~Chapter Fourteen~

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~Patrick's POV~

I looked up from Pete's still face for the owner of the voice. The room was empty except for myself and my unconscious friends scattered over the floor.

I looked back down at Pete and slid my hand across his cheek. "You'll be fine...Just stay with me..."

"He won't, Patrick." I looked up and around as the voice returned again. "Speakers...And also cameras that can see something sharp in Pete's side."

I turned back to Pete and gasped. There was a screwdriver like tool poking out of his side. I looked at it and willed it to come out, afraid that if I actually touched it, I would hurt him.

"Just stay okay...Just stay okay..." I mumbled, holding his body in one arm and cupping his cheek in my hand with the other, "You're going to be okay Pete..." The blue glow from our contact was faint.

I heard the disembodied voice laugh echo around me. "What are you going to do Patrick?"

I looked around, trying to at least find the speaker the voice was coming from.

"Your friends are all unconscious and that poor boy in your arms is getting weaker by the second." The voice taunted, "What can you do?"

I looked at my friends lying on the floor, then at Pete in my arms. I was alone in this instant...But at the same time, I wasn't. I remembered the closeness of this group. For months we were all each other had.

"I can hope..." I whispered almost silently. I flashed my eyes yellow and just looked at Pete. It didn't really help anything... I flashed them back to normal.

I heard a loud thumping noise coming from behind the upright table Pete had been strapped to. I looked up and saw double doors. There was a shadow on the other side, looming over the window.

"You're pathetic, Stump." The voice continued over the invisible loud speakers, "All alone. Just like always. Even the one closest to you is slowly dying."

I looked at the shadow behind the door. That had to be the voice...If I could just open the doors... I thought hard, focusing on the doors. I watched them start to shake before shooting open, revealing Doctor Lite.

He looked surprised, then laughed. He clapped his hands together slowly, "Bravo! Looks like my tests helped you unlock a work template for your gift."

"You didn't do anything with those tests." I shot back. I felt a brief flash of pain go through my head.

"You surely didn't do it all on your own." Dr. Lite slowly walked into the room, "I helped you unlock it. I tinkered around in your head with the help of some of my other pets-"

"We're not your pets!" I yelled, cutting him off, "We're people! We were just kids..."

"But now you're here!" The doctor argued, "And that makes you mine." He walked faster over to where I was holding Pete and loomed darkly over me. He leaned down and I felt fear wash over me.

"I'm still in there, Stump." He said lowly. I felt my vision blur slightly. "You may have broken out of it momentarily, but my influence is still in your head."

My vision became spotted. I tried to shake it away, but it wouldn't go away. I was getting light headed...

"No..." I closed my eyes and turned my head down to look at Pete when I opened them. The blue glow from our touch was faded even more still. "Jus...hold on..."

"Don't you wish it were that easy?" With the doctor's words, I felt a sharp pain to the back of my head. I was still in the process of falling over when everything went black.

---

~Pete's POV~

"Pete!" A faint voice was calling out to me... I felt weak...

"You're going to be okay Pete..." That voice was Patrick. My Patrick. Not the empty yellow eyed shell that had been in front of me.

I struggled to will my eyes into opening. They were so heavy...

"Snap out of it, you son of a bitch!"

Brendon?

"He's weak baby...Søren, can you heal him up a bit?" Another voice I could faintly remember, but couldn't pinpoint.

I felt a hand on my side. It shot pains through my body, making me cry out. After about thirty seconds, the pain faded. I felt better?

"Pete?"

The voices were less faint now. I opened my eyes and saw two fuzzy, but familiar, faces above me. I was on the tiled ground?..

"Pete!" I blinked a bit and Brendon's face became clear. He grinned when he saw me looking at him. "Hey man."

"Good to see you through my own eyes." The face next to Brendon said. I turned and my eyes widened.

"Ryan??" My voice was faint. I coughed as Brendon offered his hand to help me up, "But you-you were shot! Ryan I had to watch..."

"It's a long story..." Ryan smiled sheepishly, "But it's really me, Pete."

I was in a sitting up position, but my side was throbbing.

"Ow!.." I winced.

"They messed you up bad, dude." Brendon frowned, looking me over.

"They seem to enjoy that." I laughed through the pain.

I looked at the room around me. Behind Brendon and Ryan was Spencer, keeping a tight hold on someone about our age with wide, fearful eyes. Next to him was a group of three unfamiliar boys. On the ground across the room, still unconscious, was Frank but...Something was missing...

"Gerard..." I mumbled quietly. I looked around the room for the other missing face, "Patrick!?"

"Pete, calm down-" Brendon started, but I cut him off.

"Brendon, where is he!?" My heart was absolutely shattering in my chest. Patrick had been back. My Patrick. My baby blue eyed Patrick. "Where is he?.."

"Somewhere still in the building." One of the guys behind Ryan and Brendon responded, "We sealed the exits so not even his strong man could get through."

"Josh?" The boy being held by Spencer asked quietly, "Josh, do they have Josh? Where is he? Who even ARE YOU PEOPLE!?" His feet slid against the tile floor as he tried to back into Spencer's chest. He looked terrified.

"He's the doctor's runner." Ryan told me quietly, "He's been under his control for a damaging amount of time. I don't know if I can get all of his memories back..."

"Ryan, that doesn't answer my question." I pleaded, "Please, can we save him?..And Gerard? They can't last much longer here, he's going to kill them." I felt tears welding in my eyes. I just got him back, I couldn't loose him already.

"Like he said," Brendon nodded to the guy behind him that had spoken, "they can't get out of the building. They have someone real helpful on the outside to make sure of that."

"So they're still here?" I asked, not feeling very much hope.

"Yes." Brendon and Ryan both agreed at the same time.

"...How do we find them?"

With my question, Ryan turned to the terrified boy, now shivering from the chill of Spencer's ability.

"Why don't we ask our new friend?" He said, getting to his feet and beginning to walk over.

"I didn't do anything!" The boy shook, "Please! I just want Josh back! I only showed my ability because the baby was still trapped!" He closed his eyes as Ryan got closer.

Ryan connected his fingertips to the boys temple, and he relaxed. He stopped struggling and pushing away.

"There we go...Tyler?" Ryan spoke softly, doing whatever it was he did when he messed around in people's heads, "I know you were just trying to save her from the house fire, but I need you to focus on something else for me. I need you to think about the place you're in right now."

Tyler did nothing, just kept his eyes closed.

"Is that how we're going to find them?" I asked Brendon quietly.

He nodded.

I looked at him. That light in his eye that had disappeared with Ryan in his memories was back. It felt especially bright as he watched Ryan from where he sat next to me.

"How does it feel to remember again?" I asked, a small smile spreading for the friend I had thought I lost forever. That small spark had finally been relit.

He looked over at me with a face of mixed emotions. "Where would I even start?.." He laughed quietly, "My baby...He's alive Pete. Alive in both reality and my memories... It doesn't feel real."

I was about to say something more, when Ryan spoke, "Not far. There's a secret bunker kinda thing?.."

Tyler blinked dully. He looked tired now, as if he had just been through an eight hour math lecture. Ryan must of been through dozens of memories already.

"I know the way." Ryan said, pulling his hand away from Tyler's temple. He turned back to Brendon and I, "He showed me the path. The only other problem is..." Ryan turned and looked at the ground across the room.

Frank was still unconscious. The scene of him flaring his electricity between himself and Gerard flashed through my mind.

"Is he alright?" I asked.

"He's definitely going to wake up a bit shocked." Ryan replied nervously, "I'm a bit afraid to wake him up without Gerard here...He's already zapped some of our group..."

One of the darker haired boys crossed his arms with an irritated expression.

"Maybe...Stand back a bit?" Brendon suggested with a shrug.

"Just do it from there." I told Ryan, "I remember your distance range."

"Pete, not everything came right back after I died. I still have to retrain myself." Ryan said with a frown, "I can't do it from that far away right now."

Brendon looked between the place Frank was laying and where Ryan stood. "He might spark out..."

I looked over at Frank. "Can you scan?" I asked Ryan, "Like just get a scan of where thoughts are?"

Ryan nodded and looked over at Frank. "He might wake up on his own in a few minutes... His thoughts are speeding up from dream status..." He turned over to Brendon and I, "We need to make a plan though...To get Gerard and Patrick."

"Is there anything to draw a layout?" One of the dark haired boys asked.

"I'll just show you." Ryan said with a nod.

He started walking around the group to transfer the image from Tyler to all of us. I sat quiet next to Brendon. I was feeling so many things... anger... fear... concern...

What could possibly be gained by taking them away?..

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