Chapter 1
The Horsemen were running. Their plan to expose the new software company had failed miserably. Lula, Merritt, Daniel and Jack were running away from the venue since they were being chased by the FBI. Jack had lead to the black pipe that he aligned to go to the back of a truck that was to take them to their safe house. Jack was slightly pissed that his cover was now gone, but at the same time, he was happy because that meant that he could now go back to doing shows again instead of being in the background.
"In here," Jack said, and the Horsemen slid down the black tube. Jack didn't remember, but at one point, he blacked out.
Jack woke up disoriented. He had no idea where he was and couldn't put together anything since his vision was fuzzy. He thought he heard voices but they were muffled up. Slowly his vision cleared and he was able to see where he was. He looked around to find out that he was in a room that had nothing but two couches, a table and a door. There were no windows. Jack aslo found out that his hands were handcuffed to the arms of a chair that he was sitting in. It wasn't a particularly uncomortable chair, in fact, it was quite the opposite.
Jack pondered as to why he would be here of all places. Wasn't he supposed to be at the safe house with the others? Wait, the others. Where were they? He thought desparately. He didn't like the idea that he was alone. As much as he didn't like to admit it, he hated being alone. The door opened up and a man walked in. He was of medium height and had dark hair along with a little stuble for a beard and mustache. This strange new man walked in with four guards. Jack inwardly scoffed at this.
"Hello, hello," The man said in a cheery voice, "Looks like I got myself a dead Jack Wilder. Wait, an undead Jackie. Get the joke? That was good right?" Jack glared at the man when he called him Jackie. Only the members of the Horsemen were allowed to call him that.
"I don't like that glare that you're giving me Jack. Was it because I called you Jackie? Does that strike a nerve?" He questioned.
"Where are the others and why am I here?" Jack asked, not willing to say a word about himself to this crazy guy.
"Oh, don't worry about your friends now. You'll see them soon enough. And as for why you are here, I need you for a little leverage, or negotiation one could call it," The man said, "I just realized that I never introduced myself. How rude of me. My name is Walter and I plan to use you and your friends to do a little something for me. However, I imagine they'll be quite difficult to...persuade, so that's where you come in," Walter explained.
Jack looked at him with a cold look, not willing to give away any emotion. No matter how cheery this man may seem, he didn't trust him. Not one bit.
"Hey fellas, rough him up a bit," Walter said. Jack braced himself as much as he could as the four guards walked over to him. One of them held him down even though it wasn't really necessary since he was already bound to the chair. The three others took turns taking punches at him. He tried to not cry out in pain as he didn't want to give Walter any satisfaction. He was repeatedly punched in the stomach and face. He could feel blood start to pour down his face and a few ribs crack. Jack was now breathing in short breaths and in a faster pace than before.
"I think that's enough for the others to get the message," Walter said. Immediately the four men walked away, leaving Jack gasping for breath, and wincing at the simple task of breathing. There was a knock on the door and a man entered.
"Sir, the others have arrived," He said.
"Thank you," Walter said. He then looked at Jack, "I'm going to have a little conversation with your friends now. Oh, and I expect you won't be missing these," He said, holding Jack's playing cards in front of him.
"Give those back," Jack growled, none to happy that he was taken of his deck of cards.
"I don't think so. I think I'll have a little fun with them first," Walter said, then left, leaving Jack alone in the room.
Chapter 2
The three Horsemen that were taken from the Chinese restaurant were now forcefully shoved in the room from the elevator that they came up in. They looked around the room to find a man who was shoeless, messing around with a card deck. He messed up on a card trick and turned around to see the three others standing in the room.
"Oh hello, didn't expect to see you there," He said, grabbing the card that flew away from him, "You know, this card deck is very good. Just bought it the other day," He said. Daniel looked at the cards that the man was holding and noticed something off about them. They were too worn to be only a few days old.
"Bull shit, those aren't a few days old. Those are Jacks," Daniel said. Lula looked shocked as he said that.
"What have you done with Jack?" She asked, trying to hide the worry from her voice. Walter noticed it however, and reminded himself to use that as an advantage. He motioned for the guards to move the Horsemen to the couch.
"I want you to do something for me," Walter said. "You see, I invested quite a lot of money into Arthurs bank and most of that money that you stole, well that was mine. There is something that I want you to steal for me," He said, and went on to explain what he wanted stolen.
"No, we won't do that," Lula said.
"I agree," Merritt said. The two looked at Daniel who was deep in thought.
"As much as I hate to say it I agree with these two. I won't do anything for you," He answered. Walter sighed, "That's a shame. I was hoping that you'd do it willingly," He said. Walter nodded to a few of the guards, who then left.
"You were correct to say that these playing cards are Jack's. Or as I'd like to call him, Jackie," Walter said. At the mention of Jack's name, the three looked up.
"What have you done with Jack?" Lula asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," He replied. It was only a matter of minutes before a few men came out dragging a battered looking Jack.
"Jack," Lula yelled. She got up from the couch in an attempt to go to Jack but was roughly forced back down. Walter walked over to Jack and pulled his head back so that he was facing the other Horsemen.
"You see what I can do?" He asked, " If you don't give me what I want, even more bad things can happen to your little Jackie here,"
"Don't do anything he asks you to do," Jack said. He was rewarded with a swift kick to the chest. He grunted and fell to the floor. The three Horsemen were beyond shocked at what they were seeing.
"Stop this," Daniel yelled, not willing to have one of his teammates kicked around like that.
"You know what to do to stop this," Walter said. He looked over to the guards and signaled for them to continue their assault on Jack. The three watched in horror, not knowing what to do. Growing bored, Walter stopped the men and Jack went limp.
"I'll continue this conversation tomorrow. Lock them up in a room, but keep Jackie over here alone," He ordered. Jack was dragged out of the room while the three others were roughly pushed through a hallway into a room, yelling and screaming at Walter the whole way. They heard a the sound of a lock and then it was silent. The room was completely barren save for a little toilet in the corner. After all the shock of what happened, Lula collapsed on the floor. Daniel walked over to the wall and kicked it so hard, that it left a small dent.
"Damn it," He yelled, trying to get rid of his anger that didn't involve hurting his two companions.
"What will we do now?" Lula asked.
"Find a way to escape, with Jack. Hopefully Dylan will come and find us as well," Merritt said. Dylan, now slightly more composed walked back towards them.
"Then I guess we better start coming up with a plan," He said. The two nodded their heads and got to work planning their escape.
Chapter 3
Jack lay still on the floor, to tired and in pain to move. The only thing that kept him happy was that his friends wouldn't give in to what Walter wanted. He only hoped it would stay that way. He would do anything to keep it that way, and to keep them uninjured. Jack was getting slightly sleepy when the door slammed open. Jack tried to lift up his head but he couldn't. He felt hands grab him and throw him onto the chair and tied him up. Walter walked up and got inches away from his face.
"I'm not liking the way things are going right now. Your friends are being very uncooporative,"
"To bad the world doesn't revolve around you," Jack interrupted. Walter got even angrier than he already was and punched him in the face. The force of the punch was so hard, that if the chair wasn't sturdy, he was sure that he would have fallen down. Jack scoffed, "You think this will do anything. I lived on the damn streets and got daily beatings. This is nothing,"
Walter studdied Jack for a while, contemplating what he just said.
"Your right, I'll have to take it up a notch," Walter said. He walked over to the guards at the door and got something from them. He walked up to Jack, now twirling a knife in his hands. Jack started to panic a bit.
"Don't worry, I won't touch your pretty litte face," Walter said, and careesed his cheek. Jack flinched away from the touch, only to recieve another punch. Walter then took the knife, and cut of his shirt. Jack was now feeling self conscious, as he had many scars on his body already from his dad's beatings.
"What's this?" Walter asked, running a hand over the scars.
"None of your fucking business," Jack said.
"Well that's a shame. You're just as stubborn as your friends. I'm going to hand this job over to one of the guards as I don't like to get my hands dirty," He said. Walter walked over to one of the guards and walked out of the room. The men went over to Jack and started to slice him. The first slice took him by surprise and gasped. After the first one, he bit his lip, trying not to make any noises as they kept on cutting him. It was starting to get unbearable after about the tenth slice. He tried to go into his own world to ignore the present one. To get rid of the pain that he was in. Much like he would when his father would get his anger out on him.
Jack didn't know how long it was until they stopped, but when they did, he didn't know. He was to far into his own little world. One of the men punched him for one final measure which got him back into reality. He had wished that the man didn't do that, since the world that he was in now, was full of pain. He could feel the blood flowing down his chest as he slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter 4
Daniel sighed and ran his hands thru his hair. They had spent the past few hours to try and come up with a plan but nothing they said would work. It would either not get them out, or they would get out, just not with Jack.
"What the hell do we do now?" Merritt asked, clearly distressed. He was growing really worried about Jack. Who knew what that crazy man was doing to him.
"I don't know. I hate saying this, but I'm all out of ideas," Daniel said. Merritt looked over at Lula who was sitting down. He could see that she was trying to keep a calm and composed look. However, since he was a mentalist, he could tell that she was freaking out about Jack. There was a loud crash that startled the three and they looked towards the door.
"What was that?" Lula asked, now standing.
"Don't know," Merritt said, "But be ready. Who knows what will happen," Lula nodded her head and went over to where the others were. Minutes passed and nothing happened, though they did hear shouting in the hallways. All of a sudden, something banged at the door, startling the three. The thing kept on hitting the door a few more times before it flew open, and Merritt went into action. He wasn't much of a fighter, that role was Jack's, but he was the best out of the three of them. He ran over the the man that was now in the room and threw a punch, only to be dodged. The man grabbed his arms and pinned them to the side. Merritt was trying to break free, not knowing who it was that was pinning him.
"Merritt, stop. It's Dylan," Daniel yelled. Immediately Merritt stop struggling and backed away.
"Dylan?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's me. Glad to see that you guys are safe," Dylan said.
"Jack isn't safe," Lula said. Dylan looked over to her with a confused then looked around the room.
"Where is Jack?" He asked, worry in his voice.
"We don't know. Though last time we saw him, he didn't look to good," Daniel said.
"Come with me, we're going to find him," Dylan said. The four of them ran through the hallway, checking every room to find Jack. Room after room went by and they didn't find Jack in any of them. There was only one room left that they hadn't checked, and this made Dylan anxious. He knocked down the door and looked into the room. He gasped at what he saw and ran inside, followed by the other three. He ran to the body that was laying on the ground. Dylan looked up at the others with a fearful look.
"It's Jack," He said. Lula gasped and ran to Jack's side.
"What did they do to him?" She asked, clearly distressed.
"Don't know, but I can tell that they did beat him and he's unconscious. I know of a safe place that we can go to in Macow. We'll go there," Dylan carried Jack and the five left the room. They hurried to the car that Dylan came in and drove as fast as they could to the safe area that he mentioned. They exited the car and went into a small building. Daniel looked around the building, only to find out that it was a magic shop.
"Dylan, what the hell is this? This isn't a safe place, it's a damn magic shop," Daniel said angrily.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Dylan went up to the counter and rang the bell. An old lady came out and was shocked by what she saw. Dylan then started to speak in Mandarin, surprising the other three. The lady rushed them into the back room that was kept a secret.
"Lee, Lee," She yelled. A man came out speaking in Mandarin, "What is it?" he asked.
"Grab some of the healing medicine and hot water," The old lady said. The man who was named Lee looked at what Dylan was holding and nodded his head.
"I'll grab the stuff right away. Put him on the table over there. Make him as comfortable as possible," He ordered in English. Dylan hurried over to the table that Lee mentioned. The old lady grabbed some blankets to put on the table, and then Dylan put Jack on the table. Jack started to stir a bit with all the activity that was going on. His face contorted in pain as he opened his eyes. He looked around confused as to where he was, then bolted up.
"Where am I," He yelled, now panicking. Dylan went to Jack's side and lowered him back onto the table.
"Calm down Jack. You're safe, you're with the other Horsemen. We're going to clean you up now so it might be a bit painful," Dylan said, trying to reassure him. Jack seemed to calm down slightly.
"You three, go over there. I want him to have some space while we clean his injuries. The other three reluctantly went to the other side of the room. Lee and the old lady came back, carrying all the things that they needed.
"Here, drink this," The old lady said in English to Jack. Jack looked distrustingly at the lady, not wanting to drink whatever she gave him.
"It will lessen the pain, trust me," She said. Slowly, Jack drank the liquid.
"You have to be awake for this," She said. Jack nodded his head, slightly more relaxed as the medicine was taking into affect. The lady and Lee started to clean his wounds and Dylan was comforting Jack.
"He has a few cracked ribs, we'll have to set those," Lee said, "Hold him down," He ordered Dylan. Once Dylan was holding Jack down, Lee started to set his ribs. Jack screamed when the first rib was set, making Dylan even more worried. The three other Horsemen had heard the scream too and looked at each other, worried as well.
"Only a few more Jack," Lee said. He set a few more ribs, and Jack screamed just as loud for both of those as well. When Lee was finished, Jack was breathing fast and Dylan was trying to calm him down again. Lee then went to examine the cuts.
"Luckily there are only a few deep cuts that will need some stitches," Lee said. Dylan sighed of relief. Lee started to stitch up the wounds, which was the most painful part for Jack. Dylan could tell that Jack was trying not to make any sound. Eventually, Lee was done and started to clean up. Jack was now really tired and fell asleep.
"Will he be okay?" Dylan asked, while covering Jack up with some blankets.
"Yes, he will be fine. He just needs some rest.
"Good," Dylan said. He then walked over to the other Horsemen to tell them the news of Jack.
Chapter 5
Jack woke up really sore. He opened up his eyes and groaned, trying to sit up. It was then, that he realized he was sitting on a bed. His mind started to go into Panic mode and he started to breath faster.
"Jack, calm down. You're safe," Dylan said. Jack looked over to Dylan and started to calm down once he saw that it was indeed Dylan. He took a deep breath, and leaned back into the bed.
"Where am I," He asked.
"You're in the back room of a magic shop in Macow. Walter can't hurt you anymore. He is in jail now," Dylan informed.
"Where are the others," Jack asked.
"They're in the other room. Do you want me to get them?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, that'd be good," Jack said. Dylan went out to go get the others, and within a minute, Lula, Merritt and Daniel were there. Lula ran up to Jack and hugged him.
"I'm so happy that you're okay," She said and released the hug.
"Did any of you get hurt?" Jack asked.
Merritt gave a small laugh, "No, we're fine. It's yourself that you should be worried about," He said.
"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me," Jack said.
"You gave us quite a scare," Daniel said. Jack smiled.
"How did we escape?" Jack asked.
"I was informed of something suspicious happening where you guys were at. I grabbed a team and we attacked the building. Somehow I managed to get you guys out safely without the other FBI team noticing that you were there," Dylan answered, "Can you three leave for a few minutes? I want to talk to Jack by myself for a bit," Dylan said. The three looked confused, but left the room.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Jack asked, just as confused as the other three.
"When we were cleaning your injuries, we noticed that there were far to many scars on your body than there should be from the damage that you took," Dylan started. Jack looked away from Dylan, knowing where this was going.
"You saw the other scars?" Jack asked. Dylan nodded, "Yes, we did. What happened?" Jack said nothing for a while, staring at the sheets. He really didn't want to talk about his childhood, but since Dylan had already found out about the scars, he decided to talk about it.
"When I was a child, I had an abusive and alcoholic father. My mom was not in the picture at all. Starting at age seven, he would beat me almost regularly. I had a two younger siblings and one older sibling. The older one tried to protect me as much as possible, but one night my father beat him to death. He then went to beating me," Jack took a deep breath. He had never told his life story to anyone and this was something he'd hope to never talk about.
"One day when I was fifteen, I had enough and snapped. One time we were hiking as a family. My dad got really angry and started to hit my younger sibling. I went over to him and pushed him off the cliff. No one found the body so I was never accused of murder. My siblings didn't spill anything because they were relieved that their father was dead. After that incident, we were separated as they were under thirteen years old. I haven't seen them since. I ran away from the orphanage and lived on the streets until you found me and asked me to join the Four Horsemen," Jack concluded.
Dylan was silent. He didn't know what to say. He could see that Jack was distressed and worn out from telling his life story.
"I'm really sorry that you had to go through that," Dylan said. Jack shook his head.
"It's not your fault. It's the past and I'm no longer in danger. I'm actually the happiest I've been in my life. The only thing that would make me happier is if I saw my siblings again," Jack said.
"How long has it been since you've seen them?" Dylan asked.
"Seven years," Jack answered.
"How would you feel if I tried to find your siblings to reunite them with you?" Dylan asked. Jacks face lit up, the happiest Dylan had seen him in a while.
"That would be great. Their names are Lillian Wilder and James Wilder. Lilly is 14 and James is 16," Jack informed.
"I'll try my best to find them," Dylan said.
"Thanks so much," Jack said.
Chapter 6
Two weeks had passed since Jack's capture. They had flown back to New York and are now in their safe house there. Jack was healing very well and was becoming his old self again. It was a nice and sunny day in New York. Jack was watching TV with Lula, Daniel was going over some plans and Merritt was reading a book. There was a knock on the door and Dylan came in.
"Hey Jack, I got a surprise for you," Dylan said. Jack looked confused.
"What surprise?" He asked.
"See for yourself. Hey guys, come on in," Dylan said. Two kids came in the room, one a boy and the other a girl. They both looked similar to Jack but younger.
"Lillian, James!" Jack said in a surprised but excited voice. He ran over to the two kids and they went into an embrace. The other three were confused as to what was going on. Jack and his siblings eventually let go of their hug and he looked to his friends.
"Guys, these are my siblings. This is Lillian and this is James," He said pointing to the boy and girl. "Lillian, James, these guys are my friends. That's Lula, Daniel and Merritt," He said. The two kids waved to the other three and they did the same. Jack lead his siblings to the couch and they sat down together.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys," Jack said.
"Where have you been Jack? It's been forever since we've seen you," Lillian asked.
"I've been on the run. And now I'm a magician on the run," Jack answered, "What about you guys. What's been going on with you two?" He asked. The three of them started to talk about what their life was like since their separation. The four others decided to leave the room to give them some privacy.
"I never knew that Jack had siblings," Daniel said.
"He told me the day that I wanted to talk to him alone. I made a promise to myself that I would reunite the three," Dylan said.
"That's the happiest that I've ever seen him be," Merritt said.
"Yeah, and I hope that it stays that way," Lula said. The four heard laughter coming from the other room and they smiled. Things were now better than they have ever been before.