Nothing to say here other than here we go. Chapter 7.

Chapter 7

Officer Craig was just locking up after working late that night. He turned the key in the door to his office and then put the keys away in his pocket and wandered into the lobby. He had gone out earlier for his lunch break and when he came back most of the other officers must have left without telling him because there were only a couple people left when he returned.

"They'll be back in the morning. I'll ask them about it then." He said to himself.

He looked over at the lobby reception desk and noticed that something was amiss. The computer had been left on. But it was off when he came back from his break earlier and there hadn't been anyone in this part of the building to turn it on. Craig was sure the cleaning staff wouldn't have turned it on and then left it. He approached the desk and went behind it. After switching off the hard drive and the monitor Craig was about to step out from behind the desk when suddenly, a hand grabbed his foot and pulled him to the ground. He struggled against the attacker but before he could do much he felt a needle go into his neck and his vision started to blur, then it went black as he fell unconscious...

He opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness all around. That is until a single bright light snapped on in the middle of the room. Craig could see where he was but he was confused. The light was on the floor and the door to the room he was in was upside down. No. He was upside down. Craig looked up at his feet and saw that he was suspended from the ceiling by some thick chains. There was one large padlock holding the two chains around his legs together and a key was hanging above his head from a piece of string from the ceiling. He looked around frantically but couldn't see any way out.

"Help! Is anyone there?" He shouted, but in vain.

Another small light suddenly blinked on across from him, revealing a hanging puppet with a white face and swirling red cheeks. It's mouth moved as words came out in a deep, distorted voice.

"Hello officer Craig. You are here tonight because of your actions. What actions you're thinking? Well I'll refresh your memory. Six months ago you were tasked with finding and convicting a wanted arsonist. The opportunity to catch the guilty man was right there but you chose not to take it. I know that the criminal was in fact your brother but that is no excuse for what you did. As he went on to burn down the homes of four families, killing three people and stealing the bank details of one. But now you will experience justice for your choice. You will see that you are bound by chains that wrap around your legs and extend to your neck. The key to release yourself is right in front of you, but can you reach it? If not then it will only be a matter of one minute before the chains around your legs unlock, but the one clinging to your neck will not. You will be choked by the chain until you die. The timer will begin when this recording ends. Hurry, Craig. Time is short."

The light above the puppet turned off and the timer on the wall began to countdown one minute.

"What the fuck?"

Craig made his first attempt to reach for the key suspended above his head. It was painful as he had to bend his back to get even close to it. It wasn't long before the timer reached 45 seconds and Craig had to relax and returned to the upside down hanging position. The chain around his neck was attached to his leg chains. It looked as though they were linked up in such a way that they would only unlock simultaneous if the padlock was removed, otherwise only the leg chains would release. 30 seconds. Craig reached again for the key and managed to touch it with his fingertips. He tried for a third time and this time was able to pull the string out of its ceiling hook and obtain the key. 10 seconds. Craig panicked as he scrambled to get the key in the lock at his feet but in the end he managed to do it. All three chains unlocked and Craig dropped onto the ground with a loud thud. The timer reading 0:05.

He survived, just. Wonder what will become of him? Next chapter up soon.