After

Chapter 29

*Sorry for any mistakes*

Eldon's pov
As I step forwards towards the large house, I realise that Noah isn't following me. Huh? I thought he wanted to get Richelle back! Oh, wait. I forgot that they'll recognise him right off the bat! So what will he do in all this time? I don't know how long I'll be, I don't even know if I'll get Richelle back!

"Noah," I begin, even though he probably knows what I'm going to say, "what are you going to do whilst I'm in there. You can't just wait in my car, they might spot you!"

He looks confused for a few seconds, and lets out a small sigh before replying with, "I don't know."

"Well, you could bring the police down here now, they've got to believe you. And hey, maybe it's a good idea. If you get them here, wait for me to come out with Richelle and then they can go inside and put a stop to this!"

"Great idea, Eldon! I'll go now, but I'll leave the car for you."

And with that being said, he jogs off down the road on his way to the police. I know where the nearest station is! I hope he is, I hope he doesn't get lost. We have never been here before, so it could be easy to take a wrong turn. I'm sure he's smart enough to know to ask locals for directions, right?

Anyway, I can't worry too much about him right now; number one on my list is Richelle. I have to get her out of there! So, I begin to take long steps towards the house, looking it up and down as I go. It's definitely bigger when you come closer! There's ivy growing up the left side of it, almost like it's squeezing the bricks to death like a snake coiled around its prey. The door isn't too big, but bigger than an average wooden door! Its handle is an old one- used to just knock I guess. There's no other way in, so I guess I'll knock!

My hand reaches for the door, but it's suddenly swung open before I can touch the handle, giving me a mini heart attack. A long, dark haired woman appears in front of me, curling a piece of her hair around her finger. She must've seen me out the window or something, how else would she know I was there? The door doesn't have something where you can look through it to see who's there, so I really hope she didn't see Noah- considering it's Amanda who's standing before me. Luckily (yet confusing), we've never met. She used to live opposite me, I don't know how we didn't bump into each other from time to time!

"Hello there!" She welcomes me in with a big grin on her face. "You must be Daniel! You've got the 1:25 appointment, yes?"

Pardon? What is she talking about? Daniel? Who's Daniel? I look at the cuckoo-clock that's hanging above her head and look at the time- 1:20. Well, whoever Daniel is, he's going to be here in five minutes! But hey, she doesn't know that I'm not Daniel so I may as well pretend to be him for a bit.

"Yes!" I exclaim, hoping that the real Daniel won't walk through the door and catch me out. "That's me."

"Okay, well since you're only five minutes early, we can start now. Please follow me."

She starts to strut off in her high heels towards another room that's further back, and I follow close behind. We enter the room, and I'm assuming that it's made to look like a study room- a desk, bookshelves, a red sofa, and a wooden table with some chairs neatly crowded around it. Where are the girls though? Where on earth does she keep them?

However, I soon notice her bending down on the floor in the top left corner of the room, and she seems to be trying to open something. What is she doing? But then she opens it, and I soon realise what it is; a trapdoor. Very sneaky I must say! Anyway, I'm guessing that the girls are down there? Poor things!

"Be careful when you're coming down the stairs," she says, pointing to a small staircase that we're both about to climb down. "Don't slip, it'll hurt. The floor at the bottom is concrete."

I give her a nod and make my way towards the stairs. She climbs down first, and then I soon follow. But as I get to the top of the stairs and begin to climb down, I can hear cries, screams, and a lot of them are banging around on...bars I'm assuming. Gosh, the poor things.

Once I get to the bottom, I look around the new room that I'm in; white floors, white walls, and what look like prison cells. All eyes are on me, but they're not angry eyes, they're scared eyes. Scared that I'm going to buy them, and use them.

"Take your time to choose one that you want," Amanda says. "Then come and tell me the number, and I'll get the interview started."

"Okay." Is all I can say back, because I begin to walk past a lot of the cells with helpless girls in, all backing away from me as I walk past them. I don't want people to be afraid of me! I mean, it's me! No one can be afraid of me! I'm a 'goof-ball on legs', as Noah likes to call me.

After carefully looking through each cell in hope of seeing Richelle, I finally come across her. She's all alone, hunched up in a ball on the floor, looking as broken as a smashed vase. She doesn't even know that I'm here! I can go into the cells, right? I suppose so, I mean what's Amanda going to do about it?

So, I slide the lock open, which makes a noise, making Richelle's head dart up as if she just heard a gun fire. Her eyes instantly lock with mine, and she starts to quiver and shake.

"Can I come in?" I ask gently, hoping she'll say yes.

"Not you," she mumbles to herself, but then in a louder voice she says, "Please don't use me. I never thought you would be someone to do something like that."

I look down at her in sympathy, and enter the cell. Oh Richelle! Her eyes follow my every movement, and she slowly backs away from me, twiddling her thumbs as a distraction.

"Richelle," I say in a soft voice, trying to calm her, "There's something I need to tell you."

She hesitates before letting me talk, and she takes a seat on the floor. Wait, she has to sleep on this? All I can see is a thin, white blanket, and nothing as a pillow. Poor Richelle!

"You see, I'm not buying you for that reason. Me and Noah are saving you, Riche-"

"Noah's here?!" She interrupts me, her eyes becoming wider.

"Well not here, because they'd recognise him, but he's gone to get the police. Anyway, I'm going to but you so that I can take you home, so that you can be safe with Noah again. You won't have to stay here anymore."

She quickly scrambles towards me and gives me a big hug, and I can even feel a few tears spill onto my shirt, so I hug her even tighter. Poor thing, now I just have to buy her....no, I hate saying that! I just have to get her out of here!