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Joe stopped the van again and get out. He opened up the back of the van and looked at them. “Do exactly as I say and no one will get hurt okay?” They all nodded. There was nothing they could do but run and they had tried that already. He had the advantage this time. Nick grabbed Liz’s hand as they slowly walked on a path to the back of the house. Liz looked around her to get a better look of where they were. All of the plants were dead with the exception of a few shrubs. There was a small pond in the backyard and a birdbath near the path. She leaned over to Nick and whispered, “I’ll bet this place used to be beautiful before they got a hold of it.” Nick nodded and turned to look at the others behind them. A.J. was walking alongside Heather and Howie was trailing behind staring intently at everything and memorizing it so he would know where everything was if they escaped somehow. He noticed a gate leading out of the long iron fence that went on for what seemed like miles. “I wonder where that leads to?” He thought to himself. Hopefully it was a way out of this creepy mansion. He looked to see if anyone was guarding that gate. He couldn’t see anyone but he was sure someone was watching it. Liz moved closer to Nick and said, “I have the odd feeling someone is watching us.” Nick didn’t look up right away but said, “I think we are too.” After a few moments he looked up into a window and saw a light on and the reflection of a person. “You were right we are being watched.” The path went on and on and it took them a while to realize that they were basically going in circles. Heather commented about this and Howie overheard her and said, “They’re doing that so we will get lost if we try to escape.” A.J. looked at Howie in amusement and replied, “How do you know so much about stuff like this?” Howie grinned, “Hey, I read enough mysteries to know these things.” Heather laughed. Laughing made them feel less afraid and it felt good to laugh. Finally the reached their destination. Joe turned around and said. “Here we are… the T-room.” Without saying another word he opened the door and ushered them into the room.
It didn’t take as long for Kevin and Gina to get to the house. Their driver was speeding the whole way there and then Joe had taken the others in circles before letting them into the T-room so that gave them even more time to catch up. Before Gina knew it they were at the entrance of the iron gate. Unlike their friends van they had a window and it was fairly big and not covered up so they could see everything clearly. They watched as the driver said something to the guard and then as the big gates swung open. Neither of them said a word as they drove down the driveway towards the house. “That sure is one big house.” Gina exclaimed. “I wonder what they do with all of it?” Kevin answered. Gina shuddered, “I don’t want to know.” After what the driver had said about them possibly not seeing their friends again Gina was scared. “You don’t think they’ll hurt the others do you?” Gina asked Kevin. Kevin took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “They wouldn’t. That’s how they’re going to get the ransom money.” Gina wasn’t convinced. “But they said after they got the money they’ll kill us.” Kevin smiled. “We’ll be gone by that time.” He could tell that Gina was very nervous. “I told you not to worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Gina signed and continued to gaze out the window. She knew that Kevin would try his best to keep her and the others from harm, but she still was afraid that they would get caught again while trying to escape. The van came to a stop and it took them a minute to realize that they weren’t moving anymore. “Well here goes. Stay close beside me okay?” Gina nodded. He wouldn’t have to worry about that. They got out of the van and started walking down the same path that the others had walked down just a little while ago. Once again Gina prayed that her friends were all right. As they walked down the path Kevin did the same thing that Howie had done. He looked around everywhere to try and find some way out. The noticed the other iron gate towards the back of the property. He also noticed that on the side of the house the fence was brick and might be easy to climb in case the other gate was guarded. So they had at least two ways out. They actually had three counting the way they came in but there was no way they would be able to get out that way with it being guarded so well. He took a deep breath and looked over at Gina who was also looking around. She seemed a little calmer now. Hopefully seeing Liz and Heather would help her be even more calm. He knew that once he saw the guys he would feel a lot better. They had a lot to talk about once they got together. He hoped that they would all be put in a room together so they would be able to talk. They had come to the door to the T-room and Kevin took one last time before walking in the door.