Yay, another chapter! Thanks everyone for reading the story! I love reading your reviews. I finally got to insert some fluff at the end which is fun. Yay. fluffyness. =)
Chapter 6: Not Alone
All Jennifer could hear was the pounding of her feet on the cement as she sprinted in the opposite direction of Ian. They were parked at some kind of Auto Shop, with cars being worked on. Jennifer runs through the business and turns a corner, seeing a busy street ahead. Figuring if she made it to the street, Ian wouldn't try anything in such a public place. She was wrong.
All of a sudden she feels a weight slam into her back and she falls forward. She feels the cement scrape her palms and her face as she slides on the rough ground.
"Did you think you could get away?" Ian asks angrily, grabbing the hair on the back of Jennifer's head and wrenching her off the ground. She screams but Ian covers her mouth. She feels her blood trickle down the side of her face from another scrape. She tries to push him off, since her arms are finally free, but he pulls roughly on her hair. She bites back another scream.
"Don't even try it girl." He says angrily, pushing her forward.
"Let her go." Ben says loudly. Ian shoves her to one of his accomplices who catches her roughly by the shoulders.
"We have a deal Ben. What is the next clue?" He asks. Ben looks at Jennifer and sees that her arms are being tied behind her back.
"Don't hurt her." Ben says angrily.
"It's just a precaution, Ben." Ian says, before repeating his request. Ben takes out the glasses and shows them to Ian, but that's all Jennifer can see because she is blindfolded. She bites back a curse as she's shoved back in the car.
"Mr. Gates?" She whispers, wondering if he was still there.
"Sorry, he's outside with Ben and Ian." Someone said from the front seat. Jennifer nodded. She tried to hear what they were saying outside but suddenly the radio is turned on.
"No eavesdropping sweetheart." The man said evilly, making Jennifer flinch. She leaned her head against the car and suddenly came up with a plan. She tilted her head to the side and gently rubbed her cheek against the seat. Her blindfold rolled up slightly and she could see. Jennifer all of a sudden thought smugly, Good luck getting the blood out of the upholstery, Ian.
All of a sudden she hears someone come sit next to her. "Jennifer?" She hears Ben ask and she smiles.
"Ben? What's happened? Why are you here?" She asks in quick succession.
"Well, I was caught by the police.." Ben says but then they hear a phone ringing in the front.
"It's your girlfriend." Ian says sarcastically.
Jennifer can unfortunately only hear his side of the conversation. But she quickly realizes that Abigail has made some kind of deal with Ian. Hopefully it involved her and Mr. Gates being freed, and soon.
"She's right here with me Riley. You want to say hello?" Ben asks, sounding like he is smiling.
She feels the phone pressed up against her ear. "Jenny?" She hears Riley ask, and she can't help but smile.
"Your safe?" Jennifer asks, trying to not sound worried. He snorts.
"Am I safe? You're in a car with Ian and his henchman, don't worry about me." He says sounding happy but his tone quickly changes. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. A little bit annoyed at the blindfold and the bondage…." She said as a hint to her captors, but nothing happened so she sighed. "I'm doing all right. Where is…."
She's cut off by Ian who grabs the phone and shuts it off. "What, wasting your minutes?" Jennifer asks sarcastically.
"No, you're rambling was annoying me." He said smugly, making Jennifer roll her eyes. No one could see it, because of the awful, rather uncomfortable blindfold, but still.
Ben finishes his explanation of what was going on. He was taking Ian to the next clue and then they would all be free. Jennifer wasn't so sure about that last bit. She had heard that before, and Ian didn't seem to have gained a conscience or a sense of morality since his lie in the van. She took a deep breath, hoping it would in fact be true this time.
The car pulled to a stop and Jennifer heard the door open on her side. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the car. She tripped on the curb and almost fell but who ever had her arm, held her up.
"Idiot." The man mumbles. She couldn't tell who it was, it wasn't Ian, it was another of his lackeys. She thinks it may be Shaw.
Ben tells Ian it must be in Trinity Church in an effort to get them to untie her. Ian relents and unties the blindfold, much to Jennifer's relief. She is pulled into the church along with Ben's father and both are forced to sit in the pews.
"I thought we would be free." Ben said angrily.
"I lied. Now, where is the treasure, Ben?" He asks.
"This is all I know." Ben says. Jennifer knows he's lying but she hopes that Ian doesn't.
"Come now Ben. I know you aren't telling the truth. I don't think you entirely realize what's at stake here." Jennifer hears the creaking of the wooden doors open and she hears Ben groan in frustration.
"What?" Jennifer asks aloud, trying to turn around to see them. "Riley?" She gasps, seeing him and Abigail pulled in the door.
"Jennifer, what happened?" Riley asks, trying to get out of the grips of his captor. Needless to say, he fails. Him and Abigail are shoved onto another pew, on the opposite side of the church.
"Enough! Ben, where is the treasure?" Ian shouts. Ben explains that he need to see the map and Ian opens up the Declaration. He looks at it, lifting the different colored lenses in order to read it.
"It's really something." He says, handing the glasses to Ian. Jennifer rolls her eyes. Even though Ian is a crazy madman, Ben still shares with him.
"Beneath Parkington Lane?" Ian asks. "Why would it lead us here and then take us somewhere else?"
"It must be somewhere beneath the church." Ben explains. Ian and Shaw head towards the door that will lead them downstairs. Riley runs up to Jennifer and pulls her into a hug.
"What happened?" He asked, his voice lower than usual.
"Does it look that bad?" Jennifer wonders. There is only a dull pulsing ache on the side of her face and on her palms but Riley looks freaked.
"Your bleeding." He said softly, reaching his hand up to her face. "Does it hurt?" He asks before Powell came and shoved them both forward.
"Get a move on you two." Jennifer sees Ben and Abigail chatting at the top of the stairs, above what appears to be a boiler room. They walk around them, but Powell shoves them forward too. Jennifer and Riley reach the bottom of the stairs quickly and both start looking around the room.
"I found it!" Riley exclaims after a moment. "Parkington Lane." He reads. Ben rushes over.
"He was a third degree master mason." Ben says, hand tracing the gravestone before he sees Shaw coming at him from his peripheral vision. "Hey!" He shouts, dodging he sledgehammer that cracks the grave. Ian's goons pull out the coffin and place it on the ground.
"Okay, who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley asks. Jennifer feels her chest constrict at the thought. She's never been one for small, dark places.
"Mcgregor, Viktor. You stay here. And if anyone comes out without me. Well, use your imagination." Ian said smirking. "Well, ladies first." He motions to Jennifer who shrinks back automatically.
"Maybe I could go last." She says quietly, feeling foolish for the obvious shake in her voice.
"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you." He says in a tone that gives her no comfort whatsoever. He unties the rope that bind her wrists and pushes her forward.
"I'll go first, Ian." Riley says quickly but Ian just shoves Jennifer more forcefully.
"She'll be fine." Ian hands her a flashlight.
Jennifer takes a deep breath and climbs into the tomb. Her heart beats wildly in her chest as she tries to focus on the opening up ahead. Her hands sting with renewed fervor as dirt enters the relatively fresh wounds in her palms.
"Hurry up." Ian grunts from behind her and she tries to crawl faster.
The tunnel wasn't as long as she originally imagined and she pulls herself out shakily, using the flashlight to help everyone else get out. Ian lights a torch and they continue on their journey.
They reach a stop and Ben points out a huge wooden chandelier. He lights it, and pushes it out to the center of the room, lighting up the room.
There are wooden stairs and a dumbwaiter system of elevators up and down what appears to be a very deep crater.
Ben grasps Jennifer's hand in his and gives it a reassuring squeeze when he remembers that she isn't very fond of heights either.
"Jennifer?" Riley asks, tapping her on the shoulder. She jumps.
"You scared me." She clasped a hand to her chest.
"Sorry." He said quietly. "What happened?" He asked again. She reached up and wiped at her face.
"At least it stopped bleeding.." Jennifer said trying to smile. He gave her a look and she sighed. "I fell."
"Jennifer, just tell me."
"Ian kind of pushed me. No biggie. I'm fine."
"I hate that guy." He groans making Jennifer smile. She pulls him into a hug. "I'm glad you're all right." He said, a blush spreading across his cheeks.
"Thanks Riley."
"For what?" He asks, a slightly dazed smile on his face.
She shrugs, a smile lighting up her face. "I'm just glad you're here."