The Twenty-Five

Chapter Three

"My head is killing me." Julia said, turning her body to face me.

"Okay? What do you want me to do about it" I said.

"Ouch. You don't have to be such an asshole." She said, rolling her eyes and leaving me to sit alone.

I know I should've went after her and tell her how sorry I am, but I really don't care right now. There are way too many things going on in my mind and Julia is the last person I should even think about right now. I'm trying so hard to keep my walls up because I know that I'll start to develop feelings for Julia and we can't have that right now.

"Dude, why'd Julia tell me that you're being an asshole to her?" Ricky said, taking a seat next to me.

"It's nothing. I'm just stressed out right now."

"We all are. We're trying so hard to keep it together, none of us want to die." Ricky said.

"Ricky, I'm trying so hard to keep it together. I feel like I'm going to break down any second but I can't. I can't let anyone see my weak side. Especially Julia." I said.

Ricky and I sat in complete silence for a couple minutes, we could hear Jasper and Lucifer ordering everyone else around but we were too focused in our own heads to pay attention to them. Julia came back and sat down next to Ricky. 

"Are you done being an asshole, Caleb?" She said.

"I'm sorry." I said.

She rolled her eyes and began talking.

"So, now we know that Lucifer was in love with Ricky's mother. Ricky is pretty much untouchable right now because he can't kill Ricky. He needs him." Julia said.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"I don't know yet, I'm just laying out the facts. We need to figure out what to do before anybody else gets hurt." She said.

"What if he does end up killing me?" Ricky asked, fear in his eyes.

"You need to pull it together right now, Rick. Please don't get into any trouble with Lucifer or Jasper. Keep hidden, don't talk back to them, don't do anything stupid." Julia said, grabbing Ricky's shoulders.

"I promise you guys I won't do anything stupid. Let's just come up with a plan." Ricky said. 

Jasper had ordered us all to get some rest. He told us he had something big planned for us all the next day.   They had ordered the guards to separate the men from the females and put us all in separate rooms with bunk beds. They were smart when it came to picking out this location. The studio was big, and abandoned.  As I grabbed a pillow and a blanket from one of the guards and walked to my bed, I looked around to see if there was any exit or possible way to escape. 

There weren't any stairs leading up, it looked like it was just one big studio with one floor. I could see Jasper's and Lucifer's small office all the way across from where I was walking. The doors were shut but the lights were on inside. I heard pick out Jasper's and Lucifer's voices, but you couldn't hear what they were discussing. 

I walked down further to find my bed when something caught my eye. I looked a little to the right and I could see a stairwell leading to a downstairs. I could tell the security guard was looking at me so I turned my head straight and continued walking until I found the bunkbed.

"Make yourself comfortable, kid." The guard chuckled and patted me on the back.

I scoffed, and put my stuff down. I noticed Ricky was on the bottom bunk and there were two guys across from our bed. 

"Hey C." Ricky said, giving me a nod. 

I greeted him and climbed to my bed. How was I supposed to tell Ricky about what I discovered when there were two guys across from us. I tried to give Ricky signals but he wouldn't understand what I was saying. 

"Hey guys, I'm Ravi. This is my twin brother Rahul." Ravi, the boy on the top bunk said.

He had a smile on his face, but had fear in his eyes. That same look was on his twin brother's face.

"I'm Caleb." I said, smiling.

"Hey! I'm Ricky!" Ricky said.

"I know this isn't the best time to get to know people, but it helps us escape from what's really going on." Rahul said.

"Honestly, I agree." Ricky said.

"Well, Rahul and I are 18 years old. We travelled here from India a year ago. It has been our dreams to become American actors." Ravi said.

"Yeah, we've been in a few commercials back in India. But, coming to America has always been our dream. If we could make it back in India, then we could make it anywhere. We just want to make our parents proud." Rahul said.

"I'm sure they're very proud of you. Look at you guys, you're pursuing your dreams!" I said, giving them a soft smile.

"We're so scared." Ravi said.

"I know. I'm honestly so terrified." Ricky said.

I looked at the 3 men in-front of me and frowned. They were scared. They all have backgrounds, and dreams, and stories. So much stories they'd want to tell when they get older. They're 18, just like me. I watched them tell Ricky stories about their time back home, and how they didn't regret coming to America. 

"So, you don't regret coming here? Even if you're in the situation you guys are in right now?" I asked.

Ravi and Rahul looked at each other, shook their heads and looked back up at me.

"Honestly, at first we did. We thought it was God punishing us for leaving our family behind. But, the more we talked about it and the more we came to our senses we realized that it is what it is. If we're meant to die tonight, or tomorrow or any day, it's okay. We've made peace with it even though we are scared to death. All we can do is pray." Rahul said. 

"Wow.. that really opened my eyes." Ricky said, mouth opened in awe. 

We all said goodnight to each other and they all fell asleep. I decided to tell Ricky and Julia about what I discovered tomorrow. If there is one, anyway. 

I didn't know what time it was, or what day it was, all I knew is that it might be the end of time. I stared at the ceiling, the blanket they provided for us wasn't keeping me warm at all, and the pillow didn't help either. I didn't expect anything different though.

I kept tossing and turning, and hoping I could just fall asleep. I haven't slept in what felt like years. My mind wondered off to Julia. I wonder how she's doing right now. I hope she's getting a goodnight's sleep. Or maybe she's lying awake, staring at the ceiling just like I am. Maybe we're thinking the exact same thing. 

I heard walking outside the door, and people talking. The talking and walking stopped as soon as it came to our door. They might've walked away. 

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang on our door, which was a guard's foot kicking it wide open. They could've just opened the door, but they wanted to be dramatic. 

"Sir, I caught these two men stealing some food from your office this morning." The guard said.

The four of us sat straight up in our beds. I looked down to Ricky, and he had a scared look on his face.

Lucifer pointed at Ricky and I, and turned to the guard.

"These two?" He asked.

"No sir! Those two!" The guard said, pointing at Rahul and Ravi. 

My breath got caught in my throat and I couldn't swallow anything down. I knew what was about to happen, and If I tried to stop it I could end up dead. My hands started shaking and I looked down to Ricky, who was shaking as well. 

"Well, boys? Care to explain?" Jasper asked.

"Sir, w-we were just hungry. We didn't want to eat that crap you feed us everyday! The food in your office looked good!" Rahul said.

"Both of you, stand up in-front of me." Jasper said.

Ravi and Rahul stood up and held each other's hands.

"Please don't kill us." Ravi said.

"Oh, I won't be killing you." Jasper said. 

The boys sighed in relief. 

"But, I know Lucifer will." Jasper smiled, handing the gun to Lucifer.

The boys started screaming and crying.

"Please, please I beg you!" They cried.

"He's my brother! I came into this earth with him and I won't leave without him!" Ravi said.

"Fine! I'll kill you both at the same time, happy?" Lucifer said.

"STOP! YOU CAN'T KILL THEM!" Ricky yelled out from his bed.

"I swear to god, your head will be chopped off next if you don't stop talking." Lucifer said, his face getting red. 

"Don't kill them, please! I don't care if I die!" Ricky yelled out.

"Ricky!" I whispered.

Lucifer took out a knife and started running towards Ricky but Jasper held him back again. 

"Remember you need the boy." Jasper said into his ear.

Lucifer stopped and rubbed his head. 

"Don't think you're lucky. Once it is your turn, I'm going to make sure everyone is around watching me cut you wide open and making you drink your own blood. Be careful, son." Lucifer said.

Lucifer handed Jasper another gun and told him to kill one brother while he takes the other one.

"Let's kill them at the same time." Jasper said.

Rahul and Ravi hugged each other, and closed their eyes waiting for the bullet to kill them both. They had tears running down their cheeks. 

"I love you, brother." They said to each other.

They're bodies collapsed to the ground, in the same position it was when they were still alive. Tear stains down their cheeks, and in each others arms. 

"That was rough." Jasper said.

"Yeah, I don't really give a s**t. Guards, take their bodies away and clean the blood." Lucifer said.

The guards obliged and took the bodies away.

Where would they even be taking the bodies?

Suddenly, a realization hit me and I gasped out loud on accident.

"Pretty late reaction there, buddy." Lucifer chuckled, leaving our room and shutting the door.

The guards would have to be taking the bodies down to that room I saw earlier as I was walking. The room downstairs. Lucifer can't have the bodies being outside because they can easily be found, and caught. 

I looked down to Ricky, who had tears running down his cheeks.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"Do I look okay, Caleb?" 

Ricky was staring at the now empty beds infront of him. 

"It's like they knew they were going to die tonight." He said.

"I guess they just had that feeling. Listen Rick, you can't let this put you down." I said.

"Caleb, they had so much going on for them. They were truly an inspiration, and although we talked for an hour I've learnt so much." He said.

"I'm glad you were inspired but Ricky, you almost got YOURSELF killed." I pointed out.

"I would've risked my life for them Caleb. I was going to." He said.

"Listen, you keep getting lucky with Jasper stopping Lucifer. One day, Lucifer's going to get you all alone. We need you, Ricky. I need you. You're my friend." I said.

"Okay, okay. I promise you, Caleb. I won't do anything stupid." He said.

"There's something I need to tell you and Julia tomorrow. No one can hear us though." I said.

"Alright, we need to get some rest now." Ricky said.

"Goodnight, Rick"

"Goodnight, C."

After what I've just witnessed, I doubted I was getting any sleep. Julia probably has no idea what's been going on in the past hour. This whole night has been one big mess. I found a stairwell leading to a door downstairs, TWO men dying in one night, and Ricky almost getting himself killed- again. 

Im sure that Julia will help me come up with some sort of plan to get into this room downstairs. If we aren't able to get into that room, we all might as well be doomed.