| We suddenly heard the front door slam open, and heavy footsteps entering. "Guys?! Where are you?!" Zac called. Ike and I went to see what was going on. "There you are!" he caught sight of us, "check this out." We noticed the look of uncertainty on his face as he handed Ike the page and envelope in his hand. He gave his brother a curious glance, before taking a close look. "We have not forgotten you," his eyes widened at the first line. "We now have a blonde in our posession, you may know her as 'Angie'. She is waiting for you. She will not have to wait long. Don't try anything funny as your premises are under strict and discreet surveillance 24 hours a day. We are coming for you. Troy," he read. He glanced at Zac. "Where did you get this?" I was speechless. "It was just sitting near the front door. But Ike? By the sound of that, they could even know what we're saying right now," Zac cautioned. "Who?" Taylor's voice came from behind Ike and myself, "who could?" Ike glanced at Zac again, before handing him the sheet of paper. We watched his eyes scan the writing as the colour drained from his face. He abruptly sat in a nearby chair and put his head in his hands, dropping the note. "Not again," he whispered. Ike raised his eyebrows, and went to comfort him. I silently indicated for Zac and I to go into the loungeroom. Once there, we both plopped down onto the double lounge. "Now I know what it feels like to be a prisoner in your own home," Zac murmured. We hesitated, hearing numerous murmurs from Ike and Taylor's direction. Zac looked up, trying to listen. "How did the 'terror trio' thing start, anyway?" I asked suddenly. Zac hesitated, thinking. "I can hardly remember," he replied, "sometime around when Ike saved us from drowning that time, I think." I nodded, "yeah..." He sighed. I hesitated again, wondering if it was a good idea to ask him what I was about to or not. I decided there was nothing to lose. "What exactly, was in the places you were at?" He stopped, looking at me, as if considering whether to answer the question or not. "We're going to find out anyway," I shrugged. "Oh my God," we suddenly heard Amy's voice, along with a rustle of paper. "She knows," I stated the obvious. "Not too hard to tell these things," Zac replied, looking up as she entered the room. She hesitated when she saw us. "You guys saw that, right?" she asked. We nodded. She nodded, then sat in a chair on the other side of Zac. I leant back. "How's Taylor taking it?" I asked. "Not good," Amy rubbed her face. Moments later, the remaining two of our quintet appeared in the doorway. "Guys?" Ike got our attention. All three of us stood up, as they came towards us to form a small circle. Ike looked around at us as Taylor and Amy stared at the floor. "We are not going to let them beat us," he said sternly. Amy looked up. Ike looked down for a second as he took hold of her's and Taylor's hand. Zac and I adjoined. "They will try and break us, again and again. We can not let that happen, no matter how much we go through. Once even one of us breaks down we will not be able to stand against them, which is our only hope," Ike told us. "It'll be hard," Zac began. "...But we have to stay together. If not physically, at least hang in there," Ike finished. Amy and I took deep breaths. "If we give up, even for a second, they'll kill us. All of us," he added. I noticed Taylor closing his eyes, as his hand started shaking in my grasp. This had all been too soon since last time. Ike closed his eyes. Later that afternoon, Amy and I had been in the backyard doing something, when Zac appeared at the back door and came running over to us. "You've gotta see this," he told us, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "See what?" I asked. Zac indicated for us to follow him. "Keep quiet, I think something's wrong with their transmission or something," he said on the way. "Huh?" Amy asked. "You'll see," he replied. He led us to the livingroom. Taylor sat on the lounge to the right, and Ike sat opposite. Ike was slowly waving his arm around, his eyes fixed on the birds-eye view of the room on the TV screen. Amy gasped. Ike turned to us. "They either know we know, don't give a damn, or something's gone wrong," Taylor said. The phone rang. We hesitated, but Ike finally got up to answer it. "Yeah?" he asked. "Oh my God, wait a second..." he turned to us, "Zac! Is there volume on that?" Zac rushed to the TV to check. "No, it's clean," he replied. "Ok, go ahead," Ike said into the phone. He listened for a moment, then indicated for someone to join him. Zac did. "Ok, I'll be there soon," he promised, before hanging up. He turned to Zac and said quietly: "Ok, I'm relying on the visual-only surveillance, but we can't be too careful. I need to go to that old abandoned shopping centre right now. That was Angie. She's escaped, but can't find her way back. I have to help her." Zac nodded. "What if it's a trap?" he cautioned. "At the moment we can't risk her life, Zac. I have to go no matter what," Ike replied. He made his way into the kitchen to grab some keys. "What car are you taking?" Zac asked. "The one you took to the oval," he replied. He hesitated in the doorway to the livingroom. "Wish me luck," he sighed. We all did. Zac gave him an extra hug, before he went through the door without another word. |
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| Chapter 8 - Surveillance |
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