Locked

Chapter Eight

V awoke from a dreamless sleep. She opened her eyes to see her own chest immediately in front of her face. The events of the day flooded back to her. She bolted upright. Then the pain came; she felt as though she'd run into a brick wall. Her shoulder ached and her head swam as if she'd

sat up too soon. She noticed her hands and feet had been bound, and she was seated. She was tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room, save one thing. She had company.

"Hello my dear." The wealthy man ambled over.

Emotions poured through her; all she wanted to do was hurt him – badly.

"I know, I know," he said, stroking her head with his hands, "you hate me." V frowned at him. He was right.

"It's for your own good you know, you just wouldn't listen." The snake-like slithering of his voice swirled through her head. "You just couldn't follow orders."

V understood – this was the man who'd left the note at the hospital. She checked her chest for the familiar gold chain.

"Looking for something?" The vile man sneered at her, interrupting her search. He had it. From his despicable fingers hung the golden locket.

"I really must admit Miss Claymore, you are a very good thief. Although..." he paused for dramatic effect, "the man who was supposed to bring this to me was not very adept at his job." The man pocketed the locket, almost sadly. Realization came into V's eyes.

"You killed him!" She burst out, half shock, half terror. "My, you are smart." His voice was somewhat melodic.

V decided to play the game she had been involuntarily thrust into. She took a breath, and used her most honey coated voice.

"You seem to be properly acquainted with myself, but here I am, not knowing a single thing about you?"

"Well that is a shame, is it not?" He was playing the game as well, and he'd been playing much longer than most. "Very well then, my name is Richard Gellentry. And that is all you need to know."

V lost control of the pretty voice, "Where are we?" she demanded.

"You're a smart girl, where do you think?" There, the melodic voice had returned, taunting her into answering.

V looked around; they were in a somewhat large room with a glass window overlooking an interior room. She sniffed; the faint smell of chemicals reached her nostrils.

"We're in an old cloth factory." She said hesitantly.

"Very good." He said, as if she were a small child, rewarded for counting to ten. He circled her; she'd never felt more like prey.

"Now my man here is going to take us to a safe location. This area of town is not safe at night."

"Neither are you." V muttered.

Mr. Gellentry, as he had not provided a title – even though he appeared to have one – exited the room as the giant man untied her legs from the chair. This was good; she could run if she got the chance. The man didn't seem inclined to retie her legs, she was probably easier to handle if she could walk on her own. The man led her once again to the waiting carriage. Mr. Gellentry was already inside when V was rudely pushed in. She positioned herself onto the opposite bench.

They rode in silence. As Mr. Gellentry was busy with his book, V busied herself with untying her hands. It was slow work, and V worried they'd be long out of the city – as she had guessed their intended destination – before she could free herself. Finally she was free, but she kept her hands behind her back as to not raise the man's suspicions. Careful of how the next few moments

would play out, V asked a question; "Are you customary to tying your own prisoners? Because if you are, you're not very good at it."

As Mr. Gellentry puzzled over her question, V acted. His confusion acted as her advantage. She had a second's head start on what was happening. With this brief moment of time, she stuck her boot out to kick the man in the knee. He bent to grasp the area as V lunged for the door handle. Unfortunately, Mr. Gellentry had fast reflexes; the man – old enough to be her father – kicked his uninjured leg out, blocking V's dash for freedom. As a carriage is not a very large area, any movement either of the two did would fill the entire space. V kicked out again, this time not even aiming. All she had to do was get outside this infernal carriage, and then she could run as far as possible. This plan was short lived, when Mr. Gellentry procured a knife from his breast pocket.

"I would have had a pistol, but unfortunately you're sitting on it." He said, his eyes glowing with anger.

Suddenly V's escape became even more urgent. She had no weapon, so she kicked him again. This turned out to be a terrible move as the man was ready for this and responded by slashing her left thigh. V barely glanced at the red liquid, pooling through the rip in her trousers. Instead, she heaved herself against the door again, trying to break the door instead of opening it.

Mr. Gellentry threw himself at her. She dodged the knife, but ended up with a knee to her already sore gut. Sucking at air, she rolled over the man and grabbed his wrist. He pointed the knife

down at her, whilst she pushed it away from herself. Taking the opportunity to surprise her

attacker once again, V released the man's wrist while simultaneously rolling from harm's way. The knife came rushing down to where she had been only moments earlier. Realizing the change in atmosphere, Mr. Gellentry ignored the knife stuck in the wood and punched V in the face. V fell backwards against the door, black spots clouding her vision. She felt for the door handle, scrambling for it in her near blindness. The black spots cleared just in time for her to see Mr. Gellentry come down at her with the knife. She screamed and rolled away.

This action caused several chain reactions. Firstly, V found the door handle she had been searching for. Secondly, the force of said roll opened the door to the carriage. At this exact moment, the knife in the man's hand met its target, though not in its intended spot. Just as V was falling from the carriage, the knife pierced her arm, slicing deeply from her collarbone to the exterior of her elbow. And lastly, V landed on the street below, while Mr. Gellentry held the knife, leaning out of the carriage. As the vehicle had been going as fast as the horses could muster, it took several moments before Mr. Gellentry managed to make his employee stop.

Her whole body shook with tremors of shock, but knowing the danger she would be in if that man caught her, again, V mustered her last bits of strength and got up running. At this time, Mr. Gellentry jumped down from the still slowing carriage and chased after his escaped prisoner. However, even he knew a hopeless situation when he saw it. V was already gone, disappearing into the shadows. Abandoning the chase, Mr. Gellentry decided there was no harm done in letting her bleed to death in the streets. Resuming its decided course, the carriage raced away into the night. If only they knew how wrong they had been in letting her escape.

V stumbled through back alleys. She didn't know the extent of her injuries, but her head was pounding and her vision blurring. Crumbling into a ball beside a stack of crates, V smiled; she

pulled a small, golden locket out from her pocket. Nobody had ever accused her of being a bad thief. Then she let the darkness wash over her once again.