DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
By TDLAmador
Chapter 7
Melissa peeked from underneath her hiding place as Thomas returned, opening the top of the cage and placing Becky down beside the blanket.
"Don't worry, little lady," he whispered, looking over where Melissa cowered with a sinister grin on his face, "I'll be back to have a little fun with you later on."
Once he'd left, Melissa ran over to Becky, who lay curled up in a ball, disheveled and shivering. "Becky?" Melissa asked gently, hearing her sobs, "Can I help?"
Becky shook her head, attempting to wipe away her tears, "There's nothing you can do. He . . . he . . ." she shivered and wrapped her arms around her chest, her shoulders shaking as she cried softly.
"It's ok," Melissa said, hugging her as best she could, "you don't have to talk about it."
Looking over at her, Becky managed a weak smile and sat up slowly, wiping more tears from her face, "Thanks Melissa. That guy is even worse than the older guy, Samuel I think his name is. The older guy doesn't get involved in what Thomas does to us. I don't know if it's because Thomas is doing it without his knowledge, or if Alex just doesn't care. Thomas thinks we're toys that he can play with. I saw him take Amanda," she indicated to the cage beside them where a blonde-haired girl lay curled up against the side of the cage, "off yesterday morning and could hear her crying when he brought her back. I've never met someone as cruel as he is before; he actually likes to hurt us, claiming its part of the tests that he's supposed to conduct." Shaking her head, she continued, "I saw his face when he wasn't looking. It's fun for him; he actually gets pleasure out of seeing us in pain."
Melissa shivered at the thought, her eyes looking fearfully at the door where Thomas had gone, "What's he going to do to me? I mean, I'm so much smaller than you are."
Becky reached down and gently picked Melissa up, "Don't think about it. Hopefully Samuel will keep him busy so he won't come back." Setting Melissa on her thigh, Becky decided to try to change the subject, "So who is this Carl guy?"
"What?" Melissa looked up in surprise, "Where did you hear that?"
A giggle escaped Becky's lips and she smiled, realizing how good it felt to laugh, "You must have been dreaming of him because you kept calling out his name when you slept."
Looking down at her hands, Melissa said, "He's my fiancée. We were going to meet up at Inspiration Point last night, but that was until Thomas kidnapped me. Oh no!"
"What is it?" Becky asked, concerned at Melissa's outburst.
"My engagement ring! I dropped it when Thomas attacked me!" Covering her face, Melissa moaned, "It belonged to Carl's mother and I've lost it!"
"It's probably for the best," Becky answered, much to Melissa's surprise. "Remember, before they shrunk us, they stripped us and put these ridiculous lavender spandex suits on us. They even took my navel ring. I don't know what they do with all the stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised if they melt down the gold, sell off any valuables we have and keep the money. If you had the ring when they brought you here, they would have taken it from you. At least there's a chance that someone will find it."
Melissa nodded, still saddened that she'd lost the ring, "I don't know what I'm gonna do, Becky. Trapped at an inch tall for the rest of my life . . . I don't think I can stay sane like this."
"Listen to me," Becky said, looking Melissa at seriously, "I know it sounds stupid and corny, but you can't give up. There's just got to be a way out of this somehow. I don't know what it is, but if we just accept things the way they are, we'll all go insane. For all you know, you could grow a little bit and reach my size. It seems that they haven't gotten to the point where the machine can shrink us below three inches indefinitely. You've gotten keep hoping, all right? Now come on, tell me more about Carl. He sounds like a great guy."
As Carl sped down the road towards the address on the printout, he began to realize that maybe his uncle was right; maybe he should have waited for the police. No, he thought as he shook his head, Uncle John said they were little better than security guards so even if they did come, they wouldn't be of much use. Better that he check things out and contact his uncle if he found anything. Glancing off to the right, Carl could see the old house that sat on top of Banniker Hill. That was where he had to go, but if this Alexander Samuel was the one who had abducted Melissa, Carl couldn't simply come charging up the hill, announcing himself to the guy. No, he had to sneak in, and he knew just the way . . .
Ten minutes later, Carl knelt beside the edge of the tree line near the back of the house. He'd parked the car at the base of the hill in a stand of trees so no one would see it from the house. By now the sun was setting, casting long shadows across the lawn, almost to the house itself. Carl crept around to the backside of the house, furthest away from the town and better concealed by the forest, confident that he could get inside undetected. Although lights where on in the house, Carl was unable to see any movement near any of the windows. He wished he'd brought a set of binoculars to get a better look, but there was no sense in worrying about it now. As the sun finally set below the horizon and darkness began to settle across the hill, Carl quickly sprinted across the lawn and over to the back door, listening for any movement.
After taking a moment to relax and quiet his breathing, Carl knelt in front of the door and pulled out his lock pick tools from his jacket pocket. It had been a couple of months since he'd last used them, but he was positive that he wouldn't have any trouble getting inside. After all, he'd had plenty of times to practice on locks like these at home, much to Uncle John's irritation. Carefully inserting the two tools, Carl deftly manipulated the lock until he heard a soft "click", then quietly turned the knob and opened the door enough to see inside. After taking a moment to slip the tools back into his pouch, he began to put them in his jacket pocket when he realized he'd left something in there. Carl was surprised to find the password scanner that he and Uncle John had finished.
"Hmmm, I forgot about this," he commented, stuffing it back into his pocket as he realized he was wasting time. Keeping low, Carl opened the door and slipped inside, closing and locking the door behind him.
The house was quiet, which bothered him. He'd seen the car parked outside, which meant someone was around, but unless this Samuel guy was confident that no one knew who had kidnapped Melissa, Carl didn't see how the house could be this quiet. Pressing up against a kitchen cabinet, he looked around, trying to get a feel for the house. A simple dinner table with rickety metal chairs was up against the far wall, a few newspapers and various junk placed on top of it. Satisfied that he didn't hear anyone nearby, Carl began a cursory inspection of the first floor, finding that the house was sparsely furnished, almost haphazardly in the pieces of furniture that filled each room.
As he passed through each room, Carl found that it didn't make sense. In one room, he saw a pair of antique rocking chairs beside a glass and steel table with a porcelain lamp set on top of it. There were no pictures, no paintings or artwork on the walls, not even candleholders or some other decoration. In another room, there was a high-backed couch that looked out of place as well as an old plush loveseat reminiscent of the seventies. Whatever this Samuel guy was, he definitely wasn't an interior decorator that was for sure, Carl thought to himself.
Carl slipped over to the stairs, hoping they wouldn't give him away as he quickly ascended to the upper level. To his left, he saw three rooms and a bathroom, and two rooms were to the right. Turning to the right, he quietly looked inside each room, surprised to find them completely empty, not one piece of furniture or even a bed in either one of them. This is getting weird, he thought to himself. Turning back towards the other half of the floor, he made a quick inspection of the other rooms, only to find that all but one room was the same as the first two he'd seen. The last room was actually furnished decently, with a queen sized bed that looked like it had been slept in recently. A dresser and a small nightstand also filled the room, but nothing seemed to stand out. Even the bathroom lacked the feel of having been used, a thin layer of dust covering the countertop.
Stopping for a second, Carl tried to think about what else seemed strange about this place. Well, for one thing, he'd not seen a telephone on either level, even though a phone line stretched from the house out to a pole nearby. In addition, he noticed that there were very few electrical appliances. The one bedroom that looked lived in didn't even have an alarm clock, not even a battery powered one. The kitchen lacked a refrigerator, microwave, or even a stove. There had been no washer, dryer or any other large appliance, not even a television. Suddenly, Carl realized that the house must be a front, no one actually lived here, even with the bed in the room he'd just come out of. It was only meant for temporary use, nothing more. What about the basement, he thought. Maybe there would be something there that would help him figure out where Melissa was.
Carefully, he made his way back downstairs to the first floor, and came around the corner to the kitchen where he found the door leading to the basement. Trying to avoid making noise, Carl crept down the stairs until he reached the bottom where he saw a light on in the back of the basement, out of his direct sight. Carl peered around the corner, but as with the other two floors, there was no one present, just a light hanging from the ceiling in the corner. Stranger still, the basement was even emptier that the other two floors, completely bare to the walls, with only one wall completed near the light.
Kneeling down, Carl felt a wave of despair roll over him. He'd hoped that this Samuel guy had brought Melissa here and that it would be simple to find her, get her to safety and call the police. Instead, there didn't seem to be any indication that she'd been here at all. Sighing softly, he made to turn back to the stairs when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. During his time on the streets, Carl learned to notice things, to see details that others might miss. It had saved his life a couple times when some gang members intended to take him by surprise, but failed to realize that their footprints had given them away.
The basement was carpeted, which was odd by itself because of the lack of furnishings. However, the carpet wasn't what caught his attention so much as what was on the carpet. Faint streaks of dirt, as if from tennis shoes, had been ground into the carpet. Backing towards the stairs, Carl could see that they were in regular intervals, from the stairs to the one wall that was completed. What was strange was that the dirty footprints ended right at the wall, almost cut in half. Looking around and then thinking about the way the house appeared from outside, Carl realized that the basement was below ground far enough that there couldn't possibly be windows in the basement, unless holes were dug to allow the light down into them. Realization dawned on him as he began to inspect the wall until he was certain of one thing . . . it wasn't a real wall!
Quietly, he rapped his knuckles on the paneling, listening for a difference in the sound that he heard. At first, his knocking was high pitched, a deeper sound, indicating that the paneling was attached to studs or maybe the concrete foundation. As he moved to the middle of the wall where the footprints had been cut off, the sounds of his knocking turned into dull thuds that echoed slightly and he knew he'd found something. A further inspection finally showed him what he'd hoped for, a hidden panel. Admittedly, it seemed a little ridiculous to find a secret panel in a home like this, but with the situation being as it was, Carl wasn't going to put anything past this Samuel guy. Perhaps he had a secret room where he kept people like Melissa tied up. Whatever the case may be, Carl knew he was on the right track.
The panel was about waist level and opened up with a gentle push, sliding back to reveal a card reader with two blinking lights, one red and one green. Now he knew something was up. For a moment, he bent down and looked at the reader, trying to figure out how it worked and how he could make it open the door it guarded. Reaching into his jacket pocket, Carl realized he had what he needed already. Drawing out the password scanner, he turned it on and watched as the screen flared to life, quickly booting up to indicate that it was ready. Carl pulled the data card that he'd wired into the scanner out of its sleeve and inserted it into the card reader, pressing the "Engage" button on the scanner as he whispered a silent prayer that all the work he and his uncle had done would pay off.
The card slipped smoothly into the slot, causing the red light to begin blinking slowly. A momentarily fear that it had not worked flared in his heart, but he looked down and sighed in relief as the scanner's screen flashed "Scanning, Standby".
"C'mon, c'mon, I don't have all night," he said softly.
Numbers began to scroll on the screen, rapidly locking into the proper sequence that the reader was asking for. Beads of sweat began to trickle down his neck as he watched the program continue when the screen suddenly went blank.
"Shit! Not now! C'mon you useless piece of . . ." Carl looked down again in surprise as eight numbers appeared blinking a soft green color with the words "Password accepted" flashing on the screen.
The red light on the card reader went out and the green light lit up as a click sounded in front of him. Carl backed away as he watched the paneling slide to the side, revealing a set of metal stairs that led down into darkness. After pulling the scanner card out of the card reader, he quickly slipped into the stairwell, descending the stairs.
"Well," he whispered to himself, "I'm in for it now." The stairs descended for about fifteen feet before they wrapped back around and descended further, a light strip lining the stairwell kept him from being completely in the dark.
"Thomas, what are the results of subject fourteen's initial reduction?"
Glancing over at Doctor Samuel, Thomas picked up the printouts and handed it to him, "They're encouraging, sir. Although I'm wondering if we adjusted the wave band enough to compensate for the shift we've been incurring."
"We'll just have to wait and see, my boy," Samuel replied. "Come here for a moment, I need some help with this relay."
As Thomas walked over to assist Doctor Samuel, a red light began to blink rapidly on a security monitor behind him, labeled "House Entrance" but his back was already turned so he didn't see it. Alex held up a burnt out computer board and frowned, "Another problem with this technology. It places a strain on the system every time we use it." Even as they discussed equipment problems, the door that Carl entered slid shut.
"That shouldn't be a problem, Doctor. I made sure to have extra boards available in case this problem came up," Thomas assured Doctor Samuel as he turned towards the monitor and the part he needed. Just as he was about to look down, the red light turned off and Thomas was oblivious to it's warning. "Here we go, that should fix the problem."