Reprisal

(19)

Let's stop here. We can walk and jump the fence. Follow me and Chris. Be careful to not get caught by guards. They wear bandanas and are armed. Chris. Have you got the gun?"

"Yes, Skyler." We jump the fence and sneak around the back and into the house. The mansion still shocks me to this day. It is so beautiful. I grab Chris' gun and carefully lead the way.

"The staircase here. We are going to take it." I order. We walk up the stairs and manoeuvre around a guitar in the middle of the hall.

"Guys. A door. Break it open. It leads to the library." I demand. We break the door open and find the room. We crawl through and a wounded lady is hung to the ceiling.

"Shit. We are too late. Look around." I demand.

"I found something." Lydia points out.

"What is it." Chris walks over.

"It's a tool of some sort. Look. Here is a plan. Here is a photo. And another. Oh and look here. The people in bandanas. Photos. Who are these people?" Katie queries.

"Mercenaries. It's says here. Look." I point out.

The sheet has a yellow tinge and the drawer that hides it is a brown wooden colour.

"Ash Mercenary Group. Who the fuck are they?" I frown.

"Private Army. It says on the bottom of the sheet. He has a mercenary group protecting his arse. We need to show this to the cops." Chris mutters.

"Look around for anything else." I look to the ceiling regrettably. The young woman is still dangling there. The room is a crimson stain. Nothing about it settles me.

I notice nothing but sheets of plans or plots. Then I notice a photo on a desk.

I alert the others.

"What's the matter, girl?" Lydia questions me.

"Don't worry," I tell everyone. I stare at the photo with sickly intent. It is of me in the forest. Lost. So someone was there. Alexander Rodgers. I Can't believe I am involved in this. All of this because I said one word at my previous job that screwed me over.

"Look at the walls." Katie points out. Everyone becomes silent when they see the crimson handprints.

"People have tried to run," Chris suggests.

"If I'm right I note every pair of hands....that should be 223 people's handprints." I calculate with hesitance.

"Guys. Is it me or are the walls getting closer and closer to us?" I notice. This room is every nightmare in one. The stains of blood make my head hurt every time I see them. If the devil had a room. This would be it.

"You aren't the only mate." Katie points.

"Let's just keep looking."

I rummage around as quickly as possible and realise the hatch is now closed. I try to pry it open but I think it is automatic.

"Guys. We are locked in." I yell.

"Let's find a way out." Katie searches. It's no use. I think Alex has locked us in here.

That is one I realise there are hidden cameras. In desks. In tools. In chains. This is...something insidious. The walls close in much faster now.

"Guys we need to find an exit!!" I bellow.

"We can't for god's sake!" Chris argues. I notice a wall with several screws keeping it in place. The wood is stained with blood and it looks as if the sun had bleached it. I rip the screws away with the back of a hammer. The panels come down. To our relief, we see an exit.

Until we realise it is another room. But luckily it's not closing in.

"Guys through here quick!" I shout and help Lydia inside the other room. The others struggle with the thinning gap. Everyone else manages to get through.

"Come on Chris! Squeeze through." I usher. My heart begins to beat like a drum.

"Come on!" I shout.

The walls begin to squish him slowly. I take his hand and pull him into the room in time.

"My leg. It's broken Skyler!" Chris shouts.

"Not much you can do telling me. You have broken your thigh bone." I investigate his leg.

"No actually. It's the socket. You can pop it back in. Let me do it." I ask him.

"Skyler. Be careful." Lydia warns me. I'm used to this. I was a nurse. I use past tense for a reason. That's why I'm here. Because I got fired. All of this because I called someone a git. To be fair. It was much worse than that. But it's a long story. I pop his leg back in place. Christopher yells so loud it overlaps the sound of the walls closing in on the previous room.

"Come on Chris. And you guys. Let's take the exit." I try to budge the door open.

"Let me do it." Lydia boots the door down like a SWAT member.

We are met with just a mud wall. But daylight seeps through the cracks. It is almost like the room is teasing us maliciously.

"How do we break it open," Katie asks.

"Our hands. I guess. We are in an empty red room." I point out.

We crumble down the weak muddy wall and we are met with golden sunlight. We notice we are in the forest. But we can't be far from the mansion. The emerald green nettles sting me through my trousers.

"Guys. We need to go back in the house and kill him!" I alert everyone.

"No. That one was too close." Lydia shies away

"This is what we came here for."

"Guys. We go in now. Or we suffer for the rest of our lives. Innocent people are dying. And not just our lives at stake. Let's move." Katie kicks the nettles away.

I lead the group into the back and we carefully navigate the corridor. I'm in front with my handgun at the ready.

But a crisp warmth invades my body as we near the kitchen. There is an inferno of fire.

"Out the front door now!" I shout.

But the doors close automatically and we run away from the kitchen. The warmth becomes a boiling hot sensation. We sprint upstairs but we are stopped in our tracks... Alex...