Longing To Break Free

Chapter 7

Troy's hands were shaking badly as he struggled to open the door. Earlier he had come all the way up here before he remembered that the door was locked. He frantically had tried to get it open only to not succeed. He then made his way back down the steps to look for something to pick the lock with. He had amazingly managed to find a pin on the basement floor and quickly thought to use it to try and pick the lock. He had gone back up to the top of the steps only to find that he was still having difficulties with opening the door.

He just had to break out of here! He was terrified though of what could happen if the man were on the other side of the door once he opened it. He had no clue if he was or not. But he knew he had to risk it. He had gotten this far and he just had to get out.

"Oh, come on!" he thought, feeling rather anxious and desperate, "Please just open up already!"

Suddenly he could hear a click. He could feel a big wave of relief rush through him as the door quickly opened. He wanted to jump up and down with joy but knew he had to be quiet.

He quietly crept out of the basement, had taken about ten steps, when he heard footsteps behind him.

He froze in absolute fear.

Damn! He knew the man was now behind him and he had been caught. He could hear the man moving much closer to him.

"One more step away from the basement and I swear to God I will shoot you," the man threatened, sending chills down his spine, "Now turn around."

Troy was way too frightened to move.

"Turn around, damn it!" the man demanded.

Troy trembled as he turned around and looked up to face the man, who was pointing the gun at him. He looked extremely mad. He was now only a few feet from Troy. Suddenly he lifted up his arm that wasn't holding the gun and aimed it towards Troy's face. He angrily punched Troy a few times, causing Troy to let out a few painful cries.

Troy was hit extremely hard however with the third punch, and he fell and hit the hard floor below him. The next thing he knew his world went black.

Another day had rolled by and they still couldn't find Troy.

Gabriella just couldn't take it anymore. She had just stormed out of her sixth period English class during the middle of it. She never left class in the middle of it like that. English was one of the classes she shared with Troy. He sat near her in that class. She was just so tired of staring at Troy's seat, wishing that he were sitting there. She had to get out of that class. She leaned against one of the lockers completely exhausted, in tears.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around to see who it was that was bothering her. She looked up to see a very concerned Chad next to her.

"Chad, I know I shouldn't have just left like that, I was just getting way to frustrated being in that class," She quickly tried to explain herself. She brushed a few tears away from her face.

"I understand," Chad spoke to her, "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. I know it is tough being here when Troy isn't. It's been rough on me all day as well."

"It is horrible being here when Troy isn't," Gabriella suddenly cried out, "I'm just so tired of walking around the school wishing Troy were here. He should be, Chad! I just can't stand that he isn't!" She started to run towards the door, "I am sorry but I have to get out of here. It's driving me crazy being in this school all day-"

"Wait!" Chad raced up to her, really not wanting Gabriella to be alone at the moment, "Let's get out of here, together, okay? I don't want you to be alone right now."

He looked at her with worry in his eyes.

Gabriella glanced back at him, and stopped for a few seconds, "Okay then, let's go. Let's please just get out of this place. I just can't be here anymore!"

Chad nodded and the two of them left the building together.

Chad and Gabriella had somehow wounded up at a fast food restaurant and were now wandering out of it together. They had ordered extra food to take home to take to the Boltons and were carrying take out bags. Gabriella was getting really anxious to get to the Boltons to see if they had any news on Troy.

They were heading towards Chad's car when Chad bumped directly into someone, causing the person to trip somewhat. Gabriella continued walking further, but stopped to look back to watch the scene behind her.

Chad looked up, startled, and saw a man he didn't know glaring at him.

"Watch the hell where you are going," he growled at Chad and then he quickly turned around to head into the restaurant. His voice sent shivers through Chad; he had spoken rather coldly to him.

"I'm sorry!" Chad tried to call out to him but he was already gone. He suddenly noticed something on the ground and realized the man he bumped into must have dropped it.

"Hey Gabriella, wait up!" Chad shouted, "That man dropped his-" he froze suddenly, as he looked more closely at the object that had been dropped on the ground. He bent down to pick it up. He gasped, this object looked rather familiar. His hands shook as he flipped the object over to the back, and he recognized familiar markings on it, confirming his suspicions. He looked up at Gabriella in shock.

"Oh my God," Gabriella froze as she eyed the object Chad was holding, she grabbed it from him to take a closer look at it, she flipped it open and then her eyes grew wide, "This is Troy's cell phone!"