Mounting Danger

Chapter 14: Time

Five days had passed since the cryptic note had slipped beneath my door, five days of anxious anticipation and restless nights filled with feverish dreams of freedom.

In those long, solitary hours, I had meticulously mapped out every detail of the possible plan, especially the potential obstacles. I ate everything given to me--no matter how disgusting to keep my strength up. 

Then I waited.

I watched the sun slowly dip toward the horizon, sending the barren landscape outside my window into complete darkness. It reminded me of how alone I was and that I was willing to take any chance I got to escape. It was hard to explain but the lower the sun went the more I felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins. Tonight was the night. The night I would break free from Ricky's suffocating grip. It had to be.

I closed my eyes. I wasn't sure why but words began to pour out in my mind from desperation. It had been a while since I bothered to pray but I figured what harm could it be. I needed any help I could get from anyone or anything. 

With my eyes closed, the small creak that sounded from the floorboards seemed amplified. I held my breath and waited while my heart slammed against my ribcage. Everything in me believed the person approaching was the one who wrote the note but I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling I had. Just as it could be my savior, it could be my captor. Ricky hadn't visited in three days which was the longest he had ever left me alone since I arrived. He could also pop up at any moment and ruin my chance. I gritted my teeth.

The doorknob rattled slowly and my muscles tensed.  When the door finally swung open there was a battered woman on the outside. But it wasn't just any woman. It was Karina and she was completely disheveled.

Her eyes were dark-- one even swollen shut, and open wounds crusted with blood ran up and down her skin making her barely identifiable. With trembling hands, I reached out to her, my mouth unable to form words. She closed the door behind her and gave me a quick glance over.

 Wordlessly, Karina produced a key from her pocket and set to work, her movements swift and sure as she deftly unlocked the handcuffs that bound me. With a silent nod of gratitude, I followed her lead moving swiftly over to the door. She put her hand on the knob and stopped suddenly.

"Look either we get this right or die. This is the only chance we'll get so there's no room for error." Her voice grated out harshly. "Two guards are on duty right now. Don't let them catch you."

"I won't."

With that, both of us crept out of the room. We kept our backs against the wall and moved quickly. Soon, we came across the first guard on watch. His gaze was fixed on something outside in the distance but his hand rested firmly on his gun, ready to fire it off at a moment's notice.  With bated breath, Karina and I slipped past the guard and to the main staircase. After a brief sweep of the area, we concluded that the second guard was nowhere to be seen. That meant he was most likely patrolling the area, which made things a little trickier.

Despite that, Karina dashed down the stairs with footsteps so light they felt non-existent. I followed, my rapid heartbeat clapping like thunder in my ear. When we made it to the bottom, I could hear the sound of the second guard in the front of the house speaking to someone on the phone.

Still, I didn't dare breathe a breath of relief. I continued behind Karina until the back door to the garage came into view. She stealthily opened it and I closed it once I was in. Inside was dark but a few rays of moonlight peeked through the small window of the garage. I could make out that in the far corner of the room car was hidden beneath a tarp. We crawled over to it and hid before Karina dared to speak a word.