Chapter nine: It Doesn't Work

Allayne woke up in what looked like the bottom of a bottomless pit. She looked up but couldn't see anything but black. The only light came from a candlestick in the corner. She tried getting up to look around, even though the room's diameter must have been ten feet at most. Then she realized her hands were tied. So were her ankles. She spotted two figures lying at the other side of the circular room. Even in the dim light, their features were unmistakable. Lauryn and Bryan both similarly tied and gagged, both unconscious. A rectangular piece of wall came out and three more figures appeared. It took a little while for her to realize that it was a door.

The figures approached and Allayne could tell that the one in the center, the shortest one, was a female. The peculiar thing about the figure in the center was that she was only little more than three feet tall. The other two were five feet tall. The female stopped in front of Allayne, looking at her with a cruel and evil expression.

"Good evening, child," she said. "I assume you are wondering where you are."

"Mmmm," was all Allayne could manage through her gag, "Mmm!"

The female in the center never took her eyes off the prisoner. "Untie her gag. Let her speak."

The others obeyed and Allayne saw their faces up close. They were hideous. Their eyes were dark and slightly green and their skin was a sort of greenish-grayish. Their ears were pointed and had spikes along the edge. Their teeth were large and sharp.

"Who are you?" Allayne asked. "Where am I?"

"You, I believe, are Lauryn Jeffreys, am I right?" said the female.

Allayne decided that it was not the right time for her to tell her real name and it was the time to do her first heroic, maybe fatal, deed. "Yes," Allayne said.

"Very well, Miss Jeffreys. Do you know why you're here?"

"No."

"You'll find out soon enough. Right now the LEP are completely unaware that you are my hostage. And I assure you, you will be dead before they get to you."

Allayne suddenly was more afraid than she had ever been in her life. She was a goner, and she knew it.

The phone rang once. It rang twice. With each ring, Artemis grew more and more impatient.

"Yello," Lauryn's phone's answering machine said. "This is Lauryn. I'm not holding on to my phone right now so leave a message or something."

The phone beeped and Artemis said, "Hello, Lauryn. I believe I may have left my address book at your house. It is in Gnommish and it would be disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands. Thank you, please call me back."

Artemis' phone rang. "That was quick," Artemis said as he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Artemis!" Holly said. "Lauryn's not answering her phone. I tried her home phone and both her parents phones. I also checked her school's attendance and she wasn't there today. Neither were her friends. I don't think she skipped school. And she wouldn't leave her phone anywhere."

"Oh dear," Artemis sighed.

"'Oh dear' hardly covers it. This is horrible! Who knows where she is! The demons could have captured her! She could be dead!"

"Yes," Artemis said thoughtfully. "She could be dead."

After a few minutes Allayne's friends started to stir.

"Mmm," Lauryn tried to say but couldn't with her gag. "Mmmm! Mmmm?"

"Lauryn! Bryan! You're awake, finally!" Allayne said.

"Mmm," Lauryn mumbled.

"Here, let me." Allayne tried to get Lauryn's gag off and after a few unsuccessful tries, she managed.

"Oh, my god! Where are we? What happened?" Lauryn asked.

"Oh, god it was so totally freaky. This short lady came in here and said something about this LEP thing and her two bodyguards or whatever untied my gag and they were, like, so ugly and they said I was going to die."

"They said something about LEP?"

"Yeah," Allayne shrugged.

"Holly," Lauryn whispered to herself.

"What?"

"You have no idea where we are, do you?"

"No, do you?"

"Yes, actually, I do."

"Where are we?"

"We're underground."

"Well, yeah, I can see that. I mean, the walls are made of dirt and the roof is nowhere in sight."

"No, I mean, underground. Hundreds of miles beneath the surface."

"How do you know?"

"I've been here before."

"Yeah right," Allayne sneered. There was silence for a few moments.

"Hey, do you still have that phone on you?" Lauryn asked.

"Yeah, I think."

"Now might be the time to use it."

"Okay," Allayne tried desperately to free her hands. Eventually Lauryn had a go at untying her friend's ropes. They came undone. Allayne reached for her phone. "What number should I dial?"

Lauryn told her Holly's number and Allayne dialed it in. It didn't work. Allayne looked at her phone in shock.

"Anywhere, huh?" Lauryn said.

I got writer's block again. D'arvit.