THE PLAYGROUND

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

GALE.

I was worried sick about Alexa, She wasn't by my side when I woke up this morning and I had been trying her number but she wasn't answering. It wasn't like her to not answer her calls, especially because Alexa was always with her phone.

I had been to her house and neither of her siblings knew where she was and it only made me worry more. Alexa didn't really have friends, she was an introvert so making friends was difficult for her and it made locating her an even harder task.

Her siblings and her parents had called severally but still no answer, Chris had even called his girlfriend but Alexa wasn't with her. I got to work late and was surprised to find that Larry wasn't at work, he always turned in early and would be waiting for me so we could go on the morning patrol together.

I settled in my office and decided to try Lexi's number again, still the same so I left a message, hoping she would call me when she got it.

About an hour later, Larry rushed into my office sweating like he had been running a marathon. "We...we have..." He stopped for a moment to catch his breath then he continued. "We have a situation sir."

"What is it?, More dead bodies?"

"No. It's the youngest Hathaway sibling." He said, still breathless.

"Alexa?" Panic shot through me as I got up. Different thoughts crossed my mind, none of them good. "What happened to her?!" I demanded, raising my voice higher than I intended.

"I saw her heading towards Tim's playground."

"What?, Why?"

"I don't know sir, but she wasn't alone. I think she was being forced."

When I heard the last part I felt scared, I don't know why, maybe it was the thought that Josie wanted to get back at us for arresting her son or maybe she was planning to kill Alexa like she had always wanted to but I just felt scared. Determined not to show any sign of fear, I grabbed my car keys and headed out while Larry followed behind.

The drive to the playground didn't take too long because I flipped the emergency siren on, and that meant I could drive above the speed limit and I didn't have to wait at a traffic sign.

We arrived at the playground at speed record time and I hurried out to search for her. "Where did you see her?" I heard footsteps behind me but he didn't reply. "Larry, where did you see--" I turned and a pistol was pointed at me. "Larry?"

"Sorry boss, you can't blame me. I did what I was asked to do."

I couldn't believe my eyes, the partner that I trusted so much was pointing a gun at me. "You're working for Josie." I wasn't sure if I meant it as a question or a statement, all I knew in that moment was that the person I took as a friend was a traitor. "So what you're going to kill me?"

"No, your death isn't in my hands. My mistress will decide your faith. You're here as bait."

It suddenly hit me, Josie was going to use me as bait in order to get Alexa to come out of hiding. I couldn't let that happen, I had to find a way to get out of this. I knew Larry wouldn't kill me because they needed me alive, and I also knew I had a fair chance of taking him out, even with his weapon.

I swung my fist, hitting him hard in the gut and he lost his balance. I hit the gun out of his hand easily and kicked him in the knee, he fell to the ground clutching his knee as he moaned in pain. Even though he was a traitor, I couldn't kill him, I cuffed him and wanted to take him back to the station when I took a blow to the back of the head.

I turned to face my attacker and he was a much larger opponent. I swung my fist, hitting him like I had done with Larry but it didn't seem to have that much effect on him so I decided to use my legs. That seemed to cause a little damage but it still wasn't enough to bring him down.

I aimed for his face but he easily caught my fist and snapped my wrist like it was nothing. "Arrgh!." The pain hit me hard like I had just been shot and I cradled my broken wrist close to my chest. He came at my face but I was able to evade his blow and before he had the time to recalculate his moves, I headbutted him and we both fell backwards. He nose was bleeding and I also had a ghastly cut on my forehead.

I got up but was feeling lightheaded from the impact, he seemed to recover before me because he closed the distance between us and punched me hard in the face. My lip was bleeding and I felt dizzy but I didn't want to give up. Weak and disoriented, I approached him slowly but he easily tossed me aside. I tried getting up again but he didn't give me a chance to, he knelt by my side and hit me hard on the head and everything went dark.

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When I opened my eyes, I was in a large room. The room was completely dark except for the fire torches that brightened it up slightly. I noticed my hands and feet were chained, I tried if I could free myself but the more I wriggled my hands, the more my broken wrist threatened to make me go mad with pain.

I looked around for sign of anyone but I was alone. I managed to get on my knees but that was as far as I could go. Judging from the way the room was covered in sand, and how there was no proper ventilation, I was somewhere underground. Probably somewhere beneath the playground.

After seating for almost an hour, I noticed some people walk in though it was hard to see their faces because of the darkness.

"Dad, why are we here?" A familiar voice asked.

"Yeah dad, you said you knew where Lexi was."

"Dave?" I waited for some seconds before the voice finally responded. "Gale?"

"Oh thank goodness. What're you guys doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

"My partner told me he saw Lexi come down here but it turns out it was a lie."

"That's weird, dad said the same thing."

Before we had the chance to say more, the room suddenly became brighter as some hooded figure walked in. We watched in horror as performed a weird ritual using a human.

The young woman who looked like she was in her late twenties was chained to a makeshift bed, the same one Alexa was chained to months ago. She was crying so loudly and it broke my heart because I couldn't save her.

Josie walked up to her and stabbed her seven times, making sure she dipped the bloody dagger in fire after each stab. When she was done, she chanted in a weird language and set the girl's body ablaze.

"Why are you doing this?!, This is pure madness you know. You can't keep killing innocent people for your selfish interest, these people have families, they have a life to live and it's not fair that they have to die just so you can achieve your aim."

Josie just stared at me like I was something irritating. "Why is this one not gagged?" Larry was the one who rushed to put a gag over my mouth and he bowed to Josie who didn't seem impressed. "Now that I have you all here, there's no way that little brat can hide herself from me." She let out a spine chilling laugh as she took her place at the alter in the center of the room.