Altered Futures

Chapter 16 - Leaving

Monday, January 9 --- 9:57p.m.

There is no way that can be her. Even if it was, why is she here? Did he capture her too?

In the midst of his thoughts, he could hear the old window being lifted up, letting the cold air inside. He shivered as much as he could while still tied up. He couldn't see who it was, but it didn't matter. Whoever it was, it couldn't be good.

Footsteps sounded inside as Grace turned around and shut the window.

Thank goodness. That air was freezing.

Grace took a few more steps in Edward's direction and knelt down beside him. It was then that he heard a voice that he hadn't heard in over seven years.

"Edward?" she asked in uncertainty, checking to see if her hunch was correct.

"G-Grace?" he asked, forgetting his gag was in, so his voice came out muffled and unintelligible.

"It's me, Grace," she said, clearly not hearing what he had said. "Here, let me get that off of you."

Reaching behind his head, which was easy to do considering the position he was tied up in, Grace slid off his blindfold and untied the scrap of fabric making up part of the gag. Once she pulled it off, she noticed there was still a rolled up sock in his mouth and took it out. Unbeknownst to her, having been gagged for so long and not had any water, his throat felt incredibly dry. 

Now that he was finally able to see, he knew for sure it was Grace who was there and he didn't know how to feel. On one hand, he could finally see her again after so long and she didn't sound angry but on the other hand, this place was dangerous and he didn't want her to get caught. Nothing good would come out of that and he didn't want her to end up like he did.

"Who could do something so horrible to you?" Grace muttered, not aware she had accidentally spoken out loud.

"G-Grace...I-I..." started Edward, his throat too dry to talk any faster.

"Edward, it's okay. I've got you," Grace said, letting his head lay in her lap instead of on the hard flooring.

It didn't take long for Grace to notice that since Edward was tied up in handcuffs and since she had no idea where a key might be, rescuing him would be difficult.

"Do you know where he keeps the key to these?"

Edward shook his head, on the verge of crying. Of course he had to look dumb in front of her. Not to mention now of all times when he needed to know the answer.

"P-please...d-d-don't h-hurt m -me..." he trailed off, barely able to speak.

"Don't cry. I won't hurt you," she muttered, brushing away his tears. "We'll get you out of here somehow."

Grace wracked her brain, but couldn't come up with anything. She couldn't pull them off and they wouldn't break. Without the key, there wasn't much she could do to get them off. Deep in thought, she scratched her head when her fingers bumped into something metallic.

Of course! Her bobby pins. If she took those out, she was sure they could pick the lock on the handcuffs. She reached into her hair and removed a single bobby pin, thankful she had worn them today. Normally she was not a fan of them because they made her look too girly, but she had a gut feeling she should wear them today and it had paid off. Then again, her gut feelings usually did.

Putting the pin inside the lock in one of the sets of handcuffs, she turned it. With a faint click, the handcuffs around his feet came off. Having been tied up for so long, his ankles and legs were sore. He laid his legs down, glad they weren't tied up anymore.