He awoke to any empty and silent room. The foreign feeling of a mattress underneath him immediately caused anxiety. A quick glance around revealed a large bedroom with two doors and one window. The room itself was like nothing he had ever been in before. Heavy drapes hung over the window, matching lavish furniture. No plastic or metal, everything was made either out of wood, glass, or porcelain. The room dripped with money, old money.
Sitting up, he felt slightly lightheaded. Reaching up he felt the gauze wrapped around his head. Wincing slightly when his hand touched the back of his head where he could feel more padding underneath the wrapping. He remembered the men, the following escape attempt and chase. Thankfully he seemed to have only a bump on the head and no broken bones.
He silently slipped out of the bed, glad to have awoken alone. While he took it as a good sign that he wasn't tied up and he had obviously received medical attention he wasn't going to push his luck any further. Those men were after him for a reason. In his experience it never ended well for him when adults focused their attention in his direction.
He approached the door opposite the window and slowly opened it. The door opened without a single squeak. Peering through the crack into the hallway he saw that it was empty of people. The room he was in was the last one in the hall. At the far end of the hall he could see a staircase that led both up and down a floor. Multiple floors. Definitely rich people, he thought idly.
Rich people, especially those with the skills to track someone down were often paranoid. That meant there must be a security system in the house, most likely high tech. His thoughts were confirmed when he noted the camera in the upper corner at his end of the hall. It was small and discrete; only those looking for one would notice it.
Grimly he closed the door gently, hoping he hadn't stuck his face far enough out for the camera to pick up, and if he did, he hoped no one had noticed.
He let his eyes roam the room as he thought of a way out. A quick glance at the window behind the curtains confirmed there were sensors around it. Any attempt to open the window would set them off. A quick peek through the other door revealed a bathroom with no windows.
Eyes sweeping the room they landed on an old style vent at the base of the wall across from the bed. Bigger than vents nowadays and instead of straight bars there were swirls and intricate designs on the vent. With a grimace on his face he walked over to the wall and knelt down in front of it. While it was small, his underfed and scrawny body could possibly squeeze in. The thought of being in the enclosed space was very unpleasant but he was left with no other option. The grate of the vent didn't have any screws that would allow it to be removed and the wall itself seemed to be molded around it. With a hopeful glance he looked to see if his backpack was placed anywhere within the room. His scanning eyes revealed no backpack but did land on the dresser. The Victorian style dresser had brass pull handles. Swiftly moving across the room he grasped one of the dresser door handles, twisting and pulling until it snapped off.
While not perfect it will be better than using his nonexistent fingernails. With a sigh he knelt down in front of the vent and got to work on prying the grate away from the wall. As he worked he kept an ear out for any noise that might occur outside the door. All was silent.
With a grateful grunt the grate came away from the wall. Setting it aside, he slowly and carefully started to wedge his way in. Using his hands to pull him forward and his toes to push. The progress was slow. He didn't have much space to move and was refraining from making too much noise. As he made his way through he passed several rooms resembling the one he woke up in. All of which were empty. Not sure what to think of that he kept moving forward. He approached a dead end with the only option to go up or down. Arranging himself so that he was now going feet first he slowly lowered himself down. Keeping his feet and hands firmly pressed to the sides as he slowly slid down inch by inch.
Once at the bottom he crawled along, passing several more rooms, again all empty. Coming around a corner he spotted a section up ahead that had light streaming in through the grate. With more care, he continued forwards, towards the light. He allowed himself a brief glance into the room as he passed, the view was limited but he could make out a sofa that was definitely occupied by two people, both with their backs to him. He didn't linger. Tightening his resolve of getting out of this house.
Several more minutes of crawling and he came upon a grate much different then all of the previous ones. Much bigger and modern. Peering through, he realized it led to a garage that was dark and empty. This was exactly what he hoped to find. Glad to see the modern style his fingers made quick work of the screws, pushing carefully he removed the grate and wiggled out. Unconsciously relaxing once out of the enclosed space.
The garage he was in was huge. Multiple cars with covers were parked all around; he spotted a few motorcycles propped up as well. In the corner there was a bright red car on a car lift, obviously having work done on it.
With a quick glance he noted several cameras attached to the walls. Keeping to the shadows as much as possible he made his way to the door that obviously led to the outside. A security box was next to the door. With a grin, his fingers removed the covering and got to work. Working quickly and efficiently he disengaged any alarms connected to the garage, turning off all cameras in the area as well. He was pleasantly surprised by the challenge of doing so, whoever these people were they had top of the line security. With a final twist of the wire in his hand he successfully removed any and all alarms that could go off when he opened the door.
He allowed himself a moment of pride before opening the door and slipping out. He ignored the disabled camera that was outside the door and moved forward into the night, or very early morning. The house, or manor being more of an appropriate term, was situated on a vast amount of land. Tall hedges lined the property with woods just beyond them. At a slow run he followed the driveway connected to the garage around the house. As he approached the corner that led to the front of the manor he slowed to a stop and peered around it. He noted with glee that while the front of the property was fenced with a high stone wall the gate had no security station and had bars that he could easily climb. Unfortunately the front yawn grass was lit up with light streaming from the windows of the three story house.
He turned to make his way towards the side of the property with the woods. Better to brave the woods then take a chance of someone seeing him from a window. He got only a few steps when all of a sudden the pavement around him illuminated with the light of a motion detector. With dread filling his gut he cast a glance back at the house and spotted a body standing in a window on the first floor. One that was soon accompanied by another then both quickly disappearing.
Braving the woods flew out of his mind and in a full out sprint he aimed towards the front gate. His anxiety increased as he heard the sound of pounding feet approaching fast behind him. He felt like a deer running through the forest with a cougar in pursuit. With his heart in his gut he came upon the gate. He scaled the gate as quickly as he possibly could. He was just half way up when he was seized around the waist by large hands and pulled off the gate like he weighed nothing.
He thrashed violently against the hard chest his back was pressed to. As heavily muscled arms wrapped around his arms and torso, keeping him from hitting out. His feet kicked open air. The sound of more steps approaching had him renewing his struggles with more vigor.
He vaguely heard someone say "watch his head". Another set of hands quickly grabbed his ankles, locking them together. A deep chuckle came from the man behind him. "Wiggly little thing isn't he" the man said. The man at his feet responded with a grunt as he attempted to keep his legs from breaking free. The two men were able to slowly move back towards the manor with their struggling bundle. Harry could hear his heart pounding in his ears as they approached the front door spilling golden light into the dark night. A silhouette of a man standing in the doorway.
