Coming Home

Chapter 17 - Trapped

The point on the map lead us down long, windy roads, past deserted fields and old abandoned cars.

Eventually we came to a dead end.

"Is this the place?" I asked Logan as he turned the engine off.

"Yeah, somewhere here." We both looked around at the empty, grass covered wasteland we had come to.

"What exactly are we looking for?"

"No idea." That was helpful. I got out and started walking around, hoping I would suddenly find something to help us find Jack.

"Over here." Logan was stood a few feet away from me, looking at the ground.

"Find something?"

"There's a door here." Logan kicked away some of the weeds that covered a rusty, metal door in the ground.

"You think he's keeping Jack down there?"

"Only one way to find out." He moved to lift the door. I put my hand on his, stopping him.

"Wait, do you think this is the best idea?" I didn't want Logan getting hurt. He gave me a knowing smile.

"I'll be fine." He lent forward and kissed me. He went to pull away but my arms wrapped around his head, holding him close for a moment longer.

"Do you want to wait in the truck?" I did but I couldn't sit there not knowing.

"No, I can't." He nodded and opened the door.

There was a set of ancient, wooden stairs that went down into the darkness.

"Be careful." I whispered to Logan as he stepped gingerly into the wood.

"It seems stable enough." He held out his hand to me and we top-toed down into the dark.

"Do you have a light?" I whispered.

"My phone, it's in my back pocket." I fiddled around for a second before turning it on; with the light we could see the steps ahead of us. My heart rate went into overdrive as we walked further and further into the darkness. It felt like we had been walking down the steps for hours when I knew it had only been a matter of minutes. They felt like they went on forever, after walking slowly for about five minutes a dim light lit the narrow passage a few meters in front of us. Logan slowed us until we were barley moving and we listened hard for a few tense moments. We heard nothing and carried on walking until we came to an empty room, lit dimly by a small candle that sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by piles of boxes. There was another door on the far side of the room.

"How long does this place go on for?" I whispered to Logan, pointing at the door.

He opened his mouth to answer me but quickly shut it and pulled me back behind the stack of boxes closes to us. I stayed quiet, listening intently, wondering what Logan had heard. Then I heard it, there were people talking in the next room, the voices muffled at first but growing louder as if they were moving closer to the door. I looked to Logan, pushed him backwards so we were hidden more securely from view behind the boxes.

Suddenly the door flew open and I could hear that two men walked in. Logan sat down and pulled me into his lap as I placed a hand over my mouth in an effort to muffle my breathing.

There was a loud thump and a groan from the other side of the boxes. I was wondering what they were doing when I felt Logan's hand brush gently up and down my back. I sighed and let myself sink further into him when I heard a yelp and suddenly realised that there was someone else out there with them. I took a deep breath and tried to stop myself from thinking the worst, but I knew better. Whoever these men were they were slowly torturing another human as I sat and listened.

The men were doing it in such a business like way, not making a sound now. This was their job. Had they been doing this to Jack? I felt sick and forced myself to focus on Logan and the small, gentle movements he was making. It was then that I realised he was actually writing words on my back. He had to know what they were doing and was trying to distract me.

He traced the words, 'Drugs.' I looked up at him. He nodded to a box next to us. The cardboard flap was slightly open and inside I could see it was filled with plastic bags containing white powder.

I sighed, wondering how we would manage to get ourselves out of this one.