There was the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
The blond girl quickly pulled up her pants. Then she looked at the pack in her hand with the single piece of tissue still within. She cried in disgust and self-pity.
Nick entered the basement. He held his nose at the smell. "You girls have been busy."
"You've to get rid of this." Ariel shook a finger at the bucket.
"When your friend signs the declaration, I'll get rid of it," Nick replied, "In fact, you'd be free to get out of here and go home."
"You mean you won't empty it until Sandy signs your paper?" Ariel asked.
"Yes," Nick confirmed.
The girls stared at Nick when they realized his Evil Master Plan. They were going to drown in their own filth until Sandy signed the paper. Certainly if he had meant to starve them, they could hold out for at least another day, maybe even longer. But for a couple of urban teenage girls to bear the stench of their own waste, not very long.
Ariel turned to her cellmate. "San-dy~!" she pleaded.
"No," Sandy said firmly, "It's a lot of money."
Then Ariel looked up to her captor. "Wait, you said if you killed her, all this will be over, right?"
Nick nodded. "Yes."
"Then shoot her, now!"
Sandy stared at her friend's willingness to condemn her to death. "Ariel..."
Ariel turned to her. "This is all your fault. I don't see why I have to suffer because of you!"
Nick shrugged. "If I kill her, I'd have to remove all witnesses." He looked directly at Ariel. "I'd have to kill you too."
Ariel groaned.
Suddenly, the blond girl jumped onto Sandy and started pulling brown hair. "Sandy, this is all your fault! I didn't want to come here but you insisted! Just sign that damned piece of paper!"
"You could kill her for me," Nick suggested.
Ariel looked up without releasing her grip on Sandy's hair. "Then I go free?" she asked hopefully. She remained sitting on Sandy.
"Yes," Nick said.
Ariel's eyes flashed dangerously down to her fellow captive.
"Wait, you're not thinking of it, are you?" Sandy asked with concern.
"I'm thinking, I'm really thinking," Ariel uttered unsteadily.
"Here, I'll help you," Nick offered. There was the sound of something hard landing on the cement floor just outside the cell.
The girls looked and saw that it was a small, but sharp screwdriver. It was within their reach.
"Ariel, you're not going to kill me, are you?" Sandy asked.
When Ariel looked at her, Sandy shrank back from the wild insanity she saw in her friend's eyes.
"Oh, I am, I am..." But Ariel never took her eyes off Sandy, nor moved to take the screwdriver.
"Sandy, you can end this you know," Nick said.
Sandy risked a glance at him.
"Just sign the declaration..."
"No!" Sandy interrupted him.
Nick shrugged. "I'll check on you later." He climbed up the stairs. "If you're still alive."
***
Their captor was as generous as ever with breakfast and lunch. However, the girls, each seated separately on the mattress, had not cared about food. They could not, not with the stench from the other corner of their cell. Plus, they were busy watching each other closely.
The kerosene lamp was their only source of light. It still burned merrily, oblivious to the tension within the lockup.
Sandy felt a little bad making her best friend suffer. But when her ordeal was over, she would have a great inheritance. She would then be rich! Her fortune would come true! All she had to do was to survive. Then when she had all that money, she could then make it up to her friend.
When she thought about her friend, Sandy realized that she had lost herself in her dreams. She jumped back into the real world to see what Ariel was doing.
Sandy returned to reality just in time to see the blond lunge at her with the screwdriver. She grabbed Ariel's arm before the screwdriver reached her heart. They fell onto the mattress, with Ariel above Sandy.
Sandy held Ariel's armed hand with both of her own. Ariel added the strength of her free hand in an attempt to force her makeshift weapon down. Normally, Sandy was stronger. But Ariel's insanity seemed to have increased her strength. It was all Sandy could do to keep the sharp tip of the screwdriver away from her face and throat.
There was the sound of footsteps descending the stairs. The girls ignored them and concentrated on their struggle.
"Hey, girls! Girls, stop!" It was a lady's voice.
Both girls immediately ceased their struggle and looked up. They saw a uniform, and a badge over the woman's breast. The cops! There was another uniformed officer behind her. Both officers had their pistols drawn but lowered.
The girls got up. Ariel dropped the screwdriver. Her tears flowed again, only that time, they were tears of joy.
***
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