All By Myself

Chapter 27

I swam early the following morning, the days starting to grow shorter, which I liked. I had no plans for the day, waiting for my washer and dryer to arrive, so I spent the day doing some study as my second year information had arrived from Uni, so getting a head start was definitely a bonus. I didn't want a repeat of the previous year. The washer and dryer arrived around four in the afternoon, so I directed the men to my laundry, where they set it all up for me. I put a load on to wash and headed back inside. After a dinner of leftover vege lasagne, I headed to bed to watch a movie on my laptop, having arranged to meet up with Rob the next morning, he said he'd stop by and see how I was settling in. I fell asleep, fingering my locket.

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All day Greg had been arranging everything, the room where the girl would be held, the exam rooms, the tank ready with water. He called his few trusted employees together, along with Mike, and held a meeting. They discussed the information they had gleaned from Jones's documents, and wrote down everything they needed. One of his employees with medical training would be waiting to remove the tracker once they arrived with the girl. The van had been prepped, and everyone ready to go.

The van was parked at the top of the street, windows tinted, ready for the signal. The lights in the girls' house were out, though a faint glow came from one of the upstairs windows. About an hour after arriving, the glow went out, and the house was dark. They waited another half hour just to err on the side of caution, then the driver picked up his phone and called Greg.

"I think she's asleep, Sir." The driver advised. Greg smiled.

"Good. Hold for a moment." Greg ordered, then turned to Mike. "Cut the signal." He ordered. Mike nodded and typed in some commands in his computer and, far away, the tracker signal failed. The man monitoring it called another worker in, then called Brad.

"Thompson." Brad answered, half asleep.

"Sir, the tracker signal has been lost." The operator said. Brad got up quickly, Jenny watching him.

"Work on the signal, I'll be at Cassi's in fifteen minutes." Brad said, cutting the connection, getting his shoes on and hurrying downstairs. Jenny followed, and Brad looked up at her. "I'll bring her here if I can." He said, and got into his car, heading towards Cassi's.

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I was on the verge of unconsciousness when I heard something land on the carpet. I yawned and turned over to look when a cloud of anaesthetic gas enveloped the room. I tried not to inhale, but it had already started to affect me. I slumped on my bed, trying to use my gills as well as my lungs to expel the drug, but I couldn't control what was happening to me. I felt blackness creep over me as figures entered my room, a mask placed over my mouth and nose, feeding me more anaesthetic. I lost consciousness then, slumping. The mask fed me a steady stream of anaesthetic as I was picked up and passed out the window to people waiting. I was bundled into the van and the van drove off just as Brad turned into the street, not noticing the dark van that had pulled away. Brad ran into the house, using his key, and called out my name, heading upstairs to my room. He could smell the whiff of chloroform on the air, and pulled back. Seeing the object on the ground, he went to the kitchen, collected a plastic bag, and picked up the object, not touching it with his fingers. He hurried to his car and drove straight to the labs, contacting the others on the way.

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At Proctor Labs I was carried inside and straight to the medical exam room, laid on my stomach and my hair pushed aside. Using Jones's notes, they located the tracker and removed it, smashing the device. Placing a bandage over the back of my neck, I was taken to a small room and placed on the cot bed, the mask removed, and left alone to breathe normal air again.