Behind the door, there stood a small balcony. It was dark but still it could be visible, as it was somewhat lit up by the light dissipating from Jean's room when he opened the door.
'This curiosity of mine, is becoming too much now.'
As he took a few steps forward and stepped on the balcony. He shifted his gaze to the right.
Almost immediately, he flinched and quickly looked away. He was not believing what his sight had caught. Although it was dark, he was still able to identify some branches of the ominous tree hanging by the right end of the balcony.
'What did I just saw? That thing is creepy.'
Tilting his neck slowly towards the right side of the balcony, Jean felt dreadful. After cautiously staring at the tree for a while, he snorted and looked around.
'Nothing again. Why can't I just ignore what I had felt initially. Should I have a closer look or what? No… that won't be wise. Let me just get back in the room and wait for the official house tour tomorrow. But I still have to inquire how mom managed to acquire this fancy, luxurious bungalow.'
Entering the house and closing the door behind him, Jean sighed and studied the room once again. Letting out a maniac smile, Jean moved closer to his bed.
'So, this is how the so called "Rich" live. I guess we are now even. Though we can't compare in terms of lifestyle, at least in terms of home, we the village rats, are up there with them.'
Feeling utterly spent; Jean tiredly looked at the bed right in front of him with admiration. Almost simultaneously, he threw himself in the bed like a log of wood, and then sighed.
'It is time to reward myself with some rest. I have really worked hard today… that Journey wasn't an easy task. With the brief tour added to the mixture… Huh! That just explains how exhausted I am.'
Lying on his stomach on bed, Jean pondered.
'That narrow gate. There must be something about it. How can it be an emergency gate and at the same time serve another purpose? The purpose that according to mom, is its main. What could be that? Does it open to the extension of the compound or what? I must know it. I can't wait for tomorrow…'
As Jean was in his reverie, his eyelids tended to grow heavier and heavier with each passing minute, until they couldn't hold on anymore. Without even knowing, he fell into the embrace of sleep.
***
Back to today.
Trying to regain his consciousness, Jean shifted a little.
'These voices don't sound well with me.'
The more he paid attention to the strange voices, the more unease he grew.
Time slowed down a bit and absolute silence reigned for some minutes. The only thing that disturbed the silence this time, was some distant hooting, and subtle vibrations underneath him.
'This sound seems familiar to me.'
From the pulses he was receiving from the vibrations he was experiencing; Jean had suspected that the vibrations were originating from a moving vehicle. But since he wasn't sure with his guesses, he had to do something to confirm.
With this thought in mind, he immediately opened his eyes to prove his speculation. At that moment, he realized that something was not right.
All his sight could catch was utter darkness. Feeling a cold chill running down his spine, he shuddered as his heart raced wildly in his chest.
'…Am I blind? This can't be... wait… when did this happen? Perhaps I am missing something in this mishap.'
When he lifted his arm to touch his face, he was dazed on the spot. His hand couldn't move even an inch. At that moment, a pang of pain struck his left shoulder. He was prompted to shift his right hand to touch the hurting area, but on his second attempt, he managed to achieve a similar result as his hand couldn't move.
'Why is my body not responding to my commands. Am I possessed in some way? …No! That can't be…'
Almost simultaneously, Jean tried moving his legs. Them too couldn't move. Feeling alarmed by what was happening to him, Jean decided to shout for help.
Opening his mouth to shout the name of his friend – Axel, he was stunned. The voice couldn't come out of his mouth, as the mouth couldn't open. It was strongly sealed.
This was the moment he felt that something was amiss. Suddenly, he felt a slight headache at the back of his head.
Feeling glued to one spot, Jean tried scrambling for safety. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't achieve any potent result.
When he increased his concentration, he noticed something strange. He felt something imposing a cutting pain on his limbs.
'…what could be that?'
This was a tight rope that had been tied across his limbs. It had tied the hands and the legs together, forbidding Jean from any subtle movement.
Under his aching left shoulder, he felt a tentative texture. This was the texture of a motor seat. Trying to move his body, he felt a tension force on his limbs. They were tied tightly on the seat he was lying on. His eyes were sealed, too.
He was about to ask that who did this to him, but immediately remembered that his lips couldn't move. They were tightly sealed by a strong tape.
He also felt another tension force across his body. It was the safety belt that was used to hold him in place and prevent him from unnecessary shaking, as a result of the movement of the vehicle he was in.
'What did I do to deserve this wicked treatment? Could this mean that Axel is in similar situation as me? Let me hope not, because if this ends up being what I am thinking, then I will be in dire need of his help to rescue me.'
After combining the turn of events since he regained his consciousness, Jean ended up with one conclusion. He was kidnapped.
This was true, as he was indeed in the hands of kidnappers. The reason to why he was kidnapped, was still not known to him.
While still in his reverie, the strange voices resounded once again. This time they were loud and clear.
"…When should we be arriving at our next destination?"
"Which destination are you talking about?"
"Where we are going to leave this vehicle."
"That isn't your business. Your work was to identify the subject for us and you already did that. So, please leave the rest to us."
"Yeah! Tell him. We were the ones who were given the heaviest task."
"Idiot! which heavy task did you do? Running your mouth is what you are good at."
When this conversation fell on Jean's ears, he felt a cold chill down his spine. Albeit he wasn't sure about his guesses, he had a strong feeling that the conversation had something to do with him.
'The subject… what could that be. I guess that is me. What about…. Identifying the subject? So, if the subject was me, there are some ways they were able to identify me. How was that possible? What do I have that can easily differentiate me from other people? But the last time I checked; I was just a common person…!'
With a grim expression on his face, he shuddered.
'Could it be what I am thinking. Wealthy friend…'
When he was sure that he was kidnapped, Jean tried to scan for possible reasons behind his kidnap and settled on one answer.
Since Axel's family was stingily rich, and Jean was his best friend. He had suspected that the kidnappers could have targeted his friend and, in the process, noticed his closeness with Axel. This was what he had suspected after joining the conversations between the strange people.
What could be the cause of the kidnappers targeting his friend?
'…isn't it obvious. The wealth.'
Slightly composed, Jean pondered.
'Maybe Axel managed to escape that is why they referred to me as the subject. But wait…. What if Axel is the subject that they were referring to? Perhaps he is here with me in the same condition as me; speechless and helpless. Let me just hope for the better.'
Feeling numbness all over his body, Jean grimaced and forced himself out of his reverie. This was the moment he realized that something had changed.
The vibrations and the strange voices were all gone.
'What happened in the past minutes? How comes there is no one talking. Am I free now?'
With that, Jean tried shifting himself, but nothing happened. He was still immobilized by the tight ropes.
Suddenly, something disturbed the silence. A creaking sound resounded from somewhere within the vehicle. The sound was then followed by some footsteps that reverberated from the surface of the vehicle he was in. They sounded strangely heavy.
They were growing closer and closer with each passing moment. Feeling dreadful, Jean grimaced.
With the last step resounding next to Jean, silence settled in the vehicle like an extra person. This act made Jean's heart to race faster in his chest.
'This is getting out of hand now…'
Jean cursed internally.
In an instance, a deep strange voice resounded.
"Good job!"
Suddenly, Jean shuddered.
_(^^^)_