Chapter nine

Kendra awakens around noon, yawning slightly as she stretches. She listens closely but doesn't hear anyone else up. She climbs out of bed and walks all throughout the house, checking every room, but she cannot find anyone else. Becoming slightly frightened that something bad has happened, she peeks out a window in the living room and notices that both the truck and the car were missing from the driveway.

Panic begins to fill her as all kinds of thoughts begin popping into her head. Then she remembers that Sara knew where Julie was at and hopes that is where everyone went. She walks over to one of the couches and tries to relax, laying down on the couch as she turns the tv on. As soon as she starts getting comfortable however, someone begins banging loudly on the front door.

"Just when I begin to get comfy," she mumbles to herself as she walks towards the front door.

She looks out the peephole, but she doesn't see anyone standing there. She turns around to walk back over to the couch when someone bangs on the door again, much harder and more urgent than before. She turns and yanks the door open quickly only to find a very frightened girl standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to bother you but may I come in?"

The girl looks frightened, her voice trembling a little as she speaks.

"It's okay, sure come on in," Kendra steps aside to let the girl walk inside. "What's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry Kendra, please forgive me for what I have done," the girl cries out as tears begin to run down her cheeks. She reaches up and wipes them away with her shirt sleeve.

"What's wrong, please just tell me what happened," Kendra leads the girl into the living room. The girl sits down on the edge of the couch and looks up at Kendra with sad, sorrowful eyes.

"If I'd have known what he was planning, I would have tried to stop him sooner. He said he just wanted me to find his daughters for him. Please forgive me," the girl pauses to wipe the tears from her eyes again. "Please I never wanted to harm them, but he is going to kill them as soon as he finds them."

"Just tell me what happened," Kendra sounds strangely calm as she sits down beside the girl. "Tell me, has he found Julie yet?"

She looks into the girls sad, teary eyes with worry.

"No Kendra, he hasn't found her yet but he does know where she is," she sees the worried expression on Kendra's face, looking down at the ground. "But don't worry, she is no longer at the hospital. I took her away from there before he could get to her."

"Where is Julie at now?" Kendra places a hand on the girls shoulder, causing the girl to look up at her a little frightened. "And what is your name?"

"I'm Kayla and your daughter Julie is right outside in the back of my car still fast asleep. I couldn't let him get her so I did the only thing I could think of to save her. I broke into the hospital and took her. Then I came here looking for you."

Kendra looks relieved to find out that Julie was safe.

"Thank you, Kayla," Kendra gives the girl a quick hug. "Tell me, has she woken up at all yet?"

She tries to remain calm, but she can't help but to sound slightly worried.

"You're welcome. No, she is still asleep. I just couldn't let him harm her," Kayla hugs Kendra back and smiles. "After I overheard Jerry talking to a man named Arthur the other day, I realized what he was really planning to do and I knew I had to save her."

She wipes away more tears with her sleeve as images of what happened begin to form in her mind.

~

"Kayla there you are. What have you been up to?" Jerry looks up and smiles as Kayla walks into the living room. She gives him a faint smile and walks over to him. "Did you find out what I asked you to yet?"

"Yes I have found out where your daughter Julie is being kept. She is a few counties over in the Madison county general hospital," Kayla reaches him a slip of torn paper with the hospitals address on it. "Will that be all you needed?"

She looks at him curiously. Before he could reply however, they hear Emily walking down the stairs.

"I'll call you soon."

Kayla turns and walks through a nearby door as Emily reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey honey, I'm glad you're finally home," Emily smiles warmly as she walks over to Jerry, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. "How was everything at work?"

"Everything was fine," he kisses her back. "So, who was that girl that left with Lexi this morning?" He asks her curiously, though he already knows the answer.

"That was her friend, Sara," Kayla freezes as she hears Sara's name. She creeps back over to the door and tries to hear what they are talking about. "She was here when I got home from work last night."

"That's nice, I'm sorry I had to work all night again."

Before he could say anything more, his phone begins to ring. "I'm sorry but I have to take this."

His face becomes a mask of anger as he looks down at the number on his screen, heading towards the door Kayla had just went through. She hears his footsteps coming towards her and begins to look around for a place to hide.

"Hello?"

"Jerry, I'm glad I caught you before you went to bed," Arthur's voice comes through the speaker.

"What do you want Arthur?" Jerry whispers as he steps into his study.

"I was wondering if you still wanted to capture Sara like we discussed to do this evening."

Jerry turns on the little desk light and sits down behind his desk.

"Yes, soon I will have Sara and Julie and then everything will be fixed," Jerry smiles as he looks at an old photo of the two girls. "And Arthur do not disappoint me or it will be the last thing you ever do."

"I won't."

Jerry hangs up the phone on Arthur and smiles.

"Soon girls I will have you both back and then I will be able to finally get rid of you for good. No more mistakes."

He lays the address down and stands up, leaving the room quickly. Kayla waits until she hears him walking up the stairs before she climbs out from behind the couch. She slips out of the study and begins walking through the living room as quietly as she could. She is about to walk out the front door when she hears Jerry yelling from his bedroom.

"Where is it? Where is my book!"

"I don't know, I caught Sara in here earlier. Maybe she took it by accident?"

Emily sounds fearful as Jerry continues to yell at her. Kayla just stands there wondering what to do.

"Why did you leave our door open? I need that book back!"

Kayla hears Emily scream out and begins to panic, quickly running over to hide behind another couch.

~

"Kayla."

Kayla hears Kendra's voice, snapping her away from her thoughts. She blinks several times and looks up at Kendra.

"I'm sorry, Kendra. What was it?"

"Can I get you something to drink before we bring Julie inside?" Kendra asks as she stands up. "We can lay her on Sara's bed for now."

Kayla stands up and begins following Kendra into the kitchen.

"Sure I'll take a glass of juice, if you have any."

Kayla follows Kendra silently on into the kitchen.

Kendra reaches a glass of apple juice out towards Kayla. "Here you go."

"Thank you, Kendra."

Kayla smiles slightly as she takes the juice from her, downing it quickly. They then head outside to Kayla's car where Julie is laying in the backseat fast asleep.

"She looks so much like Sara."

Kayla simply smiles as she picks Julie up, carrying her back into the house and following Kendra down the hall to Sara's room.

"Mom," Julie whispers as they lay her down on Sara's bed. Her eyes open wide suddenly and she looks up at her mom, smiling brightly. "Where's Sara?" She asks, raising up on the bed.

"I don't know but I hope that wherever she is she is alright," Kendra looks down at her daughter and smiles. I hope they are all okay.

She begins wondering what everyone else is doing, hoping that wherever they were, they were all okay.

~

After driving around for what had felt like forever, Sara and the others finally pull into a small town just off the main highway that seemed to suddenly just appear in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't even showing up on Chris's GPS. They park the vehicles in front of a small diner and climb out. The night air feels cold against Sara's skin as she steps out of the truck. She shivers as she looks around at her surroundings.

"Are you sure this is the right town?" Chris wonders as he looks up and down the street. "I don't like the looks of this place. Where is this hospital even supposed to be at? I don't see it anywhere."

"Chris, I don't like being here. It feels so unnatural, like I'm back in the shadow realm," Sara whispers as she shivers again. Chris puts his arm around her and she leans against him, laying her head against his shoulder. "We shouldn't be here, something feels wrong."

"This is the right town. Now come on, we can walk to the hospital from here," he turns and begins walking down the street, pausing only when he realizes the others aren't following him. "Well?" He calls back, waiting patiently for them to catch up to him.

They look at each other cautiously before beginning to walk towards him. Only Terri stays by the two vehicles, looking back at the diner.

"Hey, I will catch up to you guys soon. I'm just going to run inside the diner and use the restroom real fast," Terri calls out as she turns and starts running towards the diner.

"Hey, wait up, Terri. Do you want me to stay and wait on you?"

Lexi starts jogging back across the parking lot to catch back up to Terri.

"Nah, I'll be alright. Go on ahead with the others, I'll catch up to you guys soon," Terri calls back as she rushes into the diner.

As soon as Terri is out of sight, Lexi heads for the door. Once inside, she quickly spots Terri in the back just as she walks into the bathroom. Lexi walks on over to one of the empty booths and sits down, waiting on Terri to come back out.

"Can I get you anything to eat or maybe something to drink?" a young woman, maybe twenty-four years old or so asks Lexi, walking over to where Lexi is sitting.

She takes out a small notepad and a pen and waits for Lexi's order. But Lexi just shakes her head slightly.

"Are you sure?" the waitress asks politely.

"Yeah, I'm sorry but I'm just waiting on my friend to come out of the restroom," Lexi says to the girl. The waitress just smiles and begins to walk away. "Hey, wait a second, actually, can I get a couple of Dr. Peppers please?"

"Sure, I will be right back, sweetie," the waitress smiles sweetly, walking away as Lexi looks towards the bathroom.

I thought she would have been done by now. She thinks, becoming worried as she stares at the door. Maybe I should go check on her.

As soon as she begins to stand up, the bathroom door opens and Terri walks out, looking kind of sad. She starts to walk outside when she spots Lexi. She tries to hide the sadness in her eyes as she makes her way over to her friend.

"I thought I told you to go on ahead with the others," she looks down as she sits across the table from Lexi.

The waitress brings two cups of Dr. Pepper over and sits them down in front of the girls.

"I know, but I wasn't going to just abandon one of my friends," Lexi tells her, grabbing one of the sodas and taking a drink. "So, do you want to tell me why it looks like you've just been in there crying for the last few minutes?"

She looks into Terri's eyes and sees fresh tears beginning to form.

"It's nothing, really. Just forget about it, okay."

Terri tries to mask her feelings as she picks up the other soda.

"Terri I know you better then that, now tell me what's wrong?" Terri sighs and just looks down at the table before speaking.

"It's really nothing to worry about, just some old memories that are better off forgotten."

Terri quickly wipes the tears away from her eyes. She looks at Lexi and sees that she's not about to let the subject go so easily, so she sighs again and continues.

"About two years ago I lost my sister in a car accident and no one was there to help me the way that everyone is helping Sara," Terri looks down at the table as several tears fall from her eyes. "It's just that I wish my sister was still around."

"I'm sorry. Why didn't you ever tell anybody?"

"It's alright. I'm just glad to be here for Sara now," she smiles slightly and wipes her eyes again. "Michael was the only person I've ever been able to talk to about losing my sister. I just didn't know what else to do." She takes a drink of her soda. "I just don't want Sara to have to go through the same thing that I went through."

"Look, I'm sorry you lost your sister but I'm here for you now. You can tell me anything you want to. And don't worry we're going to find Julie and then everything will be fine. It will all be over soon," Lexi gives her friend a warm smile and they finish their sodas quickly. "Now come on, lets go try to catch up to the others before they start worrying about us."

Lexi places some money down on the table as they begin to leave the diner. They walk outside and look up and down the streets, not exactly sure which way to go.

"Do you know which way they went?" Terri looks up and down the street hoping to see the others. The road is empty and it seems to be way too quiet. The street lamps cast an eerie orangish- red glow through the trees. The wind begins to pick up a little, making the night seem a lot colder than it really was. Terri shivers slightly as they begin walking down the street.

"I'm pretty sure that they went this way," Lexi retraces the others steps as she begins to walk down the street. "They turned the corner down here and I don't know where they went to after..."

Her voice trails off as soon as they turn the corner, freezing as they look in front of them. At the end of the street they see the hospital looming out of the darkness, towering high above the houses and shops around it. It looks haunting in the pale moonlight. The girls shiver as they slowly approach it.

"After you."

Terri shivers, looking over at Lexi as she holds the door open for her. Lexi smiles weakly and walks inside. Terri follows closely behind. As the heavy metal doors slam shut quickly behind them, they jump a little and begin to laugh nervously.

"Come on, let's just go find the others."

They walk down the corridor frightened as they try to find the others.

"This is a really creepy place," Lexi whispers out loud, looking around.

They can hear voices coming from a door just ahead of them and pause, listening to the voices.

~

"Can I help you?" An elderly woman asks as Sara, Chris and Jeffery walk up to the front desk.

"We have came to see someone that might have been brought in a few years ago."

The woman stares at Sara curiously for a moment before looking down at the stack of papers on her desk. She looks back up at Sara confused.

"I was supposed to have been notified the moment that you woke up," Sara looks back at the woman momentarily confused. "What are you doing up, Julie? You are still supposed to be in a coma." The woman says, checking the paperwork on her desk again.

"Well, actually, that is who we are here to see. I am her sister, Sara."

The woman shakes her head and looks at Sara for a moment before clicking some buttons on her computer.

"Look will you please just tell us which room she is in?"

"Just give me a moment please," the woman pushes a few more buttons on her computer before looking back up at Sara, frowning a little. "Julie is supposed to be in room 230, but her room is always kept locked." She steps out from behind the desk and pulls out a set of keys. "I'm not supposed to do this, but I will take you up to her room. Only two of you can go up to her room though. So one of you will have to go sit in the waiting room."

As the woman stands there waiting on them to decide who will be going up to the room with Sara, Lexi and Terri walk into the lobby.

"Hey what took you guys so long?" Chris asks as he looks up to see Lexi and Terri walk towards them.

"Nothing really we just ended up getting something to drink."

Terri looks over at Lexi and flashes her a grateful smile. She is relieved that she hadn't said anything about their conversation in the diner. Lexi looks back at Terri and grins back slightly.

"Anyway, when are we going to get Julie?"

Terri raises her brow as she looks towards the woman who was standing by the elevators.

"Right now, but only two of us can go up to her room," Sara explains to Terri and Lexi.

"Well I think you and Lexi should go," Terri smiles weakly at Sara as she speaks. "The rest of us will be waiting for you guys in the waiting room."

"Alright, we will be back shortly."

Sara and Lexi slowly walk towards the elevators where the nurse is waiting patiently for them. Lexi and Sara follow her quietly into the open elevator and she pushes the button for the fifth floor. The elevator moans and strains as it begins to move upwards.

"Are you sure this thing is even safe?"

Sara becomes nervous as she listens to the gears grinding and popping as they lift the elevator up slowly towards the fifth floor.

"Yeah, it's perfectly safe. We just had a guy come in here and inspect the elevators earlier today," the nurse tells them as the elevator shudders.

"Yeah, I'm sure those sounds are completely normal," Lexi mumbles sarcastically, rolling her eyes as the noises seem to get louder.

"We have nothing to worry about."

Just as the nurse says that everything is okay, the elevator stops with a sudden jolt and the lights flicker off.

"Well, this doesn't feel very safe. Who did you say checked this elevator?" Sara wonders as she looks towards the elderly nurse with fear in her eyes. "Because whoever it was needs to be fired."

"Well I'm not sure, he ever actually gave us his name. But I do remember exactly what he looked like. He was kind of tall, maybe forty years of age, with short black hair and light bluish green eyes. He was kind of muscular built as well," the nurse tells the girls as the elevator creaks again.

Lexi wraps her arm around Sara's as they begin hearing more grinding noises coming from the gears above them. They jump back against the back of the elevator as the doors open suddenly.

"Lets get out of here before this thing falls or something!" Lexi cries out as they hurry out of the elevator.

The doors slam shut just as Lexi and Sara step out of it, trapping the elderly nurse inside. They watch as the elevator goes up three more floors before stopping again.

"Well we might as well go wait by Julie's door."

They begin walking down the hall, trying to find room 230.

"Wait a minute!" Sara whispers as they near the room.

Sara grabs Lexi's arm and pulls her back against the wall.

"What is it?"

"The door is supposed to always be kept locked right?" she asks, still whispering as she looks towards room 230.

"Yeah that's what the nurse told us," Lexi whispers back as she looks at Sara confused.

"Well if that's true, then why is the door standing wide open."

Lexi follows Sara's gaze down the hall and sees the door standing wide open, swinging back and forth slightly on its hinges. Cautiously, Sara slowly begins to move along the wall until she is right beside the doorway to her sisters room.

"Sara are you sure that's such a good idea, you do know the guy the nurse described kind of sounded an awful lot like our father," Lexi whispers to Sara as she begins to peak around the door frame into the room.

"Yeah I know but I'll be fine. Besides there is nobody in the room."

Sara sighs with relief.

They enter the room and walk over to the bed. Excitement begins to build up in the pit of Sara's stomach as she grabs the corner of the cloth surrounding her sisters bed.

Finally sis, I am here for you now. She thinks as she begins pulling the cloth back.

"Where is she?" she whispers as she stares down at the empty bed in disappointment.

"Don't worry Sara, we are going to find her."

Lexi places a hand on Sara's shoulder as a cool gust of wind blows into the room.

They walk over to the open window and stare down at the ground five stories below them.

"What if our father already has her. What if it really is already too late to save her. You heard the message she sent to me through Terri," she cries out, letting the tears forming in the corners of her eyes run down her cheeks and drip down onto the ground below them. "What if…"

"Sara, I know we will find Julie soon. I also know that wherever she is, she is safe. We just have to try to stay positive," Lexi puts her left arm around Sara's shoulders and smiles at her friend. "Now, come on, let's get back to the others."

They exit the empty room and walk back down the hall towards the elevators. As Sara presses the button to call the elevator and waits, they begin hearing footsteps running down the hall towards them. Neither girl wants to turn around to see who is running towards them. As soon as one of the elevators doors open, they quickly jump inside. Lexi hurriedly pushes the first floor button several times. As the doors begin to close, Sara catches a glimpse of a familiar figure standing at the end of the hall and gasps loudly.

"Michael!" Sara exclaims loudly as the doors slam shut.

They stand there shocked as the elevator begins to descend.

How on earth did Michael know we were even here? She thinks to herself as the elevator jerks and stops on the second floor.

"Why did the elevator stop for, I thought you pushed the button for the first floor."

"I did, but this elevator is just messed up."

The elevator gives another little jerk and stops again. The doors come open and they realize the elevator is stuck between the first and second floor. There is at least a two foot gap between the bottom of the elevator and the ceiling for the first floor.

"Quickly, lets get off this elevator before it falls," Sara looks down at the floor and slides through the opening. She lands on her feet quietly and looks up at Lexi. "Alright Lexi your turn, hurry up before the doors decide to close again or something."

Lexi looks down at the floor and begins to feel a little dizzy. "I don't think I can do this."

"Lexi it's easy, hurry before the elevator moves again," Sara calls up to her friend.

Lexi looks down at her friend and takes a deep breath. She then tries to slide through the doors just as Sara had done. But instead of landing on her feet, she lands on her side painfully. As soon as she lands on the ground, the doors close and the elevator begins going back up.

"That was a close one," Lexi tries to laugh a little.

Sara walks over and reaches her hand down to Lexi.

"Come on, let's just go find the others and get out of here."

Sara grabs Lexi's arm and helps her to her feet. Lexi winces a little and grabs her side. They take one last look at the elevators before walking back down the stairs and heading towards the waiting room.