Finding Maisie
Chapter 12
I felt my body waking up, gaining feeling in my stiff limbs. I could tell I was lying on a hard surface, that was evident from the ache of my bones and coldness of my skin. My head was in an explosion of pain on one side, the side that I had fallen on. With my eyes still closed I tried to sit up but something rough was bound around my wrists making it impossible to move. My eyes flew open and I looked to where I was. A small concrete room was what I saw. There were no windows and the floor and walls were made from plain grey cement and bricks. My hands had been tied around a pipe to keep me immobile.
Something about the room seemed eerily familiar. It looked like the room I had been in when I was at the warehouse. The place where I found Maisie's ring and met the man who was working with the abductor.
The steel door was closed and obviously locked. If I somehow got my arms free from the rope then the abductor would make sure I couldn't escape.
I tried to wriggle my hands free from the rope as I knew screaming would do me no good whatsoever. My only hope now was Alan, I thought, and I didn't even know if he was alive. Alan had let me go outside the woods and then I had heard a gunshot. I hadn't seen where it was fired.
I tried with my teeth to untie the rope. I pulled on the rough material until it felt like my teeth were going to break; the knot was too tight.
Following the line of the pipe, I looked to where it led. The pipe twisted upwards and into the ceiling, but as I examined it I saw that it had broken after the bend. Part of the pipe had fallen leaving a sharp metal edge in its place. If I rubbed the rope against the edge for long enough then, hopefully, it would break.
I manoeuvred my hands along the pipe with difficulty from how tightly tied they were. I pulled them past the bend and up to where the pipe had cracked. I moved the rope against the sharp edge and pulled my hands apart in different directions. I could feel the fibres in the rope breaking. I continued to saw it onto the edge until all the rope had broken. My hands were free.
I didn't waste time and ran straight to the door. As I pulled down the handle, of course, the door didn't move forward. It had been locked.
There was nothing in the room that could help me unlock it. A sense of claustrophobia doomed over me. I had never been claustrophobic before but I couldn't help it in this situation. I was locked in a room with no windows, no food, only a flickering light to see and no knowledge of when I could get out. I couldn't help but begin to panic about being in a confined space.
I walked to the corner and sat down against the wall. This room was looking smaller by the second. I rested my head against the wall and looked to the ceiling. Something caught my attention. There was a key attached to some string dangling from the top of the room.
I jumped up and stretched my arm for the key. However, the ceiling was too high up and I could not reach it. I then realised that the abductor must be playing a game of escape. He would leave ways to escape and I would have to find them. I didn't know why he had to do all this; wouldn't it be easier if the abductor just killed me and got it over with?
Looking at the pipe, I realised that it may give me the leverage I needed to reach the key. I steadied my feet on the metal and reached my arm up. The tops of my fingers just grazed the key. I had to stretch up even more but I could already feel the metal underneath begin to dip. It was too old and rusted to hold my weight for long.
I tiptoed on my feet and was finally able to pull the key down from the ceiling. However, the pipe was not able to stay strong for much longer and broke beneath my feet. I stumbled forward and bit my lip as I crashed into the wall. It stung and I felt my skin rip. Feeling my lip, warm blood trickled onto my finger. Despite the stinging sensation, I ignored it. I had much more important things to consider. I had to get out of here and go back to Callum before they decided to do anything more to him.
The key fitted in the lock and the door opened. I came out into a dingy hallway, one identical to a hallway I had run through before. That just confirmed that this was the warehouse I had previously been to.
I ran down the corridor and saw the door that I recognised. It led to the room with the large garage doors. As I ran in I saw that it was lighter than the other rooms. There were a few windows at the top of the high walls. The light shining in showed that it was now day-time; the time of day, I didn't know.
The room was emptier than last time. There were less tables and no crates. The pool of blood still stained the floor in the middle of the room, though. The worst part of the rooms semi transformation was that the emergency button, the object that had been Callum and my saviour last time, had been smashed and the wires to it cut. That meant I would not be able to open the closed double height garage doors.
I spotted the dark blue phone case of mine on the only table in the room. I ran over to get my phone but as I picked it up I realised something. It was just the phone case, not my phone. The abductor wouldn't let me call for help that easily.
A bang caught my attention. It had come from another room. Someone was close by.
I ran back to the hallway to investigate further. There was no one in the corridor that I could see.
Bang!
I turned my head to the left; that was where the bang had come from. I began to follow the sound which led me down the side of the corridor I hadn't walked through. I saw a set of double doors and ran through them. I came into a large, open room. It was a big space with walls that were two stories high. This room was dimmer than the other. There were no windows and only one small bulb hanging from the ceiling. Boxes covered the ground and piled in the corners of the room. There were patches of water on the ground as the pipes were leaking and dripped to the ground. At the side of the room were steel staircases leading two floors up.
I looked around the room and saw no one. However, amongst the piles of cardboard boxes would've been a great place to hide. I would be avoiding those.
The bang sounded again but this time in the room next to the top of highest staircase. I thought about whether to follow it or not. Did I want to show the abductor I had escaped? But then again, this was the abductors game. He left the key in there and would know that I had found my freedom from the room. And he probably wanted me to follow the noises to lead me somewhere. There was one problem with me finding out where the bangs originated from - the abductor equalled danger. It was trouble looking for him.
For some reason, I found myself running towards the stairs as curiosity got the best of me. Despite the mass of warning alarms going off in my head, my feet kept moving forward. As I climbed the first set of metal stairs I heard the clanging sound of my feet against the solid echo throughout the room. I reached the top of the first staircase and began my climb of the second, jumping onto the first step.
Something grabbed my ankle.
It tried to pull me back and keep me grounded. I struggled to get out of its grasp and looked down to my ankle. There was a hand wrapped around my lower leg. It was wearing a black leather glove and the arm connected to it was wearing dark long sleeves. I couldn't see the perpetrator as the shadow of the boxes consumed their image.
I wriggled my foot and their hand just tightened more. I knew I wouldn't be able to move out of their immense strength and so I would have to use pain against them. I pulled my free foot up and smashed the heel of my foot into their hand. They immediately let go and pulled their hand back into the secrecy of the darkness. I heard a groan in pain and annoyance.
With my heart still racing I continued my ascent up the metal stairs. When I reached the top what I saw almost made me jump for joy. My phone was lying on the floor. I raced to it and picked it in my hands. A small smile even creeped onto my lips and then it faded quickly. Who would I call? I had been told that if I called the police then Maisie would be killed. That ruled them out. And whoever else I called would be put in serious danger. The only people who knew about the treasure hunt were Callum and Joshua. Callum was in hospital and if Joshua came then the abductor would know where I was staying. I couldn't call anyone.
My phone flashed up telling me I had a message. I already knew who it was texting me.
'You know how to handle yourself, even without Callum. Well done. But I am still in charge.
Follow these instructions. Go down the steps, back to the ground floor and stand in the middle.
Love,
The abductor.'
I gulped and knew I had to do what he said, even though it meant making myself as visible as I could.
I walked down the stairs and stood in the middle of the room. Noises sounded around me. Rustling of moving boxes, quiet tapping of feet. This confirmed that the abductor and his "helpers" were around me.
I looked at my phone, knowing that I was expecting another message. As if on cue, the text popped up onto my phone.
'Dear Poppy,
You've lost. I gave you this treasure hunt as a way to get back Maisie, but you haven't been smart enough. I knew all along that I would defeat you, but I at least thought that you would get further than this.
Callum is in hospital and you are surrounded by people with guns aimed at you. I could kill you both within the hour. Poor Maisie. How will she feel when she finds out both of you are dead and that no one is fighting for her? You failed her.
Give up now and maybe you could die with dignity.
Love,
The abductor.'
As I read the abductors message I couldn't help but feel angry. I was nowhere ready to give up and he couldn't declare that as truth. I had had many near death experiences and found a way out of them. I could do the same here. I hadn't lost and I would tell the abductor that.
'That's a lie,' I said loudly, talking to the room, 'Do you know why? Because you won't show me your face. If I had really lost and was about to die, you wouldn't care about me seeing who you are. So that tells me one thing, there's still a way of me escaping. Now I know that, I'm going to escape.'
I ran before any of the abductors team could react. I ran towards a pair of double doors I saw and carried on running. I looked behind me as I ran and saw that no one was following. I took this as my opportunity to stop running and look at where I was going.
I peered into a window in a door to look at the room. It was what looked like an abandoned office. There was an empty small bookcase and a pale wooden desk without a chair. Looking in the next room I saw that it was a similar room. This must've been where the offices were.
I felt my phone vibrate.
'Poppy,
Well done. That's two rooms you have escaped from.
Here's the deal. Only one of the rooms in this warehouse has a way for you to escape. If you want to get out of here your job is to find it and use it, before you get caught up with.
Good luck.
Love,
The abductor.'
After reading the message, I pulled down the handle to the door I was standing at. If this was all true then maybe one of the rooms I was standing by would have the way out.
I ran down the hallway and pulled down each handle of every room. They wouldn't open. I continued pulling down the cold metal until, finally, one opened.
I walked into the room and examined it. It was about twice the size of the other offices I saw and was better kept. It had a shinier, darker wooden floor and the walls were a light crimson red, other than the other rooms which had been a plain white. The desk in this room had been taken away but there was a large, dark wood cupboard near the door and against the wall. There was a window in the room and I ran over to it after shutting the door. I tried to pull the window up but it was locked. Maybe there was a key in the cupboard.
As I was about to turn to the cupboard I heard a door creak behind me. I span around and saw Max walking out of the cupboard. Even though he was younger than Harry, Alan and presumably the abductor, Max still scared me. For some reason or another Max hated me and wanted to hurt me. Even though Harry was stronger and probably cleverer, he didn't have the same feelings of fury and revenge. The abductor, on the other hand, also had the lust for my pain. I didn't know why.
I looked at Max and saw he was wearing a cocky smile. As if to say "I've got you trapped now". But there was always the unknown fury that also overtook his eyes. I had run into one of the opposition already, not five minutes after talking to the abductor.
'Hello, Poppy,' Max spoke.
'Well, it's clear to see that the way out is not in here, so I'll just leave,' I said. I took a step towards the door and Max did the same. He didn't want me to leave. Sure, it must be because he wanted to scare me but a part of me thought that there was another motive behind it.
'You're distracting me, aren't you?' I said.
'What?' Max said but I knew he knew what I was talking about.
'You're keeping me here so that the rest of your "gang" can escape and take their places in the warehouse,' I concluded.
'So what if I am? It just means that you don't know where they are,' said Max.
'No, it means that you're like the abductors puppet. I've seen it, Max. You act like you want to impress him and yet you're always kept out of the best action.'
Max clenched his fists, 'I don't try to impress the abductor.'
'Oh, yes you do. Killing Bella. That's an example of it. If you weren't so worried about letting the abductor down by letting his hostage escape, you would've thought before you acted. But you shot her, and led the police to her body and the crime scene,' I said. I could tell Max was getting annoyed as his eyes were narrowing. He knew I was right. Max, for some reason, wanted to make the abductor proud of him. And as the abductor knew Max was the weakest, he gave him the easiest jobs. Like looking after Bella and distracting me here.
'No, I don't need to impress the abductor. What's there to gain from that?' Max said.
'Pride,' I said, keeping eye contact with Max, 'The way out is not in here, is it?'
'That's for you to find out,' he said. I could hear the fury in his voice even when Max wasn't threatening me. There must've been a reason for this. I must've done something to him despite the fact I had only met him last month.
'Why're you so angry?' I asked.
Max averted his eye contact and looked to the side. Basically, he wasn't going to tell me. I took this as my chance to leave. I took a step forward and Max's attention was back on me. He took a step towards me to remind me who was in charge.
'You're not going anywhere,' he said.
I looked around me for ways to escape and the answer came to me.
'Tell me this Max, your job is to keep me here, right?' I said, 'If this is so, let me give you some advice. Don't stand in the way of a cupboard door.'
I grabbed hold of the door from the cupboard where Max was hiding and swung it forward. Max, who was standing in the doors way, had the door crash into him. He stumbled backwards, clutching his nose. I could see that it was bleeding.
I ran to the door and out it, hearing Max cursing behind me. As this was the last room in the hallway, I ran back to the large room. I couldn't see anyone in there. I decided that the only way out would be on one of the first or second floors as that way it would be harder for me to escape from high up.
I began making my way to the stairs when I heard a noise. I didn't know where it had come from but it was in this room. One of them must've stayed in here.
I reached the step and ignored the fact that someone else was in here. If I reached the top before they reached me then maybe I could continue my search without having them bother me. I climbed the first set of stairs and began on the second. I was about half way up when a feeling on de ja vu hit me. Once again there was someone grabbing my ankle. I turned around to face my opposer and this time I saw more than just a hand. Harry was standing behind me, grabbing my foot.
I lost my balance as he pulled my foot and I reached my arms out so I wouldn't crash into the metal stairs. Harry started trying to pull me back down the stairs so I gripped my fingers onto the top step. Harry pulled on me harder and my fingers began slipping. As Harry continued yanking me away, my fingers couldn't take it anymore. I let go of the last step and slid down the other half. I lay at the top of the first set of stairs with Harry standing above me. He smiled down at me as I tried to get up. To avoid me escaping, Harry kicked me in my stomach and I fell back. I rolled down the set of hard, the metal stairs causing pain to ignite in me as I did. I thumped onto the concrete ground and tried to recover from the shock and pain of falling. The clanks of Harry footsteps grew closer as he walked down the stairs. He stood by the side of me and crouched down. The aches and pain inside of me were strong but I knew I had to overcome it if I was to escape.
'Well, well Poppy. Looks like you're not as brave and clever as you thought you were,' Harry said with a smug grin on his face.
I turned my head up and looked at Harry, 'You're not as smart as you think you are either.'
'Oh really,' Harry said still with smugness in his eyes. He leant closer to act more intimidating, 'And what makes you think that?'
'If you were smart, you wouldn't get this close to me,' I said bringing my knee up.
I kneed Harry and tried to crawl away. However, he was quick and grabbed me. He pulled me up so I was standing up against the pile of boxes.
'Nice try, Poppy. But I'm smarter, stronger and quicker than you. You cannot defeat me.'
I kicked the bottom of the pile of boxes which caused the rest to topple over us. Harry and I were engulfed by the cardboard. He had let go of me in the avalanche of boxes and fell to the floor. As I knew this was going to happen, I quickly ran out from the pile and to the stairs. When I saw Harry began to sit up I ran faster. I skipped steps and my feet hardly touched the metal as I flew up the stairs.
When I finally reached the top I looked over the banister. Harry was beginning to stand up and he would surely chase after me. I needed a way to stop him.
I looked around where I was and saw a door that was by the top of the stairs that was a cupboard. I looked to the ground and saw an old but sturdy looking rope. As I looked at the two an idea came into my head.
I grabbed the rope and ran to a pipe coming through the ground at one side of the stairs. I tied the rope around it in a double knot and ran back to the other side of the stairs, placing the rope down.
I quickly ran up to the cupboard door and opened it. It looked like what would have been the caretakers cupboard. There were a few brooms and dusty bottles of disinfectant. The cupboard was large and a person was able to walk in. I looked at the hooks on the wall and saw a bunch of keys hanging off one of them. I grabbed them quickly and searched through each key. They had covers on the top of the key with a label describing what they opened and locked. I read through a few keys saying different rooms until I found one saying "Upstairs cleaning cupboard". That must have been for this cupboard.
I kept that key in my hand and moved to the other side of the stairs, leaving the door open. With my other hand, I held the rope. I didn't pull it so it remained on the floor and wouldn't be very noticeable. I hid behind the wooden half-wall that lined the floor along the wall.
Footsteps were being sounded from the bottom of the stairs. They grew closer and closer.
Harry was climbing up.
I closed my eyes and steadied my nerves. This had to work otherwise I didn't know what would happen to me. The footstep stopped.
'Don't think you can run Poppy because I will always find you,' Harry said. It sounded like he was at the top of the first set of stairs.
It was quiet for a moment longer before I heard running up the next set of stairs. It was now or never. I pulled the rope towards me so that it rose from the ground. As it was tied to the pipe at the other side of the stairs it formed a line of rope, about knee-height from the floor.
Harry reached the top step and his legs got caught in the rope. He stumbled forward and couldn't gain any balance. Harry staggered into the caretakers cupboard and I immediately ran over to it. I closed the door and locked it. Harry began to bang on the door the other side once he realised what had happened. He was trapped.
A small smile tugged on the edge of my lips. That was two of the abductors side down. I didn't know how many people I would have to face now.
I had a strong feeling that this was the floor that the only way to escape was on. It would be hardest to escape from two storeys up.
I began to search the rooms down the hallway. Some of them were locked, some of the open. But as I looked in them I saw that they were empty and there wasn't any way of getting out of here.
I found another room that was unlocked and walked in. The room was empty but I needed to be sure. I walked in a little further. There was nothing in this room. Just the concrete walls and floors and one locked window.
'Poppy.'
I almost jumped out of my skin by the sound of a voice. I swung around quickly and relaxed when I saw it was Alan. I looked him over and noticed that Alan didn't look injured. Did that mean the abductor didn't know that Alan was helping me?
'Don't worry I won't hurt you,' he said. There was a sad look in his eyes.
'I know you won't. I trust you,' I informed him. Alan showed a small smile. Whenever I spoke to Alan it made me feel more confident. I had someone close to the abductor who was on my side. Maybe with the help of Alan, I could defeat the abductor.
'That's good,' Alan said, simply.
'Can you tell me the way out please?' I asked.
Alan looked slightly apprehensive, 'I'm not sure I can tell you.'
'Oh,' I said, 'Does the abductor know that you help me?'
'I don't think so,' Alan replied, 'But I think he's getting suspicious. That's why I can't say the way out. If he found out I told you, I don't know what would happen.'
'He won't find out. If he suspected you then he wouldn't let you work with him still. He needs to make sure that there is no one who will hand him into the police and wouldn't take the chance if you might be that person. So please, can you tell me the way out?'
Alan looked in thought. He was nervous about the consequences but I could tell he wanted to help me. 'Fine,' he said, 'It's the second to last room at the end of the hallway. There's a key in there that you have to find for the window.'
I thanked Alan and ran to the room. The door opened easily and I walked in. The room was empty again. There was nothing in here and as I tried to open the window, I found it was locked. I quickly scanned through the room and an idea sprung to mind. There were cracks in the walls. Cracks large enough to hide a key.
I began searching in the cracks in the wall for the key. Some of them were too small and some had nothing in them. As I was about to give up, my hands fell on something cold and metal. I pulled out what it was and saw a key. I smiled as I ran to the window and inserted the key into the lock. It fitted perfectly and I turned the key. The window unlocked and I pulled it open. I was free.
Something cold met the skin of my neck. Shivers flew down my spine. I could hear something breathing behind me. Not speaking, just breathing. That told me that this person must have been the abductor. And I also knew what he was holding against my neck.
A gun.
I didn't know how I was going to escape. If I moved, the abductor could shoot me in an instant.
'If you kill me right now, what was the point of this whole thing?' I said to the abductor, 'You would have been able to shoot me easily before I even knew you so what was the point of going through all this hassle?'
The cold metal against my skin was pushed further in it. I could feel the anger radiating from the abductor. He started this treasure hunt for a reason, and that reason made him angry. I had just reminded him of that anger he felt, and that may have cost me my life.
'No..'
I recognised the voice in an instant. It was Alan.
'Don't hurt her!' He said.
I heard the abductor scoff and that scoff may have pushed Alan too far. He ran to the abductor and pushed him to the ground. The abductor tried to aim his gun but Alan knocked it out his hand. Although Alan was putting up a good fight, the abductor seemed to be slowly gaining control of the situation.
Alan looked at me, 'Run, Poppy!'
I didn't need telling twice. I climbed onto the ledge of the window and slowly climbed down. I clung onto the windows edge and placed my feet on the ledge of the floor-below's window. I steadied myself and did the same for the final window. I jumped to the ground.
Immediately, I began running away. I didn't know how to get home but I couldn't stay here. I didn't want to know what happened to Alan. I didn't know what would happen. But one thing was for certain; that whole situation confused me. Alan didn't want to tell me where the way to escape was, but he fights the abductor so I could escape. I thought he wanted to keep his true side a secret.
Why would he do this?