They reached room 432. Scott leaned his head against the door, trying to hear if anyone was inside. The room was silent for a while, but then he heard what sounded like someone crying. "There's someone in there," he informed the others.
Avi's eyes lit up. "Ask who is in there," he suggested.
Scott knocked quietly. "Hello?"
Shuffling could be heard from outside the door. "Hello?" a hesitant voice called back. It sounded feminine and hoarse.
Avi surged forward. He recognized the voice as his sister's. "Esther, open the door!"
The door was flung open, and the slight woman looked at the group, her eyes looking for her brother. When he reached her gaze, she flung herself at him. "Avi! Oh my God, you're okay! I was so worried!"
Avi grunted in pain as his sister's tight grip applied pressure to his wound, but he had never been so relieved in his life. He had almost lost her. The thought had chilled him to the core. "I'm glad you're okay too, Esther, but you're hurting me."
Esther immediately let go of her brother and began assessing his frame. "Where are you hurt? What happened?"
Scott cleared his throat. "I don't mean to cut this reunion short, but we need to move. I'm checking out the top floor, and as soon as that gets done, we can get out of here."
Avi nodded in agreement with Scott's plan. Suddenly, he had a thought. "Esther, where's Darien? Wasn't he supposed to be with you?"
Esther teared up. "He said he was going to the top floor to get a phone charger he left in a friends' room."
Avi cursed, and Kevin's facial expression dropped. Kirstie's breath caught; Scott wrapped a comforting arm around Esther. He didn't know the girl, but he could certainly relate to the worry she was feeling. He felt it for Mitch. "C'mon, we'll find him."
They were all thinking that there was a high probability Darien wasn't alive, but they weren't going about to mention that to their newest member. Hopefully the man has escaped the killer's grasp. If he was alive, they were wasting time by standing around. They needed to be looking for him.
The climb up the stairs was done quickly but silently. Esther and Kirstie were in the middle with Scott once again in the lead. Before they exited the stairwell, Scott laid out the rules. "Esther and Kirstie, you two stay in here with Avi. Kevin and I will see if we can find Darien."
Esther shook her head. "No, I'm going with you." She wanted to make sure her boyfriend was safe.
Avi protested. "You're safer here with me than out there, even if I am injured. I can subdue him if Scott and Kevin lose him."
Kirstie agreed. "We need to stick together. If worse comes to worse, we can get out."
Avi turned to Kevin. They shared a quick hug. "Be safe, brother."
Kevin nodded. "Keep yourself safe, as well." With that, he and Scott disappeared down the hallway.
If the atmosphere on the second floor had been creepy, the fifth floor was downright petrifying. The darkness seemed to be deeper and less malleable. A pin drop could be heard, and it would make the same amount of noise as a thousand rampaging bulls.
Scott froze as soon as the door shut behind him and Kevin. Both men glanced at each other. "I don't like this," Kevin muttered. Something unsettled the broad man. Something wasn't right.
"I feel like we're cornered animals waiting for the predator to pop out," Scott commented, gazing around him with intense concentration.
"Lucky for you, boys, the show is just starting," a voice called.
The males froze. They couldn't see anyone else, but they were certain the voice came from the back room of the lobby. "What, afraid? Good. That's what I was banking on."
Scott growled in annoyance. Both he and Kevin were upwards of six foot tall and built like athletes. There was no way someone was going to intimidate him, knife or not. "Show yourself," he barked out.
Kevin glanced apprehensively at the blonde. He wasn't sure this was the best way to go about confronting the killer, but then again, he couldn't come up with any reasonable approach at the moment. How does one confront someone who cares nothing for another's life?
"Why? I've had so much fun playing hide and seek. It's been quite entertaining, especially when I leave clues. In fact, I have one right here. Why don't you come and see? You know you want to. The curiosity is killing you," the voice taunted.
A clue? What was he talking about? Did that mean another person was hurt or worse, dead? Was it Darien, Esther's boyfriend?
Scott made to charge forward, but Kevin grabbed his shoulder. "Stop," the older male hissed. "There's no way you can take him on by yourself. He has a knife, Scott. Think before you act!"
The blonde paused. "We have to help Darien if he is in trouble, and if it is Mitch, I am not letting him get hurt. I can't live with the guilt of someone's life on my shoulders. Can you?"
Kevin shook his head. "Of course not, but if you lose your own life, of what use are you?"
Scott sighed in annoyance. He knew Kevin was right, but that didn't lessen his desire to discover what was occurring.
"Time is wasting boys."
Kevin sighed. "Alright, think. We need to be a united front. Perhaps we should go in and confront him, but make sure that there's plenty of space between us. Don't act surprised by whatever he's planned. I believe he's doing this in an effort to show off his creativity. I mean, he turned the lights in the building off and shut out access to the elevator. A lot of thought was put into that."
"He wants recognition, a reward," Scott realized. "But what is his reward?"
Kevin shrugged. "I guess that's something we'll have to find out. If we can keep him talking, then we might be able to distract him enough to subdue him. Would you be willing to do that?"
Scott agreed immediately. "Of course, but if he has a knife I'm not going anywhere near him without a weapon of my own."
Kevin looked around. "We might be able to find something if it comes to that."
"You two are tiring me." Suddenly, a groan of pain was heard.
Kevin and Scott ran full-speed into the room, concern for the injured person at the forefront of their minds. They rounded the corner to see a figure clothed in all black over a man. The man was tied up and bleeding from his nose.
"Ah," the killer smiled, "I wasn't expecting you two. I was certain the bearded man would want revenge. He didn't like the idea of getting beaten, but I did have a knife. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't have won otherwise." He rubbed the back of his head. "I have a nasty bruise where he threw me into the wall. But, anyway, that's not what we are here for."
Kevin maintained a calm persona. "What are we here for?"
The killer chuckled. "I want to know where you're hiding my possession."
Scott was confused. "Possession? We don't have anything of yours, you psycho bastard."
Kevin placed a hand on Scott's shoulder. "We are sorry for taking what was yours. We were not aware it was yours. How should we return it?"
The man leaned down. His knife was in one of his hands, and he ran in lightly along the throat of the man on the ground. "Darien here won't live much longer unless you bring her to me."
Scott knew that the masochist was serious. Darien would not continue breathing if they didn't do as the man said.
Kevin, on the other hand, picked up on the killer's words. "Her?"
A sadistic grin bloomed across the man's face, and his brown eyes seemed to shine maliciously behind his glasses in the dark. "Kirstie."
Surprise! Do you know who it is, now? It's not who you may expect.
Love you all, my darlings!
