The Factory in the Mist
After twenty minutes of silence, the girls had tried many times to make Monica talk, but she had been quiet the whole time. Gabbie and Cármen start to worry where Monica will take them when she suddenly takes a sharp right, leaving the main road behind. They’re now driving on a sandy road, on high speed. Dust from the sand is to be seen from a far distance. Cármen looks at Gabbie in the rearview mirror, trying to give her a little comfort. But she is as nervous as Gabbie is. “Mon, where are you taking us? Talk to us”, Cármen says. For yet another minute, Monica is completely silent, does not take her eyes off of the road, does not move a single muscle. Then, all of a sudden, she brakes and the car comes to a full stop. “Here”, she says while unbuckling herself and getting out of the car. The girls quickly follow her while holding hands for comfort. They see nothing but a brick wall, which is for sure three times their height.
After two minutes, Monica finally stops walking, the now stands still in front of an iron gate, which is the same hight as the brick wall and is locked with at least three padlocks. “Where are we, Mon?”, Cármen asks. For the first time, Monica looks at the two girls. “This is the old cotton factory where I proposed to Angéla fifteen years ago. I recognized it from the photo, it is the only factory in the area where all the signs inside are in Spanish. The factory was shut down ten years ago, but remained publicly accessible until three years ago. I’m sure she’s in here, but I have no clue how to get inside”, Monica replies. “Are you sure, Mon?”, Cármen asks. “Of course not, but at least I’m pretty sure. If they, whoever they might be, are targeting us personally, it would make sense, wouldn’t it?”, Monica replies and she starts walking again. To their left nothing but trees, to their right the tall brick wall. Gabbie is still standing in front of the gate. “Do you have a shovel in your car? I’m sure we can dig a hole to crawl underneath the gate”, Gabbie tells while crouching down to the ground, trying to take a peek underneath the gate. “Don’t get crazy now, Gabs, come”, Cármen tells her and points her to rush as Monica keeps on walking.
They follow the wall, and as Monica rounds the corner, the girls rush over after her. Monica stands still, the girls almost bump into her. “Look”, Monica yells while pointing at a part of the wall which is demolished. She starts running towards the gap in the wall. “Wait, Monica! This might be a trap!”, Cármen yells, but Monica is in no state to stop running. The girls quickly run after Monica and they catch up quickly as Monica tries to climb the demolished wall. Bricks crumble beneath her shoes and she almost slips and falls. “Be careful, Mon, let’s work together. We’re here for one mission, get Angéla out of here, you cannot do this on your own”, Cármen says, but Monical still does not listen. She keeps on climbing and jumps off of the loose bricks onto the sand and runs towards the factory. “Come, grab my hand, quickly!”, Cármen yells at Gabbie while she grabs her arm and pulls her on top of the loose bricks. They quickly run into the door where they saw Monica enter. The door slams close behind them. They let out a quiet gasp. “Shh, I hear her”, Gabbie stops Cármen from walking by placing her hand on her stomach and points at the ceiling. They hear Monica whisper Angéla’s name. They quickly try to figure out where she is and how to get to her.
They walk through what appears to be a control room once, now it seem like a dangerous place to be, wires are haging lose, water is dripping and the full area is full of mist. The big windows on the factory walls have been broken, by nature or human kind. The girls see Monica standing in the middle of a hallway, which leads to a brightly lit room. Just when Cármen is about to shout to Monica, she gets hit to the head with an unknown object by a male figure. They quickly hide behind a piece of machine. Cármen takes a peek around and sees its Miguel. She quickly turns around, now facing Gabbie. “Gabs, it’s Miguel, I don’t know what to do”, she whispers. “Okay, don’t worry… Let me think”, Gabbie replies. “Here’s what we do. I saw another entrance down the hall. I will go there, try to stay hidden, if Miguel comes towards you, try to distract him somehow”, Gabbie continues, while she strokes Cármen on the face. “Okay, hon. Be careful please“, Cármen replies. “I will”, Gabbie replies while blowing her a kiss.
She quietly leaves the way they arrived and walks down the hall. She walks towards a closed door. She peeks through the window in the door and sees the brightly lit room from this door, it seems even closer than the room she just came from. She tries to quietly open the door, but it makes a sharp, yelling sound. She quickly rushes inside, runs towards the brightly lit room and sees Angéla. In the middle of the room, tied to a chair. Her eyes red, she has been crying a lot, it seems. She rushes over to Angéla to untie her ropes. Just when she tries to untie her hands, she sees a dark shape appear from the corner of her eyes. Gabbie tries to rush, but she hears a gun cock. Gabbie freezes.