Reyona had no idea how much time had passed before the door opened again.
Never in her life did she know that she would be so grateful for that tiny slant of light.
The light did not even reach where she was, but it was something.
Something other than the crippling darkness that seemed to be seeping under her skin.
Keeping Allysyn's face in her mind had been one of the things that had staved off the gloom.
Reminding herself that the girl was alright was the goal.
Maybe they can release Allysyn even if they keep her?
Then she would remember Pat and sobbed behind her gag.
When she started giving in to despair, she would remember Maxwell.
He must be on his way already. He would surely get them out of this, and they could all go home.
Then she would remember Junior and vow to open her heart to that delightful kid fully.
Then her family would come to her mind and she would wonder what they would do if something happened to her.
It was the darkness.
It was doing something to her mind.
It was driving her crazy and she began to believe that was part of the plan.
Drive her crazy with the sinister darkness. Then finish her off.
At one point she felt like she heard some argument nearby, but she was not sure.
She just wanted this horrible darkness to stop.
Then the door opened and her entire world at the moment seemed to depend on that slash of glorious light.
The light was disturbed for a moment as a figure stepped in.
"Thank god, he kept the light on" was the first thought in her mind when the all-black, masked figure stepped inside fully without closing the door.
Then she heard the voice even as the masked figure removed her mask to show a sharp angular face with sickly pallor and dark, short hair.
"Did you think you would be in this situation, bitch?! Guess who the boss is now." She sneered with a cackle.
The shock was the least of what Reyona was feeling as she felt like launching at the soulless being in front of her.
"How could you?!" She screamed.
At least she did so in her mind. The only thing that came out through the gag was grunts and squeaks.
The chair scraped against the concrete floor as Reyona strained against the chair.
She just needed to wrap her hands around that bitch's neck.
That was all.
The world will thank her for it and she will have no regrets.
Frustrated tears squeezed out of her eyes as the struggle only made the cable ties chafe and cut deeper into her skin.
Susan Rohan cupped her hands against her ear as if trying to listen to something.
"What? Uh? You were saying? Oh, I am sorry. I don't listen to mumbo jumbo". She let out a shrill cackle before the mirth wiped from her face as fast as it had come.
She turned her head towards the door. "Well, what are you waiting for, girl? Come on in and meet our guest of honour."
"No, it can't be. No, no, no." Reyona's mind strained against the possibility of the height of this woman's madness.
She need not bother because what she feared was exactly what happened.
Allysyn hesitantly entered her frame of vision.
Unharmed!
Unharmed, untied, yet terrified.
"Ally…!" Reyona struggled, and the chair almost tipped over this time as she saw Allysyn finally looking away from Susan and towards her.
"Reyona! You…"
Susan grabbed her before she could rush forward to Reyona.
"Now, look here. You little bitch. I am your mama! I gave birth to you, ruined my body for you and suffered for you. That woman right there is the enemy. She is the worst!"
As if she didn't hear her, Allysyn turned her head towards Reyona and said "You came."
Reyona had never felt more helpless in her life as she tried to speak but couldn't.
"Of course, she came. She came back to take my brother's money! She came back to take you away from me again. She is a thief. Always stealing everything. Now stay right there and listen to a story. A story of how this bitch stole everything from me!"
She picked up something that she had used to prop the door open.
She jerked it away and plunged them all into the gloom again.
Reyona had seen it though.
The object.
It was a baseball bat!
*********
"The number you dialled is switched off!"
"Come on, come on!" Maxwell muttered in desperation as the tracking path got choppy.
He heard the switched-off voice notification from Andrew's phone just as he heard one of the gardeners telling Celia, "I saw Madam leaving through the back door the other time. I thought…"
"And you couldn't stop her?" he thundered.
The man dropped to his knees in fear as he said hastily. "I thought she was taking a walk, sir. I am sorry, sir."
Maxwell rounded on the security men standing in line behind them. "You! All of you! You are fired!"
"Max, I think you should calm down…"
"Don't tell me to calm down!" Maxwell said as he headed in the direction of the garage.
"Where are you going, Max? The police are on their way."
"I don't care what the fuck the police are doing. I am going to get my woman."
"But you can't be that sure of that link. The phone is switched off, so how…"
"Listen to me," Maxwell said as he turned back and grabbed Andrew's shirt. "She sent that link to me because she expected me to save her. She doesn't ask for anything. Now tell me if you would sit around and wait for the fucking police if this was Celia!"
When he saw the look on his friend's face, he said "I didn't think so." He let go of his shirt and walked towards one of the cars. "Now you can either help me or get the fuck out of my way!"
He had barely finished his statement when he felt Andrew behind him.
"Give me the damn key", Andrew said, as he snatched the key from his hand.
In fury, Maxwell said, "Hey, I told you…"
"Get in the damn car, will you? We are not dying first."
"What are you doing?" Celia asked in fear as she saw them driving outside.
Andrew stopped and said, "He will go anyway."
She looked over to Maxwell who had his eyes glued to the phone and firmed her mouth as she nodded and patted her husband's arm. "Be careful"
"We have to tell the police to look into Julian as well."
That got Maxwell's attention. "Who the fuck is Julian?"
"One of your security men. He got off some minutes before the gardener saw Reyona. He said he was sick. His number is not going through now."
Maxwell's eyes widened as he swore in realisation.
"Let's go!" He said to Maxwell as he connected the phone's coordinates to the car control centre.
Andrew nodded at his worried wife before he drove off.
Just as they were about to leave the estate, three police cars blocked their path.
Officer Guy stepped out.