The Other Me

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter 16

The first thing I did was check how securely my arms were bound by the itchy string. There was no way I was going to wait and sit patiently until she got back. I was going to escape. Now.

To my disappointment, I realised that the string was knotted way too tightly for me to be able to wriggle out of it. I was going to have to find something sharp to cut it. But how could I do that?

I figured out a way soon enough. Mrs Barratt had only tied up my arms; she had mistakenly left my feet free. And the plastic chair hadn’t been bolted to the floor. Using all my strength, I put my feet flat on the ground and I managed to pull myself onto my feet. I was still attached to the chair, and it hung off my wrists quite painfully; but at least I could move.

Then, I tiptoed over to the desk. Standing backwards to the drawers, my bound hands managed to open the first drawer. How much time did I have to escape before she got back? Two minutes? Three minutes? All I knew, was that I had to hurry the hell up. I flipped myself the right way around forwards, and then I searched through the drawer with my eyes only. I knew what I was looking for. Something sharp; anything with a thing, pointy edge would be amazing right now; a letter opener, a compass, a steak knife, anything. Then I found the most beautiful thing ever. A large pair of scissors.

With glee, I spun myself backwards again and with slight difficulty, I attempted to pick up the scissors. It took a lot of straining, but eventually they were within my grasp. Then I set to work. I was grateful to have found scissors rather than a knife; as I was less likely to injure myself and I needed to avoid that at all costs. I needed to be strong if I was going to beat Mrs Barratt.

To my surprise, it actually wasn’t too difficult to cut the strings. After all, she had used string rather than thick rope that normal villains use. I was shocked at how careless Mrs Barratt had been. She hadn’t tied me up properly and she had left me in a room with a huge pair of scissors practically at hand. Was she mad? Yes, yes she was. But then again, she was probably so excited and too busy revelling in her own freakish ways; she probably never thought of these things.

As soon as my hands were free and the chair crashed back down to the floor behind me; I made for the small window in the corner of the room. I obviously couldn’t leave through the main door and I hoped that this would do. How long did I have now? I knew I didn’t have that much time left. It didn’t take that long to fill a room full of gas.

The window was locked, but a little switch on the window pane sorted that out. But just as I was about to lift up the window; a noise was heard outside the office door. It was the clacking sound of a key swinging about in a lock. I froze. She was back.

With fumbling hands, I wrenched up the window with all my might. It was funny how hard it was to control my body all of a sudden. In terror I managed to throw myself out the window. I yelped in pain as my shoulder crashed into the ground and I rolled into a nearby row of bushes which surrounded the school building. But I had done it. I was free.

I rose to my feet unsteadily; just as I could hear a terrible scream coming from the open window I had just tumbled out of. I sprinted as fast I could along the back of the building, my shoulder throbbing crazily. I didn’t know where I was heading; but all I cared about right now, was getting as far away from that witch as humanely possible.

For a moment, I thought I had done it. I had escaped relatively unhurt, apart from my sore shoulder and a stinging cheek. The stupid old bat had told me everything and I was going to repeat everything she said to the police – as soon as I managed to reach them. There was Rafi and Rosaline, but I forced myself not to worry about them. They were older, more confident, more experienced. Besides, Mrs Barratt didn’t know about them. They would be fine.