Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn
This hurricane's chasing us all underground
30 Seconds To Mars - Hurricane
"What?" asked Lawrence, worriedly.
"The photo you're talking about," replied Adam, "It's not here." He tossed the wallet back to Lawrence, who began to search through it frantically.
"He must have taken it," assumed Lawrence, shaking his head, "It was here before!"
"Calm down, Lawrence," said Marie, raising her hand a little, "We'll get nowhere if we keep acting scared. The best thing we can do is think about our tapes, like you said before." She looked up at the clock, the time was just after one o'clock. Adam was sitting in the corner looking at a slip of card which she couldn't see from where she was.
"Adam?" she asked, curiously.
Adam looked at her as a reply.
"What's that?"
He tossed the card to the side, seeming to lose interest in it all of a sudden. "Nothing." He smiled softly at her, "Just because I'm stuck in this room with you both doesn't mean I need to report to you every few seconds," he said, almost teasingly.
She remained quite serious, "Well, forgive me for wanting us to work together," her face softened and she smiled back at him, "Surely you don't mind us working together, do you?"
"That depends. What are you like to work with?-"
"Look, if you two are done," interrupted Lawrence, "Perhaps we should go back to the tapes." Adam threw him an annoyed glare, before glancing back down at the card he tossed aside. Marie leaned back on the pipes she was on and thought about her own tape, as Lawrence kept repeating "X marks the spot" over and over.
"Turn out the lights," said Adam.
"What?" questioned Lawrence, confused.
"Turn off the lights," repeated Adam.
"Why?" asked Marie.
"Lawrence, just, turn them off for a second, please!" yelled Adam impatiently.
Lawrence complied, reaching over to switch off the lights. The room became engulfed in darkness, apart from a small 'X' on the wall next to Lawrence.
"Oh my God," whispered Marie.
"Jesus, behind you, Lawrence!" called Adam.
"Geez," said Lawrence, "Why didn't we see that before?"
"The lights must have charged it," replied Adam, "Glow in the dark paint or something."
The lights went back on swiftly, and the room was as bright as it was before. Lawrence picked up his hacksaw and began to attack the wall with the handle. The tiles caved in easily, and Lawrence was able to dig into the opening. His hands emerged, with a small box in his possession. All three of them smiled at their luck, maybe they were one step closer to being released?
"Open it!" cried Adam, excitedly.
"It's locked," stated Lawrence. He thought for a moment, before reaching for the key he used on his cuff earlier. He picked it up, and unlocked the small box. Relieved laughter escaped from Marie and Adam as he pulled out a welcoming object: a cell phone.
"Cell phone!" cried Adam, "The most beautiful invention in the world!"
"I'll second that!" said Marie, glancing over to Adam with a genuine smile. Lawrence wasn't done searching, as he pulled out another smaller object, a cigarette.
"Make that second most beautiful invention!" corrected Adam, "Give me that."
Lawrence looked at Adam questionably, "You're going to put something you found in this room in your mouth?"
"You don't know where it's been," warned Marie.
"I don't care, I'm willing to risk it! Give me that sweet cancer!"
Lawrence ignored him, and put the cigarette back, appearing to be occupied with something else in the tin. Marie tried to see what was he was doing, but the pain in her side started to creep back again. She leaned back onto the pipes grabbing her side again, only this time, she noticed her side seem to get wet. She glanced down, seeing small splotches of blood forming on her white tee. She went to lift up her t-shirt to see the damage, but fought the urge, in case the damage got worse. Even as she contemplated this, the pain seemed to reduce.
"I'm trying the police," said Lawrence, still ignoring him and dialling in the cell phone. He put it to his ear and almost immediately removed it. "Shit, it's meant to receive calls, not make them." Lawrence thought for a moment. "Wait, this has happened before."
Lawrence sat up straight before continuing, his eyes glued to the cell phone. "Last night, after I finished at the hospital, I was walking back to my car, but I'm sure someone else was there. That...thing. It was waiting for me."
He looked at Adam, "How did you know to turn off the lights?"
Adam looked uneasy, "I don't know, instinct?"
Marie felt uneasy also, how did he know about the lights? Was there something he wasn't telling them?
"Instinct?" she repeated, a little wary.
"Yeah," he said, defensively "It worked, didn't it?"
"You're a terrible liar," cut in Lawrence.
"You say that like you know me."
"What else aren't you telling us?"
"Well, um, let's see. On my sixth birthday, my best friend Scott, stabbed me with a rusty nail. I didn't tell you that my last girlfriend, who was a feminist vegan punk, broke up with me because she thought I was too angry. Uh, I haven't told you that one of my toenails...
"Adam, we don't need this!" cried Marie, getting upset. "Please, just tell us what you're hiding."
Adam sighed exasperatedly and picked up the bit of card he was examining earlier and flung it at Marie, who caught it. She looked at the picture, it was a picture of a woman and young girl, with their mouths tied and looking frightened. The picture was distressing, as she recognised the little girl. She looked at Lawrence horrified, as he looked at her in annoyance. She threw him the picture, worried at his next move.
Lawrence caught the picture and looked at it, his expression immediately matching the look of horror on Marie's face. He dropped slowly to the ground, sobbing at the sight of his wife and daughter in desperate need of help. He looked to Adam as he whimpered:
"W…Where did you get this?"
"It was behind the picture of your daughter." Adam looked towards Marie, who remained passive at his actions. What he did was selfish, but understandable.
"Why didn't you show me before?" he sobbed.
"I…" Adam glanced apologetically to Marie before continuing, "I couldn't. I'm sorry."
"It's understandable," said Marie, "But we need to help each other-"
"What are you doing to them? You BASTARD!" screamed Lawrence towards the video camera. He continued to sob uncontrollably on the ground as Marie moved closer to him.
"Lawrence," she spoke softly, "I know this is going to sound selfish of me, but we need you to stay strong, please. You were the calm one earlier, and we need you to try and help us-"
"How can I remain calm when that bastard has my family?" Lawrence yelled at Marie; Adam did not appreciate it.
"Hey, she's just trying to get us to work together, you asshole-"
"Oh, and you were helping by hiding that picture, were you?" cried Marie, turning to him and taking a step in his direction.
Adam was taken aback by this, "Hey, I am trying to help you! He's the one that's throwing it back in your face-"
"This guy has got his family! Would you not be pretty fucking pissed- ARGH!" Marie screamed as the rising tension in her body caused the pain in her side to return. She fell to the ground and hunched over in pain, grabbing her side, which had started to bleed again. Adam suddenly dropped to her level and crawled as close as he could to her; Lawrence's quiet sobs had ceased as well.
"Marie?" Adam sounded terrified. Marie didn't like to make people worry about her. She wasn't used to it; no one ever worried about her.
Marie rolled onto her back and took some deep breaths trying to ease the pain. The side with the pain was facing Adam, who's expression became even more panicked.
"Marie, you're fucking bleeding!" he cried. "I told you! This is what kidnappers fucking do to you!"
Marie risked a glance to her side, which was indeed, bleeding. The small splotches had spread and become a thick, horizontal red line, as if someone had used a knife on her and cut her side.
"Marie, can you turn your side towards me?" asked Lawrence. She had totally forgotten he was a doctor. She slowly moved herself towards the pipes she used for support, and leaned on them so that her right side was now facing Lawrence. Adam was still in the same spot he was before, his expression filled with nothing but worry for her wellbeing. She sighed as she made it back to the pipes.
"Good, Marie," encouraged Lawrence, "Now, I know this is going to sound strange, but can you lift your t-shirt for me?"
Marie suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of déjà vu as he said this, as if she had heard him say it before, but in a different time. Her head was spinning so much as it was just now, that she forgot about it and complied with his request.
She raised her t-shirt slowly, cringing as the material slightly scraped over the cut. She gritted her teeth from the pain, and continued lifting it over her flat stomach, concentrating on the movement of her hand, rather than what they were doing.
Marie heard the light gasp from Lawrence as she revealed the full extent of the damage. She looked down herself, and thought she was going to be sick.
On her right side, was a long cut, around four inches long. It wasn't open, but rather was stitched up. The stitching seemed almost amateur but neat, which was what scared her most, along with a piece of string which was hanging from the side of the line. Blood was slowly dripping onto the floor, as the liquid escaped through he stitches.
Lawrence did his best to remain professional, "Ok, it's pretty clear what's happened, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do just now."
"No shit," whispered Marie, trying to ignore the pain.
"What is it? What's missing?" asked a concerned Adam; from where he was seated, he couldn't see the damage.
Lawrence looked at him worriedly, "Nothing is missing, she'd be worse than what she is now. I think, something has been sewn inside Marie, instead," he guessed, "And intends for someone to take it out."
Woot! Another update! About time, eh?
Hope you guys like! Please leave a review/comment/question about the story, so that I know if you guys are enjoying it!
And a final note, of a late 'Merry Christmas!' and I hope Santa was good to you all! :D (Or if you don't believe in Santa/Christmas, hope your holidays are totally awesome!)