The fair-haired intruder moved closer to the old house set far back from the crumbling ash-fault road. Trees, over-grown bushes and long grass obscured the once stately home from view and the petite sleuth had to pick her way carefully through the underbrush. Unbeknownst to the bold intruder, her progress was being observed on security surveillance cameras and what she had hoped would be a quick, quiet survey of a potential suspect was about to become an encounter that would push her physical and mental fortitude to the very limit.
Solving mysteries drew Nancy like a moth to flame, especially ones where she felt she could do real good for the world, and the case of the disappearing young women of River Heights absolutely needed her skills as an amateur detective. Four young women had vanished over the last six months and no-one seemed any closer to a solution after the forth than when the first one went missing.
Nancy was compelled to solve mysteries, but this case had begun to obsess her. Nancy knew these women and the holes left in the lives of their loved ones. The grief and desperation of the families impelled Nancy to leave no stone unturned. All that stone turning had lead Nancy to that house on the edge of River Heights near the highway. Nancy had driven her little blue roadster past here many times and never noticed this house, it was so well hidden from view.
For hours that evening, Nancy had been following a series of clues that made her believe a van that had been spotted near many of the abductions might be parked on that property somewhere. Edging closer to the house, using the overgrown bushes for cover, the adventurous young woman diligently pursued her lead. Slowly, patiently, Nancy drew closer to the house, doing her best to avoid being seen from any windows. To her eye the place looked abandoned, but two neighbours assured her that a man lived there and that, yes, in fact he did drive a white van on occasion.
Once she reached the house, Nancy moved toward the rear while peeking in windows low enough for her to see into. Inside, the house was dark with various objects periodically illuminated by the dim moonlight. Overgrown plants bursting out of pots too small for them filled the windows, trinkets, gewgaws and baubles filled most surfaces she could see, giving the slivers of view inside the look of an old grandma's house.
All the basement windows were covered in cobwebs, impenetrable in the low light.
The back yard was equally overgrown, with a few outbuildings visible in the uncertain light. A garage, and an old barn were the closest buildings. Since Nancy was seeking a van, she moved toward the garage next.
Shinning her trusty flashlight through a window in the garage door, she saw two vehicles, an old rusty BMW and a white service van. The van looked exactly like six different witnesses had described it.
A noise from the barn warned Nancy that she might not be alone. Switching off her flashlight, she peered at the large wooden building looming deeper in the gloom of the yard. In the few seconds it took for Nancy's eyes to adjust, no more noises came from the building, but when she had her night vision once more, Nancy saw the faintest glow of light coming from around the edges of a door.
Calmly, the fearless sleuth approached the hunched building listening for any sounds. Somewhere a coyote howled and another answered from much closer, the pack animals hunting some unsuspecting prey.
Nancy thought of herself as the hunter.
The door with the light coming from behind it was metal. Nancy tried the door knob and found it turned quietly. Before she risked pulling it open, Nancy used her flashlight to quickly look at the hinges. If they were rusty and dry, she wouldn't pull the door open, but the hinges looked well oiled. Tugging on the door, she found it heavy, but quiet. Slowly, she inched it open, not sure what she might see on the other side.
The large space beyond was a workshop with all manner of tool and devices to run an acreage. Nothing surprising or suspicious. The light source was a single bulb hanging from a wire on the other side of the space.
A far off whisper of a sound barely reached her ears between breaths.
Holding as still as possible, not breathing, Nancy strained to make out what she was hearing, but the sound didn't repeat.
Then a feeble susurration reached her. It sounded like a far off woman sobbing.
Nancy moved forward, toward the sound, carefully crossing the solid wooden floor.
Beyond the dangling, bare light-bulb, a small hallway stretched further into the building and Nancy saw three doors in the hall.
Nancy wore a casual checked work shirt over a t-shirt. Removing her work shirt, she used it as a glove and unscrewed the light-bulb above her just enough for it to turn off. When her eyes adjusted to the pitch dark that followed, she saw a nearly imperceptible beam of light coming from the end of the hallway.
It wasn't coming from one of the three doors, however. It came from the floor.
Screwing the light-bulb back in, Nancy tip-toed toward the end of the hall, her eyes on the floor. In the uncertain light, she could just make out the trap-door in the floor. If she hadn't done her trick with the bulb, she thought she might not have noticed the forth door here.
Standing over the trap door, Nancy considered lifting it when the door at the very end of the hall opened and a dark figure emerged to wrap a pair of strong arms around her. Nancy struggled, this wasn't her first physical altercation, but her assailant had been lying in wait. A cloth was placed over her mouth and a strong, chemical smell filled her nose and mouth. Darkness began to swallow her and Nancy struggled as if her very life were at stake, but the dark void soon took her and she ceased struggling.
*****
The darkness receded reluctantly. Nancy felt clouded and detached from herself. Using discipline she'd honed over years of focused study, Nancy gathered her wits about herself and attempted to take stock of her situation.
The fuzzy, floating quality of her mind resisted her authority, but Nancy assessed her physical state.
There was no light, or rather her eyes were covered. A bag or something appeared to be covering her head. Turning her head side to side made it swim, but she could feel a soft cloth encasing her.
Another one of the reasons she felt unusual was that, even though she was just waking up, she wasn't lying down.
Nancy realized she was standing with her back to a wooden wall, her arms crucified by wrist and bicep. Metal clamps of some sort restrained her. Her arms were sore from supporting her weight, but they weren't numb, so she determined she couldn't have been there too long.
Trying to move her feet revealed that her ankles were also immobilized, her legs spread wide. Gathering herself further, Nancy stood on wobbly legs, sparing her arms from doing all the work of supporting her weight.
Six metal clamps held her to the wall, a bag covered her head and she felt drugged. This was not her best day.
Taking a few calming breathes, struggling to gather her drugged wits, Nancy reminded herself that this wasn't the first time she had been captured by a bad person. The danger-seeking young woman actually admitted to herself she felt a little bit thrilled by her dangerous situation. Late at night, she periodically teased herself with subtly altered memories of those thrilling times she had been tied up and threatened.
The sound of footsteps penetrated her mental fog, interrupting a decidedly unprofessional train of thought and Nancy listened closely for any sounds that would give her a clue as to what was happening above her.
The footsteps sounded dull and muffled. The floor was very solid wood. If it were the floor of the barn she had entered, it was made of big, thick planks of wood. Someone would have to be directly above her to hear her scream through those boards.
The dim footsteps moved to her left and sounded like they were coming down some steps. The gentle thud of a heavy wooded object, followed by the sound of something being latched, indicated that the trap door was heavy, well maintained- there were no squeaking hinges- and that she was locked in.
