Chapter Ten: No Witnesses
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he Dark Knight carried our mothers into the room with us and chained them back to back, sitting on old crates. Then Van Dyke whispered something to the Dark Knight. He nodded and came back in carrying a man over his shoulder. When I saw his face, I thought I would faint! It was Stacey Van Dyke! No wait! They had to be twins! A bad twin versus a good twin! But which one was the real Stacey Van Dyke? The man that was lying bound and gagged at my mother’s feet had eyes that were big as saucers, and it was clear that he was scared shitless, as the rest of us.
“Ladies, I would like to introduce you to the real Stacey Van Dyke.” The real Stacey Van Dyke? Now just what did that mean?
“Autumn, darling, my real name is Vanzyl. Emile Vanzyl. You see, I have had my eye on buying out Mr. Van Dyke’s organization for some time now, but he is, unfortunately, not interested in big profits. He’s only interested in the children. Oh, the children…” he started to laugh. It sounded like one of those laughs in a haunted house, the kind that echoes off the walls and sends chills down your spine.
“After tonight, when the Dark Knight makes off with you girls and I take my leave of this godforsaken place, I shall also have all of the proceeds that were collected tonight, to use for, shall we say, my own pleasures?” What an asshole! How could he steal from innocent little kids? Sick kids at that! Ooh, I hoped that one day, God would find him and strike him down and make him be in a terrible accident that would leave him paralyzed from the neck down or something terrible like that!
You asshole! You selfish asshole! How could you?
“Your comments are too kind, Miss Ryan. Although right now, if I were you, I would think about how I would say goodbye to Mommy here.” The Dark Knight opened his cape to reveal, gulp, five sticks of dynamite wired to a clock!
“You see ladies, we cannot leave any witnesses behind, so unfortunately, that means that we will have to do away with your sweet little mothers. This bomb will allow us just enough time to escape the building with you, and then…heh, heh, heh…” The Dark Knight snapped his fingers. Two more big burly men in black clothes and ski masks appeared out of nowhere.
“The women are ready. Miss Knight is first.” They nodded and picked up Rena’s cage like it was made of feathers. They carried her out of the room. I could hear her screaming and crying into her gag, and then nothing at all. I looked at my mother. For the first time that night, she was weeping.
Mom…Mommy, it can’t end like this! Oh Mom, I’m so sorry. I love you so much, Mommy. I love you, Mom!
“Say goodbye to your precious little girl, Mrs. Ryan.” The henchmen came back for me! I screamed and jerked, but all I managed to do was send shooting pains down my neck and back. I wouldn’t be surprised if when this asshole finally took me out of my cage if I couldn’t move an inch.
Mommy! Mom! Mom, I love you! I saw her one last time before they carried me out of the room and into the darkness. Right then, I didn’t care what happened to me. I was never going to see my mom or my fiancée or my brother again. I’d never walk on a balance beam or hem up cheerleading skirts or wear the wedding gown that my mom had put her heart and soul into sewing for me. I was going to a life of pure humiliation and degradation. I didn’t care what they did to me. This man was ripping my heart apart piece by piece and was enjoying every minute of it.
I heard a horrible bang, and then I heard some machinery roaring to life. My cage started to move upwards. I was on some kind of crane! They lifted my cage into some kind of chute or something, and then it stopped. A metal door slid open, and I could see that we were now outside! The air around me was cold and crisp. After being in that nasty dungeon, the city air didn’t feel so bad right now. My feeling was short lived. They carried my cage over to a cargo van and hauled it inside next to Rena’s cage. The doors were slammed shut and locked. Ha! As if we could get out, chained like we were.
Goddamn, my back hurt! I swear, I would not be able to straighten up once I got out of here! My knees and feet were completely numb, and my fingers weren’t far behind. My head was throbbing angrily with each pulse of my heart. God, why don’t you just take me now?
…Inside the warehouse, the bomb lying in the locked basement room was set to go off in ten minutes. It wasn’t a lot of time at all. The real Stacey Van Dyke struggled in earnest against his bonds, since he knew that the two women that were captive with him had no chance unless someone freed them. He struggled and squirmed, but the knots were not budging. He looked up at Maggie DuVall, a long time friend, and knew that it was all on his shoulders, their fates and the fates of the three young women that had been taken out of the room in cages like little animals. He finally managed to roll over towards the bomb, but his fingers were so numb from his hands being tied for so long that they were useless. And besides, even if he could pull a wire, which one would it be?
5:30, 5:29, 5:28…
“Hurry up with those keys! My wife is in there with that bomb!” Senator DuVall yelled at Dwight McCarthy as he fumbled with the keys to open the doors leading through the maze of the basement.
“Fuck this! Stand back, ya’ll!” Jimmy backed up and swung his foot and kicked the door just above the doorknob. Then he reached down and simply turned the knob and the door opened.
“Smart kid,” Eric said.
“Where’d you learn that?” Joshua asked him as they hurried along the dark corridors.
“Long story,” he called over his shoulder. “Tell ya some other time.”
2:47, 2:46, 2:45…
The seconds were counting down on the bomb. Stacey, Thelma, and Maggie had given up on trying to disarm it. Their only hope of getting out of this alive was if someone came and freed them, and since nobody knew where they were…
“Hello? Is anybody in there?”
“Mom! Mom!” Thelma’s eyes widened. Her son was here? But how? No time for that, he had to get them out of here and quickly!
2:00, 1:59, 1:58, 1:57…
“Hmmmmmmm! Mmmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmmm!” they cried. There were a few hard bangs, and the door sprang open. Joshua, Eric, Rick, Senator DuVall, and Dwight and Jimmy rushed into the room. Rick immediately started undoing his mother’s gag.
“Mom, are you okay?” He pulled the strap away from her mouth, and Thelma coughed from all of the built up saliva in her mouth.
“The bomb…” she said in a hoarse voice.
1:29, 1:28, 1:27…
“Oh shit! Does anybody know anything about disarming a bomb?”
“I do!” Joshua knelt down and grabbed the device in his hand. “It’s too dark! I need some more light!”
“Here! Use this!” Dwight shone the flashlight on the dynamite.
“Okay…” Josh took a deep breath, “I took a crash course on this when I was training to become a detective. He immediately yanked on the blue wire.
0:20, 0:19. 0:18, 0:17…
“It didn’t work! Josh, you’ve got to do something or we’ll all be blown sky high!” Eric screamed.
“If I pull the wrong wire, the thing will detonate, and then we really will be in trouble!”
“Try the yellow wire,” Dwight suggested.
“No, I can’t! I can’t guess about this!”
“We don’t have time, Joshua! Do something!” Rick cried.
0:10, 0:09, 0:08…
“Goddamn it! It’s going to blow!” Senator DuVall screamed.
“Give it to me!” Jimmy snatched the bomb and ran for the exit.
“JAMES!”
There was a huge explosion…
Then silence.