ESCAPE

Chapter Nine

The hooded man steps closer to us and holds up a piece of paper which he slams against the glass. I stare at the paper and see it's some kind of confession, written and signed by Chia. It says that she was solely responsible for May Van DeSeer's death and was so distraught that she had to take her own life.

The man's voice comes through the speakers. "If you both don't confess your accountability to May's death, dear Chiasu here will die and take the full blame and consequences. Everyone will know she killed May and then herself. Confess, and you'll be free."

"Okay," I say quickly, mind racing. "Okay. I admit it. We admit it. We both spread rumours about May, and we didn't help her situation. We could have done more to help her, but we didn't. We are responsible. Please, don't hurt Chia. She doesn't have anything to do with this. Please let her go. She doesn't deserve to be treated like this. None of us do."

"And did May deserve what happened to her?" The man's anger seems to accentuate his wheezing. "Did she deserve to be mocked and shamed and tortured by her peers?"

"No, of course not," I say.

"We've confessed," Bella says. "I admit that we played a part in May's suicide. You said you wouldn't hurt us if we confessed."

"It's not as simple as that. You have to confess to the world."

I try to understand what that means. All I can look at is the tall man. He's staring at us under his hood, although I can't see his eyes. He's just standing there, shoulders and chest moving slightly. He reminds me of a killer from a horror film, devoid of emotion or logic; just a mindless, faceless killing machine waiting to attack.

Bella says, "We'll sign whatever you want."

In response, a monitor turns on. It's high up on our side, around shoulder level, and is showing us, looking back. I guess that there's a camera watching us, showing us what it sees.

The man says, "You will tell the world what you did. Tell them everything. The live stream will go out to everyone. You will take full responsibility. And I promise you; if you even think of saying anything about this, give a hint or say the wrong thing, you'll all be dead within a minute. And they'll never know what happened to you."

Thoughts and images crash through my chaotic mind. I feel the most exhausted and weary I've ever been in my life. He wants us to live stream a confession? I frantically wonder if there is any way to tell the world where we are and what's happening to us, but I know the man is right. We don't know who these two men are, or where we are. What could I actually say, other than two deranged men are holding us prisoner and forcing us to confess... somewhere in London?

I look at Bella, who seems very unsure.

The hooded man steps back and goes to Chia. He holds the large knife to her throat. Chia leans away, crying and moaning, but she can't move very far with her restraints. She can only sit there with the knife touching her skin.

"Okay," I say. "We'll do it." I don't think we have any other choice. It kills me to see Chia so beaten and scared.

Bella gives a shaky nod. "Yeah."

"Wise choice," the man's voice says.

"It's okay, Chia," I call out to her, wanting to try and ease her fears; if that's possible. "It's okay. We're all going to get out of this." I want to add I promise but feel like that would be a lie. I'm sure they can hear us through the glass as she looked at me when I said her name.

Bella looks to be close to tears, her face on the verge of breaking. I give her upper arm a squeeze. I swallow and say, "I'll do it. For both of us."