Author's Note:

IT'S. ABOUT. STINKING. TIME!

Believe me - I'm scolding myself for the late hour and the lateness of the update!

So, without further ado, allow me to continue!


Monday, February 13th, 2012
Somewhere in the wooded foothills of the Appalachians, United States

Reid sighed as he sat, still tied to the chair he had woken in when Amy first came down and found him. Gosh, how much time really has passed since I arrived? Since Amy left? he thought. If she gets hurt... Reid shuddered at the thought, for he knew very well that if she got hurt, it would be his fault for making her go.

Things had changed when Stan returned to find Amy gone. First, there was a period of disbelief, then anger, then true grief, then he snapped and returned to normal... just a bit more cautious. Reid discovered that Stan really did love Amy unconditionally and uncontrollably, and her running away as an act of courage and, to be quite honest, sincere need, the man was in pain. But still, Reid thought. How could a 52-year-old man fall in love with a 13-year-old girl and expect her to be happy? Especiallly with the way he treated her? No, Amy had not given Reid details, but he knew there was a routine, and that his arrival thrust large portions of it out the window, ending literally with Amy leaving through the only available window she could find.

Yes, things had changed indeed when Stan returned to find Amy gone. First there was the tying-up of the other three - Oh, what were their names again? Right - Mrs. Meyes, Mr. Bronsky, and Cameron Bronsky. Forget first names; they'll tell you when you all are out - and spending long peroids of time down there in the basement with them. Stan always sat on the same four-legged, wooden stool in the same position every time, staring at the same place in the same doorway every time, holding the same gun in the same hand every time. Whatever one thought of when it came to repetition and repeating patterns, Reid felt he would forever thing of Stan when it came to it.

It took all his strength to actually admit his thoughts aloud to Stan. "You know," Reid said one day, "I'm starting to think she isn't coming back. It's been, what, a week?"

But Stan wasn't as phased as Reid thought. "Something like that, yeah," he admitted.

Mr. Bronsky and Mrs. Meyes exchanged panicked looks as Reid continued. "It's just a shame she doesn't care enough to come back, huh?"

Cameron laughed nervously. "Eh heh heh, I really don't think it's her not caring as much as it is her not being able to. I mean, wouldn't those agents working on the case not let her leave their sight?"

"But they'd be coming here anyways, and she's the only one to lead them," Stan said, turning around to stare at them with bloodshot eyes, his now-constant British accent coming out more than ever. "I specifically designed this location so no one could find it unless you've been here before. From above you can't see it's a house unless you know what you're looking for, which would be a very small break in the trees where a lot of snow was dumped or a lot of grass or moss is growing. By land, the route along the drive is precarious. Sometimes my van acts up, but I manage to get back perfectly fine, don't I?" He nodded in self-satisfaction. "At any rate, only she can lead them here, what with her memory and all, so she has to come. And I have a feeling we'll be seeing them soon."

How right was Stan? Reid could only hope that the vile man was very, very right.


1/16/13-Sorry this is so short. I was rather "creatively braindead," as I call it. The next chapter - which I will begin writing shortly - will be longer to make up for it, and therefore, more action-packed.