"For today, the high's will be ninety-three degree and very humid, making this morning and afternoon a little uncomfortable. The low for tonight will only be in the lower seventies. For the next three days, I'm putting all of Miami under a Heat Advisory until Saturday. I will keep you updated on the weather but now some breaking news. We just received notice from the Miami-Dade Police that CSI, Eric Delko, as been missing for two days now. Police are asking you for help in spotting a Blue Dodge van, Florida license plate FOR 1546. If anyone has any information, please contact the Miami-Dade Police Department."
Eric stared at the TV that Ron turned on early that morning. Or, at lest he thought it was morning. Wherever he was had no windows but he could feel the cool air of the A/C blowing slightly down on him. Ron had left the moment he turned the TV on and he hasn't seen him since, which was fine with him because that meant his body could rest some more. He was sure his right eye was swollen shut since he could barely open it this morning, and he knew his ankle hurt from where the bat hit it dead on the ankle bone. He would rotate it every so often and it moved fine, but he would wince in pain. The rest of his body just felt like shit. His exposed chest had nasty dark purple bruises, mostly around his ribs, but much to his surprise, none of the ribs felt broken. It seemed Ron knew what he was doing and didn't want his fun to end so fast.
"Good morning pet," Ron said, walking in the front door of the building.
Speaking of the devil. Ron had let in a small amount of sunlight onto the dusty floor before it disappeared behind the closed door. Ron held a bag of something in one hand and keys in the other. He stopped at the TV and laughed when he saw Eric's picture under missing before continuing with whatever he was going to do. He set the bag on the table and reached in to pull out two breakfast sandwiches. He then set some tatter tots next to the sandwiches before looking up at Eric.
"I thought that before our game begins, we have breakfast together. What do you say? I'm sure you're hungry since you didn't eat yesterday." Ron pushed the button to lower the hook before walking over to him. He untied Eric's wrist and before Eric could even let his arms fall to his side, he pulled out Eric's gun and jammed it in his side. "All we're doing is walking to the table. One wrong move and you get a bullet. Understand?" He pulled him over to the table and pushed him down in the chair before tying his wrist to the chairs armrest.
"How the hell am I suppose to eat?" Eric asked, tugging on the rope. He just glared as Ron smiled and started eating his breakfast sandwich while the TV started playing some kind of talk show. He heard his stomach growl, demanding food, but for some reason he had to wait to eat. After Ron finished his breakfast, he opened Eric's sandwich up and held it up to his mouth with a grin. "What?"
"Don't you want to eat?"
"Yeah, but not like this. I can use my hands thank you very much." There was no way in hell he's feeding me like a baby, Eric thought.
"No can do. I let all my other contestants use their hands but they knew better than to fight back and plus, they were weak. You, however, are a lot stronger and smarter than them so, therefore, I can't take any chances. Now, I am advising you to eat because what I have planed for us today is something fun and I don't want you to pass out. Now, open wide." He laughed when Eric opened his mouth and watched him take a bite. "What do you say?"
"Thank you," Eric whispered with hate. His head then jerked to the right when Ron punched him across the face.
"Learn your manners pet. You know the rules."
"No way in hell am I saying..." he didn't finish when Ron had both his hands around his neck once more.
"You listen you little shit. I can kill you right here, right now and then I get the pleasure of handing your body over to your boyfriend and Horatio. Now, what were you saying before?"
"Thank...you...master," came a choked reply.
Ron smiled in approval and released Eric's throat before sitting back down. He continued to feed Eric until the food was gone. Once the food was gone, he stood up to go into the other room, coming back out with longer rope. He untied Eric's wrist, quickly re-tying them in front of him, and pulled him up. Walking him to the door in the back of the room, he opened the door so Eric could see nothing but woods, smoke coming from somewhere nearby, and a jeep. They walked over to the back of the jeep where Ron then tied another piece of long rope around Eric's neck before tying that to the bar in the back of the jeep.
"So, I hear you love to run in the mornings before going into work, and since I'm the kind of guy that hates my routines ruin, I thought a nice run in the woods would be a good way to start our day. Yeah?" He jumped into the driver seat and started the engine and then putting it into drive. He drove slowly at first, looking back to make sure Eric was right behind him and smiled when he was. He was half way into the woods when he picked up speed and then turning around to see the rope around Eric's neck tighten just a little before he caught up with him. "Are you having fun yet?"
Eric just glared at him, not even going to answer. This was absolutely crazy! Here he was, running through the woods with rope tied around his neck. One slip and he would be strangled. He kept his eyes on the jeep and continued to control his breathing. Sweat rolled down his face, into his eyes, and off his nose. He followed the jeep as it turned right and then picked a little more speed. He brought his arms up to cover his face as tree branches threatened to swat him in the face. With his arms up to protect his face, he didn't see a tree root sticking up out of the ground until it was to late. His foot got caught and twisted harshly as his body started falling forward.
"AHH!"
Ron turned around when he heard Eric scream but didn't see no Eric. He stopped the jeep and jumped out to see what had happened, and found him laying on the ground, hands pulling the rope away from his throat, and breathing heavy. "What's the matter? Can't take it anymore?"
"My...ankle." Eric had to force the words out. Pain started shooting up his left leg as he tried to move his ankle. He jumped when he felt hands touch around the bone and a click of the tough.
"What a shame. Can't tell if it's twisted or broken. I guess this ends the run for the day." Ron shook his head as he lifted Eric off the ground and got him in the passenger side before driving away. He didn't have to worry about Eric running away now but that wasn't going to stop their game. It was just put on hold due to injury, but the game will go on. He pulled behind the building before helping Eric limp back inside. Sitting Eric on the couch, he took off his shoes and socks to see the damage. "Can't tell what's wrong but I would advise you to take it easy."
"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" He felt Ron pull him back to his feet and made sure not to put pressure on his left foot. They walked back over to the hook and just looked at Ron as his wrist were once more tied to the hook. "Where do you think I'm going? I can hardly stand much less run."
"Oh, I need you standing up for this. Once this is over with you can sit down and get ice on that ankle, but I'm sure you want this to be done and over with." He then pulled out a bandana and forced Eric's mouth open before sticking it into his mouth, tying it around the back of his head. "This is for your own good. Remember that." Ron turned around and walked towards the garbage can, the fire still going, and pulled on a pair of gloves. He pulled out the metal stick Eric saw the first day, but it wasn't an ordinary metal stick. This metal stick was welded together to the letter "M". A very large "M". He walked back over to Eric and smiled when he saw the man's eyes widen and struggled to get away as the glowing, red metal came closer. "Don't be scared, my pet. This has only been in the fire for a week. Now, this will only hurt a little. Once this is branded on you, you will belong to me. No one else."
Eric, trying as hard as he could, begging through the gag, but nothing came out but muffled noises. The first thought that came to his mind was Speed. What Speed would do when he saw this ugly brand on his back. He remembered Horatio's face when he saw it on Rebecca's back and never wanted to see his friend give him that same look. A look of shame and disgust. He would never be able to look Speed in the eye if this happened. What if Speed never wanted to touch him again? What if he never wanted to see him again because he didn't fight harder? All these thoughts going though his head he didn't notice Ron had moved behind him until he felt the scorching heat of the brand.
"Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine," was all Ron said as he thrust the brand into Eric's back.
Eric threw his head back, biting down on the gag in his mouth, and screamed with all his might. He felt tears roll down his face from his closed eyes as he struggled to get away from the brand, but it seemed all he was doing was making it worst. He heard the sizzling sound of his skin, smelling burnt flesh, and yet, Ron never let go. Instead, he held had on hand on his should and pushed harder on the brand. He lowed his head until his chin touched his chest, and breathed heavy out his mouth, making some spit drip from his lips. His back was on fire and now he had this ugly brand on his back. He heard whistling and looked up to see Ron already by the garbage can, sticking the brand back into the fire.
"I usually wait until the third day to brand but you needed to be reminded who you belong to," Ron said. He walked into another room and came back out with a wheelbarrow of hay, which he wheeled over to the right side of the room and dumped the hay in the corner. Walking over to the couch, he picked up a blanket and laid it over the hay. When that was done, he helped Eric down, removed his gag, and walked him over to the corner. "Why don't you lay on your stomach so you don't hurt your back. I don't want my hard work to go to waste." He laughed when Eric didn't put up a fight and nodded in approval. He stood up and left to room, only to return with a small bag of ice and some cream. Placing the ice on the swollen ankle he started to rub burn cream on Eric's back, taking extra care not to rub hard.
"Why are you doing this?" Eric whispered, now wanting real answers. "And none of this game shit either."
"You want the truth? Let's just say a friend needed some help and I decided to help him out." Once the cream was on and the ice where it needed to be, Ron stood up and looked around the room. "Tell you what, why don't you get some rest and I'll get our next game ready for this afternoon. Sound good?"
Eric didn't even nod nor shake his head. He had his eye's closed and was asleep in a matter of minutes.
Late afternoon early evening, Eric finally woke up. His back sore and his ankle throbbing. He lifted his head and looked around the room to see Ron sleeping soundlessly on the couch, TV turned off, and then his eyes went straight to the door. Behind that door was his freedom and if he could get out there he might be able to get help. Very slowly, he pushed up on his hands and knee, making sure not to put any pressure on his left leg or ankle. Once he was sure he could move without that much pain, he slowly started crawling towards the door, thanking Ron for putting him so close. Checking to make sure Ron was still sleeping, he kept going, inch by inch, keeping his breathing calm and even. A couple more crawls and he would be free. He reached up with one hand, inches from the door knob, when suddenly it felt like electricity shot right into his neck, spreading over his body. He let out a loud cry and fell to the floor, grabbing his neck. He felt something metal and cool under his fingertips and looked up when he heard laughing.
"This is what I get for not chaining you up but luckily I had my new toy," Ron said, sitting up on the couch, a remote in one hand. He flipped a small switch and watched as Eric's body convulsed once more before turning it off. "While you were sleeping, I put an electric collar on you just in case you need to learn your place. I thought that if electric collars keep dogs from barking by sending small waves of electricity into them, then maybe it could keep a CSI from getting help." He stood up from the couch and walked over to Eric and knelt down. "You've been a very bad boy, pet. I think you need to be taught a lesson." He grabbed Eric under one arm and started dragging him over to a small door and smiled. "This is called a time out and you'll be in here until I say so." He opened the door to reveal a small closet and dragged Eric's body inside, and closed the door.
"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Eric yelled, banging on the door. He wasn't Closterphobic or anything but this was a little to small of a room for his liking. He banged on the door and yelled with all his might until he heard a familiar ringing sound. He stopped what he was doing and pressed his ear up against the door to listen.
"I don't give a damn what they got, you need to make sure they don't find us...Yes, you can do that...Alright. You just keep an eye on them and if they get closer give me a call...Bye."
Since he couldn't see what was going on, Eric could only assume Ron had sat down because the TV was then turned on. He started yelling and pounding on the door once more, but Ron turned the TV up so loud that he knew his voice wouldn't be heard over the sports game he found so he gave up. Being careful, he leaned back against the wall, brought his knee's up to his chest, and laid his head on his arms. Not knowing what tomorrow would bring, he decided to get some sleep while he still could, even though he head no idea how long he was going to be in there.