This couldn't be happening.

Not again.

Every time we were almost in the clear, this bastard would magically show up. It was almost like he could tell what our next move was before we even made it.

Slowly, wary of any moves he made, I glanced around the hall.

My eyes traveled around the hall and then up, and sure enough, in the left corner, right above the basement door, was a camera pointed right at the room Gemma was being kept in.

Continuing my search, I found another right above the door that Sheep Mask was standing in front of and then another at the kitchen entrance.

Damnit!

How did I not notice them before?

I heard a dark chuckle and tore my eyes away from the cameras and back to the man that was literally becoming my walking nightmare.

"Are you just now noticing my toys?" He asked.

Sheep Mask shook his head.

"I have others that are a lot more fun to play with that I'm simply dying to show you." Sheep Mask's head turned in the direction of the basement door.

I tightened my grip on Gemma, who, during this entire exchange, hadn't uttered a single word.

"What do you say, huh? How about we take a little trip downstairs and introduce Gemma to my new toys since you've already seen them?"

Gemma finally moved as she turned her head slightly to look up at me with wide, fearful, and questioning eyes.

I tried to ignore her stare as I stared straight ahead at Sheep Mask.

"Like hell we will. We're not going anywhere with you." I said through clenched teeth. I'd be damned if I let him hurt her again.

Sheep Mask chuckled again. Like anything about this situation was funny.

"Is that a challenge boy?"

I froze at his words.

The way he just spoke. It reminded me of-

Suddenly, I was back on the train where all this mess had started.

I was sitting with Gemma to my right and Dox was standing right in front of me.

Dox was pressing the barrel of his gun to my forehead after I hadn't answered his question.

He was pissed, which seemed to be his default mood.

"Have you lost your tongue now boy? I'm talking to you. Now is the time when you speak."

Those words swarmed around in my head like angry bees as I stared ahead at Sheep Mask.

That voice.

It was all coming back to me at once like a punch to the gut.

It couldn't be.

Could it?

"You putting two and two together now boy?"

I couldn't form any words.

There was no way.

Gemma, who hadn't seemed to have put the pieces together yet, was slowly looking between Sheep Mask and me with a worried expression on her face.

"Archer? What's wrong?"

I swallowed hard as I continued to stare at him.

"It's you, isn't it?" I asked, finally able to speak.

Sheep Mask chuckled and simply shook his head.

"This isn't really how I wanted to do my big reveal, but I guess it'll do." He said as he slowly reached up and grabbed the bottom of his mask.

In a few seconds, he had pulled the mask off his face revealing a face that I still saw in my sleep.

It only left me more confused.

Staring at me was definitely the face that belonged to Sheep Mask when we were down in the tunnels.

The dark hair and brown eyes, even down to the crooked nose.

So, why was he acting as if he were someone else?

Sheep Mask, or what used to be Sheep Mask, took a few slow steps into the room with a smile plastered on his face.

"Still trying to process things I see. Well, I'll make it simple for you both."

He held his hands out wide like he was expecting a hug.

"Why don't you two come on over here and greet your old pal Dox, hm?"

I took a few steps back, my grip on Gemma tightening.

"You're not Dox. I killed him." I said, shaking my head.

"You're the guy who was wearing that Sheep Mask the entire time we were down there."

He simply shook his head and made a tsk tsk sound with his mouth.

"But have you actually seen Dox's face? How can you compare us both when you've only seen one person's face?"

My head was spinning. None of this made any sense.

"You look like your brain's working overtime over there, boy." he laughed. "I'll go ahead and put you out of your misery and lay it all out there for you."

The sick bastard was enjoying this. He was acting like this whole thing was one big story time.

"When we first met on the train, you were a mouthy little bastard." He began while glaring at me. "You see, I hate when people talk back and the minute you opened your mouth, I knew I was going to have to do something about that."

"I had an entire plan when I came down into the tunnels. I had been working on it for months, but I changed it all just for you." He gave me a sick smirk.

"So, the minute everyone took off down those tracks, I switched masks with the original guy who was wearing this here mask," He held up the mask in his hand. "And I went after you on my own."

"When we ran into each other the first time down in those tunnels after you stupidly came running because you heard a little girl's scream, that was me behind that mask."

"It was also me when we got into our little...scuffle." He said through clenched teeth, clearly irritated that I had gotten the best of him back then."

Gemma finally spoke up. "That can't be true. Dox was the one who took me from that room and tied me to those pipes."

Dox simply shook his head.

"No, sweetheart. That was simply one of my guys wearing the mask you first saw me in. They were all playing along. Couldn't have you guys figuring out that we had switched masks now, could I? That would have ruined all the fun."

Dox gave a big sigh.

"Unfortunately, you ruined it anyway. The plan was for you to be led back to the waiting platform where you were supposed to be burned alive in that train car while I watched through video from another room. Imagine my surprise when you actually killed one of my men." You could practically hear the venom dripping from his voice.

"By the time I got back to the waiting platform you and the other boy were already long gone and I'm not stupid. I knew I was outnumbered then. So, I just bid my time. After listening to your stories on the news I knew the little punk with the nose ring would be my best chance to get to you. It only took a little threatening and blackmail to get him to do what I needed, and now here we are." Dox finished with his arms spread wide.

"So, the guy I killed-" I began.

"That was the original guy in this mask here." Dox said gesturing to the mask again. "Not me."

I felt like I had just been hit over the head with a brick.

Looking back, I guess it did all make sense. Sheep Mask didn't have the same obsession with us like Dox did. Come to think of it the entire time we were interacting with Sheep Mask if what he said was true, we were actually interacting with Dox.

I think we just assumed because we had killed his friend, ruined their entire plan, and left him down there to rot, that it was really him who had come back to get his revenge.

Dox stopped the pacing he had been doing while he was recanting his story and simply stood there, twirling the knife in his hand.

"Well, now that story time is over, where were we?"

As Dox began to take slow steps forward I took matching steps back.

I looked down at Gemma who was watching Dox slowly advance with a terrified look on her face.

She couldn't go through anything else.

I wouldn't let her.

"When I tell you to, run." I whispered not taking my eyes off Dox.

Gemma tore her gaze away from Dox and looked at me with wide eyes.

"What? No, I-"

"Gemma please. I'm not going to let him hurt you again. When I tell you to, you run. Understand?"

She opened her mouth like she wanted to argue, but then closed it and nodded once.

Slowly, I set her on her feet and instead of continuing to step back, I took a step forward.

Dox cocked his head to the side.

"Finally grown a pair?" He taunted.

I took a deep breath.

"Guess there's only one way to find out isn't there?"

Before he could respond I charged forward.

In the blink of an eye we had collided, both of us going tumbling to the floor.

Conscious of the knife he still held, I attempted to wrestle it out of his hand.

While he was occupied, I looked over my shoulder at Gemma who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Run!"

She only hesitated for a second before she darted past us. Once she reached the door, however, she stopped completely turning back to look at me with a torn look on her face. I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Gemma go! I'll be okay. Just get out of here and get to the police. They're at the hotel."

I watched as she bit her bottom lip, that torn look still on her face.

"Archer-"

"Go!"

She jumped a little at my tone before she turned and ran out the door and down the steps.

I felt a wave of relief flow through me as I watched her disappear.

She was safe.

My relief was short lived however, as I felt Dox's fist connect with face, effectively knocking me backwards and on my ass.

Before I even had time to get my bearings, he was kneeling over me with his knife pressed to my throat.

"You'll pay for that." He quickly glanced over his shoulder at the door Gemma had just run through, then back down at me.

"I'll just find her again, but in the meantime, I think it's time you and I got to know each other a little better."

He slapped me roughly on the cheek.

"Let's go introduce you to those new toys I bought."