Chapter 4
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"Rhonda.." Pam quietly said moving her arms as if she was trying to get comfortable.

"Yeah, Mrs. Davidson? What is it?" Rhonda said looking towards her.

"Don't, bring any attention to us, but I think I'm able to get my hands untied." she said. Rhonda nodded looking off into the distance. She made one last movement. "There, got it." Pam looked around cautiously as she rose. "Hang tight, I'll try to get out of here and find Ralph and Bill. I'll come back for you as fast as I can."

"Be careful, I don't like this creep." Rhonda said with some concern in her voice.

"I will." Pam said giving one last glance around the room. She then ran off to find an exit. She spotted a staircase. "The stairs would only slow me down." she thought. Finding a door, she went towards it and slowly turned the knob.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice said as it grabbed Pam's arm. Pam gasped as she turned around to see the figure stood behind her.

"Away from here." she said defiantly.

"That wouldn't be wise. Especially with your friend still tied up." it said as it pointed in the direction where Rhonda was still held. The figure paused, "Not to mention what is in store for your friend upstairs.

"Friend upstairs. What have you done to him?" Pam said sternly.

"Ohhh, nothing yet. He's having the fright of his life." the figure said chuckling. "He is a simpleton though, thinking that gun of his will do any good here."

"Gun.. Bill, be careful." Pam thought to herself.

"As for the blonde one. He was either scared off or met his demise one way or another. It really doesn't matter. You should be concerned with what I'm going to do with you. Especially now that you have tried to escape.." Pam backed up against the door as the figure advanced towards her. Still being held by the figure Pam, though unwillingly complied and was escorted back. Rhonda looked up to see Pam accompanied by the mysterious figure.

"If you hurt her, I swear I'll.." Rhonda started but was immediately cut off.

"You'll do nothing." The figure said tying Pam's arms making sure they were tighter.

"I'm okay, Rhonda.Try to stay calm, we don't want to make this situation any worse." Pam said as she hoped this would end soon.

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As Bill walked past the corner of the hallway, he stood wide-eyed. He saw through the darkness legs sticking out of the opened doorway in front of him. Figuring out the scenarios that possibly took place in front of him, he pulled out his gun and held it up in the air ready for anything that might happen.

He slowly stepped towards the doorway keeping an eye on the lifeless form and the doorway it occupied. He paused, what seemed to be the lower half of a body started to move. "Hold it!", Bill said as he aimed the gun towards the doorway. He watched as the bottom half turned out to be a full body raise up. It stood at the entrance to the next room. Neatly dressed up in a tuxedo with one thing missing, a head. "Don't move." he said blinking to make sure he really saw what stood in front of him. The headless body rose a little and then started floating towards Bill at a fast pace. He stood firmly, lips pursed and gun aimed at the headless body that came at him. Bill pulled the trigger. With a loud bang from the gun, the headless body collapsed inches in front of Bill. He kneeled and examined the body. He said outloud to himself, "Gee Ralph.. Was that a black cat? Or a tuxedo?" Bill stood up. "It was a dummy in a tuxedo on a string" he chuckled.

"I see that, Bill." Ralph's voice said out of thin air.

Bill flinched. "I thought you were gonna go on ahead of me?" he asked looking around to see where Ralph's whereabouts were.

"There's no point. If someone is watching us and trying to stop us with these scare tactics. I can try to catch them in the act." Ralph said still invisible. "Plus, if they were in hiding. You shooting at everything would scare them off."

"A formal dressed body with no head was flying at me. I wasn't going to just stand there!" Bill said as he explained his actions.

"Bill, I thought I saw someone's shadow over there! You go find Pam and Rhonda, I'm gonna check this out." Ralph's voice said.

"Alright, watch out for headless dummies." Bill replied sarcastically.

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He walked on into the room where the dummy in the tuxedo laid. "There's gotta be an end room to this wacky maze." he said to himself. Sure enough, soon as he turned one of the corners in the room he spotted Pam and Rhonda at the far end of the room. He looked around carefully to make sure no one else was around. Positive it was clear. He quickly moved across the room, pausing at a pillar holding up the ceiling in the room.

"Punishment for the guilty!" the voice of their kidnapper laughed somewhere nearby. Bill looked around to see if he could spot where it came from but didn't find anything.

He then darted towards the nearest pillar to Pam and Rhonda. "Counselor!" he whispered but loud enough for them to hear him.

Pam and Rhonda looked over to where Bill was hiding. They gave a sigh of relief.

"Bill!" Pam whispered. "Thank goodness you're here!" she said.

"Mr. Maxwell, help us outta here! Rhonda whispered to him.

"Hang in there, kid. Are you ladies hurt?" he asked. Pam and Rhonda shook their heads. "Who is this nutcase?"

"I dunno, but it don't like us." Rhonda replied.

"It?" Bill questioned. He looked around to see if the coast was clear, then went to untie them.

"Whoever it is, they're in disguise." Pam said to Bill. She leaned over to him quietly asking, "Where's Ralph?"

"He's around. He'll get to the bottom of this." he responded.

"Ahhh! Someone sympathetic to the cause!" said the figure seemingly near.

"MR. MAXWELL!" Rhonda yelled.

Bill turned around as he rose up. He met the figure face to face. He reached for his gun. As he pulled it out, the figure swung a club at him knocking the gun out of his hand.

"Don't worry, when this is through you will still have a bleeding heart." it said getting ready to take another swing at Bill.

"What? I voted for Regan!" he said as he raised his arms to defend himself.

The figure swung at him again. It missed, but Bill stumbled and fell back.

"It all ends, tonight!" the figure bodly stated with a sense of victory. The figure raised the club to swing it down at Bill. Bill raised his arm over his face to block the club and his possibly last moment of living.

"BILL!", Pam screamed.

Just as the figure started to swing the club down at Bill, it stopped midair as if time stood still.

Rrrrwworb

"Mr. H!" Rhonda said as she turned from watching Bill to where the figure was.

Ralph appeared as he held the club in place with one hand and the figure with the other hand. He snatched the club and threw it to the side. He held the figure tightly. "I've had enough of your games tonight, and I think everyone else here as too."

Bill gave a sigh of relief and stood up. Ralph took the mask off the figure.

"Mrs. Pearson?" Ralph said shocked as he saw the face of an old lady.

"Who?" Bill asked.

"Maude Pearson. She was the previous owner of this house, but I don't understand.." Pam said to Bill before she was cut off by him.

"Alright. Your luck just ran out, lady." he said retrieving his gun. "Don't worry kids, questions will be answered along with several more questions." Bill pulled his wallet out and flipped his badge at the lady. "I'm Bill Maxwell from the FBI and you've just placed a bunch of charges on you. Kidnapping.. Assaulting an agent of the FBI. We're going downtown, Mrs. Hubbard." he said taking her arm.

"Mrs. Pearson, Bill." Ralph said corrected him.

"Mrs. Pearson.. Mrs. Filberts, who cares.. Now how do we get outta here." Bill asked. The old lady pointed to a staircase. "A staircase, of course." Bill smirked as he lead her up.

"Are you okay?" Ralph asked as he checked Pam. She nodded. He then untied Rhonda's hands "Rhonda, are you alright?"

"Yeah, but I'm glad you and Mr. Maxwell came and saved us." she said as she rubbed her wrists.

"Anytime Rhonda. You know I'm always here if you need help." Ralph said assuringly.

"I know that.." she said though with a puzzled look on her face.

"Something on your mind, Rhonda?" he asked her.

"Well yeah. I thought you were gonna wear a pirate costume?" she asked.

"Oh.." Ralph said as he crossed his arms. He and Pam exchanged looks. "Yeah, but I also saw this superhero outfit and couldn't decide on the two." he said as he hoped to pass the excuse of wearing the suit.

"I kinda like that costume." she said "After tonight both you and Mr. Maxwell seem like heros to me now."

Ralph and Pam chuckled, "Thanks Rhonda. I'm sure Bill will appreciate hearing that. For now, why don't we get outta here." he said.

"Sounds good to me." Rhonda said.

"Sounds good to me too." Pam added as all three headed towards the staircase.

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