Capturing Ella

Chapter 39 - Ella

Yo! So I know these chapter updates are really close together and I said to myself I was going to stop  but then I got two offers from university's to do Psychology so I was excited and well - here are more chapters! 

2:52am

Sleep tried to pull me into its grasps but I stayed awake as the night trailed on until I was so fidgety I had to get up. Joe and I had shared the same bed again in my bedroom at the top end of the bungalow, his arm around my waist as I lay on my side on his chest. I felt incredibly sad and stupid, I was coming up with a ludicrous plan to do by myself with no assistance in the middle of the night, but I know I'd rather do this than risk anything happening to my family or to Joe. I cared about him enough not to get him involved. If, or more likely when, he found out he would probably kill me himself but I am just doing it to protect him. Would he get that?

Silently, I closed my eyes and pictured the desolated island off Lundy, where I had seen the men with the Karrimor Bags for Life walk in. When I opened my eyes, I was projected onto the island. My brothers and parents always said using your gift became easier when you've met your Soulfinder and strangely enough it did feel a lot easier. Before, it was quite a draining task to do these land hops, but now it felt like I had just slipped into a melancholy daydream. Standing on the edge of the island in my just a jumper and fleece pyjama bottoms – maybe not the most fashionable statement but it was so comfy I couldn't care less. The warehouse was still on the uninhabited island, and infact it had grown and had more built to it. When I was there the last time, it was just some corrugated metal hammered into a wooden frame but now, it was a proper building. The walls had been constructed with those ugly grey cinder blocks that all modern buildings have now, and it took up quite a lot of room on the small island and was over two floors high. In the background, there was a small outhouse made from the exact same material. So, this was where I thought they were making the bombs and coordinating the attacks. It didn't look too promising and it was not what I pictured when news reports say that "extremists planned in their own hideouts". Strangely enough, I always pictures the hide outs as little attic rooms, people sitting cross legged on the floor freezing making plans over a wooden crate turned upside down. I couldn't tell if the cinder block and corrugated metal shell was any better.

I crept forward to the door of the warehouse, which was left ajar. Stupid mistake to start with. I slid through, careful not to touch the sides just in case it made a noise. When I entered the warehouse I was amazed by how light and dark it was at the same time. A light grey concrete floor covered the entire warehouse, with cheap lighting fixtures swaying haphazardly in the breeze. In the left hand corner at the opposite end of the building was a door, leading to what looked like a staircase for the offices upstairs. On the back wall, a large map of the world with planned routes and everything sketched on. I jogged over to the wall, giving the items on the floor a wide berth.

On closer inspection of the map, I could see the dotted blue line of the aircraft that the bombs were planted to and the airplane code. It had some coded words, which looked like a memory code for a file on the computer where the tickets must have been stored. Down the side of the map, where a large drop of wallpaper hung so the white was exposing out, they had written everything about Joe, Annie and I. Annie wasn't as much as a threat as she had completely disappeared off radar. They were still hunting closely for Joe and I, though. I frowned, but they had no idea where we were staying. I had hope then. Maybe the safe house was completely safe after all.

'I think I found them!' A man came out of nowhere and ran into the warehouse, pausing before running up the stairs. I ran after him, managing to slide through the open doors when he opened them. The staircase was just dark, with only an LED light providing a patch of light in the stairwell. He ran out into a narrow hallway and into a small room.