An unconscious Debbie made her way through the back woods outside Alex's house. Of course she wasn't walking on her own. Instead, she was being carried by a man in black. And this man had a voice that she recognized right before he knocked her out with a tree branch.
This mysterious man in black traipsed through the woods, over boulders and through the trees, slowly moving Debbie further and further away from safety. From her friends. From Alex Ambrose.
*****
In Lincoln Ambrose's underground bunker, Christopher was still unwittingly being held captive. After he lost his memory when he tripped in the forest, Alex's grandfather seized the opportunity to meddle with the mind of one of Alex's closest friends.
However, when blonde bombshell Kylie Naysmith appeared in the bunker, Christopher became skeptical. It seemed very convenient. This Alex Ambrose guy was caught up in the middle of some cheating scandal, and a totally random woman waltzed in and claimed to be pregnant with his child.
Christopher trusted Lincoln and Mark, but there was something about Kylie he couldn't get behind. Maybe it was the way she sat next to him, constantly caressing his arm and batting her eyelashes. She didn't seem to act as a jilted pregnant woman would. Her sadness was fleeting, and she seemed to have no regard for her future child. Who knows, Christopher thought. Maybe she's just a sociopath.
Suddenly, Lincoln's cell phone rang, making everyone jump. His ringtone was loud and obnoxious. The ostentatious sound made Christopher cringe.
The old man squinted at his phone's screen. Then, he stood up. "Excuse me, everyone. I better take this."
Christopher tilted his head toward the tan woman. Looking directly into her crystal blue eyes sent a chill down his spine. "So, Kylie, are you excited to be a mother?"
Kylie shrugged carelessly. "Sure. I mean, babies are cute enough, right?" She ran her fingers through Christopher's hair.
Christopher pulled her hand away. "Well, yes, but they're also a lot of work, and labor could be quite intensive. On average, it could last from twelve to eighteen hours." He had no idea how he knew that. The fact just popped into his head.
Kylie cringed. "Yuck, and isn't it true that some women poop?"
Christopher nodded. "Not only that, but you also can also tear the skin from your vagina to your anus." Why did he know so many facts about labor? Am I a father? He wondered.
Kylie gagged. "Ew! That's so gross." She leaned into Christopher's ear. "I just want you to know, I never, ever poop."
"That's physically impossible," Christopher said as he pushed the woman away.
Kylie pursed her lips. "Anyway, I never want to go into labor."
Mark, who was sitting in the corner of the room, keeping to himself, raised an eyebrow. "Kylie, sorry to say it, but I don't think you have much of a choice. You're pregnant. You'll have to go into labor."
She sneered at the young man. "What are you," she started to ask, but then she glanced down at her stomach. "Oh, I mean, I never want to go into labor without being entirely drugged up."
Christopher couldn't remember anything from his past, but he knew, presently, he hated Kylie. She's so disgusting that she's nauseating, he thought.
Thankfully, Lincoln ran back into the room, pulling the attention away from Kylie. His occasional limp and crooked posture seemingly disappeared. He was beaming from ear to ear, clutching his phone in his hand. "We hit the jackpot!"
"What is it?" Mark asked.
Lincoln turned. "Don't you worry about it. It's something big. Huge. It's good news for us. For the cause."
Filled with curiosity, Christopher leaned forward. "Is this something that will aid us in taking down Alex?"
Lincoln pointed at Christopher. "Yes, sir. Something that will play right into his biggest weakness." He clapped his hands together. "This is just perfect."
"And what is his weakness, exactly?" Christopher asked, genuinely.
Lincoln lifted his chin. "You really don't know? He's too soft, too empathetic. He has no backbone. He's like a flame in the wind. Break his heart, and you break the man."
The old man gazed off into the distance with a nostalgic look on his face. "I had an employee once. He heard a loud thump on the window next to his desk. Confused, he ran outside and found a little bird with a broken wing outside of the office. He came back in, cupping the bird in his palms. He wanted to take off the morning to help mend the bird's wing." Lincoln clenched his jaw. "Have you ever heard of Darwinism, Christopher?"
The man nodded. "Yes. It's the theory of evolution. The species that are able to adapt, reproduce and compete to survive are the ones that evolve. The other species will not survive. It's natural selection." Christopher surprised himself, wondering how he innately knew so much about science. It seemed like it was a clue to who he was before he lost his memory.
The corners of Lincoln's mouth twisted into a menacing smile. "In other words, only the strong survive."
Christopher raised his shoulders. "I suppose you can put it like that."
"That's exactly what I told my employee," Lincoln said as he clenched his fist in front of his face. "I yanked that bird right out of his hands and threw it into the trash. It was weak. If it were meant to survive, it wouldn't have broken its wing. For the rest of the day, the chirps of the bird echoed throughout the office. I forbade anyone from helping it."
Mark watched Lincoln with an alarmed gaze. "Oh, my god. What happened to the bird?"
Lincoln waved his hand in the air. "It died. Just like nature and myself intended it to."
Kylie frowned with a whimper. "Aw, poor birdy."
Lincoln slammed his hand down on the cabinet next to him. It shook everything on the walls of the bunker. "Not poor birdy! That animal got what it deserved. Death is the only true guarantee in life."
Mark jumped back at Lincoln's sudden outburst. He held out his hand to his boss. "Alright, Lincoln."
Lincoln was still tense as he moved his fist off of the top of the cabinet. As he spoke, spit flew out of his mouth. "That employee learned a valuable lesson that day. Weakness is tantamount to death, and if you are weak, you will be crushed." He paused to take a deep, shaky breath. "Sadly, Alex Ambrose never learned the same lesson."
After getting a glimpse of Lincoln's true colors, Christopher was worried that he had made a grave mistake. Lincoln may have saved his life, but his passionate speech certainly raised a red flag. Lincoln almost sounded like he was psychotic.
Lincoln pointed toward the TV. The screen was frozen on a still image of Alex, Yvonne and Debbie. "That's why Ambrose's little crew is tearing itself apart. Only the strong survive." Lincoln then grabbed Mark by the shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. "And you and me, we are strong."
***
The Ambrose residence was filled with a palpable tension. One could almost taste the bitterness in the air.
Yvonne and Alex were in the throes of an atrocious fight. She told Alex she loved him. He told her to leave. Right when their argument reached its peak, Louis burst through the door of the basement.
"There's something you need to know. Ken Stokes has hidden cameras in the woods. He's found Christopher," he said.
Yvonne and Alex shifted their attention to Louis.
"What?" The two said in unison.
Louis didn't give the two much time to react before he was walking back up the stairs. "Come on. Follow me."
Yvonne gave Alex an unsure look. She had no clue what to do. Part of her wanted to run away to another state and change her name, but the better part of herself wanted to find Christopher. "Do you still want me to leave? If you do, I guess it's fine. Just, send Christopher my love when he gets back."
Alex let out an exasperated sigh. He was upset with Yvonne, no doubt about that, but he wasn't heartless. He knew she cared about Christopher, and he didn't want to keep her away from her friend. "Okay, you can stay for now. It'll be what's best for Christopher."
Yvonne sniffled as she wiped her nose. "Alright. I'm really sorry, Alex. I was just worked up."
Alex's nostrils flared. He didn't want to hear it. "It doesn't matter. After we find Christopher, you're out of here."
"But Alex," Yvonne started.
Alex held his hand out. He was firm, unwilling to give Yvonne anything to misinterpret. "No buts. This needs to end, Yvonne. We need to go our separate ways. We're like fire and gasoline. We're explosive. It's not good, not for either of us. You understand?"
Yvonne bit her bottom lip. She couldn't look Alex in the eye. A timid nod was all she could muster. But I don't understand, she thought. I don't get how your feelings could change so fast for someone. It isn't fair.
Exhausted, Alex rubbed his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. He let out a loud yawn. "Alright. Let's go see this footage." As he walked upstairs, Yvonne sheepishly followed him.
In the middle of the living room, a confident Ken stood tall, shouting a series of directions at the members of his film crew. Most of the crew left already, but those that remained were getting an earful. "Okay, we need to get all of the footage from the forest cams stat, and stat means now." He looked over his shoulder when he heard Louis, Alex, and Yvonne enter the room. "Great! You're here. How are you guys feeling?"
Alex stepped forward, rubbing his temples. "Ken, how do you think I feel? I'm not doing too great. I had a long day. Well, actually, it's been a long week. You know what, scratch that. I had a long year. Things aren't looking up, Ken."
The reporter held up his hands. "Alright, alright. Listen, we'll get this footage rolling. We'll take a look at it. It's gonna be alright."
"Speaking of footage," Alex said. "Care to explain why you had hidden cameras all over the forest?"
Ken innocently shrugged. "In case something happened in the forest. And, admittedly, I'm a bit of a nature buff."
"Well, guess what," Louis interrupted as he walked over to Ken, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Something did happen in the forest. Thank god for Ken Stokes. He's the only person with any clue as to where Chris might be, and for that, I'm grateful."
Ken waved a dismissive hand in Louis' direction. "Hey, it's what I do. I'm always thinking. And look! Now we have the opportunity to find your doctor friend. It'll all work out, Alex. You just have to trust me."
Alex crossed his arms. He was sick of talking. All he wanted to do was find Christopher and move on. "Okay, fine. I trust you. Where's the footage?"
Ken pointed in the direction of two production assistants. "They're going to run out to get all of the footage." The PAs frantically ran out the door.
Alex's expression dropped. He was beyond impatient. "They have to go out and retrieve all the footage from the cameras? Are you kidding me?"
"No," Ken replied.
Alex was about angry enough to rip his hair out. "How long is that going to take, Ken?"
In the back of the room, Yvonne was distracted. Her eyes scanned the room, but she didn't see Debbie. "Hey, maybe we should get Debbie to look at this footage. I think she'd want to see it. She was worried about Christopher."
"I agree," Louis said. "But let me go get her. I doubt she wants to see you two right now."
"You're probably right," Alex replied. "Well, get to it, Louis."
With a sigh, Louis headed up to the second floor, straight to Debbie's room.
The door to the bedroom was closed. He lightly knocked on it. "Hey, Deb. I know you said you didn't want to be bothered, but we found some footage of Chris. We might be able to figure out where he is."
Louis paused, waiting for her to say something. When she didn't, he continued. "Ken Stokes had some cameras in the woods. He truly thinks of everything. You wanna come out?"
She didn't answer. He knocked again, this time a little louder. "Debbie? Is everything okay?"
Still, no reply. Louis wasn't one to get worked up over things, but he was growing concerned. "Debbie, I'm going to come in. I'm a little worried."
He cracked the door open and peeked into the room. All of the lights were turned on, but Debbie wasn't there. Nothing looked out of place. The windows weren't open. Where was she?
He walked into the bedroom. "Hey, Debbie, are you in here?" He scanned the room. "Something doesn't feel right."
For good measure, Louis checked the walk-in closet and the bathroom. Debbie was still nowhere to be found.
Louis bolted downstairs. "Guys! Guys!"
Alex whipped around, staring at Louis with wide eyes. "What? What's wrong?"
Louis panted as he reached the bottom of the staircase. "Debbie's not there."
"She wasn't in the room?" Yvonne asked nervously. She started biting her fingernails.
Louis shook his head. "I saw her by the basement earlier. She ran past me. I assumed she went to the room, but maybe she went somewhere else."
Yvonne gripped the sides of her head. "Oh, my god. She heard what we said in the basement."
"Shit," Alex replied, clenching his fists. "Hey, SCOT. Scan the house for Debbie. Then the forest. Immediately."
SCOT replied in a nanosecond. "There is no sign of Miss Clifton on the premises, Mr. Ambrose. Nor is she in the forest."
Ken waved to his crew. "Guys, has anyone seen Debbie Clifton? Did anyone see her walking around here?"
No one in the film crew answered. A few people shook their heads. The cinematographer who Debbie ran into before stood in the back of the room. He didn't say a word.
Alex covered his mouth with his hand. "Debbie's missing."
"Do you want me to call the Demon Sect?" Louis asked. He snapped his fingers. "They could find her like that."
Alex held out his hand. "Absolutely not. My house is crowded the way it is. I don't need to add demons into the mix."
Yvonne fanned herself. She felt as if she were going to faint. "Oh, no. This is all my fault. What are we going to do?"
In a flash, Ken ran over to Yvonne. He let her lean onto him. "Hey, it's alright. If we saw Christopher on the footage, we probably caught Debbie on there too. We'll get to the bottom of it."
"Wait," Alex said. "SCOT, can you obtain all the footage from Ken's hidden cameras in the forest right now?"
SCOT's voice rang throughout the living room. "Yes, sir. I have retrieved the footage. Where would you like to stream it, Mr. Ambrose?"
"Send it to the basement, Scott," Alex replied. He motioned to the rest of the crowd. "I want Ken, Louis, and Yvonne to come with me downstairs. The rest of you have to pack up and go. If anyone sees Debbie Clifton, you must call me. That's an order."
Alex turned to face his friends. "Alright. Let's go watch this footage."