Just Being There

A Castle Story By

HCBalwayshappy

It was empty, for once the abandoned building was actually empty. There were no windows, no doors, just a plain tile floor and metal walls. As Kate walked forward, the click of her heels echoed across the room.

"It's empty? It can't be empty," Castle said.

"Where is the bomb and the wires? ... They have to be here," Ryan said.

"Something isn't right," Esposito said, as he looked around the room.

"Do we have the right address?" Castle asked.

"It's the right address, there has to be something here," Kate said.

"Maybe he only wants us to think it's empty, maybe there is a secret passageway, or a hidden door," Castle added excitedly as he ran his hand over the wall searching for one.

"That actually isn't a bad idea," Javier said and they all began to search for one. An hour had past, when Ryan finally spoke.

"It's empty," He stated and walked toward Esposito, "We must have gotten the address wrong."

"It's the right one, I'm sure of it." Ryan was about five steps away from Esposito, when the tile he stepped sunk down.

"What the-" A door in the back of the room slid open.

"What are the chances of you stepping on the right tile just when we were about to give up?" Castle laughed, "Who goes first?" Beckett stuck her head into the dark passageway and pulled out her flashlight. She was about to step forward, when Esposito went in front of her.

"I'll go." Beckett nodded and followed after, Castle at the end. it was narrow, long, and in a single file line they slowly kept walking. They walked down some stairs, turned a corner, and kept going.

"This is like the passage ways in a castle, the ones that lead into a dungeon, but once you enter... you will never get out," Castle said.

"That's really helpful Castle," Ryan added from in front of him.

"I think I hear it!" Esposito said loudly, as he quickened his pace. Ryan looked down at his watch they had 45 minutes left. That's plenty of time. He thought, but as the beeping sound got louder the twisting corridor got longer. Finally they saw a light up ahead and they turned off their flashlights, it was a large room, with one fairly large detonator in the middle. With 30 minutes to go, they figured they had plenty of time.

The clock on the detonator was counting down, once it hits zero it sends a quick signal to its twin, where that one will blow up. It was covered in different colored wires.

"I don't know how to do this," Javier exclaimed.

"Well, last time I just ripped out all of the wires I saw and it worked," Castle added.

"Last time... you were lucky."

"True."

There were ten minutes left, there emotions were running high and they were scared. Someone or someones were going to die if they didn't stop this bomb. With sweat pouring down his face, Esposito carefully moved another wire, trying to see if he could find the right wire. Five minutes left... he was ready to cut one. Kate looked below the bomb when she saw another wire going through the floor.

"Stop!" Kate yelled and pointed to the other wire.

"We have to move it." They all pushed the bomb together away from the hole in the floor. It revealed one big wire, that was ready to be cut. They had one minute left... Quickly Esposito went to cut the wire, there was thirty seconds left, his hands were shaking and sweaty, he lost his grip on the wire. 15 seconds. Picking it back up, he struggled to cut the thick blue cord. 5 seconds.

Boom!

They heard the explosion and knew it had to have come from a nearby building... They looked at each other, How many people did we just kill? They asked, knowing they would soon know the answer.

Once they reached the exit, they saw that on the door, was another note. It simply said.

You passed Test 3! Congratulations...

Esposito picked up the piece of paper angrily, made it into a paper ball and threw it against the wall. They didn't understand how they passed, whatever game Thompson was playing...it was a sick one. When they got outside there were cops everywhere, Gates was waiting for them outside of the door.

"What happened?" She asked, they told her the story, "Well, we've got a blown up office building and an injured civilian..."

"Injured? Not dead?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, she decided to leave early that day, it blew just as she shut the door to her office. Looks as though the bomb was designated for her."

"What hospital?"

Her name was Sara Grayson, she was 38 years old, and she had two kids. Her burns were severe, her pain was great, but all she could think about was how glad she decided to leave work early that day and how thankful she was that she'd be able to be with her family longer. When she saw the detectives, she knew that she was nearly one of the serial killers victims. She had heard it on the news and read it in the paper, and she smiled.

"Hi, Mrs. Grayson, is it alright if we come in?" Beckett asked.

"Come on in Detectives, how are you today?"

"Fine...How are you?" Esposito questioned her.

"I've been better, but hey can't be complaining... I'm alive. He didn't get me!" She laughed.

"Can we ask you a few questions?" Ryan cautiously asked.

"Sure! I already gave my statement, but I'm willing to give it again. I'm sure it will be a story that I'll be telling for a long, long time."

"Actually, we were wondering if you saw anybody following you, anyone acting strange, just anything out of the ordinary happen."

"Well I don't know if this counts, but there was this old man, well not all old...maybe around sixty or something. Anyway he was talking to himself, telling about how good they were doing, I don't know who he was talking about. He said that they had passed all of them, he was confident they were the ones. The next thing he said, he looked right at me, it was creepy," She rambled on about how she told her husband of the incident.

"What did he say Mrs. Grayson?"

"Call me Sara, and he said, 'my next test, easy it may seem, though not all is as it seems.' Whatever that means. Oh then he said, 'Once they pass that one, we'll go to test 4. If they pass, test 5 will be the last.' Then he laughed, like he was some evil master mind or something," She yawned, "Oh dear, I'm quite tired all of the sudden. Might we continue this conversation later?"

"Of course Mrs. Grayson, but first what did this man look like?"

"He was tallish, he was skinny, but not too skinny. He wore glasses, and he had gray, thinning hair. " That's Thompson.

"Thank you Mrs. Grayson, I hope you feel better soon," Beckett smiled and they walked out the door.

It was getting late, looking at his watch he saw that he was falling behind, or his victim was going off schedule. Shifting in his crouched position behind the bush, he watched as she came out, her brunette ponytail going from side to side as she walked down the stairs. As she walked home, he followed her, but she never did reach her house. Better save this one, for tomorrow might just be her last.

Tomorrow Detectives, Tomorrow.

I am so sorry that I took so long to post this one. It's also not the best chapter I've every written. Hopefully I post the next one sooner! Thank you for the reviews and to all of you who have read this story! If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions please let me know! Thank you!

- HCB