Silent - Danger

The Present, Lucy

The walls are caving in, the darkness suffocating her, thick smog, like the smoke from the fire. Her parents' killer is close by, tormenting her with mind games, pretending to be the father of her half-brother Pete Whittaker, Katie's son.

I'm never going to get out of here.

In the corridor, footsteps sound again.  She waits, no longer afraid of the Angel of Mercy.  She must fool him.  She must pretend she's prepared to do what he says, and then hurt him when he relaxes. Or she must feign illness and injure him that way. Two years ago, she got into trouble.  Two years ago, she managed to escape.  She could do it again.

He enters the room through the unseen door and shines the torch in her face. 'This is your very last chance. I want the full truth: why did you contact Peter Whittaker and what did he reveal to you in his messages? If you don't tell me, you'll be punished again.'

***
The man's finished interrogating her.  He wants to know everything.  Who she's contacted. What she told the police two years ago. Whether she's made recent contact with Katie Whittaker.  Whether the Boy ever talks about him.  If so, what does he say?  She has to answer the questions four or five times.

'We've got to get out of here,' he says, speaking quickly. 'There are people on our case. Bad people.'

'Really?' she says. A chance to escape. He's decided they must to leave, which means he will need to undo her feet.  Once free, she will need to push him over and run for help.

Who are these people on his case?   Did Maxine finally raise the alarm?

'You are very ignorant, Lucy,' he says. 'Thinking that these people will help you.  The people are bad people, dangerous people.'

The Angel of Mercy comes over.

A killer.

'Where are we going?' she says.

'Stop talking.' The man starts to remove the wires on her legs.  His hands are shaking, she notices.   He's afraid.  That has to be good. Or bad.  Fear could make him more unpredictable.

Keeping her head still in order not to make the man suspicious, she uses her eyes to look around the room for a way of getting out, away from the man. But there's nothing really, just darkness and torchlight. She can't even see a door.  

Silently, she counts. As soon as she's up, she'll…    

'Come on.'  He yanks her to her feet. Any thoughts of escape vanish as reality sets in.  He hasn't released her arms, just her legs.  Around her, everything has started to spin, blending with the semi-darkness.

The man shakes her. 'Stop that.'  He's catching her now, supporting her with his arm. 'Stay still, or there'll be consequences.'  

I've got to find a way out of this building.

'We're in trouble,' the man says.  He helps her out of the room and down a corridor, into freezing blackness and flickering torchlight. 'Come on, quickly.'

She has no trainers on – so he told her earlier – but she can't feel her feet properly. Nor the floor below.  The Angel of Mercy supports her to stop her from losing her balance. A dank industrial smell hangs in the air, metallic like rusty nails and screws.  She glances around for a means of escape and hopes the man won't notice, but everything looks the same. Foggy. Thick, brooding smoke waiting to destroy her, like it destroyed Mum and Dad.

They reach a short flight of concrete stairs, and then the main area of a large disused building, the man's footsteps echoing. The feeling begins to return to her own feet.
A cold floor. She hears Gavin shouting in the background: let me go.

The Angel of Mercy pauses, presenting an ideal moment for her to act.

Her shoulders.  Use them to push him over. Attempt to escape.  

'Go on, push me and run,' he says, guessing her thoughts again. 'If you can.' He stands right in front of her. 'That's what you want to do, isn't it?  Shove me to the ground with your shoulders and run and find help for your friend, Gavin. Go on then. I'll make it easy for you. Give me a big, hard shove. I'll let you.'

Come on, brain. Act.  I'm going to die if I don't get out of here.

'Well?' he says. 'You can't do it, can you? Even if you were strong enough to push me, you wouldn't.'  Dropping his voice to a whisper, he says, 'Remember what I told you about the scars on my arm?  I have powers you know nothing of.'

Silently, they resume their walk and come to more concrete steps.  Rusty nails. Cement walls.  The Angel of Mercy pulls at her when she starts to fall again.

'The last chance,' he warns. 'Next time you lag behind, I'll lock you in the room again and set fire to the whole building.  And this time, you won't escape.  You were lucky to escape the other time, when you were seven and your father tried to kill you.'