Greetings for everyone! Thanks for those of you, who have commented, followed or liked this story. I had actually written most of it already, but decided against publishing because no-one seemed interested. Now I fully intend to complete it!

The kidnappers forced them into a white delivery car. There was a name of some unknown company on it´s side. John guessed that the car was Raymond´s. The blond woman covered their eyes and tied their hands with cable ties. After that it took what felt like hours of driving. The whole time the other boy kept mumbling something mostly unrecognizable. From the bits John heard it seemed really random. He talked about the condition of the road, approximate speed they were driving and degrees of turns they made. As if it was possible to accurately deduce their destination while traveling blindfolded!

When they finally reached the destination the boys were pulled out from the car and walked through a big yard. They were also forced to stagger through something that reminded John of long echoing corridors.

When the blindfold was finally removed and John was enabled to freely look around himself, he found out that they were brought into an abandoned office room. He saw the young woman, who had snitched them earlier in the doorway, grinning devilishly with her pink lipstick colored mouth. Then the woman locked them in.

-You are allowed to shout and yell as much as you want, boys. No one is going to be bothered by it, she told them sweetly through the door.

They were left alone in the room. It was slowly getting darker and darker as the sun outside set. The silence was getting heavy. John felt an uncomfortable block in the back of his throat. He decided not to cry and wished that the other boy wouldn´t either. Mostly because that would make it harder for him to keep his own tears from running. Crying wouldn´t help them. It never helped anything. John glanced the other boy. He was pale and looked shocked about the turn of the events, but at least he was still somewhat holding his composure.

-They thought that we knew eachother beforehand and were in this together, the kid suddenly stated. He looked straight at John.

-Why did you try to help me?

His pale blueish-greyish eyes were huge and he sounded honestly curious. He was really pretty, actually, John thought to himself. Even his clothes were all expensive brands. He was clearly intelligent and by his conduct one could tell that he came from a good family. Whereas… John looked at his dirty hand me down sneakers and baggy sweatsuit. He actually looked almost like he fitted well in the dusty office room in the middle of high piles of empty files and huge computers that hadn´t been used in at least 10 years. He sighed.

-Because it seemed like you were in trouble.

The other boy looked surprised.

-Wouldn´t it have been wiser to get some help?

-It might have been, John admitted.

-But I didn´t have the time. And I thought that no-one would believe me without evidence and you would be gone before I could get any help.

The child considered it. After a while, he nodded slowly.

-That may actually be correct, he agreed. Then something unpleasant seemed to come to his mind as he started to anxiously tuck his un-ruly curls.

-But now we are both in trouble. And my brother is going to kill me! The boy groaned.

John couldn´t help but laugh. This kid was interesting. Even in this situation, what he was most worried of was his brother´s anger.

-Does he really have contacts in British coverment?

-He basically is the British coverment. Or at least, he will be soon, the kid announced proudly.

John cracked up.

At first the boy looked a bit offended but then he also began to laugh. He had a very facinating laugh, devilish and innocent at the same time.

-If they are listening to us, they will think, that they captured the craziest nuts! John claimed tears of laughter in his eyes.

-Jep, the absolute lunatics! The other kid snickered.

-Hey, that sounds like a name for a band, John noted, Should we form one? Do you play any instruments?

-Violin. How about you?

-Clarinet, John smirkled. -Clarinet and violin are probably not the first instruments one thinks when one hears about a band called The Absolute Lunatics. But who cares.

The shared laughter had relaxed them both. Earlier John hadn´t been too sure if he even liked the other kid (he had seemed fairly annoying), but after laughing together he found himself fond of the weird boy.

-How long do you think it will take for the British coverment to find us here? He asked the kid jokingly.

The boy pondered seriously before answering.

-Maybe a couple of days if the Mercury-guy is as pedant as he seems to be. It will probably take an another hour before my family discovers that I´m gone. I did pretty good job in deceiving them this time, after all. I even left my mobile home because I didn´t want to get tracked by it.

The boy sounded very proud of himself until he noticed John´s raised eyebrow and shyly added:

-Which was probably not entirely a good decision...

John snorted. The boy scowled back but continued.

-Anyway, after they finally find out, knowing my brother, it will take barely any time to deduce where I´ve gone. I actually found out about this case by eavesdropping his conversations and he knows that I tend to do it. When they notice that I´m not coming back and can´t be traced, they will take into consideration the possibility of me being kidnapped. As the earlier victim was brutally killed, I bet the my brother will take this all very seriously.

Hearing that John licked his dry lips. Two days. If it was true, quite a brother the boy had… He, on the other hand, would be lucky if his pale excuse of a family finally noticed him gone after two days. John guessed that sis would be the first one to miss him when coming back from her trip. From the looks of his father on this morning, John could predict that he wouldn´t be in any condition to care about anyone else in any time soon.

-Then… Do you think they will keep us alive until then? John asked.

-Hard to say.

They both went silent while thinking about that. Finally John rose his head and asked a question that had been bothering him for a while.

-I have been thinking. As we both seem to be stuck together, well, at least for a couple of days, I think, it would be nice to know each others names. What´s yours? Mine is…

-You don´t have to tell! And I won´t tell you mine so don´t even ask, the kid interrupted quickly.

John frowned. He was a bit taken aback.

-If it gets out, who I actually am, I don´t know what they will do. They may even use me as a hostage against my brother. And if they ask for a ransom, I will die of an embarrashment. I don´t want to be in any evening magazines because of this, he explained. You don´t look like you´re good at lying so it´s best for both of us that you know as little as possible.

-For your information, I´m not nearly as much goody two shoes as you seem to think. I can tell a lie, when needed, John muttered feeling a bit insulted.

-According to you getting kidnapped is what? Embarrassing? If that really is your main concern, damn, you have weird priorities, he continued.

John sighed loudly.

-What would you want me to call you then? He inquired snarkily. The other boy didn´t seem to notice his mood. Instead he seemed to have the answer ready.

-Captain Redbeard! He breathed out. His eyes were sparkling as if he had been waiting for this.

John bursted into laughter.

-Captain Redbeard? He repeated, both surprised and amused.

-You have something against it?

-No, no, John reassured him.

-I just… I thought that you liked to play detective. That you maybe wanted to be one when adult. But actually… pirates?

John began to laugh.

-The pirates are cool, the other boy muttered poutingly.

John rose his hands in apology.

-They really are and captain Redbeard is a great alias. Though I think detectives are also pretty cool and I think you would make an amazing one. But anyway… What would you call me then? I can tell you my real name if you´d like. I´m not that afraid of being 'embarrassed' and none in my family are that impressive anyways. If these people actually asked ransom from them, they would get what? Maybe ten pounds...

-Don´t bother. I never remember anyone´s real name, anyway, Redbeard (as John had immediately started to call the other boy in his head) interrupted.

For a while, his forever changing eyes concentrated solely on John. His gaze run through him from head to toes.

-You like sports, he stated.

John took a look at his faded sweatsuit and sneakers and admitted that it was pretty obvious.

-Yes, I do.

-How about Victor? Redbeard suggested. His eyes pointed towards John´s t-shirt in which there was a printed sentence: "For the victory of the team". His scarf and jacket covered it mostly but VICTOR of the "victory" was clearly wisible. John shrugged his shoulders. It was fine by him. Actually in all secrecy he thought that it was a way cooler nickname than Redbeard.