An Ordinary Life

Chapter 16: Molly's Discovery

     I wonder how long it has been since I first came here. I still don't understand anything. I just want to go home and have my brother safe and sound with Talulah and I. I wonder how Talulah is now. I hope she's okay. It had honestly felt like an eternity since Molly had been abducted by this strange, enigmatic man, and nothing about the situation had really changed. He came in to feed her three times a day, give her water, and to make sure she was doing fine before becoming absent for several hours at a time. This routine had repeated for several days since Molly had arrived to wherever the man was keeping her, and she often couldn't help but wonder what he was up to or why she was even still here. He hinted about me being important to something, but I still don't know what that something is.

     Heavy footsteps suddenly burst to life like many colorful fireworks exploding in the sky to flaunt their many vibrant patterns and colors, and the sound of locks clicking ensued as the door to the room Molly was in finally opened. The sound of the door slamming against the wall of the dark, cold room made Molly jump, and soon enough, the sound of the man's gruff voice filled the gloomy, lonesome room. "Get up. I need you to do something for me." He lowly growled. Molly stifled a surprised gasp as she felt her binds loosening, a faint thud on the floor announcing to Molly that the ropes that had been tied around both her wrists and her ankles had been cut by some unknown, sharp tool.

     "What do you want me to do?" Molly quietly inquired, her thoughts almost constantly running haywire as her brain silently panicked about what task her abductor yearned for her to complete. "Go outside and go down the hallway. I need you to calm your friend down for me. She wants to see you." The man roughly barked, his eyes slowly narrowing to thin, cold spits as he loomed over Molly. My friend? Does he mean Mercy? Is she here too? Oh no! What if she was kidnapped? "What have you done to Mercy?" Molly suddenly screamed, her face contorting with a fierce bout of rage as her sore, clammy hands balled into tight fists. The blind girl's knuckles swiftly drained of color until they had become as white as a pure batch of freezing snow. "Don't fret, Molly. Your friend is fine. Go and see her, will you? Hurry before I go and do it myself. I'm sure you wouldn't want Mercy to get hurt, would you?" With a low, sinister chuckle, the twisted, misguided man exited the room. For once, Molly's keen sense of hearing hadn't heard the door shut the door like it usually would have done. I need to find Mercy. Where is he keeping her?

     A shrill, feminine shriek split into the air, the loud sound of terror having belonged to Mercy. "Mercy, where are you?" Molly cried, fear mercilessly weaving its way into her panicked, pounding heart with a strong iron grip. "Mercy, please answer me!" Molly shouted, her hasty movements causing her legs to carry her down the hall like a flying squirrel gliding down from a tall tree. "Molly? I'm in here!" A feminine voice suddenly exclaimed, the girl's voice laden with both stress and fright. Loud, rapid pounding on a door nearby alerted Molly, and she soon found herself bumping into the shut wooden door with a small grunt. "Molly, is that you?" Mercy's anxious, tense voice sounded on the other side of the door, much to Molly's relief. The girl fumbled to locate the doorknob, soon enough thrusting the door open with her nearest clammy palm. "Molly!" With a cry, Mercy gratefully flung her arms around Molly's warm torso in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you! That horrible man kept me locked up in here. It's terrible, Molly. He killed Isaiah." Before Molly could even say anything, the blind girl was stunned into silence while her distraught best friend sobbed her heart out in her numb arms. "What?" Molly's voice barely exceeded a whisper, her bottom lip quivering as swift as a twitching limb. "I-I saw Isaiah i-in the room I was in. It looked like he had been stabbed. I'm so sorry, Molly." Mercy struggle to recollect herself, her breaths coming in uneven, trembling gasps.

     As much as Molly wanted to cry, she almost felt like she could not despite the tragic news her ears had picked up. "Isaiah would want us to get out of here and be safe. He'd want what is best for us, Mercy. Crying won't help us escape. We need to find a way out. I don't want to leave Isaiah behind, but we need to focus on ourselves right now. My brother is in a better place too. Besides, that man could come back." With a small nod accompanied by a few sniffles, Mercy trailed after Molly as the two young women trekked through the hallway in the opposite direction that Molly had come from. Their pace quickened the more they became uneasy, both of their minds constantly reminding them of what could happen if they were caught in the act of trying to leave. "Where should we go?" Molly whispered, her hand tightly clinging onto Mercy's own palm like her life depended upon it. "I don't know. We'll have to try and find an exit very soon."

     "Oh, I see some stairs. We were in the basement." Mercy quietly informed the blind girl to her left, stealthily making her way up to the shut basement door with Molly. She attempted to turn the knob, but alas, the wooden door would not grant her the act of exiting the musty basement. "Shoot! It's locked." A frustrated growl lowly rumbled within Mercy's warm gullet, her dark eyebrows furrowing in frustration. "I think I have a bobby pin that you can use." Molly's arm raised for a brief moment before dropping back down, a bobby pin being securely clutched between her fingers. "Thanks. I'll try that." As carefully as possible, Mercy retrieved the bobby pin and attempted to pick the lock to be basement door. For what felt like an eternity, the young girl had much difficulty trying to open the door open in order to ensure freedom for her and Molly. However, right when Mercy was about to call it quits, her spirits skyrocketed as a faint click reached her ears. A triumphant, satisfied grin formed on Mercy's face as the basement door silently drifted backwards to become ajar. "Let's go, Molly. We're getting out of here."