The Silhouette's Prisoner

by Sherry Zeng and Katherine Chou

  Chapter 41 - David-Emerald Eyes

  I opened my eyes to darkness. Where was Sharon?? Wait a second, why am I in a hay bed? Oh well.

  "Wake up, Little Guy!" A girl said.

  "Yeah, wake up, David!!" Sharon nudged.

  I looked up to see a girl that looked slightly like Sharon. She had the exactly same big emerald green eyes, but her hair was dark brown, almost black, not like Sharon’s red-brown hair. Sharon sat next to her, hugging a little boy with the same eyes as her. He had light brown hair that was sun bleached in some places.

  "Catie and Andy, this is David, Jacque (the fat brunette)’s son; David, this is Catie, my sister, and Andy, my brother." Sharon explained.

  We all blithely introduced ourselves, and filled each other on what we missed. Catie told Sharon how she were so worried when she was gone and how Andy ran away to find her. Andy excitedly told about the alligator who "ate" him, and I explained that the alligator was a robot designed to bring intruders to the jail. Sharon told everyone how she was kidnapped. The air in the room seemed warmer. Then, she came in.

  Chapter 42 - Catie-Little Guy

  I was so happy! Sharon introduced me to the little guy, and right away I could tell that he is very logically smart. All four of us were laughing and chatting, happy to be together. We even forgot that we were in a prison. We were still rejoicing when we heard heavy footsteps outside our cell.

  "Oh no." I heard Sharon mumble. "Jacque came back. What is she going to do to us?"

  Her words were scary and I was suddenly annoyed. "Whatever she does to us is your entire fault since you had to be kidnapped."

  Sharon looked at me surprised and hurt. "I didn’t want to be kidnapped, and it wasn’t my fault at all that you are here. Jacque was the one who chose to grab me away." Her cheeks grew red. "When Jacque comes in, I know that she will give you a horrible discipline. After all, she hates intruders. And I'm glad."

  I opened my mouth to argue more, but then we heard someone unlock our door and-

  Chapter 43 - Andy- Rude, Mean Woman

  "Well, well. What do we have here?" A fat woman asked when she entered our prison. I thought she was another good friend I was going to make today, until my new friend David squealed and ran behind us. My Sissies were too scared to move. Then I knew she was a bad woman.

  "You guys all did something bad, so you’ll have to be punished." The rude mean woman snickered. "I will not have mercy this time!"

  Chapter 44 - Catie-I Bet Sharon’s Happy

  "Andy!" Jacque barked, and we stiffened. "You will be forgiven at such a young age for intruding. However, you cannot spill the beans, so you’ll have to stay here forever."

  We gasped in unison, and Andy turned and looked confused.

  "What does spill the beans mean?" he asked David.

  David shrugged.

  "David and Catie, sadly," she put on a fake pity face, "will have to be executed."

  "WHAT!?" Sharon and I cried out at the same time. I mean, what did we ever do so bad? I bet Sharon was happy. She wanted me punished.

  It was David’s turn to look confused.

  "What does that mean?" he whispered to puzzled Andy.

  "Sharon would be…" Jacque paused on purpose for the dramatic effect. Sharon glanced at me nervously. "given one last chance to obey my words." Jacque finished.

  I sighed, relieved. At least one of us could live, even though it had to be Sharon.

  Chapter 45 - Andy-Crying

  I cried as the meanie took away my Sissies and my new friend. The Fat Woman told the two scary blonde men to drag them away. I cried and cried. This would be the last time I would see them alive. I cried some more. Then I sobbed.

  Chapter 46 - Sharon-The Girly Boy

  I was led to my bedroom by Jacque herself. Just before she locked my crying brother in the jail, she screamed in my ear.

  "Now you be a GOOD DAUGHTER, or that young man in there WILL NOT HEAR THE END OF IT!"

  She shoved me in my room and locked the door. I stood there for a second before collapsing on my bed.

  "I’ll never ever see my family, the outside world again. Either will Andy." I thought to myself blankly. "Now Catie and David are going to die!" I sheepishly remembered that I wanted Catie to be punished by Jacque. I now would give anything to let her live. I guess I didn’t despise my sister as I thought I did.

  "Maybe Catie was right. It was all my fault." I thought guiltily.

  Strangely, I did not feel sad or mad. I guess the information did not sink in yet. I just lay there, thinking about school and life. Don’t ask me why, but I felt like thinking about something different. I might have sat there for ages, if the door had not opened. I sat up immediately, thinking it was Jacque. Instead, a strange boy with hazel eyes came in alongside a cute white fluffy sheepdog. The dog was looking around panting.

  The stranger tip-toed toward me, looking behind him to make sure no one was following him.

  "Who are you?" I asked him curiously. "And what are you doing here?"

  "Shhh…" he whispered. " I got totally tired of listening to that Jacque woman, so I made an escape route, ‘cause my brain is, like, totally awesome. I can totally help you, but girl, you have to listen and cooperate to me. I mean, like, unless you don’t want to go. " He girlishly flipped his hair. Then he pulled out a map. Wait, wasn’t that my map?

  Chapter 47 - Catie-Not Again!?

  Seriously! What have I done to deserve a death penalty?! I was in shock as the two blonde burly guards dragged me and David away. We both were too tired and too hopeless to struggle free. They carried us for what seemed like hours through a modern looking jail. The roof of the prison was a see-through, and I could make out the shadows of the alligators swimming above us. This must be an under-the-moat prison.

  After a long journey (even though it was probably two minutes), we came to a stop at a large red cell house with bland white doors. The guards threw David and me in wordlessly and left. We were in another cell. Not again!? Then the blonde dudes slammed the door shut. What gentlemen! I huffed.

  "Oh my gosh!" I gasped when l observed my surroundings. The round room was full of old torture devices lying on every inch of the floor except where we sat. The weapons were so weird looking that I couldn’t name them. Well, actually, I could name one: the whip. It was laying in the dead center of the room.

  "She used that to hit on me whenever I disobeyed." David looked at me, fear in his eyes. It took me a whole minute to realize that he was talking about the whip.

  "Really?" I was shocked that anyone would harm this little guy. "What did you do?"

  "Nothing." He shrugged. "She just..." Pretty soon, David spilled out the whole story on how his mom started hating him because his dad left, and how his mom kidnapped Sharon, and how he and my sister managed to escape, but got caught. I was surprised I didn’t ask why he was escaping earlier.

  Chapter 48 - Sharon-Larry Johnston

  The boy introduced himself as Larry Johnston. He told me that he was a grape picker here. He was forced to work in this "jail" full time, and skip education, even though he was only 14. He even knew my name!

  Larry admitted that he was the one that took my map. He had Snowy, his dog, sneak in and grab it out of my pant pocket.

  "Wait, wait, wait." I interrupted. "You had your dog sneak in without me noticing? How did he do that? He must be well trained."

  "As a matter of fact," Larry replied smugly. "He totally is. That is exactly how he is, like, helpful in my plan. Anyways, I, like, took your map, because I thought I could see an escape route with my totally witty brain. I was tired of obeying that woman’s commands, so I decided to help you out."

  Larry spread the map across the pillows, and his dog jumped besides the scale drawing of the castle’s secret routes. He pointed at a faint green marking that I have never noticed before. It was drawn around the perimeter of my map. "Thanks to David, I now know that there is an underground passage which leads to the vineyard."

/>   "But where can we get to the passageway?" I asked, even though I could tell by looking at the map.

  "Easy." Larry answered confidently. "I learned from the map that there is a trapdoor on the left west corner of every room." He paused and picked up a round shaped object that looked like a TV remote. "Thanks to the other workers, I learned that the trapdoors are opened by a remote control. Totally cool, huh? I also found out, like, where the remote is kept, and asked Snowy to get it. So now, we have to find where the trapdoor is in your room before going to save your siblings. But, I have to warn you, there is no ladder with these trapdoors. You have to fall, like, a long way down to the passageways. Even when we rescue your siblings, we have to heave Snowy up to their doors in order for them to know they are getting rescued. Now, girl, let's get to work!"

  He finished his instructions and we immediately got to work. The trapdoor blended so well in the carpet floor, I wasn’t surprised that I never noticed it before. Even though I hardly know this guy, I think he was trustworthy. I just hope I’m right.

  Chapter 49 - Andy- Still Sobbing…

  So I cried and cried and cried and cried and wailed on my blanket. I felt like a baby. I was so sad here that I could skip dessert for a week if they only let me go. I was still sobbing when I heard a bark! Snowy!

  I opened my eyes and I saw the adorable doggy in front of me.

  "Hi!" I said, reaching out my hand. The puppy barked. I did not know how he got here. The door was locked.

  He barked again, and started walking to a…

  I gasped. It was a real live trapdoor! Not on TV! I was so happy! The doggy jumped into it and I followed.

  Chapter 50 - Catie-The Dreaded Moment

  David and I talked about everything - animals, friends, families, to get our minds off the execution. He has amazing pronunciation and social skills for a six year old. Then the dreaded moment came.

  We immediately stopped talking as soon as we heard the too-familiar footsteps coming to our cell. I don’t exactly know how to describe the fear we felt that moment, but it was, er, breathtaking? The doors opened and in came the Jacque woman.

  "Hello, my dear son." She chuckled toward David. "And welcome Catie. Today you will be choosing a way to die using a device in this room." She gestured around her. "I will record your death to show Sharon. Then, she would feel respect toward me so much that she would want to be my daughter!" Jacque finished dramatically.

  David and I looked at each other, before bursting into laughter. This lady certainly was crazy!

  Our happiness was short-lived though. We were rolling on the ground still fitting fits of giggles, when we felt as if our chests were on fire! Of course, that woman had whipped us.

  "Good." She said calmly holding the whip. "Now let me go get my camcorder and finish you off. Jacque left again, locking our no-window cell door.

  David and I sat in silence. Suddenly, we heard a creak and a bark…

  Chapter 51 - Andy- Flying Dowwwwn…

  I flew down that awesome trapdoor and landed on a hard floor.

  "Ow!" I shouted, because I was in pain from falling. Then, someone helped me up.

  "I am so glad to see you." The person said. I looked up. It was Sissy1!! We hugged. Next to her was the pretty boy who owned Snowy.

  "I am Larry Johnston." He whispered. "We will explain everything later. First, follow us quietly."

  I looked around. This was so cool! I wish Catie was here to see this. We were in a dark brick passageway. Larry was carrying a candle, to light our way, I think, because it was dark in here. We walked for a long time. I wanted to shout out with excitement. I was even more happy when Sissy1 told me that we were going to save Sissy2 and David! I was going to be a hero!!!!

  Chapter 52 - Catie-Doggy!!!

  A huge dog appeared out of a door left to the ground, and I recognized him as Snowy.

  "Woof. Yiippp! ! Woof, woof, Arrrf!! "Snowy yelped and looked back.

  "I think he wants us to follow him down." David observed.

  "Sure." I replied. What other options do we have? Besides, why else would a dog pop out of the ground? In some dog movies, dogs were supposed to rescue people. The trapdoor was about 15 inches by 14 inches big. I am not sure if I can squeeze in. Oh well. I’ll try. Snowy jumped through the door, got stuck, and barely made it. He must have landed hardly, because we heard a loud "thud."

  "You can go first." I whispered to David. I wanted him to see me as a good role model, but the real reason was that I was slightly scared of heights. Don’t tell Sharon, okay? I want her to think of me as 100% brave.

  "Quick!" I urged David. He looked down and gulped. That probably meant that it was going to be long landing. Already, Jacque’s footsteps were back, getting closer and closer. David bravely plunged himself down, down, down… thud!

  "I am back!" I heard Jacque call from down the hall.

  Doing the best to not look down, I squeezed my body through the door, but my shoulders, along with my arms, got stuck at the last second. Now, that despicable woman was so close to our cell, I could hear her ragged breath. (It must be hard for a woman that fat to walk, let alone walking while breathing normally.) When I heard her unlocking the door, I started to squirm. I gave one more squeeze and broke free. As I fell, I noticed that the trapdoor closed by itself, then I landed on my feet.

  "OOWWWWIIEEE!" I protested, trying to ignore the pain in my feet. I dropped down to give it a massage.

  "What the heck!" I suddenly heard Jacque scream with rage. "They are gone! I guess I have to send a search party again! URG! I just remembered the appointment with my sister to sweep the…" her voice faded along with her footsteps.

  Next to me, I saw David rubbing his back in pain. He might have had a worse landing than me. I rushed over to help him stand up.

  Then, two things happened at once. First, I heard someone yelling "Sissy!" I turned to see both Sharon and Andy squeezing the daylights out of me. Seriously?! I would have hugged them back if I didn’t see the hot dude.

  "What are you doing here?" I shouted breaking free. I mean, wasn’t he the guy who tried to turn me in?!

  "I, uh, please!" he begged, backing away from me. He shielded his face with his hands, and averted his eyes. Like that was ever going to stop me!

  I could have knocked him unconscious, if Sharon had not stepped in between us and calmed me down.

  "This is Larry Johnston." Sharon said, properly introducing us. "Larry, this is Catie, my twin. Larry is here to help us. If it weren’t for his dog, you’d be dead by now! Now follow us. We know where to go.

  Chapter 53 - Andy-Yelling

  Catie didn’t like Larry at first, because she was yelling at him. Now she, Sharon and Larry are talking as if they are best friends. Me and David became friends too and together, we five followed the cute doggy who I think knew the way.

  Chapter 54 - Catie-History of This Castle

  Larry isn’t as bad as I thought. In fact, he seemed like an almost normal boy. He was a little girlish, but otherwise fine. I learned that he was the son of Vampire Dude, which, by the way, was Mr. Johnston. After his dad married Jacque, she convinced Mr. Johnston to stop his son’s education and train him to be her henchman/ worker. I was surprised to learn that the burly blonde men were not guards at all, but were Jacque’s brothers and advertising men. I mean, they acted like guards.

  Anyway, we were still walking down the brick passageway, which stretched through the whole castle. (It turned out that this place was a replica of the Va Lende mansion. Jacque’s first husband built all this when they were just married. No wonder this place was so old fashioned.Va Lenda, by the way, was Jacque’s great-great- great grandfather who was rich in his time. He was known in his time to sell illegal stuff.) Larry talked about how his stepmom forced him to distract me and pull me off guard with his good looks at the boat. Good thing I didn’t fall for that one. I mean, I would make myself look like a fool, going for a guy under the circumstances. Humph!

  Another co
ol thing was that while we were walking down the passage, Sharon stiffly apologized for wanting Jacque to punish me.

  "That is okay. It isn’t your fault that Jacque wants me dead." I looked down, embarrassed. I wasn’t used to accepting apologies from my twin.

  "Hey, I was stupid for blaming you for being kidnapped. I mean, you didn’t want this to happen either." I stammered.

  There was this awkward silence between us. It was then when I realized I didn’t hate my sister that much.

  Chapter 55 - Andy- My New Friend

  Me and David were talking about trucks and cute, colorful animals when we heard Snowy bark. I saw him looking at a dead end.

  "Arf!" He said and started to back away from the wall.

  "What is it, boy?" asked Sharon. Suddenly, the wall opened like a door and out came Vampire Dude. He looked very scary and ugly. He always was scary and ugly. Oh yes, VERY ugly!

  We were all scared, because we knew he was a bad boy. My Sissies, David, and Larry all ran in the other direction. I was so scared that I couldn’t move. Vampire Dude got nearer and nearer…

  Chapter 56 - Catie-Run Andy, Run!

  "Run Andy, run!" We all shouted desperately behind our backs. My brother just stood there numbly.

  "Run, Andy!" Now we had slowed to walking.

  "Well, well. Jacque would love to see this little guy tortured to death." The Vampire Dude snickered.

  Now, we were all too frightened to run.

  Vampire Dude now looked at us. "How dare you run away! My Jacque will be so happy with me! Now, your discipline will be worst. Wait until my Jacque sees you! She would reward me by letting me take a break from driving injured workers who fought in the greenhouse to the hospital. "He snickered." I knew you guys were going to be here because-AAGH!!!!" he didn’t finish because Snowy, that brave boy, had bitten the Vampire by his leg, and we used that chance to run. It took a while for us to realize that Andy and Snowy weren’t with us.