Teen Spy: The Observer

Chapter 4

Kiara slowly regains consciousness. She tries to open her eyes but is meet by brightness, making her blink several times until her eyes adjust. The first thing she sees is a white ceiling. What happened? She thinks trying to make sense of why she is laying on her back. Searching her memory for a clue, her mind draws a blank at first. Then, everything comes back to her at once. The persecution, the man trying to grab her and the fight. After that everything is blurry and confusing.

Why? It's not normal for her to suddenly get sloppy and black out. She recalls the fight step by step, but they didn't spray or spill anything on her.

But maybe they did it before the fight. She retraces her movements since arriving to the mall trying to recall if she bumped into someone. There were those kids in the hall, but she did that on purpose to get away from them. No way could they have predicted that. Before that... she was in the food court...

The milkshake! It had tasted different. She has had it so many times, she would notice any change. Then she remembers the deep voice's words and a curse slips. They drugged me!

She sits up in a bolt and takes inventory of herself. Nothing hurts, although her mind is still a little foggy. Cloths haven't changed. Shoes are on. But her hands and feet are tied up. She strains against her bonds, twisting and pulling her hands every way. Whoever tied her up did a good job, she couldn't get free, and the ropes are hurting her wrists.

Kiara stops struggling and surveys the room she's in. It seems like a waiting room in a corporate building, but she is all alone. She is sitting on a couch arranged in a way that creates a rectangle with two chairs. In the center of it, right in front of her, a low glass table. Behind her, a window that goes from wall to wall lets her see down to the street. She can see some skyscrapers and other buildings not so high. It looks like she is in Downtown. If she is still in L.A.

In the wall opposite her, she sees two elevator doors and on the corner a meeting room surrounded by glass walls that serve as a divider from the waiting room. In the wall to her left, she sees an emergency exit, but no sharp object to aid her.

This is a weird place to be held hostage. Though her only references are movies, so it doesn't count much. She shakes her head. Concentrate Kiara. There must be a way out of this.

Kiara takes another glance of the room while trying to loosen up the knot with her teeth. With no positive result, she keeps moving her wrists looking for some more slack. Suddenly, she remembers a trick her dad showed her once when they went camping.

She bends down and works on untying her feet. After some wiggling, pulling and picking the knot with her fingers in an awkward position, she manages to free the rope. Now with her feet liberated, she unties her shoelaces and takes them off the first eyelet. She passes the tip of string in her left foot through one of the rope loops around her hands and ties it with the shoelace from her right.

Then she sits straight and starts a pedaling motion with her feet. The friction from the cords soon makes the rope around her hands snap. It instantly loosens and she is able to take it off.

After retying her shoelaces, she stands up and runs to the elevator, but both are disconnected. She tries the emergency exit, but the door won't budge. She pushes it harder, with no result. It is as if something is blocking it from the other side.

Giving up, she heads back to the waiting room and details the windows. None of them can be opened, so no luck escaping through there. She takes a glance at the meeting room and sees that the windows are different. Deciding to take a closer look, she tries to open the screen door, but it's locked. Though that does not deter her.

"Sorry girls" Kiara mutters as she takes off the new hairpins and kneels.

She bends one so that it works as the pressure point. The other one, she opens it and then slightly folds one of the tips in an angle. She uses this one to raise the pins inside the lock. Working swiftly, the lock gives after a few minutes. She slides the door to her left and heads to the windows trying each one until finally one opens.

She leans outside and sees that she is maybe in the 12th or 13th floor of a building that takes a whole block. Cars drive below in different directions. She scans the building's structure and sees an open window one floor down to her right. Below each set, there is a small edge big enough for someone to stand.

This is a bad idea. Kiara thinks as a plan forms in her mind. Unfortunately, she doesn't have any other idea.

She takes a chair and puts it right below the open window. She stands up in it and swings her right leg over. Holding to the frame above her, she secures her footing in the edge and swings her other leg out.

Kiara's hands shake even though she has a death grip, but she steels her nerves.

She heads towards the next window, carefully sliding her feet along the edge. I can just see the head title in the news "Seventeen-year-old girl falls down to her death from the 12th floor building". She thinks sardonically as she approaches the next window and unconsciously looks down. Suddenly her foot slides a bit. A few curse words escape from her lips as she begins to fall, but her reflexes kick in. She manages to grab the frame of the window and regain her balance.

Stopping for a moment, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She waits for her heartbeat to slow down before openning her eyes again. Kiara gets on her knees slowly. She grasps the edge of the floor and lowers herself down. When she is completely straight, she lets herself fall to the floor below. Her feet land on the edge, slightly stopping her descent and giving her a few seconds to grab on with her hands in one fluid motion.

She pushes herself up and swings herself inside the open window, landing on her feet. She puts her hands on her knees and feels her heart beating erratically. Thank you, God! She mumbles to herself. This definitely top her list of craziest things she's done.

Behind her, someone clears his throat.