THIRTY

DYLAN'S POV

"Come on out, de Milo!" Terror's voice echoed loudly through the room. He pushed open the doors and looked at us. "Come out!" he commanded. We were immediately blindfolded and we walked for roughly eight minutes until we stopped. The blindfolds removed, I saw the Pastor standing in front of us, the look of defeat covering his entire being.

"Since you have so much energy…you have the energy to run way; you surely must have the energy to dig a grave. Here, get started!" Terror threw a shovel and a garden fork in my direction. Six armed men stood motionless, wearing huge dark sunglasses and hats too. They were surrounding us.

I slowly picked the garden fork; that probably was my very first time to hold a garden fork, in my entire life. I tried to sink its huge teeth into the ground, yet the ground seemed too dry. Terror casually lit a cigarette and started smoking. He puffed out a thick cloud of smoke and laughed a little.

"Err, old man and you, lady…when he is tired, you help him out!" he smiled.

I used all my might and started making small progress. It was not easy. The ground was very hard, but I continued to dig. Another man came along and brought with him more gardening tools.

"How many bodies have you buried here?" I asked Terror.

"Your job is to dig, not to ask questions," he smirked.

The pastor picked one axe and also started to dig. Anisha, standing nearby, was carrying Liam, and she looked very tired.

"Yes boss," I heard Terror speaking on the phone. "Yes, we're at the site now." he ended the call. He must have been talking to Eden, because from the way it looked, Eden was the only person that Terror referred to as boss. He must have been Eden's right hand man, the second man in command.

"You surely were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You can't even dig a simple grave," he laughed.

"Why would I ever need to dig one? I'm not in the business of kidnapping and murdering people," I responded, much to Terror's fury. He swirled around angrily and yelled at me , "shut up!"

There was silence, save for the sound of the tools hitting the ground.

"And you, lady! Come do your part!" he called out. Anisha slowly placed Liam on the ground and walked towards us. She picked a shovel and I immediately said to Terror, "Let me do her part. It's not proper to ask a lady to do this type of work."

"And what are you? Her knight in shining armour? Let her do her part!" he pulled in on his cigarette before letting out another thick cloud of smoke.

Thank God for the sound of a helicopter which was heard. Immediately we were all pulled away by the bodyguards. The helicopter, was flying very low, such that I managed to read the huge label on it: POLICE. Seeing hope just above me, I waved frantically and pushed the bodyguard away from me.

"Silence him!" Terror cried out. He was holding Liam, running on as he led the whole group. I was roughly pulled and made to run, but I did my best to fight to be free.

"Help!!" Anisha called out and waved too. The pastor seemed to have renewed hope, and he too waved. The men could not tolerate us anymore, huge silver tapes were taken out and our mouths sealed; our hands tied. All this happened while we continued to walk. One of the men was carrying Liam while the child cried. The helicopter was a fair distance away, but it seemed to have no intention of leaving the place at that time. The sad part was that it continues to move further away from us. We were moving at a very fast pace. Just then another sound of a helicopter was heard. A second one! How would they both miss us! I looked up to see the very familiar name on the helicopter: de MILO GROUP.

"Blindfolds!" Terror called out, and soon the blindfolds were secured firmly on us. I wondered why both helicopters were avoiding the place where we were What was worse; one of the bodyguards was carrying the body of the man that Eden shot. The body was stuffed in a big black bag. We stood at a place, I am sure it was a hiding space of some sort. The sound of the helicopters could be heard from afar.

"Let's go!" Terror screamed, and we started walking again. I was able to tell that we were at the warehouse, I heard the sounds of doors opening. We descended down some stairs before Terror commanded everyone to stop.

"A gun on each of their heads. Any funny business, just shoot!" Terror commanded in a low but firm vice. His voice carried authority and anyone who heard him could tell that he meant what he said. I felt a gun placed on my forehead, and I remained standing. Footsteps could be heard from above.

"Shoot to kill. If we go to prison, then they also must die!" Terror whispered for the last time before there was dead silence.

"…but the building looks too old, I don't think anyone has been here in decades!" I heard Pete's voice! Pete! Oh my word; Pete Rockridge was there, and I was just a floor below. Come on, Pete, there is a basement, find it!!

"Is there a basement?" I heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Everyone, check for a basement!" the voice sounded very familiar.

I wondered where we were. The voices sounded very clear, so I guessed we were not yet in the basement. We must have been standing somewhere, maybe at the staircase.

The voice that spoke next caused tears to well up in my eyes. How could I not cry, when I heard my own father talking, while I stood as a hostage with a gun to my forehead.

"There has to be a basement!" his voice spoke up.

"We can't find any!" someone said.

"But it looks like someone was here recently, don't you think?" my dad asked.

There was silence, but the footsteps could be heard. I heard sound of doors creaking open. One familiar voice was giving out instructions. I failed to tell whose voice it was, but I was sure I heard the voice before. It sounded very familiar. I only concluded that it was detective Harris when one lady said:

"Detective Harris, I just checked outside. There is nothing to show that this building has been inhabited of late."

"Check all around the building. Fraser, get people to search for any hidden doors. Check the walls, floors, everything!" detective Harris gave an instruction.

From the sound of footsteps, I was sure that there were many people looking for us. My dad must have brought an army of his own men, his own personal bodyguards, and the police force as well.

The sound of a door opening gave me hope. It sounded very loud, so I figured that door was very close. I must have moved in excitement, for the person who held me pushed the gun to poke me with it, as if to remind me that I was going to die if I tried anything funny.

"I don't think this place has been used in a long while!" Harris said.

"I think they moved them to another site," came Pete's voice. Pete! Oh, man, search some more! Find the door to the basement, Pete! Search every corner!

"Sometimes these thugs do it on purpose. They leave the place to become dusty and look like it isn't being used, but if you check closely, they may have a secret room or rooms, in which they keep their victims," a female voice said.

"We need to find secret doors." Harris stated firmly.

At that moment, I wished with all my heart, if only Liam was carried by either Anisha or myself, surely we could have pinched him, just so he makes a sound. I could not help but wonder what made Liam that silent. Was he asleep? Was his mouth stuffed up and taped as well? Come on, Liam, make a sound! Liam!

"There is nothing here," my dad's voice. A well of tears filled my eyes. Dad, please, I am just a few meters away from you! Find me, dad! Find me!

"Dylan, man! Where on earth are you?" Pete called out in frustration.

I am here, Pete. Find me. Search harder and find us! I was not sure what to do. The gun on my forehead reminded me that death was standing right before my eyes. I was not brave enough to take the risk. Terror's instruction was to make sure that we die if we tried any tricks. He had nothing to lose; he was simply going to go to prison, maybe for the umpteenth time, who knows.

Judging from how we all witnessed Eden murdering one of his men, it was easy to know that these men were going to kill us if we tried anything. They were going to shoot. Eden, their leader, was a heartless ruthless men, and something in me told me that his men were also trained to be like him.

The voices started to fade off, and we heard the footsteps leaving. No-one moved. I guess everyone was waiting for instructions from Terror.

The sound of the helicopters starting and flying off made me feel weak and sick. It was tough to accept that rescue came so close, and it just disappeared. Just like that! Everything was dead silent. A muffled cry disturbed the silence. It was Liam. Too late, Liam. Too late! I sighed to myself. I heard sniffing. Anisha was crying, that's for sure.

"Toast, take them downstairs. I will inform the boss about the police's visit!" Terror said.

"Let's go!" Toast's voice was icy and strict at the same time.