The Fountain Girl

Chapter 24

A special author's note: Dear readers, I apologise for the little mix-up I had made! Apparently I had uploaded the actual chapters, 19 and 20, for this story as two seperate stories, and had just added both of them into this one. Therefore, I had pushed the fake chapter 19 and 20 back by two, and they are now chapters 21 and 22. So this might explain the sudden continuity gap in the story that you may have read earlier. Once again, my sincerest apologies! Happy reading! (Don't forget to follow/vote/review this story if you liked it!)

"This is it," James told me, tapping me on my shoulder. I blinked my bleary eyes, "What?"

I got up and ruffled my hair. Looking out of the window, I saw a fishing boat dock, floor wet and slippery probably because of the recent episode of rain. So this was what it was like in Creaking Town. A bit spooky, since no one was in sight.

I opened the car door and stepped out into the thin, killer-cold air. A breath of hot air came out of my mouth as steam. I surveyed the area, noticing that there were no ships moored along the wooden plank walkway that must've been the boardwalk.

I turned my head around to look at the rest of the cars. It was like a special convoy, the five cars in a diamond formation. James had specially arranged for his friends to help him and I out in finding Anna. They agreed to back me up in the confrontation with Bryan and his gang. It said specifically on Bryan's note that I were to come alone to Creaking Front, but I knew that that would be the obvious end of me.

We set off about the deserted fishing town, looking at the different building to find Creaking Front. Eventually we found the large, slightly dilapidated building with mould growing on the sides and its windows horribly shattered. A large and horribly designed red-and-green sign was put up on the front of the building, "Creaking Front: The Number One Fish Distributer in Creaking Town!" The paint was peeling in obvious places and the metal staircase on its left was rusting terribly. It was surrounded by a climbable metal fence with spokes on top that looked blunt and honestly quite safe to touch if they weren't so rusty.

"I guess this is it," I told the rest of them, who were all James' age, around 21. I nodded sliently at all of them. They did the same. I pushed the gate open slowly and it made a deathly creaking sound. Stepping into the overgrowth of the lawn, I headed towards the building.

Immediately the stinky pang of rotten and raw fish hit me like Mohammed Ali -- I had to pinch my nose to stop the unbearable smell from entering my nostrils. Some of the guys insisted to venture into the building first to survey the area, and I was more than glad to see them do so. Suddenly, there was a thud and a clink, and multiple yells.

I rushed forward into the building to check (along with a few others), and realised to my dismay that they were hopelessly entangled in a well-made fishing net. Around them were mechanical equiptment for the sorting, packing and boxing of raw fish, rusty with old age and disuse. The guys in the net were struggling and pushing one another around, looking at the rest of us with expectant eyes. Just as I was about to bend down to let them free, I heard a strikingly familiar voice, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

I looked up to the building's indoor balcony on its second balcony, and 'lo and behold, there stood Bryan and a few of his tough goons. The only thing preventing them from falling to the first floor was a flimsy metal railing, and seeing how Bryan was putting most of his body weight on the railing by leaning on it, I was suprised that it wasn't already giving way.

"I told you to come alone, didn't I. I kind of expected you to do the opposite. Well, you're not the only one that came prepared--" I cut him off halfway.

"Where's Anna?" I asked in my most calmed voice possible in this kind of situation.

"Oh, in the back," Bryan said casually, jerking a thumb in the direction of the metal door behind him, next to the main control room that oversaw everything in the building.

"What's the exchange you want?" I asked him, making sure that a slight hint of anger could be heard in my tone.

"Isn't it obvious enough? Really, who would I want to bully except you?" Bryan asked. "You're the fun one that fights back. I always let you win, haven't you noticed? People laugh at me. The mock me. But now, I guess that I can have my own fun if you swap yourself with your precious little girl." His words were mocking everyone in the building, bouncing off the walls in the form of annoying echoes.

"Show me Anna first. I'm not sure if I can trust you," I told him hesitantly.

"Oh, this is so much like a movie. They always ask for the proof first. Alright, then, I guess it's only fair. But only up to here." He tipped his head towards the door, ordering one of his gang members to go fetch Anna. A few moments later, I could here the loud slam of a metal door. 

Anna was pushed and shoved beside Bryan. He carried her up in his arms unproffessionally and Anna looked at him with fear. She looked starved. Her skin of her cheeks was sunken in between her cheek bones and her jaw. Her arms and legs were red, and some parts of them even had painful-looking scratch marks. She squealed loud enough for all of us to hear. But she didn't move when she was in Bryan's arms.

"I still find her adorable. The most adorable child I've seen in a long time," Bryan remarked, stroking Anna's cheek. She closed her eyes tightly, but didn't make another sound. "She's just been a bit stubborn over the last few days."

 The final echo of the same phrase came back to me stronger, faster, harder and louder in my head: Anna, I'll save you.