Perfect (Rewrite)

Chapter Forty Six

Melanie snuck out of her room and knocked on Chloe's door, but she didn't let her in, so she decided to relax in the living room for a bit. Jacob passed her on the stairs, but he didn't say anything. She had a feeling he didn't like her, even though Melanie had to reason to come to this assumption, but it was clear that he appreciated Chloe and everyone else more.

She sat on the couch and turned to face the camera, stared at the lens which was staring right back. Melanie yawned and then sprawled herself out on the couch, listening to the ticking and tocking of a clock. Her eyes fluttered shut before she jumped up and looked around. There was no clock that ticked and tocked.

The floor creaked underneath her feet as she traced the walls, searching for the source of the constant noise. No luck in the living room, so she entered the kitchen, and the sound grew ever more. Melanie looked in every cabinet and under every chair, leaving nothing unchecked, but there was nothing. She stared at the table and then flipped it, immediately regretting her decision. What if the others heard? What if he heard? She looked to the door and waited for the guards to rush in and take her away, but they didn't come, no one did.

Melanie threw herself onto the floor and then looked down strangely. She knocked on the wood three times. Thud. Thud. Thud. Could it be? Was the floor really hollow? The floor came up after Melanie found the hidden crease. It stopped a mere inches above, a padlock and chain kept it from going up any higher. She looked back into the living room, checking to make sure no one was around before pulling a key out of her pocket and opening the floor even further than before. She set the kitchen back up to its normal state before slipping into the dark room, closing the door behind her.

The ticking was louder than anything she had ever heard before, but she couldn't see anything to make it stop. Melanie took a step forward and squealed as her face brushed against something strung from the ceiling. She reached out and pulled down on it, a light turned on and lit up the small space. An old clock was leaned up against the wall in front of her. Its pendulum swinging back and forth, creating the tick and tock every second as it passed by.

She turned to her right and found a ladder leading up to the kitchen and to her left was a door. Melanie peered through the glass on the door, nothing but a hallway with a countless number of windows on either side. Her eyes found their way to the end, a door with an exit sign hanging above. "No freaking way," She said aloud before trying to open the door. It didn't budge. Her key didn't match the lock, so Melanie decided to return to her bedroom.

When she turned around, she was greeted by a man dressed in black, wearing a mask that covered his entire face. He pulled his arm back and punched in the face. Melanie fell to the ground, her mind stone cold. She drifted in and out of the wake as he carried her up the ladder, and then everything went dark.