I opened my eyes but darkness surrounded me. Feeling disoriented, I reached out, trying to find something, anything. My hand fell on cold stone behind me and empty space in front of me. I tried to stand but couldn't. Looking down, I realized I had huge chains wrapped around my wrists, ankles and waist. Panic began to take over my senses as I tried to remember how I had come to be in this place. To my recollection, I had last been warm, and resting, safe even. I tried to stand up again, but to no avail. The chains must have been twice my weight. Each attempt to stand left me panting and exhausted.

"Help!" I screamed, thrashing my arms through empty space, trying to escape. Someone had to be nearby. I couldn't be alone. Where was Kael? Garrett? "Someone help me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Suddenly, a bright light came on in front of me, like a spotlight. "Hello?" I whispered. Madeline stepped into the light. Her bruises had much improved, healed nearly. Her hair was as it had been on the train, sleek and black, her face perfectly manicured.

"Harper, I asked you to help me. We could have been allies." She shook her head, as if disappointed in me. She stepped closer. "Don't put so much confidence in your comrades, I said. Well, it's too late now, my dear." She pulled the small, familiar blade from her pocket, turning it in her hand just as she had done in the cell not even a day ago. Now, I was her prisoner, and I knew what she held was not a treasured trinket from my father. A cynical smile played on her lips as she came closer to me. I tried with all my strength to fight against the chains, to get away. My efforts were hopeless. Their hold on me was steadfast.

"Get away from me! Please!" I cried over and over. But she kept coming. I could feel the blade on my skin, at the base of my throat, cutting deeply into my flesh. "Please!" I yelled.

She took hold of my shoulders, shaking me. I felt the pain in my wound worsen with each movement. "Harper, wake up!" she yelled.

"No, please..." I tried to pry her fingers off me, but her hold was unyielding.

"It's a dream, Harper. Wake up!" I looked back up at Madeline, but her face was gone. In its place was Kael's, looking almost as panicked as I felt.

"Oh thank God!" I cried when recognition dawned. "She was stabbing me. She wouldn't stop..." I trailed off into sobs.

His arms came around me, unbidden but not unwelcome in my current state. I tried to get the images from my mind. Never had I felt so alone, so vulnerable. When my sobs had been exchanged for quiet hiccups, I pushed back on his chest, his arms dropping on either side of me.

"Are you ok?" he asked, still looking worried.

I shook my head. "I'm so sorry. That was so... real. I've never had a nightmare like that before." I brushed the back of my hand against my cheek, wiping a tear. I realized how pathetic I must appear now, crying over a nightmare. I was still too shaken up to want to be alone though. "Was I calling out?"

He nodded, keeping his eyes on me as if waiting for me to resume my hysterics.

"A lot?" I pressed, scooting back until my head could rest on the massive headboard.

"You woke me up," he said. I shuddered, remembering. I'd let him sleep here last night.

I looked down at my lap, still shivering from the adrenaline. "I'm..."

"Don't be sorry." He got up and walked over to the bathroom, returning with a stack of tissues and glass of water. I used them liberally on my face and eyes. As I sipped the water, I started to feel better. He sat there watching me, his eyes still swollen from sleep. Guilt for having woken him so abruptly toyed with my conscience.

"I can't believe Garrett didn't hear me," I commented, taking another sip of my water.

"Yes, odd." He looked toward the door. Obviously he was considering Garrett's whereabouts for the first time. He didn't move from the side of my bed, though.

I flung my legs over the side of the bed, letting them dangle beside his resting easily on the floor. The best thing to do now was try to move on, I decided. Preoccupy my mind with something else, I commented, "Well, let's just hope that's my last nightmare for a while." I shook my head and muttered, "Awful."

Without another word, I jumped off the bed and moved over to look out the window. Today was more overcast than yesterday, but hints of sunlight gave promise to a brighter afternoon. I was beginning to appreciate the intermittent clouds and rain of England. Like a part of their culture, the people here seemed to take it in stride. Looking out the window, I was half expecting to see Garrett strolling around the grounds. When I didn't, I decided to get dressed and go find the man. Kael didn't realize that if Garrett found himself in a strange house, being the only conscious member of a party, it would be all he could do not to go in search of something he wasn't meant to see.

I turned back from the window, but Kael had disappeared without a sound. The man's stealth was unnerving. 

Despite the dark circles under my eyes and the bandage on my neck, I found a grey dress that didn't make me look quite as dowdy as I felt. From the bathroom, I heard someone knock on my door, come in, and close it behind him. Privacy, I was finding, was a privilege I would have to look forward to when I returned home. Adjusting my bandage so it barely peeked out from under the dress, I came out to the main bedroom to find Garrett on my sofa, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

"Garrett! Where were you? We were about to go on a hunting expedition for you!" I exclaimed and sank onto the couch beside him.

"We?" he asked, "Please." He crossed his legs, still looking pleased with himself, then said, "Oh. Sorry about last night. I slept through my watch. Did he bother you?"

"Of course not."

In truth, I had bothered him more than anything. Garrett watched me, as if deciding if I was telling the truth. Maria had always insisted that my bad luck attracted such valiant types as Garrett, and my stubborn resistance to their protective instincts only aggravated the matter. If Garrett and my torrid past was any indication, she was right by all accounts.

Garrett reached over to flip the collar of my dress to see the bandage still in place, then asked, "So are you at all curious as to where I've been?"

"Not a little," I replied. I gave time for his hand to leave my neckline before readjusting my dress over the bandage. Rolling my eyes I said, "I know you were snooping, Gar," and lowered my voice, "Did you find anything?"

"Did I!" he exclaimed. As if remembering we weren't alone in the house, he lowered his voice. "Look at this, my dear. Can't say I don't know how to uncover the truth." I hadn't noticed the accordion file beside him. He pulled it out now, glancing at the door to ensure we didn't have company.

Flipping open the top, he thumbed through the first few sections. I watched him work, guessing he had already been through the folder in its entirety and wanted to show me the most impressive parts. In time, he would insist I look through the whole thing, but for now, I was grateful for his brevity.

"Here we go," he said and pulled out a few sheets and handed them to me, placing his hand over the content so he could speak to an undistracted audience. "This is the past transactions from last year on this place. What comes in, what goes out. Luckily, they haven't gone digital yet." Then he lifted his hand so I could look.

The pages were a random jumble of words and phrases, nonsense. "This is nothing, Garrett. What does it mean?" I asked and handed it back.

"Ha!"

He handed me another sheet, this one with item numbers, costs, times, and dates.

"Enough to put those two away for a very, very long time," he whispered. "The first one is in code, just like he said, but these other ones? They are the ones Kael's already deciphered. If we got an analyst on this, we'd have the coding system in no time."

I flipped through the pages, horrified by the large volume of deliveries that had passed through, just in last January alone. There had to be hundreds of items listed. The deciphered pages were obviously much more interesting. While they didn't state what the item numbers stood for, they at least were understandable as a sort of invoice. I noticed the signature at the bottom of the page. I held the page closer, trying to decipher the name. Kael Sullivan.

"Oh yeah," Garrett responded. He must have noticed where my attention had fallen, "Kael signed off on most of these." He dug in the folder once again and added, "Except this one." He handed me another one signed Gideon Harper and explained, "The document we need to find is the list of items, corresponding with their number. I didn't get through this fully this morning, because I heard him coming and had to hide. I hope it's in here. We need that, then there's nothing they can do to stop us from shutting their operation down!" he announced, triumphant.

"Shush!"

I looked at the door again. "Where did you get this?" I whispered.

"The master," he grunted through tightened jaw muscles, "He was probably working on this when he had to go after you. It was in there with every single book you've ever touched!" He looked a little disturbed at the thought, as was I.

"I know, right? I think Gideon was keeping closer tabs on me than we know." I winced after my statement, hoping he wouldn't notice my slip in mentioning that I had seen the books. Fortunately, in his excitement, he did not.

"Yeah. And that room is the safest in the house. The windows are bullet proof glass and there's a security station just outside the window there. It's pretty well camouflaged, but I saw it."

He started to put the papers back, in case our time alone was coming to an end, but he continued chatting, "And I think there might be a panic room of some sort too opposite the closet. I knocked and, well you know, it sounded different."

Biting my lip, I looked down and shook my head. Only Garrett would go knocking on another person's bedroom walls as if he were a carpenter looking for studs.

My bedroom door opened at that moment, and Garrett dropped the folder onto the floor instantly. Kael ducked into the room. He seemed surprised to find Garrett. No doubt he had been looking for him. With a swift kick, I sent the folder under the sofa. The hiding spot was good enough for now, but we would have to move it later.

I was sure we looked like we were guilty of something, standing there, staring at him.

"You're in here," Kael was talking to Garrett.

"Oh yeah, yeah, been in here..." Garrett started.

"For just a few minutes, really," I interjected, knowing that he couldn't have been here longer than that for this story to match with what Kael knew to be true. I smiled. "Shall we?" I brushed around the couch and past Kael, heading back down the hall. I hated having that file in my room under my sofa. It wouldn't be long before Kael noticed it was missing. We would have to find it a much, much better hiding spot, preferably not near me.

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Garrett is taking matters into his own hands. Good idea or destined to fail? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and leave me a vote if you're enjoying the story. :)

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