in the fricking first place.

They both exchanged a more vibrant smile with one another, before the woman's expression got serious. Honestly I kind of wish I knew her name, it would make this whole thing seem less like I've been kidnapped by two- sorry, three random ass people in the middle of the woods.

"Promise me, no matter what happens, you'll do it. What we discussed."

I watched as Isaac's face slowly dropped, and his eyes looked down to the floor as he thought silently about her words.

Jesus, maybe I should run away after all. 

They're whispering so intimately with each other that I feel like I'm third wheeling, and I'm getting uncomfortable.

Look, normally I'm not one to judge somebody before I know them, because I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that,

But I'm judging.

Dammit Y/n, out of all the personality traits that I could have picked up from you...I got sarcasm and judgement. But hey, better than nothing I guess, plus those things I think have made us closer.

If only we were literally closer right now.

Before anyone on the room had the opportunity to break the awkward silence that was building, the sudden opening of the door to the left of me caught everyone's attention including my own, and I heard the woman gasp as she and Isaac turned around.

You know what, I'm just going to think of her as 'lady' from now on. I mean the only thing that I know for sure about her was that she was definitely the same person on that piece of card that Wednesday had taken from me, the one that had a patient number and a photo of her. Which only told me a random four digits, and the fact that she had to be a little coocoo, considering she was most likely locked up at Willow hills.

But my focus was soon drawn over to the person they had been waiting on to get back this whole time, and he stepped through the threshold before closing the door behind him.

"I made Hyde tracks about twenty miles north and dropped Pugsley's costume, then made an anonymous tip like you said."

When Tyler looked over at the pair standing across the room, I saw his face shift to something more confused, and I think maybe I wasn't the only one judging the two right now.

But they made their way over to where Tyler stood, and Isaac chucked an arm over his shoulder before dragging him a little closer to the table.

"Good! That'll keep the cops off our trail. Now...it's time to position your old flame, onto the board."

As he said that, I felt a pair of hands slither their way onto either one of my shoulders, and my muscles tensed a bit under the unfamiliar touch, making my head turn slightly to look up at lady, who was caressing me in a way that was making me feel even more uneasy than before.

I didn't dwell on it though, as long as she kept her hands to herself I could try to block it out and remain focused on what the two guys beside me were saying.

Tyler shook his head subtly.

"No, Wednesday will know she's being played."

Well I'm glad at least one person here has their head screwed on right.

What he said was accurate, it would have to take a miracle to be able to fool my sister, I don't think it's humanly possible for her to be tricked, not without her being aware of it at the very least.

Isaac removed his arm from Tyler, and leaned down next to me, while I tried not to make direct eye contact, and instead just side eyed him with a bit of uncertainty about what he was going to do.

"An Addams...will never sacrifice one of their own, not even a pawn."

Harsh, but alright.

"And that emotional weakness, will be our checkmate."

I'm having a hard time taking him seriously when he talks like that. And when I quickly glanced up at Tyler, he was looking just as weirded out as I was, and while I didn't exactly like the guy, I was glad I was surrounded just by psychos.

Plus he kind of intrigued me. I've never gotten to see a Hyde up close, I've only ever read about them in books that I've borrowed from my sister back when she was doing research on them last year. I admit I thought it was kind of cool to be able to turn into a monster like that.

So while even though I knew he wasn't the greatest of people, right now he was a lot better compared to the other two around me.

One of which had now put one of her hands along the side of my face, making it impossible to ignore the fact she was touching me as if she had known me her whole life, which by the looks of it, has been a while.

I didn't care how gentle or careful she was being with me, there were only two people in this world who I felt comfortable having physical contact with like this, and she was not one of them.

The first being my mom, for obvious reasons, and then the other...

God I miss her so much right now...

I needed my calm, and it killed me that she wasn't with me right now. Though I think I'd prefer to keep her away from these weirdos if I can help it. I guess I just wish that I hadn't run away from her, then maybe I wouldn't be stuck in this situation.

The memory of her sweet smile graced my mind, and I let myself get lost in the thought of her for a moment, and just for a second, I felt okay. She was the only thing giving me the strength right now not to just run out the front door, because I knew if I did, it would keep me from her for longer.

But whatever happens,

I just hope that they keep her out of it.