by Alyssa Lynn
Making her way farther down the hall, she saw people moving her direction. They looked at her with curious expressions and she smiled; hoping that if she hid her nervousness, it would make her appear as if she belonged there. The group looked at each other and two of them broke away from the pack and picked up their pace as they walked closer to her. Ava began to panic as she looked around for a place to go. She didn’t know the building and was unsure of which hallways would lead to where.
Just then, a guy came running around the corner, directly at her, and grabbed her by the arm. His grip on her had elevated her panic level and almost sent her over the edge. Her body had practically gone numb from fear. She didn’t know what was happening, but couldn’t imagine it was going to end in her favor. As she was being dragged down the hall, she could hear the group of people getting calls through their walkie talkies, but she couldn’t make out the words through all the static.
Looking up at the guy that was towing her, she was completely terrified.
“Let me go!” she yelled, trying to pry his hands off of her arm. She looked over her shoulder and noticed that the pepper spray she had in her hand had been knocked onto the ground when he grabbed her. “Dammit! Let me go,” she kept saying, but it was like he couldn’t even hear her. Leading her down different corridors, she was stumbling behind him trying to fight to get out of his grasp. She tried to reach into her bag for the cell phone to call Kaycie and Ethan, but he was going so fast that she couldn’t get her grip on the bag long enough to undo the zipper. Turning left, then right, then left again, they continued to make their way through the building as Ava fought to free herself from the stranger’s hands.
He looked over his shoulder and Ava looked up, locking her eyes with his. When he turned back around and kept them moving at a fast pace, she was trying to scan over the image that had now been pasted in her brain.
The cheekbones, the dark brown eyes, the wavy brown hair. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Feeling her heartbeat race and her palms begin to sweat, she almost went limp as she realized who had grabbed her.
“Oh my God,” she said trying to catch her breath from the grueling jog she was taking. The tears started forming in her widened eyes and she swallowed hard as she continued to stare. The intensity of his eyes had her freezing in her place. As if the fear from being dragged down the hall by a complete stranger was enough to petrify her, this was adding a whole new level of uncertainty.
Could it be? Is it really him? He turned back to look at her again when she began to whimper. They blinked in unison, but his face was lacking emotion as he stared at her. She lost all feeling in her body and her mouth went dry as she tried to speak.
“It’s you.”
CHAPTER four
N ow, running alongside Jett without hesitation, Ava reached over and punched him in the arm and started yelling at him. “You mean to tell me you’ve been alive this whole time?” She couldn’t believe that after all these years he was right where she had left him.
“I am going to need you to not hit me again,” he said, as he tightened his grip around Ava’s wrist. Pulling her into an open room, he flipped the light switch off and led them to a row of tables. Ava’s eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark and she kept tripping over herself and kicking the legs of nearby tables.
Kneeling down, he pulled her arm to lower her to the floor next to him, “Now, sit here and be quiet.”
Looking up over the top of the table they were hiding under, Ava scanned the room and glanced back at him. He was tense and had beads of sweat forming on his temples.
“I’m starting to get the feeling that I shouldn’t have come here,” she said.
“Of course not. Did you not see the signs they hung on the trees outside? This is private ground.” Grabbing her arm again, he kept them crouched down and led her to the other side of the room. “Come on. I need you to stay close, be fast, and above all, I really need you to be quiet,” he whispered, as he slid a cover off of the vent in the wall.
Ava started to panic as she watched him climb inside. “Where are we going?” she whispered, getting more and more nervous by the second.
“I said, I need you to be quiet. Now, get in here!” She did as she was told and climbed through the creepy hole. She slid passed him and sat down against the metal wall. Her nose filled with a musty scent as she waited for the next move. Jett grabbed the two handles on the inside of the vent cover and pulled it up off of the floor, placing it back in the wall. Tugging hard on it, he made sure it was tight before he crawled passed Ava. “When I say to stay low, I mean it. Do as I say, otherwise, we will be placed in a difficult situation,” he whispered over his shoulder.
Ava kept low to the bottom of the vent system as she followed close behind Jett. Every turn he made, he paused to check both directions before he continued. “Up ahead, there will be a room on our right. It is imperative that I leave you here for a brief moment while I venture out of these air ducts and into this room. I need you to stay here and stay quiet while I grab something,” he said, as he made his way ahead of her and peeked through the vent on their right.
He removed the cover and slowly climbed through the opening into what appeared to be some sort of office or study. Ava army-crawled over to the opening in the wall so she could see what was going on. The room was beyond elegant. Antique oil paintings were hung on the sleek, black walls and the large desk in the center of the room was topped with tall, golden candle sticks and an old feather ink pen set. Bookshelves lined the room and were filled with old manuscripts and scrolls that were placed between large porcelain bookends that resembled horse heads. White cushioned chairs sat opposite the large desk facing each other, with a glass table in between them that held a few magazines and a crystal ashtray. The atmosphere was like walking into the study of someone’s wealthy grandfather.
Ava watched intently as Jett stood and crept over toward the large desk. Bringing himself to his feet, he started rummaging through the drawers and pulled out a large green envelope. Lifting the flap, he began fingering through the documents inside. Nothing was written on the outside as far as Ava could see, but by the expression on Jett’s face, it was exactly what he was hoping to find.
They both looked to the large wooden double doors when they heard footsteps coming toward the office. Jett quickly tucked the envelope under his arm, pushed all the desk drawers closed, and made a run for the opening in the wall.
“Hurry!” Ava said under her breath, as Jett came sliding in next to her. She grabbed for the handles on the cover and yanked it back into place. They pressed themselves up against the wall covering and looked through the slits to see who was entering the room. As quietly as she could, Ava whispered, “Who are these people?” Jett just glanced down at her and then back to the men coming through the doors into the study. Ava put her fingers in front of her mouth and made a sassy attempt at locking her lips and throwing away the key while rolling her eyes.
“I have the summary sheets tucked in my desk. I can make copies for you, but I can’t hand over the originals. Our company needs these for future reference,” said one of the men to the other. He sat down in the large leather desk chair and opened one of the drawers.
“We have to go now!” Jett whispered to Ava with a sense of urgency. She followed him as they rounded a few more corners. Jett removed yet another vent cover, climbed out, and extended his hand to help Ava, which she grudgingly accepted.
As she climbed out of the wall into another room, he placed a finger over his mouth to remind her to be quiet. Jett quickly placed the cover back into the wall and took her hand. She looked around as they made their way through the room, but all she saw were unknown items covered in dusty white sheets. Cobwebs hung from the corners of the ceiling and small bugs scurried across the floor next to her feet. She shuttered, but kept moving.
They made their way over to a door and Jett put his hand on the handle. Leaning over, he whispered into Ava’s ear, “Now, when I say ‘
run’, you run, and don’t stop for anything. Understand?”
Ava nodded in agreement as her palms started to sweat and she began to feel the blood draining from her face. Gulping hard she held her breath and waited for the signal; her heart thumping in her chest. What was happening? Where was she supposed to run to? Where did this door lead? Were there going to be people out there? What if she got caught? Would this be the end for both of them?
“Run!” Jett yelled to her as he flung the door open.
Ava tripped over her feet, but gained her balance and took off as fast as her legs could carry her. When she realized she was running out the door adjacent to the one she used as an entrance point, she made a bee-line for the gate in the fence and didn’t stop running until she was amongst the trees. Behind her, she could hear Jett yelling for her to run faster and not stop. Panicked, she looked over her shoulder, hoping she wouldn’t see a group of blue blazers hauling Jett away from her again. When she saw only the tall trees surrounding her, she re-centered her gaze and kept running.
Ava’s mind took her back to that night, watching him get dragged away and leaving him there to die… or so she thought. She could feel her body tingling from the fact that Jett was alive. Her best friend was alive and right behind her. She had come all this way to save him and he ended up saving her. Suddenly, she realized she had slowed to a light jog and all of a sudden had a hand gripping her by the arm.
Looking up to see Jett, she snapped back to reality and kicked herself into high gear. Ava nearly smiled when she realized they were running through the woods together. Just like they used to do when they were kids. Her mind raced back to the days when they would leave the orphanage and go straight to their hiding spot and spend hours lying on a blanket and talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. She often wondered why they never got into trouble for constantly sneaking out of the orphanage late at night, and then remembered that in order get scolded; they would’ve had to have been caught first.
After they had already passed their hideout, Ava looked over at Jett. “Do you have a plan?” she hollered through heavy breathing.
“Just keep running. I know a building up here that may be safe for hiding.”
“You mean the orphanage?” she asked him, realizing that he wasn’t the least bit winded. “How are you not out of breath?”
“I run seven miles a day,” he said, looking over at her in shock that she was panting. “We can’t stop running. Can you make it another mile?”
“Just keep going,” Ava said, wheezing.
When they came up on the old run-down orphanage, they both slowed their pace. Now jogging, Ava pulled the keys out of her pocket and pressed the button on the key fob to unlock the car.
“Get in,” she yelled over to Jett. He turned his head toward her and looked at her like she was crazy. Ava watched as his eyes frantically scanned her rental car.
“I’m not getting in that thing. You don’t know what it will do to us!”
“Oh, we’re not playing stupid today, Jett. We don’t have time for this!” She came to a complete stop and opened the driver side door.
“Follow me inside the building. We’ll be safe in there. I know the hiding spots!” He was yelling to her from the stairs that lead to the front door of the orphanage.
“Of course you know them; we lived there for an eternity! Now get in the damn car!” she hollered, pointing at the passenger seat. As she was yelling at him, four guys emerged from the woods and were headed straight toward them. “Jett!” With terror in his eyes, he groaned and ran to her side as she got in.
“We can’t both drive!” she yelled at him, pointing to the other side of the car and sliding the key in the ignition.
Jett ran to the passenger side and struggled to get the door open. Finally, he collapsed onto the passenger seat and Ava hit the gas and sped out of the parking lot.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you think this is some kind of game? They were coming right at us!”
“The building would have been fine,” Jett said with his hands dug into the passenger seat and his head pressed back against the head rest.
Ava watched him for a minute before she realized he was genuinely scared. “Jett, what is your problem? I know you’ve never ridden with me, but I’ve made it this far in life without wrecking a vehicle.”
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye without moving his head. “We are sitting inside of a metal contraption while moving at a very high speed and you’re not the least bit scared?” he asked her, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. “What if it explodes?”
“It’s just a car. Everything will be fine. I’m taking us back to the hotel so we have a place to hide out and formulate our next move.” After a minute of silence, she added, “You know… I thought you’d be more enthusiastic about me coming back for you, Jett. Did you really want me to just leave you there?”
Jett swallowed hard and kept his eyes closed. “Of course I don’t wish to stay there. And why do you keep calling me ‘Jett’?”
Ava blinked hard as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. She didn’t feel like playing stupid games anymore so she kept quiet until they were out of the car and walking toward the hotel. “You can cut the bullshit now; you’re away from the bizzaro factory.” She was now losing her sympathy for him and becoming more and more annoyed. When she realized he wasn’t standing next to her as she walked through the parking lot, she looked over her shoulder. He was looking up at the hotel with his mouth wide open. “Dude, seriously. Let’s go! You can ‘oh’ and ‘awe’ over the fancy hotel once we’re safe inside.” Grabbing his hand, she dragged him through the entrance.
She kept her eyes on him as they made their way around the front desk and past the gift shop. “Okay, if you’re going to go all bug-eyed every time we turn the corner, I’m putting a blindfold on you next time we leave a room,” Ava said, as she pulled him away from the vending machine and into the elevator. As the elevator climbed the floors of the hotel, Jett stood quietly next to her with his hands down at his sides. “Oh, I see. The room that moves up and down the building is the thing that you’re okay with.”
“Well, yes. Elevators are common additions to buildings. We have four in our facility and they are used on a daily basis by most residents.”
“Residents?”
“Yes. A person who lives somewhere permanently or for a long period of time.”
“Shut up,” Ava said. The elevator doors opened to their floor. “Our room is right up here.”
Surprised at her reaction to his clarification of the word ‘residents’, he followed her off the elevator and into the hall. “You live here?” he asked.
“No. This is a hotel.”
“I’ve heard of these. The other students told me that guys bring strange women here so that their mates at home won’t know about their personal appointments.”
Ava lifted her eyebrows at him and walked up to their hotel room door. “Call it like it is, Jett. They’re hookers.”
Swiping the hotel room key, she could hear things crashing to the floor inside their room. She put her hand across Jett’s chest and motioned for him to stay put. Gripping the door handle, she gently pushed it open and peeked through the crack, thinking that she had literally just done this not more than an hour ago. Seeing nothing directly in front of her, she waved for Jett to follow and they entered the room.
“Could they have found us already?” Ava whispered over her shoulder.
“In addition to the fact that we aren’t far from the facility; we are dealing with highly intelligent officers and trained professionals. Maybe if we would have gone a little farther, I would have more confidence to tell you that they haven’t found us yet.”
Just then, they heard a thud come from the bedroom. Ava crept toward the bedroom door and pushed it open. “What the hell are you doing?” Ava shrieked, gripping her chest and trying to catch her breath. As quickly as her reflexes would allow, she covered
her eyes as Kaycie stood there bent over with her arms draped down toward her toes. “Why is Ethan standing behind you with a container of butter?” she hollered, still shielding her eyes from the train wreck that she considered her best friend.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” Kaycie started. “Well, I mean, it kind of is, but it didn’t end the way we had planned. I found an abandoned maid outfit in the hall on one of the hotel carts and-,”
“Then it’s not abandoned!” Ava yelled, cutting her off.
Kaycie glared at Ava from her upside-down stance in the middle of the floor. “Anyway, I put it on and we were going to do some exploring, if you know what I mean… but it appears that the maid outfit wasn’t exactly as big as I thought it was. When I got into position for Ethan to-,”
“Spare the details!” Ethan yelled, cutting her off. “Please.” Ava finally uncovered her eyes. When she noticed the amount of discomfort Ethan was experiencing, she couldn’t help but laugh.
Kaycie rolled her eyes and continued, “When I started into my back-bend, the outfit ripped and when I tried to get out of it, I only made it worse. Well, now I’m completely stuck and the only thing we could think to do was to apply an oily substance to help get me out of it.”
Ava stood, rubbing her temples. “I have no words,” she said. Jett couldn’t take his eyes off of the situation and once again had his mouth hanging wide open. Ava reached over and pressed under his chin. “Stop standing with your mouth open; you look like a damn blow-up doll.”
Still leaning over in an arch, Kaycie nodded toward Jett and said, “Hi! I’m Kaycie. I’ve heard a lot about you for quite some time.”
“It’s a pleasure meeting you,” Jett said, with his hand outstretched toward her.
“I think we’ll do introductions later,” Ava said, grabbing Jett’s arm and dragging him out of the bedroom. Before she was all the way out the door, she popped her head back in and looked at Ethan. “Seriously, just grab the damn scissors and cut her out of it. You’ve already done a number on that thing and there’s no way you’re giving it back now.” Shaking her head, she exited the room and closed the door behind her.