My Mistake

3

Alexis

I awoke once again in an unfamiliar room. Or should I say hallway. My legs were sprawled at an awkward angle on the carpeted floor, and my neck rested uncomfortably against a wall behind me.

I may have woke up due to the painful position, but it could also be the loud footsteps walking all over the house.

"-tell James his search is over, and bring him to me." A voice said, somewhere in another room.

James? Did they mean Jim? What would they do to Jim, if it was him?

The footsteps stopped suddenly when very close to me, and someone leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Get out of here. You're dad killed people until he got you, and now he'll make your life living hell. Go now." 

I turned my head to look at brown eyes, and saw many cuts on their face.

Nodding quickly, I scrambled upwards and looked around.

"How do I get out of here?" I asked them, turning towards them again.

But the space they occupied was now empty.

"Great," I muttered. "Let's just walk out the front door, once we find it. Easy as absolutely nothing."

Rubbing the crick in my neck, I took a right down the winding hall, wondering if there was more to the house then just this.

Finally I found a window, and upon looking out of it, my hope belittled. There was security guarding all perimeters of the property, and if I was this so called rich-kill guy's daughter, I probably wouldn't be able to waltz off the plot.

I stepped back from the large window, and set off again to find a room. Which I did, much later on. 

My only hope was to either find a secret underground base that had tunnels leading under the house, and would bring me far away from Livesy, or somehow escape from the roof and hope no one sees me. I scanned the room, looking both upwards and down, when I found some sort of escape route, hopefully. It was a wall vent, which probably had bugs and creepy crawlers, but it was better than being a slave.

Kneeling down, I took notice of my father not caring where I was for the day. I had been wandering around for hours, looking for a way out, and yet I hadn't seen him, or anyone else for that matter. 

Besides the person who disappeared from me.

But as long as it isn't a trap, I could not care less. 

I opened the vent quite easily, without having to unscrew anything, and crawled through it, putting the vent door hopefully back in place.

But to my disappointment, this was the longest shaft ever, much like the hallways. My knees were digging into the metal, and the small space made me feel claustrophobic. It didn't feel great. 

I kept making my way through it, until I saw the (maybe) end. Pushing open the vent door on the other side, I pulled myself out of it to see I had found another room, with doors. 

Sighing, I sat down to rest, and though about another plan. I couldn't use the doors, because it might lead me outside, which would get me caught and probably be supervised for the rest of my life, so those weren't an option. The whole underground base thing was highly unlikely, so I would pray for the whole ceiling rooftop thing to exist. 

I searched the room once more and saw something man made (person made) on the ceiling. I wasn't exactly tall for my age, but the little furniture would have to do. Pulling chairs from a dusty corner, I placed them under the box-like figure, and started to stack them. I could easily fall if they weren't stable, and then perhaps get caught from the noise the fall would've made, but I prayed for a second time that day that wouldn't happen. 

But like the rude people humans are, shouting interrupted my praying moment.

"Get your fucking hands off me!" A man yelled outside. I perked up. Maybe this could be a distraction?

I would look to see what was happening, but there were no windows, so really, I couldn't. I was still curious, though. 

Climbing back into the vent was a hassle, but I crawled through it quickly, eager to see what was happening before the people left.

Reaching the end, I opened the exit and landed on all fours in the room with the window. Peering outside, I groaned when it wasn't in view of the commotion.

"I never lost her! I was following her to take her to him!" The man argued loudly once more.

Not losing hope, I remembered the shape in the ceiling. If it was a passageway to the roof, I could for sure see what was happening there.

Climbing back into the ventilation system, I made my way to the room with the stacked chairs. If they hadn't fallen yet, maybe that's a sign the pile was stable.

I began with the first chair, and cautiously went up the mountain of chairs. Luckily for me, this room had a low-ceiling, so it didn't take too many chairs.

I finally touched the top of the room and felt for a latch, when my fingers hit a metal object. This must be it. I unlatched the trapdoor and the hinges opened the ceiling to reveal a short ladder, and after that, a hole revealing the sky. 

Yes!

It was a small jump from the chairs to the ladder, but it scared me nonetheless. Giving a little hop, I landed unsteadily inside the ceiling. Lovely. 

Once I calmed myself, I hiked up the ladder until I was touching the flat roof. Pulling the rest of my body on top, I felt the wind hit my hair, and gave off a whistling sound. I'm free. But I still had my curiosity, so I walked out until I wasn't in the smack dab middle of the roof, and looked around. Nothing but guards. I tried the other side, and finally found what looked like what I had heard. Except, there was no more yelling, and it was eerily silent. Did I miss it? Did I miss my chance to escape while some of the guards were distracted? 

Hoping that wasn't it, I squinted at the man being held captive. He didn't look dead, which was a bonus, but he didn't have fight left in him. 

As he was slowly escorted into the building, the guards paused and one left, while the other tightened their grip on him. I tilted my head slightly. What was happening?

The man look around tiredly, as if looking for an escape, or someone to help him. As he glanced up, his eyes caught mine in the close distance, and I was met with blue ones.

I didn't bother to hide in my gasp. Was that Jim? Was he going to be punished for not bringing me back?

The second guard returned, and brought the man inside. I hoped that wasn't Jim, and I hoped whoever that was, wasn't going to be punished. 

I prayed for the third time that day.