Aidan's POV:
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP....
The fire alarm kept on beeping loudly. The guy who was about to punch me looked around as if to see where the sound was coming.
The other guy, the one that was leaning on the wall, ran towards him and grabbed his arm saying, "We have to go! Now!"
"But what about these two?" The puncher asked pointing at me and Izzy.
"Forget them! The boss doesn't need them anyway." The second one replied.
"Wait! You can't just leave us here. If not me at least take the girl with you! She's just four!" I said.
"Is that so?" Puncher asked. He gaze traveled from me to Izzy. He stared at her for a minute as if he was contemplating whether she was worthy of saving of not.
In the end, I got punched in the face again.
"Ow." I groaned.
"Listen very closely because I'll say this only once." He said, ignoring my groan of pain. "You nor her are going out of here. You both are staying here and burning alive."
"You can't do that!" I said.
"I can and I will." He said back and turned to the other guy. "Let's go." He said to him and they both ran out the door.
"No! Wait! You have leave us here!" I shouted after them but they didn't come back.
What else do you expect from a rival?
Well that's true. I didn't know why I was asking them for help even when I knew they wouldn't help me.
Izzy came in front of me with read filled eyes. "Brother? Are you okay?" She asked in a small and really cute voice.
I have no idea why but she looked so cute right now, I wanted to squeeze her in a hug.
She wasn't even that chubby.
I shook my head. I have to get out of here.
"I'm fine, Izzy. Do you have a hair pin?" I asked.
"You mean like the ones she's wearing?" Another voice asked. We both snapped our head to look at the person who came in.
But there was no one at the door.
"We're here." The same person said.
I looked in the direction of the voice to find dad and Ellie standing beside a hole in the wall.
Okay. That's creepy. How did these two get here? The door was locked. And why is there a big hole in the wall?
Izzy though was not as confused as I was and ran to dad yelling, "Daddy!"
Dad bend down to pick her up before she crashed into his legs. He placed her on his hip before coming over to where I was.
"How did you get here?" I asked him.
Ellie was the one who answered. "There are these pathways inside the walls that anyone can use in case of an emergency."
Dad, meanwhile, sat down in front of me and pulled the shackles on my wrists.
"Do you know where the key to these things is?" He asked.
"No." I replied.
He nodded and pulled two hair pins out of Izzy's hair. Izzy frowned at him but didn't say anything.
Fire alarm sounded once again, louder this time and followed by curses.
"There's a fire!" I said.
"There isn't." Ellie replied.
"What?" I asked her. "How can there not be a fire when the fire alarm is going crazy?"
"It can be when you leave a lot of black smoke everywhere and let the fire alarm do its job." She replied.
I shook my head slightly. "I don't get it."
Ellie took a deep breath and started to explain. "There is a hidden door same as this one that leads to the kitchen." She said pointing at the door on the wall. "Inside the kitchen, we lighted an old piece of cloth on fire. And then we put it out just as the smoke reached the fire alarm. There was still a lot of smoke so it'll do the job to distract our captors while we get out of here."
Just as she finished her explanation, the locks on the shackles clicked open.
"There we go. Now let's get out of here." Dad said and stood up, taking Isabelle along with him too.
"Good to see you too, dad." I mumbled.
"I heard that. And it's nice to see you as well." He said and went straight from the opening in the wall.
I stood up and dusted off my pants.
"Aidan, you'll have to help Ellie. She can't walk on her own." Dad called out behind him.
"I can walk on my own very well, thanks a lot." Ellie grumbled. She went after dad to the opening in the wall but stumbled.
I reached out and caught her before she hit the ground.
"You okay?" I asked her.
"No... I'm on sleeping drugs." She grumbled.
"Are you both coming?" Dad asked. "Or do we have to wait till the two come back and start shooting at us?"
"We're coming." I said. I put Ellie's arm around my shoulders and guided her to the opening on the wall.
As soon as we both were in, dad closed the door behind us and put a lock on it.
"What is this place?" I asked looking around at the small space.
"I told you before. It's a security measure. You use it in case of an emergency." Ellie replied.
I was about to ask for more info about the whole thing when, "WHERE ARE THEY!?" We heard an all to familiar voice from beyond the wall, shout.
Dad an I shared a look, both of us thinking the same thing.
Move faster.
I nodded my head. I looked around the place. Dead end on both sides.
Okay. Where is the exit?
"Where is the exit?" I whispered to dad.
He pointed at one end.
"That's a dead end." I stated, tightening my grip on Ellie because she was falling down again.
"There's a way out. Come on. I'll show you." He said and went ahead of me.
I looked down at Ellie, who was leaning her head on my chest, seconds away from passing out.
"Just hold on for a few minutes, yeah? We'll be out of here in no time." I said to her.
She nodded her head in response.
I looked back at dad. He was standing not to far away from where we were, watching us with concern and... Was that happiness?
I'm not sure. But I started to walk to where he was standing.
He waited until I reached him then started to walk again so that we were moving side by side.
We were just walking towards the exit for some time. The whole way I was making sure Ellie didn't fall asleep on me.
Dad was watching ahead of him looking around to check if we were walking in the right direction.
He did say to stop and that something was wrong so I think we were walking the right way.
We made a turn and at the end of the hall, I saw the light.
Literally. There was light shining from the top and the shadows that were formed with the light looked like a grid.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Our way out. It's the same way I came in to get you guys. Once we get out, there will be a forest right in front of us. We would need to walk little further ahead, inside the forest. There is a car where your mother is waiting for you."
"Mom's here too?" I asked.
We started to walk again. Ellie was barely holding on now. But she didn't say anything. I don't think she's in a position to say a word right now.
"Yep. I told her not to come but she didn't listen to me. She threatened to hide inside the trunk of the car if I didn't let her come with." Dad replied.
I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face at his statement.
"How is she?" I asked. When I had went to save Izzy from the fire that erupted in the gala and came out alive, I still remember the feel of the hug she gave me.
She was happy I was alive along with Isabelle. I didn't think she'd want to leave us like the way they did that day.
"Currently? She's going crazy with worry at the moment. And won't stop until she sees you all again." He replied.
I shook my head amused. "Do you think she'll be happy to see my face right now?" I asked referring to my bruised face.
He looked at me and examined the condition of my face. "I don't think so. She'll march right back into the house and beat the hell out of the person who did this to you. That is unless I hold her back."
I nodded. "Please do. I don't want to caught again after just escaping the place."
He nodded back. Just then we stopped right as we were about to stand under the grid. He said something to Izzy and out her down.
He looked up outside of the grid, seeing of anyone was there. After he was sure, he reached his hands up and pushed it upwards.
Once the grid was out, he turned to me. "Go up. Now."
I nodded and sat Ellie down on the floor before I went under the exit. I pulled myself up. With a bit of dad's help I was able to get out just fine.
I looked around to make sure no one was here before turning back to him.
He disappeared from my view for a second and came back with Izzy in his arms. He held her up towards me.
I reached out and took her, pulling her to me.
"Izzy, you're on a look out. Make sure no one in coming okay?" I said to her.
She nodded and went a small distance away where I could still see her.
I turned back to dad. He was not there. I peered inside, trying to look for him.
"Dad?" I called.
"I'm here." He said.
A second later, he came into view holding a sleepy Ellie upright.
"Here. Pull her up." He said and held out her hands to me.
I took her arms and she held my arms as well as I pulled her up. Dad helped me from below as he lifted her up as well.
As soon as she was out, dad let out a sigh of relief. He then started to pull himself up as well.
I held out my hand for him to take. He grabbed a hold of my hand and I helped him out as well.
Izzy came running back. At first I thought that someone was coming but then I saw the smile on her face.
She sat down beside dad and snuggled into him. Dad also put his hand on her back.
A comfortable silence settled over us as he and I both tried to catch our breaths. Ellie's head was on my lap and she was well passed out.
I have no idea what these guys gave her but whatever it was, it's effects were strong.
"Aid." Dad called me.
I looked at him. "Yes?" I asked.
He sighed and looked down. "I didn't want it to happen, you know? Leaving you and Ellie I mean. Your mother, she was trying to stop me from going along with my plans but... I couldn't think of any other way to protect you both." He said.
"Was that an apology?" I asked him.
It was meant to be a joke. Really. It was but he took it seriously and said, "It was. Because I know that after you hear the reason why me and your mother left you behind, both of you will hate us to no ends."
Okay. Something is certainly messed up here. Why would he think that I'll do that?
I was just about to voice my thoughts out to him when he stood up and told me to follow him to the car.
I looked down at Ellie's sleeping form on my lap. Not wanting to wake her, I slid my arms underneath her and picked her up.
My gaze went in the direction where dad had went and started to walk in that direction. He already had Izzy in his arms and she was resting her head on his shoulder.
I have no idea what to expect when I see mom but I'm hoping that she won't freak out.
Dad didn't say a word to me. I tried to ask him multiple times why he thought I would hate him and mom but he just shook his head and continued walking ahead.
After the fifth try, I decided that he won't answer me at all so I might as well stay quiet.
Silence settled over us again. But this time, I was filled with questions. Questions that only mom and dad knew the answers to.
But none of us were willing to break it. Me because I knew that it would be a fatal attempt and him because he didn't want to.
It wasn't until we did reach the car was the silence broken. Not because I decided to ask him about it one last time or because he finally answered my question.
But because mom spotted us.
"Oh my God! What happened to you?" She asked and rushed to me. She took ahold of my face and examined it closely.
"I'm fine, mom. Nothing that can't be healed." I replied. I shifted Ellie in my arms trying to get her to feel comfortable.
Mom's gaze fell upon Ellie and her eyes went so wide, I was afraid they would pop out of her sockets. The shock lasted for one second only before it was replaced by rage.
Not just any rage. But a mother's rage.
I can practically hear the thought, 'How dare they do this to my daughter?!' screaming on her face.
"Mom! Calm down. She's just sleeping." I cut in before she could go on a murder rampage.
"Sleeping?" She asked.
"Yes. Just sleeping." As if on cue, Ellie started to wake up a little bit.
"Mmm..." She groaned and lifted her head from my chest. "Where am I?" She sleepily asked.
"We just go to the car." I informed her.
"Are we leaving this inhospitable place or not?" Dad asked from beside the car.
He had already put Isabelle inside the back seat and was waiting for us to some in as well.
"We're coming." Mom answered.
I looked at Ellie. "Can you walk?" I asked her.
She nodded her head. Gently, I put her down on the ground and made sure she was steady before letting go.
We walked the rest of the way to the car and sat in the back seat, while mom and dad took the front seats with dad in the driver's seat.
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The whole car ride was spent with mom asking me, Ellie and Izzy questions about our small stay in that house.
I asked dad how he knew about the secret pathways inside the walls and he told me that he used to live there as a kid.
In fact he told he whole story about how his great-great-grandfather had built the place and that the Trevinos has taken illegal claim over the property and that they cheated to prove that it was originally theirs.
And then I asked him the question that had been bugging me since I knew about it.
"Why do you think we'll hate you both when you tell us the reason for your actions?" I asked him.
He went silent. Before that, he had answered every one of our questions but this time, he didn't do it.
Even mom looked at him but for a different reason. I know for sure that she knew the answer to this question as well.
She looked at him as if asking, 'What did you say to him?'
Dad though, ignored both of us, only focusing on the road, not saying a word. I was about to ask him again when he said, "Not here. I'll tell you when we get home."
"But dad-" I started to protest.
"Not now, Aidan! I said I will tell you when we get home. That means I will when we get home. Now sit quietly."
I leaned back in my seat with my arms crossed. My head rested on the head rest of the seat as I sighed.
Something is undoubtedly messed up here if he thinks like that. But what?
I wish he would tell us soon enough. Whatever it is, it probably isn't that bad, is it?