Stalked and Stolen

Chapter 14

My mind races and my eyes dart around the room searching for an escape route. My eyes light up when I see an air vent on the ceiling. I rush over to it and jump at it before accepting that I'm too short. I begin to panic as I quickly pace around the room looking for a solution. A chair catches my attention and I sprint over to it and drag it under the vent. I stand up on it and remove the vent cover, just barely on my tiptoes.

I move it aside and hoist myself up before kicking the chair over and pushing it to the side so there's no evidence of where I am. I moved the cover out from under me and put it back into place. I let out a sigh of relief when suddenly, the door was unlocked and the furious group of people rush in. They all have confused looks on their faces as they frantically search for me. I hold my breath and carefully begin to crawl away. Sweat pours down my body, causing my hands to become slippery and I lose my grip every so often. I squeeze through the thight space, barely having enough space to move to the side. My body is sticky and I feel the shockingly cold metal press against my skin.

The people below curse under their breath. One of them kicks the chair causing it to hit the wall and then suddenly, everyone stops, including me. An eerie silence hangs in the air and I hold my breath. I hear murmurs from below before one of them picks the chair back up and scoots it under the vent. My eyes go wide as I hear someone mess with the vent cover and it drops to the floor. I squeeze my eyes shut and dare not to turn around.

Quickly, I begin to squirm through the vent. I kick forcefully and pull my body forward with all my strength. I look back and catch a glimpse of a small skinny woman, crawling behind me, barely on my heels. My arms feel week and my hands loose their grip from the sweat. Just as I was about to turn, I feel a strong hand grasp my foot. I flail my legs around before kicking her in her face.

She shouts in frustration, causing me to get a head start. I turn right and end up at a dead end, but see a vent cover. I quickly remove it and it drops to the floor with a loud bang. Right as soon as she was about to grab my leg again, I slipped through the opening and land in a room. As I stand up, I begin to look around. My eyes light up and my heart skips a beat when I see Hunter sitting in the middle of the room. His limp body sits still. A rag covers his mouth and blood trickles down from his forehead, dripping onto the ground.

"Hunter?" I say as I shake him. I begin to panic a little bit when he doesn't wake up. Just as I was about to grab him, the woman drops down and lands behind me.