The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 21:Tunnels

The moon was brightly lit in the sky and cold winds began to fill the surrounding as Joshua, Rick and Emma hopped out of the black sedan. They marveled at the sight of the Quiller's house right in front of them while reminiscing about their recent escape. The thought of the place's guards brought a shiver down their spine as they saw them routinely marching around the house. The place looked the same as ever, except the fact that the security seems to have tightened a little bit. 

A few security cameras jutted out around the house, covering a huge range. If not for the secret trapdoor that Emma told everyone, it would have been really impossible to get in the house without being caught by the security cameras. Still, they couldn't let anyone find out about the secret trapdoor, or they won't have any means to get inside the Quiller's house if anyone finds out about it.

"So, if you need anything, I want you to just give me a ring and I'll immediately come for your aid." Emma's uncle said. "But, if worse comes to worst, I want you to not get into anything illegal. Don't let yourself get caught and also, stay safe, the three of you." 

"We will, uncle." Emma replied.

"Oh, and by the way, in Gladiola's room, there's a secret trapdoor under her bead that only Mr Quiller, your dad, and I know. The password for that trapdoor is seven-zero-five-three. Don't tell this to anyone!" He whispered to Emma. "I couldn't open it when we were investigating since I might get the attention of the whole media. But now that we don't have anyone with us, I want the three of you to check it out. I'm betting that that's where you'll find the clues that you need."

"What if the password has been changed, what do we do?" Joshua asked out of curiosity 

Even though I think could unlock it quite easily with my secret unlocker, I would still need some sort of alternative in case my unlocker doesn't work and an alarm triggers. The Quillers might have put a very advanced lock there since it should be a very special trapdoor. There's a possiblity that my unlocker, and the password that he gave us would not work. Joshua said to himself. In any case,  if there aren't any, I guess I should just risk it.

"Unfortunately, there aren't any. If the Quillers had changed the password before, then, we might not have the means to open it. But it is highly unlikely that they changed it. So stop worrying about it." Emma's uncle replied. "Anyway, I would be leaving now since I still have matters to attend to. Don't forget to give me a call when you're stuck in your sleuthing. This might be the last time we'd be able to investigate this area. Well, bye for now!"

With that said, he went back to his black sedan and roared off the scene.

Wow, he must be pretty urgent! Rick thought.

"We should probably hurry, the cloud's getting thicker by the minute." Emma said as she pointed towards the sky. "We have to finish sleuthing before it rains, or we won't be able to escape that easily."

"What do you mean?" Joshua asked.

"Do you remember when I used to study programming and stuff with Gladiola, right? There was a time when it rained so hard and the security immediately went inside. I was quite surprised when that happened but Mr. Quiller explained to me that it's a precautionary measure since some people might use that chance to steal their works. The electric barrier for the secret trapdoor is also activated when it rains. Of course, the electric barrier only electrifies the trapdoor itself, so no one will get accidentally electrocuted."

"You mean, the security inside gets tighter when it rains?!" Rick exclaimed. "Why didn't you even tell us that beforehand?"

"I didn't feel the need to mention it to you back then." Emma responded. (She actually forgot to mention it beforehand.) "But now, I think bot of you needs this information."

"In any case, we have to hurry!" Joshua alarmingly said. "Let's go!"

In a flash, Emma hurriedly went towards the trapdoor and opened it. She looked around, trying to see if anyone's watching there very actions. Joshua and Rick, on the other hand, began feeling their way on the fence to see if there are any security cameras that secretly watches them. To their relief, they didn't find anyone, nor did they find any security cameras.

After making sure that no one's around, Emma quickly went inside the trapdoor while using the ladder.

Suddenly, a shadow began to show on one of the hallways. Rick and Joshua began to conclude on the same thing.

Someone's coming!

"Emma! Can you please hurry? Someone's coming!" Rick alarmingly whispered in the trapdoor. "It's going to see us in approximately five seconds, so, can you please go a little bit faster."

"Alright! You can already fit, just get down here already!" Emma ordered as she realized what the situation is outside.

"Rick, just get in there!" Joshua agreed.

"How about you?!"

"Don't worry about me!" Joshua reacted as he jumped straight into the trapdoor.

"Quick, lock the trapdoor!" Emma said.

Oh boy! I really hate trapdoors, especially those that leads to a nasty fall. Joshua thought as he felt himself accelerating at 9.8 meters per second. The stairs right beside him seems to blur in the process.

Thud.

That hurts! A lot! Joshua thought as he clutched his stomach. Anyways, I'm still alive, and we weren't seen by anyone entering the trapdoor. Phew, what a relief!

"Oi, Joshua! Are you okay?!" Emma worriedly exclaimed the moment she reached the bottom part of the trapdoor.

"Joshua, what were you thinking?" Rick exclaimed.

"I'm fine. Even though I could survive those falls, I still couldn't get used to it...hehe." Joshua responded.

"Can you stand up?" Emma asked.

"Of course!"

"Then lead the way. We don't have flashlights, you know. We were in a hurry, so we weren't able to get some. But you can see quite well in the dark so we're depending on you."

"Oh, okay. Then let's go! Follow me!" Joshua stood up and walked.

Footsteps!

"Wait, guys! We're not alone! Someone's here with us." Joshua whispered "He's far, but he's using a flashlight. In any case, we need to avoid him, but if we don't have any choice, we should knock him unconscious and get out of here."

"Is it a guard?" Rick asked.

"Yup, it is!"

Much to their disappointment, Emma suddenly screamed. "Kyaaa!" 

"Ssshhh! What are you doing! Do you want us to get caught?!" Joshua whispered to her.

"S-s-so-something crawled behind me! What do you expect?" Emma reasoned.

"W-W-WHO'S THERE??!" The guard suddenly shouted. "Is anyone there? Sh-sh-show yourself!" The guard nervously exclaimed.

Oh no, now we're going to get caught! Joshua said to himself as the flashlight get nearer towards them.