Hilda and the Werepup

Chapter 13 - The Kidnapping

The rhythmic ticking of the clock took over the silence as Percy, Callum and Luke lay still. Drawings filled the table. There were paper planes everywhere. In Percy's room there were pillows everywhere (some had claw marks on them). The dining room was drenched in ketchup sauce, as well as their clothes, so they each had to change into a new set. 

Percy wore a navy blue hoodie sweatshirt and jeans. Callum wore a grey V-neck shirt with a row of four small buttons right below the collar; and what seemed to be loose black jogging pants, with a white line trailing down the outer surface each, which stopped just a few inches above his ankles. Luke had a simple plain white T-shirt and a pair of blue knee-length shorts. 

The three boys were bored to the core. Callum sat at the right corner of the sofa, resting his head on a fist as he pressed his elbow onto the armrest. Percy sat at the other corner leaning against the backrest of the sofa, staring into blank space. Luke was lying on the mat on the floor in a spread-eagle position, staring at the ceiling and looked as though he was in a trance. 

"It's been three hours since - well - all this." Callum began finally, "We've been waiting for three hours, Perce. Three hours!"

"I know, I know," Percy groaned as he rubbed his forehead, looking up, "maybe they're stuck in some traffic."

"At this hour? It's  No way, everyone who has gone to work should have been back to their homes by now, unless every single worker in Trolberg had taken their night shifts." Callum pointed out.

"True." Percy admitted blankly.

"I'm going to look for them." Callum said, determined as he stood up and put on his shoes, and flung on his brown hooded jacket.

"If you're not back in two hours I'm coming to bring you back!" Percy called as Callum shut the door. He rushed out of the apartment building and ran down the street. He ran to the playground, calling out Hilda and Johanna's names. He reached the playground and looked under the seats, in the shelters under the towers, and even within the bushes that surrounded it. He looked around desperately. 

"Hilda?! Hilda! Oh, come on, where are you? Johanna??!??!!" Callum called out. The streets were so silent he could hear a faint echo of his voice.

"What are you doing here at this hour?" a deep male voice sounded behind him. Callum spun around and saw a man dressed in black.

"O-oh, sorry sir, but - have you see a girl, about this height, with blue hair? She was with another woman with short brown hair, have you seen any of them?"

"Um, no, sorry I was err... just coming back from the park." the man grunted. Callum looked askance. There was something familiar about the black coat, though he had seen millions wear a black coat, somehow he found this strangely familiar. Promptly, he caught a scent he wished he never caught. Instantly, he leapt at the man, tackling him. But before he could even land on him, the man stepped away and Callum landed onto his stomach with a loud grunt. He turned onto his back and groaned, clutching his stomach tightly.

"Heh, don't worry, I was lying. You'll be able to join your friends very soon." the man sneered with a smirk painted across his face and aimed a gun at him. He felt something sharp, like a needle, hit his neck before everything went pitch black. 

The darkness soon started to light up slowly into a blur, which, after a couple of seconds, began to clear, with the sight of a room made fully of concrete, and a row of vertical bars in the front. Looking down to see his feet, Callum blinked before realised he had been cuffed to the wall. He then heard muffled noises, he looked left to see a pair of familiar faces, tied tightly to a pole each with a rope.

"Hilda!" Callum gasped. "Hilda, are you okay? What did they do to you? Ms. Johanna, did you get hurt? Oh, gosh you guys have been away from so long so I decided to look for you - what happened here?"