I was desperately trying not to compromise my current position. My breathing was the most difficult to control, but control it, I did. Although my body was demanding huge quantities of oxygen to fill starving lungs, I carefully overrode my it's response to my desperate situation. My slow, controlled breaths came and went as silent as possible. The loud thumping of my heart reverberated in my ears, making it sound thunderous in the small hiding space I had managed to find myself in. But nothing, and I mean nothing, would make me reveal myself before I was sure I was completely out of danger.
The ever so slight sound of fabric rustling brought me out of my meditation to control my breathing. I strained my ears to catch another sound, only to hear nothing. A minute goes by. Nothing. Wait! Another sound of fabric but much farther to my left. Is it the same person, or another? They are a team? With these thoughts swirling in my brain, I could hear the slightly nasaly sound of one of the assailants coming closer.
From across the room, I could hear Assailant #1. "She's gotta be around here somewhere. She couldn't have just disappeared." Clearly, this guys was annoyed that finding me was more difficult than he had anticipated. Good.
"She's closer than you think, man. She might be hiding upstairs." Assailant #2, whispered from a location much closer than I felt was comfortable. "You stay on this floor, I'm heading up to the other levels." They both left my immediate locale and I made a run for it. If I could make it down another couple of floors, I had another hiding place that I could hole up in for the rest of the search and they'd never find me. I snuck a glance at the camera doing a sweep down the hallway I was in before I sprinted for the janitor's closet a couple of doors down.
With a quiet 'snick' the door shut behind me, giving me the privacy I needed to escape. I carefully pried the door off of the air vent and slid in, firmly pulling it into place behind me. I slid along the aluminum vents, making me way to the ladder that would allow me to decend the couple of floors to my hiding spot. A few minutes later I found myself in front of the final air vent, a small smile on my face. Mission nearly complete. All I had to do was get into the room and slip into the small cubby space that I had found behind the rear bookcase. Like I said,they'd never find me.
I could hear voices in the vent, but far off in the distance. "She's gotta be in the vents. I found drywall dust on the floor in front of the one in the janitor's closet on level 3."
"Well. Climb your fat ass into the vents and get her!" Assailant #2 was pissed for sure. "She's going to get away!"
Without a second thought, I pried the covor off the vent and passed through, replacing it as soon as I was able. I was sure to blow away any drywall dust. Not this time, guys. I grinned and crossed the room to slide into my hiding space. With enough food and water to last me a week down there, I could hide long enough for them to finally give up.
I stayed in my little cubby for almost three days, only venturing out to sneak into the closest bathroom to relieve myself. No one expected me to make it this long. Only a text from a certain Cuban Sex God made me finally give in.
Ranger: Babe. I'll have Hal waiting with a Pino's meatball sub afterwards, if you come out.
Steph: Make it a sub and no running for a month, I'll come out.
Ranger: Done. Babe.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how one negotiates going to the dentist.
A/N: I forgot to add that ever so important disclaimer. So I'm adding it now for all previous chapters and this one as well. I do not own nor do I profit from any and or all of JE's works, (as much as I would love to, I'm not).
