Albert vs. Milverton

Part 8 - Ella's Attempt

It is late in the afternoon and the sun is setting. A beautiful masonry-brick house sat at the edge of the cliff surrounded by lush green trees and shrubs. But behind this house's lovely facade hides a darker secret inside.

Down in the basement, Ella was lying on the cold hard ground. As she woke up, her eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness since there is only 1 tiny window letting the sunshine in. She was about to get up; however, she noticed that her hands were tied together. Fear started to creep inside her.

Despite being tied up, she tried her best to remain calm and remember everything that led up to this point. The boy, Falco. Pier. Being gagged to sleep.

She looked around wondering if the boy she tried to help is also with her.

"Falco?", Ella whispered. No response. "Falco?", Ella called out a little louder. Still no response, and the silence in the darkness is creeping her a little. She also thought that screaming for help might bring unwanted situations like her captors coming into the same room with her - and that is one thing she desperately wants to avoid.

Still trying to remain calm while the panic builds up in her chest, she observed herself as well as her surroundings and started to think of some ways how to escape. Noticing her hands are tied by a thin rope and her legs are free, she can do the "shoelace escape" that her mother taught her when she was young.

She completely removed her left shoelace first then insert it through a small gap in the tied thin rope. Next, she tied a knot at the left end of the shoelace to her left shoe and the right end of the shoelace to her right shoe. Once everything is secured, she started "bicycling", hoping the friction will break the rope that tied her hands. Thus, the rope broke and she began to wriggle her arms out.

Ella is now free...but she's still far from being free. She doesn't know what her captors are capable of, where she is, and how exactly will she defend herself. Plus, there's no way else to send S.O.S. to Albert or William or anyone in the Moriarty gang. She's on her own.

Ella started to look around to find some suitable weapons. She found a rusted broken pipe behind the stairs, but suddenly...

...the basement door was unlocked and opened. 

She kicked the rope that used to tie her hands at a blind spot and quietly hid behind the basement stairs.

"Are ya sure we should let the boy be left at the pier?", a male with a husky voice said.

"It's nothing to worry of. The Yard will see it as one of the usual poor people's problems.", said the other male with a seemingly soothing voice.

'They must be talking about Falco...', Ella thought. '...but...what does he mean by that?'

Also, Ella realized that she will be cornered once this boy saw her awake and untied. And based on their conversation, who knows what horrors will be done unto her? It's too late now to retrieve the rope she kicked and pretend to be captured.

Suddenly, she brought her attention back to the broken pipe. It's the only thing that's near her and possibly sturdy enough. However...

...does she have the guts to hurt another person for the sake of self-defense?

She knows that her lover and her Moriarty family are the Lord of Crime, but she wasn't assigned to be part of the killing spree. She's always with Albert gathering intel for William's plans. Can she be like William? Louis? Moran? Fred? or even Bond?? at this moment???

The sound of the boy's footsteps coming down the stairs made Ella's stomach churn. She needed to make a fast decision. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn't. But when she thought about it, they're the ones who kidnapped her in the first place.