I yanked on the straps, feeling for weakness and finding none.

Although they were afraid at the sides, they were still too strong for me to break.

The long Velcro straps around my wrists and ankles weren't locked, but I would need

to be able to reach the end of the straps to undo them.

And that wasn't going to happen.

I couldn't get my mouth close enough to either one of my wrists to use my teeth, not even close.

The creaking of a board from upstairs caught my attention.

Recalling the sound of footsteps moving away from the front of the house when I first arrived,

I wondered if there was someone else in the house.

Someone complicit in whatever sixth stuff was going on here.

Or maybe the earlier footsteps had been the man's.

Maybe he'd gone out the back door to come around the house.

I quickly determined that I had nothing to lose.

Hello?

I called out.

I need help.

Is someone there?

Floorboards creaked upstairs.

I waited, listening hard, holding my breath.

There was no telling how long the man would be gone.

Or maybe this was some kind of trick.

The creaking noises made their way toward the stairs.

...