Chapter 22: The One Who Was Released

Eliza had been walking through the streets of New York City when the TVs in a nearby store window caught her eye. A local boy had gone missing under unknown circumstances. His parents had said it was like he just disappeared right under their noses. It was someone named Alex Martin. He was fourteen and he'd disappeared from his room while working on homework in his room. His parents had been home and they knew he hadn't snuck out. They'd gone to get him for dinner and he was just gone.

She thought nothing of it at first of course because there was no way it had happened again. It was too soon. It wasn't until she saw four other cases like this that she knew what was going on. No one had believed her before. They thought she'd gone crazy but boy were they wrong. This was proof that Vivian was back at it again.

She went back to her apartment and grabbed the map she'd hidden in her desk. On it she'd marked the location of Vivian's house. In the past few years she'd managed to find out where Vivian's daughter, Julia, lived. Julia was the only one Vivian allowed in and out which meant she was Eliza's only ticket back into the house.

She'd been there before of course but she'd been the only one to make it out before. She felt bad for the others in her group. She'd spent a month locked away in that manor. She'd befriended everyone she'd been trapped with and she actually missed them. Vivian hadn't given her a choice when she'd been teleported away. Eliza only remembered waking up next to the road in Virginia.

She couldn't just let those poor kids remain trapped there. Last year she had figured out who murdered Vivian and why. She'd left behind her notes while she'd been there for any other unfortunate souls who found themselves stuck within those walls. Not that it was as up to date as the new information she'd gained. Still she’d hoped it would help them find out who committed the murder and hopefully make it out alive and in doing so prevent Vivian from abducting anyone else in the future.

Now she feared without intervention something truly horrible was going to happen now that Vivian had taken them five years sooner than usual. She packed a bag planning to pay Julia a little visit. She had no intention of staying at home with five more kids in danger. She took off to find Julia and her resolve strengthened.