Trapped in the Basement

30 - Anger

"And now the twins are taking Alex somewhere, probably to do something to him for disobeying them," Jesy finished.

Another sob shook Perrie's body as she tried to process everything that Jesy had told her. Alex had stayed at her apartment, keeping an eye on the twins, making sure they stayed there, filmimg videos. It explained why Perrie hadn't reciveved any messages from them. But now that the twins were taking Alex somewhere, she knew she had taken their silence for granted.

"If anything happens to Alex, those twins are going to cease to exist," Jesy threatened. She held Perrie, letting her cry onto her shoulder, while she tried to think of what to do.

It was terrifying, none of them knew Alex's location. Jesy and Perrie both sent numerous texts to him, once the wave of initial panic had ceased. Yet he still hadn't replied to any of them.

Worry was evident in Perrie's face as she stressed over Alex.

"Okay, um, what if, he just can't reply right now because he's in the car with them? He might be driving, right?" Perrie kept listing possible reasons and background information to Alex's text. "What if the three of them are just going out, and Alex just is overreacting? Expecting the worst? What if—,"

Perrie went silent a Jesy's phone dinged, signaling a text message. Jesy wasted no time; she picked up her phone and looked at the screen.

She didn't say anything as she read the message, instead her face went deathly pale.

"What does it say?" Perrie asked, although she had already peered over Jesy's shoulder.

Lucy Connell:
Tell Perrie to look at her phone

"Fuck!" Jesy swore loudly.

Nonetheless, both girls made a beeline for Perrie's phone, placed far away in Jesy's kitchen.

"If you want your Alex dead or alive, you'd better be at the following address before half past five. If you make any threats or take any weapons, we won't hesitate to shoot within seconds. Come alone, no one with you, and maybe we'll let him come through." Perrie read the message out loud, the tips of her fingers completely white from gripping her phone so tightly.

Jesy was silent for a moment as the reality of the situation hit her. Alex was in danger, he was being used to blackmail Perrie. Her mouth went dry. It was already 5:23, Jesy realized in shock when she looked at her phone.

Perrie moved, grabbing her jacket from the front entrance.

"Where are you going?" Jesy asked her.

"Google says the address is 5 minutes away," Perrie said, crouching down to quickly put on her shoes.

"What address? Give it to me!" Jesy demanded, terrified over what Perrie was about to do.

"No, I can't. They already have Alex, I can't let them have anyone else," Perrie said.

"Perrie, you're not going alone," Jesy insisted.

"Yes I am." Perrie made a move for the door handle, turning it to open the front door. But Jesy had already moved before her.

Jesy was fast, she managed to grab onto Perrie's jacket and pull out her phone, before Perrie had even been able to react. Jesy only got to see the phone screen for a second before Perrie snatched her phone back and bounded out the door.

Luckily, Jesy was familiar with the area and knew exactly where 52 Chapel Hill lay. The public library was near there. Her fingers moved almost absentmindedly across her phone screen.