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7:56 am

7:56 am, September 10th, present year.

           I was bored. Now, it was totally light outside, and the paper had been dropped off. Dad went out and got it, and started brewing coffee while reading the news.

            What to do, what to do.

*          *          *

            Sophie Richards ducked behind one of the beds. She heard the door open and then heard something being wheeled in. She dared a look.

            It was a housemaid.

            Sophie stood up. “Excuse me, where is the nearest exit? I need to get out of here. Now.” The housemaid was short and on the plump side. Long straight black hair framed her Caucasian face.

            “Why? What’s the matter? You need to check out.” The maid seemed flustered.

            “I’m a police officer, and I was brought here against my will. I need to leave here immediately.”

            The maid whimpered. “You were kidnapped?” Hysteria was in her voice.

            Sophie slowed down. “Yes, I was. And I need to know how to get out of here.”

            The maid started to cry.

            Sophie placed a hand on her shoulder. “What’s your name?”

            “Mary.”

            “Mary, I need to know where the nearest exit is. If I can get out of here safely, I can arrest the person who did this. Can you help me?”

            Mary nodded.

            Sophie had to calm down the maid, so she used a calm and re-assuring voice. “That’s good, that’s very good. What the name that this room was registered under?”

            The sniffling stopped, at least for a moment. “Chase Mitchels.”

            Surprising choice.

            “Alright, now I need to know how to get out of here fast.”

            “Take a right outside this room, and there’s a door that opens to stairs. At the bottom of those stairs is an exit.”

            “Thank you, thank you. And if the man comes back here, don’t come in to do your cleaning. Tell everyone that this room is not to be disturbed, even if he calls for help. Stall. Understand? There’s no reason that he would hurt you. Remember, act natural as best as possible. I’ll be back soon with back up.”

            Mary pushed her cart out of the room and left. Sophie waited until Mary was gone, and then ran up to the back of the door. She grabbed the map that is mandatory for each room, and followed the directions of both Mary and her map.

            To the right, through the door, and down the stairs.

            Seemed simple.

            Sophie made it through the door, and started down the steps when she heard the door behind her open. She whirled around and saw her nightmare.

            It was her kidnapper,. With a gun.

*          *          *

            The figure got into his room right as Sophie reached the door that led to the stairs. He saw right away that the room was deserted. He snatched his mask and ran towards the same door she just entered. He knew all the escape routes for this building; he knew where she would be going.

            He now was aiming his gun at Sophie, and pulled the trigger. He wasn’t fast enough. The bullet shattered concrete wall, and nothing more. She already started galloping down the steps.

            He raced after her, pistol in hand.

            He couldn’t let her get away.

*          *          *

            I was in the living room searching through our movies when I saw Riley. He rushed over to me and pulled out Toy Story 2.

            “I wanna see this one!” He held it up for me to see.

            “Good morning to you too kiddo. You want to watch this one? Alright, I can’t think of anything better. I’ll get it set up.” I powered up the DVD player.

            “And I’ll get breakfast!” He bounded into the kitchen, and I heard him say, “Hello Daddy! I’m going to watch Toy Story 2!”

            I smiled. Oh, Riley.

            I entered the DVD into the player, and skipped ahead to the menu.

            I sat down on the couch with the remote and waited for Riley to come back.

*          *          *

            The figure stood at the door and watched Sophie Richards run. It wasn’t worth it to chase her in the city. A masked man with a gun running after a woman would attract too much attention.

            However, now that Sophie had escaped, the plan might be forced up.

            It would still work. It would.

            It had to.