Frozen in Time - Radia Al Rashid (best book club books .txt) 📗

Can you tell me if your orphanage was as harsh as Fallon just described it to be?”

“No! I cannot say we got all we wanted but that was absolutely not like here. This is practically the hell.”

“Um, I need one more information, was Fallon there with you guys from the childhood? I mean, in that orphanage?”

“No, no. She joined three months before the kidnapping incident.” Ava lets out a small sigh, “she was still new adjusting with everything when this horrible thing happened.” Now I become more and more suspicious about Fallon.

“Maybe that’s the reason she is blaming the orphanage now. She doesn’t have much of a mistake in it.” Ava sounds as innocent as ever. “But why do you ask?”

“Nothing, just out of curiosity.” I try to make it sound so casual. “I can only remember mistaking a car with the uber and then I went unconscious… when I woke up, I was here in this inferno. Can you remember anything from the day you guys were kidnapped?”

“Not much but all I can remember was Elle being really irritable after remaining stuck inside the room for so long. So, Fallon suggested that we should take a walk outside in the garden. So, we all came out and we were having so much fun.” She smiles at the memory. I let her talk without interrupting though my mind is buzzing with questions. “Then, a black SUV stopped in front of the gate and I can’t really remember what happened next.”

“I’m so sorry to hear this. I really am sorry for your situation…”

“Don’t you worry about it, Eve. Trust me, it’s not your fault. That Scott is really dangerous and he would do this to anyone if it weren’t us.” She assures me with a grin.

I give her a nod in reply, “This is really cute of your orphanage to make all the Julias stay in the same room and be roomies.” I casually make the remark to clear out one nagging confusion that’s hanging there in the back of my head.

“It does sound cute but it was not always like this. I guess…yeah, I guess when Fallon came like seven months back, they rearranged us in a room making all the Julias roomies.” She shrugs.

“Wow! I see…”

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just kinda interesting. Anyway, Ava I need a little help.”

“What?”

“I really have to go to the washroom. It’s been the whole day you took me there last

. My stomach is kinda bursting, you know what I mean.”

“O no! yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

I get up with a grin, trying to make it look so normal. I give a stare at Fallon before following Ava, who seems to be deep in sleep. She must be pretending to sleep… tonight is my only chance. I didn’t know there is a spy inside the room which now makes the situation even harder for me.

“Here it is. Do you want me to wait outside?” Ava turns to me.

“No! I can go back to the room just fine. I didn’t pay much attention when you brought me here in the morning.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, totally.”

“Okay, and one more thing, do not try to explore the floor or anything, you will be lost and worse, Allegra can catch you red-handed.”

“Aye, aye Ma’am.” I grin.

Grinning back at me, she leaves for the room.

This is my chance. Think, Eve…think. All you have to do is find a calling device…anything that can be used to call the 911. That’s it. Nothing more rebellious. You can do it. I can feel my palms sweating and obviously my head joins with its classic spinning. Dang it.

I tiptoe towards the room where Allegra took me to give punishment. At this moment, I can feel another movement somewhere in the same floor. It can either be Allegra or her daughter, Fallon.

Chapter Twenty One

 

I have to be so much careful not to get caught. This is the only chance I MUST make some logical move. My right wrist is driving me crazy with the unbearable pain. My back has deteriorated though I’ve washed it secretively twice today. It’s no time to mull over my sufferings. I put each step with so much care as if my feet will break down the ground. I cannot feel the movement anymore as I’m pretty sure that person is also being extra careful not to make me aware of her presence. The door to that torturing chamber is open which saves me the risk to be heard. I enter the room tiptoeing and checking behind me every now and then. I cannot believe it was only yesterday Allegra has beaten me up to death in this death chamber. I gulp at the darkened look of this monstrous place. I wait a bit more to hear any more footstep behind me. When I realize nobody is here, I head towards the knives behind which I saw some sort of a screen while being beaten up. I’m still not sure whether it was only hallucination or there is actually a mobile phone hidden behind the pile of knives. As the entire room is pitch dark, I cannot see a thing clearly. I am relying on my memory a great deal which is not so safe with two or more enemies around.

I am almost near the knives when I hear the voice, “Belinda, why are you here? Did anything happen over there?”

“Mama! That Eve girl is plotting something to get out of the house tonight. I’m not sure about it but I guess she must be doing something.”

“What? When did it happen? Why didn’t you inform me?” Allegra sounds furious.

“I’m not sure, mama! She is inside the washroom now. so, I’m guarding her here.”

“You better not mess up anything. Remember, Scott will expose me in front of the police if things go downhill.”

“I know, mama. I won’t let her do anything. There is no window inside the washroom, so she can’t escape.”

“Very well.” Allegra seems to go downstairs from her footsteps.

So, here is the secret behind the she-devil’s being so obedient to the psychopath. She is a criminal! Of course, she is. I need to make it quick or else, my death is absolutely so close.

I take two to three deep breaths before putting my hand behind the pile of knives. It is a screen, maybe a mobile phone! I can feel my heart beating so fast as to come out of my ribcage. I carefully take it out of the shelf. To my utter surprise, the phone I’m holding in my hand is MY PHONE. Are you kidding me! HOLY SHIT! Why is it here? The she-devil must have left it here and forgot to take it back. maybe or maybe not. Now, it’s no time to think about the possibilities.

I hold the phone in my trembling hand and tap on the screen. My eyes fill with tears when I see 100+ missed calls and countless texts notifications on the screen. I choose to ignore them and dial the 911 as soon as possible. My fingers feel rubbery as I try to quickly dial three simple digits. At this point, I hear a footstep clearly coming towards my way. I start hyperventilating as I activate the location icon and dial 911.

“Who’s there?” I see a torch waving outside the room.

Quick…quick! Respond!

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“I have been kidnapped…turned on the location in my device…please, please…come rescue me.” I whisper the words trying my best to make them comprehensible. I put the phone back at the shelf as I grab a knife before ducking behind another shelf that seems comparatively bigger than the first one.

The light switch is turned on in an instant, “Who is there? I heard you. Come out or else I’m gonna call Allegra.” Fallon’s voice is filled with poison.

I keep standing behind the shelf helplessly waiting for the police to arrive. Again, I’m not so sure whether they understood me or my whisper sounded like some childish prank to them. I hold on my breath not to make any noise.

“I say, come out from your hiding. I know you’re right there behind this shelf. Do not make me wait any longer or the consequence will not be so pleasant.” Her words make my heart stop with fear. I can understand if I don’t go out on my own, she’d not hesitate to do some serious harm. I silently step out from behind the shelf with trembling fear resonating all over my body.

“I warned you TWICE! Still, you chose to get rebellious. What do you think you were doing there?” her eyes are throwing fire at me.

“Nothing! Trust me, I wanted to look for some scope to run away, that’s true but I didn’t find anything. I swear I didn’t. Please, don’t tell Allegra, I’m going back to the room with you now. Let’s go.”

“Don’t you try to play dumb with me. I know you are up to something. Out with it.” Her voice becomes shrill.

“I promise, I didn’t do anything, trust me.”

“Mama! She’s here at the death chamber. You should take care of her before she does something really…really wrong.” I could see the resemblance of her nose to the she-devil but now, I can feel her voice also is pretty similar to her evil mom. She always made her voice extra soft while talking back in that room. OMG! I have no idea what did she do to the other four girls because of my disobedience.

“I knew this little whore is no ordinary hussy. You know what? I should’ve killed you yesterday when you violated the master’s command.” Allegra enters the room with a pistol in her hand. This is it. I’m gonna die here. I can now understand why Fallon slash Belinda used to always call that perverted “the master”. He is the savior of this messed up criminal mother-daughter duo.

I try to come up with something…anything to try for the last time to save my life, save those four innocent girls.

“I can explain.” I suddenly blurt out.

“What? What do you wanna explain? We don’t want to hear anymore shitty explanations from you, you, disobedient hoe.” Belinda sounds as livid as her mother.

Without seeing any other option before me, I carefully grab the knife from the floor and decide to run.

“What are you doing? Call the others from the cult.” Allegra shouts at her daughter before pulling the trigger. Thankfully, she missed the first one but she begins to run after me with the speed of a cheetah. I can feel my limbs being rubbery and weak because of not eating anything for two days straight. I keep running as fast as I can to reach the door when the four other girls cross my mind. I cannot leave them here to die but I don’t have any other choice. If I slow down, I’ll be dead in no time. Besides, some cult members are surely on the way as the she-devil ordered Belinda to call them. O God! what do I do! I have the knife and it can be a little help for me to face her if she doesn’t choose to shoot me right at my head or chest. I halt the running and turn to face her. She becomes a bit