She stirred in her sleep. A noise from the bedroom window next door bothered her.

She had developed a sensitive sense of hearing and the whirring of some machine disturbed the little peace she could gather. Slowly, she climbed out of bed and walked to the window that faced the bedroom next door. She dragged her right foot slower than the left to keep the chain, that extended to the far corner of the room, from making noise.

Carl hated noise coming from upstairs.

Walking closer to the window, Hope peered through the blinds. The lights were still on in the man’s bedroom. He was standing on a chair facing the wall right across his own window. He was holding up a mechanical drill and was on the process of doing another round of disturbing sound.

Hope could just go back to bed and sleep, but if there was something she hated, it was the presence of such sound. She opened her blinds, rolling it up. Her heart was racing for two reasons. One, she was infuriated with the noise. Two, this would be the first time she would have a contact with a stranger--however short it would be. Because that was how she planned it.

She opened her window next and waited for the man to turn around. That didn’t happen. He continued on with his noisy work.

Hope looked around her for something to throw. The man’s house was just about three meters away from Carl’s, one of the reasons why she wanted this room in the first place. It was why she had been working on this very window for her escape plan.

She padded to the small bathroom in her room, this time carrying the chain in her hand. She reached for the toothpaste, unscrewed the cover and carried it back to the window. She rolled toothpaste cap in her hand while waiting for the mechanical drill to stop. When it did, she took a deep breath and threw.

It didn’t make such a big noise, but the sound was distinct enough to catch the man’s attention.

He turned around on top of the chair. He looked over his shoulder and spotted her.

Her heart was still racing as she made a motion with her across her neck.

The man frowned. She repeated the motion.

He lifted the mechanical drill, his face full of question.

Hope nodded, stepped back and closed her window. The man had jumped off his chair and was walking to the window when she dropped the blinds.

With her heart still in a panic state against her chest, Hope quickly went back to her bed. She didn’t care if the man understood her. Fear was back. What if Carl heard her? What if he found out she made contact?

Devin didn’t think much about the incident. Carl, the woman’s father, had already warned him about her condition.

Of course, he understood what she meant. He was done working anyway so he placed the mechanical drill back in its cache and worked with the screw on the wall. That being done, he brought the black, round clock to hang. She stepped back, hands on his hips, and appreciated his work.

Before getting to bed, he returned downstairs to check on the three locks on his front door and the back door. He secured all the windows.

He could never be too careless.

Back in his bedroom, he turned on the television. Every channel was giving an update on the Ohio kidnapping of the three girls, now women. He shook his head.

He, among others, knew very well that there were monsters out there. There were people who would be willing to kill and torture for gain and satisfaction.

Like the three women, Devin knew what it was like to be afraid for his life.

Hope woke up relieved. She couldn’t believe what she had done last night. Taking a big risk as that was stupid, she thought. She shouldn’t have done it.

Slipping out of bed, she felt the heavy drag of the chain in her foot. Carl had always made it a point that she couldn’t go anywhere further her small room. It was long enough for her to move around and enter the tiny bathroom. She’d have to shower with the doors open though because the chains wouldn’t allow the doors to stay closed.

Her bathroom door was just two steps away from her bed. She glanced at the wall right next to her bed. Apart from the window, she had been working on that part as well. It was where the chain was attached to.

It was no easy task, but she was getting there.

Carl entered her room a while later with the same breakfast as yesterday. He talked about the weather and going back to work now that his vacation was over.

She tried her best to listen and answer his questions.

It was better to talk to him as calmly and normally as she could. She learned that the hard way.

When he left, Hope immediately went back to her work. Making sure that their neighbor was not in the room, she went to work with the iron bar. She checked the window across from hers once again. It was open. Her eyes flickered to the opposite wall of the man’s window and she saw it.

A clock.

It was now ten in the morning.

Hope smiled for the first time in years. She could finally tell what time it was.

That afternoon, she watched the news.

It was still about the Ohio kidnapping.

She was about to turn the box off when the news changed into something she had always wanted to see and not see at the same time.

Her mother was walking down the street wearing a pair of sunglasses, the reporters following her with microphones, phones and their cameramen.

Hope wanted to jump on the screen.

Georgina Madden had aged beautifully the last time she had seen her. But the sadness in her face as she tried to block the reporters on the way to her car was more visible than the wrinkles around her mouth.

A drop of tear escaped Hope’s eye. She swallowed the whimper that wanted to escape.

Mom, she silently cried.

“Miss Madden, your daughter has disappeared ten years ago. How does the Ohio kidnapping make you feel?”

“Does it give you hope?”

“Do you think Hope Madden is also alive out there, being held captive?

The series of questions about her daughter finally made Georgina Madden halt and face everyone with a strong face. Hope knew it was all just for everyone else to see. And knowing her mother was hurting deep inside brought a great feeling of helplessness and pain in her.

“I know that my daughter is alive somewhere. And if she is being held captive as you all suggest, then I want to tell her to be strong because mommy is not giving up,” Georgina Madden said in a strong, shaky voice before she climbed inside her car.

Then the news anchor and his partner talked more about Hope’s disappearance ten years ago and how it might be the same as the Ohio incident.

Too late for old news, Hope thought.

Hope heard it right before she turned off the television.

It came again.

Three silent knocks. Then two.

Hope stood up and went to the wall beside her bed. She slid down on the floor and leaned against it, the rusty metal hook where her chain was attached to just a few inches away from her right arm.

She took a deep breath and stared blankly at the opposite wall across the room. There was nothing there. No picture frame, no drawings. Just plain, white, empty wall.

“Was that your mom?”

Hope didn’t answer the voice from the other side of the wall behind her at once.

After a while, she nodded her head and answered, “Yes.”