The Mrs. Woods Mystery

Chapter 61

Dream looked at her phone. It was eleven thirty at night. As she called Sawyer, she hoped he hadn't gone to sleep yet.

Oddly, he didn't pick up. Dream shrugged. He was probably asleep already. But Savannah usually slept pretty late, so she called Savannah, hoping that she knew whatever message Sawyer wanted to tell her.

Savannah didn't pick up, either. Weird, she thought.

Maybe Zac would be awake, as he hadn't gone to sleep any earlier than one in the morning every night ever since Dream had moved in. It would truly be weird if he happened to be asleep this early, one night out of every single night for the past four months.

"Psst! Zac!" she called out the window, stepping back and waiting for his answer. His bedroom was dark, so he probably wasn't there. Sighing in frustration, she decided to call him instead.

"Zac, pick up, pick up," she begged at her phone, but it went straight to voicemail. "Argh! Who else is there? Axel? Chloe? Francesca?"

Calling Francesca would be useless, since she was just going to be super secretive and suspicious.

She tried calling both Axel and Chloe, but neither of them picked up.

What in the world? This was...very strange.

Only one thing left to do, then. Go to Zac's apartment and ask him what on earth was going on, and why no one was answering their phones.

She left her room cautiously. She could hear her dad and Ava in their room, watching a movie. As long as she got back before their movie ended, hopefully they wouldn't notice that she left the apartment.

Grabbing one of her hoodies, which was randomly lying in the living room, she quietly left the house and went downstairs to the lobby, preparing to leave, when someone grabbed her arm forcefully. She turned around, wide-eyed, to face that same guy who worked at the lobby. The same guy who had asked her for the tape.

"Let go of me," she snarled.

Not bothering to say anything, he snaked one arm around her neck to press something against her nose and mouth. She gasped, realizing what was happening.

No. No. No.

If she got kidnapped again, what was going to happen? Were they going to kill her? Even if she escaped, what would her dad do?

Her thoughts quickly evaporated though, when her arms and legs became jelly and she slumped.

"We've got the last one," the man said into his phone.

---

"No!"

Dream woke up to a loud yell. She jumped backward - or, she would have - but her arms and legs were chained against the wall in a very dark room.

"I'm just asking you to do a very simple thing," Sinclair said, his lip curling. "Hand it over, and you're all free to go. No one will be hurt."

Dream turned to see all her friends chained against the wall next to her.

"I said this before, and I'll say it again. I will never do that," Francesca spat.

There was an evil glint in Sinclair's eyes as he raised the gun.

"No--"

Fatima cried out as the bullet hit her leg.

"Now hand it over, or next time the bullet will hit her in the head," Sinclair said calmly.

Francesca looked desperately at Fatima, her eyes traveling to look at Chloe, Axel, Sawyer, Savannah, and finally, Dream.

"Don't do it," Savannah told Francesca, "He's just making empty threats."